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Memories of Another day

Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living

Sunday, May 24, 2009

ECONOMIC REFORM MONSOON Begins as Pranab Promises to PROTECT the ECONOMY!Economists EXPECTS a PUSH and OBAMA Calls the KING SINGH!

ECONOMIC REFORM MONSOON Begins as Pranab Promises to PROTECT the ECONOMY!Economists EXPECTS a PUSH and OBAMA Calls the KING SINGH!


Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 237

Palash Biswas

Satyam may sack 7,500-8,000 non-billable staff
24 May 2009, 1735 hrs IST, PTI

Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings. Employees of Satyam | All about Satyam

AI plans to hire laid-off staff of Jet to save time, costs
24 May 2009, 2000 hrs IST, PTI

National air-carrier, Air India, is toying with the idea of hiring as cabin-crew, some of those laid-off recently by Jet Airways. World's busiest airports | World's Best Airport


 

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All headlines >>News on your MobileLog on to m.economictimes.com


Ambani groups gain Rs 90k crore on UPA mandate

24 May 2009, 1447 hrs IST, PTI

MUMBAI: The Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the people's mandate in favour of the

Congress-led UPA government as their group companies added close to Rs 90,000 crore of wealth in just five trading sessions after the results were declared.

While market valuation of the Anil Ambani group rose by over 35 per cent, that of the companies belonging to the group led by elder brother Mukesh improved by over 12 per cent, against an overall market appreciation of close to 20 per cent during this period.

As a result, the nine listed companies of the two groups together accounted for about 12 per cent of the total gain in the overall investors' wealth, measured in terms of total market capitalisation of all the listed entities.

In absolute terms, Mukesh Ambani group recorded a bigger gain of over Rs 44,000 crore, against a gain of about Rs 43,800 crore for the Anil Ambani group.


Also Read


In five trading sessions between May 18 and May 22 -- after results of the general elections were declared on May 16 -- the overall investor wealth rose by about Rs 7,51,000 crore -- from Rs 38,07,000 crore to close to Rs 45,60,000 crore.

Markets were closed on May 16 and the next day because of weekend holidays and the first trading after the election results was held on May 18.

Since the poll outcome came in favour of a second term for the UPA government to be headed by Manmohan Singh, the Ambani groups together have seen their market cap rise by over Rs 88,000 crore -- from about Rs 4,84,500 crore before the announcement of the election results to close to Rs 5,73,000 crore now.

Separately, the collective market-cap of three Mukesh Ambani group firms -- Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd -- has increased to close to Rs 4,07,000 crore.

At the same time, the total market-cap of six Anil Ambani group firms -- Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Reliance Infra, Reliance Natural Resources Ltd and Adlabs Films -- has increased to about Rs 1,66,400 crore.

Among the companies from the two groups, the biggest rise in terms of percentage terms has been recorded by Reliance Capital, the market cap of which has surged by over 52 per cent during this period.

But in absolute terms, Reliance Industries has recorded the biggest gain of close to Rs 37,000 crore. RIL is the country's most-valued firm with a market-cap of about Rs 3,43,500 crore.

In the Anil Ambani group, Reliance Communications is the most-valued firm with a market-cap of close to Rs 65,000 crore.

None of the companies from the two groups saw a decline in their market-cap during this period.

Next chapter on economic reforms

Economic Times - ‎16 hours ago‎
Former finance minister and senior BJP leader Yaswant Sinha says that the BJP would extend support to some of the reforms that the government may initiate ...
India's 2009 general election: Lessons for the left Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal


Obama, Manmohan Singh agree Indo-US ties "very important"

Chicago/New Delhi, Nov.12(ANI): The strategic relationship between India and the United States, which was put in place through the US-India civil nuclear cooperation agreement is likely to be enhanced further during the Obama regime.

This is the indication given by US President-elect Barack Obama during a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning, when he described the bilateral strategic relationship is a "very important partnership".

Both also agreed that their respective governments would work together on all important global issues.

Official sources said that Dr.Singh, who has just returned from official trips to Oman and Qatar, congratulated Obama on his victory and said his success would be an inspiration for the oppressed people all over the world.

He also told Obama that ties between the two countries were "very good" but "we should not be satisfied with the status quo".

Singh invited Obama and his wife Mitchelle to visit India and conveyed his best wishes for the success of the Obama administration in meeting challenges that face the world.

Wednesday''s conversation between the leaders of the world''s oldest democracy and the largest democracy finally put to rest rumors of Obama snubbing Singh that were circulation the whole of last week.

Singh also sought to put this rumor to rest when he told reporters on board Air India One while returning from Oatar that there was snub on part of Obama. He said then that the timing of the telephone call was yet to be worked out, and that he would be more than happy to talk to Obama. (ANI)



Kumble is Bangalore's top wicket-taker

Rediff - ‎32 minutes ago‎
Following are the statistical highlights of the Indian Premier League's semi-final between Chennai Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Glitz, glamour planned for IPL closing ceremony

Times of India - ‎8 hours ago‎
PRETORIA: After five weeks of exhilarating cricket, the Indian Premier League (IPL) will draw to a close in an electrifying closing ceremony at Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg Sunday.
Indian Express - Yahoo! Eurosport - Hindu - The Statesman हिंदी में

3 Ministries for DMK chief's kin; sop for Baalu

IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
TRACK RECORD DERAILS HIM: Union Shipping Minister TR Baalu to miss post in new government. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos be a Citizen Journalist.

Pakistan diary: Trauma of the young

Aljazeera.net - ‎54 minutes ago‎
Imran Khan, Al Jazeera's reporter in Pakistan, is filing regular dispatches from the country as the army battles Taliban fighters in the North West Frontier Province.

Tamil Tigers confirm leader's death

Aljazeera.net - ‎23 minutes ago‎
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have confirmed their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, has been killed. "We announce today, with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader and supreme commander ... attained martyrdom ...
Voice of America - Hindu - AFP - Indian Express

 

Mind set: Why power is sacred

Times of India - ‎7 hours ago‎
Even far across the oceans, one hears India's collective sigh of relief. Since the Mumbai attacks, the old toxic rivalry with Pakistan has given the xenophobes a stake to drive into the body politic.

Rahul not joining cabinet - a strategy

Sify - ‎4 hours ago‎
New Delhi: The decision of Rahul Gandhi, the 38-year-old Congress general secretary and son of party chief Sonia Gandhi, to not join the new council of ministers is less about renunciation and more a calculated strategy to let Prime Minister Manmohan ...

Thackeray warns Congress against provoking Maharashtrians

Hindustan Times - ‎1 hour ago‎
PTI Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray has accused Congress of "using" Mumbai to mint money at the cost of Maharashtrians and warned its leaders against deriving political mileage by encouraging influx of North Indians into the metropolis.
Times of India - Daily News & Analysis - Sify - Press Trust of India हिंदी में


A broker can't ask me to resign: Azam Khan

IBNLive.com - ‎1 hour ago‎
ANTI-PARTY MAN? Azam Khan is one of the founding members and was Muslim face of SP. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos be a Citizen Journalist.

TMC supporters celebrate as Mamata returns home

IBNLive.com - ‎3 hours ago‎
ON HOME TURF: New Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, after her arrival in Kolkata on Saturday. ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos be a Citizen Journalist.


Monsoon reaches Kerala 7 days in advance! Economists Expect a PUSH while US President, the Chairperson of Global Zionist Manusmriti Apartheid Hegemony Calls the KING SINGH to Note Washington Dictations!
India buys US debts worth $38.2 bn in just one year! Meanwhile,India's veteran Congress party leader Pranab Mukherjee takes over as finance minister at a time when Asia's third-largest economy faces slowing growth, worsening public finances, falling exports and massive job losses.

Mukherjee, 73, has decades of experience in governance and was the foreign minister in the previous government. He also held temporary charge of the finance ministry when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh underwent heart surgery in January.


During a speech to present the interim budget in February, Mukherjee called for raising spending to shield the economy from the global slump and stem job losses.



Veteran politician Pranab Mukherjee, hailed as one of the five best Finance Ministers in the world in 1984, will re-enter the North Block as Finance Minister of the new Congress-led UPA government. Pranab Mukherjee, the kayastha Brahmin from West Bengal completes the AXIS of TRI IBLIS Satanic ORDER as well as leads it.

Other members are Lal Krishna Adwani, the OPPOSITION Leader for Floor Adjustment and Understanding to make it an INFINITE CONTINUITY, the Scientific ETHNIC Cleansing in a FARCE of Parliamentary Political System, and the Marxists Face of the Ruling Brahaminical Hegemony Comrade Buddhadeb Bhattachary.

Since Power Sharing Quarrel Continues Naked, the Reality Show would ENTERTAIN the DYING, Starving Masses thanks to Toilet Media while the IMPLEMENTATION of Shudrayan, Mass DESTRUCTION Agenda gets Momentum with a HUMAN FACE of RESISTANCE Co Opted, Fire Brand Bengali Grass Root leader Ms Mamata Bannerjee as Railway Minister!

US president Barrack Obama on Saturday called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to congratulate him on his second term in office and asked

Singh to schedule an early visit to the US. The prime minister urged Obama to visit India and the US president said that this was a priority for him.

Both leaders stressed the need to take bilateral relations further and continue the close engagement between the two countries.

As the recession-hit US economy is groping in the dark over uncertain financial position, India has increased its exposure to American
debt securities by over three-fold to $ 38.2 billion till March compared to the year-ago period.

The emerging nation's investment in the US debt stood at $ 11.8 billion in March 2008.

According to the data from the US Treasury Department, India has bought American debt instruments worth $ 38.2 billion till March 2009.

Interestingly, India's exposure to US debt has surged by about $ 20 billion since October 2008, when the ongoing financial turmoil turned for the worse. The world's largest economy was rattled by the then-famed Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy in mid-September.

Considered to be one of the safest investment bets, India had invested $ 18.3 billion in October 2008 in the American securities, which soared to $ 38.2 billion in March.

Among the foreign countries, neighbouring China has the highest investment of $ 767.9 billion.

Japan, the world's second largest economy has invested $ 686.7 billion in US debts till March 2009.

The American economy officially entered into recession in December 2007 and has contracted at a rapid pace in the previous two quarters.

In the first three months of this year, the US GDP shrank 6.1 per cent, whereas it had declined 6.5 per cent in the December quarter.

Though corporates, banks and other financial institutions can purchase the bonds, in the case of India, the Reserve Bank accounts for large part of the lending.

On the other hand, the number of bank failures in the US are rising almost every week, reflecting the weak financial situation. More than 46 banks have been closed since September 2008 and a majority of them are small and regional lenders.

The US authorities has come up with many measures, including the $ 700 billion rescue package and plans to mop up toxic assets worth nearly $ 1 trillion from the financial system, to revive the economy.



Meanwhile, Dick Cheney was a formidable backroom operator during his eight years as vice-president in the Bush administration. Having abandoned his short-lived retirement in Wyoming, he is now leading the Republican charge against Obama from the front.

Ahead of taking charge, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is understood to have held an informal meeting with the senior officials in the ministry and discussed issues relating to preparation of the Union Budget.

The board of Reliance Infrastructure, promoted by the Anil Ambani group, on Sunday approved issuing up to 43 million preferential shares to its founders and other investors to raise about Rs.4300 crore ($913 million).

South-west monsoon, crucial for the cultivation of kharif crops, today reached Kerala a week ahead of its normal date, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

"The south-west monsoon has reached Kerala," IMD Director B P Yadav told.

Monsoon rains are key for cultivation of kharif crops which account for nearly 60 per cent of the farm output of the country. A good kharif season augurs well for a range of goods and services.

The weather office had earlier forecast that monsoon would reach Kerala between May 23 and 25. The normal monsoon onset date over Kerala is June one.

Most parts of the state have been receiving widespread pre-monsoon showers, creating the mood of the arrival of the rainy season, known in local parlance as "Kalavarsham".

Yadav said monsoon was expected to advance further in the next few days in Kerala and the northeastern parts of the country.

Weather scientists are keeping a close watch on the low pressure area currently lying over east-central Bay of Bengal which is expected to intensify into a cyclone.

In such a case monsoon may play a disappearing act over peninsular India as the cyclone would suck away moisture over the region and weaken the monsoon system.

Meanwhile,Madhav Kumar Nepal, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal-unified Marxist Leninist was elected Prime Minister unopposed on Saturday.

Nepal's election as the Prime Minister was announced in the constituent assembly by speaker Subhash Nembang after representatives of 22 out of 24 parties represented in the house extended their parties support. The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists boycotted the election proceedings.Nepali Congress leader and former Prime Minsiter G P Koirala had proposed Nepal to succeed Prachanda who quit three weeks ago in protest against President Rambaran Yadav reinstating army chief R Katawal who the Prime Minister had sacked.

Mukherjee is a veritable encyclopedia on Congress movement and has been a minister in all the party governments since the mid-1970s, save the Rajiv Gandhi government between 1984 and 1989. The eternal 'number two', Mukherjee was a trusted lieutenant of late Indira Gandhi under whom he was the powerful Minister of State for Revenue during the emergency and later became a full-fledged Finance Minister between 1982 and 1984.

Pranab performed UNPRECEDENTED Turnaround from Indira`s Social Reforms to Economic Reforms dictated by Global Illuminati and LPG Mafia Ruling India!


Economists expect a push to reforms by newly-appointed Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who they said is the right person to head the important ministry. S M Krishna, former Karnataka Chief Minister and a surprise inclusion in the Union Cabinet, was made the new External Affairs Minister and Mamata Banerjee given Railways in partial allocation of portfolios in which veterans Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram have been retained in Finance and Home Ministries respectively.

US President Barrack Obama has extended an invitation to Indian Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh to visit Washington during a conversation on Saturday night. He also congratulated him on his re election as premier.

Earlier, Obama described Dr.Singh as a wise man and expressed his intention to visit India soon.

Indian Prime Minister shared very warm relationship with Obama''s predecessor George W bush and a good chemistry seems to be building up with Obama.


During the telephonic conversation on Saturday both leaders also  recalled their warm meeting in London on April 2 and discussed their mutual desire to strengthen U.S.-India relations and work together to address common global challenges, such as the economic downturn, climate change, and counterterrorism.


With Indo-US civil nuclear deal as a cornerstone the strategic relationship between the two countries peaked during the last five years. Despite the apprehensions raised by UPA coalition partner Left parties which have ideological differences with the US, Dr Singh steered the relations smoothly.

The mains reasons why New Delhi has become even more valued partner for Obama  in the current times because India is playing a crucial role in his Af Pak policy as a regional contact partner, In these difficult times of economic stress Washington also see great potential  in the field of nuclear energy in India  and  is also bidding for the big ticket 40 billion dollars defence deal which includes the purchase of 126 fighters planes ,this deal is touted as  one of the world''s biggest current arms deals.


The two leaders are expected to meet on the margins of July G 8 summit that is going to take place in Italy.


India's new finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday he would take steps to protect the economy from the adverse impacts of the global slump and promised to return the country to a high growth path. Growth is expected to slow to less than 7 percent in the year to April 2009 from rates of 9 percent or more in the previous three years. It is seen slowing further to about 6 percent in 2009/10.Often described as a man for all seasons and seen by his party as a trusted trouble shooter, Mukherjee's first task would be to present the budget for 2009-10 and continue the measures to boost the economy reeling under the impact of global financial crisis. As author of the interim budget for the current fiscal, it would be easier for him to prepare the full budget for the fiscal and ensure continuity in the economic policies and programmes.
The government is required to get the budget passed by Parliament by July 31 as the vote-on-account (which allows government to withdraw money from Consolidated Fund) sought in the interim budget comes to end on July 31.


In the allocation of portfolios by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, A K Antony stays in Defence and Sharad Pawar Agriculture Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, ministries they had handled in the previous UPA government.

Singh, who had taken 19 ministers in his new Cabinet, had told reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday that portfolio distribution would take two-three days.

However, surprisingly the limited allocation of portfolios was announced by the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Saturday on the advice of the Prime Minister, who preferred to get down to business and distributed ministries on which there are apparently no differences.

Portfolios for Ministers including Kamal Nath, Kapil Sibal, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jaipal Reddy, Anand Sharma and new entrants like Veerappa Moily and C P Joshi are yet to be announced.

These ministers may get their portfolios once the likely expansion of the Union Council of Ministers takes place on Tuesday as expected. So far only six portfolios have been distributed.


"Major economic issues have to be addressed, and various efforts will be made to insulate the economy from the adverse impact of the financial meltdown," Mukherjee told reporters outside his house after he was appointed finance minister.

He gave no details but he said in February spending might have to be increased to shield the economy from a global slump and stem job losses.

India's Congress-led coalition government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sworn in on Friday after winning a decisive mandate in a geneRal Election this month.

Besides Mukherjee, Singh named Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, another Congress party stalwart, to be the new foreign minister at a time of mounting instability in neighbouring Pakistan.

The Congress-led coalition has a stronger Parliamentary majority than the previous administration, meaning the government could last its full five-year term and focus on policy issues without the pressures of a fragile coalition.

Unfettered by its former leftist allies, Congress is likely to push reforms such as raising the foreign investment limit in insurance and opening up the pension sector to spur growth in Asia's third-largest economy.


"Excellent! (on Mukherjee being named as Finance Minister) He is a very experienced person and is the right choice for the job. Mukherjee is a reform-minded person and I expect economic reforms to go forward during his tenure," ICRIER Director Rajiv Kumar said.

"Mukherjee had held various other portfolios so it will be an added advantage", he added. Commenting on appointment of Mukherjee as the Finance Minister, former Chairman of Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Suresh Tendulkar said, "He is an experienced person for the finance portfolio".

On the possibility of the new minister expediting economic reforms, he said, "that's what everyone expect." Mukherjee, who was the first one to take oath of office after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will have to present the budget for 2009-10, which will spell out the policies and priorities of the new UPA government. Talking to reporters after being named as the Finance Minister, Mukherjee had said the government would endeavour to present the budget in due time to avoid uncertainties.

Economic think-tank NCAER Senior Fellow Rajesh Shukla said, "He is very mature and I see reform to go forward during his tenure." Shukla added, Mukherjee has expertise in various fields as he had headed various ministries and so he is the right person for the finance portfolio. Mukherjee, who was holding charge of the finance portfolio in the earlier UPA government presented an interim budget in February in view of the general elections for the 15th Lok
Sabha.

On Saturday, Mukherjee was named India's Finance Minister while former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna took charge of the Foreign Ministry as the Prime Minister allotted portfolios to six of his 19 cabinet ministers, a day after taking oath at the head of a new Congress-led government.


Mukherjee, who after a gap of 25 years became the Finance Minister in the previous UPA government, had little opportunity to excel. It was an additional charge for the External Affairs Minister after the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram was shifted to Home Ministry.

The only significant thing he did as the Finance Minister was to present an interim budget for the outgoing government. As Finance Minister in the 80s, he was the boss of the present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was then the Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Although many thought he would become Prime Minister in 2004, Congress president Sonia Gandhi nominated Manmohan Singh for the responsibility.

Again the top constitutional post is said to have eluded him during the Presidential election in 2007 when Left parties reportedly favoured him but the Congress chose Pratibha Patil.

The 73-year-old leader from West Bengal, who took to politics under the tutelage of late Ajoy Mukherjee of the Bangla Congress, had briefly gone out of the Congress in the mid-1980s in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination.

After his reported brush with Rajiv Gandhi, who took over from his mother in 1984, Mukherjee made an exit from Congress and started his own party – Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress – only to merge it with the parent party again in the last years of the former Prime Minister.

From an obscure village in West Bengal's Birbhum district, Mukherjee has risen to become the number two in the corridors of power in Delhi shaping government policies and programmes.

He played an important role in Congress allying with the Trinamool Congress to inflict a humiliating defeat on the CPI(M)-led Left Front in West Bengal.

Mukherjee, who mostly made it to the upper house since 1969 when he first became a Rajya Sabha member, was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Jangipur constituency in Murshidabad district in 2004. He repeated the feat in this elections widening the victory margin to over 1.26 lakhs, from 34,360 in 2004.

He became the Deputy Minister of Industrial Development at the Centre for the first time in 1973 and went on to serve as Minister of State and Cabinet Minister.

Mukherjee was rated as one of the best finance ministers of the world in 1984 and was adjudged the best parliamentarian in 1997.

As Union Commerce Minister, Mukherjee contributed significantly to the negotiations leading to the establishment of the World Trade Organisation. For some time, during the 1990s he had held the dual charge of External Affairs Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

During the previous stint of the UPA government, as External Affairs Minister Mukherjee played a crucial role in negotiating the nuclear deal with the US and improving India's ties with it, besides mobilising world opinion against Pakistan after the terrorist strike in Mumbai.

He also functioned as the leader of the 14th Lok Sabha. Apart from his assignments in the government, he played a significant role in the Congress as a member of CWC, the highest policy-making body of the party, as treasurer, general secretary, member of central election committee and the central parliamentary board of the party.

He was appointed president of West Bengal Pradesh Congress in 1985, 2000 and again last year when the PCC chief fell ill.

Widely travelled, he led several delegations to important conferences abroad and in the UN General Assembly. Educated at Vidyasagar College, he began his career as a teacher and a journalist and was associated with publications like Desher Dak (Call of Motherland).

Mukherjee has authored several books including Midterm Poll, Beyond Survival, Emerging dimensions of Indian Economy, Off the Track, Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice and Challenge before the Nation.

He was a trustee of Bangiya Sahitya Parishad and president of Nikhil Bharat Banga Sahitya Sammelan. He also served as the chairman of the Planning Board of the Asiatic Society, from 1984-1986 and during 1992-96.

Still fixated on Bengal...


The Statesman Kolkata reports:


KOLKATA/NEW DELHI, 23 MAY: Expectations of good governance from the ministers from the Trinamul Congress went for a six after party chief and Union Railways minister, Miss Mamata Banerjee announced today these ministers will stay for five days in the state and attend office at the capital for two days every week.
These ministers will stay in the state to attend to the needs of the people as some of the party workers are still being attacked in the city, at Raina in Burdwan and other places in the state, she said, explaining her stand.
To stand by the embattled party activists is our first priority now, the newly appointed minister said. The ministry is nothing to me and and the state is all I have, Miss Banerjee, who reached Kolkata from New Delhi tonight, added.
Miss Banerjee had earlier indicated that there could be six more ministerial berths for her party in the first expansion of the Manmohan Singh ministry.
She also said she would take charge of the Railways ministry only after her party colleagues were sworn in as ministers of state ~ party sources clarified that this wasn't pressure tactics of any sort, but a gesture of solidarity.
Miss Banerjee maintained that while striving to achieve commercial growth of the Railways, she would also ensure that its "humane" face is not lost. She said she would issue Rs 50 monthly passes for students and Rs 20 passes for vendors, people from the unorganised sector and those coming under BPL.
On West Bengal, Miss Banerjee dubbed the Left Front government as 'non working' and said she did not expect any cooperation from it. "The sooner this government goes the better," she told a Bengali television channel.



A grand homecoming for Mamata Staff Reporter
"I want to work for Bengal and its people," says the new Railway Minister
— PHOTO: AFP

emotional WELCOME: A supporter tries to touch the feet of Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, as she returns home in Kolkata from New Delhi on Saturday.

KOLKATA: It was a grand homecoming for the new Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday. Hundreds of people waited patiently for hours outside the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here and at her residence to catch a glimpse of the leader.

Though celebrations here began on Friday following the swearing-in ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Trinamool supporters made special arrangements to welcome her.

They smeared green vermilion on one another, distributed sweets, burst crackers, sang, danced and beat drums throughout the day to celebrate Ms. Banerjee's appointment as Railway Minister.

Though she had served as a Union Minister in two stints, it was special this time — the Trinamool has created a record of sorts by winning 19 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the otherwise Left Front-dominated West Bengal.

Party supporters and people went berserk as Ms. Banerjee, along with the battery of 17 MPs (two MPs had returned earlier), came out of the airport terminal in the evening. "I want to work for Bengal and its people" — this was all she said here.

Thanking all those who have supported her in the elections, Ms. Banerjee said people have stood firmly against the "atrocities" of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Ms. Banerjee said that both she and the other six MPs of the party, who would take oath as Ministers on May 26, would spend at least five days a week in the State for working towards the development and welfare of its people.

Top railway officials were present at the airport to greet her.

Amid tight security cover, she was escorted to her own car, as she preferred not to board the one kept ready for her by the railway officials. She had to alight once to accede to her supporters' request for a 'closer look'.

All along the way to her residence at Kalighat, people waited at several points to greet her and showered flowers on her. Closer to home, she had to leave her convoy behind and walk her way through the narrow alley that leads to her home amidst cheers, sloganeering and flag waving by party supporters.


http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/24/stories/2009052460341200.htm




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SEZ exit tied to sop refund

Calcutta Telegraph - ‎May 22, 2009‎
If the SEZ developer is willing to refund the entire duty-free benefits to the government." The government has given its approval to 568 SEZs and has ...

No HC relief for SEZ in Raigad

Times of India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
The vacation bench of the court disposed of the petition asking Mumbai SEZ to approach the SC where a bunch of related petitions were pending. ...

Watch: Mamata bags Railways, but SEZ a priority

IBNLive.com - ‎May 23, 2009‎
New Delhi: Mamta_Banerjee/543' target='_blank'>Mamta Banerjee now has the Railway ministry but she told us that the issue of the SEZ is a key one for her ...

Informant offered liver transplant for Bronx terror suspect's ...

New York Daily News - ‎6 hours ago‎
BY Joe Kemp, Nicole Bode, Alison Gendar and John Lauinger Elizabeth McWilliams, mother of David Williams, suspected of plotting to blow up two Riverdale ...

Raheja to co develop factories and housing units at Gurgaon SEZ

SteelGuru - ‎12 hours ago‎
Projects Today reported that Raheja Developers, the Delhi based company, plans to create a SPV within its 257.5 acre Gurgaon engineering SEZ project and ...

DLF may gain from SEZ closure

Economic Times - ‎May 22, 2009‎
KOLKATA: DLF has the potential to gain from losing the SEZ status for its second IT/ITeS centre in Rajarhat on the northern fringes of Kolkata since a ...

Anti-SEZ meet in Guntur on June 14

Express Buzz - ‎May 22, 2009‎
HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Socialist Front is organising an Anti-SEZ conference in Guntur on June 14. The daylong programme will be held at ...

Happy Belated Birthday, Freddy Sez

Subway Squawkers - A Yankee/Mets fan blog - ‎50 minutes ago‎
Fred Schuman turned 84 yesterday and the Yanks "pleased him", indeed. Happy birthday, Freddy, and many more. If you haven't seen the mini-documentary No Mas ...

From socialism to free-market, Kamal Nath has come a long way

Times of India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
SEZ, a designated duty free enclave that is treated as foreign territory for trade operations, has been a bone of contention between the finance and ...

Mumbai SEZ moves HC over Raigad land buy

Economic Times - ‎May 19, 2009‎
MUMBAI: Mumbai SEZ, promoted by RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani and his associate Anand Jain, on Tuesday moved the vacation bench of the Bombay High Court ...


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CPI(M) holds crucial meeting to take stock in Kerala

Hindu - ‎8 hours ago‎
Thiruvananthapuram (IANS): The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI(M)) began its state secretariat meeting here on Sunday amid indications that it could ...

Third Front cannot be a cut and paste arrangement, says CPI(M)

Hindu - ‎May 21, 2009‎
"The CPI (M) had all along, in the Political Resolutions of successive Party Congresses articulated the need for the creation of a third political ...

Evaluation days for CPI (M)

Kerala Online - ‎6 minutes ago‎
Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday 24 May 2009: Apex bodies of CPI (M) state unit would commence in Thiruvananthapuram today. While the state secretariat would be ...

Left has lost moral right to govern: Mamata

Zee News - ‎9 minutes ago‎
Kolkata, May 26: Stopping short of demanding Central rule in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the CPI(M)-led Left ...
How it came about The Statesman

People did not find Third Front credible: Yechury

Indian Express - ‎7 hours ago‎
New Delhi: CPI(M) seems to be feeling bitter about its allies like BSP and JD(S) switching sides to the UPA after the Third Front's electoral debacle, ...

Will heads roll in CPI(M)'s Bengal unit?

Business Standard - ‎May 20, 2009‎
The temporary truce entered into by the warring factions in the CPI(M) leadership might have been able to avert the imminent confrontation at the highest ...
special article The Statesman

Poll-battered Left parties meet to introspect

Times of India - ‎May 17, 2009‎
The factors responsible for the massive rout are likely to come up for discussion in the CPI(M) body, the most important among them being the "failure" of ...

Suhrid flops even with his neighbours...

The Statesman - ‎19 hours ago‎
KOLKATA, 23 MAY: The CPI-M's campaigns claiming Mr Suhrid Dutta's innocence in the Tapasi Malik rape and murder case, does not seem to have yielded results. ...

Development, peace lead CPI(M) success in Tripura

Hindu - ‎May 17, 2009‎
Agartala (PTI): In the face of drubbing of CPI(M) in both Kerala and West Bengal, success of the Marxists in tiny Tripura is attributed to the continuous ...

Karat should step down: Chatterjee

Thaindian.com - ‎May 16, 2009‎
New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat should consider quitting the post owning responsibility ...


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Cong-DMK deadlock over Cabinet berths ends

The stalemate over DMK joining the UPA Government appears to be heading for an end with the party reportedly finalising its candidates for the berths of Cabinet and Ministers of State (MoS) in which T R Baalu may be kept out.
Though there was no official word on the discussions DMK President M Karunanidhi held with senior party leaders collectively and individually through the day, reports said his son M K Azhagiri, grand-nephew Dayananidhi Maran and A Raja are likely to be inducted as Cabinet Ministers.

DMK Rajya Sabha member and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi may get into the council of ministers as an MoS with independent charge while three others from the party would be inducted as MoS.

Amidst reports that she may not join the Government, Kanimozhi told reporters that "I have not opted out".

Reports doing the rounds are that Raja may get IT and Communication, Azhagiri Chemicals and Fertilisers and Maran Textiles. Kanimozhi is likely to get Women and Child Development.

DMK sources said they were hopeful of a solution latest by tomorrow. More ministers are expected to be inducted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

India slips in corruption index: Transparency International

Corruption in India has increased marginally in the last two years, taking its position from 72 to 85 in the list of world's corrupt countries, according to global watchdog Transparency International.
The Corruption Perception Index, prepared on the basis of surveys conducted in 180 countries by 13 international agencies associated with Transparency International, puts India's integrity score at 3.4 as against 3.5 in 2007.

India and China were at par last year in the corruption index. But this year, China's position is 72.

Pakistan with 2.5 integrity score has been ranked at 134 in the list.

The integrity score is prepared by a mathematical calculation by a Switzerland-based professor on the basis of the findings of the surveys on governance.

"India's position has gone down from 72 last year to 85 this year. India's integrity score has fallen from 3.5 in 2007 to 3.4 this year, indicating that corruption has marginally increased in the country," R H Tahiliani, Country Chairman of Transparency International, said.

He said electoral and political systems in India were the major sources of corruption.

"In our electoral system, huge money is spent by political parties for winning elections. This money comes from mainly corrupt practices," he said.

Denmark has emerged as the top country with 9.3 integrity score, indicating that corruption level was the lowest there followed by New Zealand, Sweden and Singapore.

Countries like Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia have recorded lowest scores with less than 1.5, he said. The level of corruption is perceived to be rampant in these countries.


Now, Lalit Modi wants two IPLs every year

London With the Indian Premier League proving a smashing hit in its adopted home in South Africa, the organisers of the Twenty20 razzmatazz are mulling a second and shorter version of the event in the same calendar year at an overseas location.

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi told 'The Daily Telegraph' that the success of the second IPL has prompted the organisers to explore untapped territories like United States and Canada and the League's Governing Council would discuss the issue after the tournament ends in Johannesburg on Sunday.

"The potential is huge," Modi said.

"We have turned the challenges and adversities in moving to South Africa into an opportunity. It is fans who determine if you are successful or not and they have come out in force here. It has shown that the tournament can be in any region, in any country. This opens up many different opportunities for us," Modi was quoted as saying by the daily.

The IPL mastermind made it clear that India would host the first season and it's only for the second season in the same calendar year that a foreign destination would be considered.

"The IPL will be based in India, but the second season we are planning gives us the chance to see if a market exists and we are seriously looking at what we can do with it," Modi said.

"America throws up challenges but the format we have developed works. It is an opportunity for families to spend a day out. Apart from watching great cricket they have an enjoyable evening out. That will work anywhere," he said.

"Before this tournament we did not know if we could do it. But we do know now. We have to satisfy an appetite across the world and build a fan base across the world," Modi added.

Modi said the Indian cricket board (BCCI) would be in touch with its English and South African counterparts but ruled out the prospect of any country hosting back-to-back events.

"We will talk to the England and Wales Cricket Board, and South Africa are natural allies who want us to come back every year. The public and the boards want us but it is not realistic to come back to the same place every year."

While a second IPL in the same calendar year jeopardises Test cricket's survival, Modi beg to differ.

"People who say we cannot work alongside Test cricket just don't understand. You don't need everyone available all the time. You don't need all countries to be free. In England the Premier League runs at the same time as the Spanish and Italian leagues. We can do the same. They can run concurrently. To do that we must showcase and produce our own stars," Modi said.

"England are playing the West Indies now so those teams are out but not Australia, South Africa or uncapped England players. That is where the misunderstanding is taking place," he added.

Young India sees politics as a management challenge


24 May 2009, 0113 hrs IST, Meenakshi Natarajan, TNN

A year ago when Rahul Gandhi embarked on his mission to democratize the Youth Congress and NSUI, with the idea of attracting youth to politics,

hardly anyone could have said for sure that he would be successful. And yet, youth is the flavour of the season today. In the wake of the Congress Party's spectacular performance in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, youth is at the core of our national discourse.

The world missed the significance of our baby steps in democratizing the Congress's youth organizations. Everyone wrongly assumed young Indians were allergic to politics and change. But they are eager to be active agents of change.

The election results are scant evidence of the chord Rahul has struck with youth with his attempts to throw open political parties to the next generation. In the last few months, we held elections for our youth organizations in Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Punjab. The result was the new vigour seen in GenNext during the Lok Sabha elections — they took up campaigning in big numbers and turned out in hordes to vote. They seem to have backed Congress with great enthusiasm.

It is the young who can — and will — change the country and the way it is run. The basic problem arises from the simplistic assumption that the young are averse to "dirty politics". The urban middle class may be cynical about politics but in the rural heartland there are 5.5 lakh panchayats and several lakh young men and women serving as panchs, sarpanchs and as members of zilla parishads. According to a rough estimate, 70% of these elected representatives are no older than 35.

Surely that is evidence enough to show that the young are interested in entering the system to change their village communities? If the urban young are apathetic about politics it is largely because of the system's penchant for political institutions, the closed-door functioning of political outfits and the special status given to politicians. These are all negatives factors and breed revulsion among ordinary people.

The philosophy and purpose of Rahul Gandhi's internal democratization of the NSUI and Youth Congress was opening them up to the common people. This has created a feeling within the new generation that there is a clean way of getting into politics and moving into leadership positions. At the moment, many young politicians belong to political families and the positions they get are passed down as legacies. There's nothing wrong with that but there should be equal opportunity for others too if they want it.

It is not a small change. It would open up politics to all, making it possible for ordinary people to compete with the privileged few. Some may try to discourage the change, but it will happen. Ours is a long-term vision but the results of this election are encouraging, particularly because we saw huge youth participation in our campaign and the voting process.

I went to Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh to contest the election. I was a first-timer in the big, challenging world of electoral politics. But the experience was phenomenal. Throughout the campaign, I would get scraps on my Orkut profile and phone calls from boys and girls who would introduce themselves as first-time voters who had cast their ballot in my favour. It was a very satisfying experience — the flight of hope among those who possibly would not have taken to it with such gusto had they not seen change coming into the closed, 60-year-old world of politics.

Through Congress's philosophy of equality, India's young will change the way politics is perceived in this country. Politics and elections are seen as an ideological challenge, but young people see it as a management challenge. As the young enter politics, real issues will come to centrestage and the possibility of their own being able to participate in the process would cement their faith in the philosophy of equality, opportunity and change.

It will be a boon for society as it will undercut the school of political thought that promotes divisiveness. As we gain acceptability, there will be copycats. That would be good because they will be following our path.

But this may be hard for those whose politics is based on parochialism. Divisive politics marginalizes the youth it seeks to exclude. Youth participation in such parties will decline. Simply put, divisive ideology is antithetical to greater youth participation.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Special-Report/Young-India-sees-politics-as-a-management-challenge/articleshow/4570440.cms

Inside the mind of Rahul Gandhi

24 May 2009, 0338 hrs IST, Shobhan Saxena, TNN


Call it software politics. After buttons on the EVMs are pressed, data from the machines fed into the national network, votes dissected on 24x7
Rahul Gandhi
Rahul studied in St Stephen's College in Delhi, Harvard, Rollins College in Florida and finally Trinity College. (TOI Photo)
channels and the poll pundits proven wrong, the young man responsible for the grand old party's near-decisive victory is sitting quietly on the backbench, showing no emotion.

He betrays neither the joy and relief of victory nor the strain of possible responsibilities in the future. The Cabinet position has been declined, at least for now. With the dust of the election battle settling, the party reins have been handed back to mother. So, what's on Rahul Gandhi's mind now? What has he been thinking the past couple of years, when he metamorphosed from dimpled poster-boy for dynasty to Congress's campaigner-in-chief? How does he think?

Not politics so much perhaps, as management. Masters at Doon School, his father's alma mater and his own from 1981 to 1983, remember him as a "quiet, shy boy". One of the masters who tutored Rahul during his stay at the school's Kashmir House recalls, "He left the school as quietly as he came. He was grandson of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, but he rarely talked about politics."

Rahul went on to St Stephen's College in Delhi, Harvard, Rollins College in Florida and finally Trinity College. He collected many degrees along the way and perhaps a philosophy of management as well. It was at Harvard that he studied under Michael E Porter whose 'Five Forces Analysis' — a business development strategy — seems to have influenced Rahul in a big way. Porter's model analyses the forces "that affect a company's ability to serve its customers and make a profit". The theory insists that if an industry is attractive, every firm doesn't have the same profitability. "Some firms are able to apply their core competences, business model or network to achieve a profit above the industry average". Replace Porter's 'industry' with politics and 'firms' with parties and the analysis works well in the jumble of Indian coalition politics.

It probably helps that Rahul has been employed in something other than Indian politics. After his Cambridge M Phil, he worked as a consultant with Porter's Monitor Group in London for three years. That was where he honed the management and analytical skills that people now say with post-election hindsight make him a good politician. But Sam Pitroda, his father's old colleague and head of the Technology Mission predicted this when Rahul entered politics in 2004: "He has worked under Michael Porter for four years...Rahul is methodical, analytical, mature and sincere... He is extremely intelligent and at ease with cyber technology..."

Rahul's buddies and aides say he has transferred his management skills to the Indian countryside in the year-and-a-half that he has been on a 'Discovery of India' tour. Jitin Prasada, Congress MP, says, "Rahul has an innate belief in the strength of rural India. When British foreign secretary was taken to Amethi, it was not as was charged by rivals to mock the poor, but it was to show the strength of rural India. He goes out to villages, connects with people and sees the reality himself. And then he analyses and conceives ideas through that first-hand experience, not by closed-door ideating in Delhi. That is his originality".

Fawning politicians and pundits alike admit Rahul's way of thinking is clear from all that he has done at the grassroots in Amethi. "He has a vision for the future. Rahul always thinks and talks in long terms," says Kalyan Singh Gandhi, AICC member from Rae Bareli and long-standing family confidante. Singh describes Rahul's management philosophy seen at first hand. He created a network of workers across Amethi — 16 blocks, 160 nyaya panchayats, 750 gram sabhas and a samooh pramukh for a cluster of 50 homes. "He organized a camp for all the workers and they were trained by top management experts from Mumbai and abroad on how to reach out to people. The samooh pramukhs are supposed to look after the people all the and take care of all their needs — from water to pension to help in marriages".

Now, Rahul plans to replicate the Amethi model, where he has 9,000 active party workers, across the country. But some say the plan is merely a marketing strategy. "It's really credible the way the Congress marketed itself in the past two years. But, it's just marketing. Where are the results for the people?" says Ranjan Chaudhary, a Dalit and IIM-Lucknow graduate who quit his MNC job in Melbourne to join Rahul's core team in 2004. "He has many good ideas but no clarity on how to go about it," says Chaudhary, who left Rahul's team last year and contested a UP seat as a BJP candidate. "He has no place for emotions. It's only management".

True or not, the management guru is reaping rich dividends.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Special-Report/Inside-the-mind-of-Rahul-Gandhi/articleshow/4570454.cms

'84 budget was precursor to Manmohanomics

24 May 2009, 0048 hrs IST, TNN


The finance minister's job is one that's hardly new to Pranab Mukherjee. He first held the portfolio in 1982 in Indira Gandhi's cabinet and went
Pranab Mukherjee
Pranab Mukherjee with the 1983 budget papers. (TOI Photo)
on to present three successive Budgets with the last of them in 1984.

The economic policy paradigm then was obviously very different from what we have today, but the 1984 Budget had in some sense anticipated quite a bit of the reforms that were to sweep the Indian economy in less than a decade.

Bimal Jalan, a man who has been RBI Governor and has headed the prime minister's economic advisory council, had told TOI on the eve of Mukherjee's interim Budget in February this year: "It (the 1984 exercise) was a landmark budget initiating much of the reforms in indirect taxes, simplification of the tax structure and making the process taxpayer friendly."

Recalling the context, Jalan said the adverse impact of a high tax regime in the past made the government think of reforms. One of the highlights of the 1984 budget, therefore, was the proposal to split the initial tax slab and give some relief for those coming under the Rs 15,000-20,000 bracket.

Mukherjee had also proposed that "the ceiling of standard deduction be increased from the present Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000". The relief resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 35 crore for the government in a year, which may not seem like much today, but was a reasonable sum of money a quarter of a century ago.

That year was, like the current one, a bad year for the country's economy. Blighted by a drought and poor crops in the two preceding seasons, the prospects were bleak. The FM acknowledged: "The gross domestic product this year will be lower than in the two previous years." It is more than likely he will echo the same sentiment this year.

The GDP growth rate then was less than 5%. It would be alarming if it goes that low this year. He will have to bring to bear all of that personal experience as well as his undoubted erudition to the task of steering the economy out of the choppy waters it now finds itself in.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/84-budget-was-precursor-to-Manmohanomics/articleshow/4570384.cms

Sikh organisations to mark 25 years of Operation Bluestar

24 May 2009, 1309 hrs IST, IANS


MRITSAR: Sikh organisations, including some radical ones, are all set to evoke the painful memories of the Indian Army's storming of the Golden

Temple complex in June 1984 to evict heavily armed Sikh extremists.

The Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of the Sikh religion, the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and Sikh radicals are already planning events at the temple complex, where the holiest of Sikh shrines Harmandar Sahib (popularly called Golden Temple) is located, here in the first week of June to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, the army's codename for the operation.

Indian Army units had used heavy artillery against the terrorist militia, led by the separatist preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, holed up inside the shrine complex. Hundreds of people inside the shrine, including Bhindranwale and his armed supporters, and army and police personnel lost their lives in the battle.

The main function, on June 6, will be held at the Akal Takht. The building, which faces the Harmandar Sahib, was heavily damaged in Operation Bluestar.

Despite the passage of 25 years, Operation Bluestar remains etched in the minds of Sikhs as the darkest chapter in the recent history of the community.

Then prime minister Indira Gandhi, whose government in New Delhi gave the order for the army to use all means to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple complex, was killed by her Sikh bodyguards at her residence on Oct 31, 1984 in a reprisal crime.

The army had faced stiff resistance from the terrorists inside the complex.

The SGPC, the mini-parliament of the Sikh religion that manages Sikh shrines in Punjab, will hold its main function at the Manji Sahib hall of the temple complex.

"We are making preparations for the event this time. We will add more events this year. The main function will be on June 6. We want the function to be held well and go off peacefully," SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said.

Asked if radical leaders would be allowed to take centrestage and raise separatist slogans, as has happened before, Makkar said: "We have seen that such elements raise Khalistan slogans at the end of the function. Though our volunteers are there to prevent them, sometimes they manage to do this."

Makkar said he did not have confirmation whether or not Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Akali Dal President and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal would attend the function.

Getting more hardline, the SGPC had recently brought out its annual calendar with the photograph of the Akal Takht being shown badly damaged in the June 1984 attack.

The use of the photograph by the generally moderate SGPC, which is dominated by Punjab's ruling Akali Dal, was a clear sign that the organisation was looking at cosying up to radical elements in the community in the run-up to the recent parliamentary elections.

"We are trying to ensure that the SGPC involves all Sikh organisations in the events being held. Sikh bodies will be holding their individual events at the Golden Temple complex and other places in the first week of June," radical Sikh body Dal Khalsa's leader Kanwarpal Singh said.

The Khalsa Action Committee (KAC), a committee of various radical organisations, recently held various events to make people aware of its version of what led to Operation Bluestar and how it left the Sikh community scarred.

Organisations like Dal Khalsa and Damdami Taksal are upset with the SGPC, saying it is doing nothing to set up a memorial to those who lost their lives inside the shrine complex during Operation Bluestar.

"The SGPC has already passed a resolution to have a memorial inside the Golden Temple complex. It only needs to implement that. But it is under pressure from the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, alliance partner of the Akali Dal in Punjab) not to do it. We cannot make it outside as it will not justify the sacrifice of the martyrs. Inside the shrine complex, the SGPC has control," Kanwarpal Singh said.

There are plans to bring out a directory of names of all those who were killed inside the shrine during Operation Bluestar. Many innocent civilians, who were stranded inside the shrine on June 2 when the army moved in, were also killed during the operation.

Every year, the first week of June is observed as 'ghallughara" (genocide) week.

Though terrorism in Punjab (1981-1995) ended many years ago, the anniversary of the Golden Temple attack is observed by radical Sikh organisations every year.

Railways offer $2.7 tn investment opportunity: BNP Paribas

24 May 2009, 1018 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways sector offers an investment opportunity of a whopping Rs 2.7 lakh crore over the next five to eight years, a report

says.

"Opportunities in the Railway sector are close to Rs 2.7 trillion over the next five to eight years, of which the Rs 800-900 billion will be awarded in the next two years," global financial services provider BNP Paribas said in a report.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has been appointed as the Railway Minister in the second term of UPA government led by Manmohan Singh. In the last government Lalu Prasad was the Railway Minister and was credited for a major turnaround story at Indian Railways.

The BNP Paribas report further said that out of the entire outlay Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project, which envisages construction of 2,800 kms of rail corridor spanning seven states poses the largest investment opportunity of Rs 68,000 crore.

The maximum length of the corridor would be in Uttar Pradesh of about 37 per cent and the total land required is 12,500 hectares. Other areas of opportunities include station modernisation, port connectivity, gauge conversion, rolling stock and logistic parks.

The Railway budget for 2009-10 has earmarked Rs 37,900 crore as compared to Rs 36,773 crore for 2008-09 revised estimates. However, land acquisition is the most significant challenge, which could delay project implementation, BNP Paribas analysts said in the report.

Other key challenges highlighted by the industry representatives were related to inability of Indian players to execute projects on a turnkey basis due to obsolete technologies. "Shortage of trained engineers and suppliers is another impediment. However, these impediments may not materially affect the overall investment rationale," the report added.

Specifically, for engineering and construction (E&C) companies, opportunities lie in programmes such as the DFC, station modernization and the civil works of the logistic parks, which may roughly be half of the total size of the respective programmes.

Further, the report believes that there is a great thrust on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for implementation of the proposed programmes, and this form of partnership is expected to contribute 17 per cent of the estimated investments required.

The cooperation between the public and private could be in various forms such as special purpose vehicles, joint ventures, build-own-transfer (including the annuity model), build-own-operate-transfer and build-own-operate models, it added.

100-days agenda faces 'tight' Budget

22 May 2009, 0037 hrs IST, Rajeev Jayaswal & Gireesh Chandra Prasad, ET Bureau











NEW DELHI: The government's plan to kickstart an ambitious 100 days' reform programme after Manmohan Singh and his team take oath on Friday is

up against the constitutional propriety of getting parliamentary approval for any new item of expenditure. That means the Budget.

Presenting, discussing, debating and passing the Budget could take time. If the Budget cannot be passed before July 31, not just the grand 100-days programme, even routine government expenditure would run into trouble.

As a safeguard against such a situation where the government finds itself without the authority to spend money, the finance ministry has initiated moves to put together a second vote-on-account, which would authorise the government to make routine expenditure till September 30.

The finance ministry has written to all government departments to indicate their spending needs for the two months between July 31, when the authorisation of the last vote-on-account passed on February 16 expires, and September 30.

While a new government takes 45-70 days to present a budget, getting it passed typically takes longer. A recess, during which Parliament standing committees will discuss the various Budget proposals, follows the presentation of the Budget. Then, Parliament convenes again to debate and pass the Annual Finance Bill.

Now, the big question is if this entire process can be completed before July 31? If the Opposition agrees to reduce the time taken for debate, this can be done. However, taking no chances, the finance ministry has initiated moves for a second vote-on-account, according to a senior government official.

The Constitution doesn't allow the government to make new investments or launch new schemes without Parliament approval.

Article 115 (1)(a) allows supplementary, additional or excess grants if "the amount authorised by any law made in accordance with the provisions of Article 114 to be expended for a particular service for the current financial year is found to be insufficient for the purposes of that year or when a need has arisen during the current year for supplementary or additional expenditure upon some new service not contemplated in the annual financial statement for that year."

Government rules define 'new service' as referring to expenditure arising out of a new policy decision, not brought to the notice of Parliament earlier, excluding a new activity or a new form of investment.

Finance secretary Ashok Chawla on Wednesday hinted at the incoming government having to seek an interim vote-on-account to carry on the business of administration if it fails to present a full Budget before August.

"The interim budget, as it has been approved by Parliament, will operate till the end of July. Till then, the government has the ability to carry on expenditure. If the new Budget is not ready till then, we will have to go for another vote-on-account to carry on work for a short period after that," he had said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Finance/100-days-agenda-faces-tight-Budget/articleshow/4562237.cms

Palaniappan Chidambaram: A tough taskmaster

Times of India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
64-year-old Chidambaram, who hails from a small business community of prosperous Chettiars of Tamil Nadu, was a leading figure of economic reforms ...

Push for reforms

Deccan Herald - ‎May 22, 2009‎
There should be a two-pronged approach — short term measures against economic slowdown and long term initiatives on important economic reforms. ...

Pune Inc looks forward to economic reforms

Times of India - ‎May 16, 2009‎
... polls evoked a positive reaction from business leaders in the city, who expressed the hope that a stable Centre will drive economic reforms much easily. ...

There will be more stress on economic reforms, says Tendulkar

Economic Times - ‎May 16, 2009‎
"Economic reforms would certainly be on top of the agenda of the government but let's wait for the constitution of the Cabinet," he said. ...

Vietnam PM pledges economic reform

AFP - ‎May 21, 2009‎
TOKYO (AFP) — Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung promised Thursday to push economic reforms and invited more foreign investment as Hanoi tries to ...

M. Veerappa Moily- True son of the Soil

Mangalorean.com - ‎10 hours ago‎
He led the implementation of economic reforms in Karnataka in 1992 and also responsible for drafting and implementing the Karnataka Land Reforms Act in 1974 ...

Left to continue resistance to UPA's reforms

Economic Times - ‎May 21, 2009‎
"Congress' pro-reforms policy is against national interest and any move to implement economic reforms by the UPA government will have to be resisted," the ...

UPA win could signal big reforms

Times of India - ‎May 16, 2009‎
Suresh Tendulkar, chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council, said the new government under Manmohan Singh would focus on economic reforms. ...


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Satyam may sack 7,500-8,000 non-billable staff from June

24 May 2009, 1832 hrs IST
Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings, after Tech Mahindra takes charge of the company from June 1.
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International Business

Wipro warns of adverse business impact due to WB disclosure

24 May 2009, 1156 hrs IST
IT major Wipro has warned that its businesses could be "adversely" affected due to the disclosure made by World Bank nearly four months ago that the Indian company was ineligible to work with the international lending institution.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/articlelist/1898055.cms

Obama vs. Cheney on terror

Seattle Times - ‎1 hour ago‎

Israeli FM rules out return to 1967 borders

AFP - ‎6 hours ago‎
... in the occupied West Bank during the first cabinet meeting since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US President Barack Obama in Washington last week.

Republicans prepare to battle with Barack Obama over Supreme Court ...

Telegraph.co.uk - ‎5 hours ago‎
Republicans are poised to challenge Barack Obama as he moves to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court, one of the most politically charged decisions of his ...

US: Amid protests, Obama speaks at Catholic university

University World News - ‎5 hours ago‎
US President Barrack Obama called for "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" as he accepted an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame amid ...

US Senate oks $91.3b war funding bill

TMCnet - ‎9 hours ago‎
KABUL, May 22, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- Refusing to provide funds sought by President Barrack Obama for the closure of the Guantanamo ...

Dodd Now Shooting For Cap On Credit Card Interest Rate, Merchant Fees

Baltimore Sun - ‎May 23, 2009‎
Chris Dodd and President Barack Obama exchange a greeting before Obama signed the credit card reform bill that Dodd shepherded through Congress. ...

Obama Defends Plan To Close Guantanamo, Transfer Prisoners

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty - ‎May 22, 2009‎
"We are cleaning up something that is, quite simply, a mess," said US President Barack Obama at the National Archives in Washington. ...
Bush undercut US security, Obama says United Press International

Military chief: Guantanamo closing still goal

The Associated Press - ‎14 minutes ago‎
WASHINGTON (AP) — The top US military official says the Pentagon is working to meet President Barack Obama's one-year deadline to close the Guantanamo ...

Obama names US space agency head

BBC News - ‎2 hours ago‎
President Barack Obama has chosen retired astronaut Charles Bolden to lead Nasa, ending months of speculation about the position. Lori Garver, a former Nasa ...

Did you mean:  Barack Obama



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PM vows to put India back on growth curve

Times of India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh outlined his priorities on the economy when he said on Friday that he hoped to get India back onto the growth curve ...

India will be free of lethal P-1 polio strain by year-end: WHO

Hindu - ‎1 hour ago‎
New Delhi (IANS): India will be able to eradicate the lethal P-1 polio virus by the end of 2009, with the disease currently confined to parts of Uttar ...

India asks Pakistan to take credible action

Economic Times - ‎18 hours ago‎
NEW DELHI: Linking India's growth prospects to stable neighbours, newly-appointed external affairs minister SM Krishna on Saturday said that Pakistan would ...

India to host T20 Champions League

NDTV.com - ‎4 hours ago‎
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India buys US debts worth $38.2 bn in just one year

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'Bollywood domination has harmed India's regional cinema'

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Australia fined $10000 for Davis Cup forfeit against India

Reuters India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
Australia will also be liable for costs to both the ITF and to the All India Tennis Association to be determined at a later date." Tennis Australia (TA) had ...

India no favourites to defend World T20 title: Abbas, Akram

Hindustan Times - ‎56 minutes ago‎
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Dreams of golden years return as Bengal back in limelight

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B'desh minister seeks Mamata's cooperation to improve network

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'Portfolio allocation shows govt's commitment towards reforms'

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Mamata can be next chief minister of West Bengal: Pranab

Times of India - ‎May 19, 2009‎
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Nitish opposes TC's demand for early WB elections

Times of India - ‎May 22, 2009‎
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Railways offer $2.7 tn investment opportunity: BNP Paribas

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Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 23, May 23, 2009

Global Challenges before the New Government

by Bharat Jhunjhunwala, 23 May 2009

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The chances of a new Congress Government being formed have increased with the party emerging as the largest and even crossing the magic number of 272 with its allies. The most important challenge before the new government will be to deal with the continuing global recession. The present thinking is that the Indian economy will look up along with the Western economies. Thus Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, declared his intention to walk side by side with the Western countries at the G-20 meet months ago. However, this policy fails to capture the immense possibilities that the present recession opens up for India.

Present thinking ignores the fact that rise of India and fall of Western economies are two sides of the same coin. Truly, we are the cause of their troubles today. Western companies are unable to compete with our low-cost high-quality products. For example, the American company, General Motors, plans to import more cars from its production facility in China instead of manufacturing them in Detroit because of high wages at home. The natural result is the decline of the American economy. The situation was different earlier. Western countries were exporting high-tech goods at high prices and earning huge profits. They were paying high wages to their workers from this income. That is no longer possible because Indian companies have started making similar high-tech goods. For example, our companies have rolled out semi-hybrid cars to compete with the Western hybrid cars. My assessment is that the decline of Western economies will continue for a considerable time because their high wages have become unsustainable in view of the developing countries catching up technologically.

The stimulus packages being implemented by these countries may provide some temporary relief for, say, six months but not help in the long run. Their governments are printing notes and generating domestic demand artificially. They will have to collect taxes in future to pay for the present spending. At that time their problems will become much worse. A company running in loss due to high wages of its workers can delay closure for only some time by taking loans. Similarly, these economies can delay their troubles by implementing stimulus packages only for a short time. General Motors has had to increase imports from China despite getting assistance from the US Government under the stimulus package. In this situation it will not help us if we wait for revival of the Western economies to jump-start our exports.

The problems of foreign investment are similar. It is true that much foreign investment has come into India during the last 15 years when the Western economies had been roaring. But times have changed. Western economies were strong till recently. Western multinationals were investing profits earned in their home economies in the emerging markets. For example, General Motors would make profits in America and invest in India. This will not happen when their economies are declining. But, that does not mean that all global capital has evaporated. Investors like pension funds and George Soros are still seeking opportunities for investment. My assessment is that they will turn towards India. Global investors turned away from Britain and moved in droves towards the United States at the end of the Second World War. Similarly global investors will turn away from the US and move towards emerging economies now.

The challenge before the new government is to adopt policies in tune with this changing ground reality. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to walk together with the Western countries at the G-20 summit a few months ago. India has bought US Treasury bonds after the summit to help the United States survive. This means that India endorses the present asymmetry in the world economy where 20 per cent people living in the Western countries consume 80 per cent of the world resources. The challenge before the new government is to break this asymmetry. This will require active cooperation with China, Russia, Brazil and other developing countries to make a joint front against the dominance of the Western countries. We should try to increase exports to these emerging economies instead of trying to revive exports to the Western countries. We should try to stop the outflow of our wealth through hawala and other routes to the Western countries instead of seeking more investment from them.

¨

Another challenge is to face the restrictions on outsourcing being imposed by the Western countries. My assessment is that these restrictions will boomerang upon them. American companies resort to outsourcing because they find labour cheap in India and that helps them lower their cost of production and remain competitive in the world economy. Restrictions on outsourcing will force American companies to employ high-wage American workers instead of low-wage Indian workers. This will lead to higher cost of production for their goods and they will be priced out of the global market. For example, Japanese carmakers will be able to outsource their chores to Indian outfits while American carmakers will not be able to do this. Truly, America is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Allowing outsourcing will lead to loss of jobs. Restricting it will impose losses upon American companies. The only solution is to lower the wages of their workers. Ultimately the American workers will have to accept wages similar to those of the Indian workers. Alas! No Western leader is willing to tell this hard truth to his people. Thus, they will impose restrictions on outsourcing which are populist in nature and push their economies into deeper trouble.

The new government must make a strategy to face this impending contraction in demand for outsourcing services from global businesses. The cost of production of Western companies will increase. We must turn this into an opportunity. Western companies are presently exporting goods like computer servers, patriot missiles, aircraft, and the like. These goods will become expensive with restrictions on outsourcing in place. We must try to make these high-tech goods and export into the global market. The government can establish a new public sector undertaking to do this.

The third challenge is to create a new world currency to replace the dollar. Presently we are providing money to the US for creating foreign exchange reserves. The Reserve Bank of India is buying US Treasury Bonds for this purpose. The US is using our money against our interests. For example, the United States has told Indian companies not to do business with Iran. The US is able to do this because India is providing it with money to keep afloat. The developing countries must make an alternate world currency and shift their reserves from the US dollar into the new currency. China and the ASEAN have already taken the first steps in this direction under the Chiang Mai Initiative. India must join them and give the final push to the collapse of the dollar. The new government must change policies in keeping with these changing ground realities.


Follow-up of the site's activity

Mainstream, Vol XLVII, No 23, May 23, 2009

Global Challenges before the New Government

by Bharat Jhunjhunwala, 23 May 2009

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The chances of a new Congress Government being formed have increased with the party emerging as the largest and even crossing the magic number of 272 with its allies. The most important challenge before the new government will be to deal with the continuing global recession. The present thinking is that the Indian economy will look up along with the Western economies. Thus Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, declared his intention to walk side by side with the Western countries at the G-20 meet months ago. However, this policy fails to capture the immense possibilities that the present recession opens up for India.

Present thinking ignores the fact that rise of India and fall of Western economies are two sides of the same coin. Truly, we are the cause of their troubles today. Western companies are unable to compete with our low-cost high-quality products. For example, the American company, General Motors, plans to import more cars from its production facility in China instead of manufacturing them in Detroit because of high wages at home. The natural result is the decline of the American economy. The situation was different earlier. Western countries were exporting high-tech goods at high prices and earning huge profits. They were paying high wages to their workers from this income. That is no longer possible because Indian companies have started making similar high-tech goods. For example, our companies have rolled out semi-hybrid cars to compete with the Western hybrid cars. My assessment is that the decline of Western economies will continue for a considerable time because their high wages have become unsustainable in view of the developing countries catching up technologically.

The stimulus packages being implemented by these countries may provide some temporary relief for, say, six months but not help in the long run. Their governments are printing notes and generating domestic demand artificially. They will have to collect taxes in future to pay for the present spending. At that time their problems will become much worse. A company running in loss due to high wages of its workers can delay closure for only some time by taking loans. Similarly, these economies can delay their troubles by implementing stimulus packages only for a short time. General Motors has had to increase imports from China despite getting assistance from the US Government under the stimulus package. In this situation it will not help us if we wait for revival of the Western economies to jump-start our exports.

The problems of foreign investment are similar. It is true that much foreign investment has come into India during the last 15 years when the Western economies had been roaring. But times have changed. Western economies were strong till recently. Western multinationals were investing profits earned in their home economies in the emerging markets. For example, General Motors would make profits in America and invest in India. This will not happen when their economies are declining. But, that does not mean that all global capital has evaporated. Investors like pension funds and George Soros are still seeking opportunities for investment. My assessment is that they will turn towards India. Global investors turned away from Britain and moved in droves towards the United States at the end of the Second World War. Similarly global investors will turn away from the US and move towards emerging economies now.

The challenge before the new government is to adopt policies in tune with this changing ground reality. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to walk together with the Western countries at the G-20 summit a few months ago. India has bought US Treasury bonds after the summit to help the United States survive. This means that India endorses the present asymmetry in the world economy where 20 per cent people living in the Western countries consume 80 per cent of the world resources. The challenge before the new government is to break this asymmetry. This will require active cooperation with China, Russia, Brazil and other developing countries to make a joint front against the dominance of the Western countries. We should try to increase exports to these emerging economies instead of trying to revive exports to the Western countries. We should try to stop the outflow of our wealth through hawala and other routes to the Western countries instead of seeking more investment from them.

¨

Another challenge is to face the restrictions on outsourcing being imposed by the Western countries. My assessment is that these restrictions will boomerang upon them. American companies resort to outsourcing because they find labour cheap in India and that helps them lower their cost of production and remain competitive in the world economy. Restrictions on outsourcing will force American companies to employ high-wage American workers instead of low-wage Indian workers. This will lead to higher cost of production for their goods and they will be priced out of the global market. For example, Japanese carmakers will be able to outsource their chores to Indian outfits while American carmakers will not be able to do this. Truly, America is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Allowing outsourcing will lead to loss of jobs. Restricting it will impose losses upon American companies. The only solution is to lower the wages of their workers. Ultimately the American workers will have to accept wages similar to those of the Indian workers. Alas! No Western leader is willing to tell this hard truth to his people. Thus, they will impose restrictions on outsourcing which are populist in nature and push their economies into deeper trouble.

The new government must make a strategy to face this impending contraction in demand for outsourcing services from global businesses. The cost of production of Western companies will increase. We must turn this into an opportunity. Western companies are presently exporting goods like computer servers, patriot missiles, aircraft, and the like. These goods will become expensive with restrictions on outsourcing in place. We must try to make these high-tech goods and export into the global market. The government can establish a new public sector undertaking to do this.

The third challenge is to create a new world currency to replace the dollar. Presently we are providing money to the US for creating foreign exchange reserves. The Reserve Bank of India is buying US Treasury Bonds for this purpose. The US is using our money against our interests. For example, the United States has told Indian companies not to do business with Iran. The US is able to do this because India is providing it with money to keep afloat. The developing countries must make an alternate world currency and shift their reserves from the US dollar into the new currency. China and the ASEAN have already taken the first steps in this direction under the Chiang Mai Initiative. India must join them and give the final push to the collapse of the dollar. The new government must change policies in keeping with these changing ground realities.


Follow-up of the site's activityhttp://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article1380.html

Mukherjee the 'Deliverer' Takes Over as Indian Finance Minister
Share | Email | Print | A A A

By Cherian Thomas

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Pranab Mukherjee earned a reputation as a trouble shooter in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet since 2004 by resolving spats among ministries and coalition partners. Now he's got the job of reviving the economy.

The 73-year-old Congress party veteran was appointed finance minister yesterday, a position he has been acting in since January as Singh, 76, recovered from surgery. He held the defense and then the foreign portfolio for the bulk of Singh's first term.

Mukherjee, who ran a closed economy as the finance minister in Indira Gandhi's cabinet from 1982 to 1984, inherits one that is now open and exposed to the global recession. He has called for "accelerating" reforms in banking and insurance to make the economy more competitive and accelerate growth.

"He is a deliverer," said Alastair Newton, a political analyst at Nomura International Plc in London. "He will have challenges in the economic portfolio given the political realities -- market expectations are high."

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark stock index surged by a record 17 percent on May 18, the first day after Singh's re- election, as investors bet the resounding victory will enable the new finance minister to ease foreign investment rules and sell state assets -- policies that were stalled by Singh's communist partners in his previous term.

Congress has the support of 322 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, with the party getting 206 lawmakers of its own. That's the most since 1991, when Singh as finance minister abandoned Soviet-style state planning and introduced free-market policies that have helped India's economy quadruple in size.

'Strong Endorsement'

The victory was as much Mukherjee's as Singh's. As the No. 2 in the cabinet, he backed the prime minister's policies ranging from creating jobs in rural areas and writing off farmers' loans to closer ties with the U.S., renewing a relationship that began in the early 1980s when he appointed Singh as the central bank governor.

"Despite the strong endorsement from voters, the finance minister may have a tough job pushing through some much-needed reforms," said Nikhilesh Bhattacharyya, an economist at Moody's Economy.com in Sydney. "It's very hard for politicians, for example, to do away with subsidies, which may result in a backlash. Expectations should be tempered."

India spends one trillion rupees ($21 billion), or a tenth of its budget, on food, fuel and other subsidies each year in a country where the World Bank estimates three-quarters of the people live on less than $2 a day. About 13 percent of spending goes to defense and 20 percent to pay interest on national debt. That leaves little for other needs, such as health, education and power plants, boosting borrowings.

Ballooning Deficit

The federal government budget deficit was at 6 percent of gross domestic product for the year ended March 31, more than double the target of 2.5 percent of GDP.

Moody's Investors Service places India's long-term local currency rating at Ba2, two levels below investment grade, and lower than the ratings assigned to Colombia, Romania and Kazakhstan. S&P has a BBB- long term credit rating on India, the lowest investment-grade level.

Investors will be looking at how much fiscal stimulus Mukherjee, who was on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 1980s, can provide in his first policy statement -- the budget for this year -- expected in early July.

Singh's government said before the elections that stimulus of at least another 1 percent of GDP is needed to prop up an economy that's growing at its slowest pace since 2003.

Policy Conflicts

Mukherjee, who first became a minister in 1973, estimated in February that India may need to raise a record 3.62 trillion rupees from bond sales in the fiscal year that started April 1. The central bank governor Duvvuri Subbarao said May 22 that borrowings have "already expanded rapidly" and that it goes against his efforts to keep borrowing costs low.

"The government faces a challenge to balance two conflicting issues -- to stimulate the economy while preventing fiscal position from further erosion," said Takahira Ogawa, S&P's director of sovereign ratings. "There is a possibility for the government to implement various measures to further expand the economy and consolidate the fiscal situation."

Singh's administration, which doesn't need communists' support for a majority in parliament, could raise as much as $20 billion from sale of state-run companies, according to Rashesh Shah, chief executive officer of Edelweiss Capital Ltd.

Asset Sales

Among the companies that could be placed on the block are NHPC Ltd., India's largest producer of electricity from water, explorer Oil India Ltd. and fuel retailer Hindustan Petroleum Corp., according to Mumbai-based brokerage Religare Capital Markets Ltd.

Still, analysts such as Seema Desai at Eurasia Group, a London-based political-risk advisory firm, expect economic changes will be "selective and gradual."

"There is a significant segment within the party that is suspicious of sweeping pro-market reforms," Desai said.

Mukherjee, who last year successfully rallied China, Japan, Russia and 42 other nations to end India's nuclear isolation and resume supplies without signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, needs to bring the same acumen to gain support of his party colleagues, many of whom are still tied to the original socialist principles of the Congress party.

At stake is a bill to raise the foreign investment ceiling for Prudential Plc and other insurers to 49 percent from 26 percent, and other proposed legislation aimed at removing a 10 percent cap on the voting rights of foreign investors in non- state banks. The government also wants to allow global retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. into India.

"Mukherjee is a seasoned politician with excellent skills to bring people around," said N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman at the Centre for Media Studies in New Delhi. "Expectations from him will be high."

To contact the reporter on this story: Cherian Thomas in New Delhi at Cthomas1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 23, 2009 21:01 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=ahfsPj3QdjNI&refer=india

Thomson Reuters

India to protect economy from global slump - finmin

05.23.09, 09:35 AM EDT

NEW DELHI, May 23 (Reuters) - India's new finance minister said on Saturday that efforts will be made to protect the economy from the global financial downturn.

'Major economic issues have to be addressed, and various efforts will be made to insulate the Indian economy from the adverse impact of the financial meltdown,' Pranab Mukherjee told reporters soon after he was named to the post.


http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/05/23/afx6459372.html


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