SHAMELESS India Incs LPG Mafia Extraconstitutional De Facto Finance Minister Montek Singh Ahluwalia defends Rs 32 a day limit for fixing poverty line!India has no plans to curb capital outflows:Dipak Dasgupta

2G Spectrum Scam Case: Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram offers to resign, meets Sonia Gandhi

I have been insisting that Indian Economy is EXCLUSIVE and it has NO FUNDAMENTAL as an Intact Prodution System like China or Japan have. NO FISCAL Policy. Because the India Incs and MNCs, LPG Mafia Interests and US Corporate Imperialism Interests have to be Protected. The Zionist Brahaminical Class, the Micro Minority, Only FIVE Percent of the Population Dominate the Market and Possess the required Purchasing Capacity! Majority 95 Percent NON BRAHMIN Non ARYAN Population have to Pay the Taxes. Policy Making, Legislation, Laws, Judiciary, Media, Intellegentsia, Governance, Military Power, Administration - EVERYTHIN whatever means the STATE is up against the Deprived Majority Demography and Landscape Aborigine and Indigenous! The System is under Complete Mind Control! It is a Real CONSPIRACY rooted in Poona Pact!The Majority is Deprived of Representation. Thus, Economy, Taxation, Budget, Planning and day to day Finance management are subjective to Intense Corporate Lobbying for whom the Extra Constitutional Elements like Montek, Pitrod and Nilekani Ensures Complete MONOPOLY!Statics and Mathematics, Science and Technology MANIPULATED as the MANDATE itself!

Talks between Maruti Suzuki management, workers fail again

Spot gold fell by more than 4 per cent and silver suffered its sharpest one-day loss in three years, extending Friday's rout as invstors bolted for the ultimate safe havens of cash and the dollar.

Govt approves NHAI, IRFC, HUDCO and Power Finance Corp to raise Rs 300 billion from tax-free bonds

Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY

Palash Biswas

http://indianholocaustmyfatherslifeandtime.blogspot.com/

http://basantipurtimes.blogspot.com

http://mulnivasinayak.com/newbooks.php

SHAMELESS India Incs LPG Mafia Extraconstitutional De Facto Finance Minister Montek Singh Ahluwalia defends Rs 32 a day limit for fixing poverty line!

2G Spectrum Scam Case: Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram offers to resign, meets Sonia Gandhi

I have been insisting that Indian Economy is EXCLUSIVE and it has NO FUNDAMENTAL as an Intact Prodution System like China or Japan have. NO FISCAL Policy. Because the India Incs and MNCs, LPG Mafia Interests and US Corporate Imperialism Interests have to be Protected. The Zionist Brahaminical Class, the Micro Minority, Only FIVE Percent of the Population Dominate the Market and Possess the required Purchasing Capacity! Majority 95 Percent NON BRAHMIN Non ARYAN Population have to Pay the Taxes. Policy Making, Legislation, Laws, Judiciary, Media, Intellegentsia, Governance, Military Power, Administration - EVERYTHIN whatever means the STATE is up against the Deprived Majority Demography and Landscape Aborigine and Indigenous! The System is under Complete Mind Control! It is a Real CONSPIRACY rooted in Poona Pact!The Majority is Deprived of Representation. Thus, Economy, Taxation, Budget, Planning and day to day Finance management are subjective to Intense Corporate Lobbying for whom the Extra Constitutional Elements like Montek, Pitrod and Nilekani Ensures Complete MONOPOLY!Statics and Mathematics, Science and Technology MANIPULATED as the MANDATE itself!

PRANAB and CHIDAMBARAM are the ARYAN Chieftains of Genocide Culture and ETHNIC Cleansing.Hence, the Media Hyped Controversy should have Greater Design for Mass Destruction!

Home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram offered to resign on Monday, a television channel reported citing unnamed sources, after a document emerged that suggested he failed to stop a multi-billion dollar scam over telecoms contracts.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi today had separate meetings with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram, stepping in to defuse the raging row over the controversial Finance Ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation.

Before meeting Sonia shortly after his return from the US, Mukherjee told reporters that Chidambaram is a "valuable colleague" and a "pillar of strength."

Chidambaram drove past waiting reporters after meeting Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence without saying a word.

This was Chidambaram's first meeting with Gandhi, who is also UPA Chairperson, after controversy broke out last week over the note to the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) on the stand taken by him when he was the Finance Minister.

Details of what transpired at this meeting were not immediately known.

Gandhi met Mukherjee soon after her discussions with Chidambaram.

Mukherjee said on arrival that he will speak on the controversial 2G spectrum note only after discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other colleagues.

He told reporters at the airport that a full-fledged press conference will be held after the Prime Minister returns from his visit to New York tomorrow.

He later told reporters after reaching his North Block office, "If it is needed I will say whatever (I have) to say after Prime Minister comes back and after we have discussions among ourselves."

The March 25 note of the Finance Ministry suggested that the 2G scam could have been averted had Chidambaram when he held the Finance portfolio insisted that the 2G spectrum be auctioned. The note to the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) was submitted to the Supreme Court yesterday.

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid downplayed the row over the Finance ministry note, saying there is no scope for any worry in the document and that inferences drawn out of it were "not correct".

Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" the for a long time.

At the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi did an apparent balancing act saying neither Chidambaram nor Mukherjee has done anything wrong.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday had separate meetings with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram, stepping in to defuse the raging row over the controversial Finance Ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation.

Before meeting Sonia shortly after his return from the US, Mukherjee told reporters that Chidambaram is a "valuable colleague" and a "pillar of strength."

Chidambaram drove past waiting reporters after meeting Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence without saying a word.

This was Chidambaram's first meeting with Gandhi, who is also UPA Chairperson, after controversy broke out last week over the note to the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) on the stand taken by him when he was the Finance Minister.

Details of what transpired at this meeting were not immediately known.

Gandhi met Mukherjee soon after her discussions with Chidambaram.

Mukherjee said on arrival that he will speak on the controversial 2G spectrum note only after discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other colleagues.

He told reporters at the airport that a full-fledged press conference will be held after the Prime Minister returns from his visit to New York tomorrow.

He later told reporters after reaching his North Block office, "If it is needed I will say whatever (I have) to say after Prime Minister comes back and after we have discussions among ourselves."

The March 25 note of the Finance Ministry suggested that the 2G scam could have been averted had Chidambaram when he held the Finance portfolio insisted that the 2G spectrum be auctioned. The note to the Prime Minister's Office(PMO) was submitted to the Supreme Court yesterday.

Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid downplayed the row over the Finance ministry note, saying there is no scope for any worry in the document and that inferences drawn out of it were "not correct".

Khurshid also said the note was not worth keeping the media "preoccupied" the for a long time.

At the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi did an apparent balancing act saying neither Chidambaram nor Mukherjee has done anything wrong.

India has no plans to curb capital outflows:Dipak Dasgupta

India has no plans to tax or curb capital outflows, a top finance ministry adviser said on Monday, adding the economy could still grow at around 8 percent in the current fiscal year to end-March despite increased global economic uncertainty.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have sold more than $2.2 billion worth of Indian shares since August, as fears of a recession in the developed world lowered risk appetite. The main 30-share benchmark BSE index is down nearly 22 percent so far this year.

The partially convertible rupee , which hit a 28-month low last Friday at 49.90 per dollar, has lost over 11 percent from its 2011 high hit in late July and remains the worst performer among major Asian peers.

"I do not think we have anything to suggest to us any such thing," Dipak Dasgupta, principal economic adviser to the ministry of finance, told Reuters when asked whether India would consider imposing curbs on capital outflows.

"Instead of trying to restrict the outflow, it is quite the opposite. In fact, what we are trying to do, as you have seen in the ECB (external commercial borrowing) regulation changes, is actually to make it a little more comfortable yet prudent to get inflows of capital to come to India."

India relaxed its overseas borrowing rules on Sept. 15, raising the borrowing limit for companies and allowing firms to raise Chinese yuan-denominated debt in an attempt to woo capital inflows amid heightened global uncertainty.

FALLING RUPEE Many analysts have called for the central bank to intervene in the forex market to prevent the recent sharp slide in the rupee from fuelling imported inflation, which could further stoke domestic price pressures.

"What drives the dollar's valuation is so far bigger. Whatever we may try to do, absolutely you cannot affect it," Dasgupta said.

Last week, a deputy governor of the central bank said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would maintain its stance of intervening in the foreign exchange market only to reduce volatility.

The RBI had refrained from intervening in the foreign exchange market for eight consecutive months until July, latest central bank data showed earlier this month.

Analysts have warned the central bank should not utilise its limited forex reserves of around $316 billion to protect the economy from imported inflation.

"Our trade gap has widened considerably. Our dependence on short-term loans has increased considerably. So even if the RBI intervenes, the rupee may not recover substantially," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at Bank of India.

"Companies have to factor in strong downward bias in rupee and accordingly hedge their positions," she added.

DOMESTIC DEMAND TAILWIND Dasgupta said that while a global economic slowdown would have a knock-on effect on the Indian economy, strong domestic demand -- strengthened after normal monsoon rains -- could help Asia's third-largest economy log around 8 percent growth in the current fiscal year to end-March 2012.

"We are headed towards plus 8 percent growth in this fiscal and it is far too early to change that assumption," said Dasgupta, adding any decline in global crude and commodity prices would benefit the economy.

"We will probably recover in the last two quarters of this fiscal year."

India meets over 75 percent of its oil demand through imports. Brent futures for November fell on Monday to $2.31 to a low of $101.66 a barrel. Brent is down 9 percent so far in September.

Indian economic growth could fall by around 0.4 percentage points in this fiscal year from earlier esmalntimates of around 8.5 percent, if the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) region slows by 2 percentage points, he said.

Dasgupta said he expects headline inflation to moderate in coming months, easing to 8 percent in December, and then slide further to 5-7 percent by March.

The RBI has raised interest rates 12 times in 18 months but inflation, which in August accelerated to 9.78 percent, remains at more than twice its comfort level. That puts the central bank in the awkward position of fighting high prices amid mounting worries about the health of the global economy.

"Part of that (easing inflation) is the base effect, but it is not just the base effect. It is also due to good rainfall," Dasgupta said.

Meanwhile,Finance Ministry and RBI officials have advanced a meeting to discuss the second half borrowing schedule to Thursday from Oct. 3, a finance ministry source with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

He also reiterated the government would stick to its stance of not having any additional borrowing in the current fiscal year to next March.

The government on Monday said it is taking action against black money hoarders and those who have stashed illegal funds abroad, even as it is facing opposition from some quarters on this front.

"We have entered into treaties with a number of countries (on the black money front). We are getting information on this front ... action is also being taken ... some people are complaining why are we taking action ... we are doing so because this is our responsibility," Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said.

Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy, who also briefed reporters on similar issues here, said Switzerland has assured India of providing classified data related to taxation issues in this regard.

"Switzerland has given a commitment that they will give secret information whatever they have ... by that (agreement) we are able to get lot of information about the money that has been stashed outside, especially Switzerland and other countries," he said.

India has signed such agreements with various countries, he said, while recounting the names of countries with which India has inked or revised tax information exchange treaties.

Defending Plan panel's criteria under which those who consume items worth more than Rs 32 in urban areas in a day are not poor, its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday said the limit will not be the basis for extending benefits to the poor.

"We have not made any new policy decision. The Supreme Court asked us how we calculate the poverty line, we gave the factual explanation. I believe the explanation we have given is factually correct," Ahluwalia, who is here to attend the first India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, told the Indian media.in Beijing

"That it how the poverty lines are set up and that is how poverty lines are updated," he said commenting for the first time after the controversy broke following an affidavit filed by the Planning Commission in the Supreme Court.

In its affidavit, the Planning Commission has stated that a person with consumption of up to Rs 32 per day would be considered poor in urban areas. The per capita consumption limit in rural area has been fixed at Rs 26 a day.

Asserting that the data forwarded to the apex court was set by the Tendulkar Committee which was appointed to define the poverty line, he said the amount fixed were per each person not per family.

"This is the number the Tendulkar Committee recommended which is an expert group. We accepted that which mean that the poverty numbers went up", he said.

The government on Tuesday said it will have to address contentious issues like land acquisition and power supply to give a boost to the manufacturing sector.

"Manufacturing is not absolutely a cake walk in India. We need much more to do. In fact, there are issues right from acquisition of land to getting power and other permissions," Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Praful Patel said here.

He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India ( ACMA) summit here.

Patel said the contribution of the automobile industry in the overall manufacturing area needs to grow in order to create more employment opportunities. The sector contributes 22 per cent to the country's manufacturing GDP.

To deal with land related issues, the government is in the process to make a law. The Cabinet cleared the Land Acquisition Bill yesterday.

The government is also coming out with a National Manufacturing Policy, which envisages creating world-class manufacturing and investment zones.

The proposed policy is expected to increase the sector's share to 25-26 per cent in the country's GDP by 2025 and generate 100 million jobs in the next decade.

At present, manufacturing industry contributes 16 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Patel said the auto components sector faces competition not only from China, but also from other nations like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

The industry has been asking the ministry for extension of certain incentives, including tax-refund Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme.

Department of Heavy Industry Secretary S Sundareshan said that his department has written to the finance ministry requesting it to extend DEPB Scheme beyond September 30.

Under the DEPB, the government reimburses exporters on the taxes paid on import equivalent content of export products.

In the backdrop of strong demands from exporters for retaining the incentive scheme, DEPB, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The exporters have been demanding that the tax-refund Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme, which is set to expire by the end of this month, should be extended.

"While the DEPB will end on September 30, the commerce and finance ministries are jointly working for an alternative for export incentives," sources said.

Under the 14-year-old DEPB scheme, the government spends annually about Rs 8,500 crore for reimbursing exporters on the taxes paid on import equivalent content of export products.

The main beneficiaries of the DEPB scheme are engineering, automobile and chemicals sectors.

Though India's exports have shown a remarkable performance, growing by 54 per cent between April-July 2011 to USD 108.3 billion, there are concerns that the momentum may not be sustained in the wake of increasing economic problems in the US and Europe.

Spot gold fell by more than 4 per cent and silver suffered its sharpest one-day loss in three years, extending Friday's rout as invstors bolted for the ultimate safe havens of cash and the dollar.

A debt crisis in the euro zone that could infect the global economy is causing a widespread flight to safety that has hammered commodity markets across the board.

Spot gold dropped to $1,582.69 an ounce, bringing losses so far this month to 13 per cent, the biggest decline since the financial crisis in October 2008.

Cash silver lost 14 per cent to an eight-month low of $26.65, on course for the biggest daily drop in almost three years.

"Many have highlighted the risks of gold being in overbought territory, having gone up in a straight line in the past four years," said Song Seng Wun, a regional economist at CIMB Research in Singapore.

"With recessionary pressure piling up, flight to safety means flight to really safe investments, and those are the US dollar and US Treasuries."

US gold futures fell 3.2 per cent to $1,587.30 an ounce, and US silver tumbled 12 per cent to $26.50.

The dollar, which has rallied nearly 6 per cent so far this year against a basket of currencies , touched a seven-month high as investors fled risky assets to seek a safe haven in the greenback.

In India, Silver tanked by Rs 3,224, or 6 per cent, to Rs 50,502 per kg in futures trade as speculators engaged in reducing their positions.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, silver for delivery in December plunged by Rs 3,224, or 6 per cent, to Rs 50,502 per kg, with a business turnover of 203 lots.

Similarly, the metal for delivery in far-month March declined by Rs 3,303, or 6 per cent, to Rs 51,752 per kg, with a trade volume of 11 lots.

Analysts attributed the steep fall in silver prices in futures trade to a weakening trend in the Asian region on speculation that European governments will find it difficult to contain the region's debt crisis and reverse gains registered by the US dollar against the euro, eroding the demand for precious metals as an alternative investment.

Vijay Bhambwani, Author, CEO, BSPLindia.com feels that there is a fear factor in global markets. "People are selling across the board and even precious metals are going down the tubes. Between 44,000 to 46,000 silver should see some amount of a feeble support and if that support is to actually hold for a while you could see a bounce back up to 52,000-53,000."

"That may not be a complete trend reversal because a decline this vicious invariably points towards a huge amount of overhead supply. Silver for a short to medium term would remain under an overhang of overhead supply and 52,000-53,000 would remain a huge resistance with 44,000-45,000 being a near term support," he said.

Deepak Mohoni, Director, trendwatchindia.com is of the opinion that all commodities are showing the effect of a bubble burst. "I belong to the camp which believe there was a gold bubble. Evidence shows that there is indeed one. I do not see much recovery except some short term rallies," he said.

Sonia meets PC, Pranab to defuse 2G letter bomb

CNN-IBN

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New Delhi: In her effort to control the damage done by the controversial 2G note, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday separately met both Home Minister P Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to ascertain their views on the issue.

She met the two top Cabinet ministers days after CNN-IBN first accessed a note by the Finance Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), which claimed that Chidambaram could have stopped the 2G scam as the then finance minister.

Sonia Gandhi's meeting with Chidambaram lasted for about 30 minutes, during which, the Home Minister explained his point of view on the 2G spectrum allocation issue and reportedly told the Congress President that he does not want to embarrass the party and offered to resign.

Shortly after Chidambaram met Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee, who returned from his US tour on Monday itself, went to meet the Congress President.

Before the meeting, Mukherjee reiterated his support for Chidambaram and called the Home Minister a pillar of strength to the UPA Government.

In defence on the controversial 2G note, it has been said that the letter has been prepared by a junior officer and has not much importance, and it was revealed against an RTI, thus doesn't have much legal value.

The Home Minister offered to resign despite the CBI sources on Monday said that the central investigating agency did not find any criminality in the role of the Finance Ministry in the alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation during Chidambaram's regime.

But the main 2G petitioner, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy, is pushing for criminal charges against Chidambaram.

Chidambaram's predecessor Jaswant Singh of the BJP has already been questioned, and in case the Supreme Court orders a probe into the role of Chidambaram, his position will become untenable.

The main fear of the Congress is that in case the court orders a probe into the Home Minister's role, it may next order probe into the role of the Prime Minister too.

In case Chidambaram is asked to step down, then the next target for the Opposition could be the Prime Minister.

But the Government will breathe easy in case the court only asks to investigate the matter related to the controversial 2G note.

The Government may also get a week's time to take a stand on the issue, as the matter would come up for discussion after the Dussera vacation.

But, former telecom minister A Raja's lawyer, Sushil Kumar, on Monday told a Delhi court that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was a party to all the decisions taken in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation. He, however, clarified that he was not making an attempt to present Chidambaram as an accused.

"I am not calling P Chidambaram an accused but he knew everything. He was acquainted with all facts and circumstances of the case," he said.

Raja's lawyer also said that the statement of the Home Minister should have been taken in September 2010 itself.

Kumar asserted that there was no difference of opinion between Raja and Chidambaram, adding that the allocation was a Cabinet decision and that the entire Cabinet must be made to face the trial.

"It was a decision taken by 2003 Cabinet and followed by all subsequent Cabinets. Why is only my client in jail?"

"Call Chidambaram as a witness under Section 311 and let him accept or deny weather he gave the advice in presence of the Prime Minister or not, and then let the court decide if it wants to call the PM," said Sharma.

Earlier on Monday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed fresh charges in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam, seeking life imprisonment for all the accused.

An official Finance Ministry document, accessed by RTI activist Vivek Garg, has cast doubts over the role of Home Minister P Chidambaram, who was then finance minister, in the January 2008 decision of former telecom minister A Raja to issue 2G spectrum licences.

On March 25, 2011, Dr PGS Rao, Deputy Director in the Finance Ministry, sent an office memorandum to Vini Mahajan, Joint Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, regarding allocation and pricing of 2G spectrum. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee approved the note after personally inspecting the 11-page document.

The note categorically stated that the Department of Telecom (DoT) would have been forced to cancel the 2G licences doled out by Raja, had the Ministry of Finance under Chidambaram, stuck to its original demand for auctioning the initial 'start-up spectrum' of 4.4 megahertz each allotted to the 2008 licensees.

Various official estimates have put the loss to the exchequer due to the 2G allocation on January 10, 2010 somewhere between Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 1,76,000 crore. However, present Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has gone on record to claim the exchequer suffered no loss on this account.

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#2G spectrum scam #2G scam #P Chidambaram #Pranab Mukherjee #Sonia Gandhi #Congress #UPA #BJP

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I am a Kashmiri: Rahul

Shujaat Bukhari

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PTI AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi being greeted on his arrival at Kargil on Monday. Rahul Gandhi is on 2-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

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'The pain and suffering of this place is my suffering as well'

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday tried to strike a chord with the youth of Kashmir, saying he could well understand their sufferings as he himself has been a victim of violence. He said he had come to bring the youth into political mainstream.

Briefly speaking to journalists here, Mr. Gandhi said: "I have come to Kashmir in connection the membership drive to bring youngsters into the political stream and [to] listen to them. I had a good discussion with panchs and sarpanchs, and I am proud [of] what I heard from students and their hospitality".

Amid tight security and a boycott call by separatists, around 1200 students of the Kashmir University and other colleges attended an interactive session with him at the convocation complex of the university.

Mr. Gandhi, who arrived here on a two-day visit, had a hectic schedule for the day. He first addressed a public rally in Kargil, then met students at the university, launched a recruitment drive for youth and addressed young panchs and sarpanchas of the Congress.

At the university, he said: "I am a Kashmiri. I have not come here to talk politics. The pain and suffering of this place is my suffering as well. I am not here to make a political speech. I have come to learn and understand how best I can help the people here."

Linking himself with the sufferings of violence, he said: "My grandmother was killed when I was just 14 and my father was killed when I was 21. Pain and suffering is not something I cannot understand. I lost the world when I lost my grandmother and father to violence."

On this, a student told him: "I lost my father when I was five. That is fate. But why don't you do something about harassment of Kashmiris outside the State. We are seen as suspects everywhere. We do not get a room in hotel; we are not allowed to pursue studies in colleges and universities, and are intimidated. Why don't you do something as you say you are a Kashmiri."

Another student said there were no employment opportunities for them and multi-national companies were not coming here. There were mixed questions which reflected anger of the youth as well.

Mr. Gandhi assured them that he would take up their issues with those concerned. "I am not somebody who came here and will forget what you have told me. I will ensure that big corporate houses come here and create employment avenues in IT and other sectors. In a year or two, you will realise what I am promising you today is true. I have a Kashmiri origin and I deeply relate to that origin." He asked the youth to play their role in nation building. "You have a responsibility towards nation and you should fulfil that."

Addressing the panchs and sarpanchs of the Congress, Mr. Gandhi asked them to gear up for their role. "You are more powerful than the Chief Minister. You can be [an] instrument of change. So do your work with dedication."

Central funds

Lamenting that most of the Central funds were not reaching the people at the grass roots level, he asked them to make that possible. "The funds are being siphoned off and you can change that," he said, suggesting that members of panchayat from Jammu and Kashmir should be taken to Kerala and Andhra Pradesh to see how this system worked. "You are the backbone of the democratic system."

However, the panchayat members demanded powers and asked Mr. Gandhi that the party should be given the next three years of leadership of the coalition government. "We are being discriminated and if you want the Congress strengthened, we should get the rotational chief ministership," they said.

Pradesh Congress Committee chief Saifuddin Soz and party in-charge of the State Mohan Prakash also addressed the gathering.

Mr. Gandhi also paid obeisance at the Hazratbal shrineHazratbal is the holiest Muslim shrine of Jammu and Kashmir.

Keywords: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, two-day visit, Jammu and Kashmir

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2487874.ece

Govt approves NHAI, IRFC, HUDCO and Power Finance Corp to raise Rs 300 billion from tax-free bonds

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MUMBAI: India has allowed four firms to raise 300 billion rupees via tax-free bonds in the current financial year that began April 1.

National Highways Authority of India ( NHAI) and Indian Railway Finance Corp ( IRFC) can each raise 100 billion, while Housing and Urban Development Corp. ( HUDCO) and Power Finance Corp can each raise 50 billion rupees, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a notification posted on its website.

The tenure of the bonds will be ten or fifteen years and the interest rate shall not be less than 100 basis points lower than the government bond of the same tenure, it said.

In case of a public issue, the interest on the bond shall not be lower than 50 basis points than the government securities of the same maturity, it said.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/govt-approves-nhai-irfc-hudco-and-power-finance-corp-to-raise-rs-300-billion-from-tax-free-bonds/articleshow/10124358.cms

Talks between Maruti Suzuki management, workers fail again

Renewed talks between Maruti Suzuki's management and its workers to end the 29-day impasse at the company's Manesar plant remained inconclusive on Monday.

The talks, resumed a week after the previous meeting brokered by the Haryana government collapsed, saw the company's recognised workers' body -- Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU) -- negotiating on behalf of the Manesar plant employees.

According to the sources, today's talks failed to reach an agreement but there will be fresh rounds of negotiations tomorrow.

"If things progress amicably for all the parties involved, then the help of Haryana government could again be sought to end the stalemate," a source said.

With the management refusing to hold direct talks with the Manesar plant workers, whose demand for formation of a new body Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU) has been rejected, the workers have authorised MUKU to negotiate on their behalf.

However, it is understood that three representatives of the Manesar plant were also party to today's negotiations.

In the meantime, MUKU President Kuldeep Janghu said it has asked the management to try to resolve the issue at the earliest and the union will observe hunger strike on September 28 in support of colleagues at the Manesar plant.

"We have given a notice to the management about the hunger strike in support of Manesar colleagues, but production will carry on as usual," he said, adding the strike could be withdrawn "if there is positive development".

In the meantime, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) said it will hold a protest rally in front of the plant in solidarity with a agitators on Wednesday.

"The state government is not playing any active role... We have decided to express our solidarity with MSI workers at Manesar," Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) Haryana State President Satvir Singh told PTI.

He said CITU has invited other national trade unions and company unions in the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt to join the protest.

Last week, about a dozen trade unions demonstrated in various places across the country to express solidarity with agitating workers at Manesar plant.

Meanwhile, MSI said it hired 50 more temporary workers at the Manesar plant to ramp up the output further. It rolled out 700 units of its hatchback Swift today.

"The strength of trained and experienced technicians has reached 1,000 in Manesar plants as the company brought in 50 more experienced and ITI trained people today to join the production activities at the plants," it added.

37 SEZ developers including DLF and TCS get extra time to execute projects

The government has given more time to as many as 37 special economic zone developers, including Navi Mumbai SEZ, DLF Commercial Developers and Tata Consultancy Services, to execute their projects.

At a meeting on September 19, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed five SEZ developers to surrender their projects. The BoA is a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and related issues.

However, the developers surrendering their projects have to obtain a certificate from the respective Development Commissioners that "they have refunded all the tax/duty benefits availed under SEZ Act/Rules," a senior Commerce Ministry official said.

SEZ developers, including Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation and Benchmark Realty, had approached the BoA to surrender their projects.

According to an industry expert, uncertainty over whether new SEZs will be eligible for tax exemptions -- which are proposed to be confined to existing units in the latest draft of the Direct Taxes Code Bill -- has dampened interest in the tax-free enclaves.

Other developers that got more time to execute their projects include Raheja SEZ, Parsvnath SEZ and Wockhardt Infrastructure Development.

It has deferred the extension of two applications -- Peninsula Pharma Research Centre and Meditab Specialties -- as the issues were sub-judice before the apex court.

The BoA also approved three new proposals, including one for setting up a sector-specific SEZ for the petroleum and oil and gas industry in Visakhapatnam.

Regarding the revision of guidelines for power generation, transmission and distribution in SEZs, the board gave two weeks' time to the Department of Revenue for their comments.

Under the SEZ Act, SEZ units get 100 per cent tax exemption on profits earned in the first five years of operation, a 50 per cent exemption for the next five years and another 50 per cent exemption on re-invested profits in the following five years.

SEZ developers, on the other hand, get 100 per cent tax exemption on profits for 10 years, which they can choose to invoke within the first 15 years of operation.

Merchandise exports from the 143 operational SEZs in the country totalled Rs 72,255 crore in the April-June period, an increase of 23 per cent vis-a-vis the same period last year.
26 Sep, 2011, 02.12AM IST, ET Bureau

Companies may get more access to foreign borrowings as ceiling on borrowing cost may rise by 100 bps

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MUMBAI: India's policymakers are on course to ease rules on pricing of foreign loans to help local lenders and corporates access relatively cheaper funds as the ongoing debt crisis in Europe threatens to hamper their efforts. The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, which administer these rules have decided to allow Indian firms to borrow overseas at rates that are higher than the ceilings now applicable on short, medium and long-term borrowings.

The plan is to raise the ceilings on cost of borrowings by at least 100 basis points, said a person familiar with the proposal. Companies that raise foreign loans with a maturity of one year or less can do so if interest rates are below 200 basis points over the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate, or Libor - the pricing benchmark.

For loans with a tenor of three to five years, rates have to be below 300 basis points and for over five years - 450. Companies will soon be allowed to contract debt at higher rates for all these maturities.

The policy response has been fashioned by the debt crisis in Europe which has led to many borrowers in India, especially banks, finding it tough to raise loans within the price ceilings set by the government and RBI etc. Even some of the European banks have been finding it tough to raise dollar funding.

An official who is familiar with the deliberations now on to ease the norms said that there is a case for allowing Indian corporates to borrow overseas at higher spreads in the changed circumstances. With local interest rates rising after RBI's secular monetary tightening over the last year, Indian companies have been active till recently in mobilising debt abroad.

In the first quarter of this fiscal, Indian firms borrowed $8 billion compared to $5.3 billion in the year-ago period on the back of low interest rates. But this was before the crisis in the Eurozone started playing out, resulting in many European banks experiencing difficulties given the heightened risk aversion amid fears that governments in the Euro region may not be able to support their lenders.

Indian companies raised over $17 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011, taking advantage of relatively low interest rates. Recently, the government said that it would liberalise external commercial borrowing norms to allow for a higher limit of $750 million under the automatic window and to allow borrowings in renminbi, the Chinese currency, besides refinancing of rupee debt through foreign borrowings.

Policy makers have for long used the cap on annual borrowings, which is now $30 billion, and the price ceilings to contain debt at prudent levels. When local interest rates rise, they have liberalised the overseas borrowings window to enable Indian companies to access funds at competitive rates. And when foreign flows are excessive, they restrict the flows by narrowing the price ceilings.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/companies-may-get-more-access-to-foreign-borrowings-as-ceiling-on-borrowing-cost-may-rise-by-100-bps/articleshow/10120251.cms

Government hints at dumping duty on Chinese electrical goods

MUMBAI: The government is considering imposing some duty on electrical equipment imports from China to save domestic manufacturers from cheaper shipments, Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.

"The Ministry of Heavy Industries believes that some kind of support (is) needed to the domestic electrical equipment manufacturers in terms of tariff barriers against dumping (mostly by Chinese companies)," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of an IEEMA (Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers Association) function here.

"We have taken up the issue of import duty (on dumping) with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry & Commerce and the Planning Commission. We need to find some ways and means to support the electric equipment makers in terms of some kind of tariff barriers," Patel said.

The domestic electrical equipment industry faces several challenges which can be met by concerted action by all the stakeholders and policy interventions at the central and state levels, he maintained.

The size of the domestic market in power generation equipment market is expected to reach USD 25-30 billion by 2022 from USD 5.7 billion in 2011, IEEMA President Ramesh Chandak said. But to achieve this all stakeholders need to pro -actively collaborate and take coordinated action, he added.

Calling upon the industry to focus on the next generation reforms in the power transmission and distribution sector, Patel said, "While post-1991 we focused on power generation, the time has come to address the concerns on evacuation and distribution of power such as land acquisition and transmission and distribution losses".

23 Sep, 2011, 02.59PM IST, PTI

Rupee sliding: RBI says no intervention required as of now

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NEW YORK: The RBI today said its intervention in the forex market, if any, would be limited to curbing volatility, but as of now, the situation does not call for any action even though the rupee has fallen to its weakest level in 28 months.

"We, at this point, do not see any intervention from a rate targeting view point. That is something that would reflect a change in policy stance, which we are not doing at this point," RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said in an interview to a private Indian news channel here.

Economists and experts have suggested that the central bank should intervene in the Indian forex market to halt the sharp depreciation in rupee value.

The falling rupee has become a cause of concern for policymakers as it could further push up inflation, given that the country imports about 80 per cent of its crude oil requirement and pays for the same in US dollars.

"If we do intervene at all, it would be with a very narrow perspective or narrow objective of smoothing of what might be a very volatile market situation, but nothing beyond that," he further said.

The deputy governor's remarks came even as the Indian currency fell to Rs 49.90 per US dollar, its lowest level since May 14, 2009. Yesterday, the rupee had shed 2.5 per cent to post its biggest single-day loss in nearly three years.

Tracking the meltdown in global stock markets, the rupee had yesterday plummeted by 124 paise to close at Rs 49.57/58 per US dollar, setting off alarm bells in policymaking circles, as the weak domestic currency will make imports costlier and fuel inflation.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/rupee-sliding-rbi-says-no-intervention-required-as-of-now/articleshow/10090736.cms

Telangana activists threaten industry shutdown in tech town

Protesters leading a massive public sector strike that has caused power cuts, delayed trains and shut schools threatened on Monday to shut down business in one of India's leading technology industry cities for a day later this week.

The two-week-long strike involving an estimated 800,000 workers is a growing headache for the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, already on the defensive over high inflation and graft scandals stalling economic reforms.

The strikers, including miners at 50 coal pits, want the government carry out a promise to divide the state of Andhra Pradesh in two, giving statehood to the region of Telangana.

"This movement is not going to relent. I am appealing to people to fight till we achieve Telangana state," said K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who heads the movement that revived the movement for a separate state a decade ago.

Whatever the government's decision, it will likely make enemies over the Telangana issue, since many in Andhra Pradesh do not want the state to be split.

If the strikers' demands are met, the city of Hyderabad, home to the Indian headquarters of global firms such as Microsoft and Google , would fall within the new state.

The protests are expected to intensify over the next few days, with activists calling for a total shutdown of industry in the city on Sept. 30. Train workers joined the strike for three days, but returned to work on Sunday.

On Monday, a group of protesters tried to stop buses from carrying workers to a business park popular with technology firms.

The head of Andhra Pradesh's association of IT companies told Reuters the strike was already increasing costs for medium and smaller size businesses in the sector.

"It is a serious issue. The central government should do something immediately to clear the uncertainty as it is not good for future growth and investment," said L. Suresh.

As one of the country's most populous and economically powerful regions, Andhra Pradesh is an important vote bank for Singh's government, which risks angering many supporters in the rest of the southern state who oppose its break-up.

Telangana members of parliament for the Congress party joined the protesters on Monday. They are furious at Singh's government for dragging its feet on the issue and some have threatened to resign.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's national spokesman said the party backed the movement.

Shortages of coal because of the strike forced daily power rationing of up to six hours, with officials warning more severe cuts were to come. Technology companies relied on back-up generators to power operations.

"The costs for the companies have gone up because of backup and expensive generators they have to arrange."

25 Sep, 2011, 03.29AM IST, Hari Pulakkat,ET Bureau

Elegant scientific theories, techniques being used to analyse messy social conflicts

terror strikes|Sunday ET|Public Policy|Jasmine Revolution|India|DVDs|Anna protest

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Media reports are superficial sources of information for scholarly pursuits, but only when seen through human eyes. Kalev Leetaru, a text analytics specialist at the University of Illinois, put a set of media reports under the penetrating gaze of Nautilus, a supercomputer based at the University of Tennessee. The computer analysed 30 years of data from around the world, containing 100 million news reports, 10 billion names and activities and 100 trillion relationships.

Leetaru was looking for a method to forecast large-scale human behaviour, and he thought he found it at the end of his analysis. He had looked deeply at the tone and frequency of words used in news reports. He was particularly interested in spikes of negative sentiment, which he closely associated with an imminent revolution. He found such sentiments in the days leading up to the recent revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. They were no coincidence, according to him. Several other major events - the 1990s ethnic conflict in the Balkans, for example - were also associated with spikes in negative sentiment.

Half a Million DVDs

"People do not wake up on a Friday morning and decide to start a riot," says Leetaru, who is assistant director for text and digital media analytics at the Institute for Computing in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science at the University of Illinois. "There is a long slide towards such events." The fate of Hosni Mubarak is one of Leetaru's prime exhibits. "Everyone said he would last the revolution because he had lasted 30 years. But analysis showed that this revolution was different."

Leetaru had measured the density of emotional language. Algorithms helped him score words for their emotional weight and then classify them as positive or negative. He also analysed the results in statistical terms and threw up results that looked like a stock price graph. Leetaru could then easily spot the spikes in collective national emotion, which are usually evident before an extreme event takes place.

Leetaru now applies his textual mining skills to understand global social problems. Social science did not have such specialists till recently because the world had no data to analyse. The advent of digitised text and then the social media and Twitter has put in front of computer scientists an enormous amount of information to analyse. And advances in computing technology have given them the ability to analyse this information quickly.

Thirty years worth of media coverage consisted of 2.4 petabytes of data, roughly equal to half a million DVDs or 20 billion pictures, but modern computers can cut through this mountain easily. And such data analysis is now throwing up surprising facts about human behaviour. "Collective human behaviour is more predictable than we thought," says Aaron Clauset, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Probability of Another 9/11

Clauset is a computational scientist. Computation is a step ahead of data mining, in that it simulates events and gives predictions and forecasts. Clauset has been analysing a problem that is now on top of everyone's minds: global terrorism. Specifically, he has been using contemporary statistical methods to investigate the probability of big terrorist attacks.

A terrorist attack is as random an event as you can get, and yet Clauset has found patterns over the years that can be used to forecast big ones. "Forecasting is different from prediction," says Clauset. "You can forecast an earthquake but not predict it." Geophysicists forecast earthquakes in terms of probabilities within a specific time window. They can never say that an earthquake will strike a specific place at a specific time, but the forecast can give enough data to prepare a response when it finally strikes. Similarly, Clauset thinks that global terrorism forecasts can help governments to prepare responses for big terrorist attacks.

More stories from this edition of Sunday ET

• Times of India archives: A Parliamentary Debate on Banning Crosswords
• Below poverty line: Can you live a day in Mumbai on Rs 32? Find out!

• Rupee swings: How to protect your business margins
• Immigration fraud by US colleges causing worries once again this academic season

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/elegant-scientific-theories-techniques-being-used-to-analyse-messy-social-conflicts/articleshow/10108564.cms

25 Sep, 2011, 11.00AM IST, New York Times

Evidence of faster-than-light neutrinos puzzles scientists

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The physics world is abuzz with news that a group of European physicists plans to announce Friday that it has clocked a burst of subatomic particles known as neutrinos breaking the cosmic speed limit - the speed of light - that was set by Albert Einstein in 1905.

If true, it is a result that would change the world. But that "if" is enormous.

Even before the European physicists had presented their results - in a paper that appeared on the physics website www.arXiv.org Thursday night and in a seminar at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, on Friday - a chorus of physicists had risen up on blogs and elsewhere arguing that it was way too soon to give up on Einstein and that there was probably some experimental error. Incredible claims require incredible evidence.

"These guys have done their level best, but before throwing Einstein on the bonfire, you would like to see an independent experiment," said John Ellis, a CERN theorist who has published work on the speeds of the ghostly particles known as neutrinos.

According to scientists familiar with the paper, the neutrinos raced from a particle accelerator at CERN outside Geneva, where they were created, to a cavern underneath Gran Sasso in Italy, a distance of about 450 miles, about 60 nanoseconds faster than it would take a light beam. That amounts to a speed greater than light by about 0.0025 percent (2.5 parts in a hundred thousand).

Even this small deviation would open up the possibility of time travel and play havoc with longstanding notions of cause and effect. Einstein himself - the author of modern physics, whose theory of relativity established the speed of light as the ultimate limit - said that if you could send a message faster than light, "You could send a telegram to the past."

Alvaro de Rujula, a theorist at CERN, called the claim "flabbergasting."

"If it is true, then we truly haven't understood anything about anything," he said, adding: "It looks too big to be true. The correct attitude is to ask oneself what went wrong."

The group that is reporting the results is known as OPERA, for Oscillation Project with Emulsion-Tracking Apparatus. Antonio Ereditato, the physicist at the University of Bern who leads the group, agreed with de Rejula and others who expressed shock. He told the BBC that OPERA - after much internal discussion - had decided to put its results out there in order to get them scrutinized.

"My dream would be that another, independent experiment finds the same thing," Ereditato told the BBC. "Then I would be relieved."

Neutrinos are among the weirdest denizens of the weird quantum subatomic world. Once thought to be massless and to travel at the speed of light, they can sail through walls and planets like wind through a screen door. Moreover, they come in three varieties and can morph from one form to another as they travel along, an effect that the OPERA experiment was designed to detect by comparing 10-microsecond pulses of protons on one end with pulses of neutrinos at the other. de Rujula pointed out however, that it was impossible to identify which protons gave birth to which neutrino, leading to statistical uncertainties.

Ellis noted that a similar experiment was reported by a collaboration known as Minos in 2007 on neutrinos created at Fermilab in Illinois and beamed through the earth to the Soudan Mine in Minnesota. That group found, though with less precision, that the neutrino speeds were consistent with the speed of light.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/evidence-of-faster-than-light-neutrinos-puzzles-scientists/articleshow/10112793.cms

2G: Raja seeks Chidambaram's examination as witness

PTI
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PTI File photo of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram with former telecom Minister A. Raja.

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Former Telecom Minister A. Raja on Monday told a Delhi court that Home Minister P. Chidambaram should be summoned and examined as a witness in the 2G spectrum allocation case.
Appearing for Mr. Raja, senior advocate Shushil Kumar told Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini that the agency should have recorded Mr. Chidambaram's statement regarding a Cabinet meeting in which he had clarified the issue of dilution of shares.
Mr. Raja's counsel submitted that Mr. Chidambaram should be asked whether he gave the advice on the issue of dilution of shares in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Call Chidambaram here (in the court) and ask him whether this meeting took place or not in the presence of the Prime Minister and you (Chidambaram) gave this advice or not. Call him and confront him with the minutes of the meeting," he said.
Regarding the alleged loss incurred by the exchequer, he said none less than the Prime Minister has said on the floor of Parliament that there is no loss.
The CBI, in its charge sheet, has said that accused Shahid Balwa's Swan Telecom and Sanjay Chandra's Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Pvt. Ltd. off-loaded their shares to Dubai-based Etisalat and Norway-based Telenor respectively.
Keywords: 2G scam, spectrum allocation, A. Raja, P. Chidambaram
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2486977.ece

Sonia steps in to make peace

Smita Gupta
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The Hindu Amid a heated up scenario over a Finance Ministry note on 2G spectrum allocation, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (top) and Home Minister P. Chidambaram (bottom) separately met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the North Block in New Delhi on Monday.

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Four days after the controversy over a Finance Ministry note to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on 2G spectrum allocation triggered speculation of a serious rift between the two seniormost Ministers in the Union Cabinet, Congress president Sonia Gandhi finally stepped in on Monday.
In the evening, in quick succession, she had meetings with Home Minister P. Chidambaram – whose resignation the Opposition has demanded, and shortly thereafter, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Interestingly – as sources in the party pointed out – Ms. Gandhi held the first meeting only after Mr. Mukherjee's plane from the United States touched down at Palam. He drove straight to the North Block to confer with his officials, who were asked to prepare a note on the background to the note that was accessed from the PMO through an RTI application filed by the BJP's RTI unit.
While a final resolution of the current crisis will, the sources said, have to await the return of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the U.S. late on Tuesday evening, Ms. Gandhi's conversations with the two Ministers were the first serious step taken to sort out a problem that had plunged the already embattled government into yet another crisis.
Both Ministers have said, separately, they will speak publicly only after Dr. Singh is back.
'Valued colleague'
Mr. Mukherjee, the sources said, may address the press on Wednesday or Thursday and, if possible, with Mr. Chidambaram to demonstrate solidarity. Indeed, he told journalists shortly before he met Ms. Gandhi that Mr. Chidambaram was "a valued colleague" and a "pillar of strength for the party and government."
Meanwhile, even as unconfirmed reports suggested that the Home Minister had offered his resignation to Ms. Gandhi, the sources pointed out that Tuesday's hearing on the petition filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy in the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI investigation into Mr. Chidambaram's role in the 2G case – when he was the Finance Minister – would be crucial. In case, the court accepted Dr. Swamy's plea, Mr. Chidambaram's continuance in the Cabinet could become untenable, they said.
However, sources close to Mr. Mukherjee said that since the 2G matter was in court, the PMO should not have released any documents relating to it to a RTI applicant.
But when Law Minister Salman Khurshid was asked whether the government was bound to provide documents on a matter in court to an RTI applicant, he said that while legally when a matter was sub judice, nothing should be done to prejudice the case, the question whether to have a "firewall" or not for RTI could be examined.
Minister of State in the PMO V. Narayanswamy was more direct: regardless of whether a document could influence a case, he said, no official could block its release, if it was sought through RTI.
Keywords: Pranab Mukherjee, 2G spectrum scam, CBI probe, Finance Ministry note, Chidambaram, Sonia Gandhi

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2487121.ece?homepage=true

CAG on RIL: CBI seeks Ministry's comments

Vinay Kumar
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Petroleum Ministry, DGH "unduly favoured" RIL blocks in K-G basin
In a move that could spell trouble for the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited, the Central Bureau of Investigation has sought the Petroleum Ministry's comments on the Comptroller and Auditor-General's report on a hydrocarbon production sharing contract.
The CAG was critical of the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) as well as the Ministry for shelling out "undue benefits" to the RIL blocks in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin.
Highly-placed sources in the CBI on Monday said the CAG report was "very much on its radar" but it would wait for the Ministry's comments before taking a decision to proceed ahead on the basis of the national auditor's findings. Such cases were "very complicated" and the agency would proceed cautiously, the sources said.
The CAG report, tabled in Parliament earlier this month, was 'highly critical' of the government oversight, particularly on high-value procurement decisions, and sought an 'in-depth review' of the 10 contracts, including eight awarded to the Aker Group by RIL on a single-bid basis.
"In the case of the KG-DWN-98/3, the Ministry should review in-depth the award of 10 specific contracts on the basis of a single financial bid. We are not even remotely suggesting that the operator should follow government procurement procedures, yet any commercially prudent private acquisition would also attempt to generate competition and thereby obtain the most competitive price. Such concern for a cost-effective acquisition is not perceptible in the aforementioned process." The CAG said the contractor (RIL) was allowed to enter the second and third exploration phases of the blocks without its giving up 25 per cent of the contract area in each, by treating the entire area as a discovery area.
Coming down heavily on the DGH, the watchdog for oil and gas exploration, the CAG said it should have stopped RIL from proceeding with the next phase of production in the light of the earlier violation of the contract.
The CAG said the Ministry and the DGH were ill-equipped to oversee the production sharing contracts (PSCs) with private players, and the DGH should have stopped RIL from proceeding with Phase-II. This block consists of 7,645 sq.km. in the Bay of Bengal, after the giant Dhirubhai-1 and 3 gas finds were made in 2001. Interestingly, during this period the Ministry was headed by Murli Deora and the DGH by V. K. Sibal, who is already facing a CBI inquiry.
The CAG questioned the 'reasonableness of costs incurred' in the 2007-08 procurement activity in the area and said there was enough ground to revisit the profit-sharing mechanism. Pointing to the RIL KG basin case, the report said the Ministry and RIL ignored the PSC, and the company was allowed to hoard exploitation acreage. During April-May 2005, the DGH did a U-turn on its own rules to favour RIL.
Keywords: CAG report, CBI, Reliance Industries Limited, Petroleum Ministry, Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2487903.ece?homepage=true

RBI relaxes ECB norms for infrastructure companies

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The Reserve Bank of India on Monday relaxed norms for infrastructure companies with direct foreign equity up to 25 per cent to raise fund overseas without government permission.
On a review, it has been decided to further liberalise the External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) policy in respect of the infrastructure sector, RBI said in a statement.
Direct foreign equity holder (holding minimum 25 per cent of the paid-up capital) and indirect foreign equity holder holding at least 51 per cent of the paid-up capital, will be permitted to provide credit enhancement for the domestic debt raised by Indian companies engaged exclusively in the development of infrastructure through the issue of capital market instruments, it said. It includes infrastructure finance companies (IFCs) and no prior approval will be required from the Reserve Bank for providing such credit enhancements, it said.
The company fulfilling foreign equity criteria does not require permission for raising ECB up to $5 million.
ECB from a group company may also be permitted provided both the borrower and the foreign lender are subsidiaries of the same parent, it added. — PTI
Keywords: ECB norms, RBI

Business

The Hindu In this September 21, 2008 photo RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani holds a jar containing the first oil produced from the KG-D6 block. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons has termed as "economically unviable" the new natural gas finds in the block.

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