Washington/New York, Aug 16 (PTI) The Indian community in the US celebrated India’s 69th Independence Day with fervour by unfurling the national flag and organising cultural events to mark the occasion.

India’s Ambassador to the US Arun K Singh read out President Pranab Mukharjee’s national address and hoisted the tri-colour at a function at his residence here.

Singh said as the defining partnership of the 21st century in the world, India and the US are enhancing their ties not only at the bilateral level, but also at the regional and global levels.

“With the historic visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 and President Barack Obama in January, the leaders of both countries have given a great impetus to the momentum of this relationship,” he said.

“Our bilateral trade and investment, which are reaching new heights, are encouraging us to aspire for higher goals.

Our cooperation has deepened in the established sectors while new fields are continuously added to widen our relationship.

People-to-people contact is one of the strongest pillars of this growing relationship,” the Ambassador said.

The flag-hoisting ceremonies at various places were attended by a cross-section of the local Indian community, diplomats and government officials.

In Houston, Consul General P Harish unfurled the national flag at his residence, while the Indian Consul General in San Francisco hoisted the tri-colour at the historic Gadar Memorial, which was thronged by Indians.

Consul General in Chicago, Dr Ausaf Sayeed, hoisted the flag and Consul General Nagesh Singh unfurled the tri-colour in Atlanta.

Consul General in New York, Dnyaneshwar M Mulay, hosted the Independence Day celebrations where diplomats from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan along with the community leaders were in attendance.

Mulay in his address urged the Indian community to form “India-centric think tank” to propagate the country to the global community in a bigger way.

The tricolour was hoised at India’s Consulate General and its Permanent Mission to the UN in the presence of hundreds of diplomatic officials and members of the Indian-American community.

Permanent Representative of India to UN Ambassador Asoke Mukerji hoisted the national flag at the mission premises and readout excerpts from President Pranab Mukerjee’s address to the nation.

The brief ceremony at the mission was attended by over 150 guests including senior Indian officials of the United Nations, Indian Army and Police officers on deputation to the UN.

Under Secretary Generals of the UN Vijay Nambiar and head of the UN Department of Field Support Atul Khare were also present.

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) To protect the interest of domestic workers, the government is readying a national policy that proposes a minimum salary of Rs 9,000 per month for the skilled full-time household helps, along with a host of benefits including social security cover and mandatory leaves.

The draft ‘National Policy for Domestic Workers’, which would be soon moved for approval of the Union Cabinet, also calls for provisions against sexual harassment and bonded labour and recommends compulsory paid leave of 15 days a year as also the maternity leave.

Besides, the Policy provides that the domestic workers be given a right to pursue education, a safe working environment and a grievance redressal mechanism. It also has a provision for mandatory contribution from the employer towards social security of the domestic workers.

Workers and employers will also have rights to form groups and engage with each other for ‘collective bargaining’.

A draft note in this regard, prepared by the Director General Labour Welfare (DGLW), was submitted to Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya last week.

“The Domestic Workers Policy has to be framed. Domestic workers are also subjected to exploitation and therefore the welfare and protection of domestic labour force is very important,” Dattatreya told PTI.

“The policy framework is on par with the standards of the International Labour Organisation. India has adopted the ILO convention on domestic workers and therefore we have to make a policy for this segment of the society,” he said.

Once it comes into force, the policy will make it binding to enter into a tripartite agreement between the employer, the worker and the intermediary agency that connects the two, a senior Labour Minister official said.

The draft policy recommends minimum monthly wage for unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly-skilled categories of the domestic workers.

“Highly-skilled and those giving full-time service should be eligible to get a salary of at least Rs 9,000 per month,” the official said, while adding that the aim of the policy is to empower the domestic workers by making this large workforce a services industry in due course of time. .

A physically challenged shopkeeper was allegedly attacked with a sword in suburban Chembur following which four persons have been arrested, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place on Tuesday evening when the main accused Akram Sheikh (28) entered the shop of Rajnish Thakur (36) at P L Lokhande Marg in Chembur and attacked him with a sword, Tilak Nagar police station’s senior inspector Bhagwat Sonawane said.

Thakur, who is physically challenged, was saved from the attacker by a customer inside the shop who managed to overpower Sheikh, he said adding that the accused is part of a gang of drug addicts which has been extorting money from shopkeepers since sometime.

The incident was captured in a CCTV camera installed in the shop, Sonawane said adding that with its help, they managed to nab four members of the gang.
The four men arrested yesterday were remanded in police custody till tomorrow by a local court, he said adding that search was on for two more persons in this connection.
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper was admitted to a nearby hospital, police said.
According to Thakur’s brother Manish, a group of drug addicts had been allegedly trying to extort Rs 1,500-2,000 every month from the 200 odd shops on P L Lokhande Marg area of Chembur while threatening to damage their establishments if the money was not given.
“My brother and I had distributed pamphlets and put up small posters outside shops in Chembur so that the shopkeepers refuse to pay the extortion money,” he claimed.
“In last one-and-a-half month we had informed police thrice about threats for extortion from junkies in the area.
But, neither preventive nor any other appropriate action was taken,” he alleged.
“Few days back, my brother and I had taken a group of shopkeepers to DCP (Zone VI) and informed him about the constant threats. The DCP had instructed the concerned police personnel to take action against the culprits,” he said.
However, no action was taken by the police. Were the cops waiting for such an untoward incident or someone to die for taking action against the hooligans? he asked.
DCP (Zone VI) Sangram Singh Nishandar was unavailable for comments in this regard.

With 26.5 million smartphones shipped in the second quarter of India representing a 44 per cent growth year-on-year (y-o-y), IDC predicts by 2017 India will overtake US to be the second-largest smartphone market globally.

IDC expects India to maintain a double-digit growth rate over the next few years as people switch to smartphones and gradually upgrade to 4G.

This strong June quarter performance saw smartphone shipments grow 19 per cent following a sluggish March quarter, said International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. A total of 18.4 million units were shipped for the same period last year.

However, this growth was specific to smartphones only as the overall Indian mobile phone market shrunk six per cent in the June quarter on a y-o-y basis. Vendors shipped 59.4 million units in April-June period of 2015 compared to 63.2 million units shipped in the same period a year ago.

According to Kiran Kumar, research manager with IDC’s India Mobile phone team, e-tailers opened additional avenues for growth for many vendors in India, who would have otherwise struggled to get a hold in the complex distribution network. Although India remains a retail dominated market, vendors such as Lenovo and Xiaomi have used e-tailing channels in India to rapidly expand their presence. “The share of smartphone shipments through e-tailers increased for most of the key vendors in June quarter,” added Kumar.

In addition, Chinese vendors have tripled their shipments y-o-y in India and doubled quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q). Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Gionee alone accounted for 12 per cent of the total smartphone market in the June quarter, double from a year ago.

“As China started to slow down, most vendors from the country have targeted India as the next big growth market for smartphones,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, research manager with IDC’s Asia/Pacific Mobile phone team. The new entrants to the Indian market have utilized specific strategies to drive sales growth, according to Kaur. “Key to the success of the Chinese vendors has been popular flash sales through online players such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon. At the same time, they also focused on bringing more 4G phones at affordable $100-150 price points, which has been left unattended by Indian and global vendors.”

Except for Lenovo, the top vendors in the June quarter still had majority of their shipments going through traditional channels.
Among the vendor ranking, Samsung continues to be the leader in the Indian smartphone market despite q-o-q shipment decline, while growing shipment on a y-o-y basis. The resultant volume growth y-o-y came from their phones in the affordable segment such as the relatively new Galaxy J1, and older models such as the Galaxy Core. Performance was not boosted by the first full quarter of sales for the new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.

Micromax made a comeback this June quarter with 60 per cent q-o-q growth. Even though its AndroidOne phones and the Yu Yureka phones got off to a slow start, its other smartphones in the $50-150 price segment, where it is traditionally strong, performed well. Intex captured the third position.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to offer much more than just his best intentions to clean up India’s whimsical tax regime to help convince insurers.
Companies from Allianz SE to American International Group Inc. are avoiding offering tax-liability coverage in India’s cross-border mergers and acquisitions market because of a relatively high risk of disputes. None of the 21 general insurers operating in the country provides cover for tax risks arising from M&A transactions.
“No one is comfortable offering that product in geographies without a stable tax regime,” said Sushant Sarin, senior vice president for commercial lines and broking at Tata AIG General Insurance Co., the local unit of the New York-based insurer. “Demand for insurance cover on cross-border deals tax risks in India has been surging, though.”
More than a year after coming to power, Modi has failed to allay investor concerns over a law that allows authorities to make retrospective tax claims. Instead of repealing it, he promised to refrain from reviewing old deals, adding to the muddle as authorities face pressure to boost one of the world’s lowest tax collection rates.
Vodafone, Nokia
Tax indemnity insurance is purchased either by the buyer or seller involved in an acquisition, where a known tax issue has been identified during due diligence process. The insurer typically agrees to compensate for any additional taxes, interest or penalty that has to be paid by the insured in the transaction.
Cross-border deals involving overseas companies and their Indian units spark transfer pricing questions about how to value the transactions for tax purposes. Modi has blamed decisions by the previous government for some of the recent tussles.
Some of the companies embroiled in tax disputes with India’s finance ministry include Nokia OYJ, Vodafone Group Plc, Cairn India Ltd. and Cadbury chocolate maker Mondelez International Inc. for total claims of about $10 billion.
In the Nokia case, tax spats forced the company to suspend operations at its factory in Chennai last year, with thousands of workers offered voluntary retirement.
Deals Rise
The $3 billion case over capital gains from Vodafone’s 2007 acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.’s Indian business is going into international arbitration even after India’s Supreme Court ruled against the government’s claim in 2012. Cairn India has said its $3.3 billion dispute will deter overseas investment. Mondelez is contesting an excise duty claim.
The bad press may be deterring some companies from pursuing deals in India, said Jacob Mathew, managing director and co-founder of Mumbai-based investment bank MAPE Advisory Group Pvt.
“Many transactions haven’t happened as tax indemnity insurance is not available in India,” he said. “Corporates who are new to India find this daunting.”
Still, mergers and acquisitions involving Indian companies have touched $48.4 billion this year, 11 percent more than the whole of 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Overseas firms have announced $13.2 billion of acquisitions in India this year, versus $17.1 billion in 2014.
Even after Modi told investors on a trip to Germany in April that India is a “changed country” with a more “transparent, responsive and stable” regulatory framework, officials on the ground are often under pressure to pursue claims to shore up revenue.
‘No Product’
Modi’s government has vowed to narrow the budget deficit to 3.9 percent of gross domestic product in the year to March 31, 2016, with a projection of 16 percent increase in tax collections. India’s tax-to-GDP ratio was 10.8 percent in 2012, higher than only 12 of about 200 countries tracked by the World Bank.
“This is an issue investors have to deal with and hence makes deals more complicated to execute,” Ajeeth Narayan, country head for India at Investec Plc, which owns a bank and money manager in South Africa and the U.K., said in an e-mail. “Then, there is the additional cost element for covering off this risk as well.”
A transparent tax regime is important for a robust mergers and acquisition market as investors want to grow their business rather than get drawn into a long battle with tax authorities, he said.
Underwriting and pricing risk in a segment where the law changes retrospectively is a challenge, according to Tata AIG’s Sarin. Insurers offer the tax indemnity insurance in markets with stable tax regimes such as the U.S., U.K. and Singapore, he said.
“We have no such product in the Indian market and neither does anyone else to the best of my knowledge,” said Sasikumar Adidamu, Mumbai-based chief technical officer for non-motor insurance at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, the local unit of the Munich-based insurer.

India -born Sundar Pichai has been named the new chief executive of Internet-giant Google. This news came on the back of a new holding company Alphabet, which will host Google and its other businesses as subsidiaries. Co-founder and current CEO of Google, Larry Page announced the inception of Alphabet, Google’s new holding company. Larry Page will step down as Google’s chief and Pichai will take over his position. Page will take the helm as the new CEO of Alphabet.
Sundar Pichai was born in Chennai on July 12, 1972 and his original name happens to be Pichai Sundarajan.

He did his schooling from GRT Mahalakshmi Vanavani School, which was in the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai campus. He graduated from IIT Kharagpur as a Metallurgical Engineer, and holds a Post Graduation (MS) degree from Stanford University. He also holds an MBA from Whaton School of University of Pennsylvania.

He has keen interest in Cricket and was the captain of his school cricket team.

Sundar Pichai joined Google in 2004 as the head of product management and innovation efforts, leading the team working on Google’s Chrome browser and operating system.

He most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of products.

He was the one who started Google search tool bar when Internet Explorer was dominating the internet world. Pichai launched Chrome browser in 2008, which became the game changer in the browsing world.

Sundar Pichai took charge of Gmail and Google Docs in 2011. The same year he was promoted to Senior Vice President of the company.

After a year in 2013, Pichai was made the head of Android and in 2014, the Google Product Czar. The same year he was named the company’s product chief where he brought in services like Google Maps and Google+.

Sundar Pichai is referred to as Larry Page’s right-hand man. While announcing Alphabet, Page’s blog post said, “Sundar has been saying things I would have said for quite some time now and I have been tremendously enjoying our work together.”

Pichai said, “For me, it matters that we drive technology as an equalisisng force, as an enabler for everyone around the world. Which is why I do want Google to see, push and invest more in making sure computing is more accessible, connectivity is more accessible.”

Later during the day, Sundar Pichai took to twitter to thank people for wishing him luck.

The Islamic State plans to take over large parts of the world, including almost the entire Indian subcontinent, by the next five years, according to a chilling map that features in a new book on the dreaded terror group.

According to the map, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) plans to take control of the Middle East, North Africa, most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Europe, within the next five years, to complete its caliphate.

The caliphate — a state governed by Sharia law which ISIS plan to claim — covers areas from Spain in the west to China in the east, the Mirror reported citing the map. The map reveals the calculated way ISIS plans to take over the world by 2020.

According to the map, Andalus is the Arabic name given to the parts of Spain, Portugal and France that were occupied by the Moors from the 8th to the 15th century while the Indian subcontinent would come under ‘Khurasan’.

BBC reporter Andrew Hosken, who includes the map of the targeted areas in his new book ‘Empire of Fear: Inside the Islamic State’, said ISIS wants “to take over all of what they see as the Islamic world.

A seven-step ISIS programme, dating back almost 20 years, includes the US being provoked into declaring war on the Islamic world between 2000 and 2003 and an uprising against Arab rulers between 2010 and 2013, the report said.

ISIS have up to 50,000 members and cash and assets of nearly 2 billion pounds, partly due to their control of oil and gas fields in Iraq and Syria, it said.

“They want to take over all of what they see as the Islamic world. Once they have their caliphate, they plan to turn against the rest of the world. They envisage the whole world being under their rule,” Hosken was quoted as saying.

“They have 60 nations against them, including the United States and Russia, so one would think that is pretty unlikely. But one would have thought the first steps were unlikely as well,” he said.

Hosken says in his book that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who founded the terrorist group that would later become ISIS, in 1996 described the seven-step programme that would lead to Muslim victory by 2020.
“We were so close to destroying them back in 2010-11.

80% of their leaders had been captured or killed and they ended up as a little rump. We didn’t finish them off and like a cancer they came back,” Hosken said.

Mumbai, Aug 11 (PTI) The US dollar ended dearer against the rupee at 64.19/20 per dollar and the pound sterling also finished higher at Rs 100.01/03 per pound at the close of the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today.

Following are the Interbank Forex and RBI rates:

(In Rs Per Unit) Unit Interbank RBI Reference US Dollar 64.19/20 US Dollar Rs. 64.1732 Pound Sterling 100.01/03 Euro Rs. 70.3595 Euro 70.84/86 Japanese Yen(100) 51.

Writes: Dr. Vimal Khawas

Nepali speaking Indians are often confused with the Nepalese of Nepal

ONE OF my friends recently complained to me of being verbally abused by a woman. The immediate basis of the quandary was his motorcycle parked at the allotted space. On that fateful day while the woman was on her way through the area a part of her sari accidentally happened to mesh with the edge of one of the parts of his motorcycle. She allegedly roared at him by means of some of the most improper and unfounded statements as far as the Nepali speaking Indians are concerned. “You Nepalese! You foreigners! I know you people! You people do not know how to live!” were some of her remarks.

The point here is not a mere abuse of an individual by another individual but connotes a much larger issue that needs serious discourse among the responsible Nepali speaking Indian nationals. The victim is a bona fide citizen of India and permanent resident of Kalimpong located in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Like many other Indians he too is struggling in Delhi in search of better economic pastures.

There are Bengalis and Punjabis, for example, with their counterparts residing in other countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. But they have never been lamented as Bangladeshis or Pakistanis. In our case, however, the term Nepalese or foreigner has often been used by the mainstream Indians. So where is the problem? Why are Nepali speaking Indians often confused with the Nepalese of Nepal? Why don’t the mainstream Indians appreciate that there are about a crore Nepalis who have been the bona fide citizens of India for generations?

Before going further with the discussion let us be clear with the terms `Nepalese’ and `Nepali.’ The former is basically used to represent people with Nepalese citizenship while the latter is used to denote the Nepali speaking Indian nationals. `Nepalese’ refers to the national identity or nationality of the people of Nepal while the term `Nepali’ connotes the ethnic identity of the Indian Nepalis. Bengali, Tamil, Oriya, Punjabi, etc., are all ethnic identities of respective social groups with Indian nationality. The Nepalese from Nepal have scattered across the length and breadth of the Indian territory and got into the blue-collar jobs notably in the hotel industry, security services and as domestic helps. They are here mainly as seasonal migrant workers who would visit their country from time to time.

Two factors

Two important factors need serious debate here. First, India and Nepal signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship on July 31, 1950. Among other things Article 7 of the treaty grants, on reciprocal basis, to the nationals of one country in the territories of the other the same privileges in the matter of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movement and privileges of a similar nature. The treaty is, however, silent with respect to the impact of such agreement on the already settled and bona fide Nepali Indians. Over the years on the strength of this agreement the Nepalese have been crossing the borders and spreading across the Indian territory.

Secondly, the crux of the issue has been the ill reputation carried by the Nepalese in India. Take the following points that appeared in a leading newspaper in the capital as examples: `A Nepalese servant strangles a 60-year-old woman,’ `A Nepalese servant killed a 62-year-old businessman,’ `A retired lieutenant colonel and his wife were murdered by their Nepalese servant.’

What are the repercussions of such activities of the Nepalese on the settled Nepali speaking Indians? They look identical; speak almost the same language with some dialectical variations; and bear similar names. The consequences of their deeds and misdeeds have, however, often to be borne by the settled Indian Nepalis.

Alternative arrangement

The government of India either needs to abrogate this treaty or the settled Indian Nepalis have to be protected from such onslaughts by some other means. The GNLF led `Gorkhaland’ agitation had rightly highlighted this grave issue before the relevant authorities in the 1980s. But the agitation petered out before achieving any of its objectives. Mention should, however, be made that the GNLF led by Mr. Ghisingh has been successful in bargaining for and negotiating an alternative arrangement for the settled Indian Nepalis and other social groups of the Darjeeling hills in the recent talks held in New Delhi.

It is time to highlight relevant issues such as the ones mentioned above before the government. Since the Darjeeling hills and Sikkim are the places where the Nepali speakers constitute a majority of the inhabitants, it is from these regions that voices towards these ends need to originate.

Jacqueline Fernandez, the gorgeous Sri Lankan model and actress debuted in the tinsel town with her film Aladin in 2010 for which she even bagged an IIFA best debut award and Stardust award. Post that, there was no looking back for her as she went on to work in successful ventures like Murder 2, Race 2, Housefull 2 and Kick. This stunning beauty will soon be seen in director Karan Malhotra’s Brothers opposite Akshay Kumar. As Jacqueline celebrates her 30th birthday on August 11, astroYogi takes a look at what is in store for her: