Bolt sets record to win 100m gold

Govt to sell stakes in 6-7 more firms: Fin secy.Bolt sets record to win 100m gold.Monsoon, valuations threaten Sensex rally.Pak summons Indian envoy, protests against Manmohan Singh's remarks.Terror camps in Pak a threat to India: Antony

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 336

Palash Biswas

Lalgarh jawan hit by bullet

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Midnapore, Aug. 17: For the first time since the Lalgarh operation began on June 18, a policeman has taken a direct hit at the fag-end of an encounter with Maoists. CRPF jawan Chalant Kumar Rai took a bullet in his waist today just as a team of state and central forces was preparing to leave the Madhupur jungles in Salboni around noon after a two-hour gun battle. The middle-aged man was brought to Midnapore Medical College Hospital and was being driven to Calcutta late tonight to be admitted to SSKM Hospital for treatment to a damaged nerve. His condition is stable. The Lalgarh operation had so far had two casualties among the security forces, but none from encounters. A BSF jawan died of sunstroke on the Bhimpur-Lalgarh road on June 20 and the same day, a policeman suffered a minor splinter injury after an IED planted by the Maoists exploded in Kadashole village. District police chief Manoj Verma said 100 rounds were fired during today’s encounter, which took place about 12km from Lalgarh town. “The encounter had just stopped and the jawans were returning to their camp. Suddenly a bullet came from the jungles and hit the jawan.” A police officer said about 100 personnel from the Pirakata camp had left for the Madhupur jungles, 7km away, on a tip-off about a Maoist gathering. “As soon as the jawans entered the jungles, bullets came flying from behind trees.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090818/jsp/frontpage/story_11373966.jsp


Govt to sell stakes in 6-7 more firms: Fin secy

18 Aug 2009, 1703 hrs IST,
REUTERS

NEW
DELHI: The Indian government will sell stakes in at least six to seven more
state-run firms in the next 12-14 months, Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla said on
Tuesday.



Last week, Indian state utility NHPC Ltd's initial public
offering for up to $1.25 billion was subscribed 23.53 times, stock exchange data
showed, a response that would embolden the government to hurry up stake sales in
more firms.



Chawla also said the government was confident of meeting
the annual target for direct tax receipts for 2009/10 (April/March).

Govt not considering fresh farm debt waiver scheme: Pranab

18 Aug 2009, 1433 hrs IST,
PTI

NEW
DELHI: As a fourth of the country reels under drought, the UPA government today
said it has no proposal to write off loans taken by farmers as it did in 2008 in
its first term in office.



"There is no such proposal," Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee said when asked if the government was considering a
fresh debt waiver scheme to give relief to farmers.



The UPA
government had last year announced a nearly Rs 71,000 crore farm loan waiver
scheme to offer relief to farmers, especially the small and medium ones who were
unable to access fresh loans due to non-payment of dues.



Noting that
the full impact of failure of monsoon was yet to be assessed, the minister said
the country would, however, be able to achieve six per cent plus economic growth
during the current fiscal.



Agriculture accounts for a fifth of
India's GDP, but poor monsoon, besides eroding farm output, could also have a
telling effect on consumer spending in rural areas.



Economic growth
decelerated to 6.7 per cent in FY'09 from nine per cent in the previous fiscal,
mainly due to the global financial meltdown. Drought is expected to compound the
woes.



Mukherjee, who earlier inaugurated a conference of the heads of
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), said that a committee would be formed to assess
capital requirements of the RRBs.



Some RRBs, he added, would need
capital infusion to achieve the capital adequacy requirement of 7 per
cent.

Bengal silence at security table CM ill, vacuum at Delhi meet

NISHIT DHOLABHAI

Security personnel on vigil to foil a Maoist-backed rally at Gohomidanga in Lalgarh. But the organisers outsmarted the security forces and held the rally elsewhere. Picture by Samir Mondal New Delhi, Aug. 17: Union home minister P. Chidambaram today made a pointed reference to the absence of political representation from Bengal at a security meeting, the observation coming at a time the operation in Lalgarh runs the risk of turning listless. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee could not attend the session of chief ministers in Delhi because of fever but he did not depute any other minister to the meeting, which meant that the state was represented by bureaucrats who were not allowed to speak. Bengal’s speech was “tabled” at the venue, unlike some other states whose chief ministers could not attend but ensured that they were heard by sending other ministers. Chidambaram referred to Bengal at a media conference. “West Bengal was not represented by any minister. So, the chief minister’s speech was considered read,” the home minister told reporters this afternoon, soon after a meeting on internal security and before the start of another to specifically discuss Left-wing extremism. Chidambaram added that the officials present “did not get a chance to speak”. Union home ministry sources said Bengal’s turn came up towards the end of the meeting on internal security but neither chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti nor home secretary Ardhendu Sen “were allowed to speak”. “They cannot make a policy decision nor a commitment and when we consider time constraints (in delivering speeches), they do not stand anywhere in the hierarchy,” a government spokesperson said. In Calcutta, officials said Bhattacharjee did not nominate anyone in his place because “officially”, no one enjoys the “Number Two” slot in the cabinet. Normally, the Bengal officials pointed out, when the chief minister is out of the country, he nominates an “acting chief minister” who officiates on his behalf. But since Bhattacharjee is in the city, the question of appointing one did not arise, an official added. “A note has been handed over by the chief secretary to the central government,” an official said in Calcutta. “So, that is effectively conveying the government’s views.” The chief minister is “much better” though a slight fever persists, the official added. Union home ministry officials, while acknowledging the chief minister’s health impediment, pointed out that states like Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry did send other ministers, not necessarily the Number Two, because their chief ministers could not make it. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayavati’s speech was read by parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Verma while the two southern states were represented by home ministers Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and E. Valsaraj, respectively. The veiled criticism came on a day the security services were fooled in Lalgarh by a Maoist-backed group to hold a meeting. The state government has already admitted that Phase II of the Lalgarh operation was “a failure”. The Bengal government is keen on a joint operation in Jharkhand — a reference to which was made in Bhattacharjee’s speech that was considered read today.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090818/jsp/frontpage/story_11373965.jsp

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Foreigners hold 23% in BSE-500

17 Aug 2009, 1556 hrs IST, Kumar Shankar Roy,
TNN

CHENNAI:
Foreign ownership in BSE 500 companies — which represent nearly 93% of the
total market capitalisation on BSE — is a tad higher than of

Volatility in the stock markets Measuring market volatility Ten hot money-spinners in India Long term plan for better returns Should you sell your stocks?

the
government, data from stock exchanges and think-tanks shows. They controlled
22.9% of these companies, which cover all 20 major industries, against
government's 21.8%.



While on
the face of it, promoters (29.3%) and the government seem to be India Inc's
primary owners — the fact is foreigners come in second across all classes
(portfolio, direct and subsidiary), owning more than the government does. The
Indian public owned 8.17% stake, insurers 4.74%, non-promoter corporates 4.16%
and mutual funds 3.91%, data up to the June quarter
showed.



The 30-share sensex,
which has been a stellar performer among global indices in 2009, is also firmly
in foreign grips. Foreigners owned 26.1% in the 30 famous Indian firms, less
than 32.2% owned by promoters, but almost double of the 13% held by the
government.



"FII ownership of
the broad market has risen to 15.7% (including American Depository Receipts /
Global Depository Receipts) from 15% in March, reversing a six-quarter trend. In
dollar terms, this represents a 64% rise in the FII portfolio to $148 billion by
the end of the quarter (April-June ), compared with a 45% rise in the markets,"
said Citigroup analyst Aditya Narain. "July has witnessed another $2.4billion in
inflows — if this holds, or more money comes in, ownership will rise,
though the market impact will probably be
less."



Foreign investors
— who pumped in $5.6 billion over April-June 2009 — have reversed a
six quarter flight. The market's sharp rise (49%) over the quarter would appear
a cause and consequence of this inflow.

Monsoon, valuations threaten Sensex rally

18 Aug 2009, 1555 hrs IST,
REUTERS

MUMBAI:
Stocks are running out of steam after nearly doubling in five months and may be
poised for a correction as investors grow wary of high

Volatility in Stock markets Measuring market volatility Ten hot money-spinners in India Long term plan for better returns Should you sell your stocks?

valuations, a bad monsoon
and looming inflation.



Mixed recent global data releases, meanwhile,
have stoked renewed fears about the strength of an economic recovery and
threaten to curb risk appetite that has seen a surge of overseas funds flowing
into emerging markets, including India.



Some analysts expect India's
benchmark BSE index, which fell 4.1 per cent to 14,784.92 points on Monday in a
global sell-off, to fall by between 10 and 20 per cent by the end of the year.
Still, strategists say the longer-term picture is bright, given the outlook for
an improving local economy.



Monsoon rainfall -- crucial for India's
domestic-demand-led economy -- has been 29 per cent below average this year,
fanning worries it could threaten a nascent economic revival and cut into the
profit growth investors had been pricing into Indian
firms.

Also Read

→ Stocks: Five key signals for investors

→ Sensex joins revival cynics of the world

→ Indian markets wobble on econ outlook worries

→ Sensex bettered returns after poor rains in 21st century

Since the
beginning of this month through Monday, the main index dropped 5.7 per cent,
while MSCI's measure of Asian markets excluding Japan fell 2.4 per cent in the
period.



"Those of us who were going to upgrade earnings are now
thinking of downgrading earnings as we just don't know what the amount of damage
from the weak monsoons is going to be," Ambareesh Baliga, vice president of
Karvy Stock Broking, said.



With just over 40 per cent of agricultural
land irrigated, farm output is heavily reliant on rains and a shortfall could
potentially hurt rural demand, which accounts for more than half of India's
domestic consumption.



"If the monsoon situation does not improve in
the next few weeks, it could result in downgrading of GDP growth estimates,
downgrading corporate earnings estimates, a fall in the premium given to Indian
markets and a consequent fall in indices," HDFC Securities said in a note to
clients.



PRICEY STOCKS LOSE
SHINE



A rush of liquidity into global equity markets has
powered the BSE index, with foreign funds pumping more than $7.5 billion into
the market this year, although inflows have slowed recently.



India's
main index leapt 84 per cent from a 2009 low in early March through Monday, and
was up more than 53 per cent for the year after slumping by more than half in
2008.



The benchmark could fall 10 to 15 per cent as the weak monsoon
hurts economic growth, Bank of America Merrill Lynch research analyst
Jyotivardhan Jaipuria said in a Monday note to clients.



Analysts say
the BSE index could find good support at 12,500 to 13,000 -- above its 12,173
close in mid-May before it surged on the unexpectedly strong re-election of the
Congress party-led coalition.



After the election, the market rallied
22.5 per cent before falling almost 6 per cent on July 6, when the government
announced a budget that disappointed investors expecting bold economic and
financial

reforms.



Though analysts say market-friendly reforms are in
the offing, the government is expected to introduce them more slowly than
investors had once hoped.



India's benchmark is the fourth-best
performer among major indices in the world this year, and trades at 16.5 times
expected earnings -- higher than benchmarks in other emerging markets such as
South Korea, Brazil, and Indonesia, which trade at multiples of 12-14. Russia
trades at 7 times forward earnings.

• Terror camps in Pak a threat to India: Antony

Kochi, Aug 18 (PTI) Defence Minister A K Antony today
said dozens of terrorist camps are "functioning actively" in
Pakistan along the Indo-Pakistan border and India faced a
threat to its security as long as these camps existed.

Asked about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertions
yesterday at the Chief Ministers' conference in Delhi that
India had credible information that terrorists based in
Pakistan are planning to carry out fresh attacks in India,
Antony said "I have nothing to add to what the Prime Minister
had said".

"What the Prime Minister had said was a fact because even
today dozens of terrorist camps are functioning actively in
Pakistan soil along the Indo-Pakistan border," he told
reporters on the sidelines of a function at Amrita Hospital
here.

LeT issues diktat against watching TV in J&K

18 Aug 2009, 1258 hrs IST,
Times Now
NEW
DELHI: The Lashkar-e-Taiba has enforced a new diktat in parts of Jammu and
Kashmir; 'Do not watch television.'



Taking a cue from the Taliban,
the Lashkar terrorists operating in Banihal heights have imposed a ban on
watching TV- terming it an 'unislamic' activity.



Bearing witness to
this fact are the marks on Gulam Nabi's back and legs. The marks are a constant
reminder of how the LeT men beat him up for watching TV. "Unidentified gunmen
barged into my house. They broke my TV set and thrashed me," said Ghulam Nabi.




In true Taliban style, the terrorists made sure that no one dare to
switch on a television again.



When asked about the LeT's newest
diktat a villager said, "Six militants barged into our house. Three of them
broke my TV and another three hit me."



Lashkar militants have warned
villagers of dire consequences if they do not stop watching television. In a
recently issued diktat, they have described the 'idiot box' as an epicentre of
all problems and blame the same for impregnating evil thoughts in the mind of
villagers.



In addition to resorting to violence, the Lashkar men
also pasted a pamphlet on the boundary wall of a mosque.



"They say
watching TV is a sin. But I ask Muslims all over the world to watch TV. We have
not done anything wrong or committed any crime," a villager said.




Security forces in the area describe the Lashkar's newest act as one
of frustration and desperation.



IG of Jammu, Ashok Gupta said,
"These days the television is a very powerful medium which is exposing their
lies. So why would they allow it. It is an act of sheer frustration on their
part."



But what the LeT does not realise is that their imposition is
only causing anger. When asked about the Taliban's actions, a villager said,
"Breaking televisions sets and beating up elderly people is not a part of
Jihad." This is evidence enough that the people clearly do not want another
Taliban state.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/LeT-issues-diktat-against-watching-TV-in-JK/articleshow/4905784.cms


Pak summons Indian envoy, protests against Manmohan Singh's remarks!

Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh said on Tuesday that the country was facing a drought
threat.



Vital monsoon rains have been 29 percent below normal since
the beginning of the June-September season, hurting crops such as rice and
sugarcane and triggering a sharp rise in food
prices.


Private equity firms are becoming cautious about making fresh investments
in India with less funds flowing into this segment as

Volatility in the stock markets Measuring market volatility Ten hot money-spinners in India Long term plan for better returns Should you sell your stocks?

institutional investors

have become more sceptical in committing funds without thorough research,
experts say.



"The rush for PE investments into India has slowdown a
bit at present. As now the managers are studying the companies more carefully
before making any new investment commitment," Grant Thornton Partner (Corporate
Advisory Services) Harish H V said.



With global PE fund closure
during the second quarter of 2009 dipping to record lows, PE funds investing in
India are also being cautious as limited partner or the part owners of funds are
constantly questioning the intent of investment.



"Limited partners or
institutional investors are increasingly becoming sceptical about their
investment decisions and are questioning the intent of the General Partners,"
SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagnnadham Thunuguntla said.



Marketmen said,
with improved capital market sentiment PE funds are now preferring to liquidate
their stake.



"Confidence is back in the Indian market and the degree
of scepticisim has reduced to what it was six months back. However, with the
capital market boom, PE funds are now preferring to exit via open market
transactions," Thunuguntla added.


Pakistan has lodged a
protest against Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh's remarks that terrorists based
on Pakistani soil are planning to carry out Mumbai type attacks again on India.




A spokesman said Islamabad has taken strong exception to Dr.Singh's
statement and had summoned India's deputy high commissioner to the Foreign
Office in this regard.



"The deputy high commissioner of India was
summoned to the Foreign Office by the director general (South Asia), and told
that the Indian prime minister's remarks warrant serious and prompt attention,"
The Daily Times quoted the spokesperson, as saying.



Dr.Singh. on
Monday said there is credible information that terrorist groups based in
Pakistan are planning to carry out fresh attacks in India and advocated the need
for utmost vigilance.



He was speaking after inaugurating a Chief
Ministers' Conference on Internal Security in New Delhi.



He said:
"We have put in place additional measures after the last year's Mumbai terror
attack. But there is need for continued vigilance. The area of operation of
these terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu and Kashmir and
covers all parts of our country."


Meanwhile, Indian stocks dropped 4.1
percent and the rupee slid on Monday as a poor monsoon season and global
wariness over the strength of an economic recovery triggered worries that
foreign investors would retreat from the country after fuelling a recent
rally.



The rupee weakened past 49 per dollar, driven by fears of
foreigners withdrawing their stock market investments if growth slowed sharply,
while government bonds were subdued as dealers awaited details of an auction due
later this week.



"The feeling that the worst is not over for the
world is looming large in the minds of investors," said Arun Kejriwal,
strategist at research firm KRIS.



"If I had money to invest, looking
at the state the world markets and India is in , I would wait for some time.
There is no hope for a major rally in the next two to three
months."



The main share index opened weaker after Asian markets
wobbled and lost ground as investors dumped frontline stocks across sectors
after sharp gains in recent months.



The 30-share BSE index ended down
4.07 percent, or 626.71 points, at 14,784.92, its lowest close since Aug. 17 and
largest drop since July 6.



Indian shares underperformed the 3.82
percent drop in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index.



Energy giant Reliance
Industries shed 4.7 percent to 1,939.60 rupees, top listed realty firm DLF
dropped 7.8 percent to 364.40 rupees and private-sector lender ICICI Bank fell
5.3 percent to 704.85 rupees.



Monsoon rains in India, Asia's
third-biggest economy, are 29 percent below average since June 1, raising
concerns of weaker farm output, a big component of domestic demand. A bad
monsoon could knock as much as 2 percentage points off growth in the current
fiscal year, economists have said.



Growth has slowed from rates of
near 9 percent seen in recent years as the global crisis derailed exports. The
economy expanded at 6.7 percent in 2008/09.



"We still expect the
economy to bottom out end-2009. Yet, the ride will be bumpier than we thought.
Let's face it: India faces severe drought," Bank of America Merrill Lynch
analyst Jyotivardhan Jaipuria said in a note to clients.



Poor
monsoons threaten to hurt sales of consumer goods, two-wheelers, tractors,
textiles and beverage industries.



"Agriculture growth is likely to
turn negative, which will pull down GDP growth from our previous estimate of 6.5
percent to around 5.8-6.2 percent in the base case, down to 5.5 percent in the
worst case," Saugata Bhattacharya, an economist at Axis Bank, said in a recent
note.



Capital inflows into stocks are a key support for the market
and the rupee. Foreign investors were seen selling heavily in the real estate
and metal counters on Monday, traders said.



The main share index
leapt almost 92 percent from a 2009 low in early March through Friday, after
slumping by more than half in 2008, and was up about 60 percent on the year,
stoking worries about rich valuations.



The index is the fourth-best
performer among major indices in the world this year and trades at 17.2 times
expected earnings, higher than other emerging markets such as South Korea,
Brazil and Indonesia which trade at a multiple of 12-14.


Govt steps up efforts to attract FDI
Concerned 46 per cent
decline in foreign investment during January-May 2009, the government has
stepped up its activities to attract FDI in sectors like textiles, roads and
other other infrastructure.



Transport Minister Kamal Nath had said
all impediments would be removed to get foreign investment in the roads and
highways sector.



He added that the roads sector is expected to
attract USD 10 billion of FDI in the next two years.



The government
is also making efforts to bring in foreign investment in the textiles sector,
the largest employer after agriculture in the country.



Textiles
Minister Dayanidhi Maran had led a business delegation to Japan last month to
woo foreign investors in the labour intensive sector.



FDI inflow in
January-May period of 2009 was USD 10.58 billion compared to USD 19.56 billion
in the same period previous year, a dip of 46 per cent.



The
government also proposes to raise the FDI cap in private insurance firms from 26
to 49 per cent and a bill to give effect to the proposal is pending in the Rajya
Sabha.



CRISIL Principal economist D K Joshi said by taking the steps
government is building pipeline to attract FDI.



He said when the
global appetite for investment is low due to slowdown, infrastructure sector has
the capability to attract investment.


Prices may go up due to erratic monsoon: RBI

The Reserve Bank today said that prices this year are likely to go up
because of the erratic monsoon.



"The expectation is that the erratic
monsoon may put pressure on inflation," RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty told
reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of regional rural bank chiefs with
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.



When asked whether farm loans
would be rescheduled because of the uncertain monsoon this year, he said that is
an issue for next year.



According to reports, rainfall in the
country between June one and August 12 has been 29 per cent below normal.




The Meteorological Department has officially declared 2009 a drought
year.



The deficient rainfall has led to reduction in Kharif sowing,
fuelling fears of high food prices in the coming months.



However,
inflation for the week ended August 1 dipped to (-) 1.74 per cent, the lowest in
three decades, even as prices of essential food items like pulses, cereals, and
fruit and vegetables continued to rise.



During the week, the prices
of cereals surged by 12 per cent, pulses by 18 per cent, and fruit and
vegetables by 18.4 per cent annually.


Nation braces for drought, worries over inflation


Meagre monsoon rains have
pushed India to the brink of drought, putting pressure on food prices and energy
supplies and imperiling economic growth, but bulging stocks of wheat and rice
will provide a buffer, top officials said on Tuesday. "We are staring at the
prospect of an impending drought," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a meeting
of environment ministers of Indian states.



India's vital monsoon
rains have been 29 percent below normal since the beginning of the
June-September season, hurting crops such as rice and cane and triggering a
sharp rise in food prices in India and sugar futures abroad. Monsoon rains
revived in the past few days, particularly in the cane-producing Uttar Pradesh
state, where the local government has declared a drought in most of the
districts, but this has not eased concerns of government and trade officials.




A central bank deputy governor said erratic monsoon rains may put
pressure on prices, but the deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission said
India had enough stocks of food to counter inflationary pressures. Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Tuesday he expects economic growth in 2009/10
to be over 6 percent, as forecast earlier and in line with a central bank
estimate, despite the monsoon shortfall.



He earlier said that "the
ground reality was that the drought has set in," according to a government
statement late on Monday. Some private economists have said poor rains could
trim economic growth by as much as 2 percentage points in the fiscal year that
ends in March. Investors, meanwhile, are growing nervous that a poor harvest
could crimp rural spending and erode profit growth for sellers of consumer
goods.



Farming accounts for just 17 percent of the Indian economy
but rural consumption makes up more than half of domestic demand. India's
economic growth slowed to 6.7 percent in its most recent fiscal year after three
straight years of growth of at least 9 percent. POWER SUPPLY Low rainfall has
slowed the refilling of India's main water reservoirs, threatening the supply of
hydropower, which accounts for a quarter of India's generation, and reducing
availability of water to irrigate winter-sown crops such as wheat and rapeseed.




Hydropower generation in India had fallen 10 percent from last year,
Central Electricity Authority Chairman Rakesh Nath told reporters. The weather
office has forecast widespread rains in the key cane-growing areas in north and
northwest India as well as the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the main
soybean-growing region.



India's farm minister, Sharad Pawar, said on
Monday that the country needed to raise planting of winter-sown crops and
improve irrigation to make up for the damage to farms. Monsoon rains are vital
for India's summer-sown crops such as rice, sugarcane and soybeans because the
majority of the farmers do not have access to irrigation facilities.


Minister says Posco moving to different place; company denies
Faced with problems in acquiring land at the site of its proposed Rs
51,000 crore steel plant in Orissa, South Korean steel giant will slightly alter
its location, Mines Minister B K Handique said on Tuesday.



"Posco is
facing problem of land (acquisition). Now recently they came to me. They have
decided to move to a different place," he told reporters on the sidelines of
conference here.



Later, the minister's office said that Posco will
not move out of Orissa -- where the firm is awaiting iron ore leases -- but they
may be moving to a nearby location.



When contacted Posco India
Vice-President Vikas Sharan said, "There were never any plans to move from the
site area in the past nor there are any such plans now. We are committed to the
Orissa project."



Meanwhile speaking in Orissa, a Posco official
admitted that some villagers at the proposed plant site are still opposed to the
project, and efforts are on to win them over.



The South Korean steel
maker has proposed setting up an integrated steel project in Orissa with a
capacity of 12 million tonne per annum.

Poor monsoon could lower growth: Ahluwalia

18 Aug 2009, 1417 hrs IST,
REUTERS
NEW
DELHI: India's growth projection could be trimmed due to a poor monsoon, but the
country has adequate food stocks to counter inflationary pressures, the plan
panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Tuesday.



"The
existence of drought by itself can only lead to some shaving down of growth
projections," Ahluwalia told reporters on the sidelines of a conference. "We
have more than enough food stocks to counter... inflationary pressures."

India's FY10 growth could slow to 5.5% on rains: Nomura

17 Aug 2009, 1456 hrs IST,
REUTERS

MUMBAI:
India's economic growth could slow to around 5.5 percent in 2009/10 hurt by a
poor monsoon, but rates may start rising in early 2010 as inflation expectations
increase, Nomura said in a
note.



Rainfall was 29 percent
below normal as of Aug. 12, government data shows. This is a concern for
agriculture production as only 40 percent of India's farmland is
irrigated.



Nomura said it was
too early to assess how much growth will be affected as it depends on the
severity of damage done, farmers' ability to shift to shorter-duration crops and
post-monsoon showers that will determine soil
moisture.



It has therefore
retained its 2009/10 growth forecast of 6.3 percent and 2010/11 estimate of 7.5
percent, said Sonal Varma, economist at Nomura, who authored the
report.



Nomura said although
agriculture is a drag, signs of global recovery, strong industrial output growth
in June could act as tailwinds to
growth.



Decline in rural
incomes could be partly offset by alternate rural job opportunities under the
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which did not previously exist,
it said.



The rural sector will
also benefit from government spending on rural infrastructure, last year's
increase of minimum support prices for food grains and diversification into
higher-value products such as fruits, vegetables, milk, meat and fish, the note
said.



The drought could push
inflation to 6.5-7 percent by end-March 2010 from the current forecast of 5.5
percent, Nomura
said.



Drought-related spending
is likely to negate the upside to the central fiscal deficit estimate of 6.8
percent of gross domestic product that it had expected due to higher revenues,
it said.



Nomura expects the
central bank to allow the rupee to appreciate to curb inflation and sees it at
44 to the dollar by March 2010 from around 48
currently.



While the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) may postpone its first rate hike by a quarter in the case of
a severe drought, it may hike rates at a faster pace as inflation picks up and
growth rebounds next year. it said.

Indian investors upbeat about econ prospects: Survey

17 Aug 2009, 1305 hrs IST,
REUTERS

MUMBAI:
Indian investors

were upbeat about economic and investment prospects, a survey
launched by JP Morgan Asset Management and Valuenotes said on Monday.




The index, published on a quarterly basis, aims to measure
confidence levels of retail, corporate and financial advisers on the economic
and investment

environment in India and values are assigned between zero and
200, with zero denoting a very negative outlook and 200 the highest value.




The investment confidence Index was at 135.9 at the end of July 2009
indicating a high degree of confidence among investors and was calculated by
averaging the values of three sub indices.



Retail investors are more
confident of making additional investments than financial advisers and investors
expect the benchmark stock index to rise to 16,000-17,000 by December 2009. It
was down 2.6 percent at 15,000 on Monday.



Half the firms surveyed
said the rupee will likely gain in the next six months while 76 per cent of
respondents said interest rates will rise. The survey follows similiar indices
launched in Britain, Germany, France, Japan and Hong Kong, the release said.

Bolt sets record to win 100m gold

ATHLETICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Venue: Olympic Stadium, Berlin Date: 15-23 August
Coverage:
Watch the action live and highlights on BBC Two, BBC HD, Red Button,
Radio 5 live and the BBC Sport website (video for UK users only)




Full BBC coverage details

Replay - Record-breaking Bolt wins 100m gold

Triple Olympic champion Usain Bolt set
a new world record as he stormed to a stunning victory in the 100m at
the World Championships in Berlin.

The 22-year-old Jamaican
recorded a time of 9.58 seconds to take 0.11 off the mark he set last
year when winning gold at the Beijing Olympics.

American Tyson Gay was second in a time of 9.71, with Jamaica's Asafa Powell claiming bronze in 9.84.

Britain's Dwain Chambers came sixth in a season's best time of 10.00.

Bolt, who set three world records when winning his Olympic golds in
Beijing last summer, served up another superlative display to enhance
his reputation as the best sprinter of all time.

TOM FORDYCE BLOG To take another 11 hundredths of a second off that defies logic, history and everyone else's biology

In the final, he powered out of the blocks at the first time of
asking and took control of the race within the first 30m, the crowd
going wild as he streaked across the line.

Bolt's time represents the biggest increase in the record since electronic timing was introduced in 1968.

"I was ready, I was feeling good after the semi-finals," Bolt told BBC Sport.

"I knew it was going to be a great race and I came out and executed it.
It's a great time. I did well and I feel good in myself."

Former world record holder Powell paid tribute to his compatriot,
saying: "When I saw the time I had to try and catch him, but I
couldn't."

Gay, who went into the final as the reigning world
champion, has been troubled by a nagging groin pain and had to cut
practice on his start.

I expected a great race - Bolt

"I ran the best I could but it was not enough," he said. "I believe
I put in a championship performance and I am very pleased with the
national record.

"I'm happy he ran 9.5 because I knew he could do it. I'm happy for him."

Chambers, back competing at the top level after serving a two-year ban
for taking the designer steroid THG in 2003, said the final was a
"great experience".

"It is hard to explain what it is like to
go out there and stand on the line to compete with the best in the
world," said the 31-year-old. "It does not get easier as you get older
but it is worth it."

Earlier, there was controversy as Britain's Tyrone Edgar was disqualified from the semi-finals.

After Bolt made the opening false start, Edgar was ruled to have
transgressed the second time, although initial reaction times seemed to
suggest that decision was harsh.

"I don't think it was a false
start," said the 27-year-old Edgar, who was also disqualified at the
London Grand Prix last month.

"To me it looked pretty good but there is nothing I can do. I am not
going to argue the point. I am disappointed right now because I reckon
I would have made the final."

Two Brits Reach 800m Final

Weekend Review

Ennis Rules The World

Updated: 17 Aug, 20:57 GMT

LATEST FROM:
International Association of Athletics Federations

Second - Leslie DJHONE, FRA

First - LaShawn MERRITT, USA

First - Chris BROWN, BAH

Second - David GILLICK, IRL

Updated: 18 Aug, 11:7 GMT

see also

Superb Ennis wins heptathlon gold










16 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Athletics Worlds - day two as it happened










16 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Athletics World Champs photos










16 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Bolt and Gay ease into 100m semis










15 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Athletics Worlds - day one as it happened










15 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Athletics World Champs - day one photos










15 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Jamaican stars cleared for Berlin










12 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Bolt and Gay to star in Brussels










05 Aug 09 | 
Athletics

Gay sweeps to 100m win in Sweden










31 Jul 09 | 
Athletics

Battle of the sprint kings










26 Jul 09 | 
Athletics

Athletics on the BBC










28 Jul 09 | 
Athletics

---

related bbc links:

Katharine Merry's blog

Have your say on athletics on 606

How to get involved in athletics

related internet links:

Follow BBC's Tom Fordyce in Berlin on Twitter

Berlin World Championships 2009

International Athletics

UK Athletics

Find an athletics club in the UK

Find a running race in the UK

Running tips and tools - Runners World

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FROM OTHER SPORT SITES

AFP via Yahoo! Bolt coasts through 200m heat at worlds - 44 mins ago

Barbados Daily Nation Bolt lockdown - 1 hr ago

Turkish Daily With 100m title and record, Bolt sets eye on 200m gold - 1 hr ago

Daily Times Record-shattering Bolt lights up Berlin - 3 hrs ago

Gulf Times Bolt eyes world domination after record - 4 hrs ago

About these results

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8204381.stm

Science ponders 'zombie attack'

By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News

There has been a revival of the zombie film in recent years

If zombies actually existed, an attack
by them would lead to the collapse of civilisation unless dealt with
quickly and aggressively.

That is the conclusion of a mathematical exercise carried out by researchers in Canada.

They say only frequent counter-attacks with increasing force would eradicate the fictional creatures.

The scientific paper is published in a book - Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress.

In
books, films, video games and folklore, zombies are undead creatures,
able to turn the living into other zombies with a bite.

But there is a serious side to the work.

In some respects, a zombie "plague" resembles a lethal rapidly-spreading infection.

My understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a zombie then it's dead forever Professor Neil Ferguson

In their study, the researchers from the University of Ottawa and
Carleton University (also in Ottawa) posed a question: If there was to
be a battle between zombies and the living, who would win?

Professor
Robert Smith? (the question mark is part of his surname and not a
typographical mistake) and colleagues wrote: "We model a zombie attack
using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies.

"We introduce a basic model for zombie infection and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions."

On
his university web page, the mathematics professor at Ottawa University
says the question mark distinguishes him from Robert Smith, lead singer
of rock band The Cure.

FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME More from Today programme

To give the living a fighting chance, the researchers chose
"classic" slow-moving zombies as our opponents rather than the nimble,
intelligent creatures portrayed in some recent films.

"While we
are trying to be as broad as possible in modelling zombies - especially
as there are many variables - we have decided not to consider these
individuals," the researchers said.

Back for good?

Even so, their analysis revealed that a strategy of capturing or curing the zombies would only put off the inevitable.

In
their scientific paper, the authors conclude that humanity's only hope
is to "hit them [the undead] hard and hit them often".

They added: "It's imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly or else... we are all in a great deal of trouble."

According
to the researchers, the key difference between the zombies and the
spread of real infections is that "zombies can come back to life".

But they say that their work has parallels with, for example, the spread of ideas.

The
study has been welcomed by one of the world's leading disease
specialists, Professor Neil Ferguson, who is one of the UK government's
chief advisors on controlling the spread of swine flu.

"The
paper considers something that many of us have worried about -
particularly in our younger days - of what would be a feasible way of
tackling an outbreak of a rapidly spreading zombie infection," said
Professor Ferguson, from Imperial College London.

However he thinks that some of the assumptions made in the paper might be unduly alarmist.

"My
understanding of zombie biology is that if you manage to decapitate a
zombie then it's dead forever. So perhaps they are being a little
over-pessimistic when they conclude that zombies might take over a city
in three or four days," he said.

EE ALSO

Director on £45 zombie film










27 Jul 09 | 
Entertainment

RELATED INTERNET LINKS

Zombies Study (University of Ottawa)

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TOP SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT STORIES

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8206280.stm

Political card in aircraft dogfight - Makers of Eurofighter up the ante on the ground to beat American contenders in the race for $11-billion air force contract

SUJAN DUTTA

File pictures of a Boeing F/A-18 E/F Superhornet (top) and a Eurofighter Typhoon New Delhi, Aug. 17: The great duel in the skies for an Indian Air Force order that could top $11 billion for 126 fighter aircraft began in Bangalore today, but the real action is being worked out in boardrooms of aviation majors. At least one of the six competitors in the race, EADS, is saying upfront that it will gift-wrap its offer of the Eurofighter Typhoon for the IAF with a “political package”. “All such deals have a technical dimension as well as a political dimension,” chief executive officer of EADS defence and security, Bernhard Gerwert, told The Telegraph recently. EADS had flown Indian journalists to the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, the UK, and to the German assembly plant at Manching last month to demonstrate the capabilities of the Eurofighter Typhoon. “What that package will be is still being worked out. But an association with EADS means that India is associating with the governments of four countries in Europe and that can go a long way,” said Gerwert. The governments and the air forces of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain collaborate to make the Eurofighter Typhoon. EADS is upping the ante in the race for the IAF order because of a perception that the US, with its clout and the growing proximity of Indian and US military forces, could swing the deal towards one of the two American competitors —- the F-16 IN Super Viper made by Lockheed Martin or the Boeing F/A-18 E/F Superhornet. Lt General Klaus-Peter Stieglitz, the chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, the German air force, was also forthright: “The political package has to be negotiated; as we did with Austria and Switzerland. But it is still quite early.” The Eurofighter is a precious customer in Austria and is vying for an order from Switzerland for which the flight trials are over. The clinching of the End-User Monitoring and Verification Agreement between America and India is being seen by the competitors of the US as the latest symbol of the political closeness between the two countries and their militaries. What the “political package” can be is yet to be defined. But EADS, at least, and the French government — which recently hosted a contingent of the Indian armed forces and the Prime Minister on Bastille Day — are convinced that it has to be a substantial concession. This could be, for example, a re-alignment of the European position on Jammu and Kashmir, bringing it closer to India’s stand. But no one is talking about that yet. In Bangalore today, the IAF’s principal director, Air Staff Requirements at the Air Headquarters, Air Commodore Rakesh Dhir, began supervising the flight tests on the F/A-18 Superhornet. Boeing Integrated Defence Systems has flown two US aircraft to the south Indian city that is also home to Hindustan Aeronautics and the Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation. This is one of the seven schools of its kind in the world, to which the IAF seconds its test pilots. Two test pilots, a group captain and a wing commander, will take turns flying the Superhornet and, later in September, the F-16 and the Russian MiG 35. Two other top guns will put the Eurofighter, the French Rafale and the Swedish JAS-39C Gripen to tests. The flight evaluations are scheduled to be completed by April next year, after which the IAF evaluation team will fly to the home countries of the manufacturers, or any other designated site, to test weapon systems and armaments. The flight evaluation tests begin after the technical paperwork of each of the six contestants is found to be in order by the defence ministry. A senior officer at Air Headquarters said the aircraft would be flown out of Bangalore, Jaisalmer and Leh for testing in normal, hot and cold weather conditions. The performance of each of the aircraft will be quantified for take-offs, sustained turns and tight turns. Sample missions will be assigned to the aircraft for ground strike, maritime strike, air-defence/air-superiority, acceleration and climb performance. “We might assign, for example, an aircraft to accelerate from 0.8 mach to 1.42 mach within a specified time (seconds),” the officer said. One mach is the speed of sound. The evaluation will also assess systems navigation, radar abilities, self-defence suits, electronic warfare systems and the ability of the aircraft to carry extra load (weapons, bombs). One of the requirements to evaluate the “multi-role” ability of the aircraft is whether they are capable of carrying and dropping big 2000-pounder bombs at designated ground targets. “The tests have to be tabulated and the results brought out statistically,” said the officer. After this, the IAF will ask for the MTBF — mean time between failures — to arrive at the cost of operating each of the aircraft over the period they are to be in service, an estimated 40 years. This is the first time that the IAF has adopted “lifecycle costing” or “cost of ownership” to conclude the expenses to be incurred on each aircraft. This is primarily because of the IAF’s experience with Russian equipment, so far the Indian military’s mainstay. The top brass and the defence establishment adopted the cost-of-ownership method because they concluded that Russian equipment were cheaper off the shelf but more expensive in service life because of shortages in spares and back-ups. A major concern of the competitors has been how the IAF will attempt to fix the cost-of-ownership of twin-engine aircraft like the Superhornet, the Rafale, the MiG 35 and the Eurofighter with single-engine aircraft like the Super Viper and the Gripen. The single-engine aircraft will clearly be much cheaper. But air headquarters sources say the costs will also be offset against performance because twin-engine aircraft will be more powerful and are expected to be more versatile, if heavier.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090818/jsp/nation/story_11372651.jsp

Singh warns country, pushes Pak Rap on Assam, Manipur, Nagaland - Chief ministers bond in capital

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, Aug. 17: Assam, Manipur and Nagaland today drew flak from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who said the situation in these states remained “problematic and worrisome”. “Assam and Manipur account for a disproportionately large number of violent incidents reported from the Nor-theast, with the latter’s share being as high as 30 per cent,” Singh said while inaugurating the chief ministers’ conference on internal security here. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi’s government faced criticism from all quarters. It was clear that the Centre was unhappy about the situation exacerbated by outfits like the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) in North Cachar Hills district as it posed hurdles to development in neighbouring Manipur and Mizoram as well. The criticism was levelled not only at control of insurgent groups but also questioned the utilisation of hundreds of crores of rupees granted to these states. “In Assam, the Centre had sanctioned Rs 750 crore for development of the Bodo areas. But the utilisation of these funds remains unsatisfactory,” the Prime Minister said. Singh asked Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh to put in place appropriate mechanisms. In a lacklustre speech, Ibobi Singh kept asking the Centre for help and sought a ban on pre-paid mobile phones in the state to tackle militancy. His speech apparently did not cut ice with the Prime Minister’s Office. The Prime Minister also expressed concern over the resettlement and rehabilitation of people affected by violence in the Bodo areas and in North Cachar Hills of Assam. After a rap from the Prime Minister, Gogoi’s speech did not reflect his demeanour. “I am happy to state that because of the relentless counter-insurgency operations by the security forces under the Unified Command structure, violent activities of militant outfits have been controlled to a large extent in the state in 2009 except in NC Hills,” he said. Immediately afterwards, however, Gogoi conceded that the pro-Ranjan Daimary faction of the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB) had stepped up violent activities on the North Bank of the Brahmaputra. Home minister P. Chidambaram iterated that the Centre would talk to any group only if it abjured violence, laid down arms and offered to surrender. Like the Prime Minister, he, too, made no bones about his disappointment on the performance of these states. The home minister said he regretted to say that he could not report much progress in the Northeastern states. He even made an oblique reference to some state governments’ soft approach towards militants. “At times, we find that some state governments have allowed themselves to bend before insurgent groups, making the fight against insurgency that much more difficult,” he said. Recently, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio’s statement on “emotional integration with Nagas in Myanmar” had raised eyebrows in Delhi. While the statement seemed a tacit approval of the NSCN (I-M)’s demand for integration of Naga areas, today Rio blamed the NSCN (I-M) of hobnobbing with Harkat-ul Jehad-al Islami (Huji), a fundamentalist group of Bangladesh. Chidambaram will now hold discussions with the state governments and chalk out state-specific strategies to deal with insurgent groups “in the three most affected states”.

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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090818/jsp/frontpage/story_11372797.jsp

Politicos make drought too a hit

18 Aug 2009, 0250 hrs IST,
ET Bureau

MUMBAI:
Most politicians love a good drought. For, people in distress offer a fertile
ground for political machinations. Politicians can play on their anger, make use
of their helplessness and present themselves as their saviours. And leaders in
Maharashtra are no exception.



With the state assembly elections to
be announced any time, politicians across parties are scrambling to get their
constituencies declared as ‘drought-hit’. For, the tag
“drought-hit” brings a slew of sops to the region like a freeze on
loan recovery, substantial concession in electricity bills, no property tax,
free fodder for livestock, etc.



“Once you get the region
declared drought-affected, the maintenance of the region is the
government’s responsibility. So, there is certainly a premium attached to
it, especially during election time,” a senior functionary from the
state’s finance ministry told ET.



Patangrao Kadam, a Congress
heavyweight and the state revenue minister, who is also in charge of the
state’s relief and rehabilitation department, concurs with the view.
“Yes, there is pressure to bring more and more areas under the
classification drought-hit,” he said.



The government, too, has
been generous in declaring areas as drought-hit. Until last week, the government
has declared 151 out of 355 talukas in the state as drought-affected.




Mr Kadam sees the government’s action as nothing but normal.
He blames the age-old and outdated norms (for declaring an area drought-hit) for
such a large number of talukas falling under the drought-hit list, just half way
through the monsoon season.



As per the existing norms, a fall below
50% in agriculture production makes the farmers eligible for concessions. If the
average yield of a taluka or tehsil falls below 50%, it’s qualified to be
called calamity-hit. “But there are other issues... like fodder
availability and the region’s overall economy; they too should be
considered,” says Mr Kadam. “We are planning to reconsider the
norms.”



For the drought-hit regions, the government has
approved Rs 100 crore for potable water and Rs 200 crore for fodder depots. The
farmers will get a 33% concession in power tariff.



The Maharashtra
cabinet has decided to raise chief minister’s contingency fund by Rs 350
crore to combat drought. “The present Rs 150 crore limit of the fund is
being raised by Rs 350 crore so that effective steps can be taken in emergency
to tackle drought and inflation,” a government spokesperson said. The
utilisation of the fund is wholly at the chief minister’s
discretion.



Nevertheless, the spectre of a severe drought is looming
large over Maharashtra. About half of the state is already facing drought-like
situations. For the period between July 28 and August 11, rainfall in the state
has been 74% of normal, compared with 85% during the corresponding period a year
ago.



About 35% of standing crops in the state is likely to be
impacted if it does not rain for another seven days. The area spread over 45
lakh hectares covers soybean, cotton and some kharif pulses.



Soybean
cultivation is 8.3% higher in Maharashtra this year at nearly 30 lakh hectares,
while cotton acreage has risen to 34.6 lakh hectares from 28.8 lakh hectares in
the previous year. Pulses have been sown on 19.4 lakh hectares, compared to 16.7
lakh hectares last year. Sugarcane cultivation in the state is spread over 77
lakh hectares. Sowing has been completed in 99% of the area.

Using bilateral economic pacts to our advantage

18 Aug 2009, 0601 hrs IST, KG Narendranath,
ET Bureau

India
most definitely won’t be a net gainer from the Agreement on Trade in Goods
(ATG) that it signed with the 10-member Asean bloc in Bangkok last week. The
country can now hope that when this agreement becomes a CECA (comprehensive
economic cooperation agreement) as was envisaged in the hastily-concluded 2003
framework agreement, the situation would change. The two sides have set an early
deadline (December 2009) to conclude talks on the CECA, yet it is unreasonable
to expect that Asean would indulge India as much as is needed to restore
balance. India should have insisted, right at the beginning of the talks, that
all elements of the CECA, including investment, trade in services etc. that are
now left to be negotiated, are discussed together.



Under the ATG,
New Delhi will eliminate the tariffs on 4,185 items (80% of the total tariff
lines) in four-to-seven years, from Jan 1, 2010. Most of these items currently
attract the peak customs duty of 10%. India maintains a simple average tariff of
15% on goods while the same is about 5% for most Asean countries. So, it is
easier for Asean to comply than India.



Of course, with income levels
rising and the investment rate being high, India is becoming an import-intensive
economy and this would be so for the next few years at least. Almost all major
Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand
export more value to India than they import. Rising consumption is making tariff
walls redundant and there is increasingly clear evidence against the policy of
keeping ‘bound tariffs’ at very high rates. Even as we take a tough
stand at the WTO, the tariffs on most goods are, in any case, being cut
progressively to cater to the rising needs of the industry and consuming public.
Therefore, there is hardly a case for scare-mongering if the tariffs are cut a
little faster and steeper for some 10 countries that together account for 10% of
India’s global trade.



The question is whether the government
could address the concerns of certain constituencies that would face a real
problem if imports tariffs go down. Kerala farmers, for instance. Under the ATG,
India would have a negative list of 489 items on which there won’t be any
commitments whatsoever and the list includes a large number of raw farm goods
like coconut, rubber, cashew, vanilla, beetle nut, nutmeg, cardamom, fish,
shrimp, crab etc. Quite a lot of ‘important’ industrial items
— textiles, chemicals, auto components etc.— is also in the negative
list. Then there is a ‘sensitive list’ of 585 items which include
processed farm goods and industrial products on which the tariffs would be
reduced to 5% by 2016.



In the case of another five “highly
sensitive” items namely coffee, tea, pepper, crude/refined palm oil, India
will have no obligation under the agreement to bring down tariffs below certain
specified ``comfort levels.” So, the tariffs on coffee/tea would be
reduced from 100% at present to 45% and, on pepper from 70% to 50% in ten
years. Such a gradual reduction, with the residual tariffs being pegged at
reasonably high levels, should not really be a problem for the domestic
plantation sector. Similarly, the customs duties on crude and refined palm oil
are 0% and 7.5% at present (thanks to autonomous rate cuts), but the country
will be under no obligation to bring down the tariff vis-à-vis Asean
countries below 37.5% (crude) and 45% (refined) in the next ten years. Further,
any abnormal import surge can be tackled through safeguard duties in the first
four years of the agreement.



So, if the policymakers here committed
a faux pas, it is in their failure in persuading Asean to discuss all CECA
components concurrently. Whatever concessions that have been given to Asean in
the area of trade in goods would not put the Indian stakeholders in a precarious
position, but India could have made these a hard bargain and extracted
concessions from the Asean bloc in areas like trade in services and investment,
which are where we would indeed have to gain a lot.



This is also the
strategy that should be followed when it comes to the other bilateral economic
agreements being planned, especially the ones with the European Union and Japan.
It will help address the structural weakness of bilateral trade liberalisation
as opposed to the multilateral process.

Govt may freeze NREGA wage rate at Rs 100 per day 18 Aug 2009, 0148 hrs IST, Subodh Ghildiyal, TNN

NEW
DELHI: In a bid to limit the fiscal burden of Congress’s ‘aam
aadmi’ poll promise, Centre is likely to ensure that NREGA wage rate is
frozen at Rs 100 for future.



The move comes couched as Congress
redeeming its poll promise of giving a real wage rate of Rs 100 under job
scheme. The poll pledge was meant to hike the wages in states where they were
stuck at lower levels.



The rural development ministry’s
proposal, to be discussed with Central Employment Guarantee Council, an apex
body of experts on NREGA, appears a deft attempt to outsmart states which are
increasing their minimum wages to force higher remuneration under the job
scheme. The NREG Act sets minimum wages of states as the wage to be paid under
NREGA.



Ninety per cent of NREGA funds are shouldered by Centre. What
seems to have triggered a flat Rs 100 wage is the decision of many states to
hike their minimum wages even beyond Rs 100. Karnataka, Punjab, Bengal, MP, HP,
AP, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh hiked their minimum wages recently and asked RD
ministry to notify the same under NREGA.



According to the proposal,
states could ask the Centre for a NREGA wage hike “subject to a limit of
upto Rs 100 per personday”. At the same time, Centre will give Rs 100-plus
wages in states where the high rates were prevalent on January 1, 2009. If the
move finds favour with CEGC, experts said, future proposals from the states
demanding Rs 100-plus NREGA rates in conformity with hiked minimum wages would
automatically become redundant.

New tax code - A paradigm shift

17 Aug 2009, 0341 hrs IST, N K SINGH,


In more ways than one the new direct
tax code is a culmination of tax reforms initiated in the early ’90s.



Chidambaram’s dream budget with which I was associated had
compressed income-tax rates to three slabs of 10, 20, 30 and corporate rate at
35.



This was based on two well accepted paradigms. First that modest
tax rates create virtuous circle of improved compliance and widen the tax net.
Second, the so-called undocumented Laffer Curve effect in which lowering of tax
rates in fact improve overall revenue realisation. The present tax code and the
enabling legislation appended with the code bears the imprint of
Chidambaram’s drafting skills and clarity of intent. Pranab Mukherjee must
be complemented in having overcome multiple hurdles and in putting this document
in public domain.



Taxation must subserve multiple objectives. Most
importantly to finance government expenditure but in the process combine equity
and efficiency. In doing so it needs to harmonise the objectives of maximising
resources with a wider social purpose of fostering development, encouraging
capital accumulation and investment as well as minimising the distortionary
impact of exemptions designed to benefit a group of individuals or segments of
society. Earlier attempts to eliminate this complex contradictory spagetti bowl
of distortionary exemptions were stalled by powerful lobbies, a nexus between
the law makers, beneficiaries and policy designers. The success of this code is
therefore predicated on the ability to withstand these debilitating pressures to
restore exemptions in one form or the other.



I am given to understand
that the overall impact of the proposed legislation is revenue neutral. I expect
this to be revenue positive if past is any guide to the future and the broad
principle that lower tax rates will lead to tax widening and improved compliance
continues to be valid. One broad criticism of the code could be to question
whether it is progressive enough. Given our development compulsions and high
incidence of poverty progressivity in tax regime is an important objective. That
is why improved revenue buoyancy will be its cardinal test and in some ways it
is raison d’etre. Of course, everyone realises the more heavily a man is
supposed to be taxed the more power he has to escape being taxed.




The tax code introduces several features, which deserve attention:




First and foremost in fostering savings and investments by
discouraging consumption. This is in line with what analysts have suggested that
India unlike China must move away from a consumption-led growth to an
investment-led growth. Their prescription for China is just the opposite. This
explains the rationale of EET (Exempt Exempt Tax), namely, initial investment
and interest are exempt but withdrawal would be subject to normal taxes.




This will cause hardship for PF, senior citizens and others who
towards the latter part of their life wish to enjoy better life quality through
enhanced consumption. Similarly, for the corporate sector the exemption regime
moves away from a profit-based to investment-based incentives for specific
categories of investments in sectors like power, oil and gas, SEZs. However, it
is often suggested that in times of recession consumption also needs a stimulus.
The higher disposable incomes in the hands of consumers and corporates would
hopefully achieve this purpose.



Second, the code by accepting the
principle of grand-fathering and seeking prospective applications avoids
multiple controversies and makes for easier transition.



Third, while
retaining exemptions in religious institutions but subjecting other trusts and
organisations to a modest 15% tax, it combines the virtue of pragmatism, while
minimising multiple misuse.



Fourth, the simplification of capital
gains tax by eliminating the distinction between short-term and long-term gains
and encouraging more transactions by eliminating the security transactions tax
and simplifying the dividend distribution tax are positive.



Fifth,
the provision of a minimum alternative tax at 2% of the value of gross assets is
based on the principle of incentivising efficiency. This deserves wider
consultations. It could discourage long-term lumpy investments and more
importantly not protect against business cycles with prolonged recession with
negative cash flows if companies do not have the reserves to meet this onerous
liability. At the same time the original intend of MAT needed to be restructured
to subserve its original intent.



Sixth, while the provisions of
general avoidance rule and double taxation is designed to prevent misuse, it is
not clear if a code can override existing international treaties and obligations
embedded in double taxation agreements. Given international experience and the
need to discourage round tripping, this is a good time to renegotiate our
multiple double taxation agreements by aligning them with the provisions of the
tax code.



Finally, litigation and tax pendency has been an area of
continuing concern. Alternative tax resolution methods and dispute settlement
mechanism need further innovation. The constitution of the National Tax Tribunal
to hear appeals from ITAT could minimise high court pendencies. Nonetheless, the
existing appellate mechanisms which the code endorses need further
consideration. The present regime leaves both revenue officials and assessees
dissatisfied even making the allowances that their interest can never be
symmetrical. The reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the working
of the Public Accounts Committee that induce assessing officers to make large
additions and exhaust all appellate processes result in serious distortions.




This needs a mindset change embedded in greater trust and accepting
the bona fide judgements of tax officials. All over the world, tax officials are
never high in popularity rating. While we must seek greater transparency and
minimise scope for corruption, we need to invest more in training, technology
infrastructure and resources. India has one of the lowest cost of compliance
even compared to emerging markets. As we move to adopt a new code, we need to
assign more talent and resources to the revenue department.



The new
legislation is a paradigm shift in our approach to taxation. It will be a test
of perseverance and political will to ensure its early enactment and more
importantly prevent any serious dilution of its basic features. The code is a
composite package. This is a case where the whole is bigger than mere sum of the
parts.



(The author, a former revenue
secretary, is a Rajya Sabha member)

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/New-tax-code--A-paradigm-shift/articleshow/4900399.cms

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Naveen asks for police training Calcutta Telegraph Pratibha proposes, Naveen disposes Daily News & Analysis Indian Express - Business Standard - The Statesman - Zee News all 70 news articles » Email this story Fresh News Early apex court hearing in gay case Calcutta Telegraph - ‎13 hours ago‎ New Delhi, Aug. 17: The Supreme Court today said it would hear as soon as possible pleas to stay the Delhi High Court verdict legalising adult consensual gay sex because of the “sensitivities” involved but refused to set aside the order immediately. Apex court issues notice to Centre on gay ruling Economic Times SC again refuses to stay HC verdict legalising gay sex The Statesman Times of India - IBNLive.com - Indlaw.com - Indian Express all 39 news articles » हिंदी में Email this story The Hindu CMs' meet turns BJP vs Cong battle IBNLive.com - ‎14 hours ago‎ New Delhi: At the Chief Ministers' conference in New Delhi on Monday, the growing divide between the Centre and Opposition-held states like Gujarat came to fore yet again when Gujarat CM Narendra Modi took on the Centre for refusing to pass the Gujarat ... At internal security meet, politics takes front seat Indian Express Modi suggests 'paradigm shift' in judicial system Indlaw.com DeshGujarat - Ahmedabad Newsline - Press Trust of India - SamayLive all 44 news articles » Email this story The Hindu Bangalore: Poll Code Violation - EC Censures CM for Unsatisfactory ... Daijiworld.com - ‎5 hours ago‎ Bangalore, Aug 18: The state Election Commission (EC), unhappy over the unsatisfactory reply furnished to it by the Chief Minister (CM) BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday August 16, in response to the show-cause notice issued by it to him on Friday August 14, ... EC censures Karnataka CM for 'wilful' violation of model code Times of India Poll code violation: EC censures CM Express Buzz Press Trust of India - Indopia - The Hindu - Deccan Herald all 26 news articles » Email this story HC quashes fair price shop Times of India - ‎14 hours ago‎ LUCKNOW: Allahabad high court has expressed its displeasure over allotment of a fair price-shop licence to the daughter of a cabinet minister in Mayawati government. PDS shop allotment: HC asks minister's daughter to pay compensation Lucknow Newsline Allahabad HC Bar Assoc: Demand for creation of bench is ... Indlaw.com Zee News - Indopia - Press Trust of India - Times of India all 9 news articles » Email this story South Asia Mail US aid to Pak being used against India: Krishna Indian Express - ‎12 hours ago‎ External Affairs Minister SM Krishna has said that military aid being given to Pakistan by the US to fight terror groups is being directed against India and New Delhi has 'emphatically registered' its concerns about the same with the US government. 'US should not supply drone tech to Pakistan' Daily Times Aid to Pak is directed against India: India to US Press Trust of India Times Now.tv - Central Chronicle - SINDH TODAY - The News International all 20 news articles » Email this story

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Sensex sinks with global markets, drops 626 points In sync rupee tumbles 71 paise, breaches 49-mark against dollar. Mumbai, Aug. 17 Stock markets took a battering on Monday on the back of fears that the global economic recovery will be slower than expected even as poor monsoon continued to cast ... Anil Ambani group steps up campaign against Reliance on gas issue NTPC shareholders seek probe into contract with Reliance Industries. New Delhi, Aug. 17 In its continuing media campaign against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and the Government on the KG Basin gas issue, the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s ...

The RBI Governor, Dr D. S...	TODAY'S PICK (Latest Audio: English/Tamil) Nagarjuna Construction (Rs 122.4): Sell We recommend a sell in the stock of Nagarjuna Construction Company from a short-term perspective. It is apparent from the charts that the stock was on an intermediate-term uptrend from its March low of Rs 34 to its July high of Rs 159 (a ... Day Trading Guide

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Jet to go in for more Airbus 330s
30%
more cost efficient than Boeing 777s: CEO. Mumbai, Aug. 17 Jet Airways
has decided to go in for more Airbus 330s, and not Boeing 777s, thanks
to the ...

Aurobindo Pharma to acquire group firm Trident Life Sciences for Rs 135 cr
Gets
foothold in the injectables segment. Hyderabad, Aug. 17 The Rs
2,800-crore Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (APL) will buy out its group company —
Trident Life Sciences Ltd (TLSL), a clinical research organisation
(CRO) – for about Rs ...

Lakshmi Venu to join Sundaram Clayton
Mumbai,
Aug. 17 Ms Lakshmi Venu, the 26-year-old daughter of Chennai-based
industrialists, Mr Venu Srinivasan and Ms Mallika Srinivasan, will soon
join the corporate office of Sundaram Clayton, the holding company of
...

Gold ETFs outperform other assets in last 1 year
Gold
collections up 24% to 6.19 tonnes. Mumbai, Aug. 17 Investors of Gold
Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) have made more returns than any other asset
class in the last one ...

Chinese curse on Indian shares
Sensex
and Shanghai index show high positive correlation. BL Research Bureau
China and India are mentioned in the same breath by investors in the
global financial community because the countries have similar economic
growth trajectory. But this ...

A safe harbour for ports
India
has a coastline of 7,517 km, including the circumference of its
islands. Without the islands, the coastline is 6,100 km. More than
3,500 km of this are accessible to large vessels. To serve this long
coastline, India has 12 major ...

Banks remain cautious on global fund raising plans
Wary
of likely increase in LIBOR hitting balance-sheets. Bangalore, Aug. 17
Public and private sector banks are holding back their global
capital-raising programmes through Medium Term Note (MTN) issuances
despite softening of international ...

Truant monsoon dampens cement prices
Rs
8-10 fall in prices of 50-kg bags. Mumbai, Aug. 17 The weak monsoon has
taken its toll on cement prices which are down Rs 8-10 a 50-kg bag in
the southern market and by Rs 3-5 in the western and eastern ...

Social networking sites in the line of fire
Coimbatore,
Aug. 17 Tracing one’s hostel mate or batch mate at school or college
would have been a tedious task some years back, though not any ...

Cyclonic whirl duo drives rain into south peninsula
Thiruvananthapuram,
Aug 17 Monsoon rains in the South of the country got a leg-up on Monday
with upper air cyclonic circulations popping up over strategic
positions over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of ...

INDUSTRY & ECONOMY



ECONOMY:
Sensex sinks with global markets, drops 626 points

In sync rupee tumbles 71 paise, breaches 49-mark against dollar.
Mumbai, Aug. 17 Stock markets took a battering on Monday on the back of
fears that the global economic recovery will be slower than expected
even as poor monsoon continued to cast ...




COURTS/LEGAL ISSUES:
Anil Ambani group steps up campaign against Reliance on gas issue
NTPC
shareholders seek probe into contract with Reliance Industries. New
Delhi, Aug. 17 In its continuing media campaign against Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL) and the Government on the KG Basin gas issue, the
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group’s ...




CLIMATE & WEATHER:
Truant monsoon dampens cement prices
Rs
8-10 fall in prices of 50-kg bags. Mumbai, Aug. 17 The weak monsoon has
taken its toll on cement prices which are down Rs 8-10 a 50-kg bag in
the southern market and by Rs 3-5 in the western and eastern ...




PETROLEUM:
States reluctant to trim sales tax on aviation fuel
Revenue
slippages a major disincentive. Bangalore, Aug. 17 The Centre has begun
exerting pressure on States to snip sales tax on aviation turbine fuel
(ATF) in a bid to bail out the struggling domestic ...




TERRORISM:
PM warns of terror strikes
New
Delhi, Aug. 17 The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Monday said
there was “credible information” that terrorist groups based in
Pakistan were planning to carry out fresh attacks in ...




CINEMA:
Crowds throng multiplexes as swine flu fears take backseat
Mumbai,
Aug 17 Big ticket releases in Mumbai missed the extended three-day
weekend rush with movie-halls closed for swine flu, but once they were
thrown open to the public on Monday, the crowds surged the ...




SSI:
Doubling small units’ output is ambitious
With
exports falling in the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, the
Government’s plans to meet its Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-12)
production target for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)
sector could prove to be ...




EDUCATION:
AMET varsity to train Nigerian students

Chennai, Aug. 17 Nigeria comes calling to Chennai for help to turn its students into ...




SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:
NGRI opens climate observatory in AP
A
geothermal climate change observatory, set up by scientists of the
Geothermal Studies Group of the National Geophysical Research Institute
(NGRI), was inaugurated at Choutuppal, near here. The observatory,
which comprises an automatic ...




MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS & HOSPITALS:
Gets Sankara Nethralaya award
Sankara
Nethralaya, a unit of Chennai-based Medical Research Foundation,
bestowed here on Monday The Sankara Ratna Award 2008 on Mr Hanuman
Prasad Agarwala for his distinguished service during the past four
decades, according to a press ...




PETROLEUM:
Nod for shifting Cairn's delivery point

...




FOREIGN TRADE:
‘India-Thailand bilateral trade set to grow by 66%’
The
bilateral trade between India and Thailand is set to grow by 66 per
cent to $10 billion in 2009-10, according to Mr Kiat Sittheeamorn,
Thailand ...




URBAN DEVELOPMENT:
Govt mulls ‘Kochi Metropolitan Area’
Move
to raise Greater Kochi to metro status. Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 17 The
State Government is considering the idea of a ‘Kochi Metropolitan area’
by building on the framework of the Kochi Urban Agglomeration prepared
as part of ...




NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY:
Goldstone puts solar energy plans on hold
To
enter oil, gas pipeline biz. Hyderabad, Aug. 17 Goldstone Infratech Ltd
has put on hold its plans to diversify into solar energy, and decided
to focus on the oil and gas ...




HEALTH:
Insurers do not see premiums rising due to swine flu
Claims
likely to go up after a lag, say industry players. Mumbai, Aug. 17
Insurance companies are unlikely to hike premium rates in the travel
segment though they expect claims to rise due to the swine flu ...



HEALTH:
Hospitals await protocols to handle flu cases
Even
as the Andhra Pradesh Government was struggling to handle the growing
number of people turning up at the designated hospitals to screen
A(H1N1) influenza, some private hospitals say they are not averse to
attend to the ...




SSI:
Microfinance sector losing sheen due to high valuations
Mumbai,
Aug. 17 The microfinance sector, which accounted for 40 per cent of all
private equity deals in the country in the past 18 months, seems to
have lost its charm. As valuations in the sector have skyrocketed,
investors now fear a ...




INCOME TAX:
Senior citizen issues not addressed by draft Tax Code
Coimbatore,
Aug. 17 While the draft Direct Taxes Code promises to bring about
sweeping changes in personal income-tax rules, it seems to have ignored
some of the concerns of senior ...




DISINVESTMENT:
Handsome mop up possible from PSU divestment: Assocham
New
Delhi, Aug. 17 Industry body Assocham has submitted to the Government a
study on disinvestment opportunities in the listed public sector
undertakings space. This study may serve as an input for a concrete
disinvestment plan being framed ...




HEALTH:
Minimally invasive treatments through radiology explained
Minimally
invasive targeted treatments could have become the order of the day,
but not many people are in the know of these advances in the field ...




INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS:
Mamata to meet industry captains on Friday
Kolkata,
Aug. 17 The Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, will meet the
captains of industry here on August 21, according to the railway ...




TRAVEL & PLACES:
Malaysia plans multiple entry visas for Indians
New
Delhi, Aug. 17 The Malaysian Government is ready to provide multiple
entry visas to more Indians in an effort to ensure that they can travel
to Malaysia without much problem, the Minister for Tourism, Dr Yen Yen,
said here ...




TOURISM:
Chilling out

...




ECONOMY:
Pricing woes

...




CLIMATE & WEATHER:
Rain havoc

...




WATER:
AP to move Centre, SC to resolve water row
The
Andhra Pradesh Government plans to seek Centre’s and river water
tribunal’s intervention in resolving the inter-State River Water
Disputes, while opening up channels to stall illegal construction by
raising the matter in ...




TAXATION:
GST meet put off to Aug 22
The
Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Value Added Tax (VAT)
will meet here on August 22 to discuss issues relating to the
implementation of the proposed goods and services tax (GST) ...




CINEMA:
Malaysian film festival in Kolkata

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In Focus

Nano - The People's Car


Mandate 2009


Who is hiring?


More


Other Top Stories


GM may drive low-cost car from India

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Microfinance sector losing sheen due to high valuations

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Insurers do not see premiums rising due to swine flu

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Bharti Airtel goes global with long-distance service

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Higher yields boost demand for ultra-short-term funds

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L&T Finance to raise up to Rs 1,000 cr thru NCD

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Looking back
Aug. 9-Aug. 15



1.31 lakh job lost in Q2: Survey

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After a year, truck sales turn positive in July

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IIT-Kharagpur planning medical college

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Centre banks on volumes to bring down solar power costs

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Monsoon hits exports of lower-grade iron ore

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Govt steps up efforts to combat swine flu

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Net direct tax collections marginally up in July

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The price of populism

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DTH operators face tax pressures

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Biscuits not to become costlier, for now

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Yash Birla group plans Rs 500-cr education foray

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Swine flu ‘spreads’ to social networking sites too

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Draft tax code: It’s still advantage home loan borrower

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Indian economy has bottomed out: S&P

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Macro gain for ASEAN, micro pain for India

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President alerts nation of poor monsoon

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3-member panel to decide duty drawback rates

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/18/03hdline.htm