1,000 km rail lines planned

Although the Indian Railways is likely to miss its current year’s target of adding 1,000 km new lines by 30 per cent, it has set up yet another ambitious target of adding 1,000 km new lines in financial year 2011-12. Also, it has increased the outlay on new lines by 92 per cent to Rs 9,583 crore for the year.
The outlay for gauge conversion has been increased by over eight per cent to Rs 2,776 crore for conversion of 1,017 km. The outlay on doubling of lines has been raised from Rs 2,204 crore to Rs 5,406 crore. The Rail Ministry has set a target to double lines running up to 867 km.
West Bengal, which will face Assembly polls soon, has clearly emerged as the biggest gainer of other new projects. The railways on Friday proposed to set up a metro coach factory at Singur, an industry for production of large on-track machines and a new track machine, POH facility, at Uluberia. The state will also get a rail industrial park at Jellingham. The park will be a cluster of diverse industrial units whose output will be consumed by the railways. A unit to manufacture car steel bogies and couplers through a joint venture between Burn Standard and SAIL has already been initiated in this park.
The railways will set up a bridge factory in Jammu & Kashmir, a diesel locomotive centre in Manipur and two more wagon units under joint venture/public-private-partnership mode — one each at Kolar and Alappuzha in Kerala, and another one in Buniadpur. They also plan to set up a 700-megawatt gas-based power plant at Thakurli in Maharashtra.
In order to fund the socially-desirable projects during the 12th Plan, the Railway Budget proposed to set up a new scheme — Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana. To fast-track implementation of projects, the Budget also proposed setting up of a Central Organisation for Project Implementation. The body will ensure uniformity of systems and methodologies, follow best practices and optimise on resources.

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Renewed optimism on PPP projects

 Talks again of seriousness on 2020 vision, but not much on why this mode hasn’t taken off
PPP (public-private-partnership) projects is a subject on which railway minister Mamata Banerjee has again sounded optimistic. The idea has made its way into the railways’ annual plan for 2011-12.
External financing through PPP and WIS (the wagon investment scheme) is expected to yield Rs 1,776 crore, the annual plan in the Railway Budget said. Single-window clearance for PPP projects has been reiterated, to hasten the process.
This is although rail PPP projects have yet to take off in any significant manner. Still, Banerjee peppered her rail budget speech with references to Vision 2020, to suggest that industry was eager to participate in such ventures. Vision 2020, presented to the Parliament in December 2009, spoke of generating Rs 14 lakh crore worth of investment by year 2020, and that PPP would be a vehicle for doing so.
On Friday, Mamata said, “During this year, we met industry leaders to encourage investment” in areas which included infrastructure. The ministry, she stressed, wanted PPP projects in areas related to infrastructure. “With this objective, the Railways have developed several business-oriented policies for the first time,” she said. The policy initiatives include Railways’ Infrastructure for Industry Initiative, where PPP would be encouraged. Other projects mentioned in this connection were automobile and ancillary hubs, and cold chains, called Kisan Vision. Mamata assured the House on Friday that if Vision 2020 was to be followed, results would be positive. “I believe in positive approach and action.”
Not enough
Abhaya Agarwal, Executive Director & PPP Leader, Ernst & Young, said, “The budget follows the incremental approach of Indian Railways. More concrete steps would be required to realise Vision 2020.” According to Agarwal, the high operating ratio shows the perilous health of rail finances, which requires immediate attention. Adding, “The new projects like captive power generation can be easily developed through PPP, thus allowing Indian Railways to invest in its core areas.”
The government has ambitious plans of transforming the country’s transport infrastructure through private participation. Originally, private investment for the 11th Plan period (2007-12) was projected at Rs 211,600 crore in the three transport sub-sectors of rail, road and airports. It has been brought down by 60 per cent, to Rs 86,700 crore. The railways stayed away from privatisation for years.
The Planning Commission recently brought down the expected private investment of Rs 50,354 crore, which accounted for 20 per cent of the overall investment of Rs 261,800 crore in the railways for the current Plan period, by as much as 83 per cent to Rs 8,316 crore. Although the PPP model for infrastructure projects has been a major success in telecom and highway development projects, it has failed to impact the rail sector, despite the ministry coming out with several policies aimed in that direction.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also recently spoken on the significance of PPP for infrastructure projects.
In the railways, the government retains ownership, but gets into partnership with private players for improving facilities at railway stations, for instance. Projects on offer through PPP include new engine manufacturing units at Marhoura and Madhepura in Bihar, high capacity freight bogie manufacturing factories at Dalmianagar in Bihar and Majerhar in West Bengal and the Son Nagar-Dankuni section of the Dedicated Freight Corridor.
PPP projects have failed to take off in the railways as industry has not responded well to the model agreements formulated by the ministry. Also, the railways’ insistence on majority stake in each projects have held up their awards.

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Scrimps on rolling stock replacement

At Rs 14,120 crore, allocation to rise by a measly 0.07 per cent from last year.
The railways’ strained financial resources were reflected in Mamata Banerjee’s meagre increase in allocation for rolling stock for 2011-2012.
It is to rise, overall, by 0.07 per cent from last year’s, to Rs 14,120 crore, with much of it for programmed deliveries for which orders have already been placed. Allocation for new acquisitions is to drop by 56.4 per cent in 2011-2012 as compared to last year, to Rs 162.5 crore from Rs 373 crore.
For purchasing wagons, the railways plan to spend Rs 55.5 crore in 2011-2012, a fall of almost 72 per cent from the 2010-2011 Budget estimates of Rs 199.75 crore. The number of wagons to be purchased has been kept unchanged at 18,000 units, much against the market expectation of doubling this.
The target for procuring coaches has also been slashed from 3,210 units in 2010-2011 to 2,455 units in 2011-2012, while that for diesel locomotives has been increased from 50 units to 85 units in 2011-2012.
Investment in rolling stock is a key requirement for handling more traffic, though a major portion goes on replacing older vehicles. With the economic recovery in place, the railways expect more traffic to flow, but the provision for adding rolling stock has been disappointing for the industry. Stocks of major companies catering to the railways dropped sharply immediately after the Budget presentation.
Texmaco, trading at around Rs 42.35 before the Budget, dropped by 13.6 per cent after the announcement, while those of Kalindi Rail Nirman shed 15 per cent. Titagarh Wagons, trading at around Rs 391.20 before Mamata Banerjee stood up to deliver her speech, fell by 12.8 per cent after it.
The minister said she was allocating more for setting up rail-based industries across the country to meet the rising demand for rolling stock. “Rising demand for coaches, locos and wagons cannot be met immediately because their manufacture requires components whose production has to be planned well in advance,” she said.
Adding: “Even some key material and components for rolling stock are not readily available in the country and we often have to depend on imports. As a result, supply of rolling stock has been falling short of our requirements. Even now, it is not available according to our requirement. To meet the demand of passengers for more coaches, MEMUs, DEMUs, etc, we have decided to set up rail-based industries.”

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Railways project 16.5% rise in earnings

With no across-the-board increase in fares, passenger numbers and capacity rise will help achieve target
Even as Mamata Banerjee did not announce any across-the-board increase in fares in the Railway Budget on Friday, the railways have projected an increase in passenger earnings by over 16.5 per cent to Rs 30,456 crore.
For the financial year 2011-12, the railways have projected a 17.1 per cent increase in upper-class passenger revenues and 16.4 per cent in second-class revenues, over a passenger growth of 6.4 per cent. During financial year 2010-11, with a 5.3 per cent increase in passenger numbers, the railways’ revenue is set to grow 11.2 per cent.
The Indian Railways is hopeful of achieving the target with an increase in passenger numbers and capacity. “Assuming 6.4 per cent growth in the originating number of passengers and higher traffic output due to the proposed induction of a large number of new trains in the non-suburban segment, the target for next year is achievable,” read the Budget document.
Analysts said the target could be achieved with the railways tweaking reservation charges. “The railways will most likely be able to achieve the target for the current year, as they have tweaked the reservation charges,” said Abhaya Agarwal, executive director & PPP leader, Ernst & Young.
Banerjee also announced the gross traffic receipts were set to cross the Rs 1 lakh-crore mark for the first time and have been estimated at Rs 1,06,239 crore.
However, Banerjee not increasing fares is a matter of concern as the railways need money for expansion. Earnings may be strained further with Banerjee continuing sops for journalists, senior citizens, army personnel and specially abled people.
Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director (transport), Deloitte, said, “The Budget is a completely populist one. Not increasing fares will impact the expansion plans of the railways. Many new trains and lines will need huge amounts of money for their implementation, and by not increasing fares, she is not utilising her income source.”
Fares were not increased during her predecessor’s time, but he tinkered with other things to bring revenues for the railways, he added.
Many additions in concessions announced in the Railway Budget last year are also set to bring cheer for the beneficiaries. Specially abled people will now be able to avail themselves of concessions in Rajdhani and Shatabadi trains. Journalists, who had got a 50 per cent concession on travel with family once a year, can claim the concession twice a year now. Senior citizens, especially women, and army personnel also got their share of happiness.
“In case of women, the age for getting the senior citizens’ concession will be reduced to 58 years from 60 now; and the concession for senior citizen men has been increased from 30 per cent to 40 per cent,” said Banerjee.
Banerjee has also extended the facility of travelling in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains to the Kirti and Shaurya Chakra Awardees. “In case of unmarried posthumous Param Vir Chakra and Ashok Chakra Gallantry award winners of armed forces, I propose to extend the facility of card passes to their parents,” announced Banerjee.

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TRAI defers telemarketing guidelines to April 1

The wait for mobile subscribers to get relief from telemarketing calls has got longer. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has extended the deadline for a third time for implementation of guidelines to curb telemarketing calls, to April 1.
 The regulator had issued guidelines in December last year to curb the pesky calls, as the earlier system of a ‘Do Not Call’ Registry did not meet much success. But due to unpreparedness of services providers and some differences between the department of telecommunications (DoT) and Trai, the implementation has been repeatedly delayed.
According to sources, the regulator had called a meeting of all operators last week and decided to postpone the date for implementation of telemarketing guidelines to April 1.
In its guidelines, Trai had suggested a penalty up to Rs 2.5 lakh on erring telemarketing companies. Earlier, it was Rs 500-1,000. It had also put restrictions on SMSes to 100 per day.
However, citing issues related to technical and network upgrades, operators had told Trai they’d need four to six months for putting the system in place.The telecom regulator had asked all service providers to put in place a system to filter telemarketing calls.
DoT had allotted a new ‘140’ series for telemarketers, instead of one starting ‘70’ as recommended by Trai, which has also delayed the process. Some differences have emerged between DoT and Trai on the subject.
After the allotment of a new series, the service providers will have to make many technical changes, including configuration of networks and putting in place filters to stop unsolicited commercial calls. This had delayed the implementation from January 1 to January 31 and subsequently to March 1. There are about 750 million telephone subscribers across the country.

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Aarushi-Hemraj murders: Bailable warrants against Talwars

Bailable arrest warrants were today issued against dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in connection with the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case by a special CBI court in Ghaziabad which rejected their plea for exemption from personal appearance before the magistrate.

Rajesh and Nupur had been summoned by the court to appear before it today after Special Judicial Magistrate Preeti Mishra, on February 9, rejected agency’s closure report in the double murder case and made them accused on charges of murder, destruction of evidence and common intention to commit the crime.

A supplementary affidavit was also moved by the duo before the Allahabad High Court in which they claimed that several facts that had come up during investigations had been overlooked by the special CBI court.

In their affidavit, the Talwars claimed that a DNA test conducted on November 6, 2008 had concluded that the finger marks found on the terrace of their house, on a whiskey bottle found inside the house and on the pillow of another domestic servant Krishna, belonged to “the same person and most certainly a male”.

Rajesh, in his plea submitted before the CBI court, sought exemption from appearing before the court citing medical reasons while Nupur had cited pendency of a related matter before the Allahabad High Court.

The couple had challenged before the Allahabad High Court the summons issued to them by the special CBI court in Ghaziabad in the double murder of their teenage daughter and domestic help Hemraj through a writ petition.

The High Court which started hearing the matter on February 25 has not given any stay against the CBI court order.

“The CBI court rejected the plea put forth by Rajesh and Nupur and issued bailable warrants of Rs. 20,000 each against them. The court has now directed them to appear before it on March 22,” counsel for Talwars’, Satish Tamta said.

“The Allahabad High Court heard the plea today but reserved its decision till tomorrow,” he said.

Rajesh is not medically fit and has been advised bed rest and he cannot move without help, he said.

The petitioners had pleaded before the High Court that summons had been issued to them despite the fact that they had not been named as accused by the investigating agency in its closure report.

Aarushi (14) was found murdered inside her Noida residence near Delhi on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008, while the body of domestic help Hemraj was found hours later on the terrace of the house.

Although Rajesh was intensively grilled by the CBI, which also took him for narco tests and brain-mapping, the agency did not name him or his wife as accused in its closure report filed earlier this year.

The Talwars also alleged they were denied access to Aarushi’s computer, seized by CBI for investigations, despite an application moved under the Information Technology Act.

The couple submitted that they needed access to the computer to find out who could have switched on the router, which was essential for having access to the Internet.

The router was switched on when Aarushi was found dead inside her room.

Besides, it was submitted on behalf of the Talwars that there was no evidence against Nupur in the case diary which could validate the summons issued to her, along with Rajesh, by the CBI court.

The Talwars’ counsel in the High Court, Gopal Chaturvedi argued that the court could have proceeded against Nupur only under Section 319 CrPC if in course of trial any evidence of her complicity in the murder had emerged.

CBI counsel Nazrul Islam Jafri rebutted the Talwars’ submission made last Friday that the agency had “no power to oppose the petition”, saying “the CBI was not a party in the case and it was arguing the matter only to assist the court”.

Responding to the petitioners’ earlier submission that the court had “wrongly” decided to proceed against them despite the fact that the CBI had not named them as suspects in its closure report, Mr. Jafri said, “If a magistrate is not satisfied with the conclusions of the investigating agency, he or she is free to take any decision in this regard.”

Mr. Jafri also referred to the testimony of Talwars’ driver Umesh Sharma, who had stated that he saw Aarushi along with her parents at their dining table around 9.30 pm on May 15, 2008.

“In her testimony, the Talwars’ maid servant Bharati had said that on the next morning at 6.30 am, she woke up the couple when Aarushi did not respond to the knocks on her door.

Nupur thereafter opened the door with the help of the key she was in possession of.

This proves that the murder took place between the period Umesh went to the house and Bharati came to attend to her daily chores. The burden of proving what happened in the mean time, lay on the Talwars,” Mr. Jafri said.

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Inflation remains principal concern, says Pranab

The government on Monday said inflation continues to remain a concern, but exuded confidence that the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy will lead to moderation in inflation numbers in the coming months.

“But it (inflation) clearly remains a concern... But I expect the policy taken by RBI to further moderate inflation in coming months... Average inflation to be lower next year,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the Budget for 2011-12.

He, however, said that inflation, specially high food prices, continue to worry and also called for improvement of distribution and marketing systems to bridge the gap between wholesale and retail prices.

“... Difference in wholesale and retail prices is not acceptable,” Mr. Mukherjee said.

Regarding food inflation, he said: “The total food inflation declined from 20.4 per cent in February, 2010, to less than half, at 9.3 per cent in January, 2011.”

Mr. Mukherjee also put emphasis on increasing agricultural productivity to curb food inflation.

The government and the RBI have been under pressure due to inflationary pressure, particularly of food products.

The RBI has hiked short-term lending and borrowing rates six times during the current fiscal, including a hike of 25 basis points in its third quarterly review in January.

The government had earlier said it expects inflation to fall to around 7 per cent by March-end and dip to around 5-6 per cent by the middle of the year.

However, the Economic Survey released last week said the high growth rate would also affect inflation, which would be 1.5 per cent more than what it would have been otherwise. The Survey had also said that high global commodity prices, particularly crude prices, are going to be affected due to the turmoil in the Middle East and this may affect the domestic trend also.

Headline inflation has been above 8 per cent since February 2010. It was 8.23 per cent in January this year.

Food inflation has been in double digits for the most of the current fiscal. According to the latest data, food inflation stood at 11.49 per cent for the week ended February 12.

Skyrocketing prices of vegetables, particularly onions, even forced the government to go for an export ban for some period earlier in the fiscal.

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Union Budget 2011: Air travel, eating out become dearer

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee presented Union Budget 2011 in Parliament today.

OVERVIEW: Budget estimates for 2011-12 projects Rs 9,32,440 crore - an increase of 24 per cent.
Expenditure in 2011-12 is estimated at Rs 12,57,729 crore, an increase of 13.4%.

Revenue deficit fixed at 2.3% in revised estimates of 2010-11 and 1.8% in 2011-12.

Tax reductions to result in revenue loss of Rs 11,500 crore

INFLATION: The finance minister opened his speech with reference to inflation saying that food inflation came down from 20.2% last year to 9.3% in January 2011 but it was still a matter of concern. "Government's principle concern is high food prices... food prices were high for cereals, there was a spurt in prices of onions and milk," he said. ( Inflation remains principal concern, to fall next year )

AGRICULTURE: In what may be a big relief for farmers, the FM said credit flows to farmers will be raised from Rs 3.75 lakh crore to Rs 4.75 lakh crores and the allocation under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana will be raised from Rs 6755 crore in the current year to Rs 7860 crore. ( Farm loans at 4%; credit target raised to Rs 4,75,000cr )

An additional Rs 300 cr will be provided to promote pulses cultivation in rain-fed areas and another Rs 300 cr to promote farm product cultivation.

In joy for anganwadi workers, their remuneration is being raised from Rs 1500 to Rs 3,000 per month. Anganwadi helpers will get Rs 1,500 from Rs 750, Pranab said. ( Social spending to be raised by 17% )

Old age pension to persons of over the age of 80 will be raised from Rs 200 to Rs 500.

HEALTH: 20 percent hike in health budget for 2011-2012. (Finance minister announces 20 per cent hike in health budget)
(
Healthcare industry fumes at Budget)
DEFENCE: The finance minister has allotted Rs 1.64 lakh crore for defence saying that more will be given if required. (11% hike in defence allocation)

Rs 9 lakh compensation will be given to men of defence and central paramilitary forces for permanent disability and on being discharged from service. (Rs 9 lakh disability compensation for defence personnel)

INCOME TAX: No change in tax slabs has been proposed. The tax exemption limit for general category has been raised from Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000. ( Tax limit enhanced from Rs 1,60,000 to Rs 1,80,000)

No change in tax exemption limit for women.

For senior citizens, exemption age limit has been reduced from 65 to 60. Their tax exemption limit will be Rs 2,50,000.

Apart from this, a new exemption bracket has been created for those above 80 years of age. Their tax exemption limit will be Rs 5,00,000.

Surcharge for companies cut to 5 per cent, from 7.5 per cent. (Corporate Tax surcharge reduced to 5%)

A new revised income tax return form 'Sugam' to be introduced for small tax papers.

DIRECT TAX: The FM announced that Direct Tax Code will be implemented from April, 2012 and the Goods and Services Tax Bill is to be introduced in Parliament this year. ( Direct Taxes Code to be implemented from April 1, 2012 )
Goods and services tax bill in budget session: Pranab Mukherjee

SERVICE TAX: Service tax widened to cover hotel accommodation above Rs 1,000 per day, A/C restaurants serving liquor, some category of hospitals, diagnostic tests.

Service tax on air travel increased by Rs 50 for domestic travel and Rs 250 for international travel in economy class. On higher classes, it will be 10% flat. ( Service tax on air travel increased )

EXCISE AND CUSTOMS DUTY: There is a proposal to introduce self-assessment of customs duty wherein importers and exporters will themselves assess payment of duty.

There will be change in excise duty. The standard rate of central exercise duty will be maintained at 10%. A 1% central excise duty on 130 items entering the tax net. Basic food and fuel and precious stones, gold and silver jewellery will be exempted and there will be no change in CENVAT rates. (Excise duty retained at 10%, more items to be taxed)

A new scheme is to be introduced for refund of service tax on the lines of drawback of duties, he announced. Also, capital investment in fertiliser production will be considered as infrastructure sub-sector, Pranab said.

Tax-free bonds of Rs 30,000 cr will be issued for infrastructure development which will cover Warehousing Corporation, NHAI, IRFC and HUDCO.

EDUCATION: A Rs50cr grant is being allocated to Aligarh Muslim University centres in Murshidabad in West Bengal and Malappuram in Kerala. Also, the government has decided to allot Rs 200 cr to IIT Kharagpur. ( 24% hike in allocation for education )

GROWTH: Predicting growth patterns over the next fiscal, Pranab said the overall economic growth in the current fiscal was expected at 8.6 %, agriculture growth at 5.4 %, industry at 8.1 % and services 9.3 %. In the next fiscal, economic growth was likely to be 9%, he said. ( Economy grew 8.2% in last 2010 quarter )

Pranab said India raised foreign institutional investor limit in 5-year corporate bonds for investment in infrastructure by $20 billion.

The government, he said, aims to provide Rs 201.5 billion capital infusion in state-run banks in 2011-12 and Rs 3 billion for 60,000 hectares under palm oil plantation

"I see Budget 2011-12 as transition towards more transparent and result-oriented economic management," he said adding that stronger fiscal coordination was needed.

He said that corruption continued to be deterrent in the country's development and had to be fought extensively.

Pranab Mukherjee said the government plans to create a Women Self Help Group development fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore. There is also a proposal to increase rural housing fund to Rs 3,000 crore. ( Low-cost housing loans of Rs 15 lakh to get 1% interest sop )

He also announced benefits for Below Poverty Line families by allowing direct transfer of subsidies in kerosene and LPG for such individuals.

Also, NABARD capital base will be strengthened and Rs 10,000 cr will be provided to it as short term credit fund.

Pranab announced the formation of Indian micro finance equity with SIDBI at Rs 100 crore. Another Rs 6,000 cr will be given to public sector banks to maintain capital-to-risk assets ratio norms, he said. ( Rs 500 cr for Regional Rural Banks )

A budget allocation of Rs 100 cr has been made for Ladakh and Rs 150 cr for Jammu for implementation of projects identified by taskforce.

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Air travel, hotel stays to be costlier post Budget

Air travel and hotel stays will be expensive as the government raised service tax air travel in economy class by up to Rs. 250 and brought hotel accommodation, among others, under the tax net in the Budget unveiled on Monday.

The measures would result in a net revenue gain of Rs. 4,000 crore. The government, however, retained the rate of service tax at 10 per cent.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today proposed raising the service tax on air travel by Rs. 50 to Rs. 150 in the case of domestic air travel and by Rs. 250 to Rs. 750 on overseas journeys by economy class.

The service tax on travel by higher classes on domestic sector would be at 10 per cent to bring it on par with journeys by higher classes on international air travel, he said.

The Budget proposes to include sectors like hotel accommodation with a room tariff of over Rs. 1,000 per day and air-conditioned restaurants serving liquor under service tax ambit.

"My proposals relating to service tax are estimated to result in net revenue gain of Rs. 4,000 crore for the year," Mukherjee said.

"It will mostly affect the airline and hotel sector. They may go for rate hike. But I think the fallout will be short- term and the sectors will not face any serious problems," KPMG Executive Director Vikas Vasal said.

Other experts also expressed similar views. "The hotel and airline sectors are areas generating larger revenues and the majority of the intended Rs. 4,000 crore would come from it," an expert of Deloitte said.

The Finance Minister also said the actual collections of service tax do not reflect the full potential of this sector.

"I seek to achieve a closer fit between the present service tax regime and its GST successor by bringing in a few new services into the tax net to expand the tax base while ensuring that the impact is predominantly on sections of society that have the ability to pay," he said.

The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) will subsume the plethora of indirect taxes.

"It is a step in the right direction and will help when we introduce the GST," Vasal said.

Among other measures, Mukherjee proposed to replace the service tax on health check-ups, announced in last year's Budget, with a tax on all services provided by hospitals with 25 or more beds and having central air-conditioning, with an abatement of five per cent.

"I also propose to extend the levy to diagnostic tests of all kinds with the same rate of abatement. However, all Government hospitals shall be outside this levy," Mukherjee said, adding that services provided by life insurance companies in the area of investment are also proposed to be brought into tax net on the same lines as ULIPs.

"The government has tried to put only high-end hospitals and treatment facilities under the ambit of the service tax and assure the common man that he would not be affected. This is only for those who are already paying, say, Rs. 5 lakh, for treatment," Vasal said.

The government also proposed expanding the scope of legal services to include services provided by business entities to individuals as well as representational and arbitration services by individuals to business entities.

Mukherjee also proposed to exempt all individual and sole proprietor taxpayers with a turnover of up to Rs. 60 lakh from the formalities of audit.

"The number of assessees in service tax has grown manifold ... a large number of them comprise individuals or sole proprietors with small turnovers. Any audit at their premises tends to dislocate their activities for the duration of the audit," he said, adding that all assessees with turnover up to Rs. 60 lakh would be provided benefit of three percentage points in interest on delayed payment.

Mukherjee also said the government will adopt of 'Point of Taxation' rules for services.

"This will mean that now service providers have to keep proper records and adopt accrual system of accounting rather than the existing cash basis," said the expert from Deloitte.

Under cash basis of accounting, previous year's dues are not carried forward and are considered bad debt, while under accrual basis such carry forwards are valid.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/budget/show-news/air-travel-hotel-stays-to-be-costlier-post-budget-142979?pfrom=home-Business&cp

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Supreme Court fast-tracks Bhopal cases

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Union Carbide Corporation, Dow Chemicals and others on a Centre's plea seeking enhancement of compensation to the victims of 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy from Rs. 750 crore to Rs. 7,700 crore.

The apex court also sought replies of Mcleod Russel India, which holds 50.9 per cent share in UCIL, currently known as Eveready Industries Ltd, on a curative petition filed by the Centre against the 1989 judgement and the 1991 judgement.

A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia also said it will hear on day-to-day basis from April 13 the Centre's plea for restoration of the stringent charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused and enhancement of compensation for the victims.

"We propose to sit on day-to-day basis from April 13 to hear the criminal matter," the bench, also comprising Justices Altamas Kabir, R V Raveendran, B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam, said.
 The bench also issued notices to the companies on the Centre's plea seeking transfer of the writ petition before the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which is hearing the issues relating to the environmental damage caused due to the leakage of the poisonous gas.

On a curative plea by the CBI, the apex court had on August 31 last year decided to re-examine its own September 1996 judgement, which had ruled in favour of the trial of various Bhopal gas leak tragedy accused on charges of causing death due to negligence rather than the harsher penal provision of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The apex court's 1996 ruling eventually had resulted in a Bhopal trial court imposing a lighter punishment of two years imprisonment on several accused including former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra in May 2010.

After the CBI moved the apex court following the Bhopal trial court ruling, the apex court in August had also sought replies of seven accused on the CBI plea for restoration of the charge of culpable homicide, which attracts a maximum punishment of 10 years' jail term, against them for the world's worst industrial disaster that left over 15,000 people dead and thousands maimed.

Besides Mahindra, Vijay Gokhale, the then Managing Director of UCIL, Kishore Kamdar, then Vice President, J N Mukund, then Works Manager, S P Choudhary, then Production Manager, K V Shetty, then Plant Superintendent and S I Quereshi, then Production Assistant were convicted and sentenced to two years' jail term by a trial court in Bhopal on June 7 this year.

The curative petition in the criminal case was filed after a nation-wide outrage over the trial court judgement in the 26-year-old case following which the Centre appointed a group of ministers (GoM) to recommend steps including ways to get the punishment enhanced.

The charge under section 304 part-II was diluted to section 304A by a bench comprising the then Chief Justice A M Ahmadi and Justice S B Majmudar on the plea of the accused in the 1984 gas disaster case.

The CBI has sought reconsideration of the September 13, 1996 apex court judgement which had whittled down the charge to 'causing death due to rash and negligent act' against Mahindra and six others.

The trial court verdict had sparked an outrage with activists and political parties seeking an appeal against it, maintaining the accused had been tried under a less stringent provision of law.
  
All the accused were tried as per the 1996 judgement of the apex court under section 304A of Indian Penal Code which attracts a maximum punishment of two years' imprisonment for causing death by a rash and negligent act.

Government had on December 3, the anniversary of the tragedy, had moved the apex court also seeking enhancement of compensation from Rs. 750 crore to Rs. 7,700 crore for the victims.

The filing of curative petition on the compensation issue on December 3 had coincided with the 26th anniversary of tragedy in which the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has sought re-examination of the apex court's February 14, 1989 judgement by which the compensation was fixed at 470 million dollars (Rs. 750 crore) and subsequent orders of February 15 and May 4 determining the mode of payment and settlement.

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Tons to like as India and England tie

ENGLAND'S pulsating tie with India has brought the World Cup to life after a dull start.
Sachin Tendulkar and Andrew Strauss both smashed centuries in a match where momentum swung violently as England somehow reached 8-338 to match India's total.
Tendulkar made a new entry in the record books to become the first man to make five World Cup centuries - his 47th in ODIs - as India piled up a seemingly winning total.

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Playing in a sixth World Cup, Tendulkar made 120 to move ahead of compatriot Sourav Ganguly and Australians Mark Waugh and Ricky Ponting on four centuries. The ''Little Master'' smashed 10 fours and five sixes in 115 balls.
But England's reply was given vitality by Strauss, who struck 158 off 145 balls, and Ian Bell made 69 to put their team in sight of victory.
It was well set at 2-281 before Zaheer Khan dismissed Strauss and Bell in successive balls. India then was favoured to win when England needed 14 off the last over.
But Ajmal Shahzad cracked a six off Munaf Patel's third ball before Graeme Swann took a single from the last delivery to ensure the fourth tie in World Cup history.

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EXCLUSIVE: FM says reforms must be real, not just headlines

Amidst hopes of fixings the 3 'D's—fiscal deficit, current account deficit and government deficit, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the Union Budget 2011-12 on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with Network18 founder-promoter Raghav Bahl, Mukherjee admits that he "could have done better with the budget".
A strong believer of 'even the best can be improved', the FM says, "Real reform is change in the functioning of the government. It does not always mean that it should attract headlines. Reform is when it affects the lives of the common man."
The challenge now is to bring consensus among the political parties; to narrow down the divergence of views on GST this year as "it is not possible to implement GST without the support of state governments. And, I am ready to go extra mile to get state governments on board for GST".
Below is a verbatim transcript of the FM's interview on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying videos.
Q: The first question is, you came at this budget with a very buoyant revenue, but with also a fairly depleted political capital for the government. Did that constrain you in any way?
A: Not really because as a political activist, I have seen sometimes that there may be situations where ruling parties or governments face a lot of problems, and criticism from different quarters. So it did not affect me that much. My undivided attention was to address the economic problems, which we are confronted with, and how best I can address them through the instrumentality of the budget.
Q: As you know more than anybody else, as you have been in politics for so long, a crisis is actually an opportunity in politics because you sometimes push through much more difficult policy than you could otherwise have in good times. In that sense, do you think you have used the crisis in best possible manner or could you have wasted on these crisis?
A: I am a person who always believes that I could have done better because I believe in the philosophy that even the best can be improved. So from that point of view, I will respond to your question by saying, yes, I could have done better.
But at the same time, I have given clear direction towards tax reforms, I have given a clear direction for need of fiscal consolidation by reducing the fiscal deficit. Reform does not always mean that it should attract headlines. Real reform is change in the functioning of the government, change in the policies and its implementation which will affect the lives of aam admi.
Those are the types of reforms which we require, and I've indicated it. If we can have the Direct Tax Code after the Parliamentary Standing Committee give their recommendations, which they are examining right now, perhaps it would be possible to implement it from April 1, 2012.
Q: But on goods and services?
A: Goods and services tax (GST) requires political consensus because without the support of all the major political parties of the parliament, we cannot have two-thirds majority to amend the constitution. Without the support of the state governments, it would not be possible to implement it.
Therefore, it is a challenge to bring consensus amongst political parties. I may exercise the entire period of this year to narrow the divergences of views so that we can reach (a consensus).
Q: This is exactly what we had spoken about last year as well when we spoke. Someone like you who possibly has the largest amount of cross-party relationships and respect with other political leaders, if you are finding it that difficult then this doesn’t give too much confidence to people that it will be done even in the 12-month period that you are speaking about?
A: Sometimes it appears that from our attitude or approach that we have reached a stage where positions cannot be reconciled. When the entire winter session was washed out, many people thought that it is again going to reflect in the budget session. The same people then sat for days together and we have now been able to find out a mechanism through which we can resolve the issues.
Q: Picking up from that, since the mechanism was that the government agreed to what the opposition was asking for, are we therefore saying that you as the central government are now going to come at this negotiation with a far greater sense of accommodation of the states' demands?
A: I always say that I am ready to cover an extra mile to achieve the objectives which is in the larger interest of the people.
Q: What is it that you can do? Because if I could just embellish my question, last time when we had spoken and I had asked you whether you have plan B incase there is a logjam, and you smiled and you said there is a plan B. But we didn’t see that plan B in operation today?
A: But what I have done, if you have analyzed, I have aligned the rate, merit rate of the state VAT is 5%, I have gone to 5%. Exempted list in the state VAT is 99 items, nearing 100. There are 370 items, which were in the exempted list. As far as the Centre is concerned, I have brought 130 items this year within the tax net of 1%.
Q: You didn’t do anything on CST though?
A: I am working on CST. Please remember that CST was temporary. It was expected that GST will be operational earlier. Therefore, it was to cover the period during that period. And something was to be done by the states, for instance the adjustment of the VAT. For instance they have adjusted from 4% to 5% largely in this year. On CST, on the compensation, even in the Thirteenth Finance Commission they have indicated that about Rs 50,000 crore will be available to them.
If it is required for more money, I would not mind providing that. I can assure the states that there would be no revenue loss but certain other things are also to be done. The IT platform is very important. Several chief ministers and ministers told me that unless the IT platform is ready, it would be very difficult to implement it. There has been substantial progress in the IT platform. NSDL is going to start the pilot projects with eleven states. These are not big tickets or it captures the headlines, but real work is being done in those areas.
Q: Can you lay out a timeline for us?
A: It is very difficult to lay a timeline even for the constitutional amendment, which I am going to introduce. It is not that there will be no discussion further. It will be discussed in the standing committee. It will be discussed in the parliament when it is passed. As I mentioned, without the support of the principal opposition parties and others, it cannot get passed. So we shall have to come together.
Q: So April 2012 is also something that is not likely to happen, or are you quite confident that you will use all the political capital that you have to push it?
A: Let us not take an extreme view. We are trying with the hope that we will be able to succeed. But there may be some problems. The short point which I am trying to drive at is that it is not what appears to be positioned is reconcilable. It is not like that. Yes, there are divergences of views, but convergence is also emerging. Gradually more and more states are coming around.
Q: I just want to switch from GST and now try and understand some of the budgetary arithmetic. It is one of the few budgets where we are seeing the subsidy level in your arithmetic coming down but we want to understand how this is happening. Clearly the only way to my simplistic mind it can happen is if we move towards free pricing of diesel and cut petrol subsidies. Is that something that you have factored-in in your calculation?
A: What we have done is we have decided that certain petrol price will be market related and it has been done from last June onwards. For diesel, we have decided that it will be done at the appropriate time, which has not yet been decided.
Q: But the level of subsidy that you have shown, it seems to suggest that the appropriate time is going to be very quick?
A: Let us not prejudge at what point of time we are going to do it or when we are going to do it because on oil it will be too premature to make any comment because the situation is so volatile. Nobody can say at what level it will settle today.
Therefore if I say x amount today it maybe x + x + x. If I say that it is a substantial quantum I may gain, it can be depending on the international situation. I will give you one example between August 2008 and January 2009. In August 2008, prices per barrel went to as high as USD 147. In January 2009 it came down to in the neighbourhood of USD 50 per barrel.
Therefore it fluctuates so much that any assessment would be too premature particularly at this point of time. Therefore, my direction is that subsidies are to be reduced. In kerosene, fertiliser and LPG I would like to go directly to the consumers.
Q: But you have only got a task force that has been constituted?
A: That is why I have fixed the deadline. By June of this year they will give their recommendations. And I have also stated that I am hopeful that by March 2012 I will be able to implement it. And the person who has been entrusted with this job, everybody in the country has great faith in his competence and capacity to deliver.

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Sehwag fit to play against England

India opener Virender Sehwag will play against England on Sunday despite suffering a bruised rib in the lead up to the Group B match. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said only pace bowler Ashish Nehra was not fully fit. "Ashish Nehra will bowl with 80 pct intensity in the nets today. Apart from that everyone is available for selection," Dhoni told reporters on Saturday.
Sehwag, who hit a magnificent 175 in India's opening victory over Bangladesh in Dhaka, suffered an injury scare on Friday when he was struck on the left side of his ribs in the nets and collapsed to the ground.
He was attended by medical staff for about 20 minutes before leaving the arena. Indian management later played down the incident.

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Jeffrey Cole - 2020 Shaping Ideas

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Monty Python Airplane Pilots

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Monty Python - Self-Defense Against Fruit

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Job Interview

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Funny! Basil gives Manuel a language lesson - Fawlty Towers - BBC

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Fawlty Towers: Manuel's English - Comedy Greats - BBC

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Do You Speak English? - Big Train - BBC comedy

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hindi movie Comedy King rajpal yadav

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Hyderabadi Nawabs - Comedy Movie - Part 02 of 13

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Libya unrest: India begins evacuation

New Delhi:  The evacuation of Indians from violence-torn Libya began today with two Air India flights leaving for Tripoli early this morning from New Delhi and Mumbai.

India has been allowed by Libya to fly in special planes to collect Indian citizens. Currently 18,000 Indians are in Libya - if they want to leave the country, the government will assist them with special ships and planes.

From today till March 7, India can land two planes a day in Tripoli for its evacuation operations. Today, two Air India flights will fly out people from Tripoli.

India is also moving three Navy ships to Benghazi, which is where the revolt against Mr Gaddafi began. From Benghazi, ships will transport Indians to Alexandria in Egypt. Special Air India flights will then bring them home.
The government has clarified that citizens do not have to pay for their evacuation. A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said, "It has come to notice that some unscrupulous elements are asking for payments/handling charges/facilitation fee etc., for arranging evacuation of Indian nationals, through the Embassy of India in Libya. These activities are completely illegal and individuals engaged in them should be immediately reported to the law enforcement authorities."

Meanwhile, a group of Indians employed in Libya have fled across the border into Tunisia saying basic needs cannot be met in the Libyan town of Zawiyah, where there has been heavy fighting between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and his opponents who want to end his 41-year rule.

There is an acute scarcity of food and water in Zawiyah as the situation in Libya worsens.

"The situation is very bad. Everything we need is not available. Water is not available and food is not available in Zawiyah," said one of the Indian workers.

Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi attacked anti-regime protesters with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at a mosque leaving nearly 100 people dead.

"Clear violations of human rights have taken place. It is time for Security Council to take action against Libyan government," United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said.

The United States closed its embassy in Tripoli on Friday and imposed unilateral sanctions against Libya, including the freezing of billions in government assets. The United Kingdom and France are also pushing for a war crimes probe by the International Criminal Court at The Hague. So will India back such a call and support the slapping of sanctions? India's response still seems to be evolving, perhaps complicated by the fact that the evacuations of Indians has just begun. In response to a question from NDTV, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said in a tweet, "Deplore violence against civilian population. Engaged on the issue in UN. India is not in the International Criminal Court."

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Chidambaram didn't object to steps for Collector's release: Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneshwar:  Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today claimed that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram did not object to the steps taken by the state government for the release of two officials from Maoist captivity.

"After abduction of the collector and the junior engineer, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram spoke to me and he certainly did not object to any steps we are taking," Patnaik told reporters amid media reports that Chidambaram had asked the chief minister not to give in to the Maoists' demands.

"After taking all aspects into consideration, we took the appropriate steps for their release," the chief minister said.

Patnaik said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also spoke to him once after the abduction of Malkangiri Collector R Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Kumar Majhi on February 16.
"The prime minister had expressed concern over the safety of the two officials," Patnaik said.

His reaction came in the wake of reports that the Centre was not in favour of Orissa government striking a deal with Maoists for the release of its two officials, especially ensuring freedom of some top jailed Maoist leaders.

Meanwhile, terming the abduction of the two government officials as "unfortunate", visiting Congress MP Naveen Jindal told reporters that Orissa had its own reasons to take steps for their safe release.

 

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NALCO chief AK Srivastava sent to CBI custody

New Delhi:  AK Srivastava, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) - a Public Sector Undertaking - who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a bribery case yesterday, was produced in court today along with three other accused. All four have been sent to police custody till March 3.

According to CBI, the agency had a tip-off that Srivastava was expecting a favour. The CMD had got his wife Chandni to accept an illegal gratification of three gold bricks, each weighing one kg. His wife had accepted this illegal gratification from the wife of a middleman who was brokering a deal between the CMD and Madhya Pradesh-based private group of companies.

At the time of CBI raid, the CMD's wife had just deposited the three gold bricks in a bank locker in Bank of Maharashtra, New Delhi.

The locker, which is in the name of wife of the middleman, was being operated by Chandni as benami.
A search of this locker resulted in a further recovery of seven more gold bricks of 1 kg each, golden ornaments weighing 188 grams and Rs. 9.5 lakh.

Personal search of the CMD's wife also led to a recovery of Rs. 5 lakh from her handbag and key to another locker. Further search of this second locker led to recovery of Rs. 15 lakh in cash.

The total recovery, including the gold at current prices, value at around Rs. 2.43 crore.

All the four accused - Chairman and Managing Director of NALCO, his wife, a middleman and his wife - were arrested. The agency is carrying out searches across the country.

Mr Srivastava was to chair a meeting of the NALCO Board of Directors today. 

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Sunil Joshi murder case: Sadhvi Pragya arrested

 
Mumbai:  Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a key accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case, has been placed under arrest by Madhya Pradesh Police in connection with the murder of Sunil Joshi, a suspect in the Samjhauta Express blast case who was killed at Dewas in December 2007.

"The Madhya Pradesh police moved an application in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in Mumbai, and after taking the court's permission they placed Sadhvi under arrest in the Sunil Joshi murder case," Rohini Salian, Special Public Prosecutor, told PTI.

Pragya Singh, main accused in 2008 Malegaon blast case in Maharashtra, has been undergoing treatment in J J hospital in Mumbai. The team of Madhya Pradesh police went there yesterday and arrested her, sources said.

"It is just a formal arrest. She would be taken to Madhya Pradesh after they make transportation arrangements," Pragya's lawyer advocate Ganesh Sovani told PTI.
Joshi, a suspect in the Samjhauta Express blast case, was shot dead in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh on December 29, 2007.

Sixty-eight people were killed when bombs went off in two coaches of Samjhauta Express, running between Delhi and Lahore, around midnight on February 18, 2007 at Diwana near Panipat, 80 kilometres north of Delhi.

Pragya, an alleged member of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, has already moved the Supreme Court challenging her prosecution under MCOCA in the Malegaon blast case.

The Bombay High Court had earlier reversed special court's order quashing application of MCOCA against her in the blast case, following which she filed appeal in the apex court.

Six people were killed and many were wounded in the bomb blast in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon, in Nashik district, on September 29, 2008.

Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has so far arrested 12 persons in Malegaon case. 

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Catch: Love Marriage made him a YouTube star

Disclaimer: I am not easy fan to net.But this is certified Gold. I am laughing uncontrollably as I write this, so excuse the typos.

Move over Justin (discovered on YouTube) Beiber. Meet Wilbur Sargunaraj. His YouTube channel claims he is India's first YouTube star and just that he aspires to be that makes him a worthy Catch. Of course it doesn't hurt that his "hit" single Love Marriage - variously called Arranged Marriage - has over 700,000 views and growing. 

In an interview to a Canadian TV station last year, Wilbur said he was already a cult in India and has been tweeted about virally, so I have discovered him late, I reckon. That does not diminish my enthusiasm in the least. My first encounter with Wilbur was when my boss sent me a link to Love Marriage on YouTube. The contents of the mail shall remain secret, suffice to say that she was visibly...well...moved.

As I was as soon as the song started to play.
Wilbur, nattily dressed in white shirt and tie and shades, hails an autorickshaw which thereafter plays a significant role in the video. And then, Wilbur launches into song, nay chant, nay song...and explains to his "Mummy-Daddy" that he does not want an arranged marriage. The refrain "I want a lou marriage," is straight from the heart and is indeed described on this "official video" from his "debut album" as "the cry of Wilbur's heart."

Catch him here. The red heart refuses to fade:

I have never wished I knew Tamil as hard as I did today to catch the rest of his lyrics. If someone shall translate for me, I shall be grateful.

Love Marriage/Arranged Marriage had me begging for more and so I duly landed on Wilbur's YouTube channel page. Awesome attitude. Check out his logo - a seal of quality with the legend (he calls it his vision statement) alongside - "Making the common extraordinary".

That he certainly does. The women on that video are clearly not professionals and Wilbur is proud that they are part of his effort rather than "pretty men and pretty women" that sing songs in Bollywood. Wilbur says in that interview that the smiling woman in the video earns a living milking cows. 

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"Joker will change Akki's image"

It seems director Shirish Kunder has joined the league of his brother-in-law Sajid Khan.

What with his claims of Joker becoming a super hit even before the shoot is complete? Till now, only Sajid Khan indulged in claiming his films to be hits even before the release - be it Heyy Babyy or Housefull, but now Shirish too has become over confident with his Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha starrer.

Akshay hasn't tasted box office success since some time now, but Shirish is sure that Joker, starring Akshay in the lead, will set the box office registers ringing the loudest. In a chat with TOI, Shirish claimed, "Joker will take Akshay's career to a new level and change his image. It's a sure shot box office success."

Well, coming from the screenplay-story writer, producer, music director, and editor of Tees Maar Khan – yet another dud starring Akshay Kumar, we hope this statement about Joker doesn't turn out to be a joke!

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Scared of mini, Deepika moves into shorts

Deepika Padukone demands change in costume for the Dum Maaro Dum song
For her item number in Dum Maaro Dum, Deepika Padukone was to wear an Anahita Adajania Shroff outfit a sexy bikini halter-top paired with the shortest skirt she's ever designed.

Dippy was aware of this and had worked hard to get into shape so she could fit into the ensemble. However, the skirt was too short for her. The actress got it changed to shorts in stead.


Deepika Padukone in Dum Maaro Dum

A source explains the need for the change, "The skirt Anahita designed barely covered the actress's derriere yet looked stunning on her.

During trials, DP received several compliments. Director Rohan Sippy had briefed her and she understood that the song needed sexy clothes. The trouble began when she started rehearsing for the song.

The steps were difficult to do because of the skirt's length."

Rohan had the option to change the dance steps to make her feel comfortable in the skirt. However, Deepika insisted they keep the choreography and switch from skirt to shorts instead.

Adds the source, "She walked up to Rohan and told him there was no way she could move her legs and do the steps in the skirt.

A consensus was reached and the outfit was changed soon after. The actress ended up wearing shorts and tassels over it to look like a skirt."

MALLIKA MALADY
Mallika Sherawat 'skirted' controversy recently when her designer created an outfit that was "too sexy" for Anees Bazmee's "family film" Thank You's item number, Raziya Phans Gayi Gundo Mein.

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PM Manmohan Singh defends Telecom policy in Parliament

New Delhi:  On the back foot in the face of multiple scams, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh defended himself and his government in Parliament today, assuring the country that he would strive to "clean our public life."

The PM said though "unfortunate developments have taken place in the areas of telecom and CWG, I assure the House there is nothing we will not do to clean our public life."

On the CWG scam, the PM said anyone found guilty would not be spared. "If there is a scam, it must be dealt with the law of the land. Law of the land must punish the wrong doers, he said.

On the telecom scam, Dr Singh defended the first-come-first-served policy followed, talked about why he had not intervened and pointed out that the "tremendous growth in the telecom sector on the basis of sound policy" could not be overlooked.
He also said his government would cooperate with all agencies to ensure that the truth came out. He reiterated that there had been no allocation of terrestrial spectrum to Antrix or Devas and said reports of loss of several lakh crore rupees had no basis.

The PM said inflation had become a problem in the last 18 months and the government's policy was to control inflation in a manner that did not hurt employment growth. He said inflation had to come down to seven per cent at the end of this fiscal.

He assured the Opposition that the government will do all it can to bring back the black money stashed abroad. "Accumulation of black is not a product of the last 4-5 years and has been there for long years. We will sit together with (Opposition) parties  and seek their help to see how the black money problem can be dealt with."

On Jammu and Kashmir,  Dr Singh said the "government will give no quarters to secessionists", and would "strengthen the hands of the state government". He reiterated New Delhi's position of resolving all outstanding issues with. " We sincerely hope Pakistan will grasp our hand of friendship, " he said.

This comes at a time when the two countries are looking to resume the stalled dialogue process. Home secretaries of India and Pakistan are slated to meet in New Delhi on March 28.
 

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Tight security arrangements put in place for Telangana bandh

In Andhra Pradesh, tight security arrangements have been made across Telangana region in view of the 48-hour total Bandh call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee from Tuesday. Additional Security forces have been deployed at all important places in the state capital Hyderabad and other places in the region to avoid any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, police have advised people not to travel on Tuesday unless in emergency as public transport services are likely to be affected due to the proposed Bandh. Prohibitory orders have been imposed near the Assembly and Secretariat in Hyderabad for one week. Several associations of employees, trade unions, workers and teachers have announced their participation in the proposed Bandh.

Meanwhile, one student was injured when police resorted to mild lathicharge on Monday following stone pelting by students. Tension prevailed near Osmania University campus in Hyderabad following mild lathicharge on students when they were trying to take out a rally - Chalo Assembly.

Responding to a call given by the Osmania University Student’s Joint Action Committee, a large number of students in three batches tried to reach Assembly. They were demanding introduction of a bill for carving out Telangana State in the present Budget session of Parliament.

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Congress disapproves pro-Telangana MPs conduct

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday disapproved of the conduct of its pro-Telangana MPs who raised slogans in support of the statehood demand during the Presidential address.
The party maintained that the non-raising of the issue in the President's address to the Joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament "does not mean that the issue is not being taken seriously".
"UPA is committed to finding a solution," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
President Pratibha Patil's 45-minute address to the joint sitting of both Houses went on smoothly except towards the end when some Congress members from Andhra Pradesh rose from their seats, displayed pro-Telangana banners and shouted "Jai Telangana" and "We want Telangana".
"There is a time and place for everything. This applies to everybody. Everyone has to maintain discipline and decorum during the President's address," Singhvi said.
At the same time, he also sought to mollify the pro-Telangana members by noting that the party was aware of the emotions on the issue.
"The process has already started over Telangana. This is a very dignified inaugural session and all issues cannot be raised. Non-raising of the issue does not mean the issue is not being taken seriously. UPA is committed to finding a solution," he said.

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Pressure on Wisconsin Unions, Dems Grows as Walkout Drags on

The 14 Democratic members of the Wisconsin Senate remain at large, with a handful vowing in interviews from undisclosed locations to stay in hiding as long as necessary to prevent a vote on a budget proposal opposed by government union workers.

But with only one Democrat needed to bring the measure up for vote and Republican resolve deepening, the standoff seems set to soon turn into a showdown.

Meanwhile, labor activists from around the country continue to flock to Madison to join the protest of the legislation which would increase state workers’ contributions to their retirement and health benefits and make future pay raises beyond standard cost-of-living increases subject to a public vote.

Tens of thousands of union marchers, many bussed in from around the Midwest, showed their opposition in a weekend march on the governor’s mansion and mass demonstrations. Government workers planned to use their Washington’s Birthday holiday for sympathy protests in Iowa and other states.

But amid the high-stakes standoff, there are signs that the union-Democrat coalition is showing some strains.

Union teachers were urged to return to classes by the head of their statewide labor group after repeated complaints from parents who have seen schools in many districts closed since the middle of last week as teachers call in sick. While out of state groups can replace the manpower for the sit-in protest at the capitol, the end of the sick out is a sign that public tolerance of the labor unrest is growing thin.

On the table now is a plan from a centrist Republican senator that would make the curbs on public employee unions in Gov. Scott Walker’s bill temporary. Union leaders declare the measure unacceptable because Republicans could vote to extend the restrictions in 2013, but it increases the pressure on Democratic senators to emerge from hiding and to allow the Senate to resume.

Remember, just one Democrat needs to be present for a vote to take place. Refusing to go to work for six days while the state capital remains in turmoil has not enhanced their bargaining position. While Walker and Republicans are on television and in newspapers pleading constantly for the legislature to be allowed to function, Democrats have been limited to furtive media appearances and forced to rely on labor leaders to carry their messages.

The Senate president says the body will reconvene on Tuesday in hopes that at least one Democrat may choose to break the boycott.

Democrats argue that there would be a heavy political price for Republicans to pay if the federal government shuts down over a budget impasse – that public patience will wear thin when political disagreements cause disruptions. By the same argument, Wisconsin’s Democrats are inviting a backlash by holding out.

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Dozens killed in Libyan capital as Arab leaders struggle to calm unrest

SANAA, YEMEN - Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's regime showed more signs of crumbling Monday following a volatile night in which dozens were reportedly killed in the capital and Gaddafi's son and heir-apparent declared in a televised speech that the North African nation could fall into anarchy if his father was ousted.
By Monday morning, the six-day-old uprising had reached the capital, Tripoli, amid reports of buildings being set ablaze and looting in some neighborhoods. In Libya's second-largest city of Benghazi, anti-government demonstrators celebrated on the streets, as reports grew that the city was now under their control.
Tribal leaders railed against Gaddafi while reports swirled of soldiers defecting from their units to the opposition. There were also reports of senior Libyan officials resigning from their posts, outraged by the killings carried out by security forces.
At least 61 people had been killed in the protests overnight in Tripoli, al-Jazeera television reported, quoting medical sources. It also reported that security forces were looting banks and other government building in Tripoli and that protesters had ransacked several police stations. Protesters also set ablaze the building used by Libya's parliament when it is in session, Reuters reported.
Ali al-Essawi, Libya's ambassador to India, resigned from his post Monday and called for Gaddafi to step down. He also accused the regime of deploying foreign mercenaries against the protesters.
Over the weekend, security forces in Benghazi opened fire on mourners attending funeral marches for 84 protesters killed the day before, their harshest response yet to the recent round of demonstrations. They also swiftly clamped down on smaller uprisings that spread to the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli, where protesters seized military bases and weapons. The outbreak of protests there signaled a new threat to the regime.
Unrest across the region
As fresh protests erupted across the Middle East and North Africa over the weekend, embattled leaders in the region struggled to contain their discontented masses, deploying a wide variety of tactics - from offers of dialogue to brutal crackdowns - to suppress the pro-democracy forces unleashed by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.
Protests also broke out Sunday in Morocco and Tunisia, posing new challenges to their rulers, while authorities in Iran and Bahrain continued to confront calls for reform.
By late Sunday, the number of those killed in the uprising across Libya had soared to at least 233, most of them in Benghazi, according to Human Rights Watch. Other news reports placed the death toll at 200 or much higher.
U.S. and European Union officials on Sunday condemned Libya's crackdown and called for an end to the violence. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States is "gravely concerned" and has received "multiple credible reports that hundreds of people have been killed and injured." Many of the victims had been killed with machine guns, witnesses said.
The scope of the turmoil in Libya is impossible to verify. Authorities have denied access to foreign journalists and have periodically cut off the Internet and phone lines. But the unfolding situation in Libya could mark the most brutal attempt to suppress the anti-government protests sweeping across the Arab world.
Residents and activists describe a volatile landscape that is increasingly isolated from the world and becoming bloodier and more chaotic by the day. The protesters seek the ouster of Gaddafi, who has ruled for more than four decades.

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Ponting in record 40th match at Cricket World Cup

Ricky Ponting broke the World Cup appearance record on Monday when he played his 40th game at the tournament in Australia's Group A match against Zimbabwe.
The Australia captain overtook former teammate Glenn McGrath to hold the record outright.
Both players had been tied on 39 appearances at the end of the 2007 event in West Indies.
Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram played 38 World Cup matches, with India's superstar batsman Sachin Tendulkar now up to 37 after India's tournament-opening victory over Bangladesh on Saturday.
Ponting, who is a three-time World Cup winner, said on Sunday he hadn't been aware he was about to break the record, but added the achievement would be "nice" when he finished playing.

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Silver hits another historic high, gold surges

MUMBAI: Silver prices jumped further to create yet another historical high and came within a striking distance of psychologically important Rs 50,000 per kg level at the bullion market here today on aggressive speculations and stockists' driven buying spree.

Gold too surged owing to consistent buying by stockists and jewellers amidst good retail off-take.

"Trading sentiment turned highly bullish after the precious metals hit multi-month highs in overseas trade on concerns over spreading unrest in the Middle East fuelling safe-haven bet," traders said.

The sudden spurt was mainly attributed to rising global valuations as trading resumed on domestic market after a stretched weekend (Saturday being a state holiday), as speculators were not able to take positions, they added.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) zoomed by massive Rs 1,975 per kg to end at Rs 49,955 from last Friday's closing level of 47,980.

Standard gold (99.5 per cent purity) spurted by Rs 165 per 10 grams to close at Rs 20,595 from Rs 20,430 previously.

Pure gold (99.9 per cent purity) also rose by Rs 160 per 10 grams to conclude at Rs 20,695 as against Rs 20,535 last Friday.

In Europe, spot gold was bid at USD 1,399.60 in early trade as against USD 1,388.58 late in New York on Friday.

Silver was bid at USD 33.36 as compared to USD 32.46 an ounce.

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Lenovo LePad to Be Available Worldwide in June

According to reports, Lenovo is going to sell its LePad tablet in June. Initially, the tablet device will hit the Chinese market. For now it is unclear what markets the device will be headed to. It is also unknown if the US market gets the tablet device.
The company rolled out the Android –based LePad after it had announced its LePhone in July 2010 promising that the device would be launched before the end of the year. In January, Lenovo showed the LePad again at the Consumer Electronics Show. The device was with its IdeaPad U1. The company disclosed that the pair would hit the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2011, but did not say a word about their availability in the U.S. market.
According to senior vice president of Lenovo, the LePad and IdelPad U1 fit the modern lifestyle. Users can take advantage of lightweight slate when they are mobile. Moreover, the device can be transformed into the U1 base in case you need to edit as well as create content. The new product delivers fun as well as functionality.
The LePadd is equipped with a 10.1-inch display offering a high resolution. The tablet is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It features a front-facing camera that can be used for video calling and promises up to hours of battery life. As for the IdeaPad U1, it is based on Windows 7 Home Premium. The device packs in an Intel CULV processor.
The LePad will be offered in the Chinese market for $520, while the IdeaPad U1 with the LePad will cost you $1,300.
Also it was announced by Lenovo that it is establishing a new business group. It will be focused on mobile Internet-geared devices, including tablets and smartphones, and also new categories devices, i.e. smart television, cloud computing as well as digital home.

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Mukesh Ambani's RIL signs $20 billion deal with BP

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has signed an agreement with oil major British Petroleum (BP) for 30 per cent stake in Reliance Industries' 23 oil and gas blocks including the KG-D6 gas fields. The deal is valued at $7.2 billion and is one of the biggest foreign direct investments (FDI) in the country.

The two companies will also form a 50:50 joint venture for sourcing and marketing of gas in India.

"BP will pay Reliance Industries Limited an aggregate consideration of US$7.2 billion, and completion adjustments, for the interests to be acquired in the 23 production sharing contracts. Future performance payments of up to US$1.8 billion could be paid based on exploration success that results in development of commercial discoveries. These payments and combined investment could amount to US$20 billion," RIL said in a statement.

While RIL will get $7.2 billion from BP for 30 per cent stake in its oil and gas blocks, "another $1.8 billion is contingent on finding more hydrocarbon resources. The balance $11 billion is an estimate for the investments over the next many years in building the joint venture," Mukesh Ambani said from London.

"We needed one major global energy partner. In Reliance's assessment BP is the best finder of deep water hydrocarbons in the world," Ambani added on the association with BP.

The 23 oil and gas blocks together cover approximately 270,000 square kilometres. This will make the partnership India's largest private sector holder of exploration acreage.

The deal is "subject to necessary government approvals. All blocks are under NELP and we expect to apply for government approval and expect to get them soon. We expect to close the deal in the April-March 2012 fiscal", Ambani added.

The deal is seen as a positive for Reliance. Ambareesh Baliga of Karvy Stock Broking said the rumour (about the deal) was in the market since the morning. This will play up tomorrow as it is extremely positive news. RIL has been an underperformer for the last 2 years. RIL rose 2.22 per cent on the NSE today though the deal was announced after market hours.

Commenting on the deal former chairman of ONGC RS Sharma said, “This is positive news for the entire E&P (exploration and production) sector for India. The deal covers the entire value chain - upstream and downstream." Referring to the Cairn-Vedanta deal that has failed to take off, Sharma said "the sentiments have been negatively impacted because of one deal...this deal shows confidence in the Indian oil sector."

"This partnership meets BP's strategy of forming alliances with strong national partners, taking material positions in significant hydrocarbon basins and increasing our exposure to growing energy markets," said Mr. Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman of BP.

Read more at: http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/mukesh-ambani-s-ril-signs-20-billion-deal-with-bp-141816?cp

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New Season Now fashion checklist

Can't wait to start wearing spring's hottest trends? Sick of pulling the same drab, well-worn pieces out of your wardrobe? Discover how to make the most of a fabulous new wardrobe now , and keep it looking fresh and inspired in the months to come.

It really is easy when you know how. And for the best selection, shop NET-A-PORTER.COM where their buyers hand-pick the pieces you need each season from over 300 of the world's leading designers, including Chloé, Isabel Marant, Stella McCartney and many more.

THE PLATFORM SANDALS
Buy now
What's hot now? We might be heading into a new decade, but all the cool girls are stepping back in time to the 1970s and investing in key items like the peep-toe platform sandal.
The soft leather straps in deep chocolate brown have a luxe appeal, whilst the cork platform subtly references the Seventies. That cushioned platform means you benefit from extra height, without the discomfort of a steep, unstable heel - finally, a shoe that combines high fashion with functionality.
Get ahead of the fashion pack and wear yours now with black seamed tights and midi skirts, or to be even more on trend match these sky-high sandals with socks, the perfect trans-seasonal alternative to the thick opaque.
Wear later
Continue to channel spring's hot Seventies trend and team those platform sandals with a denim skirt and billowing white silk blouse as the temperature heats up. Bare legs and a good pedicure are essential to set these beauties off to their full potential.


THE FLARED JEANS
Buy now
Relegate those skinny jeans to the back of your wardrobe - everyone's wearing them now, so it's time to raise your game. And it's easy to give your new season style credentials a boost in a pair of sleek denim flares, which Derek Lamb showcased on the catwalk. Partner with luxe caramel-colored knitwear for pared-back polish.
Wear later
A draped asymmetric top and hot-hued jewellery add instant summertime glamour to these figure-flattering jeans. Go high-waist for the full 1970s vibe, or for a more modern twist, worn lower they work just as well.

THE PEACOAT JACKET
Buy now
Think Balmain Spring Summer '11 and toughen up a versatile peacoat with punk-inspired accessories and skinny red pants for standout day to night style. The peacoat is such a classic look it transcends every season - after all, how many times have we seen Keira Knightley wearing her Burberry peacoat? Better still it gives an effortless nod to this season's military trend too.
Wear later
For laid-back summertime cocktails, sling the peacoat over a loosely tailored tank. Wear with a printed skirt and accent with a jolting neon clutch.

THE SILK DRESS
Buy now
A breezy silk dress is set to be this summer's hottest ticket. Layer over a long-sleeved top, black tights and a pair of Versace-inspired lace-up ankle boots now for fashion-forward flair. Smaller prints work best, and patterned skirts and dresses can be teamed with thick tights and winter knits until the spring sunshine appears.
Miu Miu has a stunning silk dress that looks great dressed down with a cardigan and a belt. Or wear it as is with a piece of statement jewellery for a chic evening look.
Wear later
Then, as the mercury rises ditch the layers and take this look straight through the hotter months. Update it by teaming your dress with a vibrant tote and peep-toe sandals for easy round-the-clock elegance that says summer is finally here.
 

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