1)Congress loses ally, BJP gains
TRS rules out alliance with Congress; DMDKin BJP camp
While the Congress lost the possibility of gaining an important ally in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Andhra Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party clinched a crucial electoral deal with the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam in neighbouring Tamil Nadu on Saturday.After first turning down a proposal for merger with the Congress, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao ruled out an alliance with the party in the coming elections. He, however, expressed his willingness to support the Congress if it was in a position to form a government at the Centre.There was no question of any alliance because the Congress had denigrated the TRS with ‘let them come, we will consider’ remarks, Mr. Rao said at a press conference on Saturday after a meeting of the party’s election committee to pick up candidates for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. It was decided to release 65-70 names for Assembly and 10 for Lok Sabha elections in the first phase on Monday.Expressing his willingness to enter into a pact with the CPI and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, which he called “our party,” Mr. Rao said the objective of the TRS was to form a government in Telangana. Mr. Rao cited a recent survey by NDTV, which gave the TRS 11 Lok Sabha seats, the Congress five and the MIM one, to indicate that there was no alternative to the TRS and the Congress in Telangana. He, however, appealed to people to put the Telangana government in the “safe hands” of the TRS as the Congress had done precious little to develop the region in the 10 years of its rule.Seven TDP MLAs joined the TRS in the last few days and seven more, according to him, are waiting in the wingsMr. Rao earlier told a meeting of party workers that it would be a showdown between the TRS and the Congress henceforth.While the Congress fortunes dipped in Hyderabad, the BJP found cause for hope in Chennai by piecing together an alliance with the DMDK led by actor Vijayakant. Two other regional parties, the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, are already committed to seat adjustments with the BJP.
2)Modi to contest from Varanasi
Overcoming protracted wrangling over seat allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced that the party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi while party president Rajnath Singh would be shifted from Ghaziabad to Lucknow.The party leadership succeeded in mollifying senior leader and sitting Varanasi MP Murli Manohar Joshi to shift to Kanpur. Similarly, another senior leader from U.P., Lalji Tandon, has had to vacate his Lucknow seat for his party chief. Both were reluctant to do so.Mr. Modi, however, may have to contend with Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal in Varanasi.“Mr. Kejriwal is most likely to contest Lok Sabha election against Mr. Modi in Varanasi,” AAP’s member of Political Affairs Committee Manish Sisodia told The Hindu here on Saturday. “The PAC will take the final call,” he, however, added.The announcements were made late on Saturday night after a marathon meeting of the high-powered Central Election Committee, reflecting internal differences and rift among the top leadership.Among the other prominent names who figure in the list of 98, of which 55 are from U.P., are the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Varun Gandhi from Sultanpur, Kirron Kher from Chandigarh, Shatrughan Sinha from Patna Sahib and Maneka Gandhi from Pilibhit. Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi will be the party candidate from New Delhi, while Rao Inderjit will contest from Gurgaon.Mr. Jaitley, who has emerged as the chief political manager of Mr. Modi, will be trying his luck from Amritsar. It will be the first ever Lok Sabha election for Mr. Jaitley.
3)Congress leaders hit out at Pawan; Chiru cautious
Differing with his brother on reasons for bifurcation, Chiru says no force can bury Congress
A day after actor Pavan Kalyan’s scathing attack on the Congress during the launch of his Jana Sena Party, senior Congress leaders hit out at the star on Saturday. His brother, former Union Minister K. Chiranjeevi, however, was cautious in his reaction.Mr. Chiranjeevi differed with his brother’s views that the Congress was responsible for the division of the State. He said the Congress took the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh only after all the parties had given their nod. He said it pained him when his brother accused the Congress of dividing the State. He went on to say that no force could bury the Congress.‘His personal decision’On the Jana Sena, he said launching a new party was Mr. Kalyan’s personal decision. Stating that Mr. Kalyan did not discuss the launch of the party with him, he said it has to seen as how Mr. Kalyan would run the new party. He hastened to add that he saw some drive in his brother to do something for society.Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy dismissed Mr. Kalyan’s outburst as childish behaviour. “He delivered cinema dialogues but why did he remain silent all these years when the demand for Telangana was at its peak,” he asked.TPCC vice-president Md. Ali Shabbir compared the launch of Jana Sena Party to screening of a two-hour movie. Claiming that he would not refer to the actor’s personal life, Mr Shabbir said the father of one of the wives of Mr. Kalyan had approached him for help. Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the tone and tenor of Pavan’s speech was not proper.
4)India intensifies search
On a day when the hijack theory on the mysterious disappearance of the Beijing-bound Malaysian flight MH370 gained considerable traction, Indian forces intensified the search of the seas abutting the east coast and the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago for the wreckage of the jet, but without any result.In the wake of a fresh request from Malaysia, India on Saturday extended its search using ships and recce aircraft to a wide area over central and east Bay of Bengal. “The Navy has so far coordinated search over an area spanning more than 2,50,000 sq.km in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal and search operations are expected to continue,” said a Navy spokesperson.
5)U.S. regulator sues 16 banks for rigging Libor rate
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp sued 16 of the world’s largest banks on Friday, accusing them of cheating dozens of other now defunct banks by manipulating the Libor interest rate.The global financial institutions broke certain swaps contracts they had entered into with the now-closed banks, by separately colluding to rig the Libor rate to which the contracts were tied, the FDIC said.Some of the banks accused in the lawsuit, including Barclays Plc and UBS, have already paid some $6 billion to resolve charges from U.S. and European authorities that they worked to manipulate benchmark interest rates.They have also been sued by investors and others who claim they lost money due to the manipulation. A federal judge last March dismissed many of those claims that were based on antitrust law, but has yet to rule on cases that rely on the ‘breach of contract’ theory used by the FDIC.“These look very much like claims that I think are going to have a much better chance with the court,” said Daniel Brockett, a lawyer with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan who had brought other cases against banks over Libor manipulation.A representative of the FDIC declined comment. Representatives of the banks declined comment or did not respond to a request for comment.Libor, which is the average rate that a panel of banks say they can borrow unsecured funds, has become a key rate globally, underpinning more than $550 trillion in financial products, from home loans to derivatives.‘Substantial losses’The financial institutions’ conduct caused ‘substantial losses’ to 38 banks that the U.S. regulator had taken into receivership since 2008, including Washington Mutual Bank and IndyMac Bank, the FDIC said.The regulator did not quantify the losses at issue. The lawsuit also did not specify what damages the FDIC is seeking.The lawsuit also accused the British Bankers' Association, the U.K. trade organization that during the period at issue administered Libor, of participating in the scheme.
6)The arrival of e-tailers in India
Last week e-tailer Quikr received funding of $90 million (around Rs. 540 crore), which only strengthened the belief that the Indian e-commerce segment, although nascent, is here to stay and growing fast.Estimated at about $13 billion, the e-commerce industry is dominated by the online travel segment, which, according to a KPMG in India report, accounted for 71 per cent of total transactions.“Globally, in a difficult economic environment, alternative medium sales rise,” Gaurav Gupta, Senior Director, Deloitte in India, a leading consultancy, said. “E-commerce is one such as people are keen on better deals and bargains.”Understandably, growth of e-commerce depends on Internet penetration and literacy factors, which explain India’s slower trajectory.“Development of e-commerce is also predicated on the expectations of the middle class,” Ashwin Vellody, partner, KPMG in India, said. “The main metros will grow but faster rates will come from Tier 2 cities where access remains the issue. On the supply side, companies have to sort out logistics like warehousing strategically,” he added.In mature markets, e-commerce growth impacts brick and mortar (B&M) retailers but industry experts believe that over the next decade, B&M retailers will increasingly move online and 15-20 per cent of sales will shift in areas like OTC (over the counter) medication, books and travel.“We believe the future of e-commerce is on ‘mobile’,” Rajesh Magow, Co-founder & CEO—India MakeMyTrip.com, told this correspondent.“Mobile is one of our fastest growing channels and currently accounts for over 20 per cent of all our traffic. Most of these bookings are from smartphones.”Given the competition, companies are trying out different models.“India is a huge, attractive market but what keeps me awake is the need to innovate and maintain my position in the new part of the market that is expanding,” Pranay Chulet, CEO & MD, Quikr said.The world is going multi-channel and e-tailing is just another selling channel, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI), said. “Being new, experimentation will continue. Companies are focused on growth, acquisition and investments rather than profitability. That will come and thereafter there will certainly be a consolidation.”
7)Pennetta downs Li Na, enters final
TENNIS / Djokovic, Isner ease into semifinals
INCREDIBLE FEELING: Flavia Pennetta is absolutely delighted after stunning top seed Li Na in the WTA BNP Paribas Open on Friday.— PHOTO: AFP
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