Tata Group’s total investment in Odisha will soon cross Rs one lakh crore, said its Chairman N. Chandrasekaran here on Monday.

For the Tata Group, the association with Odisha is “very long, more than 100 years old”, he said.

Chandrasekaran also said Tata Steel was given its first iron ore lease by the Maharaja of Mayurbhanj in the early part of 20th century. Since then, the group has significantly expanded in the state.

“Already, we have made investments worth Rs 75,000 crore and with the announcement of expansion of (Tata Steel’s) Kalinganagar plant, another Rs 25,000 crore would be invested. Total investments will soon cross Rs 100,000 crore in the state,” he said at the Make in Odisha Conclave here.

Not only Tata Steel has a large capacity, Tata Motors has a significant presence with its 30 service stations and dealers network and Tata Power has four generation units here, he said, adding that the TCS is the largest IT company in the state with about 5,000 professionals and the second phase would take it to a total of 12,000 professionals.

The group’s companies in retail and services sectors have engagements in the state, Chandrasekaran said.

He said the group’s experience in the state has been extremely “satisfying”.

The state is blessed with a lot of resources with stable government, proactive bureaucracy, ready infrastructure, strong mineral reserve, large pool of skilled manpower and secured social environment, he said.

The state produces 1.8 lakh technical graduates from over 950 institutions, who are excellent resources for development of any part of the country.

IANS

Twitter is taking “multi-variable” steps, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, to curb the spread of misleading information on its platform ahead of 2019 general election in India, Co-Founder and CEO Jack Dorsey said here on Monday.

Addressing a Town Hall-style meeting at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D), Dorsey said fake news is a way too big category.

“The real problem is not misinformation per se as jokes can also be categorised as misinfomation. But misinformation that is spread with the intent to mislead people is a real problem,” stressed the Twitter CEO who is in India on a week-long maiden visit.

Dorsey, who got a rousing reception at IIT-D with the students wildly cheering the young entrepreneur, likened solving the problem of misleading information to that of addressing a security issue, or building a lock.

“No one can build a perfect lock, but we need to stay ahead of our attackers. AI could probably help,” Dorsey told the audience.

Earlier in the day, the Twitter CEO met Congress President Rahul Gandhi and discussed various steps the social network was taking to curb the spread of fake news and boost healthy conversation on its platform.

Dorsey also met Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama over the weekend. He was also expected to meet Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in the wake of the growing criticism over Twitter’s role in the spread of misinformation and fake news as India faces Assembly polls in five states in November-December ahead of next year’s general elections.

Twitter, along with other social media platforms, including Facebook, came under intense scrutiny of policymakers in the US for their failure to stop the spread of misinformation by Russia-linked accounts on their platforms during the 2016 Presidential election.

The micro-blogging site since then has stepped up its efforts to curb the spread of divisive messages and fake news on its platform.

To further protect the integrity of elections, Twitter recently announced that it would now delete fake accounts engaged in a variety of emergent, malicious behaviour.

As part of the new rules, accounts that deliberately mimic or are intended to replace accounts that were previously suspended for violating rules may be identified as fake accounts, Twitter said recently.

However, according to a Knight Foundation study released in October, more than 80 per cent of the Twitter accounts linked to spread of disinformation during the 2016 US election are still active.

IANS

A Canadian Sikh farmer, who is the country’s biggest cranberry grower, has made history with his induction into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.

The British Columbia-based Peter Dhillon is the first person of visible minority to join the company of great Canadians who have made their mark in agriculture and agro-food business.

Dhillon is also the current chairman of Ocean Spray – a marketing cooperative of cranberry farmers in the US and Canada. Ocean Spray sells its products in over 90 countries, with annual sales of over $2.5 billion.

At Ocean Spray also, Dhillon broke the glass ceiling to become its first non-white chairman in 2014.

Dhillon, whose full name is Peter Povitar Dhillon, runs his cranberry farming operations under the name of Richberry Group of Companies based in Richmond, British Columbia.

Unveiling his portrait at the annual Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Toronto, Dhillon said he was humbled to be inducted into the company of great Canadians.

“It is a great honour for me and I feel humbled because there are so many others who deserve this honour,” he said.

His father Rachpal Singh Dhillon came to Canada in 1950 from Pandori village in Hoshiarpur and became the first Indo-Canadian to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP( at the age of 19, rising to the rank of Deputy Sheriff.

In 1981-82, he took early retirement to get into cranberry farming full time.

Peter Dhillon joined the family business in 1993 after finishing his law degree from the UK.

Currently, he has over 2,000 acres, just behind the world’s biggest cranberry farmers in Massachusetts who own about 2,500 acres. His Richberry Group produced over 20 million pounds of cranberries last year.

“We hope to hit the 30 million-mark soon in production,” Peter Dhillon said.

As chairman of Ocean Spray, he said he has been to India to explore the possibilities of entering the Indian market.

“There is a huge potential for cranberry juice and dried products in India as Indians are becoming increasingly health conscious.”

IANS

State-run oil-marketing companies continued to cut the prices of key transport fuels — petrol and diesel — well into the fourth week on Saturday on lower global crude oil prices.

According to the Indian Oil Corp data, petrol was priced at Rs 77.89 per litre in the national capital on Saturday, 17 paise lower from Friday.

Petrol prices fell by 17 to 18 paise to Rs 83.40 per litre in Mumbai, Rs 79.81 in Kolkata and Rs 80.90 in Chennai on Saturday.

As per the daily dynamic pricing regime, domestic fuel prices depend on international fuel prices on a 15-day average, besides the value of the rupee.

Prices vary from region to region due to local taxes, as the products are excluded from the GST regime. Delhi has the lowest tax rate among the four metros.

In tandem with petrol, the cost of diesel declined by 16 to 17 paise on Saturday across the four metros.

The price of diesel in Mumbai was down at Rs 76.05 per litre.

Similarly, prices of diesel in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai declined to Rs 72.58, Rs 74.44 and Rs 76.72 a litre respectively.

The downward revision also comes on the back of multiple factors such as lower international crude oil cost and a recovery in the rupee against the US dollar.

On Friday, the UK Brent crude traded at around $70 per barrel, from a recent high of over $86.

Earlier last month, the Centre announced a cut in excise duty by Rs 1.50 a litre.

Additionally, the state-owned oil marketing companies had been mandated to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel by Re 1 a litre.

IANS

Domestic cooking gas LPG prices have been hiked by over Rs 2 per cylinder after the government increased the commission paid to LPG dealers.

A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder in Delhi will now cost Rs 507.42 as against Rs 505.34 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. This followed an order of the Oil Ministry that raised the dealer’s commission. In that order, the ministry said the domestic LPG distributors’ commission for 14.2-kg cylinder and 5-kg cylinder was last fixed at Rs 48.89 and Rs 24.20 respectively in September 2017.

“Pending finalisation of De-Novo Study for revision of LPG distributors’ commission and taking into consideration the increase in transportation costs, wages etc, it has been decided to revise the distributors’ commission to Rs 50.58 per 14.2 kg cylinder and Rs 25.29 per 5 kg cylinder as an interim measure,” the order said.

This is the second increase in rates this month, the earlier one being on November 1, when prices went up by Rs 2.94 per cylinder because of tax component on base price.

The new dealer’s commission will be made up of Rs 30.08 establishment charges and Rs 20.50 delivery charges for a 14.2-kg cylinder. For 5 kg cylinder, the establishment charges have been fixed at Rs 15.04 and the rest Rs 10.25 are delivery charges, the ministry order said. Customers who collect their refills directly from distributor’s premises will continue not to be charged for delivery, it said. Before the hike, the dealer’s commission was made up of Rs 29.39 establishment charges and Rs 19.50 delivery charges for a 14.2-kg cylinder. For 5 kg bottle, the establishment charges were Rs 14.70 and delivery charges Rs 9.50.

All LPG consumers have to buy the fuel at market price. The government, however, subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in a year by providing the subsidy amount directly in bank accounts of users. This subsidy amount varies from month to month depending on the changes in the average international benchmark LPG rate and foreign exchange rate. When international rates move up, the government provides a higher subsidy. But as per tax rules, GST on LPG has to be calculated at the market rate of the fuel. The government may choose to subsidise a part of the price but tax will have to be paid at market rates.

This has led to an increase in price.

On November 1, the non-subsidised or market price LPG rates went up by Rs 60 per cylinder to Rs 939. Because of the rise in dealer’s commission, the price is now Rs 942.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

PTI

Indian Bank, which has lent over Rs 1,800 crore to Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), on Friday said that most of its loans to the crisis-hit company were ‘good’.

“The bank’s exposure to IL&FS is Rs 1,809 crore. Out of the 10 loan accounts, six are for special purpose vehicles (SPV of IL&FS) whose revenues are ring-fenced with an escrow account,” Padmaja Chunduru, Managing Director and CEO, told reporters here.

She said that one account had turned bad three years ago and that the state-run lender had made necessary provisions.

One loan of Rs 172 crore slipped into the non-performing category recently.

Chunduru said that two more loan accounts totalling about Rs 130 crore were under the watch list.

Indian Bank’s total exposure to the non-banking finance companies is Rs 20,477 crore, accounting for 12.40 per cent of its gross advances as of September 30.

The 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensex on Friday opened in green over mixed global cues and a recovering rupee.

However, the Sensex lost over 170 points minutes into the trading.

Healthy buying was witnessed in healthcare and capital goods counters whereas index-pivotals– finance and banking — stocks were in red.

The Sensex of the BSE opened at 35,258.13 from its previous close at 35,237.68.

At 9.20 a.m., the Sensex traded at 35,064.84 lower by 172.84 points or 0.49 per cent.

The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,614.70 after closing at 10,598.40.

The Nifty traded at 10,558.85 during the morning trade session, down 39.55 points and 0.37 per cent.

IANS

 Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said the company has worked out a new comprehensive policy to address diversity and sexual harassment that became a great concern of Google employees.

In an email to Google workers, Pichai on Thursday admitted that Google has “not always gotten everything right in the past,” for which he felt “sincerely” sorry and vowed to make some changes, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pichai’s disclosure came after over 20,000 Google employees worldwide walked out last week in protest of sexual harassment at the company and its improper handling of sexual misbehaviour allegations against top executives.

Google “will provide more transparency on how we handle concerns. We’ll give better support and care to the people who raise them,” said the Google CEO.

He said Google will take more powerful steps to address sexual harassment, including making arbitration optional for individual sexual harassment and sexual assault claims.

“We’re revamping the way we handle and look into your concerns… we will update and expand our mandatory sexual harassment training,” he said.

“We will double down on our commitment to be a representative, equitable, and respectful workplace,” Pichai promised.

The new policy changes unveiled by Google have virtually met most of the requirements by Google protesters, except the one that demanded a place for an employee representative on the company’s board.

Organisers of last week’s massive protests called for more transparency in handling sexual harassment, employee empowerment, and inequality over pay and work opportunities.

The global walkout spread to many countries in Europe, North America and Asia, including Britain, Singapore, Japan, Germany, and Google’s headquarters in Mountain View in northern California.

 Ridiculing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “knowledge of economics”, the Congress on Thursday ripped into him for the “reckless” decision of demonetisation that it said wrecked the economy and consumed many lives.

On the second anniversary of the Modi’s 2016 decision to ban Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, the Congress launched a campaign “Destruction by Demonetisation” highlighting the havoc caused by the move and how it was a complete failure.

The party will also hold a nationwide protest on Friday.

A host of party leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came out in stringent criticism of demonetisation.

Calling it an “ill-fated” and “ill-thought” exercise, Singh said the scars and wounds of the decision were only getting more visible with time and its deeper ramifications were still unravelling.

He asked the government not to indulge in any further unorthodox, short-term economic measures that could cause more uncertainty in the economy and financial markets.

Singh said November 8 was a day to remember how economic misadventures can roil the nation for a long time and asked the government to restore certainty and visibility in economic policies.

“Today marks the second anniversary of the ill-fated and ill-thought demonetisation… The havoc that it unleashed on the Indian economy and society is now evident to everyone.

“It is often said that time is a great healer. But unfortunately, in the case of demonetisation, the scars and wounds of demonetisation are only getting more visible with time,” he said in a statement.

Singh said that beyond the steep drop in headline GDP growth numbers after demonetisation, the deeper ramifications of note ban were still unravelling.

“Small and medium businesses that are the cornerstone of India’s economy are yet to recover from the demonetisation shock,” he added.

“Notebandi (note ban) impacted every single person, regardless of age, gender, religion, occupation or creed.”

Addressing the media, former union minister and Congress leader Anand Sharma held Modi solely responsible for the note ban and called it a money laundering scheme that helped the BJP and its industrialist cronies.

“It was an arbitrary and reckless decision that led to economic disaster and misery, deaths of large number of citizens, loss of millions of jobs and wiping out of small traders and businesses,” said Sharma.

“The PM will never oblige with answer either to the media or Parliament. He is less than literate in economics and less knowledgeable in history. So he makes his own history and his own economics. He thinks he is wiser then (John Maynard) Keynes when it comes to economics because no PM in the world would do what he has done,” he said.

Sharma also said that Modi’s claims that the Indian economy was running on black money tarnished the country’s image globally.

The Congress leader also ridiculed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who on the day sought to justify demonetisation saying it was aimed at “formalising the economy”.

“The Finance Minister should stay away from defending the decision as he was never consulted before when it was taken. His defences are an insult to the people of the nation who suffered countless miseries.

Never before a finance minister has been reduced to an apologist of an arrogant Prime Minister,” said Sharma dismissing Jaitley’s arguments in support of demonetisation.

IANS

At least two dozen domestic and international flight arrivals and departures were hit after a large number of contract workers resorted to a flash strike at the Mumbai airport early on Thursday, officials said.

“Due to a sudden industrial situation at Mumbai Airport by Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) employees, some flights have got delayed. We are assessing the situation and all efforts are being made to minimize the delays or disruptions,” the national carrier tweeted.

To tackle the situation, the AI summoned the permanent employees to normalize the flight operations, especially the early morning departures which were delayed by around two hours.

According to AI, eight arrivals and 16 departures comprising domestic and international services were delayed by an average two hours due to the agitation, disrupting passenger schedules at the height of the Diwali festival.

The reasons for the unforeseen protest was not immediately clear, with speculation ranging from non-disbursement of Diwali bonus to reinstatement of sacked labourers.

IANS