India Ink: Economic Growth in India to Fall to Five Percent

India’s Gross Domestic Product is expected to drop significantly to 5 percent for the fiscal year ending in March 2013, according to advance estimates released by India’s Central Statistics Office on Thursday, declining from 6.2 percent growth rate seen in 2011-2012.

The estimate by the Central Statistics Office represents a marked drop from earlier growth projections issued by the government for this year. In January, the central bank projected G.D.P. growth of 5.5 percent for the current fiscal year, a decline from an earlier estimate of 5.8 percent.

The provisional estimates are contingent upon the “anticipated level of agricultural and industrial production, analysis of budget estimates of government expenditure and performance of key sectors like, railways, transport other than railways, communication, banking and insurance, available so far,” the report said.

According to the preliminary data released on Thursday, national income registered a growth rate of 4.2 percent in the current fiscal year as compared to 6.1 percent in the previous year, and per capita income grew at a rate of 2.9 percent as compared to 4.7 percent growth last year. Meanwhile, capital investment in the country is expected to drop to 2.48 percent from 4.39 percent in the previous year.

Slow growth may be attributed to the sluggish performance of the manufacturing, agriculture and services sector. The manufacturing sector is expected to grow by 1.9 percent this year, while India’s farm sector is projected to grow at an estimated 1.8 percent.

The services sector saw a decline in its growth rate from previous years, expanding by 6.6 percent, the lowest in over a decade. Other sectors that are expected to have performed relatively poorly include electricity, gas & water supply (4.9 percent growth) and mining and quarrying (0.4 percent growth).

Sectors that have performed relatively well with a growth rate of over 5 percent are construction, the trade, hotels, transport and communication sector, the financing, insurance, real estate and business services sector, and the community, social and personal services sector.

As India prepares to for a national election in 2014, slowing economic growth is putting pressure on the current government to push for reform. The projection of 5 percent GDP growth is the lowest figure since 2002-2003 when the GDP grew at 4 percent, after which the Indian economy has grown at an average of 6 percent each year.

This year, the government has taken measures to rein in the fiscal deficit to 5.3 percent of  GDP, has raised the price of fertilizer and diesel, and has allowed further foreign investment in the retail sector by opening up the insurance, pension and aviation sectors for foreign investment. On Jan. 29, India’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate for the first time in nine months to fuel higher growth.

If India continues on the reform path, analysts believe that strong growth will resume in the coming year.

“The government’s advance estimates for real GDP growth at 4.9% is disappointing, especially coming on the back of a downward revision in growth for FY2012 from 6.5 percent to 6.2 percent,” said Ms. Bhupali Gursale, an economist at Angel Broking. “On a positive note though, with the government pushing ahead its reform agenda, the outlook for growth in FY2014 is likely to improve.”

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Melissa McCarthy: It Was 'So Fun' to Look So Cheesy in Identity Thief

Stylewatch
Style News Now

02/05/2013 at 05:30 PM ET

Universal Pictures

What’s funnier than Melissa McCarthy? Melissa McCarthy in ridiculous hair and makeup. And lucky for us, the star dons some crazy-bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) crunchy curls and ’80s-inspired eye shadow, blush and lipstick in her new film, Identity Thief.

“It was so fun to put all that together,” McCarthy said of her character’s beauty choices at the film’s L.A. premiere on Tuesday. But it also was labor-intensive to look that (awesomely) cheesy. “[It took] maybe two hours — an hour and a half [to put it on everyday]. Good drag takes a while!”

To create her character Diana’s signature style, McCarthy started with her frizzy, teased and permed mane. “I’m obsessed with wigs, so I started there and once I sort of locked into [a hairstyle], it was kind of more is more [when it came to makeup],” she told reporters.

When it came to Diana’s over-the-top purple and blue eyeshadow, McCarthy looked to an old soap star for inspiration. “I kept saying, ‘Donna Mills’s eyes!’ So we just kept piling [makeup] on, and then one day [the character] appeared.”

McCarthy’s reaction when she finally saw herself as the identity thief? “I thought, I’d like to spend a couple of months with her!” Tell us: Are you excited to see McCarthy’s new movie?

–Jennifer Cress, reporting by Melody Chiu

PHOTOS: SEE MORE BOLD BEAUTY LOOKS IN ‘OBSESSED OR HOT MESS’

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.

Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland.

"It's quite intriguing. It's the first time we've seen this here," said Dr. Tom Clark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. cases are detailed in a brief report from the CDC and other researchers in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. It was once common, but cases in the U.S. dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s.

An increase in illnesses in recent years has been partially blamed on a version of the vaccine used since the 1990s, which doesn't last as long. Last year, the CDC received reports of 41,880 cases, according to a preliminary count. That included 18 deaths.

The new study suggests that the new whooping cough strain may be why more people have been getting sick. Experts don't think it's more deadly, but the shots may not work as well against it.

In a small, soon-to-be published study, French researchers found the vaccine seemed to lower the risk of severe disease from the new strain in infants. But it didn't prevent illness completely, said Nicole Guiso of the Pasteur Institute, one of the researchers.

The new germ was first identified in France, where more extensive testing is routinely done for whooping cough. The strain now accounts for 14 percent of cases there, Guiso said.

In the United States, doctors usually rely on a rapid test to help make a diagnosis. The extra lab work isn't done often enough to give health officials a good idea how common the new type is here, experts said.

"We definitely need some more information about this before we can draw any conclusions," the CDC's Clark said.

The U.S. cases were found in the past two years in patients at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. One of the study's researchers works for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which makes a version of the old whooping cough vaccine that is sold in other countries.

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JournaL: http://www.nejm.org

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Stock futures climb ahead of ECB, claims data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures advanced on Thursday, indicating the S&P 500 may rise for a third straight session ahead of a European Central Bank rate decision and data on the U.S. labor market.

The central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged, and the market will give more attention to comments from ECB President Mario Draghi, who will give his views on the region's growth prospects and faces tough questions over the euro's sharp rise and his connection to an Italian banking scandal.

"The ECB will come out and talk about how they are going to have buying programs and all that stuff but this is a danger point for U.S. investors because sometimes traders do pay attention to the woes of Europe," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst, Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

Economic data due at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) includes weekly jobless claims and preliminary fourth quarter productivity and unit labor costs. Initial claims are expected at 360,000 compared with 368,000 in the prior week. Estimates call for a 1.3 percent fall in productivity while unit labor costs are expected to rise 3.0 percent.

"The unemployment information, it has been interesting how much it's dropped off, but we could have a slowdown in firing, but that doesn't necessarily mean an uptick in hiring."

Recent data has pointed to a modest improvement in the economy, but one without enough strength to cause the Federal Reserve to back off it's easy monetary policy, helping the benchmark S&P index <.spx> climb 6 percent for the year.

S&P 500 futures rose 2.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 25 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 3.25 points.

Visa Inc's quarterly profit beat analysts' estimates for the ninth consecutive quarter as credit, debit and transactions grew at the world's largest payments network.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc stumbled 7.2 percent to $45.43 in premarket after forecasting sales growth for the current quarter that was slightly lower than analysts expected.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Wednesday morning, of 301 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 68.1 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters. In terms of revenue, 65.8 percent of companies have topped forecasts.

Looking ahead, fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are now expected to grow 4.7 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Retailers will also be eyed as they report monthly sales results. Costco Wholesale Corp posted a 4 percent rise in comparable sales in January, marginally above analysts' estimates, despite the largest U.S. warehouse operator having one less sales day in the reporting period.

European shares were little changed after sharp falls the previous day, with any recovery capped by mixed earnings and concerns about economic and political developments in the euro zone. <.eu/>

Asian shares and the euro paused from recent gains as investors awaited the European Central Bank's policy meeting later in the day and Draghi's view on euro zone growth prospects.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Letter from Myanmar: Reclaiming Dialogue, by Literary Light

YANGON — As the midday sun wanes over Inya Lake here in Myanmar’s biggest city, double sculls start sweeping across the water in front of the usually sedate lawns of the Inya Lake Hotel.

Last weekend, the rowers must have wondered what all the noise was about. Puppet and magic shows were taking place against a backdrop of loud music, bookstalls and cafe tables dotting the grass. Every now and then, a burst of amplified laughter or cheers emerged from the hotel’s meeting rooms.

Inside, some of the world’s leading names in literature and politics were throwing around ideas, discussing their latest books and contemplating Myanmar’s transition toward democracy after nearly half a century of military rule. It was all part of the country’s first international literary festival.

“The very fact that this is happening — I’m still in a trance,” said the Burmese poet Ko Ko Thett, who had flown in from his studies in Vienna to take part.

The Irrawaddy Literary Festival emerged from a conversation the British ambassador’s wife, Jane Heyn, had with a friend in Yangon two years earlier. Within days, Mrs. Heyn had contacted the opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who had recently been released from house arrest and secured her agreement to serve as patron. Funding came from a local businessman, Serge Pun, and his Yoma Strategic Holdings, from Monument Books and others, including the British Council. Moderators were called in from Britain, India, Hong Kong and beyond, ranging from U Thaw Kaung, a venerable man of letters and former librarian at Rangoon University, to Rory Stewart, a writer and member of the British Parliament.

“The point about this is that it’s a nigh-miraculous event, given where we were five years ago, when I first came here. This was simply not conceivable,” said William Dalrymple, a prime mover of the Jaipur Literary Festival in India who recently published a history of the 1839-42 Afghan war, “Return of a King.”

He was joined in Yangon by Vikram Seth (who wrote “A Suitable Boy”), Akash Kapur (“India Becoming”) and Subha Shah (“The King in Exile,” about Burma’s last king, Thibaw). Also on hand were Jung Chang (“Wild Swans”) and Frank Dikötter (“Mao’s Great Famine”), the photojournalist Thierry Falise (“Burmese Shadows”), the travel writers Rory MacLean and Caroline Courtauld, the journalist Fergal Keane and the two of the best-known Burmese writers abroad, Thant Myint U (“The River of Lost Footsteps”) and Pascal Khoo Thwe (“From the Land of Green Ghosts”).

Burmese writers were well represented, fulfilling the organizers’ hopes that the festival would forge strong local links to carry the event into subsequent years.

Drawing the biggest crowds was Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. She spoke of how books had been her companions in house arrest, and how she looked to them to connect her to the world.

“The books I like best are the books that make me think,” she said after describing her introduction to an avid reading life with the help of libraries at home and abroad. “Please read while you can. You never know when it will be useful.” She made an impassioned plea to support a plan for mobile libraries to bring vital reading matter all around the country.

Timothy Garton Ash, the British historian, writer and witness to the European transformations of 1989, delivered the festival’s Orwell Lecture. George Orwell’s work is well-known in Myanmar, not least for his colonial-era novel “Burmese Days.” Mr. Garton Ash said Orwell’s great lessons must now be applied in this exciting but precarious period of political change in Myanmar. These add up to a call for no violence, no euphemisms to disguise violence and, Mr. Garton Ash said, the courage to stand up not only to tyranny around us, but to new tyrannies in our minds.

Indeed, writing in Myanmar remains a political act, said the author and surgeon Ma Thida. U Pe Myint, editor of the People’s Age Journal, an independent news weekly, agreed. He warned that laws enacted under the former military-led government might still be used against journalists and writers, despite such developments as the recent dissolution of the press scrutiny board. Associates of the military are best positioned to forge new media empires and could put new freedoms at risk. Even the greater access now to the Internet, cheap DVDs and other distractions poses a threat to the reading culture that formed in part from decades of deprivation, he added.

Some of the books discussed at the festival underscored the high price many of the country’s writers have paid for the greater liberties they now enjoy. Ms. Ma Thida’s novel “The Roadmap,” published in 2011, deconstructs the military-led government’s seven-step “roadmap to democracy” in seven tart chapters about what this journey has meant for her and other dissidents and their loved ones. Beside her on the podium was the journalist Myo Myint Nyein, who recounted how his wife, weary of the struggle to earn a living and raise a family alone, sent him away when he finally returned after 12 years in prison. They have since reunited.

More than one writer noted that a striking element of the Irrawaddy festival was not just that it was taking place, but the diversity of views on display. After decades of suppression, the notion that different opinions could co-exist is profoundly radical.

Ms. Ma Thida said she wanted her country to join the world of debate, the open contest of ideas. Its authoritarian past, she said, had left it “stuck at the culture of the monologue,” where too many people push their positions without listening.

“Most people want to dictate to the people, or criticize the government,” she said. “I’m fed up with that kind of culture. I want interaction.”

At the festival, she and others made a start.

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Snoop Dogg Gets the Party Started with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lawrence

Caught in the Act

02/06/2013 at 06:00 AM EST

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lawrence, inset: Snoop Lion (Dogg)

Valerie Goodloe/PictureGroup; Frederick M. Brown/Getty

Guess the "O" in "O.G." stands for Oscar.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lawrence both attended the Hollywood Reporter's Nominees' Night 2013 at Spago in Beverly Hills on Monday.

It was a low-key affair at first, with Affleck holding court in a central area of the soiree, where he was animated while chatting with people and seemed excited and genuinely happy.

The Argo star and director, looking handsome in a suit, also obliged guests who approached him for photos.

Lawrence was spotted embracing her Silver Linings Playbook costar Julia Stiles. "You're so stunning!" Stiles told Lawrence just before taking a snapshot together.

As the evening continued, it was clear that Lawrence was the darling of event. Fellow guests were going up and telling her she is beautiful and they're so proud of her and Lawrence was ever the gracious guest, chatting with anyone who approached her.

But it wasn't until Snoop Lion (Dogg) arrived, who went by the deejay name Snoopadelic, that the party really went into full gear. After a lengthy intro that included a clip-filled video, Snoop emerged, gave an intro of his own – he praised Argo and shouted for Affleck to come take a photo with him before the night's end – and began playing an eclectic mix of songs, which included everything from Pat Benatar to 2 Chainz.

– Dahvi Shira

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

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Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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Stock futures edge higher with earnings in focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Wednesday, adding to the benchmark S&P 500's rally of more than 1 percent a day earlier, buoyed by solid corporate earnings and an optimistic outlook from Disney.

Walt Disney Co beat estimates for quarterly adjusted earnings and said it expected the next few quarters to be better due to a stronger lineup of movies and rising attendance at its theme parks. Shares advanced 3.2 percent to $56.03 in light premarket trading.

With a lack of economic catalysts on Wednesday, investor focus has turned to an earnings season that has been better than anticipated.

According to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning, of the 278 companies in the S&P 500 <.spx> that have reported earnings, 68.7 percent have beat analysts' expectations, above a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.

In another positive sign, sixty-six percent of companies have topped revenue forecasts. Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are now expected to rise 4.5 percent, according to the data, above the 1.9 percent forecast at the start of earnings season.

S&P 500 futures rose 1.6 points and were slightly above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 42 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.75 points.

The benchmark S&P index rose 1.04 percent Tuesday, its biggest percentage gain since a 2.5-percent advance on January 2, when legislators sidestepped a "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes that could have hurt a fragile U.S. economic recovery.

Visa , the world's largest credit and debit card network, is expected to report earnings per share of $1.79 for its first quarter, up from $1.49 a year earlier. Smaller rival MasterCard recently reported better-than-expected results but said its revenue growth could slow in the first half of the year due to economic uncertainty.

Zynga Inc jumped 6.9 percent to $2.93 in premarket trading after the online gaming company reported an unexpected fourth-quarter profit, following steep cost cuts and shifting forward deferred revenue.

European stocks rose, extending the previous session's recovery with an upbeat outlook from ArcelorMittal reassuring investors. <.eu/>

Asian shares rose, with Japanese equities climbing to their highest since October 2008 on hopes of central bank monetary policy easing and optimism about the prospects for a global economic recovery.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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Ireland to Publish Report on Laundry Workhouses

DUBLIN - Ireland is preparing to wash its dirty laundry in public on Tuesday with the publication of an extensive report into the Magdalene Institutions, workhouses operated by Catholic religious orders where an estimated 30,000 girls and young women were detained between 1922 and 1996.

The dwindling group of survivors of the laundries are seeking a state apology for their treatment and payment for years of unpaid labor and pension payments. The “Maggies” were excluded from a previous compensation scheme for those who suffered in state-run institutions on the basis that the laundries were never inspected or regulated.

In an opinion piece in The Irish Times this morning, Jim Smith, an associate professor at Boston College and a committee member of the Justice for Magdalenes campaign group, said: “These women were abused in the past and have been abandoned in the present.”

“The women’s testimony is compelling,” he wrote. “It rebuts government claims that they entered these institutions ‘voluntarily’. It contradicts the religious orders’ assertion that women were free to come and go as they pleased.”

The 1,000-page report is expected to be presented to the Irish cabinet Tuesday afternoon. It was prepared by a committee formed from five government departments, chaired by Senator Martin McAleese, the husband of former Irish President Mary McAleese. It is expected to contain conclusions but no recommendations. It remains unclear if the government will take responsibility and issue a state apology.

The government set up the committee in June 2011 following a report from the United Nations Committee Against Torture, which described the system as slavery and called for the investigation.

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Eva Longoria Reveals Valentine's Day (and Upcoming Birthday!) Plans

Caught in the Act

02/05/2013 at 06:00 AM EST

Eva Longoria

Denise Truscello/WireImage

Eva Longoria already knows what she'll be doing on Valentine's Day.

The actress visited the new restaurant and nightclub, She by Morton's, in Las Vegas – in which she is a part owner – on Saturday night, and revealed what's on her agenda for the heartfelt holiday.

"Eva said she would be spending Valentine's Day with her girlfriends – like she always does," a source tells PEOPLE. But that's not the only thing on her agenda. The former Desperate Housewives star also said she's also made plans for her March birthday.

"She's taking a charity trip to South America, which she is really excited about," the source says. "She joked that you shouldn't celebrate birthdays after a certain age because we don't want to remind people how old we are!"

– Patrick Gomez

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