Geneva, July 1 : Nearly half a million displaced Syrians have returned to their homes since the beginning of the year, mainly to find family members and check on property, the UN refugee agency said today.
The agency said it had seen “a notable trend of spontaneous returns to and within Syria in 2017.”
Since January, about 440,000 people who had been displaced within the war-ravaged country had returned to their homes, mainly in Aleppo, Hama, Homs and Damascus, Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the agency, known as the UNHCR, told reporters in Geneva.
In addition, around 31,000 refugees in neighbouring countries had also returned, he said, bringing to 260,000 the number of refugees who have returned to the country since 2015.
But Mahecic said this is a mere “fraction” of the five million Syrian refugees hosted in the region.
He said the main factors prompting the displaced to return home were “seeking out family members, checking on property, and, in some cases, a real or perceived improvement in security conditions in parts of the country.”
He said it was too early to say if the returns might be directly linked to a palpable drop in violence since Turkey agreed at talks in Astana in May with Russia and Iran, allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to establish four safe zones across Syria to ban flights and ensure aid drops.
But this week, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told the Security Council that since the May 4 deal, “violence is clearly down. Hundreds of Syrian lives continue to be spared every week, and many towns have returned to some degree of normalcy.”
Mahecic nonetheless cautioned that “while there is overall increased hope linked to the recent Astana and Geneva peace talks, UNHCR believes conditions for refugees to return in safety and dignity are not yet in place in Syria.”
“The sustainability of security improvements in many return areas is uncertain, and there remain significant risks of protection thresholds for voluntary, safe and dignified returns not being met in parts of the country,” he said.
“Access to displaced population inside Syria remains a key challenge,” he added.
But “given the returns witnessed so far this year and in light of a progressively increased number of returns”, the agency had begun scaling up its operations inside Syria to better be able address the needs of the returnees, he said.
Syria’s war has killed more than 320,000 people and forced millions from their homes since it began in March 2011.
Money parked by Indians in Switzerland’s banks nearly halved to 676 Swiss francs (about Rs 4,500 crore) in 2016 to hit a record low amid a continuing clampdown on the suspected black money stashed behind their famed secrecy walls.
In comparison, the total funds held by all foreign clients of Swiss banks somewhat rose to CHF 1.42 trillion or about Rs 96 lakh crore (from CHF 1.41 trillion a year ago).
The total funds held by Indians directly with Swiss banks stood at CHF 664.8 million at the end of 2016, while the same held through fiduciaries was nearly USD 11 million, as per the latest data published today by the country’s central banking authority SNB (Swiss National Bank).
The total money of Indians fell by 45 per cent during 2016 to CHF 675.75 million, marking the biggest ever yearly decline in such funds.
This included nearly CHF 377 million in form of customer deposits, about CHF 98 million owed to Indians through other banks and CHF 190 million in form of other ‘liabilities’.
The figures fell sharply across all categories last year, the SNB data showed.
This is the lowest amount of funds held by Indians in the Swiss banks ever since the Alpine nation began making the data public in 1987 and marks the third straight year of decline.
The funds held through fiduciaries or wealth managers alone used to be in billions till 2007 but has been falling amid fears of regulatory crackdown.
The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) at 2006-end, but has now come down to nearly one-tenth of that level in about a decade.
The quantum of these funds has been falling since then, except for in 2011 and in 2013 when Indians’ money had risen by over 12 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.
As per the available data since 1987, the earlier lowest ever figure was recorded in 1995 at CHF 723 million.
The latest data from Zurich-based SNB comes ahead of a new framework for automatic exchange of information between Switzerland and India to help check the black money menace.
While Switzerland has already begun sharing foreign client details on evidence of wrongdoing provided by India and some other countries, it has agreed to further expand its cooperation on India’s fight against black money with a new pact for automatic information exchange from next year.
There have been several rounds of discussions between Indian and Swiss government officials on the new framework and also for expediting the pending information requests about suspected illicit accounts of Indians in Swiss banks.
The funds, described by SNB as ‘liabilities’ of Swiss banks or ‘amounts due to’ their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate to the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in the safe havens of Switzerland.
SNB’s official figures also do not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.
There is a view that the Indians alleged to have parked their illicit money in Swiss banks in the past may have shifted the funds to other locations after a global clampdown began on the mighty banking secrecy practices in Switzerland.
Swiss banks have also said Indians have “few deposits” in Swiss banks compared to other global financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong amid stepped-up efforts to check the black money menace.
On directions of the Supreme Court, India has also constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe cases of alleged black money of Indians, including funds stashed abroad in places like Switzerland.
A number of strategies have been deployed by the government to combat the stash-funds menace, in both overseas and domestic domain, which include enactment of a new law to tackle stashing of black money abroad, amendments in the anti-money laundering Act and compliance windows for people to declare their hidden assets.
The Income Tax department had also detected over Rs 13,000 crore black money post investigations on global leaks about Indians stashing funds abroad and has launched prosecution against hundreds of entities, including those with accounts in Geneva branch of HSBC.
The taxmen had detected Rs 8,186 crore of undisclosed income against those whose names figured in the HSBC list that was obtained by India in 2011 through the French government.
Out of the total 628 cases under this list, the department got “actionable” evidence in 415 cases and assessments have been completed in 398 cases.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also begun taking action, including seizure of properties, of those named in the HSBC list under a new clause in the the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Earlier this month, Switzerland ratified automatic exchange of financial account information with India and 40 other jurisdictions to facilitate immediate sharing of details about suspected black money even as it sought strict adherence to confidentiality and data security.
Adopting the dispatch on introduction of the AEOI, a global convention for automatic information exchange on tax matters, the Swiss Federal Council said on June 16 that the implementation is planned for 2018 and the first set of data should be exchanged in 2019.
The council, which is the top governing body of the European nation, will soon notify the Indian government about the exact date from which the automatic exchange would begin.
As per the draft notification approved by the council, the decision is not subject to any referendum — which means there should be no further procedural delay in its implementation.
The issue of black money has been a matter of big debate in India and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by Indians.
Earlier in 2015, the money held by Indians in Swiss banks had fallen by nearly one-third to CHF 1,217.6 million (over Rs 8,000 crore).
At the end of 2015, the total funds held in Swiss banks by Indians directly stood at CHF 1,206.71 million (down from CHF 1,776 million a year ago), while the money held through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers was down at CHF 10.89 million (from CHF 37.92 million at 2014-end). The total stood at CHF 1,814 million at the end of 2014.
The total “amounts due to customers’ savings and deposit accounts” fell from CHF 425.8 million at 2015-end to CHF 376.97 million, while the money held through other banks declined from CHF 270.4 million to CHF 97.8 million (after more than doubling during the previous year).
The ‘other liabilities’ of Swiss banks towards Indian clients, which include funds held through securities etc, declined from CHF 510.4 million to CHF 190 million.
As per the SNB data, the total money held in Swiss banks by all their foreign clients from across the world however rose from CHF 1.41 trillion (USD 1.45 trillion or about Rs 98 lakh crore) to CHF 1.42 trillion (USD 1.48 trillion) in 2016.
The total assets of Swiss banks in India fell from CHF 4.8 billion in 2015 to CHF 3.9 billion in 2016. This does not include any tangible assets like real estate and properties, while the amount due to Swiss banks from their customers stood at about CHF 407 million (down from CHF 570 million in 2015).
London, Jun 29: A secondary school in north-west England has become the first in the UK to offer hijabs or headscarves worn by Muslims as part of the uniform for pupils.
Sir John Thursby Community College in Burnley, Lancashire, reacted to concerns that some hijabs were being worn incorrectly by introducing a uniform version.
However, the move has come under fire from some Muslim parents and pupils, who feel the uniform hijabs are uncomfortable and not modest enough.
They have launched an online petition, signed by 150 people, protesting against the lack of consultation over the new uniformed hijab.
“Unfortunately, there was very little consultation by parents or the girls attending the school. Consequently, a scarf designed by the school has been created. It is very tight and in some cases too short as some of the girls have long hair and so it defeats the object to wear it,” the petition reads.
It also questions the “real agenda” behind the move and if it is to “put girls off” wearing a headscarf.
Headmaster David Burton has written to parents to defend the policy and dismiss suggestions that the school is against headscarves as untrue.
“We are sorry that there have been suggestions that the school is against headscarves. This is not true. We respect fully the wishes of girls to wear a headscarf and we always have done,” he said.
“Students, staff and parents had expressed some concerns that some students were not wearing headscarves correctly although the rules had not changed on headscarves,” Burton said.
“We looked towards changing the uniform policy to include a uniform headscarf as we were aware that a change is needed to be considered. We started a consultation process in September and we are still collecting the views of parents.
Once we have collected these views we will be discussing them with governors,” he added.
Before the new policy, schoolgirls wanting to wear a headscarf were permitted to choose their own style as long as it was black. The same rule applies at other secondary schools in the Lancashire area, which has a significant Muslim population.
New Delhi, Jun 29: With two days left for roll out of GST, the Finance Ministry has started notifying various provisions of law relating to interest calculation, input tax credit and valuation.
Provisions in the Central GST Act (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST) Act and Union Territory GST Act and rules under them are being notified.
These include those relating to tax invoice, credit and debit notes, accounts and records, returns, payment of tax, refund, assessment and audit, advance ruling.
Also appeals and revisions, transitional provisions, anti-Profiteering and e-way rules have been notified which shall come into effect from July 1.
As per the notification, interest at 18 per cent is to be paid for delayed payment of tax, 24 per cent in case of excess claim of input credit or undue/excess reduction in output liability. Besides, interest at the rate of 6 per cent would accrue in case refund is withheld.
With regard to IGST, provision prescribing refund of 50 per cent of IGST on supplies to defence run CSD canteen has been notified. Also notified is those provisions relating to supplies of goods in respect of which no refund of unutilised input tax credit shall be allowed.
The Ministry has also notified the composition levy and has barred manufacturers of ice cream, pan masala and tobacco from paying tax under the scheme.
Under the composition scheme where the sales of businesses does not exceed Rs 75 lakh, manufacturers will have to pay 1 per cent of turnover as GST, traders 2.5 per cent and 0.5 per cent of turnover in state in case of other suppliers.
Besides, the Ministry has also notified 12 amendments to the CGST Rules.
Among other things, the amendments provide for cancellation of registration of a business for violation of anti-profiteering rules.
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be rolled out from July 1 and in the run up to the new indirect tax regime various provisions are being notified by the finance ministry.
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released a detailed document on learning outcomes and special emphasis has been paid to children with special needs.
The 128-page document is in three languages — Hindi, English and Urdu and instructs teachers on how to test students and what to expect out of them. A special mention has been added at the end of each section, subject-wise, which gives specific instructions on testing children with special needs. Different instructions have been given for testing children with different kinds of disabilities.
The document also says that, “accomplishment of learning outcomes by children with severe cognitive impairments (intellectually challenged) may be kept flexible, if need be.”
Among the general instructions for specially-disabled students are — giving them additional time and a suitable mode for successful completion of tests, modification of the curriculum because it represents specific difficulties for them.
It also says that accessible texts and material to suit their ages and levels of learning should be provide, along with using additional support of (Information and Communications Technology (ICT), video or digitised formats while testing these children.
Specific instructions have been outlined for children with visual impairment, hearing impairment and cognitive impairment, mental disability, keeping in mind their different needs. For example, a hearing impaired child might have a delay in linguistic growth, leading to lack of general vocabulary and technical vocabulary of Mathematics (words like reciprocal, linear etc.).
Keeping this in mind, teachers have been asked to test the child accordingly. Similarly, different instructions are given for other subjects as well.
The document that has been reviewed by a number of education experts, is meant for teachers, teacher-educators, as well as parents. The ministry of HRD had early this year announced that they would be testing students on the basis of learning outcomes. After a detailed consultation with various education experts and experts in the council, a document has been released.
The council has also prepared posters defining learning outcomes that would be pasted on the walls of school corridors.
Based on DNA report.
China justified the construction of a road in the Sikkim sector, saying the area “undoubtedly” is located on its side of the border as per the 1890 Sino-British Treaty.
“According to the treaty, ‘zhe’ is the ancient name of Sikkim,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.
“As per this treaty, the area over which the Indian army has raised objection is undoubtedly located on the Chinese side of the border,” he said.
The statement came a day after the Chinese military accused the Indian army of stopping the construction of the road in what it claims to be China’s “sovereign territory” in the Sikkim section of the India-China border.
Lu said the Sikkim segment of the China-India border was recognised by both China and India.
“Indian leaders, the Indian government-related documents, the Indian side in the Sino-Indian boundary issue Special Representatives meeting confirmed that the two sides signed the treaty in 1890, the ‘Sino-British treaty’ and the China- India boundary of Sikkim to have the direction of a consensus,” he said.
“Compliance with these treaties and documents is an international obligation that not to be shirked by the Indian side,” he added.
Last night a Chinese foreign ministry statement said “the Indian border guards crossed the boundary in the Sikkim section of the China-India border and entered the territory of China and obstructed normal activities of the Chinese frontier forces in the Donglang area recently, and the Chinese side has taken counter-measures.”
Earlier in the day, Lu said China lodged a diplomatic protest with India accusing Indian troops of “crossing the boundary” in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal.
He also asserted that it has shut the Nathu La pass entry for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar because of the border standoff.
Also a hard-hitting article posted on the website of the state-run Global Times tonight on the issue said, “Indian troops’ provocation brings disgrace to themselves” and they should be forced to retreat “by all necessary means”.
“The Indian government made no objection to the Sikkim section of the China-India border. Allegations of intrusions along the western section of the China-India border often emerge, but face-offs in the Sikkim section are rare. The Nathu La pass in Sikkim was reopened in 2006, because there is no border dispute between China and India over this area,” it said.
“It remains unclear whether this flare-up is the fault of low-level Indian troops or a tentative strategic move made by the Indian government,” it said.
“Whatever the motive is, China must stick to its bottom line. It must force the Indian troops to retreat to the Indian side by all means necessary and China’s road construction mustn’t be stopped,” it said.
As the China-India borderline hasn’t been demarcated completely and the two countries have a different understanding about the Line of Actual Control, troops from both sides often stray across in some areas, it said.
“However, almost all frictions are fed to the Indian media by the Indian military which they hype time and again”.
“China avoids making an issue of the border disputes, which has indulged India’s unruly provocations. This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules,” it said.
“India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues. It lags far behind China in terms of national strength and the so-called strategic support for it from the US is superficial,” the article said, adding China has no desire to confront India.
“Maintaining friendly ties with New Delhi is Beijing’s basic policy. But this must be based on mutual respect. It’s not time for India to display arrogance toward China,” it said
New Delhi, Jun 28: The Indian shooting squad today finished a creditable second at the ISSF Junior World Championship with three gold, two silver and three bronze medals in Suhl, Germany.
China topped the tally in the rifle/pistol tournament with 19 medals, including eight gold.
India picked up a gold and silver in the team and individual sections of the 25m pistol junior men’s event, as well as the team bronze in the 25m pistol junior women’s event to shore up their tally on the fourth and final day of competitions.
The Test events will be played out tomorrow in the mixed format in 10m air rifle and air pistol disciplines.
Anish Bhanwala won three medals, one of each colour, and his individual silver on the final day helped India win their third gold of the competition and his second personally.
On day one, Anish had claimed gold in the 25m standard pistol men’s event.
Yesterday, he teamed up with Anhad Jawanda and Shivam Shukla to total 1733 in the 25m pistol and win gold.
The Koreans were a point behind India in winning silver, while China were a point behind the Koreans in bronze.
Anish also won an individual silver in the event, finishing behind Pavlo Korostylov of Ukraine, who shot a world record-equalling score of 590, one ahead of Anish’s 589.
China’s Jueming Zhang picked up the bronze.
In the 25m pistol junior women’s event, India’s Muskan shot 578 to qualify for the eight-woman final in sixth position. In the final she fought hard, but a score of 24 out of 40 shots saw her miss out on a medal and finish in fourth place.
She, however, combined with Chinki Yadav (571- 16th in individual competition) and Gauri Sheoran (562- 34th in individual competition) to win the bronze medal in the event with a total of 1711. China, with 1734, claimed the gold, while Thailand bagged silver.
Beijing, Jun 27 (PTI) China today lodged a protest with India over the alleged “crossing of boundary” by its troops in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal, as Beijing warned that future visits of Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar will depend on the resolution of the standoff.
“Our position to uphold our territorial sovereignty is unwavering. We hope the Indian side can work with China in the same direction and immediately withdraw the personnel who have overstepped and trespassed into Chinese border,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here.
“We have lodged solemn representations in Beijing and New Delhi to elaborate on our solemn position,” he said.
About the fate of the pilgrims headed to Kailash and Mansarovar, who had returned to Gangtok after denial of permission by China to enter Tibet, Lu said their visit was called off because of security reasons.
He also linked future visits of pilgrims to India “withdrawing the troops” from the area.
“As to Indian pilgrims’ journey through Nathu La pass at Sikkim section, I think the Indian side is very clear about this. For a long time Chinese government has made enormous efforts to provide the necessary convenience to those Indian pilgrims,” Lu said.
“But recently the Indian border personnel trespassed Chinese border to obstruct our construction, we have taken necessary actions. Out of security consideration we have to put off the pilgrimage by the Indian pilgrims through the Chinese pass,” he said.
“On the upcoming actions, we have to depend on what the Indian side will do. They have to take action to improve the security situation,” Lu said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang last night said, “China urges India to immediately withdraw its border guards that have crossed the boundary and have a thorough investigation of this matter.”
“The Indian border guards crossed the boundary in the Sikkim section of the China-India border and entered the territory of China, and obstructed normal activities of Chinese frontier forces in the Donglang area recently, and the Chinese side has taken counter-measures,” he said in a statement.
His statement came after the Chinese Defence Ministry accused the Indian troops of objecting to building a road in what it claimed to be Chinese territory.
The dispute over construction of a road was apparently the reason why China stopped a batch of 47 Indian pilgrims from crossing through Nathu La border in Sikkim into Tibet to visit Kailash Mansarovar.
Chinese defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said yesterday that recently China has begun the construction of a road in Donglang region, but was stopped by Indian troops crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
In his statement, Geng said that the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary has been defined by treaties, noting that the Indian government has repeatedly confirmed in writing that there is no objection to it.
China urges India to respect boundary treaties and China’s territorial sovereignty to maintain peace and stability at the China-India boundary, Geng said.
In view of the above event, for safety reasons, China has to put off arranging for the Indian pilgrims to enter China through the Nathu La pass, Geng said, adding that China has informed India of its decision through diplomatic channels.
The Nathu La Pass sits 4,545 metres above the sea level and is wedged between Yadong County in Xigaze Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, and Sikkim.
Yesterday, Geng had also said that the foreign ministries of both the countries were in talks over this issue.
The Nathu La route, which is the second route for the Kailash yatra, was launched with fanfare by the two countries in 2015.
Till 2015, the yatra (journey) was being organised by External Affairs Ministry only through the Lipu Pass in Himalays connecting the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand with the old trading town of Taklakot in Tibet.
The Nathu La route enabled pilgrims to travel 1500 km long route from Nathu La to Kailash by buses.
The route through Nathu La reduced the hardship and journey time enabling many more pilgrims, in particular aged pilgrims, to undertake the yatra.
Geng’s statement comes after tension mounted in a remote area of Sikkim following a scuffle between the personnel of the Indian Army and the PLA, leading to Chinese troops damaging bunkers on the Indian side of the border.
The incident happened in the first week of June near the Lalten post in the Doka La general area in Sikkim after a face-off between the two forces, which triggered tension along the Sino-Indian frontier.
After the scuffle, the PLA entered Indian territory and damaged two make-shift bunkers of the Army.
Following, the India-China war of 1962, the area has been under the Indian Army and the ITBP, which is the border guarding force and has a camp 15 km from the international border.
Melbourne, Jun 27 : Indians have become the second highest number of migrants living in Australia at 163,000 since 2011 followed by people of Chinese origin, according to the latest census data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest figures of the country’s fast changing population and demographics that has recorded 1.3 million new migrants settled in Australia since 2011 from around 180 countries, including India and China.
According to official data, the Census 2016 recorded new migrants from India at 163,000 since 2011, emerging as the most common countries of birth of new arrivals after China at 191,000 new migrants.
The census updated the Australia’s population at 24.4 million people in 2016 from over 21.5 million in 2011.
It said that of all Australian residents, just more than a quarter of people (26 per cent) said they were born overseas, with England remaining the most common country of birth other than Australia.
However, the census noted that for the first time, China, India, and the Philippines topped the list as the country of birth other than Australia for the Australian residents.
The proportion of people born in China and India rose since 2011 from 6.0 per cent to 8.3 per cent, and 5.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent, respectively.
New South Wales remained the most populous state, with 7,480,228 people counted, ahead of Victoria that has 5,926,624 people and Queensland with 4,703,193 people.
However, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) experienced the largest population growth of any state or territory over the past five years, adding over 40,000 new residents, an increase of 11 per cent.
While the majority of migrants are settled in Sydney and Melbourne, most Kiwis opted to call Queensland their home, with over one in three of the 98,000 New Zealanders who have arrived in Australia since 2011 settling in the Sunshine State.
Australia also remained a predominantly religious country, with 60 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation.
However, the proportion of people reporting no religion rose to 30 per cent in 2016 up from 22 per cent five years ago and nearly double the 16 per cent in 2001.
In the state of Victoria, more than one in four Victorians, around 28 per cent, reported being born overseas which rose from 26 per cent in 2011.
England tied with India for the most common country of birth outside Australia, with both countries accounting for 2.9 per cent of Victoria s population, official data said.
It revealed that the diversity of NSW, with more than a one in four (27.6 per cent) of the State’s residents born overseas, up from 24.3 per cent in 2011.
In 2016, Chinese living in NSW stood at 234,508 and was the leading country of birth outside Australia, followed by England at 226,564 people and India at 143,459 people.
For the state of Queensland, New Zealand (4.3 per cent) remained the most commonly reported country of birth outside Australia at 4.3 per cent, followed by England at 3.8 per cent and India at 1.0 per cent.
The Census also found that there are 664,473 additional people aged 65 and over since 2011.
Paris, Jun 27 : President Emmanuel Macron said today France refuses to recognise Russia’s “annexation” of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
Speaking after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Paris, Macron said: “France is committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty with its recognised borders.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday visited Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, in a trip that Kiev condemned as a violation of its sovereignty.
Western powers accuse Russia of failing to honour its commitments under the Minsk accords framework for ending the violence between government forces and Kremlin-backed rebels in Ukraine’s east.
EU leaders agreed last week to extend stringent economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, saying Moscow had failed to meet its commitments on the ceasefire in Ukraine.
The French foreign ministry said OSCE observers in Ukraine were being subjected to “unacceptable intimidation and obstacles”.
When Macron met Putin in May, shortly after the new French leader took office, he admitted the two had “disagreed on a number of things”.
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.