Daily News Mail - News of 28/04/2015

Rescue teams short of tools, men

• The death toll in Saturday’s(April 25) earthquake in Nepal soared past 4,000 on April 27 even as rumours persist that another major earthquake is imminent. About 6,500 people have been injured in the 7.9 magnitude temblor.
• Thousands of tourists and locals are desperately searching for a way out of Kathmandu, where a roof over their heads and provisions are in short supply.

Capgemini acquires iGATE for $4 billion

• French IT services company Capgemini on Monday announced the acquisition of US-based IT services company iGATE for $4 billion.
• Through the acquisition Capgemeini, which has significant presence in the European market, is trying to widen its presence in North America.
• Apart from getting a strong-hold in the US, the buyout will also give Capgemini’s Indian operations a new scale, allowing it to compete on a par with the US and Indian companies.
• The company co-founded by Sunil Wadhwani and Ashok Trivedi is listed in Nasdaq. However, majority of its workforce is based in India.
• “The merger agreement has been approved unanimously by both Capgemini’s and iGATE’s Board of Directors. The transaction has also been approved by the written consent of shareholders holding a majority of iGATE’s shares,” both the firms said.
• At present, iGATE has a revenue of around $1.3 billion and over 30,000 employees spread across its centres in India, the US, Europe and China.
• In India, iGATE has centres in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad; while the French major has its centres in nine locations and employs more than 50,000 people.
• The deal is subject to necessary approvals and is expected to close in the second half of 2015 and iGATE will become the subsidiary of Capgemini North America.

Will not participate in NJAC: CJI

• A letter from Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu to Prime Minister Narendra Modi categorically refusing to participate in the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) has stalled any immediate chances of constituting the new body.
• “In response to the call from your office to attend the meeting to select two eminent persons, I have to say that it is neither appropriate nor desirable to attend the meeting or be part of the NJAC till the Supreme Court decides its validity,” Chief Justice Dattu wrote to the Prime Minister on April 25.
• On April 27, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi informed a Constitution Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar of the refusal of the Chief Justice, who is also the chairperson of the NJAC.

H.L. Dattu, Chief Justice of India

Challenge of agrarian distress

• Everything else can wait but agriculture cannot, said Jawaharlal Nehru. This should have been the talisman for India’s progress. Yet, successive governments have failed to accord agriculture the priority it deserves. The tragic suicide of a farmer during an Aam Aadmi Party rally in New Delhi has brought to the fore the agrarian crisis facing India.
• Official records reveal that more than 2.96 lakh farmers have ended their lives over the last two decades. This year has been particularly bad because of damage to the rabi crop caused by rain and hailstorms. Extensive damage to cash crops and horticulture has brought even some prosperous farmers to the brink of ruin. 
• Despite the adverse impact of climate change, non-remunerative prices, lack of adequate irrigation facilities, absence of assured income and paucity of crop insurance, Indian farmers have brought the country up to the ranks of the top global producers of rice, wheat, vegetables, fruits and milk. 
• Some 85 per cent of India’s farmers are small and marginal, and 65 per cent of farming is rain-fed. But high input costs, low returns, the consequent inability to repay farm loans, and general neglect have made agriculture unviable for the small and marginal farmer. 
• Government spending here has dwindled over the years to 14.7 per cent, and the private sector has demurred, citing lack of rural infrastructure and modernisation.
• For all its assertions, the Narendra Modi government has yet to come up with a clear strategy on this front. Barely a few months in power, it came up with some controversial amendments to the 2013 Land Acquisition Act, doing away with the provisions for obtaining consent from landowners and for social impact assessment ahead of acquisition. 
• The government’s insistence that the changes would facilitate ease of business and speed up its development agenda has not convinced the Opposition parties. Its handling of the impact of unseasonal rain on farmers, slippages in keeping its promise to raise the support price for major crops, and tardy payments to sugarcane growers have given rise to a perception that the government is not farmer-friendly. 
• A majority of farmers are in the clutches of private moneylenders who double up as sellers of seeds, fertilizers and other inputs. A failed crop pushes growers into deeper debt, from which it is not easy to escape. 
• The forecast of a deficient southwest monsoon for the second year in a row adds to the worries. In such a situation, the Central government must display political will and come up with urgent measures that will bring the promised “achche din” to farmers. Leaving the task to the States won’t help.