17th Feb : Today's Important NEWS !!!!!!!

1)Ukraine’s opposition forms parallel government

Ups the ante in confrontation with PresidentUkraine’s opposition has announced forming a parallel government, upping the ante in its confrontation with President Viktor Yanukovych.Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a leader of the Batkivshchyna Party, said he had turned down Mr. Yanukovych’s offer to appoint him Prime Minister and that opposition leaders reached a joint decision to form their own government.“My reply to Yanukovych is this: I’m not to be bought over, Mr. President, like you buy your stooges,” Mr. Yatsenyuk told a rally in Maidan, the Independence Square, on Sunday.

2)Reversing roles in U.S.-China ‘marriage of convenience’

Stephen Roach proposes to remake the two largest economies on the globe, U.S.’s and China’s. For decades, he writes, the United States and China relied too much on a “marriage of convenience” that guaranteed China a huge market for its exports. In exchange, China gave American consumers a cornucopia of inexpensive products, while creating a willing buyer of the U.S. government’s swollen debt. But that marriage has played out, Mr. Roach says; it has warped the two economies, leaving them ill-equipped for further growth.

3)We will have fewer, but bigger bets

Looking at categories that are replicable in emerging markets, says Marico CEO
Home-grown fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) player Marico is planning to forge ahead with its new, value-added products. The company, which is a market leader in coconut oil with its Parachute brand and cooking oil with Saffola, had bought Paras Pharmaceuticals’ personal care products business from Reckitt Benckiser in 2012 for around Rs.700 crore. With a portfolio of products targeting youth, Marico has now enlarged its focus, and is looking to compete with the multi-nationals as also take the products to overseas markets. Saugata Gupta , CEO, Marico, spoke to The Hindu about the company’s plans to stay ahead in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

4)Caution rules on expansion

There is no immediate respite on the horizon for the country’s organised retailers, with growth likely to remain weak for the third consecutive year, although the final figure for 2013-14, at 11-12 per cent, would be marginally better than 10 per cent recorded in 2012-13.What’s worse, muted consumer sentiment is likely to result in only moderate improvement in retailer revenue growth in 2014-15 too. Consequently, the focus has shifted from network expansions to store-level profitability. Added to this is uncertainty on foreign direct investment (FDI) and the burgeoning threat from online retail.Within organised retail, the toughest nut to crack will be food and grocery, although low organised retail penetration (ORP) has made the food and grocery vertical ‘too big to ignore’ for organised retailers. This vertical is among the most challenging, as food and grocery products fetch the lowest gross margins, which is why this vertical takes the longest to attain a break-even at the store level and profitability is impacted.

5)The economy waits for better news

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released the advance estimates of national income for 2013-14. The economy is slated to grow by 4.9 per cent during the current year. A detailed analysis of growth trends in different sectors —agriculture, industry and services — has been made to support the overall GDP growth estimate.The purpose of the advance estimate is to give the Finance Minister some insight into the current state of the economy and, therefore, help in the Union Budget formulation. This year, of course, there will not be a regular budget, but only a vote on account on February 17.The performance of the economy, however, has a special significance in an election year. Much before the formal announcement of elections, it is becoming clear that economic matters will matter most in the voters’ calculations.

6)New Zealand 192 & 571/6 (189.0 ov)India 438

New Zealand lead by 325 runs with 4 wickets remaining