Brussels, Jun 27 : The EU’s powerful anti-trust regulator will slap Google with a record fine as early as tomorrow in another European blow against a US tech giant, sources said.
Led by hard-charging European Commission competition chief Margrethe Vestager, the EU will impose a massive penalty against Google that would break the previous record of 1.06 billion euros set in 2009 against Intel, the US chipmaker.
More importantly for Google, Brussels will demand that the US tech giant change its business practices to meet the EU’s concerns.
The decision, expected tomorrow or on Wednesday, comes a year after Vestager shocked the world and angered the Obama administration with an order that Apple repay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland.
Sources close to the matter said Google’s fine would range 1.1-2.0 billion euros. While an EU record, this is well below the maximum possible of about 8.0 billion euros or 10 percent of Google’s total revenue last year.
Brussels accuses Google of giving its own online shopping services top priority in search results to the detriment of other price comparison services.
The case is one of three against Google and of several against blockbuster US companies including Starbucks, Apple, Amazon and McDonalds.
In the other Google cases, the EU is examining Google’s AdSense advertising service and its Android mobile phone software.
If confirmed, the fine would come after a long period in which the two sides tried to settle the case amicably.
The cases have stoked tensions with Washington and could now face the wrath of US President Donald Trump, who won office on his “America First” slogan.
“We continue to engage constructively with the European Commission and we believe strongly that our innovations in online shopping have been good for shoppers, retailers and competition,” said Mark Jansen, a spokesman for Google.
The European Commission refused to comment.
The Commission, which polices EU competition policy, launched an initial investigation into Google in 2010 following complaints from rivals such as Microsoft and Trip Advisor that it favoured its own shopping services when customers ran searches.
Claims that practices by Google Shopping harm competition “are wrong as a matter of fact, law, and economics,” Google’s general counsel Kent Walker wrote in response to the EU last year.
Vestager’s predecessor, Joaquin Almunia, made three attempts to resolve the dispute but in each case intense pressure by national governments, rivals and privacy advocates scuppered the effort.
Washington, Jun 25 : A Kashmiri Hindu group today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recognise Kashmiri Pandits as internally displaced people and ensure that the property left behind by them in the Valley is protected and illegal occupants removed.
“If Kashmiri Hindus lose their temples, houses and property, their ethnic cleansing will become permanent,” Kashmiri Hindu Foundation said in a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Modi.
“Kashmiri Hindus should be recognised as internally displaced people and a declaration should be made to this effect. Implement a plan to ensure that property left behind by the refugees is preserved and protected and illegal occupants removed,” it said.
This plan should also cover those Kashmiri Hindus who have been forced to sign documents of sale under any kind of duress, the foundation said.
“Our places of worship have been burnt, vandalised and damaged. We strongly urge the government of India and the state government that our temples and cultural institutions in the Valley be secured, preserved and protected,” said Florida- based Deepak Ganju, head of the foundation.
She was here to attend the community event being held in the honour of Modi.
“Financial and state support for our socio-cultural- religious organisations, that we have managed to run even in our exile, is required urgently. State recognition should be given to Kashmiri Pandit writers, artists and social activists and grants should be provided for them to further their work.
“Centres need to be built for the preservation of thousands of years of our history, culture, tradition and works of art,” it said.
Ganju said 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits have been forced to leave valley en-masse.
“About 1,200 killed and it goes on with just a few thousand remaining in the Valley,” Ganju added.
Washington, Jun 25 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi was today greeted by a group of people from the Indian community who were waiting for him outside a high-security hotel here where he is staying.
Modi arrived in the American capital today for his first bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump.
A small group of people from the Indian community were waiting outside Willard InterContinental to catch a glimpse of the Indian prime minister.
As Modi’s motorcade arrived at the hotel, he got out of his vehicle and walked up to the group of people, waving his hand.
The Indian community members burst into loud cheers and chanted “Modi-Modi” as Modi walked up to them.
During his three-day visit, Prime Minister Modi will also interact with about 20 leading American CEOs followed by an Indian-American community event in Washington DC suburb of Virginia.
The programme is likely to be attended by about 600 members of the community.
Trump will host Modi at the White House tomorrow afternoon and the two leaders would spend about five hours together in various settings beginning with their bilateral discussion, delegation level talks, a reception and a working dinner, the first of its kind hosted by this administration.
Lahore, Jun 25 : At least 123 people were charred to death and over 100 others injured after an oil tanker overturned and burst into flames on a highway in Bahawalpur district of Pakistan’s Punjab Province.
The tanker exploded after fuel leaking from its damaged container caught fire. The blaze from the oil spill engulfed scores of residents who had rushed to collect leaking fuel.
Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmad Khan said at least 123 people were killed and over 100 others injured in the explosion.
The tanker was on way to Lahore from Karachi when the driver lost control and crashed. Nearby villagers rushed toward the overturned tanker with cans to take the leaking fuel.
The fire brigade arrived on the site of the incident shortly after the blaze started and rescue operations were initiated.
Two fire engines battled the fire and eventually doused it, local media said.
At least six cars and 12 motorcycles were burnt in the blaze.
The injured were transferred to District Headquarters Hospital and Bahawal Victoria Hospital, rescue officials said.
Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered the Army to assist the civil administration in the rescue effort.
Army helicopters have been deployed in the rescue operations.
“COAS expresses grief on losses in oil tanker incident.
Directed provision of full assistance to civil administration in rescue (and) relief efforts,” Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major Gen Asif Ghafoor tweeted.
“Army Aviation helicopters sent for evacuation of casualties to hospitals (and) burn centres. Hospitals placed on high alert,” he added.
Ecommerce operators and TDS deductors will be able to register with GST Network beginning June 25, when the portal re-opens for fresh registration.
Also, existing excise, service tax and VAT assessees will get another chance to migrate to the GSTN portal as registration for them too opens on Sunday next and will remain open for three months.
The GSTN portal will now start accepting fresh registrations from June 25.
The registration will also start for GST practitioners, Tax Deductors at Source (TDS) and e-commerce operators, which are required to collect tax at source, GSTN said in a statement.
GSTN, the company providing IT backbone for the new tax regime, will offer another opportunity to existing tax payers to migrate, five days before the rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Out of the 81 lakh existing assessees, over 65.5 lakh have already migrated to the portal.
Registration with the GSTN is necessary for doing business in the GST regime as businesses will have to upload monthly supply data as well as file return forms on this portal.
“People should not panic. If you are left out, you will get another opportunity because the law says anybody who is registered under taxes which are subsumed under GST if they have a valid PAN then they will be given a valid registration,” GSTN Chairman Navin Kumar said.
The portal will also be opened for enrolment of GST practitioners on June 25.
The GSTN portal was open from November 8 till April 30 and then again for 15 days in June for enrolment of existing taxpayers.
It will now be open again from June 25th for a period of 3 months for existing taxpayers registered under Central Excise/Service Tax/VAT etc, the statement said.
Beijing, Jun 24 : China reaffirmed that there is no change in its stance on the admission of non-NPT states into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, marring India’s chances of entering the elite club during its crucial meeting in Bern.
“As for non-NPT counties being admitted to the group, I can tell you there is no change to China’s position,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing.
He was replying to a question whether there is any change in China’s stand at the plenary meeting currently taking place in the Swiss capital, Bern.
“I want to point out that the NSG has clear rules on admission of new members and the Seoul plenary made clear mandates on how to deal with this issue. With these rules and mandates, we need to act as they dictate,” he said.
“As for the criteria regarding admitting new members, as far as I know this plenary meeting in Switzerland will follow mandate of the Seoul plenary and uphold principle of decision upon consensus and continue to discuss various dimensions like technology, law, legal and political aspects of non-NPT countries admission the group,” he said.
China’s repeated stonewalling of India’s membership bid in the NSG has become a major stumbling block in bilateral relations.
After India’s application for entry into the 48-member elite group which controls the nuclear trade, Pakistan, the all-weather ally of China, too had applied with the tacit backing of Beijing.
While India, which is backed by the US and a number of western countries has garnered the support of a majority of the group’s members, China has stuck to its stand that new members should sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), making India’s entry difficult as the group is guided by the consensus principle. India is not a signatory to the NPT.
After a series of meetings, China has backed a two-step approach which stipulates that the NSG members first need to arrive at a set of principles for the admission of non-NPT states into the NSG and then move forward with discussions of specific cases.
The Bern meeting is being regarded significant as it is taking place after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly took up the issue of India s accession to NSG with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their recent meeting at Astana on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
Asked about the cooperation between India and the US on the Indo-Pacific region, including the disputed South China Sea which was expected to figure during Prime Minister Narendra Modi s visit to US, Geng said the situation in the South China Sea is cooling down.
“With the concerted efforts of China and ASEAN countries the situation there is cooling down. We hope other countries especially non-regional countries can respect efforts by the regional countries to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea and can play constructive role in this regard,” he said.
New Delhi, Jun 24 : The sixth edition of International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup will be held in Vashi (Navi Mumbai) on June 24 and 25 with 150 participants.
The City Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) s CIDCO Exhibition Cenre in Vashi will once again play host for the World Cup.
The Italy-based, IFSC has 86 member federations across five continents. Following the success of the World Cup in 2016 with over 8000 plus people in attendance at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre, the IFSC Governing Council voted to award India its second IFSC Climbing World Cup for 2017.
The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) headed by Col.
Chauhan is the host of the World Cup in India, with efforts being coordinated by Brig. Yadav, Chairman, Sport Climbing, IMF West Zone.
The IMF has given the Mumbai-based Girivihar Mountaineering Club the responsibility to organise the event.
IMF President Col Chauhan said:”Sport Climbing has grown in popularity in India over the last few years, simultaneously with the increase of climbing walls across the country. Now that it has been granted the status of an Olympic sport we are confident that there will be an even bigger spike in the interest levels.
“Bringing down the world Cup of climbing for the second year in a row and is testament to our belief of the sport only becoming bigger in the country. We will work closely with Girivihar to ensure that the tournament is bigger and better than last year.
New Delhi : “Why should you do away with re- evaluation?” This was a query put to the CBSE by the Delhi High Court after being shown answer sheets where correct responses to questions had been awarded zero marks.
A bench of justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and A K Chawla asked the CBSE to explain such “apparent errors” in evaluation, saying if it happens with only one student, then too that person’s career would be put at stake.
The remark by the court came in response to the claim of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), represented by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, that the number of errors in evaluation were minuscule, which is why re-evaluation was done away with.
Not convinced by the CBSE’s argument, the court asked it, whether, for an instance, one can rely on evaluation by a Maths teacher who cannot even correctly total the marks awarded.
This assumes significance as there were news reports recently which said that the CBSE had made errors in totalling of marks awarded to several students in various subjects, including Maths, and the mistakes were brought out when re- verification was opted for.
The bench asked the Board to file on record its governing body and examination committee’s reasoning behind the decision of October last year and listed the matter for hearing on June 23.
It also asked the CBSE to explain how zero marks were awarded to one of the students when the answer was correct as per the marking scheme.
The court’s observations came while hearing several pleas by students, who gave the board exams this year, against the CBSE’s decision to scrap its re-evaluation policy.
The students have also sought parity with an Orissa High Court order directing CBSE to re-evaluate the answer sheets of 150 students of that state.
The Orissa High Court order had come after a CBSE lawyer there had submitted that the re-evaluation policy was still in existence.
However, before the Delhi High Court another CBSE lawyer said the statement made before the Orissa High Court was incorrect and the board is going to appeal against the order directing re-evaluation of the answer sheets.
Today the CBSE told the Delhi High Court that the Orissa High Court would be setting up a special bench to hear the board’s plea.
United Nations : India’s population could surpass that of China’s around 2024, two years later than previously estimated, and is projected to touch 1.5 billion in 2030, according to a UN forecast.
The World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that currently China with 1.41 billion inhabitants and India with 1.34 billion remain the two most populous countries, comprising 19 and 18 per cent of the total global population.
“In roughly seven years, or around 2024, the population of India is expected to surpass that of China,” the report said.
The 2017 Revision of World Population Prospects is the 25th round of official UN population estimates and projections.
In its 24th round of estimates released in 2015, it was projected that the population of India will surpass that of China’s by 2022.
The new estimates released here today said that in 2024, India and China are expected to have roughly a population of 1.44 billion each. After that, India s population is projected to continue growing for several decades to around 1.5 billion in 2030 and approaching 1.66 billion in 2050, while the population of China is projected to remain stable until the 2030s, after which it may begin a slow decline.
India s population may eventually see a decline in the half century after 2050 to 1.51 billion by 2100 but it will still be the most populous country in the world.
In India, life expectancy at birth will be 71 years in 2025-2030, growing to 74.2 years in 2045-2050. The under-five mortality rate will decline from 32.3 deaths under age five per 1,000 live births in 2025-2030 to 18.6 in 2045-2050.
The report said the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.
“With roughly 83 million people being added to the world s population every year, the upward trend in population size is expected to continue, even assuming that fertility levels will continue to decline, it said.
Ten countries are expected to account collectively for more than half of the world s projected population increase over the period 2017-2050: India, Nigeria, Congo, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United States, Uganda, Indonesia and Egypt.
Among the ten largest countries worldwide, Nigeria is growing the most rapidly. Consequently, the population of Nigeria, currently the world s 7th largest, is projected to surpass that of the US and become the third largest country in the world shortly before 2050.
Further, large and persistent economic and demographic asymmetries between countries are likely to remain key drivers of international migration for the foreseeable future. Between 2015 and 2050, the top net receivers of international migrants (more than 100,000 annually) are projected to be the US, Germany, Canada, UK, Australia and Russia.
The countries projected to be net senders of more than 100,000 migrants annually include India, Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and Indonesia.
The report said that in 2010-2015, around 46 per cent of the world s population lived in intermediate-fertility countries, where women have on average between 2.1 and 5 births over a lifetime.
Intermediate-fertility countries are found in many regions, with the largest being India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico and the Philippines.
In 2045-2050, it is expected that slightly less than a third of the world s population will live in countries with fertility in this range. By that time, most of the world’s population will be living in countries with relatively low levels of fertility, where women bear fewer than 2.1 children on average.
The report highlights that a reduction in the fertility level results not only in a slower pace of population growth but also in an older population. Compared to 2017, the number of persons aged 60 or above is expected to more than double by 2050 and to more than triple by 2100, rising from 962 million globally in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050 and 3.1 billion in 2100.
“Population ageing is projected to have a profound effect on societies, underscoring the fiscal and political pressures that the health care, old-age pension and social protection systems of many countries are likely to face in the coming decades, it said.
Substantial improvements in life expectancy have occurred in recent years. Globally, life expectancy at birth has risen from 65 years for men and 69 years for women in 2000-2005 to 69 years for men and 73 years for women in 2010-2015.
New Delhi: Industry association Assocham urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the tightening of H1B visa rules with US President Donald Trump during their meeting next week.
The chamber said that the prime minister should push India’s case by highlighting that American corporations enjoy liberal market access in India while repatriating profits back home.
In his first visit to the US after the new administration took over, Modi will hold talks with Trump on June 26.
“Yes, they (US firms) do create jobs for Indians, but also repatriate billions of dollars as profits and India is fine with it.
“Thus, it is absolutely unfair to target Indian firms which are facing increasing pressure in the US through different non-trade measures like visa fee and other unrelated levies,” Assocham said.
India gives much more market access to the world than the country enjoys elsewhere, the chamber said, asserting that the US corporates are immensely benefiting by doing business with India and Indian companies and that must be conveyed to the US administration.
“It is a matter of concern that in the name of America First, restrictions are sought to be slapped on Indian IT firms, which are creating jobs in the US as well,” it added.
The chamber expressed concern over the proposed visa restrictions which will hit Indian IT professionals in the US.
“In a technology driven and free market global economy, governed by rule-based multilateral World Trade Organisation, major trading partners should abstain from unilateral restrictions on flow of trade in goods and services,” it said.
Dhaka: The death toll today rose to 163 in Bangladesh’s landslides as five more persons, including three children, were killed due to incessant rains in two districts.
The fresh landslides occurred in the wee hours in Khagrachhari and Moulvibazar districts.
Three children died in Bangladesh’s south-eastern Khagrachhari district, Dhaka Tribune reported.
“The incident took place due to the torrential rain early today. The death toll might increase,” a police official was quoted as saying by daily.
A woman and her daughter were killed in a landslide in north-eastern Moulvibazar district this morning, the report said.
Afia Begum, 50, from Moddhodimai village and her daughter Fahmida Begum, 13, were killed after their house was crushed under a landslide mass from a hillock, a local official said.
Locals recovered the dead bodies of the duo removing the landslide mass.
It has been raining hard in the district since yesterday submerging most of the roads.
With the addition of these two new landslides, the death toll from landslides in the country has risen to 163.
Earlier last week, the southeastern Rangmathi, Chittagong and Bandarban hill districts were worst affected regions in Bangladesh where incessant monsoon rains have triggered a series a landslides and caused water-logging in many parts, besides submerging a number of villages.
The disaster-hit Rangmathi district, which borders Mizoram and Tripura, is the worst hit among other district sand has alone seen 116 deaths.
The death toll from the landslide stands at 32 in Chittagong, six in Bandarban, two in Cox’s Bazar and one in Khagrachhari, according to the disaster management ministry.
Densely populated Bangladesh is battered by storms, floods and landslides every rainy season but this year’s rain is the worst since 2007 when landslides killed 127 people in the port city.
Experts and environmentalists attribute the latest spell of landslides to illegal hill cuts exposing the sandy hills to quick erosion during protracted rains.
The landslides triggered by the monsoon rains came two weeks after Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh, leaving eight people dead and damaging hundreds of homes.
Online pop-up advertisements make readers lose their concentration by causing a significant drop in brain activity, a study has found. Researchers from Pomeranian University of Technology in Poland studied five Polish men and one woman, between the age of 20 and 25 years. They were instructed to read ten short pages of text on a computer screen, after which they had to answer questions about the content.
During the reading process, their attention was distracted when online advertisements randomly appeared on screen. The brain activity of each participant was measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG).
Researchers observed each participant’s brain signal patterns and also analysed how consistent these were across the different trials, and how they correlated with those of others. They noted two main effects for most subjects. First, the presence of online advertisements influenced participants’ concentration. This was deduced from the significant drop in beta activity that was observed in the frontal/prefrontal cortical areas.
This could indicate that the presentation of the advertisement induced a drop in concentration levels, researchers said. The appearance of the advertisement also induced changes in the frontal/prefrontal asymmetry index. However, the direction of this change differed among subjects, in that for some it dipped, and for others it increased. Researchers believe that the participants’ response to the advertisement might be influenced by their motivation predisposition.
“If the subject is more ‘approach’ oriented, the changes in the asymmetry index might reflect growing activity in the left brain hemisphere,” said Izabela Rejer from Pomeranian University of Technology
“If, on the other hand, the subject is more ‘withdraw’ oriented, these changes might reflect the growing activity in the right hemisphere,” Rejer added.