Government Asks Industry To Suggest Appropriate Tariff Rates For APEC Talks

New Delhi: Asking industry to suggest an appropriate tariff structure which the government can pursue at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation negotiations, a senior Commerce Ministry official today said neither a very high, nor zero duties, are good for the economy.

                            

Arvind Mehta, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said India understands that high tariffs are not favorable but at the same time zero tariffs would also hurt the economy. He urged the industry to “recommend appropriate tariff rates that the government could propose at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) membership negotiations”. 

APEC members include Australia, Canada, China and Japan. 

Mehta was speaking at a stakeholder’ consultation on ‘India and APEC: Issues and Options’ organized by industry body Ficci and the Centre for WTO Studies.

Quoting the additional secretary, the chamber said in a statement that the APEC member countries were creating a narrative that India should take certain policy measures to signal its commitment to APEC’s vision and improve its chances for APEC accession. 

“The narrative may require India to make binding concessions for securing APEC membership. Therefore, it was necessary that industry voiced its opinion with respect to their expectations and apprehensions from India's membership at APEC,” he said. 

He also said that India needs to consider the takeaways from the partnership as well as the losses that it would incur to become a member and added that India may have to propose a Voluntary Individual Action Plan to project its aspirations to member countries to eliminate their concerns. 

At 7.9% In Q4, India Is Still ‘Fastest Growing’ Economy

New Delhi:  India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.6 percent in 2015-16, powered by a rebound in farm output, and an improvement in electricity generation and mining production in the fourth quarter of the fiscal. Economic growth was estimated at 7.2 percent in 2014-15.

                           

The growth numbers for the last fiscal, which reinforces India’s position as the world’s fastest-growing large economy, came on the back of a strong 7.9 percent growth in the last quarter of the fiscal.

The robust headline number, despite faltering private investment, weak capital goods growth and shrinking exports, has reinforced expectations that the RBI would keep its policy rate on hold at its next quarterly review next Tuesday. The central bank has already cut its policy repo rate by 150 basis points since January 2015, reducing it to 6.5 percent — the lowest level in more than five years.

The strong 7.9 percent growth in the fourth quarter comes at a time when China has reported a 6.7 percent in the March quarter — its slowest growth in about seven years.

According to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the farm sector grew by 2.3 percent from a year ago compared with a 1.0 percent contraction in the December quarter. Mining grew 8.6 percent in the March quarter, up from 7.1 percent in the previous quarter. Electricity, water and gas production growth surged to 9.3 percent from 5.6 percent in the December quarter.

The CSO, in a statement, said that it has revised the GDP data for the first three quarters released earlier from 7.6 percent, 7.7 percent and 7.3 percent to 7.5 percent, 7.6 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.

Kolkata Film Institute Student Faces Harassment Inside Campus

Kolkata: A student from the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata has alleged that she is facing victim-shaming inside the campus, following her complaint about sexual harassment by three professors.

Last year in 2015, three faculty members were suspended following complaints of sexual harassment by some students. SRFTI's registrar Anindya Acharya said they had received complaints from some girl students against the three faculty members. There have been four complaints of sexual harassment, including one of a rape, that have been filed to the internal complaints committee (ICC) headed by Putul Mahmood.

One of the students alleging harassment, in particular, in an exclusive interview to India Today on Tuesday, said that she was facing a “hostile atmosphere inside campus”, and, in fact, “victim-shaming”. It also came to light that the administration, which received a report from the complaints committee, had not shared it with the complainant, but had shared it with the accused professors.

The report came to the conclusion that of the three accused professors, two were found guilty. The committee also recommended “strict action”. The student said that the accused faculty member was still in touch with other students despite being suspended, and was reportedly leading a campaign against her.

She went ahead and shot a video on her mobile phone where she alleged that drunk students intimidated her and used abusive language. The complainant has reportedly moved out of the hostel and is currently residing in the SRFTI campus guest house.

WB Assembly Speaker Election Votes for Biman Banerjee

Kolkata: The West Bengal Assembly Speaker Election, conducted on Tuesday, May 31, has unanimously elected Biman Banerjee as the Speaker. Banerjee was elected as Speaker for his new term and will serve for continuous second term.

Reports are that Banerjee’s name was proposed by Partha Chaterjee, a deputy leader of the ruling party. However, his name was supported by all the leaders of the party and thus Biman Banerjee was elected for his second term. Banerjee has been the Speaker since 2011 when Trinamool Congress (TMC) party came into power in the state for the first time. Notably, TMC was also selected to govern the state for continuous second time with enormous seat shares, following the results of Assembly Elections 2016.

Sources said that Governor Kesharinath Tripathi had fixed May 31 as the date for Election of the Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly. 

Mathura Forensic Lab Reports Meat at Dadri Victim’s House Was of Beef, Govt. Says It Would Not Affect Case

New Delhi: In a recent report released by a forensic lab at Mathura, it has been confirmed that the meat, found in Dadri lynching victim Mohammad Akhlaq’s home was of beef and not mutton after eight months of the accident.

However, the investigating police officers said that the report was of no use as the main focus is to prove the murder and assault, faced by Akhlaq and his son. A police officer, who is in the investigating panel of the Dadri lynching, said: “The matter is sub-judice, so we can’t comment.”

In September 2015, a mob attacked Akhlaq’s home and dragged Mohammad out complaining that he has stored beef in his house. Mohammad’s son, Danish, who went to save his father, was also gravely injured by the furious mob. The shocking incident escalated outrage across the country following eminent personalities returning their awards in protest.

Meanwhile, 19 people, who were named for leading the mob and conducting the crime, were arrested by police, following an FIR by Mohammad’s daughter Shaista. Reports are that police immediately arrested 18 of them, but let one off as it was ‘confirmed that he was not in the village when the incident occurred.’

Salt Lake Gang Rape Case: Three Accused Arrested, Search Continues For Fourth

Kolkata: Three persons, who were found in connection with the gang rape of a 24- year-old Nepali woman on Monday night at Salt Lake, was arrested from Haroa in North-24 Parganas by the Electronics Complex Police Station of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.

The three accused, Suvendu Nag (25), Saurav Dey (20) and Arnab Bera (24) were nabbed while the fourth, Bappa, is absconding, said the Bidhannagar City Police Commissioner Jawed Shamim. According to the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, the arrested three were drivers in occupation. One of them used to drive a BPO pick-and-drop vehicle at Sector V, Salt Lake. All the three was reportedly found residents of Basirhat, a township in North-24-Parganas but were staying in and around Kolkata in regular basis.   

Reports are that the vehicle, in which the woman was reportedly abused, has been seized from Kestopur. Police found Nag’s identity card in the car, carrying the proof that he is an IT personnel in Sector V. “They had dumped the car at Beleghata in Kolkata and fled. They had taken shelter at the house of Nag’s relative in Haroa, from where they were arrested,” Bidhannagar City Police Commissioner Jawed Shamim said. He also added that the arrested three accepted their crime.

Also, medical tests, done yesterday of the abused woman, confirmed that it was a gang rape.

The woman, who hails from Nepal, had boarded an Uber cab on Monday in order to reach Salt Lake to meet a friend. However, the cab stopped several meters away from her destination due to wrong directions. The woman said that she sings in a bar, located at VIP Road. According to the complaint lodged to police, the woman said that she was waiting at Sector V when a man came and she asked him directions. Minutes later, a SUV reached and pulled her inside.

 “According to CCTV footage and eyewitnesses, the woman got into the car on her own. They stopped the car at a lonely stretch near water park Aquatica, where they took turns to rape her in the car. Around 3 am, she was pushed out of the car near Baishakhi More near Tank No 5 in Salt Lake. A cabbie helped her get to the Bidhannagar North police station,” police said after inspecting the CCTV footage of signals.

Paris to Commence First Refugee Camp In Order to Battle Informal Migration Camps across the City

 Paris: Paris is all set to open its first formal refugee camp ‘to assist the destitute’, as announced by the city-Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Tuesday. Hidalgo also has announced that the city authority is planning to build proper housing for the refugees in order to battle the makeshift shelters built by the refugees across the city.

Reports are that the Paris Police, for last few months, following the escalating Mediterranean migrations, is combating to reduce the new and illegal constructions taking place, which is costing them both money and time. However, this has forced Mayor Hidalgo to ‘admit defeat’ and accounting that the ‘current situation is no longer tenable.’ She also added that her team will open the relocation plan within the next six weeks.

A Socialist Mayor in nature, Hidalgo asserted that Paris has a ‘humane duty’ towards the migrants and refugees: “Paris will not stand idly by while the Mediterranean becomes a refugee graveyard.” Reports are, apart from only providing shelter to the refugees; Paris will offer them facility of a day centre and modular accommodation units to ensure safety and comfort of the shelters simultaneously. 

With growing number of migrants in Paris that have nailed a serious concern for the authorities since last year, has seen the 19^th evacuation operation of refugees since June last year, relocating 6500 migrants to emergency centers.