Ball tampering: Referee flagged up, du Plessis suspected foul play; updates

The ball-tampering scandal involving the then Australian cricket team captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and opening batsman Cameron Bancroft saw another revelation on Friday, with reports emerging that the foul play should have come as no surprise. According to an AFP report, a match referee had, way back in 2016, warned Smith and Warner of "being involved in a ball-tampering incident" in the domestic Sheffield Shield.

The report came after Smith and Warner were stripped of their captaincy and vice-captaincy of the Australian cricket team and banned for a year from the sport after being caught up in a plot to alter the condition of the ball on the third day of their team’s third test match against South Africa in Cape Town.

Daryl Harper said the pair were not engaging in fair play while representing New South Wales in a match against Victoria in November 2016, according to an email he sent to Cricket Australia's match referee and umpire selection manager Simon Taufel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported

CBSE class 12 re-exam on April 25, class 10 re-test likely in July; updates

Amid protests over the leak of CBSE question papers, the government on Friday said re-examination of Class 12 economics will be held on April 25, while the decision over the class 10 maths re-exam will be taken in the next 15 days.

Anil Swarup, Secretary School Education in Union Human Resources Development Ministry, said the CBSE Class 10 mathematics question paper was leaked only in Delhi and Haryana as there was no evidence that it was a pan-India affair. "The leak was restricted to Delhi and Haryana, if at all a re-exam will happen, it will happen only in these states in July. A decision will be taken on this in the next 15 days," Swarup told reporters. He said the Class 12 economics re-exam will be held on April 25.

Swarup said the decision to conduct fresh exams won't affect the date of publication of the results, which usually happens in May end. However, there will be no fresh test outside of India as the question papers are different for students appearing for CBSE examinations outside India.

News digest: RBI policy review, e-way bill, ball tampering row, and more

Number of delisted companies on the rise; bourses may see more exits

Despite a record line-up of debuts on the bourses this year, India’s listed universe is shrinking, and shrinking fast.

Around 1,000 companies were compulsorily delisted in the past two years on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). And, by some estimates, another 1,000-2,000 may be shown the door, effectively contracting the universe of listed shares by 30-50 per cent. Read more here

RBI may keep repo rate unchanged at 6% in April policy review: BS Poll

There is a clear consensus that the six-member monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would keep the repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent next week.
But surprisingly, there is a narrow chance that the central bank may cut rates in the future, according to a Business Standard poll of 15 economists and treasurers. Read more here 

Saudi to give bar codes to Air India, Jet crew, not retain their passports

The Saudi Arabian government has decided not to retain the passport of the Indian airline crew members on arrival in the country and issue a bar code instead, an Air India spokesperson confirmed.

The move comes as a big relief to the crew of Air India and Jet Airways, the two Indian airlines who fly to that country. Indian authorities had taken up the issue with the Saudi authorities and the decision not to retain the passport of the crews of Indian airlines came into effect from mid-February this year, the Air Indian spokesperson said.

The bar code given to the crew members will have a limited validity.

The development also comes against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia allowing a newly introduced Air India flight from New Delhi to Tel Aviv fly over its airspace, seen as a major diplomatic development in West Asia.

Stephen Hawking's funeral at Cambridge church today; thousands expected

Thousands of people are expected to arrive in Cambridge for the funeral of British physicist Stephen Hawking on Saturday at 14:00 according to a BBC report.

Cambridge University is working with the police to supervise the area around Great St Mary's Church where the service is scheduled to take place, Xinhua news agency reported.

Around 500 friends and family are expected at the private ceremony. There will be no public access to the church because the funeral has been designated as a private service for family, friends and colleagues.

It is not known how big the crowds will be, but given Hawking's worldwide fame, sources in Cambridge are predicting large numbers.

"The funeral service will be attended by his family, invited friends and colleagues," the university said in a statement.

Spy row: Russia expels diplomats from 23 countries in tit-for-tat measure

Russia expelled diplomats from 23 countries on Friday in retaliation against the West in a spy row, in the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory.

The Russian foreign ministry said it had summoned the heads of missions from 23 countries -- almost all of them European Union member states -- to tell them that some of their diplomats had to leave.

The diplomats from France, Canada, Germany, Australia and other countries were earlier seen arriving at the Russian foreign ministry in flagged official cars.

France, Germany and Poland each said that Russia was expelling four of their diplomats. Among the other countries that had similarly been told to pull their envoys were the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania and Norway.

Thirteen Ukrainian diplomats should also leave Russia.

The moves came in retaliation for the coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and its allies over a nerve agent attack against former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

Gaza violence: 16 Palestinians dead, 1,400 injured by Israeli forces

Clashes erupted as tens of thousands of Gazans marched near the Israeli border in a major protest on Friday, leaving 16 Palestinians dead and hundreds more wounded in the conflict's worst single day of violence since the 2014 Gaza war.

Late in the day, Israel's military targeted three Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip with tank fire and an air strike after what it said was an attempted shooting attack against soldiers along the border that caused no injuries.

Protesters, including women and children, had earlier gathered at multiple sites throughout the blockaded territory, which is flanked by Israel along its eastern and northern borders.

Smaller numbers approached within a few hundred metres (yards) of the heavily fortified border fence, with Israeli troops using tear gas and live fire to force them back.

Trump attacks Amazon over tax issues: Here's what the President could do

President Donald Trump renewed his long-running assault on Amazon.com Inc. with an early morning tweet Thursday. But what measures can he actually take against the online retail giant?

He could push for probes of consumer protection, privacy and antitrust issues. He could also step up his support for allowing states to collect sales tax on third-party purchases from Amazon, or seek to have the Postal Service charge more to deliver packages. And he could thwart Amazon’s aspirations to win a multibillion dollar Pentagon contract for cloud services.

Even with those powers, Trump’s ability to act has limits. Inquiries by the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission could take years and bear a high burden of proof. The FTC and other enforcement agencies guard their independence, as does the board of governors of the Postal Service. Changes to the tax law would require cooperation from Congress, which just passed a tax overhaul and may have limited appetite to reopen negotiations.

US to exit Syria soon: Trump laments $7 trn 'wasted' in West Asian wars

President Donald Trump on Friday said the US troops would withdraw from Syria "very soon" as he lamented that America has wasted $7 trillion in wars in the Middle East.

At the same time, he said the US was using all its resources to defeat ISIS and drive them out of the captured territory. We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take of it now, Trump said in Ohio where he had gone to deliver a speech on infrastructure.

"Very soon we're coming out. We're going to have 100 per cent of the caliphate, as they call it -- sometimes referred to as "land" -- taking it all back quickly, quickly. But we're going to be coming out of there real soon. Going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be," he said. Trump, in his remarks, lamented that US has wasted USD 7 trillion in wars in the Middle East.

DACA policy: Dreamers can pursue lawsuit against Trump's 'Bad Hombres' bias

President Donald Trump’s administration must defend a lawsuit targeting his plan to end a program offering protection from deportation for hundreds of thousands of children of undocumented immigrants.

US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, New York, narrowed but didn’t dismiss the suit on Thursday, finding that there was a “plausible inference” that it was illegally aimed at Mexicans. He previously blocked the U.S. government from ending the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and from halting the renewal process, but hadn’t decided whether to allow the case to proceed.

On Thursday, Garaufis said those suing the U.S may proceed with a claim that Trump’s policy was driven by unlawful racial animus against Latinos, and in particular, Mexicans, who make up about 78 percent of the program. He also said that ending the program violates Constitutional protections because it disproportionately affects them.

US stocks jump in an upbeat end to tumultuous quarter; Dow rises 1%

Wall Street surged on Thursday, bringing an upbeat end to a tumultuous, holiday-shortened week as technology stocks rebounded, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted their biggest quarterly declines in more than two years.

The year started strong, but early gains evaporated as the markets entered a correction over interest rate jitters, fears of an escalating import tariff dispute between the United States and China, and a selloff in the tech sector.

Tech stocks reversed course on Thursday and the S&P 500 information technology index closed up 2.2 percent after reaching a session high of 3.2 percent, helping push the S&P 500 up 1.4 percent, with the Dow and Nasdaq also rallying.

"All the fears now look overblown. Interest rates, the concern about tariffs, we're going to get into a trade war," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management in New York. "But now clearer heads are prevailing.

If anything this is a buying opportunity." Technology gains were led by Facebook, Intel , Alphabet and Microsoft shares.

Egypt Presidential election: Sisi re-elected for second term with 92% votes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been re-elected for a second term with a sweeping majority, garnering nearly 92 per cent of the total votes, media reports said today.

According to early estimates, more than 23 million Egyptians voted for the 63-year-old Field Marshal in the three-day presidential election.

His sole challenger, the little-known centrist politician and al Ghad party chief Moussa Mostafa Moussa, is estimated to have obtained 3 per cent of the vote.

Vote counting started after polling stations closed on Wednesday.

According to non-official figures, 21,088,295 people voted for Sisi in polling stations across Egypt.

The official results will be announced on April 2.

Sisi posted photos of voters participating in the polls and praised them on facebook for the huge turnout on late Wednesday.

Russia to expel 60 US diplomats, close a US consulate: Lavrov

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday Moscow would expel 60 US diplomats and close its consulate in Saint Petersburg in a tit-for-tat expulsion over the poisoning of ex-double agent Sergei Skripal.

Lavrov said that the US ambassador had been informed of "retaliatory measures", saying that "they include the expulsion of the equivalent number of diplomats and our decision to withdraw permission for the functioning of the US consulate general in Saint Petersburg".

Washington earlier ordered the expulsion of 60 diplomats and shut down the Russian consulate general in Seattle.

AT&T, Time Warner case: Judge warns both sides to meet June 21 deadline

U.S. judge Richard Leon on Wednesday warned attorneys for the Department of Justice and AT&T Inc to speed up the trial over the proposed merger of the large telecommunications company and Time Warner Inc , or risk missing the June 21 deadline to complete the deal.

Under the agreement, which had been extended from April 22, either company can pull out if the deal announced in October 2016 is not completed by the deadline.

"Both sides need to sit down with their clients and their teams and make sure the have down what they need versus what they want," Leon said. "If we are going to get this done prior to that date, we have to move."

The U.S. government opposes the $85 billion deal, arguing that it would hurt consumers because AT&T, which owns pay TV service DirecTV, would have more leverage to raise prices by owning Time Warner's Turner networks.

Air India's new owners to inherit planes, prime slots, and $5 bn of debt

India is selling a controlling stake in its flagship carrier along with two-thirds of the loss-making airline’s about $7.8 billion debt, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi moves ahead with the nation’s most high profile asset sale in decades.
The government will sell 76 percent of Air India Ltd., according to a document uploaded on the civil aviation ministry’s website on Wednesday. The airline’s overseas budget carrier will be completely sold in the offer, while the state will sell a 50 percent stake in the ground handling unit separately. The administration may also ask the buyer to conduct an initial public offering.

A successful sale of Air India, which is surviving on taxpayer-funded bailouts, is seen as test case for Modi to burnish his credentials as a reformist attempting to steer the state away from running businesses and boost spending on health and education. The national carrier has five subsidiaries, a joint venture and a combined workforce of as many as 27,000.

“Selling a 76 percent stake is the second-best option for the government; the best option would have been to exit completely,” said Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO at CAPA Centre for Aviation, “There’s also a caveat there that the acquirer will have to list the company, which means the government is looking at exiting through an IPO route, which is fair enough and very positive.

CAG raps MMRDA for non-recovery of Rs 7.7 bn dues from Reliance Industries

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up the MMRDA for non-recovery of Rs 7.7 billiion dues from Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), India's largest private sector company.

The CAG report, tabled in Maharashtra Legislature today, said Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority is yet to recover Rs 8.55 billion froms RIL and Starlight Systems Private Limited, as lease premium dues on additional built up area allowed to the lessees in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex.

The report said MMRDA also gave "undue favour" to RIL by not recovering additional premium and interest to the tune of Rs 4.28 billion for delay in construction in contravention to the terms and conditions of the lease deed and the premium.

It said MMRDA has been regularly recovering full additional premium, including interest, in respect of other allottees who had delayed construction of structures within the time specified in the lease deed. Therefore, the undue favour shown by the authority to Reliance industries in this regard is inexplicable, the CAG said.

CBSE exam paper leak: Re-examination dates before end of the week; updates

CBSE paper leak, re-examinations, and student dejection. These are the words hanging fire over students and their parents as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced re-examination in the Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics subjects in the wake of reports of paper leaks. The fresh dates for the two re-examinations shall be announced before the end of the week. Subsequently, the Delhi police has been carrying out raids over the CBSE paper leak. Meanwhile, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar has said a new leak-proof system would be put in place for conducting board exams.

Seeking to reach out to parents and students worried over the alleged incidents of repeated leaks, Javadekar said he has spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him about the developments. With the help of technology, the government would put in place a system "which is so foolproof that there is no leak", Javadekar added

Guess who quit Facebook now? Playboy deactivates after data breach scandal

Playboy announced on Wednesday it was suspending its activities on Facebook to avoid being "complicit" in a wide-ranging scandal over misuse of private data.

The adult entertainment group said it had long faced difficulties in dealing with Facebook due to "strict content and policy guidelines" and that the revelations over hijacking of personal data by a political consulting firm was the final straw.

Playboy said it was deactivating all the Facebook accounts managed by the company.

"The recent news about Facebook's alleged mismanagement of users' data has solidified our decision to suspend our activity on the platform at this time," said a statement from Playboy.

"There are more than 25 million fans who engage with Playboy via our various Facebook pages, and we do not want to be complicit in exposing them to the reported practices."

The statement added: "Playboy has always stood for personal freedom and the celebration of sex. Today we take another step in that ongoing fight."

SC/ST Act: SC ruling to have bad effect on reporting crimes against Dalits

A crime is committed against a Dalit every 15 minutes. Six Dalit women are raped every day. Over the last ten years (2007-2017), there has been a 66% growth in crimes against Dalits. Further, data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on which the Supreme Court’s March 20 judgment is based itself shows that rapes of Dalit women have doubled in the last ten years. NCRB data also says that chargesheets were filed in as many 78% cases, which means the argument that false cases are being filed out of ‘vengeance’ is flawed.

Though shocking, these figures are only the tip of the iceberg of the actual number of incidents since most Dalits generally do not muster enough courage to register cases for fear of retaliation by the higher castes. Even on relatively rare occasions in which a case reaches court, the most likely outcome is acquittal due to caste biases at every stage of investigation and trial. Due to these biases, Dalits, the poor and the minorities are over-represented on the list of death rows. Studies have shown a similar pattern in respect of black convicts in the US.

More younger, educated women are now giving birth at unsafe intervals: Data

Indian women aged 15 to 29 years and those with more years in school gave birth at shorter, unsafe intervals over the decade to 2015-16, shows an IndiaSpend analysis of health data.

Birth intervals–the time between two successive live births–of less than 24 months may lead to low birth weight and death of a child, according to the 2015-16 report of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

The optimal birth interval to reduce neonatal and infant mortality is three to five years, according to global research (here and here). In India, spacing between births for women aged 15-29 years worsened from 25 months to 22.5 months over 10 years, we found.

The median interval between two live births fell by 2.5 months to 22.5 months in 2015-16 from 25 months in 2005-06 for women aged 15-19 years and by 6 days to under 29 months from 29 months for women aged 20-29 years, according to our analysis of data from 2005-06 and 2015-16.

US won't fund more than 25 per cent of UN peacekeeping budget: Nikki Haley

The United States will no longer shoulder more than a quarter of the multibillion-dollar costs of the United Nations' peacekeeping operations, Washington's envoy said today.

"Peacekeeping is a shared responsibility," US Ambassador Nikki Haley said at a Security Council debate on peacekeeping reform. "All of us have a role to play, and all of us must step up." The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the UN's 15 peacekeeping missions worldwide. Washington is paying about 28.5 per cent of this year's USD 7.3 billion peacekeeping budget, though Haley said US law is supposed to cap the contribution at 25 per cent.

The second-biggest contributor, China, pays a bit over 10 per cent.

President Donald Trump's administration has complained before that the budget and the U.S. share are too high and pressed to cut to this year's budget. It is USD 570 million below last year's, a smaller decrease than Washington wanted.

News digest: Air India stake, Sebi, Ola-Uber merger, and more

With debt at Rs 487 bn, govt invites bids for 76% stake sale in Air India
The government will divest 76 per cent stake in Air India, according to the information memorandum on the airline’s proposed stake sale released on Wednesday. The sale will include Air India's shareholding in low-cost Air India Express and its joint venture ground handling subsidiary AISATS. Read more here
Sebi clamps down on derivative markets; algo trading made more accessible

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday tightened the derivative markets framework to curb the excessive speculation and prevent small investors from entering the high-risk space. The market regulator, at its board meeting held on Wednesday, also accepted majority of the recommendations made by the Uday Kotak Committee on corporate governance but deferred decision on key proposals such as one on sharing of information with promoters.

30-year hedge for Indian companies to insulate from volatile exchange rates
In a first of its kind for India, an international fund is launching currency hedging instruments of up to 30 years to help companies insulate themselves from volatile exchange rates.
Hedges up to 10 years are available in India, but are difficult to acquire. Generally, large corporates or public sector enterprises are the buyers. Even the 15-year hedging instrument is not unheard of, but such agreements are signed rarely and banks enjoy a huge margin. 

Malala Yousafzai returns to Pakistan 6 years after Taliban shot her

The youngest Nobel laureate, Malala Yousafzai arrived in Pakistan late Wednesday night, after spending about six years abroad.

Yousafzai's flight- Emirates' EK-614 - landed at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport at 1:41 AM, reported Geo TV.

During her stay in Pakistan, the 20-year-old, is likely to hold meetings with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and other important figures. She will also participate in the 'Meet the Malala' programme, the report said.

The education activist was shot in the head in October 2012 by the Taliban gunmen for actively supporting girls' right to education.

The same year, she left Pakistan after surviving an assassination attempt by Taliban, as she was returning from school.

She was hit in the head, but survived the attack and was airlifted to the Military Hospital Peshawar.

Yousafzai was then shifted to London for further treatment.

US court sues BMW for installing 'defeat devices' to cheat diesel emissions

German luxury carmaker BMW has been sued in the United States over "defeat devices" installed in tens of thousands of vehicles in order to cheat diesel emissions tests, lawyers for the plaintiffs has said.

The case, filed in federal court in New Jersey, will become a class-action suit once it is certified by a judge.

The suit singles out the BMW X5 and 335D model diesel cars sold between 2009 and 2013.

The attorneys at the Hagens Berman firm claim emissions from those cars were as much as 27 times higher than the standard allowed -- a fact masked by the "defeat devices" and their "manipulative software."

"At these levels, these cars aren't just dirty -- they don't meet standards to be legally driven on US streets and no one would have bought these cars if BMW had told the truth," said Steve Berman, the firm's managing partner.

Myanmar elects Aung San Suu Kyi confidante U Win Myint as new president

The Myanmar parliament on Wednesday elected the country's lower house speaker and legislator U Win Myint as the new president.

Myint replaces U Htin Kyaw, Myanmar's first democratically elected president, who resigned last week amid concerns about his health over the last few months. The former is a lawyer by profession, Myanmar Times reported.

The newly sworn president is a member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), which came into power with a brute majority in March 2016, ending decades of military dictatorial rule.

Myint is considered a trusted confidant of Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is legally barred from holding the post of the president by the military-drafted constitution.

In 1981, he became a senior lawyer in the Yangon high court and went on to become the lawyer of Myanmar's top court within a few years.

Good chance Kim Jong Un will give up his country's nuclear weapons: Trump

US President Donald Trump, who has agreed to meet with Kim Jong Un, said on Wednesday there is a now a good chance the North Korean leader will give up his country's nuclear weapons.

"For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility," Trump wrote in an early morning tweet.

This is what he tweeted:

For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility. Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. Look forward to our meeting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 28 March 2018

His comments came as Kim completed a secretive and unprecedented visit to Beijing on Wednesday as the two countries seek to repair frayed ties before Pyongyang's landmark summits with Washington and earlier with South Korea.

Pak PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi frisked at US airport during security check

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was abased down to any regular person at the John F. Kennedy airport in New York, as viral videos on Youtube show Abbasi being frisked during the security procedure.

Ditching official customs as a visiting dignitary, that too as a Prime Minister of a nuclear-armed nation, Abbasi, who reportedly was on a private visit to meet his ailing sister in the US, can be seen in the video adjusting his t-shirt after getting out of security checks with his jacket and a trolley bag.

Abbasi, however, has a history of making private trips to foreign nations, as according to Geo News, the PM was previously spotted travelling alone at a train station during his visit to Britain.

This comes at a time when Pakistan-USA relations have been strained lately, especially since US President Donald Trump tweeted, "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"

Japan approves $926 billion budget: Can Shinzo Abe push fiscal reform?

Japan's parliament approved a record $926 billion state budget on Wednesday for the next fiscal year, starting on April 1, with analysts wary about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ability to push fiscal reform as he faces a crisis over suspected cronyism.

With the passage of the budget bills, attention is shifting to debate on a mid-year fiscal reform plan to rein in what is already the heaviest public debt burden in the industrialised world.

Analysts doubt Abe would push painful reform, at a time when he faces his biggest political crisis since taking office in late 2012 as suspicions swirl about a sale of state-owned land at a huge discount to a nationalist school operator with ties to his wife.

The 97.7 trillion yen ($925.89 billion) spending plan - above 97.5 trillion yen initially planned for the current fiscal year - features a large welfare outlay to respond to a fast-ageing population and a record military outlay to cope with regional tension related to China and North Korea.

Amazon falls 5% on reports of Trump targeting co by changing tax treatment

The Nasdaq Composite index fell on Wednesday, dragged down by losses in Amazon and Apple, while gains in healthcare stocks propped up the Dow and the S&P 500.

Amazon fell more than 5 percent after reports that President Donald Trump is looking to target the company by changing its tax treatment.

Apple dropped 1.6 percent after Goldman Sachs analyst cut sales estimate for iPhone for March and June quarters, citing weak demand.

However, Facebook's shares rose more than 2 percent after the company said it was giving users more control over their privacy by making data management easier and redesigning the settings menu.

The social network has lost more than $100 billion in market value since March 16, when it first acknowledged that user data had been improperly harvested by a consultancy firm.

"We had Facebook making some announcements. That's obviously taking some pressure off the stock at the moment," said Andre Bakhos, managing director of New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Trump ratings highest in 11 months with 42% approval rate: CNN Poll

US President Donald Trump's approval rating has rebounded to its highest level since the 100-day mark of his presidency, even as his approval ratings for handling major issues remain largely negative, according to a new CNN poll.

Overall, 42 per cent approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency, 54 per cent disapprove, the poll revealed on Monday.

Approval is up seven points overall since February, including six point increases among Republicans (from 80 to 86 per cent now) and independents (from 35 to 41 per cent now).

However, Trump's approval rating still remains below that of all of his modern-era predecessors at this stage in their first term after being elected, though Trump only trails Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama by a narrow four points at this point in their first terms.

Trump's approval ratings have seesawed over the last four CNN polls -- from 35 per cent in December up to 40 per cent in January, down to 35 per cent in February and back up to 42 per cent now.

Stormy Daniels accuses Trump lawyer of defamation; Trump cries 'fake news'

Pornographic film star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, accused US President Donald Trump's attorney Michael Cohen of defamation and amended her lawsuit against the US President. The development comes after the details of the alleged Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump affair and the subsequent alleged attempt to cover it up were revealed in greater detail in Daniels' primetime TV interview on CBS's '60 Minutes'. Meanwhile, Cohen is challenging Daniels' unsubstantiated charge that someone with ties to Trump threatened her with harm if she went public with her story about her affair with Trump years ago. Speaking to CBS' Anderson Cooper, Daniels claimed that she had unprotected sex with Trump once in 2006.

Cohen on Monday sent a cease and desist letter to Daniels over her claim of being threatened by a man, purportedly sent by Cohen, and having an alleged sexual affair with Trump. Further, the White House on Monday dismissed Daniels' claims of having an alleged sexual affair with Trump and being threatened to keep quiet about it

China's Jan-Feb industrial growth picks up, but pace slower than 2017

Profits at China's industrial firms picked up pace in the first two months of the year from December but still lagged growth for the whole of 2017, backing expectations the world's second-biggest economy is set to cool as Beijing clamps down on debt risks.

Slowing earnings grsowth, following a six-year high last year, could deter investment and put further pressure on China's stock markets which have taken a knock in recent sessions on growing fears of a trade war with the United States.

Weaker earnings could also complicate Beijing's campaign to reduce a mountain of debt amassed by its state-owned giants, which dominate its heavy industries.

Industrial profits rose 16.1 percent year-on-year to 968.9 billion yuan ($154.57 billion) in the first two months of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

That compared with a 10.8 percent increase in December, though it lagged the 21.0 percent jump for 2017 as a whole, the fastest pace since 2011, as a construction boom boosted prices of building materials from steel bars to copper pipes and cement.

MP journalist death: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan orders CBI probe

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of a Bhind-based journalist.

Earlier, Chouhan had assured strict action against the culprit and said, "Security of journalists is our priority and strict action will be taken against the culprit."

Sandeep Sharma, a journalist with a national news channel, who was probing a possible nexus between the police and sand mafia, was mowed down by a speeding truck in Bhind district on Sunday.

In a chilling CCTV footage that surfaced on Monday morning, Sharma was seen riding a motorcycle when a truck mowed him down.

Sharma had reportedly informed the police in the past about a threat to his life.

Meanwhile, the driver of the truck which ran over the journalist was arrested by the police on Monday night from Bhind.

Meet the billionaire whisperer who united Bezos, Buffett and Dimon

Todd Combs spends most of his days reading in a quiet office in Omaha, where he’s an investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. But one day last year he found himself on a flight to Seattle with an unusual mission: Pitch Jeff Bezos on a bold idea for wringing costs out of the US health-care system.
Two of the biggest corporate chieftains in America—his boss, Warren Buffett, and Jamie Dimon, who runs the largest bank in the country—had already signed on. But they wanted the Amazon.com Inc chief executive officer on board as well.

Combs, 47, a former hedge fund manager who has no experience in the health-care industry and likes to keep a low profile, was both an odd and an obvious choice as the CEOs’ emissary. He had won Buffett’s confidence at Berkshire, where he sparked the company’s largest acquisition, and he’d impressed Dimon so much when the banker visited Omaha that he was invited to join the board of JPMo

Banking fraud fallout: Court allows ED to grill those held in PNB case

A special CBI court today allowed the Enforcement Directorate's plea seeking permission to interrogate employees of the Nirav Modi group firms who are in judicial custody in the alleged Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud.

"The ED's plea is allowed," said special CBI judge S R Tamboli.

The agency had last week approached the court seeking its nod to question some of the accused, arrested by the CBI, who are in judicial custody at present.

The accused are lodged in high security Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.

"We had sought permission saying that we have registered a case and we want to interrogate them," said an ED official.

The ED had sought permission to interrogate Vipul Ambani (president, Finance, Fire Star Diamond--a Nirav Modi group firm), Manish Bosamiya (then assistant general manager, Operation, of Firestar International Pvt. Ltd), Miten Pandia (then Financial Manager at Firestar International), Sanjay Rambhia (Auditor of Nirav Modi group), Vipul Chatalia (Vice President, Banking operations, Firestar) and Kavita Mankikar (executive assistant and authorised signatory of Diamond R US, Stellar Diamond, and Solar Exports).

Brookfield Property to purchase US mall owner GGP Inc for $15.3 bn: Sources

Commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners LP said on Monday it would acquire the 66 percent of GGP Inc that it does not already own in a cash-and-stock deal that values GGP, one of the largest owners and operators of U. S. shopping centers, at about $15.3 billion.
The deal comes as many malls struggle to retain tenants amid the brick-and-mortar retail sector's downturn. The acquisition will strengthen Brookfield Property's negotiating power with retailers and allow it to repurpose some GGP properties.

"Having Brookfield’s expertise in offices, hotels and multi-family residential properties will allow the combined company to draw more value from the GGP mall assets," Brookfield Property Chief Executive Brian Kingston told Reuters in an interview. The agreement comes four months after a special board committee of GGP rejected a $14.8 billion cash-and-stock offer from Brookfield Property as inadequate.
Brookfield Property, which is also a major owner of US office properties, is currently GGP's largest shareholder with a 34 percent stake.

Under Brookfield Property's latest offer, which was first reported by Reuters earlier this month, GGP shareholders can elect to receive $23.50 in cash per share, or either one Brookfield unit or one newly created share that trades as a real estate investment trust (REIT). GGP shares ended trading on Monday at $21.21.

Siddaramaiah doing 'disservice' to poet Kuvempu for petty gains: Amit Shah

Lauding leading Kannada poet Kuvempu for unifying people through poems, BJP President Amit Shah on Monday castigated Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for doing "disservice" to the great writer by dividing people for petty political gains.

"The kind of politics Siddaramaiah is playing is a disservice to Kuvempu's dream of building a great Karnataka. He is pitting one community against another, which is reprehensible and he will pay for this," asserted Shah at a party rally in the Malnad region.

Popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (1904-94) was also a novelist, playwright, critic and thinker. He lived many years at Kuppali near Thirthahalli in this district.

"I visited Kuvempu's birth and resting place at Kuppali to pay my respects. He spoke of unifying people in the country in his poems," said Shah.

Congress targets Modi govt, says cost plus 50% as MSP to farmers a 'jumla'

The Congress on Monday termed the Narendra Modi government's claim of ensuring MSP at "50 per cent more than the actual cost of production" to farmers another "jumla" and accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley "blatantly" lying in his budget speech.

"In the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP had made a promise to India's farmers of giving 'Cost + 50 per cent' as MSP.

"Shockingly, it filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating that farmers can never be given the same for it will lead to market distortion," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

He said Jaitley "blatantly lied" in his budget speech 2018-19, claiming the government has already given 'Cost+50 per cent' as MSP to farmers and will continue to do so, saying the the report of 'Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices' 2018-19 (Rabi Marketing Season), which forms the basis for determination of MSP of wheat, gram etc makes it clear that the government has not given 'Cost + 50 per cent' as MSP in any crop.

BJP calls Rahul tech illiterate; experts say NaMo app data leak dangerous

The Twitter war between the Congress and the BJP on the issue of data 'theft' escalated on Monday, with Congress President Rahul Gandhi dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi the "Big Boss who likes to spy on Indians" and the ruling party hitting back, saying even "Chhota Bheem" knows it is not snooping. Apart from the cartoon character, mythological characters from the epic 'Mahabharata' were also used by the two parties to take jibes at each other.

The BJP described Rahul Gandhi’s accusation of “data theft” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “a classic case of technological illiteracy” and said the Congress president was rattled after his plan to influence the next Lok Sabha election with the help of Cambridge Analytica was “exposed”. At a press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra lashed out at Gandhi, saying such a technological illiteracy had rarely been seen in Indian politics.Twitter was the battleground as the BJP also accused the Opposition Congress of data "theft", saying it had taken off its app after the allegations came out in the open. The Congress, however, claimed it had not done so. The site was "dysfunctional" and all memberships were done through the party's official website, it said

SC seeks AG view on video recording of proceedings on key matters

The Supreme Court today sought the opinion of the attorney general on the issue of video recording or live streaming of judicial proceedings of cases, like that of Aadhaar, which have constitutional and national importance.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said it will first hear the top law officer and the bar before passing any order on the issue which has been raised by senior advocate Indira Jaising and advocate Mathews J Nedumpara in their respective pleas.

Jaising said that the matter was of extreme importance and should be referred to the Constitution bench to ensure that the proceedings in matters of national importance can be video-graphed.

She contended that matters being heard by the Constitutional bench of the apex court are those which the whole country should be able to watch.

Wall Street's Nasdaq, S&P, Dow Jones post biggest one-day gain in 2-1/2 yrs

Wall Street's three major indexes jumped to their greatest one-day gain in two-and-a-half years on Monday, led by the tech sector, as trade war fears eased on reports that the United States and China were willing to renegotiate tariffs and trade imbalances.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 669.4 points, or 2.84 percent, to 24,202.6, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 70.29 points, or 2.72 percent, to 2,658.55 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 227.88 points, or 3.26 percent, to 7,220.54.

Facebook scandal: Cambridge Analytica may be probed for breaking poll laws

A top American senator has sought an investigation into potential violations of federal election law by Cambridge Analytica (CA), the scandal-hit communications firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal.

Whistleblower Christopher Wylie, a founding employee of CA, has accused that the firm, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users' Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters.

In a letter to the FEC, Senator Richard Blumenthal said that Wylie's disclosures have raised significant issues that warrant the attention of the FEC pertaining to the involvement of foreign nationals and political action committees in the management of election campaigns.

"I urge the FEC to take these allegations seriously, open an investigation into possible violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by Cambridge Analytica and its clients, and take enforcement action as necessary," Blumenthal wrote.

US stocks roar back as trade war fears fade; Dow jumps 2.84%

Stocks rose almost everywhere on Monday, reflecting optimism that the United States and China are set to begin negotiations on trade.

MSCI's world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, rose 1.53 percent after touching its level since Feb. 9, stirred by expectations that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would try to reach an agreement with China.

Hope of a rapprochement abbreviated the markets' hangover about a trade war pitting the world's two largest economies against one another.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 669.4 points, or 2.84 percent, to 24,202.6, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 70.29 points, or 2.72 percent, to 2,658.55 and the Nasdaq Composite added 227.88 points, or 3.26 percent, to 7,220.54. Each index turned in its best day of performance since August 2015. 

Apple expands self driving programme, nearly doubles fleet in California

Registering 18 new vehicles since January, Apple has expanded its self-driving car programme rapidly and now has 45 autonomous vehicles registered with California's Department of Motor Vehicles.

The company had 27 self-driving cars until late January.

"Apple has nearly doubled the number of self-driving cars in its California test fleet. The number of cars is more than companies like Google, Waymo, and Uber have and is second only to General Motors which performs tests with Cruise -- its self-driving division," the Financial Times reported late on Tuesday.

Behind Apple is Tesla which currently has 39 self-driving vehicles, and Uber which has 29 cars.

Codenamed "Project Titan", Apple's self-driving programme's fleet is reportedly made up of Lexus RX450h SUVs each of which is fitted with huge racks of LIDAR and radar sensors as well as cameras.

Bayer clears EU hurdle for $62.5-bn takeover of Monsanto with BASF sale

German conglomerate Bayer won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for it's $62.5 billion buys of US peer Monsanto, the last of a trio of mega-mergers that will reshape the agrochemicals industry.

The tie-up is set to create a company with control of more than a quarter of the world's seed and pesticides market.

Driven by shifting weather patterns, competition in grain exports and a faltering global farm economy, Dow and Dupont, and ChemChina and Syngenta had earlier led the wave of consolidation in the sector.

Environmental and farming groups have opposed all three deals, worried about their power and their advantage in digital farming data, which can tell farmers how and when to till, sow, spray, fertilise and pick crops based on algorithms.

The European Commission said Bayer addressed its concerns with its offer to sell a swathe of assets to boost rival BASF confirming a Reuters story on February 28.

Tencent Q4 net profit nearly doubles to 20.8 bn yuan, beats estimates

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd posted on Wednesday a 98 percent rise in quarterly net profit, beating expectations as it deepens monetisation of the growing traffic on its social networks.

Net profit for the three months ended December 31 rose to 20.8 billion yuan ($3.29 billion), China's largest social media and gaming company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

That was above an average estimate of 16.90 billion yuan from 9 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 51 percent to 66.39 billion yuan, compared with analysts' average estimate of 69.5 billion yuan. Monthly active users of the social media mobile app WeChat exceeded 1 billion after the Chinese New Year in February, up from 980 million at the end of September.

Net profit for the full 2017 year rose 74 percent to 71.51 billion yuan. The company declared a final dividend of HK$0.88 per share.

China allows foreigners to enter $27 trn payments market

China will permit foreign companies to access its $27 trillion payments market, further opening up the world’s second-largest economy.
Foreign players can start applying for payment licenses and will be treated the same as local firms, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on Wednesday. Applicants must set up local units, establish payment infrastructure -- including disaster recovery systems — and store client information domestically, the central bank said.
Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday promised to protect the intellectual property of foreigners investing in its economy, as China seeks to avoid a trade war with the U.

S. Any entrants to the Chinese market -- apart from meeting stiff local regulations -- will also have to compete with the more than 260 firms that have received payment licenses including Ant Financial Services Group’s Alipay and Tencent Holdings’s WeChat Pay.
“The domestic market is quite saturated with very strong domestic players, and it is relatively hard for foreign companies to get a piece of the pie,” said Iris Pang, a Hong Kong-based economist at ING Groep NV. “But there is a chance for them to compete in the cross-border payment market.”

Boko Haram free scores of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls in Nigeria

Boko Haram jihadists have released 76 of the 110 schoolgirls who were abducted from the northeastern town of Dapchi in February, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed said "the 76 are those who have been documented", adding that the release of the abducted students "is ongoing".

The schoolgirls were returned to Dapchi by Boko Haram early Wednesday morning following negotiations between the Nigerian government and the militant group.

"The girls were released around 3:00 am (0200 GMT) through back-channel efforts and with the help of some friends of the country," said Mohammed, without elaborating.

The number of freed girls may increase "because the girls were not handed over to anyone but dropped off in Dapchi," he said.

Sixth FedEx parcel bomb blast in Austin, Texas: 2 dead, Trump terms it sick

Emergency teams rushed on Tuesday to another reported explosion in Austin -- this one at a Goodwill store -- but police and federal authorities said the blast wasn't related to recent bombings that have killed and injured people and caused panic across Texas' capital for weeks.

Police and emergency response teams said an "incendiary device" exploded, injuring a man in his 30s. Nearby stores, shopping centres and restaurants were evacuated. But police and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said a short time later that it was unrelated to the previous blasts.

Gary Davis, president and CEO of Goodwill Texas, stood outside a police barrier huddling with other Goodwill employees. He said the device was contained in a bag and detonated when a worker moved it.

"We put all the donations we get in a big cardboard box. He pulled something out in a bag, completely normal, and the device went off," Davis said.

World's last male northern white rhino dies; could spark extinction crisis

Researchers say the world's last male northern white rhino, Sudan, has died after "age-related complications." A statement from the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya says the 45-year-old rhino was euthanized yesterday after his condition "worsened significantly" and he was no longer able to stand.

The rhino had been part of an ambitious effort to save the subspecies from extinction with the help of the two surviving females.

"He was a great ambassador for his species and will be remembered for the work he did to raisConservancy'slobally of the plight facing not only rhinos, but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity," said the conservancy's CEO, Richard Vigne.

Sudan was something of a celebrity, attracting thousands of visitors.