Agnivesh offers to mediate in Posco issue!On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday made it clear that her government would not get into any trouble by trying to acquire land for industry and industry will have to purchase its own land from the market directly.The government may soon call an all-party meeting to seek views from across the political spectrum even as it prima facie ruled out including the prime minister within the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill until at least he demits office.
Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SIX HUNDRED SIXTY TWO
Palash Biswas
http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/
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FDI in multi-brand retail gets key ministries push
CoS to take up note prepared by Commerce Ministry soon
New Delhi: A consensus has emerged in the government to permit foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retailing but with stiff riders.
The response from key departments of the government has formed the basis for the ministry of commerce and industry to prepare a note for the Committee of Secretaries (CoS), which is expected to meet soon and take a call on the issue. After the CoS clearance, a Cabinet note will be prepared for the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
While all key ministries are on board, the ministry of finance has opined that its comments would be warranted just before placing the draft policy for consideration of CCEA.
Although the note favours FDI up to 51 per cent in multi-brand retailing, it gives states the power to allow FDI in front-end retail stores.
Although all key ministries have given their nods for opening up of multi-brand retail, various limits have been suggested. Ministries of agriculture and food processing and the Planning Commission have suggested FDI up to 100 per cent. The department of consumer affairs has suggested a cap of 49 per cent, while ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises has suggested a limit of 18 per cent.
The department of information technology has suggested consultations with various electronic industry associations, who in turn have backed the proposal for a calibrated opening up of multi brand. The department of pharmaceuticals has advised that FDI in muti-brand retailing should be included in the study on the regulatory environment for FDI, being conducted by the ministry of commerce.
The inter-ministerial group of inflation headed by Kaushik Basu, who is the chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, has recommended that FDI in multi-brand retail should be permitted, as it could be one of the key steps to help reduce rising prices and cut the margin between farms and retail prices.
The commerce ministry note says at least 50 per cent of the total FDI should be invested in backend infrastructure. However, the backend infrastructure can be made not necessarily by the same entity which is investing, but by an outsourced entity commissioned for this purpose.
The minimum limit for FDIs to be brought is Rs 450 crore. Another rider is that cities with a population of 1 million (based on 2011 Census) can be locations for multi-brand retail stores. An area of 10 km around the municipality limits of such cities could also be included in the permission location.
However, outlets will be set up only in those states where the states agree to allow FDI in multi-brand retail. Thirty per cent of the sales turnover should be made directly or through wholesale cash-and-carry units set-up for this purpose.
State governments can put conditions for integrating the small retailer or kirana merchants in the value chain. Also, 30 per cent of the value of the manufactured items procured (excluding food products) should be sourced from the SME sector. The respective state governments would put in place frameworks to monitor compliance with these conditions.
The department has also sought responses from across cross sections before preparing the note. For instance it points out that prominent organsised domestic retailers have generally supported FDI in multi brand retailing while small retailers have opposed it.
The support says the observations by the department of domestic retailers could emanate from two reasons -they feel they are fully equipped to face competition or they expect FDi to bring them technology and innovation and they could look forward to joint ventures.
The move will help a bevy of foreign retail chains, including WalMart, Careffour and Tesco, which have been making a beeline for India. Under the existing rules, FDI is not allowed in retail, except for trade of "single brand" products; where up to 51 per cent foreign investment is permitted.
FDI up to 100 per cent is also allowed in wholesale cash-and-carry trade. Many companies like WalMart have already come through this route by setting up a whole sale cash and carry business in a joint venture with the Bharti group.
However, the policy constraints have ensured that FDI in retail has been limited. Since 2006, when FDI was partially allowed in retail, the government has received an inflow of over Rs 850 crore. With 15 million outlets, India's retail sector is highly fragmented. Only 4 per cent of the outlets are bigger than 500 square feet in area and the remaining 96 per are in the unorganized sector.
There have of course been fears that with a liberal FDI regime, the big global retailers would go in for predatory pricing, virtually destroying the small retailers. That is the reason why the government has treaded cautiously in this sector.
Those opposing further liberalisation have contended that such a move would kill the country's kirana shops, as well as give foreign retailers an unfair advantage, as the domestic retailers are still in a nascent stage of development and need protection.
There have also been fears that given the retail sector is the second-largest employer in the country, many could lose their jobs. Those who support further liberalisation say investment in this sector has been limited, especially in areas like logistics and cold-chain development, which are key to the growth of agriculture.
Source: Business Standard
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sent a clear message to the industry that land for setting up units would have to be purchased directly and the government would not take a part in it.Meanwhile,The government may soon call an all-party meeting to seek views from across the political spectrum even as it prima facie ruled out including the prime minister within the ambit of the Lok Pal Bill until at least he demits office.The move to convene the meeting came today after the high level Congress core group's parleys, second in 24 hours, decided on their strategy with the demand for including the prime minister remaining a major sticking point with the civil society. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi were among others who were at the parleys.
Agnivesh offers to mediate in Posco issue!On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday made it clear that her government would not get into any trouble by trying to acquire land for industry and industry will have to purchase its own land from the market directly.Rough weather, due to a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, affected normal life and fishing in West Bengal. While 33 trawlers, with about 550 men on board, went missing, scores of others were forced to remain idle.
At the same time, she said that the state government would set up a 23-member core committee, comprising mainly representatives of chamber of commerce and other industry bodies, to sort out all disputes and differences across the table. The state commerce and industries and IT minister Partha Chattopadhyay, state finance minister Amit Mitra and few concerned departmental secretaries will also be member of that committee.
"Land has to be purchased by the industry. No forcible acquisition of land will be done by the government to avoid disasters," Banerjee said in her first interactive meet here with industrialists after becoming CM.Replying to an industrialist's suggestion, she said West Bengal would have its own model on land for industry and not follow the Gujarat one.
Banerjee said the big industry needed large land. Huge tracts of land was not required for small industry.The chief minister said the industry ministry could also set up a cell for solving land problems.
The civil society representatives led by Anna Hazare is pitching for inclusion of prime minister as also higher judiciary in the proposed Lokpal bill during meetings of the joint committee to draft the measure which will be meeting again on June 20 and 21.
HRD minister Kapil Sibal, one of the government representatives on the joint drafting committee, made clear their opposition to bringing the post of Prime Minister under the purview of Lokpal till he demits office.
Sibal also ruled out opening the conduct of MPs inside Parliament as also the higher judiciary to the scrutiny of the proposed ombudsman.
"Within the government, we feel prima facie, the prime minister should not be covered (under the Lokpal). But at the same time we want to make sure that if he demits office, he should not be exonerated from prosecution," he said.
Sibal said government will discuss the draft Lokpal Bill with political parties before it goes to the Union cabinet for approval.
"The government will seek the views of political parties and chief ministers on the draft bill before it goes to the Cabinet. Whatever agreements or disagreements on the draft are there will be presented before parties," he said.
With the Orissa government to resume land acquisition for Posco's mega steel project in Jagatsinghpur district, a host of civil rights activists and politicians planned to join protesters at the site from tomorrow.
Swami Agnivesh, who addressed an anti-Posco meeting here and will visit the spot, Dhinkia, on the morrow said "It is illegal to hand over fertile land to a multinational company like Posco.
"The State and central governments have no right to destroy a well developed agrarian economy in the name of establishing the country's biggest FDI," he said.
CPI(M)'s leader in the Lok Sabha Basudev Acharia would visit Dhinkia on June 21 to express his party's solidarity with the agitating people, CPI(M) state secretary Janardhan Pati said.
A host of Gandhian leaders and environmentalist Vandana Shiva were also scheduled to visit on June 20, besides CPI veteran Gurudas Dasgupta a day later, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti spokesman Prashant Paikra said, adding a BJP team would visit on Sunday.
Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik was scheduled to visit on June 22. "This will be first visit of any PCC chief to Dhinkia area," Mr. Paikray said.
A series of national leaders from different political parties and social activists were likely to join a massive rally on June 22, the day on which the Posco-India had inked the MoU with the State government in 2005, Mr. Paikray said.
Meanwhile, Lok Jan Shakti leader Prafulla Samantra reached Gobindpur village where people had been agitating for the past 11 days.
Braving a downpour, villagers mostly children and women, formed a human chain with placards in hand.
"We have protested against police entry into Dhinkia gram panchayat area in scorching sun and now children, women and elderly persons will do so in the rain," PPSS women wing chief Manorama Khatua said.
The State government on Friday cancelled its land acquisition which it had planned to do after a break of five days because of a local festival.
In her first ever interface with industry after taking over as the chief minister, Banerjee said in her characteristic manner, "It (referring to the core committee) will be like your own cabinet, you run it. I will be out of this committee, but of course I will be with you. You meet regularly and make your industry minister run and be always on his toes."
"The whole idea is I don't want the investors to run around from one place to another and get harassed," she added.
The core committee will have to meet either once a week or once a fortnight, she said. The finance minister later clarified that no other state has such a core committee majority of whose members are from industry.
The chief minister also made it clear that all ministers and bureaucrats and even industry will have to function in a time-bound manner. "If you want to invest and do something, do it within a time frame or else you let us know that you cannot do it," the chief minister told the industry.
The proposed land policy of the new government has already created some fear psychosis and pressed the panic button in some quarters. Even on Saturday a number of industrialists including ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar tried to plead that when the requirement of land is large, the state must intervene and bail out the industry (although industry is not averse to buying it directly from the market).
Bengal Peerless MD K S Bagchi said that the state government should atleast fix the price of the land, otherwise such a policy would encourage middlemen, landing business community in a soup.
Unmoved by such apprehensions, Banerjee said that the state government was preparing a land map as well as a land bank as the part of the land policy, it would not procure land for the private investors. "For the private investors, it is always better that they should purchase the land directly. If we (the state government) forcefully acquire land, it will again lead to a disaster.
On the issue of frequent bandh and strike calls, the chief minister said that her government was completely against calling bandhs and strikes. "If one has to agitate, one will have to do it keeping the factory open. If one doesn't follow this, one will have to incur people's wrath and face the music," she said.
Godrej Group chairman and CII president designate, Adi Godrej said, "It is very refreshing. Climate is changing here. I will ask CII members to look at West Bengal. Our group has already invested close to Rs 2000 crore in various projects and we will look at more investment opportunities in the state."
Fortis Healthcare MD Shivinder Mohan Singh also said that his group would also participate actively in the new Chief Minister's vision to take the state back to the path of industrial glory and invest significantly.
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"Peaceful settlement of the Posco issue is quite possible. I am willing to play the role of a facilitator for talks between the State government and agitators for a solution," Swami Agnivesh told PTI.
Expressing solidarity with the anti-Posco agitators, he said there would be no displacement and no loss of fertile land if both the State government and Posco agreed to shift the plant site. It was wrong to allow a multi-national company to have its captive port.
"The proposed captive port by Posco will certainly pose a threat to the national security. I am surprised as to how Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh allowed it," he said.
Swami Agnivesh said that the earlier talks between the State government and the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) failed to yield any result as the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik remained silent all along the discussion.
The deadlock could easily be resolved if Mr. Patnaik directly spoke to the affected people instead of engaging officers, he said.
The Orissa government on Friday suspended land acquisition for the Posco steel plant project, citing bad weather, while hundreds of agitating villagers, including many women and children formed a human chain outside Gobindpur village in their attempt to resist the process.
Armed policemen, who were proceeding towards Gobindpur village, returned to their camps from Balitutha, the entry point to the Posco project area, after officials suspended the exercise for the day.
The agitators, however, were under the impression that the administration stopped the process in view of the people's resistance and the growing support for the anti-Posco movement.
The Sangram Samiti organised a public meeting at the place where the villagers had gathered to foil the administration's move to resume land acquisition after a break.
Many prominent social activists and two senior leaders of the State unit of the Nationalist Congress Party addressed the gathering, criticising the State government for using armed policemen to forcibly acquire land for the steel venture.
NCP opposes police picketing
The NCP leaders visited the area to oppose the heavy police presence in the locality even though their party had contested the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in alliance with the ruling Biju Janata Dal headed by Naveen Patnaik.
In a related development, former MLA of Erasama and a resident of Gobindpur, Bijay Nayak, too addressed the meeting and announced support to the agitation. Mr. Nayak, a Congress leader, hails from Gobindpur village.
Many of the speakers, including social activist Prafulla Samantara, demanded a high-level probe into the demolition of "fake" betel vineyards in the area. He alleged that the administration officials had siphoned off a huge amount of money by claiming to have demolished many betel vineyards.
They also refuted the administration's claim that many residents of Gobindpur had written to the authorities about their willingness to part with their land. The matter should be probed by the higher authorities, the speakers demanded.
President of Odisha Jana Sammilani Rabi Das demanded that the State government immediately withdraw police from the area and the Chief Minister visit the locality to talk to the agitating villagers who were not willing to hand over their land and livelihood sources to make space for the steel project.
Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan on Monday criticised the Orissa government as well as Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh over what he called was "pure and straight state vandalism" unleashed against villagers who have been opposing the Posco project for the past six years.
"It's a heroic battle being carried out by people for six years now without a single act of violence. Yet, in a most illegal and repressive fashion, the Orissa government has been trying to acquire 4,000 acres of land by force...by coercion," Mr. Bardhan told a press conference in Hyderabad on Monday.
The CPI chief came down on Jairam Ramesh for saying that "political and strategic considerations have to be taken into account" while granting clearances for the Posco project.
"What is the Ministry of Environment and Forests for? Two committees appointed by the Ministry itself said the project is 'illegal, ill-conceived and environmentally-harmful.' Even Jairam's own Department said the Forest Rights Act has been violated in the case of Posco," Mr. Bardhan pointed out and alleged that "forgery and lies have been resorted to" despite the local panchayats passing resolutions against the project.
Mr. Jairam's claims on Posco only exposed his "naivety and hypocrisy," Mr. Bardhan added.
Posco was project controlled by American capital masquerading under a South Korean steel company, he claimed.
Senior CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta would visit Posco site on June 21 to express solidarity with the fighting villagers.
The CPI General Secretary demanded that the Central government immediately scrap the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and a new law that was farmer-friendly should be drafted.
"Any project requires only limited land, not thousands of acres. Ambani wanted one lakh acres of land for a project.
What for? Even the Reserve Bank of India said it is nothing but real-estate business," Mr. Bardhan pointed out and recalled that Tatas sold out huge tracts of land in Nagpur, given to them for setting up textile mills years ago, for commercial purposes.
"None of the mills are working and the land has now been sold for malls, corporate houses and other purposes," he said.
Hereafter, only barren land should be acquired for any purpose and not fertile land, Mr. Bardhan said.
Monsoon lashes City of Joy
One person died on Friday as heavy rains pounded the city and its adjoining districts since Thursday night caused by a deep depression that lay centred 80 km from here.
School children enjoy as it rains in Kolkata on Friday. PTI
A fish seller died on way to the market at a village in Bishnupur area in South 24-Parganas district when electric wires snapped due to heavy rains and fell on him.
The rains hit normal life in the metropolis as low-lying areas in many parts went under knee-deep water, throwing transport out of gear. The city recorded 25 mm rainfall since last night till 10 am on Friday. College Street, Amherst Street, Burrabazar, Lake Road and part of the business district BBD Bag were waterlogged as dirty rain water made their way into many homes in the low -- lying areas.
Train services on Sealdah -- Hasnabad section of the Eastern Railway in North 24-Parganas district were disrupted as trees fell on the tracks. Meanwhile, the South 24-Parganas district administration officials said the fishermen in 45-50 trawlers, which went missing in high seas yesterday in the inclement weather, were safe in a forest at Kendua in the Sunderbans core area near a creek.
The state government had on Thursday formed a committee to oversee and strengthen the disaster management system in the state, prompted by the missing fishing trawlers incident. Eastern railway officials said EMU services were affected especially in the Sealdah South section due to power failure in the overhead wires.
Circular Railway services were also hit by submerged tracks between Bagh Bazar and Princep Ghat stations. Three platforms at Sealdah station were also waterlogged, they said. Met officials said intermittent heavy rains would lash the city and two adjoining districts tomorrow before the depression weakened and moved over to Bangladesh.
The weathermen also forecast heavy to very heavy rains in the entire Gangetic belt of West Bengal in the next two days and asked the fishermen not to venture into the sea in the southern coastal belt of East Midnapore and South 24-Parganas districts. Tourists in coastal sea resort of Digha have been asked not to move closer to the sea.
Source: PTI
Click on for more pictures
Jan Lok Pal bill: UPA's great political coup
Comment: UPA manages to send the Jan Lok Pal Bill where it thought it belonged – the graveyard
The UPA government has just managed a political coup that will be envy of governments everywhere in the world.
Despite fasts, virulent protests and a countrywide nausea against corruption, it has managed to pivot the full circle and shepherd the Jan Lok Pal bill to where it thought it belonged - the graveyard.
Or, as Arvind Kejriwal, one of the members of the drafting panel from the civil society said, "government has killed the bill even before its birth".
That's what the 'one bill, two drafts' to be sent to the Union Cabinet proposal of the UPA government essentially amounts to.
The Union Cabinet, in other words, the government itself, will sit in judgment on the two drafts. And it's a no-brainer as to which draft - the civil society's or its own - the government will deign to chose.
Through the use of calumny, innuendoes, and by painting the spectre of threat to democracy by "unelected" players, the government has managed to confuse and obfuscate the issue.
The media and the public have swallowed the government's antics largely without protest or seeing through the attempts to shoot the messengers - the representatives of the civil society.
They cast aspersions on their integrity; by insinuating that they were the front office for the RSS. The effort was to throw mud in the hope that some of it will stick. Some did stick, at least in the case of Baba Ramdev.
It is quite clear now that the setting-up of the civil society-UPA panel to go into the provisions of the Lok Pal bill in April this year was a strategic retreat by the government. The bid was clearly to disrupt the public emotions and momentum against corruption that the Anna Hazare fast had worked up.
Having broken that up in the soft way by consenting to engage with civil society, the government has now taken the hard way of simply saying 'no' to every proposal of the civil society.
Thereby, arrogating the sole right to sit in judgement over the provisions of the Bill to itself and the political class.
Even an usually mellow and respected actor in the episode, who is usually not given to playing to the galleries, Justice Santosh Hegde was forced to concede after the impasse at Wednesday evening's parleys, that it looked to him that the "government was not serious and was just going through the motions".
In ideal conditions, a reference to the elected representatives, in a democracy, is indeed the way to go. After all, they represent the people's collective will; and in the social contract that democracy entails, the power of formulating policy and getting them implemented is surrendered to the legislative bodies by the citizens.
However, the conditions are far from ideal.
One, in India, at the macro level, the political class is largely perceived as part of the problem, not the solution. It will be no exaggeration to say that the political class as a whole is one of the least trusted segments of our society.
Secondly, more to the case in point the Lok Pal Bill is aimed at attacking the corrupt and the corruption in the governmental system.
To presume that politicians and bureaucrats, as a group, will acquiesce to provisions of a bill that are aimed at making their actions in the public sphere more transparent and accountable, is to really stretch imagination.
But with the UPA government's "one bill, two drafts", that is exactly what is being attempted and achieved.
It would be amusing to see the government sitting in judgement on its "own" draft against a draft by what it has termed in the past as a "nautanki" group; and then go through the motions of appearing to make a serious, unbiased and informed choice.
Will there be a credible response from the civil society? Watch this space!
Also read:
UPA 'playing tricks', Anna threatens to fast again
Lokpal Bill: One panel, two drafts
Source: India Syndicate
Rahul as PM: Congress voices rise as he turns 41
New Delhi: As Rahul Gandhi turns 41 Sunday, voices in the Congress are rising touting the young leader as fitting the bill to become the next prime minister. But party leaders said Gandhi alone would decide whether or not he wants the country's top executive post.
While Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has said that the MP from Amethi had all the qualities and capabilities to become a "good prime minister", another party leader, Birender Singh, said Gandhi would fit in the role whenever the situation so demands.
Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of Uttar Pradesh, is closely working with Gandhi to bring the party back to power in the country's most populous state in next year's assembly elections.
Digvijay Singh, who has openly aired differences with some decisions of senior ministers, added that Gandhi was mature with a sound understanding of social and political issues -- and had qualities of head and heart.
Many other leaders IANS spoke to echoed Digvijay Singh's feelings.
Congress general secretary Birender Singh said that Gandhi, son of party president Sonia Gandhi, had all the qualities to be the prime minister.
"The party is behind him. He has to take his own decision," Birender Singh told IANS.
Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed said that most partymen had the feeling that Gandhi was capable of becoming a good leader.
"Congressmen feel he has the capability of a being a good leader of the country. We feel he has the qualities of becoming prime minister," said Ahmed, the party in-charge of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Congress treasurer Motilal Vora said: "He (Gandhi) has the capability to take the country on the path of development. He is a visionary."
Vora added that the young leader had made it clear that his focus for the present was on strengthening the party organisation. Gandhi is party incharge of Youth Congress and National Students Union of India.
Congress secretary Asha Kumari said Gandhi had worked in rural areas, taken part in the decision making process and had more political experience than his father Rajiv Gandhi, who became the country's youngest prime minister (1984).
"He (Gandhi) has worked with the system and learnt a lot. The cadre would have liked it (his becoming prime minister) even seven years ago," she said, adding that the party leader will decide when to take the post.
Party sources said that renewed talk about Gandhi's suitability to become prime minister has also been driven by a feeling in sections of the party that the second tenure of the UPA government has been marked by a string of controversies.
"Partymen mention that the government has mishandled situations, including the agitations by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. There have been scams and controversies," a party leader said on the condition of anonymity.
He said partymen have begun talking about the need to give a younger look to the government and the possibility of annointing Gandhi as prime minister about a year before the 2014 general elections.
Former union minister Arjun Singh had raised his voice before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls for making Gandhi prime ministerial candidate, but it was scotched by the party leadership.
Source: IANS
India, Pak locked in war of words over naval ships
Islamabad/New Delhi: Ahead of their talks, India and Pakistan were on Saturday locked in a spat and lodged protests against each other over their naval warships allegedly resorting to "risky" and "dangerous" manoeuvres after hijacked MV Suez was freed by Somali pirates.
India lodged a protest with Pakistan against the violation by Pakistan Naval Ship (PNS) Babur of relevant regulations on navigational safety by its "risky" manoeuvres jeopardising the safety of INS Godavari and its crew. The protest was lodged through the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi.
The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement also said the Naval Advisor of the Pakistan High Commission was summoned by the Ministry of Defence and "our serious concern on this incident was conveyed".
An Indian Navy official said, "Reports of aggression by INS Godavari are incorrect and based on misinformation." Some Indian and Pakistan nationals were on board MV Suez.
The war of words erupted just days ahead of the talks between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan in Islamabad on June 24-25.
The Indian action came a day after Pakistan said a protest was lodged with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad over what it alleged a dangerous manoeuvre by an Indian warship which "brushed" its frigate escorting Eghyptian-owned vessel MV Suez. Pakistan also called the alleged incident on Thursday as serious.
The Indian protest was registered against the violation by Pakistan Naval Ship of relevant regulations on navigational safety as per the "International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea" and Article 10 of the "Agreement between India-Pakistan on Advance Notice on Military Exercises, Manoeuvres and Troops Movements 1991" involving INS Godavari on high seas, the MEA statement said.
"PNS Babur by its risky manoeuvres jeopardised the safety of INS Godavari and its crew," it added.
After Pakistan alleged that an Indian warship obstructed a Pakistani naval ship escorting an Egyptian merchant vessel freed by Somali pirates, New Delhi dismissed the complaint as "totally baseless".
The Indian external affairs ministry said the two countries had been coordinating with their overseas interlocutors ahead of the release of MV Suez and its sailors, including Indians and Pakistanis.
"Insinuations to the contrary by a few voices stem from lack of appreciation of facts and are totally baseless," spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
Pakistan's foreign office Friday lodged a formal protest and said that its frigate PNS Babar was brushed past by INS Godavari.
Pakistan said that INS Godavari "hampered humanitarian operations" carried out by PNS Babar June 16 while escorting the MV Suez in the Gulf of Aden.
The Indian ship was also accused of undertaking "dangerous manoeuvres".
"This incident constitutes a serious violation of international regulations pertaining to safe conduct at high seas and of the India-Pakistan agreement of 1991 on advance notice of military exercise manoeuvres and troop movement," a Pakistani spokesperson said.
Pakistan lodged a protest with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
According to Pakistani daily Jang, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Interior Secretary Chaudhary Qamar-uz-Zaman met to discuss the agenda for next week's meeting.
Pakistan's High Commissioner in India, Shahid Malik, has arrived from New Delhi for the talks. He met Malik Friday.
According to the report, the Indian side is likely to inquire about progress in the trial of 26/11 Mumbai attack masterminds.
India may also raise Pakistani American David Coleman Headley's revelations about the role of the Pakistani spy agency ISI in the Mumbai outrage.
Pakistan wants to include the Kashmir dispute on the agenda.
Earlier this year, India and Pakistan agreed to resume their comprehensive dialogue on all outstanding issues "in a constructive and forward-looking manner".
According to India, the agenda would include "peace and security", including confidence-building measures, Jammu and Kashmir and promotion of friendly exchanges.
Source: PTI & IANS
Now, all-party meet on Lokpal issue
Government keen to resolve issues with Anna Hazare, is open to to the idea of cover PM under Lokpal once he demits office. Hegde apprehensive over final outcome of Lokpal Bill, to skip final meet
New Delhi: The government on Saturday said it will discuss the draft Lokpal Bill with political parties before sending it to the Union Cabinet for approval.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said the government will also seek the opinion of Chief Ministers on the draft prepared by the joint committee on Lokpal consisting of five Ministers and as many members from the civil society.
"The government will seek the views of political parties on the draft bill before it goes to the Cabinet. Whatever agreements or disagreements on the draft are there will be presented before parties," he told Doordarshan.
Explaining the course the Bill will go through after the Cabinet nod, Mr. Sibal said it will be introduced in Parliament, which could decide to send the bill to a Standing Committee.
He said the issue of tackling corruption was important and the government does not consider that the civil society did anything wrong by highlighting it. While crediting the civil society for its efforts on an effective Lokpal, Sibal said it was not possible to accept all their demands.
Sibal, who is part of the government team in the joint drafting committee, criticised social activist Anna Hazare for not launching any agitation against the Gujarat government where there is no institution of Lokayukta or Karnataka where Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa is facing allegations of corruption.
"Why does Hazare not launch a fast in Gujarat where there is no Lokayukta. In Karnataka also, he should launch a fast," Sibal said.
Congress Core Group discusses Lokpal
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had a meeting with top party leaders favouring parleys with political parties against the backdrop of widening differences between the government and the civil society representatives led by Mr. Hazare on the issue.
Grappling with the issue and other sensitive matters like Telangana, the Congress Core Group headed by Ms. Gandhi met on Saturday, the second meeting coming just after its two-hour long deliberations on Friday night. Saturday's meeting also discussed the Telangana problem.
The Hazare camp is pitching for inclusion of Prime Minister as also higher judiciary in the proposed Lokpal Bill during meetings of the Joint Committee to draft the measure which will now be meeting on June 20 and 21.
The government is prima facie opposed to the inclusion of Prime Minister within the ambit of Lokpal but was open to the idea of covering him once he demits office
Hegde apprehensive over final outcome of Lokpal Bill
Karnataka Lokayukta and a member of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee Santosh Hegde on Saturday said he was apprehensive about the final outcome of the proposed bill as it could be a watered down version of what was originally envisaged.
"The discussion on the bill is nearly over and after the last meeting...of what you read between two parties, they do not seem to see eye to eye and hence I am apprehensive of the outcome of this effort," a candid Hegde told PTI here.
"They will bring a bill for a certain, but how strong the bill is going to be is a question," the former Supreme Court judge, who represents civil society on the Lokpal panel, said.
Expressing his doubts, he said, "They do not want the PM to come under its scope, they do not want the judiciary, they do not want military purchases being investigated nor the central government employees nor the corrupt conduct of MPs outside the House but having implications inside House."
On the CBI being kept out of the RTI Act, he said, "Today they want to keep out CBI, tomorrow it will be the police". Once an investigation was over, there could be sharing of data to ensure transparency, he opined. However, he was of the opinion that the current strong anti-corruption feeling would have some bearing on elections.
"One day the government will realise they had got an opportunity to earn a good name, but that they had missed the bus," said the Lokayukta. Hegde said he did not believe that such a bill could completely eradicate corruption but it would certainly aid in controlling graft.
"Just because there are police stations, has crime been eradicated? No, but police stations help control crime. Just like the presence of hospitals does not mean complete eradication of diseases," he said illustrating his point.
But the Lokayukta was all in favour of the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare continuing his battle against graft. "Annaji must continue his fight against corruption, personally. He must not go on any hunger strike immediately. He must go around the country and inform people about the consequences of corruption and on development.
"He is the right person to do so," said Hegde, adding that post-retirement he would lend all his support to Anna. Hegde said he would not quit the committee but would not be present in the last two meetings owing to prior engagement, he said.
Govt opposed to PM under Lokpal: Sibal
Government today said prima facie it was opposed to the inclusion of Prime Minister under the ambit of Lok Pal but was open to the idea to cover him once he demits office.
"Within the government, we feel prima facie, the Prime Minister should not be covered (under the Lokpal). But at the same time we want to make sure that if he demits office, he should not be exonerated from prosecution," HRD Minister Sibal said in an interview to a news channel.
At the same time, he said the government will only decide on the issue after the draft bill goes to the Cabinet. Sibal's comments came two days ahead of the the final meeting of the joint drafting committee on Lok Pal Bill.
However, he said, the five ministers in the joint drafting committee were willing to be persuaded to bring the Prime Minister under the ambit of the anti-corruption legislation if the civil society side gives a compelling argument.
While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has publicly stated that he was open to the idea of bringing the post under the Lokpal, Sibal said it was not the question of "an individual, Manmohan Singh but it's about an institution".
Arguing against the inclusion of a Prime Minister in office under the ombudsman, the minister said, "Which Prime Minister in office anywhere in the world has been prosecuted in the world? Please tell me, please give me an example."
He said people rallied behind Anna Hazare during his protest as they were upset with corruption but most of them do not know what is Lok Pal Bill.
"Anna Hazare is like the 'Pied Piper of Hamelin'. The tune is lilting and people were upset with corruption just as government is. We want to deal with it. But those who follow him, where they say corruption should be deal with, do not know what the Lok Pal Bill is," he said.
Govt keen to resolve differences with Hazare
The government is keen to resolve its differences with Gandhian activist Anna Hazare over the proposed Lokpal bill, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said Saturday.
The minister also told Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN that only one draft of the bill would be submitted to the cabinet.
"We will try and resolve the disagreements as much as much as possible," Sibal said, when asked about differences between the government and Team Hazare on the provisions of the Lokpal bill.
After talks between the two sides here broke down Wednesday, Hazare told the media that the government proposed to submit two drafts of the bill to the cabinet -- one of the government and the other from Hazare.
Sibal, one of the five ministers in the 10-member panel set up by the government to frame the Lokpal bill, said this was not true. "There will be no two drafts, though there may be areas of disagreement," he said.
While giving a single draft to the cabinet, Sibal said differences between the two sides would be brought to the cabinet's notice. The government has pledged to prepare the bill by June 30.
Asked about Hazare's threat to fast from Aug 16 if the Lokpal bill was not passed by then, Sibal said: "I do not want to comment. It is not for me to comment on what Haraze (ought) to do."
Source: PTI & IANS
Godmen or rock-star businessmen?
Religion has always been good business, and godmen, it seems, are highly successful rock-star businessmen
Right on top of Swami Ramdev's hate list are corrupt politicians (hang them, he says), followed by homosexuals (cure them, it's a disease) and multinational corporations (drive them out of our pious land). Manipulative multinationals, says the yoga guru and crusader, suck out more money than they bring in, and take jobs away from local artisans and craftsmen. In his utopian scheme of things, there is no role for multinationals -- the Rs 300,000 crore worth of black money stashed abroad is back in the country to run its power plants, build roads and reach water to the fields; people do an honest day's work, after an hour or two of Yoga in the morning, and read religious texts before they hit the bed.
The dislike for multinationals was nowhere to be seen this April when Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved tied up with Tetra Pak, the world's top packaging solutions company, to sell juices and other concoctions. Already, its gooseberry juice in Tetra Pak packages, Amla Amrit, is out in the market -- 65 ml for just Rs 5. As many as 30 new drinks, in categories like apple and grape, could follow in the days to come. "We want to provide pure and healthy products to our countrymen. Keeping this in mind, we are going to launch our products in Tetra Pak packages," Ramdev had said, with confidence and pride in equal measure, after he had inaugurated the Patanjali Ayurved factory at Haridwar.
The dislike for the multinational business model is also nowhere to be seen in some of Ramdev's recent initiatives. He has bought Herbo Ved, an ayurvedic products company, in the United States for an undisclosed sum. He sells all over the world, from the United States to West Asia. The Scottish Island "donated" to him by followers Sam and Sunita Poddar (they bought it in 2009 for around Rs 16 crore; it has since been renamed Peace Island), could soon become an upscale retreat with cottages, therapy schools and laughter classes.
Religion has always been good business. And godmen, it seems, make rock-star businessmen. They run large businesses like industrialists, control huge assets like landlords, advise top businessmen like consultants, settle disputes like lawyers, and at times "persuade" the government like lobbyists. With their vast armies of followers and "magical powers", many of them wield awesome clout in the corridors of power. This, in turn, can facilitate donations which help run businesses, ashrams, charities etc.
Chandraswami of the Vishwa Dharmayatan Sanstha counted amongst his followers two prime ministers, P V Narasimha Rao and Chandrashekhar, the Sultan of Brunei, arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Reagan. Then, in 1996, Chandraswami was arrested on charges of duping Lakhubhai Pathak, a London-based businessman, for $100,000. The same year, the Enforcement Directorate filed charges of flouting foreign exchange regulations. On Wednesday, Chandraswami told the Supreme Court that he was willing to pay Rs 9 crore to settle the dispute!
There has always been a veil of secrecy over the businesses and assets godmen control. Ramdev, under pressure to disclose his financials, last week announced that his four trusts (the Divya Yoga Mandir Trust, Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, Bharat Swabhiman Trust and Acharyakul Shiksha Sansthan) have a corpus of Rs 426.19 crore, which has accrued through donations and the sale of medicine, and have incurred expenditure of Rs 785.09 crore thus far. There was no mention of his companies in the disclosure.
Ramdev's main companies are Patanjali Ayurved (turnover of Rs 320 crore) and Divya Pharmacy (Rs 300 crore). And profits? Ramdev had told Business Standard last year that his profit margins are 16 per cent, though his products are priced up to 50 per cent below rivals. The Patanjali Ayurved factory can produce 32,000 packs in an hour. The company has 1,500 outlets across the country. Ramdev's products also sell through post offices. Acharya Balkrishan, a close aide of Ramdev, owns a company called Vedic Broadcasting which runs Aastha, a religious television channel.
"With the blessings of our Guru (Ramdev), our business is flourishing and we will soon capture the world market as well," says an executive of a company that belongs to Ramdev. A year ago, Ramdev set up Patanjali Food and Herbal Park spread over 125 acres at Padartha in Haridwar, which entailed an investment of Rs 500 crore. The food park, Ramdev has said, will religiously follow the norms laid down by the United States Food and Drug Administration; the destination of the produce should leave nobody in doubt.
Ramdev was earlier in the week persuaded to break his fast against corruption and black money by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation. The two are often seen together, and obviously share similar beliefs. The ashram of the Art of Living Foundation, on the outskirts of Bangalore, spread over 70 or so acres, houses, amongst others, an Ayurveda hospital and software company Sumeru Software. As many as 250 people work for it in the ashram, and it has branches in the United States and South Africa. A part of the profit the company makes goes to charity. The foundation believes that only a profitable organisation can do charity; donations don't add up to much.
The Art of Living Foundation, founded in 1981, has over 3,000 centres across the world teaching Sudarshan Kriya -- the latest is a 157-acre campus in Beijing. The foundation doesn't run all the centres itself and appoints franchises. All one has to do to get a franchise is complete one of the courses at the ashram. The basic course costs Rs 1,200. It also earns money from the sale of its publications and Ayurvedic medicine. The money is channeled into social work. The Art of Living Foundation is today one of the world's largest volunteer-based, humanitarian and educational NGOs. Its message has reached over 300 million people in over 140 countries.
The scale is huge but not uncommon to godmen. In the days following the hospitalisation and later, death, of Satya Sai Baba in April this year, various estimates of the empire he had created in his lifetime did the rounds, ranging from Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 130,000 crore. At the first press conference held after his death, office-bearers of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust tried to squash these figures, and said its income, coupled with that of the Sathya Sai Medical Trust, in the last 14 years was Rs 100 to 130 crore a year, while expenditure was Rs 75 to 100 crore.
Debatable as that might be, there is no doubt about the assets that Sai Baba had at his disposal -- this includes a 300-bed super-specialty hospital spread over 105 acres at Puttaparthi, where Sai Baba was based, built at a cost of Rs 65 crore in 1991, another in Bangalore built in 2001 for Rs 130 crore, the main ashram, Prashanthi Nilayam, in Puttaparthi constructed on 70 acres, a private airstrip, educational institutions, a planetarium and various centres in 167 countries across the world. The medical and educational institutions are run on not-for-profit lines -- treatment, whether at the two general hospitals or the super-specialty hospitals, is completely free, as is the education at its schools and colleges.
The real business in Puttaparthi is what Sai Baba spawned indirectly. The steady influx of devotees throughout the year, when Sai Baba was alive, barring the peak summer months, also meant steady business for the hotels, taxi operators and shops Puttaparthi is full with. With devotees, Indian and foreign, prepared to spend months in the town, real estate was among the biggest beneficiaries. Land 1 km outside town that cost Rs 20,000 a cent (a cent is a hundredth of an acre) three years ago had gone up to Rs 4 lakh. Prices have crashed 30 per cent since Sai Baba died on April 24.
Prosperity is visible from a distance at the dera of the Radhasoami Satsang at Beas in Punjab. It houses about 7,000 people, including staff and kar sewaks. The venue where the Guru of the Satsang gives discourses covers about 30 acres and can seat as many as 250,000 people. It is supposed to be one of the largest covered structures in Asia. The dera is lush green; they grow fruit and vegetables which are used at the langars. It manages its own water supply, water treatment plant and solid waste treatment facility. It owns large generators to supply emergency power to the whole community.
Inside the dera, the feel of a military camp is unmistakable. Hordes of people come from all over the world to Beas to hear the guru. This being Punjab, the NRI followers often come and stay for a few weeks at one go. "We welcome lakhs of visitors annually here; some decide to stay and become kar sewaks as well," informs the manager of food at the Satsang. The lady says that they can feed about 275,000 people at one go at the dera when the annual bhandara happens. There's an air strip at the dera which bigwigs use for a quick darshan of the guru.
Amongst the high-profile followers of the Satsang are the Singhs of Fortis and Religare. In fact, the earlier guru, Charan Singh, was the maternal grandfather of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. When the Guru died in 1991, there was a strong buzz that Parvinder Singh, Malvinder and Shivinder's father and the owner of Ranbaxy at that time, would succeed him. But that didn't happen. Till Ranbaxy got sold to Daiichi Sankyo of Japan in 2008, the Satsang had a discernible presence on the company's board. For instance, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, one-time Ranbaxy chairman, is a follower of the Satsang. His father, KL Khanna, was after all the secretary of the Satsang at Beas.
Apart from Beas, the Satsang runs deras across the world and operates a 260-bed charitable hospital at Beas. "Sab baba di mehr hai" (It's the guru's grace), says Gurnam Singh, a rickshaw-puller, who refuses to take money from the Beas bus stand to the dera. Such is the presence of the Satsang in Beas that almost the entire town is grateful to the guru who has taken them on the path of spiritual development and, of course, prosperity.
Source: Business Standard
Gold, cash flow out of Baba's chambers
98 kg gold, Rs.12 crore cash found in Sathya Sai's chamber in Prashanti Nilayam
Hyderabad: Around Rs.12 crore in cash and nearly 100 kg of gold were found in the personal chamber of late spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba at Prashanti Nilayam, his ashram in Puttaparthi in Anantapur district, a trust official said Friday.
A day after the Sathya Sai Central Trust opened the locks of the Baba's personal chamber, Yajur Mandir, his nephew and trust member R.J. Ratnakar Friday evening announced details of the cash and valuables found inside.
He told reporters at Puttaparthi that the trust members found Rs.11.56 crore, 98 kg gold and gold jewelery, 307 kg silver articles in the personal chamber where nobody was alloweed to enter. Ratnakar said the cash would be deposited with the State Bank of India (SBI).
Some bank officials and about 15 disciples of Baba, in the presence of trust members, have since Thursday counted the cash with the help of currency counting machines. The Yajur Mandir is an opulent residence built by Baba.
Ratnakar said Baba's residential quarter was opened in the presence of all five members of the trust. A former judge of the Supreme Court, A.P. Misra, and former Karanataka High Court judge Vaidyanathan were present as independent witnesses while an assessor approved by the Income Tax department was there to evaluate the gold, jewellery and silver.
Ratnakar claimed the idea behind the whole exercise was to make an inventory of all the items in a transparent manner.
The trust reportedly found gold statues of Hindu gods and diamonds.
Ratnakar, however, denied that they found any will of Baba. He also evaded queries if the trust found any documents about Baba's personal caregiver Satyajit. There are speculations that the spiritual guru wanted to make Satyajit his successor or a member of the powerful trust.
Yajur Mandir, also known as Yajurveda Mandir, had remained closed ever since Sathya Sai Baba was hospitalised March 28 with multi-organ dysfunction. He died April 24.
There were allegations by a section of devotees that large amounts of cash and gold jewelery were shipped out of the place when Baba was battling for life. The trust, however, has denied this.
Some devotees were also demanding that the locks of Baba's personal chamber be opened in their presence or at least in the presence of media persons.
The trust, which manages the huge spiritual empire led by Baba, owns assets in Puttaparthi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities.
Meanwhile, the trust has decided to open Yajur Mandir for devotees on July 15. It also plans to open a museum at Prashanti Nilayam to showcase the personal belongings of the spiritual guru.
Source: IANS
Don't hate Obama, defeat him: Bobby Jindal
Washington: Louisiana's Indian American Republican Governor Bobby Jindal has cautioned his party's conservative activists against demonising Democratic President Barack Obama in the fashion some liberals did his Republican predecessor President George Bush.
Recalling what he said were the "shrill, absurd and negative rhetoric" employed by the left during the eight years Bush was in office, Jindal said: "We must not mimic their shallow approach."
In speech Friday in New Orleans, Jindal, who is widely believed to have national ambitions, invoked the debunked notion that Obama wasn't born in America, saying: "I don't question where's he from, I question where President Obama is going."
According to Politico, a Washington news site focusing on politics, Jindal also urged conservatives to channel their disdain for the president. "Hating President Obama is foolish, but defeating President Obama is absolutely crucial."
Criticising Obama's leadership, Jindal said: "I've got no doubt that President Obama loves this country," but what the president "thinks is best for this country is in reality a complete disaster."
"We as Republicans are Americans first - we have to have respect for the office of the president," said Jindal was quoted as saying in an interview later.
"We need to be serious about this debate, it's an important debate about the future of our country. We can't be distracted by ad hominem attacks."
He added: "I think it's hypocritical to say, well, it's not patriotic when they do that to President Bush but it's ok for our side to it to President Obama."
Jindal, Politico said, was less clear about his own intentions, besides reiterating that he's running for re-election in November.
"I've got the job I want," he said, repeating a line he's used in the past.
And as for 2016, would he run for president?
"I'm running for re-election as governor of Louisiana," repeated Jindal.
Source: IANS
New Swiss law makes bank a/c info easier to get
Geneva: The Swiss parliament on Friday gave approval to amendments to tax treaties with countries, including India, that makes it easier for them to access information about the illegal funds held by their nationals in Swiss private banks.
The upper house of the Swiss parliament endorsed amendments to double-taxation agreements (DTAAs) in line with internationally applicable standards.
Governments, which have signed DTAAs can now secure easy legal assistance and information as well as identify an account holder from their territories by providing an IBAN number or social security number. The new amendments to Swiss banking secrecy laws can still be challenged by a popular referendum within 100 days, analysts said.
The beneficiaries from the new amendments include India, Germany, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, and Poland.
The Swiss parliament approval comes at a time when the Indian government is facing intense pressure from the opposition, the Supreme Court and the civil society to bring back black money stashed away in tax havens.
In January this year, a Swiss parliamentary panel had given a go-ahead to revised tax treaty with India, as per which, India can get information on secret bank accounts from Swiss authorities for cases dating from 2011.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and Swiss Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey signed a "protocol" to amend the double taxation agreement in the area of taxes on income on August 30, 2010.
Meanwhile in Bangalore, ambassador of Switzerland to India Philippe Welti said that India could get banking details of its citizens in tax frauds and evasion cases once the Swiss parliament ratifies the revised DTAAs between the two countries.
In April 2010, the House of Representatives had agreed to enter into double-taxation treaties with these countries.
Until now, it remained a Herculean task for these governments to identify the illegal depositors because of marathon legal processes.
Coming under intense pressure from the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the G-20 leaders, the Swiss authorities have begun a process of simplifying their tax laws.
Switzerland, which was initially included in the OECD's black list of countries for following banking secrecy and client-confidentiality rules, agreed to adopt its tax code, agreeing to share information in cases involving tax which is not a crime under Swiss law.
Source: PTI
MCA refuses to intervene in Sebi-Sahara case
New Delhi: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) today washed off its hands from the ongoing dispute between Sebi and Sahara Group companies, which has been restrained by the market regulator from mobilising funds from the public.
In a statement, the MCA has clarified that Sahara Prime City intended to go for an IPO and had filed information about its group companies to Sebi in its Draft Red Herring Prospectus.
Further, Sebi upon noticing inadequacy in material disclosures had asked information about some Sahara Group companies as per its disclosure requirements.
However, the information was not furnished by November 11, 2010, and Sebi passed an interim order issuing show cause to two Sahara Group companies -- SIRECL and SHICL -- and restraining them from mobilising funds from the public.
"This order has been challenged by the said companies and the case is now sub judice before the Hon'ble High Court of Allahabad, Lucknow Bench. As this is a matter between the Sahara Group companies and Sebi, the MCA cannot intervene in the matter," the MCA said.
The MCA added that in order to check misuse of private placement provisions under the Companies Act, 1956, issued a circular dated 22 November, 2010 mandating its field offices to carefully scrutinise offer documents filed by Unlisted Public Companies proposing to raise money through the private placement route.
Besides, it is working on to substitute Unlisted Public Companies ( Preferential Allotment) Rules, 2003 by replacing it with Unlisted Public Companies (Preferential Allotment) Rules, 2011, which would require more disclosures and keeping the securities in demat form.
Also, it said checks and balances, coupled with stringent penalty provisions have been built into the Companies Bill to prevent misuse.
Source: PTI
Advance tax logs 77% jump, India Inc in pink of health
New Delhi: Certain interest rate-sensitive sectors like auto are reporting slowdown, but there does not seem to be a widespread deceleration across the sectors.
Advance taxes paid by the corporate sector increased a whopping 76.8 per cent to Rs 30,399 crore in the first quarter of this financial year, against Rs 17,194 crore a year ago. The government kitty could swell further in next few days as some companies pay their dues even after the June 15 deadline.
"This indicates revenue buoyancy is robust and the profitability of companies for the first quarter has not been dented," a finance ministry official told Business Standard.
The growth in advance tax this quarter is pretty high, considering a high base of 55.4 per cent a year ago. The country's largest lender SBI, Reliance Industries, SAIL, LIC and Bhel lead the pack of top advance tax payers.
Advance tax collections are an indicator of financial health of companies and state of the economy. Based on their projected earnings, firms pay 15 per cent of their total advance tax in April-June. The huge growth in the first quarter may provide some comfort to the government at a time when global factors are posing a risk to the country's economic growth and fiscal situation.
The finance ministry has indicated economic growth this year may be lower than 9 per cent projected in the Budget.
The ministry is also keeping its purse strings tight to prevent any extra expenditure and stick to the fiscal deficit target of 4.6 per cent of GDP during 22011-12.
Yesterday, the RBI had said even as there is deceleration in some important sectors, notably interest-sensitive ones, there is no evidence of any sharp or broad-based slowdown.
Companies pay advance tax in four quarterly instalments. After the first instalment in mid-June, the remaining 30 per cent, 30 per cent and 25 per cent, comes in September, December and March.
"The estimation of profits by companies is correct most of the times. There is not much scope for under-reporting or over-reporting of profits. No one wants to pay more advance tax when the cost of borrowing is so high and if they pay less there is a penalty," said another finance ministry official.
Gross direct tax collections of the government by the end of this month are expected to cross Rs 1,00,000 mark. The collections during these two and half months have already increased 38 per cent to Rs 99,707.8 crore, against Rs 72,269.6 crore in the same period of 2010-11.
Net direct tax collections, however, are marginally up by 1.3 per cent on account of 191.7 per cent jump in refunds. Net collections stood at Rs 59,136.7 crore as on June 16, 2011, compared with Rs 58,361.4 crore last year. Refunds increased from Rs 13,908.2 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 40,571.1 crore this year.
The finance ministry has set a target of 19.5 per cent growth in its net direct tax collections to Rs 5,33,000 crore this year. The net collections may improve in the coming months as in the first two months the tax department has given over 40 per cent of the refunds it is expecting to give this year.
The tax deducted at source (TDS) for the corporate sector has also shown a growth of 32.2 per cent in the first quarter so far, whereas TDS from personal income tax increased by 27.3 per cent.
Advance tax paid by the corporate sector had increased 22.7 per cent to Rs 1,97,244 crore in financial year 2010-11. Overall corporate tax collections had increased 24 per cent to Rs 3,37,179 crore, while income tax collections rose by 16.7 per cent to Rs 1,40,059 crore during the period.
Source: Business Standard
Strike fails to sway demand for other brands
Mumbai: The agitation at Maruti's Manesar plant may have pushed the management to a corner, but it has done little damage to the demand some of its models enjoy, despite the extended waiting period.
The two-week disruption in production, which resulted in a loss of 12,600 units or nearly Rs 450 crore, led to long waiting periods of popular diesel cars such as Swift, DZire and SX4.
While it was widely expected within the industry that customers would sway towards other brands, which are easily available off-the-shelf, buyers largely chose to stick to Maruti Suzuki over the last few days.
"We were expecting to cash in on the opportunity with at least some demand flowing in from customers, who otherwise would have gone for Maruti. Even the company was expecting it, but it never happened," said a Mumbai-based dealer of Tata and Fiat cars. Tata retails the Indica and Indigo while the Fiat retails the Punto and Linea.
Although a latest version of the Swift is expected in a few weeks in India, this had little or no impact on the demand of the existing Swift. The diesel model of the car continued to have an average waiting period of more than three months in most market across the country.
The Swift remains the top selling premium hatchback from the market leader followed by Ritz in the same segment of Rs 430,000 and above. Since the gap between the price of petrol and diesel only widened over the past one year, consumers have increasingly preferred to go for diesel models despite their higher price tags.
Dealers of Japanese brand Nissan and American brand Ford in Delhi, too, did not experience any unusual spurt in inquiries. "Demand in the last few days has been the same as weeks before. Consumers are waiting for some respite in interest rates," said a Ford Motors dealer.
The Nissan Micra and Ford Figo are offered in diesel versions apart from the regular petrol. Ford witnessed a drop of 12 per cent in sales of Figo last month, while Nissan premium hatchback Micra sold less than 1,600 units.
While the car industry reported a mere seven per cent increase in May, most car makers, who sell diesel as an alternative version, stated that consumers have moved from petrol to diesel forcing some to dole out petrol model-related benefits.
For instance, Maruti is enticing buyers with free petrol equivalent to the fuel spend for the period of six months. Dealers said instead of the cash discount and other monetary incentives customers will get petrol of similar amount for free.
While Nissan is offering free fuel for an extended period of nine month, the Fabia from Czech car maker Skoda has seen a reduction in price, which now starts at Rs 399,000 from the earlier Rs 457,000.
Source: Business Standard
Weeky Review: Markets slip 2%, IT shares weigh
Mumbai: Markets ended an eventful week on a negative note with May inflation data and hawkish monetary policy dragging both the benchmark indices down 2.2% to a 13-week low.
Nifty opened on a positive note and touched a high of 5,520 during the early part of the weak. However the index succumbed to selling pressure after May inflation data and 25 basis point rate hike stimulated concerns of a further growth slowdown. Mid-week Nifty broke the short-term 5,480 support on reports that oil ministry allegedly favoured Reliance Industries for development of KG D6 gas field. Investors dumped heavyweight RIL shares, dragging the Nifty index to low of 5,356.
Finally the CNP CNX Nifty ended near week's low, at 5,366, down 30 points and the Sensex closed at 17,870 down, 115 points. Markets clocked losses for the second consecutive week.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked its repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.5% which was in line with consensus. Nomura in the weekly note said, "Tug-of-war between growth and inflation will intensify and there could be further slowdown in the coming two quarters." Shubhada Rao, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Yes Bank said that the RBI will hike rates by additional 25-50 bps this year which may bring down the FY12 GDP to 7.8%.
Inflation for the month of May remained at stubbornly high levels of 9.1% y-o-y compared to 10.5% a year ago raising concerns that consecutive rate hikes were not yet effective. Economists said the inflation was mainly core inflation or manufacturing inflation which is affected by commodity prices and it, so unless commodity prices ease, inflation would persists.
The sell-off was mainly led by FII outflows last week as they removed shares worth Rs 2263 crore according to the provisional data available from the Bombay Stock Exchange. In the upcoming week, there are no major triggers for the market. Ashish Chaturmohta from IIFL Wealth said that markets are looking weak in the near term, if Nifty broke 5,320 support and the index could fall below 5,100 levels.
Asian markets also ended mostly in the red on concerns over Europe's debt troubles and uncertainty over the progress of recovery in the US. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, China's Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average posted weekly losses.
Reliance Industries slipped to a 26-month low of Rs 868, the stock was down 8% on a weekly basis on reports possible dealings between energy companies and the oil ministry. Analysts raised concerns that important bureaucratic decisions may get delayed as a result which could affect the RIL's ability to carry out exploration and production activity.
Among individual stock Maruti slipped 5% this week to 1,167 due to 13-day strike which caused the total loss of revenue of around Rs 600 crore. The strike was called off on late Thursday after the management agreed to some of the workers' demands.
Tata Steel jumped advanced 0.5% to Rs 572 this week after it agreed to sell stake in African Riversdale mining unit for $ 1.1 billion which may increase cash flows for the company making it easier for the company to service debt said analysts.
Among the sectoral pack technology stocks were the worst hit due to fear of slowdown in Europe as Greek debt woes escalated. BSE IT index lost 4.5%. Top losers were TCS, down 6.6%, Wipro lost 6.5% and Infosys declined 3.4%.
BSE Oil & Gas index also declined 4.8% as probe into RIL weighed on the sector, down 4.5%. Besides Reliance Industries, Cairn India was down 3.3%, GAIL India was down 1.3% and ONGC was down 0.8%.
BSE FMCG index emerged as a defensive bet as it was the only index that ended in the green on weekly basis, up 0.2%. Top gainers were Marico, up 3.7%, Hindustan Unilever advanced 3.1% and Tata Global was up 2.7%.
From the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices were also down over 1% each. Top losers from the midcap space were GTL, down 17%, KGN Industries fell 13.4% and Jain Irrigation was down 9.6%. From the smallcap space SE Investment fell 30%, Sutlej Textiles declined 16% and MIC Electricals was down 14.7%.
From the Sensex top losers were Hindalco declined 8%, Sterlite Industries fell 4.8% and Tata Motors was down 3.8%. Top gainers were Reliance Infrastructure, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Communication.
Source: Business Standard
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