President invites Oman to 'Make in India', seeks deeper trade ties

This was conveyed by the President when the Commerce and Industry Minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Dr Ali Bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, called on him on Monday, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said here on Tuesday.
  
During his meeting, Mukherjee referred to the 'Make in India' campaign and invited Omani companies "to come and invest in Indian infrastructure and other sectors which offer good returns".
  
The President said that India's ties with Oman are built on the strong foundation of historical and civilisational linkages and India appreciates and values the strategic partnership, which is reflected in the remarkable overall growth in the bilateral relationship in recent times.
  
"Bilateral trade between India and Oman has increased from USD 4.6 billion in 2012-13 to USD 5.77 billion in 2013-14. However, trade remains much below its potential and both sides need to bring it to a higher level commensurate with the depth of the bilateral relationship," remarked the President.
  
He expressed hope that the forthcoming Seventh Joint Commission Meeting between the two countries would be productive and help to further strengthen the economic and trade relations between India and Oman.
  
He also thanked Oman for its support in anti-piracy operations.
  
The Oman minister told Mukherjee that friends like India have fuelled his country's economy and helped its growth.
  
He paid tribute to the Indian community in Oman and to the Indian professionals who are contributing to its economy and said there was a need for the two countries to re-connect keeping in mind the interests of the youth.
  
"They should do things differently so that relations can multiply rapidly on the terms of the youth and taking into account changes sweeping the world," Sunaidy was quoted as having said by the spokesperson.
  
The 'Make in India' programme is a major national initiative launched by the Narendra Modi government which aims at transforming India into a global manufacturing hub.

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Agricultural Ministry proposes amendment to NCDC Act to include FPOs

Currently, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) provides financial assistance to cooperatives including those from weaker sections, for infrastructure and business development among others.

"We have suggested a small amendment to the Act to incorporate FPOs for extending loans and subsidies," a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.

The government is encouraging setting up of FPOs in a big way and trying to provide credit facilities through various schemes so that FPOs become viable, the official added.

FPOs, which are registered under the Companies Act, are firms consisting of small and marginal farmers. There are total 300 FPOs in India supported by government body Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC).

NCDC, a statutory body, had in 2013-14 fiscal released Rs 5,268 crore, against the sanctioned amount of Rs 7,755 crore for the same period.

Maximum funds were released to cooperatives working in Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, an official data showed.

Financial assistance is being given for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of
agricultural produce and other notified commodities.

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Black money case: Centre submits list of 627 foreign account holders to Supreme Court

The list was submitted before the Supreme Court by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi. The development came a day after the apex court directed the Centre to furnish the names of all individuals and entities in its possession who have accounts in overseas banks.

However, the Supreme Court refused to open the sealed envelope saying that the documents should be placed before SIT.

The Supreme Court said, 'Only SIT chairman and vice chairman can open the sealed envelope containing names of account holders.

The Supreme Court asked the SIT to submit status report of its probe by the end of November. SIT will decide what further action is to be taken on black money issue, added the Supreme Court.

Earlier on Tuesday The Supreme Court pulled up the government for seeking a modification of its order on disclosure of names of black money holders abroad. It directed the Centre to place before it names of all such account holders by Wednesday.

Jaitley said the government was keen to punish all illicit foreign account holders and would do everything to bring back the black money.

The truth about these names and also these accounts must come out so that penal action can be taken against the people and  the money lying there can be brought back to India.

"The government has no difficulty whatsoever with any agency investigating this matter because there is nobody the government wants to protect in this case so that those whose names have come must really be investigated and punished according to law," he said.

He, however did not reply to a question on whether the government would make the list public.

Jaitley said the government is also keen that the procedure followed must be such that the reciprocating countries continue to cooperate with India.

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President Pranab Mukherjee to hold conference of NIT chiefs today

The agenda of the conference includes steps required for deepening research and technological innovation for meeting national development goals; technology enabled learning; building international networks and linkages for quality improvement and initiatives for capacity development of faculty, a press release issued today by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

An action taken report on the recommendations made in the last year's conference was also discussed during the meet, it said.

This is the second conference of Directors of NITs during the present presidency. The first conference was organised in November last year. The Directors of 30 NITs will participate in this year's conference.

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Sensex recovers 81 points in morning trade

The 30-share barometer, which had lost 98.15 points in the previous session, recovered 81.43 points, or 0.30 percent, to 26,834.33 with the sectoral indices led by capital goods, banking, healthcare and realty were trading in positive zone with gains up to 0.52 percent.

Also, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty, regained the 8,000-mark by rising 20.60 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 8,012.30.

Brokers said sentiments turned better as funds and retail investors made fresh buying, tracking a mixed trend on other Asian markets ahead of US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meet.

Besides, expectations of encouraging earnings from more companies also supported the recovery, they said.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.20 percent, while Japan's Nikkei was trading 0.17 percent down in morning trade.

US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.07 percent up in Tuesday's trade.

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Tatas leave Singur behind, assure Mamata of project expansion

Asked about the 'bitter experience' of shifting of the Tata Nano car plant from Singur in 2008, Rana Sinha, one of the executives, said, "Forget the issue of the past and target the future."

In September 2008 during the previous Left Front regime, the Tatas left Singur in West Bengal and set up Tata Nano car plant at Sanand in Gujarat following an agitation by the then opposition Trinamool Congress' leader Mamata Banerjee over 'forceful' acquisition of land in the area. A case regarding this is now pending in the Supreme Court.

Singur issue was not in the agenda of the meeting, Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Ltd MD Sandipan Chakraborty said.

Chakraborty said Banerjee asked them if they were facing any problem and how the state government could assist them to overcome them.

"Such an interaction with the CM is unprecedented. The meeting was positive, optimistic and fruitful," Chakraborty, former MD of Tata Ryerson, said.

After the 90-minute long meeting, state Finance and Industry Minister Amit Mitra told reporters that Tata Group was keen on expanding many of their existing projects in the state creating more employment opportunities.

Five companies of the Tata Group have told the chief minister about their plan to invest and expand in existing projects, said Mitra who was also present at the meeting.

The Tata Group have offered employment to nearly 30,000 people in the state under various projects and they would offer more employment in near future, Mitra added.

Tatas were represented in the meeting by executives of Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery, Tata Metaliks, metaljunction and TM International Logistics (TMILL).

Though no Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) executive was present at the meeting, Mitra said TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran wrote to him about its expansion plan.

Under TCS' new project at the 40 acres of land given at Rajarhat New Town, the company would create an employment opportunity for 20,000 people, Mitra said.

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Softbank Group to invest USD 627 million in Snapdeal

This is the largest investment made by a single investor in an e-commerce company in India. Other existing investors have also participated in this round of investment but the company declined to disclose the amount.

Snapdeal will use the investments in expanding its chain of fulfilment centres and make acquisitions in the coming few months specifically in the area of mobile technology.

With mobile commerce fast gaining pace in the country, the city-based firm also plans to set up an incubation centre to hone and harness start-up businesses in the mobile technology space within next 6 months.

Through this strategic investment and partnership with Snapdeal, the SoftBank Group aims to further strengthen its presence in India and leverage synergies with its network of Internet companies around the world, Snapdeal said in a statement.

Snapdeal has raised close to USD 1 billion during this calendar year. Founded in 2010, Snapdeal has more than 25 million registered users and more than 50,000 business sellers.

"We believe India is at a turning point in its development and have confidence that India will grow strongly over the next decade. As part of this belief, we intend to deploy significant capital in India over the next few years to support development of the market," SoftBank Corp Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said.

SoftBank has pledged an investment of USD 10 billion (over Rs 60,000 crore) in India's IT and communications space, one of the biggest investment commitments from a Japanese firm after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to that country.

"India has the third-largest Internet user base in the world, but a relatively small online market currently. This situation means India has, with better, faster and cheaper Internet access, a big growth potential," SoftBank Corp Vice Chairman and CEO of SIMI Nikesh Arora said.

Arora will join the board of Snapdeal as part of the strategic investment.

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Switzerland acts iffy about India making Swiss bank a/c information public

However, the Swiss Foreign Ministry official hoped that with the advent of the new government in India, which has made taking action against black money a priority, the differences would be resolved much quickly.

Valentin Zellweger, Director and Legal Adviser, Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs, at the same time asserted that there is no banking secrecy in case of illegal acts.

"There's no banking secrecy if we talk about illegal acts. So if we get a request from a prosecutor in another country, there's no banking secrecy. We have very stringent know your customer rules. So we are quick in being able to give the information," he said.

Responding to a question on the first list of names, allegedly having accounts in Swiss banks on unaccounted wealth, Zellweger said the talks with the Indian Government so far has been on tax evasion and not any other illegal acts.

"We have had long discussions with the Indian government. But that is for tax evasion. Tax evasion used not to be a criminal offense under Swiss law. That is changing. We are now adapting to international standards," he told a Washington audience, acknowledging that this is a issue of dispute.

"That is at the heart of the dispute. There is a disagreement with the Indian government and as to what exactly will have to be disclosed. There is a new Indian government. We now hope that we will be able to resolve the case much quicker than we could do so in the past," he said.

Appearing at a panel discussion on Returning Stolen Assets organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, Zellweger said this is now very much on the forefront of international news and argued that in recent years Swiss authorities have been very co-operative in repatriation of the unaccounted money.

"You take Tunisia, for example. You had a restitution of USD 27 million by Lebanon to Tunisia, what is it now, 2011 within three and a half years. The Swiss prosecutor general has decided to send back two-thirds of the funds we have frozen in Switzerland to Tunisia," he said.

"We never had that in the past. The quickest case we had so far was Abacha, and that took us five years. We were efficient because we had an excellent cooperation with Nigeria in that case. Now, in Tunisia, we solved the case within three years," he said.

"So I am pretty confident for two reasons. First, asset recovery is now a topic on the international agenda. And second, international cooperation has hugely increased over the past two years," he said.

In the run-up to Parliamentary polls, BJP had promised to bring back black money kept by Indians in overseas banks while targeting the UPA government for not taking effective action on the issue.

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US, China to hold trade talks in Chicago in December

US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Trade Representative Michael Froman will host a high-level Chinese delegation for the talks during the 25th session of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) from December 16 to 18, officials said.

US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will also take part in the dialogue to address key agricultural trade issues between the two countries. "Expanding the US-China bilateral trade relationship is critical to strengthening our nation's economy and supporting job creation in communities from Maine to Hawaii," Pritzker said. Noting that JCCT has played a vital role in their efforts to bolster mutually beneficial relationship for more than two decades, the Commerce Secretary said the upcoming high-level discussions will culminate a year of continuous work to address important issues facing the two nations.

"This dialogue comes at an important time for the two largest economies in the world who share an enormous stake in the global trade and investment system," Froman said. The JCCT continues to be a place where the bilateral ties that link the US and China are reinforced through cooperation and constructive face-to-face discussions focused on making concrete progress to address the challenges, he said.
  
Established in 1983, the JCCT is the primary forum for addressing bilateral trade and investment issues and promoting commercial opportunities between the United States and China. High-level plenary meetings are held annually and are co-chaired by the US Secretary of Commerce, the United States Trade Representative, and the Chinese Vice Premier in charge of trade and investment issues.

Sixteen JCCT Working Groups meet throughout the year to address topics such as intellectual property rights, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, information technology and travel and tourism. The 24th Annual JCCT meeting was held in Beijing in 2013. In the last year's meeting, significant progress was made on several important issues, including protection and enforcement against theft of trade secrets, government procurement and market access for US testing and certification companies.

China was the third-largest market for US exports in 2013 (after Canada and Mexico). US goods exports to China were USD 122 billion in 2013, up 652 per cent since 2000. Trade in services with China (exports and imports) totaled USD 52.1 billion in 2013.

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India ranks 114 out of 142 nations on WEF's Gender Gap Report

India's slipped 13 spots from its last year's ranking of 101 on the Gender Gap Index by the World Economic Forum. India is part of the 20 worst-performing countries on the labour force participation, estimated earned income, literacy rate and sex ratio at birth indicators.

On the other hand, India is among the top 20 best-performing countries on the political empowerment subindex.

The index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria.

On the criteria of economic participation and opportunity, India was ranked 134. Its female to male ratio in labour force participation was 0.36. The disparity in estimated earned income was high with females earning USD 1980 compared to USD 8087 earned by their male counterparts.

On educational attainment, India ranked 126 with female to male ratio in literacy rate at 0.68. India was the second-lowest performing country on health and survival, ranking 141 just ahead of Armenia.

However on political empowerment subindex, India ranked an impressive 15. It is the highest-ranked country on the years with female head of state (over the past 50 years) indicator.

There is also some evidence from India to suggest that women in local government roles make decisions with better outcomes for communities than men do when charged with budget decisions.

They also appear to be more competent representatives than men, obtaining more resources for their constituencies despite having significantly lower education and relevant labour market experience.

The report said that India has the highest difference between women and men on the average minutes spent per day on unpaid work—a difference of 300 minutes.

It is also among the countries with the highest difference in the female and male percentage of total R&D personnel. India has one of the lowest percentages of firms with female participation in ownership.

India had experienced improvement of its overall score since 2010, when it had ranked 112. It had ranked 105 in 2012 and 101 last year but saw a decrease in 2014 due to a drop in scores on the economic participation and opportunity and educational attainment subindexes.

India performed better than countries like UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Jordan.

Iceland, which has had a female head of state in 20 of the past 50 years, ranked number 1 on WEF's index. Iceland has taken the top spot on the index consecutively since 2009. The country was followed by its Nordic neighbours: Finland ranked 2, Norway (3), Sweden (4) and Denmark (5). US is ranked 20, putting it behind countries like Canada, South Africa and France, but ahead of other developed countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

The report said that no country in the world has fully closed the gender gap, but all five of the Nordic countries have closed more than 80 percent of it. Yemen, the lowest ranking country has closed just over 50 percent of the gender gap.

At 141, Pakistan was the second lowest ranking country, scoring poorly on all the four parametres.

In 2014, 25 countries fully closed the gap in Educational Attainment (same as last year). Angola, Ethiopia, Yemen, Guinea and Chad hold the last five spots on this subindex, with Yemen and Chad having closed less than 70 percent of their education gender gap. In total, there are 22 countries where women still have less than 90 percent of the education outcomes that men have.

While eight countries—Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, France, Guyana, Latvia, Namibia, and the Philippines have fully closed the gap on both the health and education subindexes, no country has closed either the economic participation gap or the political empowerment gap.

On the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, 14 countries have closed more than 80 percent of gap, including from from Sub-Saharan Africa and five from Europe and Central Asia.

Burundi, Norway, Malawi, the United States and the Bahamas occupy the top five spots on the subindex.

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Travellers with Ebola should not be stigmatised: UN Chief

UN Secretary General said that the restrictions put particular pressure on health care workers and those who have been on the frontline of the Ebola response.

"The Secretary-General is concerned by the recent restrictions put in place in several countries and localities applying to people who have travelled to the main Ebola-affected countries," a statement issued by Ban's spokesman said here.

"Returning health workers are exceptional people who are giving of themselves for humanity. They should not be subjected to restrictions that are not based on science," he said in the statement.

"Those who develop infections should be supported, not stigmatised," he added.

Ban reiterated that the best way for any country to protect itself from Ebola is to stop the outbreak at its source in West Africa.

"This requires considerable international health care worker support and in return for this support, we have an obligation to look after them," he said.

According to UN World Health Organisation's latest situation report, there have been 9,936 cases of Ebola and 4,877 deaths so far.

In New York, after a doctor who treated Ebola patients returned from Guinea and tested positive for the virus, state government had put in place a mandatory 21-day quarantine for travellers returning from the most-affected West African countries.
  
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo came in for sharp criticism from health experts and had to loosen restrictions, allowing asymptomatic medical workers who had contact with Ebola patients in West Africa to remain at home during the quarantine period.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie also faced backlash after a nurse who arrived from Sierra Leone last week was swiftly quarantined in a tent set up inside a Newark hospital, with a portable toilet but with no shower.

Ban is currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the start of a joint trip uniting the capacities of the United Nations, World Bank, European Union, Islamic Development Bank, and African Development Bank and targeting a swathe of countries in the Horn of Africa, spanning Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

Ban announced a new USD 8 billion development initiative aimed at boosting economic growth, reducing poverty and spurring business activity across the African region's eight countries.

As aid workers and medical personnel return to their countries after working to provide treatment to Ebola patients in West Africa, several restrictions have been put on their movement by governments as they aim to prevent the spread of the virus.

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India should refrain from complicating boundary issue: China

"China's position on China-India boundary question is consistent and clear. We are committed to finding a solution to the boundary question with the Indian side through friendly negotiation as soon as possible and working together to safeguard peace and tranquillity along the border," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
  
"Pending the final settlement of the boundary question, we hope that the Indian side could refrain from taking any action that may complicate or exaggerate the question," Hua said in an e-mail response to a query about 54 new Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force border outposts to be built along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
  
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as southern Tibet.
  
China's reaction is a trifle different from its reaction on October 15 to the plans announced by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju to build new roads along the boundary from Mago-Thingbu in Tawang to Vijaynagar in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh to match China's infrastructure development.
  
"There is a dispute about the east part of the China- India border. Before final settlement is reached we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said earlier while reacting to the road proposal.
  
"We should jointly safeguard the peace and tranquillity of the border area and create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue," he had said.
  
Subsequently, officials from India and China held the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) meeting in New Delhi during which the two sides discussed a host of issues relating to the management of the boundary and maintaining of peace and tranquillity along the borders.

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Centre hopeful of UP sugar mills falling in line & start operations

Few months back, private sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh the country's second biggest producer threated not to open their mills in the current 2014-15 season (October-September) till the state government links cane prices with sugar rates.

Mills were forced to issue suspension notice as they suffered huge losses during last season on account of high cane prices fixed by the state and lower realisation from sugar sales.

"There is no way that UP sugar mills will remain shut for long. My reading is that all mills will run. But they may start 10-15 days late," Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar said.

Kumar said that mills do not have any option but to run their mills as they cannot shift to other business, while farmers can easily shift to some other crops.

However, the Secretary clarified that this is the matter between the state government and UP millers, and the Centre does not have much role to play.

On likely impact on the country's sugar production due to delay in crushing operation in UP, he said, "It is too early to say. Let the crushing begin. We will assess it at the end of the season."

Meanwhile, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) Director General Avinash Verma said: "UP sugar mills have taken one step forward and have agreed to start maintenance activity which should take 40-45 days."

"However, they would wait for a mechanism or a policy that determines sugarcane price in relation to revenue generation before start of the crushing operations, so that they are in a position to pay cane price on time," he said.

The UP sugar industry has shown confidence in the state government that a rational cane price formula would be announced and the industry would pray that the state should not fix the cane price, he added.

Crushing operation in western UP normally begins from October 15 and five days later in other parts the state.

According to industry estimates, sugarcane arrears in Uttar Pradesh have come down to Rs 2,400 crore now from Rs 7,500 crore at the end of March this year.

Sugar production for this season is pegged at 25-25.5 million tonnes, against 24.3 million tonnes last year.

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Governor outlines NY policy for Ebola quarantine

Cuomo detailed the state's protocols at a nighttime news conference with New York City's mayor last night after the Obama administration said it expressed concerns to Cuomo and Christie about their states' mandatory Ebola quarantines. The announcement also comes amid sharp criticism of the treatment of a nurse returning from Sierrra Leone who was forcibly quarantined in a New Jersey hospital isolation unit even though she said had no symptoms and tested negative for Ebola.
  
Under the outlined New York guidelines, medical professionals who have had contact with Ebola patients will be quarantined at home and receive twice-daily monitoring if they have no symptoms. Family members will be allowed to stay, and friends may visit with the approval of health officials. The state will also pay for any lost compensation, if they are not paid by a volunteer organization.

Cuomo had criticized Dr. Craig Spencer, who tested positive for Ebola on Thursday, for not obeying a 21-day voluntary quarantine. But on Sunday, he called the health care workers "heroes" and said his administration would encourage more medical workers to volunteer to fight Ebola. Meanwhile, Kaci Hickox, the first nurse forcibly quarantined in New Jersey under the state's new policy, said in a telephone interview with CNN that her isolation at a hospital was "inhumane," adding: "We have to be very careful about letting politicians make health decisions."

Saying the federal health guidelines are inadequate, Cuomo and Christie announced a mandatory quarantine program Friday for medical workers and other arriving airline passengers who have had contact with Ebola victims in West Africa, either in their homes or in medical facilities, and Illinois soon followed suit. Twenty-one days is the incubation period for Ebola.

Christie also stressed that home confinement would be used for New Jersey residents and others when possible. "The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms, but who has come into contact with someone with Ebola, such as a health care provider, would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order and quarantined at home. Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and, if not, quarantined in New Jersey," said a statement from Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts.

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Hospital: Teen wounded in school shooting dies

Officials at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett confirmed 14-year-old Gia Soriano died. Another girl was killed during the shooting Friday by a popular first-year student at Marysville-Pilchuck High School north of Seattle. The shooter, Jaylen Fryberg, died of a self-inflicted wound. Three other students remain hospitalized, two in critical condition and one in serious condition.

At a news conference, Dr. Joanne Roberts read a statement from Soriano's family. "We are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her," the statement said. Roberts said Soriano's family was donating her organs for transplant. Parents and students gathered in a gymnasium at the school for a community meeting, with speakers urging support and prayers and tribal members playing drums and singing songs. Fryberg was from a prominent Tulalip Indian tribes family. Young people hugged each other and cried and speakers urged people to come together during the gathering Sunday.

"Our legs are still wobbly," said Tony Hatch, a cousin of one of the injured students. "We're really damaged right now." Of the wounded students, only 14-year-old Nate Hatch showed improvement, though he remained in serious condition in intensive. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition in intensive care. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.

Meanwhile, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remained in critical condition in intensive care.Fryberg died in the attack after a first-year teacher intervened. It's unclear if he intentionally killed himself or if the gun went off in a struggle with a teacher. The makeshift memorial on a chain link fence by the school, which will be closed this week, kept growing Sunday.

Balloons honoring the victims and the shooter adorn the fence along with flowers, stuffed toys and signs. The close-knit community, meanwhile, on the nearby Tulalip Indian reservation struggled with the news that the shooter was a popular teenager from one of their more well-known families. A tribal guidance counsellor said no one knows what motivated Fryberg.

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Teen tests negative after Ebola scare in Australia

"The Queensland Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, reports the results of tests on an 18-year-old woman in Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital are negative for Ebola virus disease," a statement from the office of the Queensland Minister for Health said. Young had said earlier that a second test would be taken in three days. She would not specify the teenager's nationality, but said she was moving to Australia permanently and authorities had been informed of her family's arrival several days before the flight.

The rest of the woman's family was quarantined at home. Young said Queensland health authorities were monitoring four families from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the vast majority of Ebola cases have occurred. The number of Ebola infections has surpassed 10,000 and the death toll neared 5,000 worldwide, mainly in the three West African nations. There have been no confirmed Ebola cases in Australia.

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Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is re-elected

With 99 percent of the vote counted, Rousseff had 51.5 percent of the ballots, topping center-right challenger Aecio Neves with 48.5 percent.

Rousseff's victory extends the rule of the Workers' Party, which has held the presidency since 2003. During that time, they've enacted expansive social programs that have helped pull millions of Brazilians out of poverty and into the middle class.

The choice between Rousseff and Neves split Brazilians into two camps those who thought only the president would continue to protect the poor and advance social inclusion versus those who were certain that only the contender's market-friendly economic policies could see Brazil return to
solid growth.

The Workers' Party's time in power has seen a profound transformation in Brazil. But four straight years of weak economic growth under Rousseff, with an economy that's now in a technical recession, has some worried those gains are under threat.

"Brazilians want it all. They are worried about the economy being sluggish and stagnant but they want to preserve social gains that have been made," said Michael Shifter, president of the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. "The question is which candidate is best equipped to deliver both of those."

Rousseff and Neves have fought bitterly to convince voters that they can deliver on both growth and social advances. This year's campaign is widely considered the most acrimonious since Brazil's return to democracy in 1985, a battle between the only two parties to have held the
presidency since 1995.

Neves has hammered at Rousseff over a widening kickback scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras, with an informant telling investigators that the Workers' Party directly benefited from the scheme.

Rousseff rejected those allegations and told Brazilians that a vote for Neves would be support for returning Brazil to times of intense economic turbulence, hyperinflation and high unemployment, which the nation encountered when the Social Democrats last held power.

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Swiss gold exports to India cross CHF 11-billion ; banks turn wary

The gold exports from Switzerland to India stood at over 2.2 billion Swiss francs (about Rs 15,000 crore) in September alone, which is double the figure for the previous month,shows latest data released by Swiss Customs Administration. As a result, the total Swiss gold exports to India since January this year has grown to 11.4 billion Swiss francs, shows the data compiled by the Swiss government's cross-border trade monitoring agency.

Industry watchers attribute the surge during September partly to increased demand for the yellow metal ahead of Diwali and other festivals in India, the sudden spike is also being seen suspiciously in the backdrop of gold being used for 'layering' purposes to move funds from Swiss banks amid growing scrutiny for suspected black money.

According to banking industry sources, banks operating in Switzerland, including those headquartered in the Alpine nation and the Swiss units of other European banks, have turned wary about dealing with their Indian clients in the wake of a growing scrutiny of such accounts. A number of Swiss banks, including three with significant global presence, have begun telling their Indian clients to sign undertakings that are aimed at 'derisking' the banking institutions from potential risks arising out of regulatory actions against the bank customers by foreign governments.

Some banks are also telling their clients to close their accounts if they are not ready to take such risks, or if they have apprehensions about such accounts not being compliant to regulatory requirements in their home countries. Through these 'derisking' undertakings, the customer agrees to take responsibility for any possible regulatory or administrative compliance with international norms.At the same time, the bankers are also lobbying with the Swiss government to ensure that any information would be shared with their Indian counterpart about accounts held in Swiss banks only after necessary provisions are made to safeguard the interest of the concerned banking institution.

Following a high-level delegation visit from India, Switzerland recently agreed to cooperate on matters related to verification of genuineness of accounts and reply to requests for banking account details in a time-bound manner, and also to initiate a process to include India among the countries eligible for 'automatic exchange of information'.  While banks try to put in place necessary safeguards, there are apprehensions that many of their clients are being advised to move the funds through gold and other routes.

As per Swiss government data, the total exports of gold, silver and coins from Switzerland stood at 347 tonnes (worth 6.62 billion Swiss francs) in September. This included gold exports totalling 172.5 tonnes or 6.48 billion Swiss francs. In comparison, Switzerland's total gold exports stood at just about three billion Swiss francs (80.6 tonnes) in August, while the overall figure for gold, silver and coins stood at 3.16 billion francs (237 tonnes) in that month.
  
India alone accounted for total bullion exports worth 66.5 tonnes from Switzerland, which mostly comprised of gold (over 58 tonnes or over 2.2 billion Swiss francs) in September. The total gold exports to India stood at 29.5 tonnes (1.12 billion Swiss francs) in August, while the figure for July was 21 tonnes (792 million Swiss francs).

In January, the total Swiss gold exports to India stood at about 27 tonnes (970 million Swiss francs), while it was in the range of 30 tonnes a month between February to May before surging to over 44 tonnes (1.62 billion Swiss francs) in June. A new strategy of 'layering' through gold and diamond trade came to light earlier this year at Swiss banks to thwart any attempt for identification of real beneficiary owners of funds entrusted with them, government and banking sources have said.
  
There is a growing suspicion that a portion of gold and diamond trade is being used to route funds from Swiss banks to India and other destinations. 'Layering' is a key stage in money laundering and involves moving illicit funds around financial system through a complex series of deals to complicate the paper trail. This layering typically takes place between the first stage placement of black money in the financial system either in cash vaults, or through a series of cash or sham financial transactions and before the final 'integration' stage when money is put back into the financial system through various transactions for the benefit of its final recipient.

Source: News in Hindi and Newspaper

US strikes pound jihadists as Iraq Kurds prepare to join fight

Kurdish forces, backed by US air power, have been holding out for weeks against an IS offensive around Kobane, which has become a high-profile symbol of efforts to stop the advance of the jihadists.

The Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq unveiled plans on Friday for up to 200 well-trained peshmerga to join Syrian Kurdish forces defending Kobane in the coming week.

Kurdish news agency Rudaw said the first contingent could head to the town as early today, but there was no immediate confirmation of that timetable.

Since Turkey conceded to US pressure to allow vetted reinforcements into Kobane to prevent IS winning the prominent battle for the town, the jihadists have made repeated attempts to cut the border before any help can arrive.

Before dawn yesterday, IS fighters hit Kurdish forces defending the Syrian side of the border crossing with mortar and heavy machinegun fire, an AFP correspondent on the Turkish side reported.

The heavy mortar fire around the Mursitpinar crossing prompted the Turkish army to order the evacuation of nearby hilltops from where the world's press has been watching the battle for the town.

The US-led military coalition fighting IS launched 22 air strikes in Iraq and one in Syria on Friday and Saturday, the Pentagon said.

Eleven of the bombings in the heavy barrage targeted IS units, buildings, positions and vehicles near Iraq's strategic Mosul Dam.

Kurdish forces backed by US air strikes yesterday retook the town of Zumar northwest of Mosul from IS after weeks of fighting, a senior officer said.

IS still holds significant areas in northern Iraq and elsewhere in the country, as well as swathes of neighbouring
Syria.

The Kurdish news agency said an initial peshmerga contingent of 150 was ready to leave for Kobane and would be headed by Sihad Barzani, brother of Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani and head of its artillery brigade.

It cited peshmerga officials as saying that an additional 1,000 Iraqi Kurdish fighters would follow.

Rudaw quoted a senior peshmerga officer as saying that the Iraqi Kurdish forces would deploy with heavy weapons, but that undertakings had been given to both Ankara and Washington that they would not be handed over to Syrian Kurdish forces.

"Our enemies in Kobane are using heavy weapons and we should have heavy weapons too," he said.

The main Syrian Kurdish fighting force in Kobane has close links with the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers Party, which has fought a three-decade insurgency in Turkey.

Source: News in Hindi and Newspaper

Microsoft plans to launch smartwatch within weeks

The wearable gadget's battery life will exceed two days of regular use, Forbes reported, citing unnamed sources close to the project. It will arrive in stores soon after being unveiled in an effort to capture the holiday season, Forbes reported.

Microsoft declined to comment.

Apple Inc unveiled a smartwatch on Sept. 9 that will combine health and fitness tracking with communications and will go on sale in early 2015, while Samsung Electronics Co unveiled its Galaxy Gear smartwatch in September 2013.

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