The author has posted comments on this articleAgencies | Feb 7, 2014, 02.43AM IST NEW DELHI: UK-based Vodafone on Thursday secured a Cabinet approval to buy out minority shareholders in its Indian arm for Rs 10,141 crore the single largest foreign investment in the country's telecom sector. After this, Vodafone India will be the first telecom operator to be fully-owned by a foreign firm.

"The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of CGP India Investment for increase in foreign equity in Vodafone India from 64.38% to 100%," an official statement said.

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) had on December 2013, cleared the proposal of CGP India, an indirect Mauritian subsidiary of Vodafone International Holdings.

Vodafone, which entered India in 2007 by buying Hutchison Whampoa's stake in Hutchison-Essar in a $11-billion deal, directly holds 64.38% stake in Vodafone India. "The approval would result in foreign investment of approximately Rs 10,141 crore being received in the country," the statement added.

Last year, the government had allowed 100% FDI into the telecom sector.

The telecom major will buy remaining outstanding shares from minority shareholders Ajay Piramal and Analjit Singh. agencies

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Cabinet nod for Vodas Rs 10k-cr FDI

Published: Wed, February 5, 2014 @ 12:02 a.m.

By Marc Kovac

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

The states health director is leaving his Cabinet-level post in Gov. John Kasichs administration.

Ted Wymyslo, who has served as head of the Ohio Department of Health since 2011, will leave the office at the end of the month and return to his private medical practice.

In a released statement, Kasich said he was sad to see [Wymyslo] go, but I respect his desire to return to his first passion, which is practicing medicine and working with patients. His leadership at the Department of Health has been essential to helping Ohio navigate needed changes and improvements. Ill miss having him as a Cabinet member, but I know I can continue to seek his wisdom and counsel as Ohio continues to improve the overall performance of our health system and make sure Ohioans receive the best possible care for their health care dollar.

The governor will name a replacement in coming weeks.

Cabinet-level changes are not unusual from one gubernatorial term to the next, and Wymyslo is the latest member of Kasichs administration to announce his departure plans.

Others who have left or will leave soon include Public Utilities Chairman Todd Snitchler, Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally and Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Michael Colbert.

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Ohio health director leaving his post

The Daily Briefing Buckeye Forum Podcast

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Another Kasich administration cabinet member is leaving, this time Department of Health Director Dr. Ted Wymyslo.

Gov. John Kasichs press office announced Wymyslos departure today in a news release. Wymyslo will leave at the end of the month and has has decided to return to private medical practice, according to the release.

Kasich will name a replacement by the end of the month. The states health director holds a great deal of influence over whether or not abortion clinics in Ohio can stay open or must close.

The strides Ohio is making in health care are because were putting the needs of people first, and were being good stewards of Ohioans resources, Kasich said in an emailed statement. Weve done it with the help of sound thinkers with frontline experience like Dr. Wymyslo and Im sad to see him go but I respect his desire to return to his first passion, which is practicing medicine and working with patients.

Last month Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Nally abruptly resigned from Kasichs cabinet.

Wymyslo drew fire from abortion rights supporters for ordering several abortion clinics shut down for violating Ohio law. Just last month he ordered a facility near Cincinnati closed because it did not have a valid transfer agreement required of all ambulatory surgical centers in the state with a local hospital that would agree to accept patients if necessary.

However, he also drew a bit of criticism from abortion rights opponents because he sometimes took several months merely to decide whether to uphold an abortion clinics appeal.

Shortly after the resignation became public, NARAL Pro-ChoiceOhio tweeted call Kasich NOW and tell him new dir must put health over politics.

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Department of Health director leaving Kasich administration

NEW DELHI: Setting the ball rolling for acquisition of new VVIP helicopters, the defence ministry has written to the cabinet secretary to get all stakeholders on board to decide the future course of action in getting plush and secure rotary rides for the President, PM and other top dignitaries.

The defence ministry has "requested" cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth to get the PMO, ministry of home affairs and Special Protection Group (SPG), which provides proximate security to the PM, to begin the joint consultation process with IAF and others on the VVIP helicopters, said sources.

"All have to come together to finalize the mandatory operational or technical requirements for the new choppers depending on the latest inputs. The RFI (request for information) and the eventual RFP (request for proposal) can then be floated to international vendors," said a source.

The worry is that the process must be kick-started at the earliest because the five Mi-8 helicopters currently with the IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries the President and PM, are fast coming to the end of their operational life.

"In fact, the first of these saloon-version Mi-8s is slated for retirement this month. But their operational lives will be extended for a couple of more years, six months at a time. These Mi-8s or the newer Mi-17s can be used as an interim solution. But there is no option but to acquire specially-configured VVIP helicopters," said another source.

The VVIP helicopters, after all, need to have all-weather and night flying capabilities, advanced navigation aids and auto-pilot, self-protection anti-missile suites and bullet-proofing, data links and medical evacuation systems, among other things.

The cancellation of the 556 million euros deal with AgustaWestland on January 1 has led to mothballing of the three of the 12 AW-101 helicopters already delivered before payments were frozen last year, as was reported by TOI last month.

It was way back in August 1999 that IAF had first proposed replacement of the Mi-8s due to their inability to operate in night and adverse weather conditions as well as at altitudes beyond 2,000 metres.

The long-winded selection process, with technical parameters being controversially "tweaked" midway to broaden the competition, finally led to the Rs 3,546 crore deal being inked with AgustaWestland, the UK-based subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, in February 2010.

The three-engine AW-101s defeated American Sikorsky's S-92 Superhawks in the extensive field trials, overseen by both IAF and SPG, because the latter were found "non-compliant" with respect to the missile approach warning system, service-ceiling of 4.5-km, the drift-down altitude and hover out-of-ground effect.

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India starts consultations for new VVIP helicopters for President, PM

NEW DELHI: Setting the ball rolling for acquisition of new VVIP helicopters, the defence ministry has written to the cabinet secretary to get all stakeholders on board to decide the future course of action in getting plush and secure rotary rides for the President, PM and other top dignitaries.

The defence ministry has "requested" cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth to get the PMO, ministry of home affairs and Special Protection Group (SPG), which provides proximate security to the PM, to begin the joint consultation process with IAF and others on the VVIP helicopters, said sources.

"All have to come together to finalize the mandatory operational or technical requirements for the new choppers depending on the latest inputs. The RFI (request for information) and the eventual RFP (request for proposal) can then be floated to international vendors," said a source.

The worry is that the process must be kick-started at the earliest because the five Mi-8 helicopters currently with the IAF's elite Communication Squadron, which ferries the President and PM, are fast coming to the end of their operational life.

"In fact, the first of these saloon-version Mi-8s is slated for retirement this month. But their operational lives will be extended for a couple of more years, six months at a time. These Mi-8s or the newer Mi-17s can be used as an interim solution. But there is no option but to acquire specially-configured VVIP helicopters," said another source.

The VVIP helicopters, after all, need to have all-weather and night flying capabilities, advanced navigation aids and auto-pilot, self-protection anti-missile suites and bullet-proofing, data links and medical evacuation systems, among other things.

The cancellation of the 556 million euros deal with AgustaWestland on January 1 has led to mothballing of the three of the 12 AW-101 helicopters already delivered before payments were frozen last year, as was reported by TOI last month.

It was way back in August 1999 that IAF had first proposed replacement of the Mi-8s due to their inability to operate in night and adverse weather conditions as well as at altitudes beyond 2,000 metres.

The long-winded selection process, with technical parameters being controversially "tweaked" midway to broaden the competition, finally led to the Rs 3,546 crore deal being inked with AgustaWestland, the UK-based subsidiary of Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica, in February 2010.

The three-engine AW-101s defeated American Sikorsky's S-92 Superhawks in the extensive field trials, overseen by both IAF and SPG, because the latter were found "non-compliant" with respect to the missile approach warning system, service-ceiling of 4.5-km, the drift-down altitude and hover out-of-ground effect.

View post:
India kicks-off consultations for new VVIP helicopters for President, PM

Tthe package of justice initiatives also includes an overhaul of the probation service

The Government will discuss plans today to give victims of crime the right to accept reparation payments from the offender in question.

The objective is to provide for restorative justice within the framework of Irish criminal law.

Further justice initiatives for examination today by Ministers include new oversight procedures for the Garda Inspectorate and the Inspector of Prisons.

Also in the package is an overhaul of the probation service, which supervises offenders on the direction of the courts. The aim is to modernise the relevant law, and provide for a new inspector of the probation service.

The reparations proposal from Minister for Justice Alan Shatter would be restricted to the minor offences which are reserved for the District Court. The basic aim, however, is to reduce the overall number of custodial sentences for crimes at the lower level of the scale.

For example, the Ministers proposal would apply only to cases of minor assault and minor criminal damage where the perpetrator accepts responsibililty for committing the offences in question.

The payment of reparations would be overseen by the court, meaning the value would have to be acceptable to the judge. In doing so, the judge would be obliged to take into account the interest of the victim.

A further range of measures would modernise the execution of community sanctions by offenders.

These measures, set out in a Cabinet memorandum circulated by Mr Shatter, are included in a broader suite of legal change to be examined today by the Coalition.

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Cabinet to discuss proposals for restorative justice

Pressure mounting: Greg Smith. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith is facing a growing push to have him removed from the job amid discussion within the government about Citizenship, Communities and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Victor Dominello as a replacement.

Pressure on Mr Smith has come to a head over mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, which he publicly opposed last year but supported last week as part of the government's response to alcohol-related violence.

Mr Smith's about-face has infuriated many lawyers and his initial opposition to mandatory sentencing appears to have weakened his position within the government.

At a party room meeting on Thursday, before debate on legislation introducing a mandatory minimum sentence of eight years for fatal single-punch assaults involving alcohol or drugs, Mr Smith was grilled by his Liberal colleagues.

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One MP described watching Mr Smith defend laws he was clearly not in favour of as ''excruciating''.

Mr Smith, who is from the right faction of the NSW Liberals, would normally be replaced by another right-winger.

Mr Dominello, a former partner at a legal firm, is with the left faction, but his backers argue he will be more likely to remain in step with hard-line law-and-order policies than Mr Smith, who is a former deputy director of public prosecutions in NSW.

The other logical candidate, Cronulla MP and senior barrister Mark Speakman, is also from the left but he spoke against mandatory minimum sentencing last year.

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Attorney-General Greg Smith on outer over mandatory sentencing laws

AAP Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce will seek a $7b bailout package for drought-affected farmers.

The opposition has accused the Abbott government of misleading drought-affected farmers after Treasurer Joe Hockey hosed down talk of a multibillion-dollar bailout package.

At the same time, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce backed away from reports he wants his cabinet colleagues to approve $7 billion in taxpayer funds to buy out farm loans.

Mr Joyce, who toured drought-affected areas at the weekend, told farmers he supported their calls for a rural construction bank that would buy bad rural loans from the private sector at a discounted price.

The measure does not have the support of the National Farmers' Federation, which also rejected calls for interest-rate subsidies.

Mr Joyce said the government would not treat "mum and dad" farmers the same way as companies backed by multi million-dollar corporations.

But he admitted he had a battle on his hands to convince his cabinet colleagues to provide more drought relief assistance.

"My colleagues are people who have a head and heart and understand that the vagaries of the climate are something that you can never fix," he said.

Mr Hockey appeared lukewarm about granting more assistance when quizzed about reports of Mr Joyce's plan.

The treasurer believes there is sufficient support through the exceptional circumstances relief payment and its replacement scheme from July 1.

Original post:
Govt hoses down farmer bailout chances

JAKARTA, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan announced his resignation from the cabinet, effective Feb 1, to focus on his bid for the Presidential nomination ahead of this year's general election.

Gita said on Friday, that he was withdrawing from his ministerial duties to avoid any conflict of interest and wanted to focus fully on the Democratic Party's convention.

"I thank my family and all my friends for their unstinting support," he said at the press conference here.

Gita, who was appointed as the Trade Minister by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono on October 2011 to replace Marie Elka Pangestu, is one of 11 candidates vying to win the ruling Democratic Party's nomination to run for president.

The others include State-Owned Enterprise Minister Dahlan Iskan, House of Representatives speaker Marzuki Alie and Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan.

President Yudhoyono has yet to announce Gita's replacement.

-- BERNAMA

Excerpt from:
Indonesian Trade Minister Resigns To Focus On Presidential Nomination

Russia ramped up pressure on Ukraine with a threat of withholding aid until the country forms a new government after the cabinet loyal to President Viktor Yanukovych bowed to nationwide protests and quit.

Premier Mykola Azarov, 66, resigned yesterday, as Yanukovych tried to ease a political crisis. It was not enough for protesters, who vowed to hold their positions at the site of deadly clashes with police last week in the capital Kiev. Opposition leaders maintained a demand for a snap presidential election and wrangled with government lawmakers on further concessions including an amnesty for protesters and constitutional changes.

Yanukovych, 63, is struggling to contain unrest thats spread from the capital to other cities since his rejection of a European association pact triggered anti-government protests in November. The demonstrations turned deadly last week and the turmoil has led to a tug-of-war between Russia and Europe for influence in the nation of 45 million people.

Elections are the best method for the people to decide, Elmar Brok, chairman of the European Parliaments foreign affairs committee and head of delegation to Ukraine, told reporters in Kiev. The people have lost the belief they can trust what the government says.

A protester throws a molotov cocktail at riot police in the centre of Kiev on January 22, 2014.

A protester throws a molotov cocktail at riot police in the centre of Kiev on January 22, 2014. Close

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A protester throws a molotov cocktail at riot police in the centre of Kiev on January 22, 2014.

The yield on Ukraines dollar-denominated government debt due 2023 jumped 51 basis points to 9.55 percent at 6:29 p.m. today, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The hryvnia strengthened to 8.4750 per dollar from 8.4850 yesterday.

Russia agreed to lend Ukraine $15 billion and give its western neighbor a one-third discount on natural gas supplies to Ukraine after Yanukovych pulled out of the EU agreement, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has said could damage Russias economy.

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Russia Raises Pressure on Ukraine After Its Cabinet Quits