By Zafri Mudasser Nofil New Delhi, Mar 27 () From literature festivals, storytelling sessions and author interactions to free e-books and quarantine reading lists, publishers are using the online platform to engage readers in this period of lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.Penguin and online parenting platform Momspesso are launching #OnceUponABookWithPenguin from March 30 when there will be one author live every evening to tell kids an interesting story from their books."The intent is to make playtime fun for kids even if they are indoors and hence the focus will be on animated storytelling and reading and also to leave kids to do an activity once the story is over," a Penguin statement said.Some popular children's authors like Ruskin Bond, Paro Anand and Arefa Tehsin with engage with their readers till April 14.As part of its #readinstead campaign, Juggernaut Books on Friday launched the month-long #Readinstead Online Literature Festival in association with Scroll. On March 21, the publishing house made its entire catalogue free for readers to access during the lockdown period.The #Readinstead litfest will include some of Juggernaut's biggest authors and consist of conversations, workshops, competitions, masterclasses and more."At Juggernaut we are always trying to do something original, and we have been playing with the idea of creating an online literary festival for some time. This was the perfect moment. Our vision is to get more people reading and to find new ways to bring the magic of books and reading to them," said publisher Chiki Sarkar."The #Readinstead lit fest will we hope entertain and stimulate people in this difficult time and remind us of the power of books. We are delighted that we could make this happen and thank our partner Scroll for coming on board with so much enthusiasm," CEO Simran Khara added.Juggernaut is offering books like Nobel Prize winners Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo's "Good Economics for Hard Times", "Mind Without Fear" by ex Mckinsey CEO Rajat Kumar Gupta, "Pyjamas are Forgiving" and "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad" by Twinkle Khanna and "A Century is not Enough" by Sourav Ganguly for free.Roli Books authors Moin Mir and William Dalrymple will go live from its Instagram account on Saturday, said its editorial director Priya Kapoor.The publishing house is also organising an online short story contest to "capture these unprecedented days". It has invited original stories of 2000-3000 words on any of these or related themes: kindness, community, family, isolation, social distancing and relationships. The deadline is April 25.Niyogi Books has come out with a quarantine list of e-books that includes "Day &amp; Dastan" by Intizar Husain, "Fida-e-Lucknow", "The Cuckoo's Nest", "The Lacquered Curtains of Burma" and a translation of Rabindranath Tagore's "Quartet/Chaturanga". ZMN RBRB

Coronavirus: Online lit fest, story sessions, author interactions et al!

As grocery stores, across the country, are grappling with panic buying and dwindling supplies of fresh stocks, the exodus of labourers have added more fuel to the fire by affecting the entire supply chain of essential commodities, ranging from wheat flour to pulses and biscuits to edible oils. Majority of grain markets are shut, oil and rice mills are operating with minimum workforce, and truck operators are finding it difficult to move fast moving consumer products (FMCG) across the cities, mostly sealed during the nationwide 21-day lockdown. If the situation aggravates, the country might witness hoarding of goods and price rise of several items. Despite the efforts of Central as well as state governments to ensure proper supply of FMCG and other essential goods, the fear of COVID-19 pandemic is keeping away the labourers and workers from working in the mills and factories. "The <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> fear has affected the production. Nearly 80 per cent of dal mills are inoperative due to unavailability of labour and supply of raw material. Though the government has now allowed plying of trucks, still issues with transportation remains," says <keyword id="338976" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Suresh-Agarwal">Suresh Agarwal</keyword>, of All <keyword id="8982890" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="india-dal-mills-association">India Dal Mills Association</keyword> adding, "even as authorities have allowed truckers to operate, the police of different states, particularly on the borders creates hindrance in transporting goods." Obviously in weeks to come, supply of different varieties of pulses, an essential part of the diet, could be crippled. "But if labour gets back to work, and transport issues are quickly sorted out, the supplies could be smoothen, thus maintaining a balance between supply and demand," hopes Suresh Agarwal. Some varieties of Arhar was quick to disappear from shelves of local grocery stores in Delhi. "There was a panic buying on the eve of the lockdown on 25 March. I somehow managed to procure stock of Arhar and atta (flour) through a local trader. But things are getting difficult now," said owner of the Sanjay Stores in Vasant Kunj, a large residential area close to Delhi Airport. Indian kitchens, particularly in the country's cow belt, cannot be run without atta (wheat flour) required to make roti (bread). Atta, comes through hundreds of flour mills located in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi and its neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. "My flour mill is open. I had managed a few labourers too. But the problem is I am not able to procure wheat as nearby grain markets are shut," Rajat Gupta a flour Mill owner told IANS. According to him, once the flour mills starts getting adequate supply of wheat from the traders, the mills will work to its optimum capacity. Subsequently due to a shortfall in supply, prices of Atta have increased. Bhanu, a grocery shop owner of Greater Noida said that he used to sell a 5 kg packet of Ashirwad Atta at Rs 180 but now it is available at Rs 220. In fact the entire operation of grain markets, flour mills, rice mills including production and supply of FMCG remained affected due to transport and labour issues said millers, distributors and industry bodies. Om Prakash Garg, a prominent FMCG distributor of Delhi said that since past week, he has been facing problems in transporting goods to wholesalers and retailers. "Stocks of biscuits, chocolates, milk powder and other items are available at depots but due to disruption in transportation, supply of these food items and dry fruits have been affected," said Garg. Another distributor, Rajesh Gupta, dealing in spices in dry fruits was of the view that fresh stock of spices is not reaching him from production units. According to him, a famous brand of biscuits, manufactured in Delhi by prestigious company is reportedly running its their factory at its half strength, thus creating a shortage in supply of biscuits and rusks. However, Industry bodies expect after intervention of the Centre, restoration of supply chain of the essential goods would be seen resulting in a delivery of FMCG and other essential items to the retailers. <keyword id="120165" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Atul-Chaturvedi">Atul Chaturvedi</keyword>, President, Solvent Extractors Association of India, said that restoration in the supply chain of edible oil, sugar and other food items has started. He said, around 40-50 per cent of the supply chain of edible oil, sugar and other food items has been reinstated. Laxmichand Agarwal, President, <keyword id="8982891" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="central-organisation-for-oil-industry-trade">Central Organisation for Oil Industry Trade</keyword> (COOIT) said expellers producing mustard oil are in operation and its supply will be uninterrupted. However, he accepted that prices of mustard oil have edged up amid supply disruption of food products but ruled out any expectation of further spikes in mustard oil as arrival season of new crop is going on and farmers are directly selling their crops to the expeller, Similarly Jitu Bheda, Chairman, India Pulses and Grains Association (IPGA) also expect restoration in supply chain of food items soon. He said, "In fact, labourers are back to their home which is a major hurdle in restoration of supply and things will improve in the next 5-6 days." --IANS pkj-rd/rt

Migrant exodus is breaking the supply chain of essential goods

A recently released report that covers eight key sectors of the non-farm economy has stated that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/markets/economy/gdp-to-grow-over-7-5-says-ashok-lavasa/articleshow/58645633.cms">India’s economy</a> is growing at just over 7% per year. However, in comparison, jobs increased by just 1.1% last year.An earlier report had pegged that joblessness in India was at 5% in 2015, a five-year high. Also, under-employment was pegged at a staggering 35% of the labour force over 15 years of age.Both reports are outcomes of large surveys that by the Labour Bureau carried out across the country. While the data suggests that that even after various initiatives to curb unemployment, the government is facing a growing employment crisis. However, providing decent jobs was a promise made in the election manifesto for the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Election-2014-AnAbsolute-Analysis/articleshow/35332376.cms">general elections of 2014</a> that led <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/BJP-credits-Modi-for-UP-victory/articleshow/57588795.cms">BJP</a> to the centre, as well as of several state elections.The common household of India, which was up until now riding on the IT boom, has also been marred by the recent <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Indian-IT-sector-is-slowing-down-and-TCS-Infosys-etc-may-post-worst-Q2-performance-results-in-10-years/articleshow/54776935.cms">large-scale layoffs</a> in several IT and BPO majors.Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Indian-IT-industry-left-behind-should-panic-says-Rajat-Gupta/articleshow/58734972.cms">Indian IT industry left behind, should panic; says Rajat Gupta</a>(Image source Marxist)

While economy grew by 7%, jobs increased by only 1.1%, reveals survey

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - US Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kansas-senate-race-pat-roberts-v-greg-orman-2014-10" target="_blank">come back from a significant poll deficit against independent businessman</a> Greg Orman in the state's Senate race.
And according to campaign strategists and those familiar with the race, there's a simple reason: Orman, who was allowed to go unchallenged for two months after entering the race in June, has finally been put under the microscope. 
According to a source familiar with the race, Orman spent about $2 million on positive advertising upon entering the race. Doing so boosted his public image and fostered his rise in polls. He crept up to the mid-20s in polls, which also showed he would lead a head-to-head race with Roberts. It led to calls for Democratic candidate Chad Taylor to drop out of the race, something he eventually did.
But during this rise, Orman got no pushback from the Roberts or Taylor campaigns. At the same time, Roberts was mired in a brutal primary that left him badly damaged among his own base. They were, as one source close to the Roberts campaign admitted, good ads.
One source close to the Roberts campaign, which has been revamped over the past two months, admitted Orman wasn't taken seriously soon enough.
"That's the No. 1 reason why you're in Kansas today," a source close to the Roberts campaign told Business Insider, referring to Orman's original spending on ads. "If that didn't happen, you would not be in Kansas. If he was spotted a half-million dollars vs. $2 million, you would not be in Kansas." 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div> 
Over the past two months, the Roberts campaign has sought to define Orman as someone who is not truly independent. Roberts liberally throws around the name of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in tandem with a reminder of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kansas-senate-race-pat-roberts-v-greg-orman-2014-10" target="_blank">how important the race could be for Senate control</a>.
The Roberts campaign has pushed questions about Orman's business history. This includes revelations he <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-who-is-greg-orman-1412711297" target="_blank">sat</a> on the board of a private-equity firm founded by Rajat Gupta, who was convicted in 2012 on charges of insider trading. His campaign has largely kept him out of the spotlight since a September <a href="http://cjonline.com/news/state/2014-09-17/orman-retains-business-tie-jailed-wall-street-inside-trader" target="_blank">story in The Topeka Journal</a> detailed his dealings with Gupta.
And he has been hammered by <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/greg-orman-kansas-2014-billionaires-111764.html" target="_blank">ties</a> to a group of big-spending donors trying to elect him to the Senate, including significant Democratic donor George Soros' son. 
Voters once viewed him by a widely favorable margin. But according to a new Remington Research <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2014/Remington_KS_101414.pdf" target="_blank">poll</a>, Orman's favorability rating is down to 43%. And the number of voters who view him unfavorably is up to 40%. 
"As we've begun to educate people about the real Greg Orman, his support has begun to rapidly decline," the source close to the Roberts campaign told Business Insider.

The Single Biggest Reason For The Huge GOP Comeback In The Kansas Senate Race

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"></div></div>US Attorney Preet Bharara has made a name for himself taking down both Wall Street power players and influential New York state politicians - and now, The Wall Street Journal reports, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-attorney-preet-bharara-a-hit-on-graduation-speaking-circuit-1432169134">he's become the hottest speaker on the law school graduation circuit</a>.Over the course of three years, Bharara has addressed six <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> school graduation ceremonies, according to The Journal.His speaking gigs include some of the top programs in the world, such as Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, and the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Bharara has also spoken at Pace Law School, Fordham Law School, and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.On Thursday, Bharara adds another law school graduation speech to his resume, addressing the New York University School of Law.Aside from his accomplishments as an attorney, Bharara has become well known as an excellent speaker, who provides a personal touch to each school he visits. As <a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2014/05/preet-bhararas-awesome-harvard-law-commencement-speech/">law blog Above The Law wrote</a> about his "awesome" Harvard Law speech, the attorney "managed to combine humor and wisdom, in magnificent fashion."Above The Law's David Lat notes that as a Harvard College graduate, Bharara even managed to poke some fun at his alma mater."I have had an unexpectedly productive trip so far. I arrived last evening, stopped by the Business School, dropped off some subpoenas, arrested a couple of guys for insider trading, and finished off the night sipping a scorpion bowl at the Kong," Bharara said, referencing the charges he brought against HBS alums such as Rajat Gupta, as well as the popular Hong Kong Restaurant in Harvard Square.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>In his speeches, though, Bharara also provides insight and advice for future lawyers."Be not just a good lawyer, but a good person and find opportunities to be good to other people," <a href="http://web.law.columbia.edu/graduation/2013/keynote-address">he told graduates at Columbia Law School</a>, where he received his law degree. Here's another standout section of his speech at Columbia:In fairly short order, you will be perched at the very pinnacles of power, counseling some of the most influential people in the world - people with the power to affect markets and alter economies, people with the power to pass laws and wage war. Some of you may even assume positions that give you that kind of power directly.And when you get there, you will have a choice: you can choose to be either a leader or a lemming.A leader is a person of courage and action, with integrity and an independent mind.A lemming is a small and unattractive rodent that will follow other unattractive rodents off a cliff. Choose to be the former.Always remember that, as a lawyer, you are not an ordinary professional. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/11-smartest-boarding-schools-america-sat-scores-education-2015-4">Here are the 11 smartest boarding schools in America</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="I5Z2FkdDrir3YYbsrx4l-yIeZosYXrxw" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

One of Wall Street's biggest enemies is everybody's favorite law school graduation speaker

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Win McNamee/Getty Images</div></div></div>The US Supreme Court is about to hear a major insider-trading case hoped to settle a long-standing Wall Street legal standoff.The case is Salman v. United States, and the court is set to hear it Wednesday.Bassam Salman was convicted of trading on confidential information that came to him from an extended family member who had a brother who worked at Citigroup. Salman never paid the family member for the tips, and at issue is whether this means his actions met the definition of insider trading. The <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/14-10204.pdf">government say</a>s it does because Salman knew where the information came from and that the three people involved benefited from a close family relationship."As a matter of finally clarifying a very murky area of the law, it's going to have a huge impact," said Brad Bondi, a partner at law firm Cahill, Gordon, and Reindel. "What is meant by 'personal benefit'? Do you have to have something of value, or is it enough that you just have a close relationship? And if it's enough to just have a close relationship, what does that relationship resemble?"It is the first time in two decades that the Supreme Court has taken up a case involving insider trading, a crime that Congress has never defined and has left the courts and the Securities and Exchange Commission to shape.Salman was convicted of conspiracy and securities-fraud charges arising from insider trading and sentenced in 2014 to three years in prison.The court is expected to decide the case in the next year, and potentially as early as January, said Derek Cohen, a partner at law firm Goodwin Procter.<h2>Potential outcomes</h2>There are a few potential outcomes, Cohen added. The court may decide that the tipper has to receive some kind of financial benefit, or it could adopt a broader standard in which prosecutors wouldn't have to prove an expectation of money, but just a personal benefit. Another option, he said, could be that the court adopts components of each.The case is expected to affect high-profile insider-trading cases, such as Galleon Group cofounder Raj Rajaratnam and former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta, who are appealing their convictions on related grounds, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-10-04/wall-street-watching-as-u-s-high-court-tackles-insider-trading">Bloomberg</a> reports.The decision, either way, could also be a big boost for US prosecutors, who in 2014 lost ground when an appeals court overturned the case of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/todd-newman-of-diamondback-capital-insider-trading-case-overturned-2016-8">Todd Newman, a hedge fund manager at Diamondback Capital,</a> who had allegedly heard information fourthhand, and Anthony Chiasson. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomson ReutersUS Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in New York.</div></div></div>The New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals held that, to be convicted, a trader must know that the source received a benefit in exchange and that such a benefit was "at least a potential gain of a pecuniary or similarly valuable nature."The ruling forced prosecutors under Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara to drop charges against 12 other defendants, out of 107 people charged under his watch since 2009.After the Supreme Court declined to review that case and that of Anthony Chiasson last year, Bharara said that it created an "obvious road mad for unscrupulous investors," according to <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-05/top-prosecutor-warns-of-insider-leak-bonanza-as-ruling-stands">a Bloomberg News report</a>.Meanwhile, the Supreme Court justices in January agreed to review Salman's case, over which a federal appeals court in California had issued a potentially conflicting ruling.<h2>High-profile cases</h2>Salman argued that his trading was not illegal as no proof existed that his brother-in-law, in tipping a family member who in turn tipped Salman, received anything beneficial in exchange.The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument, saying that requiring a tangible benefit in such a circumstance would allow insiders to tip their relatives so long as they got nothing in exchange.Prosecutors are hoping the Supreme Court adopts the 9th Circuit's view and rejects the 2nd Circuit's narrow interpretation, which authorities said could result in some people avoiding charges and could affect investigations.Prosecutors have brought other high-profile insider-trading cases this year. In September, prosecutors filed charges against Omega Advisors' Lee Cooperman, who has said he is innocent and that prosecutors are waiting to decide whether to criminal charges until the Supreme Court's ruling.In June, prosecutors filed charges against Visium Asset Management's Sanjay Valvani, who was found dead days after an apparent suicide. Valvani had maintained his innocence, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/behind-the-life-and-death-of-visiums-sanjay-valvani-2016-9">friends and colleagues told Business Insider he was stunned when the government brought charges against him</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/former-wells-fargo-employees-fired-reporting-fraudulent-activity-2016-9">Former Wells Fargo employees say they were fired after reporting fraudulent activity</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="AyMHYxNjE6zGA5OnirMAgI1EBDWDFJUD" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

The Supreme Court is weighing in on a closely watched insider-trading case

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (<keyword id="6356988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="TRAI">Trai</keyword>) is not an easy nut to crack and the telcos need to register this fact seriously. In a strict warning to India's top telcos and <keyword id="6354504" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reliance-Jio">Reliance Jio</keyword> Infocomm, Trai has given an ultimatum to resolve the contentious interconnect matter among themselves. Trai’s order comes with further warning that it would act if quality of service drops and consumers suffer, as reported by The Economic Times. 
 
"If quality of service suffers, if consumers suffer, Trai will take action. That is Trai's job," a senior official told ET on Friday after the meeting. "The telcos should sit across the table and resolve it." 
 The war has been waged by the top telcos like Bharti <keyword id="15491" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel">Airtel</keyword>, Vodafone and Idea against the newly launched Reliance Jio Infocom. Mukesh Ambani owned Jio had sought an adequate number of PoIs for their service to which the top telcos didn’t show much interest in. Citing traffic imbalance, the telcos have refused any additional PoIs to Jio. However after Friday’s meeting, an official of a top telco confirmed that they are willing to talk to Jio and provide ‘reasonable number’ of additional PoIs. 
 
What are these PoIs? PoIs are used to connect calls from one telecom operator to another. Jio has complained to Trai the other day that due to other telco’s non cooperation in giving adequate PoIs, the call quality is suffering. 
 
 
“We have put forth our point of view to Trai. It is for Trai to look into the matter. There is no time frame indicated by the Trai," Jio board member Mahendra Nahata told the ET after the meeting. "It is a fight for justice for Indian customers, and not those of Reliance Jio, Airtel, Vodafone or Idea." 
 
In a statement, market leader Bharti Airtel said it will provide Jio more PoIs, as per the bilateral agreement signed between the two operators, so that customers aren't affected. Incumbent telcos had signed interconnect pacts with Jio back in 2014, confirmed the ET report. 
 
Traffic Tsunami 
 
While common mass are happy to know about the freebies of Reliance Jio’s welcome pack, Airtel is quite nervous about the asymmetric traffic tsunami that would result from Jio. Airtel has asked Trai to intervene to curb the asymmetric traffic that might result in abusing the network. 
 
"In this regard, IUC (interconnect usage charge) is an effective tool in the hands of Trai, which we hope they will use judiciously," Airtel said, adding that Trai should make sure pricing by any telco is "IUC compliant, non-predatory and non-discriminatory". 
 
Airtel expects that once Jio starts charging its customers from January 2017, there would be no issue. "The traffic will inevitably get to a more balanced level and PoIs will be less of an issue," said an Airtel release. Top telcos have earlier said they do not possess the financial or network resources to handle the imbalance of the huge traffic generated through Jio's network due to the free offers. 
 
According to the news report by The Economic Times, Trai Chairman RS Sharma did not attend the meeting, which was led by Secretary Sudhir Gupta. Other Trai members, representatives of incumbent telcos that included Bharti Airtel's Chief Regulatory Officer Ravi Gandhi, Vodafone India's P Balaji and Idea Cellular's Rajat Mukarji, besides Nahata of Jio were present. 
 
Rajan S Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents the top telcos as well as Jio, wasn't allowed to be part of the meeting, since only the three telcos were invited, marking a dramatic start to the crucial talks. At the meeting, incumbent telcos said given the volume of traffic from Jio, they can't give interconnect at 14 paise a minute which is very low. 
 
Jio countered saying the rate had been preset. Incumbents also said that traffic from Jio could go up to 4,000 minutes per user a month given the free voice offering, which would be practically impossible to handle, while Jio's officials said its traffic currently is 450 minutes per user a month. 
 
Where lies the end of the drama? 
It is believed that Trai has been able to bring some kind of end to a stalemate between Jio and incumbent carriers and the interconnection issue is expected to be sorted out within 90 days. 
 
Trai asked to increase points of interconnections incrementally. The regulator's concern was to improve service quality," Mathews said. "We expect Reliance Jio to start discussions with incumbent players and regulator should look into incremental numbers." During the meeting, incumbent telcos had sought clarity on whether the services of Jio were now "commercial". 
 
When told they were, incumbents pointed out that Jio then can't offer free services for more than 90 days. Sources at incumbent telcos also said they believe adequate PoIs have already been given for Jio which currently has some five million users, but are willing to give more once 70% capacity is reached for those existing PoIs. According to them, one PoI can support 12,000 subscribers, with Airtel itself having provided 700 of them. "As and when they (Jio) reach 70% capacity, they can request us, and we will provide incremental PoIs within 90 days, according to the ET news report.

TRAI plays the boss,
issues warning to Jio and other Telcos to settle their issue

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image">Reuters/Mike SegarDominic Barton, managing director at McKinsey &amp; Company</div></div>McKinsey is the largest and most prestigious consultancy in the world. But the company's reputation has suffered after director Amil Kumar pled guilty to insider trading charges in 2010, and its revered former leader Rajat Gupta was convicted of the same crime in 2012. 
Before these incidents, a McKinsey partner had never been charged with violating security laws.
That's why McKinsey managing director Dominic Barton started a crusade in 2010 to transition the company from an honor-driven culture based on values and tradition to a stricter, rules-based organization, according to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/business/self-help-at-mckinsey.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">an article in The New York Times.</a> 
Since Marvin Bower led the company in the 1950s, the company's mantras have included putting the firm above individual interests, always being independent, and keeping client's confidences. Those values weren't explicitly enforced by rules, but based on trust and passed on through the generations. Dissent was always public, rather than privately reported. 
The move to a more rigid system <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/business/self-help-at-mckinsey.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">includes</a> a much stricter personal investment policy forbidding employees and members of their households from trading in securities of the firm's clients, as well as mandatory online tutorials and tests on subjects like investing. Employees who don't take those tests get locked out of their email accounts. Additionally, discipline over ethical issues such as expense misconduct is now more public, and there's a confidential avenue to report on the behavior of senior partners.
While many employees support the changes, others, particularly those outside the United States, accuse Barton of creating a "nanny state" based on American rules. One partner reportedly called the rules "childish" and said that the initiatives reminded him of the Stasi in East Germany.
"We needed more safety moats around the castle," Barton <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/business/self-help-at-mckinsey.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0" target="_blank">told The Times' Anita Raghavan</a>. "We have this values/trust culture. I get that. Now we have a little more edge."
The overhaul of the culture is something McKinsey would undertake for a client. Now it's taking steps beyond what's common or required for consultancies, which are less regulated than banks. It's well ahead of its peers in the industry, which don't have personal investment rules as strict as McKinsey's.
As much as companies might like to be able to rely on meritocracy, trust, and tradition, there are far too many gray areas. Though it's a blow to employee's egos to be reminded repeatedly of what's acceptable and what isn't, the risk of another scandal without change is too steep.

McKinsey Is Realizing That An Honor System Isn't Enough To Prevent Scandals

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon has filed a $50 million defamation suit in New York against his Bahamas vacation home neighbor-Canadian fashion magnate Peter Nygard. 
In the complaint, Bacon alleges that Nygard has waged an "obsessive and malicious" smear campaign against him since mid-2010.
According to the complaint, Bacon alleges that Nygard spread "brazen lies" that he: 
<ul>
<li>murdered multiple individuals who died under suspicious circumstances, and then covered up those murders from <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> enforcement; </li>
<li>He is a white supremacist and a member of the Ku Klux Klan ("KKK"), determined to exclude native Bahamians from Clifton Bay;</li>
<li>He was charged by prosecutors and "accused of criminal conspiracy" in a "billion dollar scam" that is in "one of the biggest Wall Street insider trading cases ever," referring to the insider trading arrest of Rajat Gupta; </li>
<li>He smuggled narcotics and fugitives; </li>
<li>He possessed terrorist weaponry (such as illegal speakers) that pose a national security threat to the Bahamas; </li>
<li>He committed arson of Nygard's residence; and </li>
<li>He has bribed Bahamian officials. </li>
</ul>
Bacon categorically denied all of those statements and said they were untrue, the complaint said.
Bacon also alleged that Nygard and his co-conspirators spread lies about him via internet videos and social media. He also alleged that Nygard organized a protest in July 2014 where some Bahamians marched in Nassau wearing t-shirts and holding posters accusing him of being in the KKK.
Bacon said in the complaint that Nygard "harbors spite, ill will, and animus" toward him and that he had "evil and sinister motivations" for publishing the statements.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Bacon also said that the statements allegedly made by Nygard have damaged his "professional, philanthropic and personal reputations." He also said he has suffered damages like attorneys' fees and investigator fees. 
"The allegations in Louis Bacon's latest lawsuit are completely without merit and will be proven so if they ever get to trial. The assertion that Mr. Bacon has been defamed is not supportable," a spokesperson for Nygard said in a statement to Business Insider.
The two tycoons, who own adjacent mansions on the exclusive Lyford Cay, have been famously feuding for years. 
Nygard is the founder of Nygard International, which specializes in designing and manufacturing women's fashion. The fashion magnate owns a 150,000-square-foot Mayan-themed mansion on Lyford Cay. 
Bacon is the founder and CEO of Moore Capital Management-a New York headquartered macro hedge fund. Bacon is known for being a huge environmentalist and conservationist. 
Here's the full statement from Nygard's spokesperson: 
The allegations in Louis Bacon's latest lawsuit are completely without merit and will be proven so if they ever get to trial. The assertion that Mr. Bacon has been defamed is not supportable. This action is simply the latest attempt by Mr. Bacon to deflect media attention away from his real agenda, which is to unseat the ruling political party in the Bahamas so that his own candidate can take power and block reconstruction of Mr. Nygard's residence, which is next door to his own estate. It is no secret that Mr. Bacon has long expressed interest in buying Mr. Nygard's property and has sought to block his neighbor from rebuilding after a suspicious fire destroyed part of Nygard Cay several years ago. Mr. Bacon has falsely and maliciously accused Mr. Nygard and Prime Minister Perry Christie of government corruption as part of a judicial review in the Bahamas that is designed to advance his agenda by damaging the Administration and further delaying Mr. Nygard's reconstruction, which cannot be permitted as long as the review is underway. In fact, Mr. Bacon has falsified evidence of corruption.
The allegations of both the new lawsuit and several filed by him in the Bahamas concern videos about Mr. Bacon posted on YouTube as well as protests in the Bahamas that have resulted from Mr. Bacon's own actions. Mr. Bacon insulted scores of Bahamians last year by taking what several locals described as undue credit for "saving" sacred Bahamian land at Clifton Bay where countless Black slaves landed from Africa. In accepting an Audubon award for leading this work, which he had not led, Mr. Bacon also made a galling reference to the racist novel "Gone with the Wind" as his "holy book" and guide. The videos at issue in the complaint accurately reflect that Mr. Bacon was untruthful about his involvement with Clifton Bay, that his remarks were racist, and that his family has a history of involvement with racist crime, as leaders of the KuKlux Klan.
What is more, Mr. Bacon brings this defamation action with unclean hands. He has over the last five years defamed and attacked Mr. Nygard innumerable times, including recently, in August, in a filing in a lawsuit he brought in New York federal court that included voluminous false, defamatory and irrelevant allegations about Mr. Nygard. In fact, Federal Judge Denise Cote ordered that all such statements by Mr. Bacon be redacted from the public record.
Finally, one has to question why Mr. Bacon would bring this action in New York when the so-called allegations took place primarily in the Bahamas, many of the witnesses are in the Bahamas, and he already has brought the same charges against several other individuals in several lawsuits in the Bahamas. This lawsuit is nothing more than yet another abuse of the judicial system by Mr. Bacon, a man who views himself as being above the law.
Here's the complaint Bacon filed against Nygard:

Hedge Fund Billionaire Louis Bacon Files $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against His Bahamas Neighbor 

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>OVERLAND PARK, Kansas - Republican leaders have a new regular stop on their travel schedules these days.
Iowa. New Hampshire. And ... Kansas?
On this crisp October day, US Sen. Pat Roberts has brought in another member of the Republican Party's All-Star campaign team to stand by his side and rally his base. Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Coburn, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Kansas' own former senator, Bob Dole, have all shown up for an appearance with a friend in trouble.
On this day, Roberts' guest is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the current chair of the House Budget Committee, likely future chair of the even more powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and former running mate to presidential nominee Mitt Romney. The scene is a makeshift press conference inside a Ramada Inn here in Overland Park, just around the corner from the hotel's pool and arcade.
In his opening statement during a press conference with Ryan, Roberts pauses to look into one of the cameras in the back of the room. His message to Kansas voters is quick and simple. It's also quite possibly true.
"This race will determine the Senate majority," he says at the press conference, with Ryan nodding alongside him. "And it is absolutely critical that we take back the Senate."
<a href="http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2014/senate-outlook" target="_blank">According to The Huffington Post's</a> electoral model, Kansas has a better chance than any other state to single-handedly determine which party controls the Senate next year. This is problematic for Greg Orman, the businessman running as an independent in what recently became a head-to-head race against Roberts, who has been in Washington since 1981.
That's because according to a recent <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2014/Remington_KS_101414.pdf" target="_blank">poll</a> from the Remington Research Group, 56% of Kansas voters prefer Republicans control the US Senate next year. Just 35% feel it would be best if the Senate remained in Democratic hands.
"We're going to win this race," Roberts promises. "And we're going to stop the Obama agenda. And we're going to do so because conservatives are uniting behind Kansas."
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
Increasingly, that prediction looks likely to bear out.
It's been quite a turn-around. Just three weeks ago, some polls showed Roberts trailing by double digits, and it looked like Democratic candidate Chad Taylor's decision to drop out of the race would hand Orman the seat. 
But while Roberts scrambled the GOP jets to meet the challenge, Orman took the opposite approach, largely shunning the press and staying out of the spotlight.
The polls are now virtually tied.
Combined with a rejuvenated and revamped Roberts campaign, it's clear the Republican has the momentum heading into the final two weeks of the race.
"Orman's going to have an incredible tightrope walk to keep his coalition together," Tom Jensen, the director of Public Policy Polling, told Business Insider in September, upon releasing a poll showing good standing for Orman.
Six weeks later, that tightrope walk is looking more precarious than ever.
"It seems," one Kansas Democratic strategist mused over the weekend, "like they're blowing it."
Orman, who entered the race in June took advantage of the primary to boost his own image with voters, spending $2 million in positive ads about himself, according to a source with knowledge of the race. Neither Roberts nor Taylor's campaigns laid a finger on him. 
At the same time, Roberts was mired in a brutal primary that left him badly damaged among his own base. But he nevertheless seemed safe until Democratic nominee Chad Taylor dropped out, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kansas-senate-race-greg-orman-win-2014-9" target="_blank">shaking up the final two months of the race</a> and leaving Orman as Roberts' sole challenger.
"That's the No. 1 reason why you're in Kansas today," a source close to the Roberts campaign told Business Insider, referring to Orman's original spending on ads. "If that didn't happen, you would not be in Kansas. If he was spotted a half-million dollars vs. $2 million, you would not be in Kansas."
Orman slowly began winning voters over. By late August, after the primaries, polls showed him <a href="http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2014/PPP_Release_KS_819925.pdf" target="_blank">grabbing</a> 23% of the vote in a three-way contest. Those same polls predicted that he'd win a head-to-head matchup, prompting calls for Taylor to step aside. 
"I think some people saw it as a shot to do something historic," one former adviser close to the Taylor campaign tells Business Insider.
But history hasn't been cooperative. What seemed like such a sure bet once Taylor dropped out has looked less certain recently. Orman, who once led by as much as 10 points, has crumbled under more intense scrutiny from voters and the press.
Roberts has embarked on a furious campaign schedule, oftentimes appearing with the other GOP stalwarts. Along with Cruz and Coburn, he traversed the state in a bus last week. 
Aside from public debates, meanwhile, Orman has largely kept quiet. When Business Insider contacted the Orman campaign ahead of our trip to Kansas, a representative originally responded that the campaign would be happy to try to make the senator available for an interview. After multiple follow-up emails over the next two weeks, however, the Orman campaign concluded that an interview couldn't be arranged.
The campaign also didn't respond to multiple emails asking whether Orman would appear at any public events last week. On Thursday, he was in New York for a fundraiser co-hosted by Jonathan Soros, the son of George Soros.
Fortunes have changed for Roberts since national Republicans decided to take control, around the same time Taylor dropped out of the race. They dispatched longtime Republican strategist Chris LaCivita to lend a hand, and Republican operative Corry Bliss soon took charge of the campaign's day-to-day operations.
In the weeks since, Roberts and his national Republican strategists have given the race a national focus. Roberts frequently mentions how the race is important to Senate control - Republicans need to swing six currently Democratic-held seats, plus hold all of their own seats, to win back the Senate. 
His campaign, meanwhile, has painted Orman as out of touch, a wealthy businessman who would be a rubber-stamp for President Barack Obama in the Senate. Orman has not said who he'll caucus with if elected, but his brief run as a Democrat in the 2008 Senate race has given Roberts' campaign ammunition. 
Orman has been hammered by revelations he <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-diary-who-is-greg-orman-1412711297" target="_blank">sat</a> on the board of a private-equity firm founded by Rajat Gupta, who was convicted in 2012 on charges of insider trading, and by <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/greg-orman-kansas-2014-billionaires-111764.html" target="_blank">ties</a> to a group of big-spending donors trying to elect him to the Senate. Voters once viewed him by a widely favorable margin. But in the Remington poll, Orman's favorability rating is down to 43%. And the number of voters who view him unfavorably is up to 40%. 
"As we've begun to educate people about the real Greg Orman, his support has begun to rapidly decline," the source close to the Roberts campaign told Business Insider. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div> 
There appears to be some truth to the claim. One voter, Sandra, a retired hospital worker and self-described Republican from the nearby small town of Paola, whom we met at a local McDonald's, said she'd been a fan of Orman before the race turned into a two-person contest and became increasingly partisan. 
She said there are certain advantages to having Roberts in a Republican-controlled Senate: his longevity and the fact that he would be in line for senior positions on certain committees. And she still feels like she doesn't really know what Orman would do as a senator.
"What really got me is when the Democrat dropped out," Sandra said. "It felt like it was coordinated. And I haven't seen much from Orman over the past few weeks."
 One public event at which he did end up appearing - Saturday's traditional Maple Leaf festival in Baldwin City - turned into an increasingly familiar round of poor headlines. 
Orman ran up to a woman sitting on the sidelines of the parade who had called out his name. She wanted to know his position on abortion. She gave him a firm handshake as he tried to back away without a response, repeating that she wanted to ask him a question. He told her his position was on his website, where he notes that it's "time for the government to move past this issue."
That stance seems unlikely to satisfy many socially conservative Kansas voters. Mary, a retired teacher from Wichita, Kansas, who did not want to disclose her last name, said it's too typical of Orman's positions on a variety of issues.
"It seems like he's taking a position while trying to not take a position," she said.

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