Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has paid a €1 million ($1.19 million) to the Spanish tax authorities (Hacienda) in order to avoid a possible prison sentence for fraud, the ‘El Mundo’ newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Modric was due to appear in court on Tuesday to answer two charges of tax avoidance relating to 2013 and 2014 and is accused of defrauding a total of €870,728 over the two years with the money being channelled through a Luxembourg-based company, reports Xinhua news agency.

Don’t miss: Sergio Aguero pounces to give Manchester City edge into 2nd leg

By accepting the charges and making the payment of the money he is accused of defrauding, plus interest and an added fine, the player aims to avoid having to appear in court and the risk of a prison sentence.

Must read: Juan Mata feels Manchester United’s warm weather camp will boost morale

Modric is the latest in a line of current and former Real Madrid players to have problems with the tax authorities, with the ongoing investigation into Cristiano Ronaldo, who denies any wrongdoing, in the most high-profile case.

The World Bank is estimating India’s economy to grow by 6.7 per cent during the current fiscal year, higher than the 6.5 per cent estimate by the Indian government.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to rise to 7.3 per cent in 2018-19, making India again the world’s fastest growing economy, according to the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday.

The report dropped the growth estimate for 2017-18 by 0.1 per cent from its projection June 2017, because of the disruptions to the economy from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

But it raised the growth forecast for 2018-19 by 0.1 per cent from the June figure.

The Bank forecast GDP growth of 7.5 per cent in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The World Bank saw benefits down the road from GST.

“Over the medium term, the GST is expected to benefit economic activity and fiscal sustainability by reducing the cost of complying with multiple state tax systems, drawing informal activity into the formal sector, and expanding the tax base,” the report said.

The Bank put the growth estimate for China’s economy for 2017 at 6.8 per cent and forecast 6.4 per cent increase in 2018.

In its overview the Bank said it finally saw the world economy recovering from the financial crisis that hit the world with full force in 2011.

It said, “2018 is on track to be the first year since the financial crisis that the global economy will be operating at or near full capacity.”

The report forecast the global growth rate to edge up to 3.1 per cent in 2018 after “a much stronger-than-expected” 2017 growth of three per cent in 2017.

“The broad-based recovery in global growth is encouraging, but this is no time for complacency,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

“This is a great opportunity to invest in human and physical capital.”

India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reported last week that it estimated the GDP to grow by only 6.5 per cent in 2017-18 compared to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.

The World Bank estimate is in line with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) projection of 6.7 per cent for 2017. The IMF, however, forecast a slightly higher growth estimate of 7.4 per cent for 2018.

Morgan has projected a growth rate of 6.4 for 2017 and 7.5 per cent in 2018. Nomura also estimated this year’s growth to be 7.5 per cent.

The World Bank report said that private investment is expected to revive in India “as the corporate sector adjusts to the GST; infrastructure spending increases, partly to improve public services and Internet connectivity; and private sector balance sheet weaknesses are mitigated with the help of the efforts of the government and the Reserve Bank of India.”

The government’s recent recapitalisation package for public sector banks could “resolve banking sector balance sheets, support credit to the private sector, and lift investment,” the report added.

Another positive for India is that the global trade recovery is expected to lift exports, the report added.

The World Bank expected results from India’s recent reforms, including the demonetisation, and the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

They “are expected to encourage formal sector activity, broaden the tax base, and improve long-term growth prospects despite short term disruptions in the case of demonetisation,” it said.

The ‘Make in India’ “aims to improve investment and innovation as well as develop skills to meet the demand for skilled labour,” the report said.

“To achieve these goals, the government has taken various steps to improve the business climate, such as shortening approval times for trademarks and patents to enhance property right protection, lowering restrictions on foreign direct investment in various sectors, and accelerating investment in energy and transport infrastructure.”

These steps have helped improve the ease of doing business, the report said.

In a ranking of countries based on ease of doing business issued by the World Bank in October 2017, India leapt 30 spots to the 100th rank.

Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero came off the bench to score a 92nd-minute winner as the Sky Blues edged Bristol City 2-1 in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola sprung a surprise with his team selection, opting to send out the Premier League leaders without a recognised striker as winger Raheem Sterling lead the line in a ‘false-nine’ role.

Must read: Juan Mata feels Manchester United’s warm weather camp will boost morale

Bristol, who had stunned the mighty Manchester United in the previous round, managed to keep City from scoring in the first-half.

A mighty feat, but one made even more special due to the fact that the brave Robbins held a slender lead courtesy of Bobby Reid’s penalty a minute from half-time.

John Stones had brought down Reid in the box and match referee Anthony Taylor correctly pointed to the spot and the dreadlocked striker put the ensuing spot-kick in the back of the net, despite City keeper Claudio Bravo managing to get a hand to the ball.

Don’t miss: Philippe Coutinho posts message for Liverpool fans on Instagram after Barcelona move

City, unsurprisingly, dominated the possession stats, with Bristol threatening on the break and via set-pieces.

Kevin De Bruyne twice, from a near-identical position on the pitch, forced Frank Fielding to scramble and tip the ball over the bar. Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva came close too, but neither midfielder was at their clinical best while Bravo made a couple of smart stops to deny the visitors.

Bristol were braced for a City onslaught in the second-half and De Bruyne was the man who would finally end their stubborn resistance with a fine finish after Sterling set him up in the 55th minute.

Also read: Complete FA Cup 4th round draw revealed

With over half an hour to play, it seemed inevitable City would find a second and perhaps, a third, but the Robbins’ rearguard stymied their fancied opponents time and again.

Pep Guardiola sent on Aguero to find a way to break the impasse and the striker would do as his manager asked deep in injury-time.

Bernardo Silva’s delightful cross into the box was met by the head of City’s all-time top scorer to break Bristol City hearts and give the Citizens a slender but important lead going into the second leg.

The two sides will face-off in the return leg on January 23rd at Ashton Gate while Arsenal take on Chelsea in the first leg of the second second semi-final at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

A tribunal here on Tuesday ordered a status quo vis-a-vis Enforcement Directorate (ED) action against properties of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, asking why the agency was not acting against self-styled spiritual leader Asaram Bapu.

Justice Manmohan Singh, who heads the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), pointed out to the ED counsel that there are many ‘gurus’ or ‘babas’ facing criminal cases in India and asked why no action was forthcoming against Asaram, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and others vis-a-vis property attachment.

ED counsel Nitesh Rana replied that investigations against other spiritual leaders was on.

The tribunal then ordered status quo, which will stop the ED from taking control of a school in Chennai and a commercial property in Mumbai till further orders.

The tribunal listed the matter for hearing on March 13.

The ED has already attached the assets/properties in the form of mutual funds, real estate and bank accounts totalling Rs 17.45 crore of the Islamic Research Foundation led by Naik.

Naik, in his appeal, said he was not even served notices before the properties were attached and that the charge sheet against him made out no such offence that warranted confiscation of his properties.

The central government had banned Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation for five years. Naik is accused of spreading hatred through his speeches, funding terror groups and laundering money. The National Investigation Authority last year registered a criminal case against him.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday interact with leading economists and sector experts from across the country at NITI Aayog.

The group of economists and experts will hold deliberations with the prime minister on ‘Economic Policy: The Road Ahead’ ahead of the union budget on February 1.
The discussion will focus on six broad themes: Macroeconomic Balances, Agriculture and Rural Development, Urban Development, Infrastructure and Connectivity, Employment, Manufacturing and Exports and Health and Education.

The meeting comes days after the Central Statistics Office (CSO) pegged the country’s GDP growth at 6.5 per cent for FY18, the slowest in four years, against 7.1 per cent in the preceding year.

Cabinet ministers including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Ganga Water Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, along with the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, and senior officials from the government will attend the meeting.

The emphasis is on sharing the views of the experts from all over the country on the road ahead for the economic policy to steer the nation towards a New India envisioned by the Prime Minister.

(With inputs from agencies)

Gujarat Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking why atrocities were being committed against Dalits, minorities and farmers in India and charged the BJP and RSS with instigating anti-Dalit violence in Bhima Koregaon in Maharasthra.

“The way in which Hardik (Patel), Alpesh (Thakore) and Jignesh (Mevani) with the support of the youth in Gujarat brought the BJP down from over 150 seats (target set by BJP in Gujarat) to 99 seats… That is the reason we are being targetted,” Mevani told his Yuva Hunkar rally here.

“And this is the reason why the people of the (Rashtriya Swayamsewak) Sangh and BJP spread violence in Bhima Koregaon,” he said, referring to the violence that broke out in Bhima Koregaon near Pune last week in which one person lost his life and several vehicles were damaged.

The rally for which the Delhi Police had originally denied permission was held at Jantar Mantar, a short distance from Parliament House in central Delhi. But Mevani and his supporters shelved plans to take out a procession to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The newly elected MLA also said that when he fought elections in Gujarat he always spoke about bringing people together.

“Throughout the election campaign, we said that for 22 years the BJP followed the politics of division, while we always spoke about binding people together,” he said. “We don’t follow love-jihad.”

“We only talk about love and harmony. We will celebrate April 14 and Valentine’s Day too,” he said.

Referring to the violence that marked the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in Pune last week, he asked: “Why the violence took place in Bhima Koregaon?

“I don’t have to answer it but you have to answer me… This you have to answer why Rs 15 lakh didn’t come in everyone’s account, why no jobs to youth? Why farmers were shot dead in Mandsaur? Why no justice to the Una Dalit victims? Why Najeeb Ahmed went missing? Why Rohit Vemula died? We’ll ask all these questions from you, (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji.”

Mevani, who won from Vadgam in Gujarat in Assembly elections, said elected representatives were not allowed to speak and that was Gujarat’s model.

Further targeting Modi, Mevani said he supported the government’s “Digital India” initiative but asked the Prime Minister to ensure a technology first “so that no one is made to die inside a sewer”.

He also sought an immediate release of Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad — a Dalit leader who has been jailed and the National Security Act (NSA) slapped against him for allegdly instigating violence in Saharanpur in June last year.

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar said the rally had been called “to protect the Constitution and not for any religion”. He alleged that the BJP was creating communal divisions to rule.

“The BJP does not want ‘Ram Rajya’… In the fight between Allah and Ram, the victory will always go to Nathuram (Godse),” said the student leader.

Earlier, scores of people gathered around the barricaded Parliament Street for the protest march planned by Mevani.

“No permission has been given to anyone (to hold a rally),” Joint Commissioner of Police Ajay Chaudhary told reporters here.

The Gujarat lawmaker slammed the police and the central government for denying permission to the protest.

“An elected representative is not allowed to speak… This is extremely unfortunate.”

Some 1,500 security personnel in riot gear, with tear gas launchers and water cannons, were deployed on Parliament Street. As many as 42 organisation — parties, associations and student groups — took part in the rally.

This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos will have the first Indian Prime Minister participating since 1997, with Narendra Modi slated to address the plenary session of the prestigious global business meet, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu announced on Tuesday.

According to the Commerce Ministry, WEF 2018, to be held over January 23-26, will be attended by 350 political leaders, including over 60 heads of state or government, and CEOs of the world’s major companies.

“The Prime Minister is going to attend the World Economic Forum for the first time, at a time when the whole world is looking to India,” Prabhu told the media here.

“The WEF is the single most important gathering of business leaders and bankers of the world… virtually, it is a global decision making place. The Chinese president’s visit there last year created a big buzz,” he added.

While Modi is slated to address the inaugural plenary session on January 23, he is to be followed by an impressive array of Indian ministers who will take part in various group sessions.

Besides Prabhu, they include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as well as the respective Ministers of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and for the External Affairs Ministry M.J. Akbar, a Commerce Ministry release said.

Prabhu also said that two states — Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra — will be represented at Davos through their Chief Ministers Chandrababu Naidu and Devendra Fadnavis, respectively.

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that Modi is also scheduled to interact with top business leaders in Davos at the meeting of the International Business Council consisting of 120 top chief executives of major multinationals.

The theme of AWEF 2018 is “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”, the statement said.

According to observers here, Modi’s first visit to WEF is an opportunity to interact with foreign investors following the implementation of the major structural reform of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), as well as the demonetisation measure of November 2016.

Prabhu said that he would be taking part in a mini-ministerial of trade ministers at Davos, which assumes significance following the deadlock at the World Trade Organisation’s ministerial held last month in Buenos Aires on the issue of public food stockholding.

Prabhu also announced that on Tuesday he had chaired a meeting of the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence for India’s Economic Transformation, along with the DIPP Secretary.

The task force, composed of members from industry, academia and government, has submitted its preliminary recommendations to the Ministry.

CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said all opposition parties would be approached to fight the BJP jointly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“We need a policy not a politician. We will ask all opposition parties to come together on the basis of alternative social and economic policies,” he said, responding to queries about a possible coalition of non-BJP, non-NDA parties to jointly fight the BJP.

Yechury was speaking to the media after he wrote a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking a rollback of the idea of electoral bonds, calling it a “regressive” move that would legalise money laundering.

The CPI-M leader also condemned Delhi Police for not allowing Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani to hold a march in Delhi, which he said was reflection of the BJP government’s “undemocratic nature”.

“It is anti-Dalit posturing,” Yechury said, adding there would be larger people’s struggle in the coming days against high malnutrition rate, dip in the country’s GDP rate and rise in unemployment.

He said discontent related to governance and economy was being diverted to communal polarisation by the BJP.

Yechury also targeted the government over India’s foreign policy that he said had shifted in “a very big way” and the country was seen as “supplicant of US’ global strategic interest”.

“It is distinct and vivid shift towards a pro-US foreign policy, which is very detrimental to India’s interest. It is happening with climate change, WTO and other international treaties,” he said.

MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday welcomed the move to do away with the compulsory playing of national anthem in cinema halls, saying the Central government had taken a wrong decision.

The Hyderabad MP said he was in full agreement with the Supreme Court which modified its earlier order on the issue.

The apex court accepted the central government’s suggestion that playing the national anthem in cinema halls should not be made compulsory. The court modified its 2016 order a day after the government said a final call can be taken once a ministerial panel makes guidelines.

“Under previous order, many people especially those from minority community were targeted and even physically handicapped were harassed by so-called vigilantes who support RSS and BJP,” Owaisi told reporters.

He said it was a wrong decision by the government and hoped that it would review its other controversial decisions.

The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief said the Supreme Court had taken good decision as there was no need to play national anthem in theatres to prove patriotism.

“Playing national anthem is proud moment for every Indian but there are occasions for it. It should be played on Independence Day, Republic Day, on the opening day of Parliament session, some official function or some major sporting event,” he said.

Reacting to hia Waqf Board chief Wasim Rizvi’s statement that madarsas have produced terrorists, Owaisi termed him the biggest joker and most opportunistic person who sold his conscience to RSS. “I challenge this buffoon to show one Shia, Sunni or any madarsa where such teachings are imparted,” he said.

The MIM chief said if Rizvi had any proof he should provide it to the Union Home Minister or apologise to the nation for making the reckless remark.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will meet the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini here on Thursday to discuss progress in implementing landmark nuclear deal Iran signed with six world powers in July 2015.

“The meeting will take place in the context of the ongoing work to ensure a full and continued implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” said a statement from Mogherini’s office.

Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and his French and German counterparts Yves Le Drian and Sigmar Gabriel will also attend the meeting.

Gabriel told German public broadcaster ZDF that the recent anti-government protests in Iran would be on the agenda at the meeting with Zarif. The protests killed at least 21 people and led to the arrests of over 1,000 including 90 students.

Many observers believe the protests in Iran were led by the working class in protest over hardship caused by the country’s economic woes. These woes persist despite the end of crippling sanctions under the 2015 deal to curb its atomic programme.

Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the ambassadors of Russia and Iran to protest the Syria government’s violations of de-escalation zone borders in Idlib.

The ministry expressed Turkey’s “discomfort” on Idlib situation to Russian ambassador Alexei Yerkhov and Iranian ambassador Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian Fard, asking them to urge the Syrian government to end the border violations, Xinhua reported.

Speaking to reporters, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Syria’s Assad government of launching attacks on moderate opposition in Idlib, which “could damage the process of political resolution.”

The minister’s comments came a day after Syrian government forces captured several towns and advanced closer to an opposition-held air base in the northwestern province of Idlib, following intense battles with the al-Qaida-linked militant groups.

As agreed in Astana talks by Turkey, Russia and Iran, Turkish military is currently deployed in Idlib to set up observation posts and monitor the implementation of de-escalation zones.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthplace has officially become National Historical Park, in a move to mark his birthday, which is observed on the third Monday of January each year as a US federal holiday.

US President Donald Trump signed the measure aboard Air Force One after arriving in the southeastern state of Georgia on Monday. He flew there to attend the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Xinhua reported.

“Through his life and work, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made America more just and free,” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said.

“This important historical park tells his story, and this bill will help ensure that the park continues to tell Dr. King’s story for generations to come,” he added.

King’s birthplace was already considered a National Historic Site. The bill signed by Trump on Monday upgrades its status to a National Historical Park, and also expands the boundaries to include the Prince Hall Masonic Temple, the headquarters of the civil rights organisation co-founded by King.

King, the major icon of the US civil rights movement, was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968.

Toyota Motor North America announced on Tuesday it was expanding its safety recall involving Takata front passenger airbag inflators as required by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The expansion involves approximately 601,300 additional vehicles in the UN, Xinhua quoted a Toyota spokesperson as saying.

Takata and its US entity TK Holdings Inc filed for bankruptcy in June. The Japanese auto-parts giant said it was recalling more than 100 million of its air bag inflators across the world through the end of 2019.

By the end of November 2017, 19 automakers had recalled 46 million Takata inflators in 34 million US vehicles, according to NHTSA.

Takata agreed in 2016 to plead guilty to wire fraud and pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties to resolve a US Justice Department investigation.

The central government on Tuesday urged everyone not to use a national flag made of plastic and asked the states and union territories to ensure strict compliance of the Flag Code in view of the Republic Day celebration ahead.

An advisory from the Union Home Ministry said that that the “national flag represents the hopes and aspirations of the people of the country and hence should occupy a position of honour”, but since plastic flags are not biodegradable like paper flags, these do not get decomposed for a long time and ensuring appropriate disposal of a national flag made of plastic, commensurate with dignity of the flag, is a practical problem.

As per Section 2 of The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view burns, mutilates, defaces, defiles, disfigures, destroys, tramples upon or otherwise shows disrespect to or brings into contempt (whether by words, either spoken or written, or by acts) the Indian National Flag or any part thereof, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

The advisory said that on important national, cultural and sports events, flags made of paper only are to be used by public in terms of the provisions of the Flag Code of India, 2002 and such paper flags are not to be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event.

Such flags are to be disposed of, in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag. Wide publicity for not using the national flag made of plastic should be made along with its advertisement in the electronic and print media.

State governments, UT administrations, secretaries of all ministries/departments of the central government were told to ensure strict compliance of the provisions contained in the Flag Code of India and The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

There is universal affection and respect for and loyalty to the national flag. Yet, a perceptible lack of awareness is often noticed amongst the people as well as organisations and agencies of the government in regard to laws, practices and conventions that apply to display of the national flag, the advisory said.

The Coal India board has approved a non-coking coal price hike for both power and non-power consumers.

The price increase is expected to push the miner’s revenue up by Rs 1,956 crore for the remaining period of the current fiscal. Effective from Tuesday, the revision is projected to lead to an incremental annual revenue of Rs 6,421 crore.

“The board has approved revision of non-coking coal prices with effect from January 9. This will be applicable to all the subsidiaries of Coal India including NEC for regulated and non regulated sectors,” the miner said in a late night filing on Monday.

“Due to this revision, Coal India will earn approximately an incremental revenue of Rs 1,956 crore for the balance period of the current fiscal (2017-18) and the projected annual incremental revenue would be Rs 6,421 crore,” an official said.

Reacting to the price revision, Coal Consumers’ Association of India’s Secretary General Subhasri Chaudhuri told IANS: “Coal consumers have no alternative but to bear the brunt of the price hike.

“Of late, Coal India’s subsidiaries have increased peripheral charges like surface transport charges (for transporting coal from pit heads to siding) in the zero-three km slab. The miner had also introduced evacuation facility charges at Rs 50 per tonne from December. However, in the latest revision, the miner reduced prices for some grades of coal.”

According to sources, the price hike across various coal grades range between 22 per cent on the higher side to 3 per cent on the lower side. In some grades of coal, the prices were revised downward.

Following the price revision, Coal India’s shares closed at 5.63 per cent higher at BSE on Tuesday, while the Sensex was up 0.26 per cent at 34,443.19 points.

According to Coal India official, the miner is likely to introduce a new pricing mechanism for coal which would be linked to quality and the new mechanism is expected to be implemented in the next few months.

Under the new mechanism, the prices would be computed on every unit of gross calorific value, he said.

In the last month, the miner had introduced evacuation facility charges at Rs 50 per tonne for despatch of coal except despatch through rapid loading arrangement and as a result, the company was expected to generate approximately an additional revenue of Rs 2,500 crore for the full year and approximately Rs 800 crore for rest of the current fiscal.

The price of thermal grade coal with gross calorific value (GCV) of 3,100 kcal/kg to 4,300 kcal/kg for supply to power sector has been increased by about 15-18 per cent. This along with the levy of evacuation charges of Rs 50 per million tonnes is estimated to increase the cost of generation for coal-based power plants by about 13-15 paise per unit, as per rating agency ICRA estimates.

“Given that coal based generators with an automatic pass through of fuel costs account for about 60 per cent of the total power procured by discoms and assuming a partial pass-through by other IPPs (Independent Power Producers) with competitively-bid PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) which account for balance, this translates into about 9 paise per unit increase in power procurement cost for discoms on an all India basis,” agency’s Group Head and Senior Vice President Sabyasachi Majumdar said.

“In turn, assuming the average AT&C loss level at around 23 per cent in the country, we estimate the impact on cost of power supply per unit sold and retail tariffs (assuming full pass through by state regulators) at around 11 paisa per unit or about 2 per cent tariff hike,” he added.

In January 2017, the miner’s subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) increased coking coal prices by about 20 per cent and its another subsidiary Central Coalfields too had hiked its prices.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for a global consensus to fight terrorism and criticised those who are supporting the global menace in the name of religion.

Naidu also sought support of over three crore Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) across the world in building a “New India”.

“The biggest challenge to world order today is terrorism and we must build a global consensus to fight the menace,” Naidu said in the valedictory session of the first-ever PIO-Parliamentarians Conference here.

The Vice President said: “All of us must recognise terrorism as a threat to humanity and take concerted action to curb it.”

“Unfortunately, some people are clothing terror in the garb of religion, but in fact, terrorism has no basis in any religion of the world,” he said.

Naidu said the Indian diaspora, the second-largest such community in the world, “has contributed enormously to strengthening India’s cultural, literary, political and economic bonding across the world”

Citing an example of a squirrel, who participated in making of a bridge across the sea for Lord Ram to reach Lanka, the Vice President urged the PIOs to contribute in “an appropriate manner to the ongoing efforts to build a New India”.

Naidu asserted that the success of Indian diaspora in different parts of the world was a clear reflection of the strength of the Indian values of assimilation and inclusivity.

“The presence of such a large number of elected representatives of Indian origin in legislatures of such a large number of countries from across the world goes beyond the symbolism of the expanding horizons of the influence of India in the global scheme of things,” he said.

The Vice President noted: “When we talk of Indian Nationalism, we refer to the pride that is associated with such inclusive humanism, which is native to this land. Some deviant words and deeds of some misguided persons can in no way dent the quality and strength of the core values of our motherland.”

He asserted that while the citizens took pride in the spirit of Indian nationalism that unites the people of different social and religious hues cohabiting in the country, “PIOs imbibe and uphold the ethos and values of those countries which again is a manifestation of the spirit of assimilation, which is at the heart of core Indian values”.

In all, 143 PIOs from 24 countries participated in the event organised here at Pravasi Bharatiya Bhavan.

The Indian IT industry on Tuesday lauded the US administration for not considering any regulatory change in the H-1B visa extension policy.

“It’s a good decision. We are relieved that there won’t be any change in the H1-B visa extension policy. It is beneficial for us as well as our clients in the US,” a software export firm executive told IANS here.

The clarification by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Monday refuted a report by a US-based news agency that the US Department of Homeland Security was considering new regulations to prevent the extension of H1-B visas, availed mostly by the Indian IT firms.

“The USCIS is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the US by changing our interpretation of section 104(c) of AC-21, which provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6-year limit,” said USCIS’ chief of media relations Jonathan Withington.

Indian IT industry’s apex body Nasscom President R. Chandrashekhar said the US news agency report was ill-founded, as it was trying to mislead by quoting “a government source” in support of its claim that Washington was mulling new rules to prevent H-1B visa extensions.

“We can’t be commenting on every news report, that too, on a non-event. We made it clear that any disruptive move on the visa policy will be detrimental to both a” India and the US. The clarification by the USCIS is self-explanatory,” Chandrashekhar told IANS from New Delhi.

Withington also said USCIS was never considering such a policy change and that “any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false”.

The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers.

Indians get most of the H1-B visas, although there are no national quotas for the facility nor is it specifically designed for Indians.

“Raising the visa issue has been a regular feature in the US media and rhetorical among the lobbies despite the fact that there is an acute shortage of skilled professionals in North America and enterprises there need those who have them (skills),” said another IT firm executive on the condition of anonymity.

With internet and communication technologies bridging the space and distance, the need for deploying more techies on onsite has reduced drastically over the years.

“We do more projects from offshore (India) and provide a range of software services remotely through seamless networks. The need for deploying more of our employees is not so much as it was in the past,” added the executive.

According to Nasscom estimates, the use of visas by Indian IT firms has declined 50 per cent over the last two years.