Indian Holocaust My Father`s Life and Time - SIX HUNDRED SEVENTY
Palash Biswas
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US asks India to accelerate next generation reform!I have been writing and speaking that Pranab`s Latest Budget Proposals suit most US Interests and meant for the Next Phase of LPG Mafia Rule. I could not Convince either Marxists or Ambedkarites. But Pranab`s Recent Washington Show EXPOSES the Master Plan of Mass Destruction and IMMINENT All Out Aggression against the People of India! Be Aware!UK folows US to the Great Indian Hunting Ground as Nearly 50 British cos keen on investing in India!On the other hand,Japan on Wednesday said the Fukushima atomic disaster earlier this year will not hamper its ongoing negotiations for a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India.
US Corporate Imperialism is INVITED for Free For All Hunting in Indian Free Market by the Zionsist Brahaminical Hegemony and its LPG Mafia Rule! Excluded Indigenous and Aborigin Communities have NO Escape Route! Repression Home Work is well DONE for Ethnic Cleansing as Wreckage of a paramilitary vehicle hit by a powerful landmine by Maoists rebels in Chhattisgarh recently. Intelligence reports speak of a possibility of Maoist cadres assembling in large numbers along the Orissa border to strike.Mind you, POSCO faces Stiff Resistance in Orissa. India has invited US investors for $1 trillion dollar opportunities in infrastructure financing as both countries set a "robust agenda" to deepen their economic ties! India's infrastructure financing requirements and the new manufacturing policy being finalised will open up $1 trillion opportunities for global investors over the next five years.As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday expressed concern over the state of the global economy , especially the faltering recovery in the US and developments in the Middle East, but said India must and will swim against these adverse tides.
Trying to hardsell India, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday assured the US business community that the country's growth story was intact and it was committed to expediting reforms and further liberalisation of the foreign investment regime. Observing that India and the US are at the threshold of unlocking the great potential of their bilateral economic relationship, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday urged New Delhi to accelerate next generation reform to spur the growth of the Indian economy.
"We view this relationship as having enormous potential. I think we are just at the very beginning of unlocking the great potential of unlocking this economic relationship," Geithner said, addressing a conference on the 'US-India Economic and Financial Partnership' jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think-tank.
On Tuesday, Geithner will lead a high-powered US delegation for the second India-US Economic and Financial Partnership discussions being held at the Treasury.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Washington on Monday morning leading an Indian delegation to attend what is being billed as the highest level economic meeting between the two countries.
"We are going to spend our time in talking about a list of the most important challenges and opportunities between us. Obviously as we always do, we would talk about the global economy, the risk and challenges ahead and talk little bit about economic developments in the United States and India," Geithner said, giving an insight into the meeting.
Geithner, who hosted Mukherjee and his delegation for a dinner on Monday night, said their main focus is to look forward and expand and strengthen the economic and trade and industrial relationship.
"I think, from our perspective, the key thing is the outlook for economic reform. This is true in the United States -- fiscal and economic reform -- but also true for India as well," he said.
"India's economic reforms have contributed to the Indian growth story... Overall GDP in 2010-11 has been estimated at 8.5 per cent. The economy is expected to maintain the growth momentum at the same level in 2011-12," he told a gathering of corporate leaders and policymakers at the 'US-India Economic and Financial Partnership' conference here.
The minister further said that discussions were underway to build consensus on "further liberalisation of the FDI policy in the retail and defence sectors."
US businessmen are keenly looking at opening of the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment and the issue was likely to come up during the bilateral meeting between Mukherjee and US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
As part of the major initiative, the minister told the conference, being organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Brookings Institute, that India has completely liberalised "pricing and payment of technology transfer fee, trademark, and brand name and royalty payments".
Although the economy is on a high growth path, Mukherjee said the challenge is to sustain GDP expansion in light of global developments and contain domestic inflation, which is hovering at around 9 per cent.
The agenda of Indo US Relations was outlined in a Joint Statement issued at the end of the second US-India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting here Tuesday. Here is the text:
"Today, US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee convened in Washington, DC, the second ministerial meeting of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership.
As two of the world's largest economies, the US-India relationship offers enormous economic opportunities for Americans and Indians alike.
Through stronger collaboration and coordination amongst our economic and financial policymakers, this Partnership has sought to deepen US-India bilateral and multilateral engagement in order to fully capitalise on the wealth of economic opportunities between our two nations.
The comprehensive inter-agency participation from both the United States and India, including Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Reserve Bank of India Governor Subbarao , is the highest level economic and financial meeting ever between our two countries.
This meeting clearly demonstrates the vision and commitment that the United States and India share in expanding economic opportunities for our citizens through greater trade and investment.
There is new opportunity for US investors "for work in this area", Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a joint new conference here Tuesday as fast-developing India is planning to raise $1 trillion in infrastructure financing by 2017, half of it from the private sector.
Calling the discussions with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the just concluded second meeting of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership "fruitful", Mukherjee said the level of interaction between the US and Indian officials has "increased substantially" since the last round of talks.
"The single most important takeaway is the commitment of both governments to work very hard to expand and deepen this relationship and make sure that Indian companies and American companies are benefiting even more than they already are from these tremendous opportunities ahead," said Geithner.
However, keeping the US push for more economic reforms by India, he said: "American companies still face barriers in India in sectors such as banking, insurance, manufacturing, multi-brand retail and infrastructure."
"Easing those barriers, which are limiting economic growth and job creation in both our countries, would be an important step toward integrating our economies," Geithner added.
A joint statement issued at the end of talks said India and the US had agreed to work together to expand trade and investment links between their two economies, and to develop and strengthen their financial systems.
They would also "work together in the G-20 on an effective mutual assessment process to bring about strong, sustained, and balanced global growth".
The joint statement said "leveraging their combined knowledge, experience, and shared interests, the two agreed to a robust agenda" for the coming year that includes deeper engagement in three key areas: macroeconomic challenges, financial sector reforms, and infrastructure finance.
The US, the joint statement said, is "committed to making the investments in technology, skills, and infrastructure necessary to maintain and enhance US competitiveness in the global economy".
On its part, "India intends to take steps to marshal private and public saving to meet the infrastructure needs of a rapidly growing Indian economy", it said.
Currently, bilateral trade between the two countries is about $49 billion annually. This is just over a tenth of the US' $456 billion bilateral trade with China, its second-largest trade partner after Canada.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao and US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke also participated in the meetings Monday and Tuesday in what the statement called "the highest level economic and financial meeting ever between our two countries".
Centre plans Rs 1 L cr investment subsidy for electronics sector
BANGALORE: The government has proposed to give a Rs 1 lakh crore investment subsidy to the country's electronics industry over a period of next 10 years, with an aim to give a boost to the sector, a key official said today.
The push is expected to generate investment to the tune of Rs 4 lakh crore in the sector and create 20 million jobs in this decade, Joint Secretary in the Department of Information Technology Ajay Kumar said here.
Addressing a strategic electronics summit 2011, focused on defence and aerospace, organised by the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA) here, he said the government has also proposed a seed and venture capital fund with a size of Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore to support start-ups and new ideas in the electronics sector.
Noting that a special incentive package for the electronics industry expired last year, Kumar said a modified one in its place is "coming". Under the proposed new package, incentives would be made available to units across the value chain.
In the old package, it was available only for chips and high-tech components but in the new one, incentives would be available from raw materials to final product and accessories irrespective of the extent of value addition done, he said.
Kumar also said the threshold limit for eligibility for subsidies would be brought down to Rs one crore from the earlier Rs 1,000 crore so that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would also get incentives, which was not the case earlier.
Bihar's new industrial promotion policy eyes big investment
PATNA: With the Nitish Kumar government giving its nod to the new Industrial Promotion Policy , 2011, the decks have been cleared for big ticket investments even as the fate of investment proposals worth around Rs 1 lakh crore hangs fire due to alleged non-cooperation from the Centre.
The new policy, effective from July 1, 2011, will replace the Industrial Policy of 2006 much before its extended term expires on December, 2011, and will have a thrust on addressing basic problems like shortage of power.
Terming the new policy as "progressive, competitive and quality promoting", Bihar Industry Minister Renu Kumari said it would attract big ticket investment.
"Key areas where we will seek investments on a priority basis are food processing, agro-based industries, tourism, super-specialty hospitals, high and technical institutions, IT, textiles, energy and renewable energy," she said.
The new policy would provide an additional 10 per cent incentive over and above the cap fixed in the earlier policy, the Industry Department said and pointed out that emphasis would be laid on social justice.
According to the policy, if a unit appoints 100 persons in a given fiscal on the basis of the government's reservation policy, the entire employee pension fund (EPF) contribution borne by the company for that year would be fully reimbursed.
Furthermore, a unit with an investment of Rs 500 crore or more would be entitled to a capital subsidy of Rs 33 crore and the same would be applicable in the case of other incentives, the sources said.
The new policy, prepared after a thorough study of the policies in six neighbouring states, has four segments with incentives under each head.
Under the policy, the state government has proposed incentives for pre-production, post-production, taxes and others during the establishment of an unit.
The post-production incentives would include a 50 per cent subsidy on captive power, both on DG sets and power plants, which would go up to 60 per cent in the case of renewable energy and special purpose vehicles set up in industrial clusters or areas for common captive consumption.
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About 50 Indian companies are keen on investing in the UK in the current fiscal, mainly in sectors like IT, financial services, life sciences and advanced engineering, an UK official on Wednesday said.
"This year (fiscal) we expect to support about 50 Indian investments, including large, medium and small companies," First Secretary and Head of UK Trade and Investment (North India) Paul Grey told reporters on the sidelines of a Ficci function here.
However, Grey did not disclose the names of the companies, which are keen on investing in Britain.
At present, there are about 700 Indian companies like Tata Motors , TCS, Wipro and Tata Steel operating in the UK.
According to official estimates, Indian companies have invested over USD 3 billion in Britain.
Asked whether issues like corruption and slow economic growth have discouraged British companies to invest in India, he said, "I think there is a high-level of interest in India and the British companies are exploring new opportunities seriously."
He added, lots of investments are coming into India in sectors, including infrastructure, engineering and retail, to take advantage of the consumer opportunities.
On British firms investments plans in India, Grey said, "We work with up to 2,000 companies every year from Britain who want to do more business here. Most of them over time will set up their own operations in India."
There are various British companies, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, which are already operating in India.
Fukushima won't hamper nuke talks with India: Japan
Japan on Wednesday said the Fukushima atomic disaster earlier this year will not hamper its ongoing negotiations for a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with India.
Japanese Ambassador Akitaka Saiki said the nuclear disaster following a tsunami sent a "very very serious message" but both the countries will go back to talks to firm up the proposed pact.
"It is not that because of the tsunami, we are going to cancel the talks or postpone it," he said in reply to a question here.
Japan and India had started talks for a civil nuclear cooperation agreement last year, aiming at allowing Japanese companies to export atomic power technology and equipment to India. But there were apprehension that these negotiations could receive a set back following the radiation scare in Fukushima nuclear power plant after the tsunami struck the country in March 11.
Noting that both India and Japan are currently in the process of strengthening the safety mechanism in nuclear power plants, Saiki said it may take some time to resume the negotiations on the nuclear pact.
"I think the review process both in India and Japan will take some time. We need to ally concerns of our residents and we need to go through the process of persuading our residents living in neighbourhood of nuclear power stations," he said.
Without giving details, he said there are "core issues" which need to be discussed and resolved at the negotiating table. "We both know what the core issues are. We will overcome them. We are very very constructive in our approach," he said.
27 JUN, 2011, 08.59AM IST,NEW YORK TIMES
The $616 billion question: Does the euro crisis have a hidden AIG?
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It's the $616 billion question: Does the euro crisis have a hidden AIG? No one seems to be sure, in large part because the world of derivatives is so murky, but the possibility that some company out there may have insured billions of dollars of European debt has added a new wrinkle to the sovereign default debate. In years past, when financial crises in Argentina and Russia left those countries unable to make good on their government debts, they simply defaulted.
But this time around, swaps and other sorts of contracts have become so common and so intertwined in the financial markets that there are fears among regulators and financial players about how a Greek default would play out among derivatives holders. The looming question is whether these contracts - which insure against possibilities like a Greek default - are concentrated in the hands of a few companies, and if these companies will be able to pay out billions of dollars to cover losses during a default. If there were a single company standing behind many of these contracts, that company would be akin to the American International Group of the euro crisis.
The US insurer needed a $182 billion federal bailout during the financial crisis because it had insured the performance of mortgage bonds through derivatives and couldn't pay on all of them. Even regulators seem unsure of whether a Greek default would reveal such concentrated risk in the hands of just a few companies. Spokeswomen for the central banks of both Europe and the United States would not say whether their researchers had studied holdings of such contracts among non-bank entities like insurance companies and hedge funds.
Asked about derivatives tied to Europe at a Wednesday press conference , Ben S Bernanke , the chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that the direct exposure is small but that "a disorderly default in one of those countries would no doubt roil financial markets globally. It would have a big impact on credit spreads, on stock prices and so on.
And so in that respect I think the effects in the United States would be quite significant." Derivatives traders and analysts are debating just how much money is involved in these derivatives and what sort of threat they pose to markets in Europe and the United States. On the one hand, just over $5 billion is tied up in credit-default swap contracts that will pay out if Greece defaults, according to Markit, a financial data firm based in London .
That's less than 1 per cent the size of Greece's economy , but that is a conservative calculation that counts protections banks have in place offsetting their positions , and is called the net exposure. The less conservative figure, the gross exposure, is $78.7 billion for Greece, according to Markit.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/the-616-billion-question-does-the-euro-crisis-have-a-hidden-aig/articleshow/9009291.cms29 JUN, 2011, 11.16AM IST, JOHN SAMUEL RAJA D & KAUSIK DATTA,ET BUREAU
Economic growth threatened: Spooked by policy paralysis India Inc cuts down on capital investments
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NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: Spooked by policy paralysis and rising interest rates, the private sector is hitting the brakes on new capital investments , threatening to push the economy back to the sub-8% growth orbit.
Data for the January-March quarter, the latest available, shows that new project investments made by India Inc were the lowest in seven quarters while the value of projects shelved was the highest in eight quarters. Foreign direct investment, a key financing option for new projects, also fell 14% in 2010-11.
"The investment climate has become slightly adverse," says Mahesh Vyas, managing director and CEO of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), which put out the investment data.
These capital investment numbers, and what they convey, could be ominous for India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2011-12, which the government has projected at 9%. By one measure, GDP growth can be broken into three parts: capital investment, private consumption and government expenditure. In recent years, capital investment has been the engine of GDP growth.
When the economy grew above 9% for three consecutive years till March 2008, capital investment contributed half of this growth. In 2008-09, when GDP growth decelerated to 6.7% because of the global credit squeeze, share of capital investment was -10%. The direct correlation between capital investment and GDP growth was evident in the next two years of high growth as well. And it looms large over the economy today.
"India has issues to deal with like corruption, high inflation, resultant slower growth, and scope for reforms and improvements by the government, among others," says Akhil Gupta, senior managing director of private equity major Blackstone India.
"These create a sense of general uncertainty about the future of investing in India and, hence, some negative investor sentiment." The number of deals in private equity, the sector Gupta knows very well, done by foreign firms fell 18% in the first six months of calendar 2011, compared with the previous six months, according to Venture Intelligence, a Chennai-based firm focused on private equity and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in India.
Companies aggressively buying assets overseas
Many large companies and industries are in the throes of all kinds of problems," says Vyas. "Some relate to telecom and others to land acquisition." There's also the issue of India reopening negotiations with Mauritius to plug the tax shield offered by the latter.
Sudhir Kapadia, tax market leader for Ernst & Young, an audit and advisory firm, says it's not so much about the tax rates. "Only short-term investments made by FIIs in equities will be impacted, as the change in taxation could be from 0% to 30%," he says. "More than that, it's the uncertainty governing the tax policy."
Kapadia also complains the government takes a long time to resolve disputes, especially ones involving international transactions. He cites the tax policy relating to special economic zones (SEZs), where the commerce and finance ministries could not agree on the set of tax benefits to be made available.
It finally culminated in the imposition of a minimum alternate tax (MAT) of 18.5% on SEZs. "MAT was not there when developers made investment plans for SEZs," he adds.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-company/corporate-trends/economic-growth-threatened-spooked-by-policy-paralysis-india-inc-cuts-down-on-capital-investments/articleshow/9033018.cms
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Global economy fragile, but India can sail through: PM
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday expressed concern over the state of the global economy , especially the faltering recovery in the US and developments in the Middle East, but said India must and will swim against these adverse tides.
"On the international front the situation is not that positive. The international global recovery is fragile. Even the United States growth rate is faltering," Manmohan Singh said in his opening remarks during an interactive session with editors of select publications.
The prime minister called the meeting amid criticism that he has hardly spoken his mind in recent months about some burning issues rocking his government.
"We have to swim against this adverse tide and therefore India requires all the energy and all the cohesiveness of our polity to swim against these tides and come out victorious. We can do it." the prime minister added.
The prime minister said some of the economic events including the sovereign debt crisis in Euro zone countries like Greece and political turmoil in the Middle East, from where India sourced 70 percent of its oil supplies, could pose challenges to the country's growth story.
But he added that India had the right macro-economic foundation to grow at a rate of 9-10 percent.
"We showed that in 2008 when most people believed that our financial system would also be a victim of the global financial crisis."
The prime minister said that the country was a large market and if reforms like the Goods and Services Tax could be implemented, trade within the country itself would add to the tempo of growth.
"If we can put in place the Goods and Services Tax legislation and if we can remove barriers to interstate commerce, that itself will create new opportunities internally for accelerating the tempo of growth."
Manmohan Singh's opening remarks at the interaction with newspaper editors
I think that there is a growing perception that this government is in siege, that we have not been able to deliver on our agenda. An atmosphere has been created in the country - and this I say with all humility - the role of the media today in many cases has become that of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge.
Now that way no Parliamentary democracy can function and I would like to tell you that if you are taking governmental decisions, particularly big macro decisions, we don't know all the facts and yet we have to take decisions. When I was a student at Cambridge , Sir Paul Chambers , who was then the Chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries, came and addressed us on who is a good manager, who will be considered by industry as a good manager.
He told our student group that, in an uncertain world in which we live in, if 5 out of 10 decisions that I take ex-ante turn out to be correct ex-post that would be considered as a job well done. If out of 10 decisions that I take, 7 turn out to be right ex-post that would be considered an excellent performance. But if you have a system which is required to perform 10 out of 10 cases I think no system can be effective and satisfy that onerous condition.
We live in a world of uncertainty and ex-post whether it is the Comptroller and Auditor General, whether it is a Parliamentary committee then they analyse post facto. They have a lot more facts which were not available to those who took the decision.
I am not saying that it is not possible that some people may deliberately do wrong things, but in many cases it would turn out in that sort of a scenario it is very difficult to operate. So we must create in this country an environment in which Governments, Ministers and civil servants will not be discouraged from taking decisions in the national interest when all facts are not known, they will never be known. We take decisions in a world of uncertainty and that's the perspective I think Parliament, our CAG and our media must adopt if this nation is to move forward.
Our basic task is to deal with poverty, ignorance and disease which still afflict millions and millions of our citizens and whatever the ideological moorings of different parties, there is nobody who would say that you can satisfy all these aspirations of the people except in the framework of a rapidly expanding economy which is able to create 10 to 12 million jobs. For this, we need skilled citizens and we need to put in place a system of skill formation in education which is going to create employable skills which alone can provide our people the security of jobs that they need.
We have put in place an entitlement system. Entitlements have a role, but quite frankly there is a limited role. In the institutions of social security that we are trying to build, there are a large number of leakages in health, in education, and the allocation of subsidies. Our challenge is to plug these leaks and we will do that.
Corruption is a big issue. It has caught the imagination of the people, and we will deal with it. Let me say that while the Lokpal is an essential and desirable legislation, we will honestly work to evolve a broad based national consensus so that we have a viable statute in place which will give us a strong Lokpal. We have differences, there will be differences, but there are mechanisms to resolves these differences.
I certainly respect members of the civil society. It is out of my respect for members of the civil society that whether it is Anna Hazare or Swami Ramdev, I myself took the trouble to interact with them. In February-March itself I had an hour long meeting with Anna Hazare, the Bhushans, both father and son, Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. They were all there and I assured them that we are committed to come with the bill in the Monsoon Session and it was not a commitment made under duress. I had mentioned it to them at that time itself. I said we will introduce a Bill in Parliament but then it is for Parliament to pass it or amend it and that right cannot be taken away.
In the same way people talk about black money. Black money exists, but if you look at all European countries also the average amount of black money which is talked about is at least 25 % of the economies of a large number of European countries. These are transactions that are not taxed and intended to avoid social security payments. But this is a reality. We can deal with corruption, we can deal with black money but quite frankly it is wrong for anyone to assume there is a magic wand which will lead to an instant solution of these difficult societal problems.
We need system reforms. If the project Nandan Nilankani has promised to design, if the UIDAI can give unique ID numbers to all our residents we would have discovered a new pathway to eliminate the scope for corruption and leakages in the management and distribution of various subsidies to which our people are entitled. But it will take time. It cannot be done instantly.
4 lakh crores or whatever the figures or black money being mentioned...... I do not know what is the basis of those calculations. Whatever is possible is being done. We are in the process of negotiating double taxation avoidance agreements, tax information agreements and we have fought hard in the Group of 20 to see that the secrecy of tax saving banking systems should be modified. This is not a one shot operation. We are doing all that is possible and we could accelerate it. We are committed to pursue all that is fiscally possible to deal with these problems of black money, problems of tax evading money and corruption.
But there are other instruments. Tax evasion is one important source of generation of black money. But there are other issues - narcotics, trafficking in human beings - all these illegal activities.... we need a strong mechanism to track down these criminal elements. But in all these my worry is to avoid a situation when we convert this vast country of over 1.2 billion people into a state where everybody is policing everybody else. We must not bring back the license permit raj which we sought to abolish in 1991.
I think our nation has prospered as a result of that. If you look at the list of top 100 firms today you will find a sea change in that list today. New entrepreneurs have come into the list. These are some of the gains of liberalization which we must cherish, we must nurse and we must develop.
We are committed to a growth rate of 9 to 10 % per annum. Our savings rate is about 34 to 35 % of our GDP with an investment rate of 36 to 37 %. And with a capital output ratio of 4:1 we can manage to have a growth rate of 9%. It requires strong commitment to development and modernization of our infrastructure; a strong commitment to modernizing and making our education system more relevant to the needs of our time; it requires strong commitment to work for a universal health care system. We are now engaged in looking at how insurance can be expanded to cover all elements of our population.
These are some of the priorities of our government. But frankly speaking in our country this constant sniping between government and opposition or if an atmosphere of cynicism is created all round I think the growth impulses, the entrepreneurial impulses of our people will not flourish and that is what worries me. We must do all that we can to revive the animal spirits of our businesses. And the fact that businessmen cut corners is partly a reflection of the loopholes in our regulatory system. We must therefore reform and strengthen the regulatory system where there is a need to do so. And when it comes to the management of natural resources we need a regulatory system but it must be transparent and it must be functional and that is the next step of our government.
Despite corruption in public procurement we are committed to work towards a public procurement law which will make procurement a transparent operation, and will eliminate to the extent possible the scope for corruption.
But in the situation that we are faced today, day in day out I think we are described as the most corrupt government. There have been aberrations. But quite frankly I have been a civil servant all my life, except the last 20 years. What surprises me is not that there are corrupt civil servants but that despite all the temptations, so many of our civil servants remain honest and lead frugal lives and this is the mainspring that we have to tap.
We must punish the wrong doers but we must not paint all civil servants as babus and contemptuously describe them as a despicable class.
These are the concerns that I have and I would like to hear from you what you think of them and what we should be doing.
And let me say on the international front I think the situation is not that positive. The international global recovery is fragile. Even the United States growth rate is faltering. In Europe it is the sovereign debt crisis, the problem of the Greek crisis and whether the Euro-zone will survive or not. If it will not survive it will be a major institutional collapse.
What is happening in the Middle East is of direct concern to us. Apart from the fact that we have 6 million Indians working in the Middle East nearly 70 % of our oil supplies come from the countries of the Gulf and North Africa. What turn these events will take nobody knows.
So we have to swim against this adverse tide and therefore India requires all the energy and all the cohesiveness of our polity to swim against these tides and come out victorious. We can do it. We showed that in 2008 when most people believed that our financial system would also be a victim of the global financial crisis. We put in place correctives and we managed to retain a growth rate of 7% and next year it was back to 8 to 8.5 %. We must have the vision, the ability and the determination to prosper even when the world environment is hostile.
And because nature has blessed us with a large common market, if we can put in place the goods and services tax legislation and if we can remove barriers to interstate commerce that itself will create new opportunities internally for accelerating the tempo of growth.
These are our top priorities, these are national priorities and I invite you as very influential members of our polity to help the government to deal with these problems with courage, with clarity and with determination.
Manmohan says he is doing his best, flays media
A frustrated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday denied "a growing perception" that his coalition government was under siege and said that he was doing his best to curb corruption.
In a free and frank interaction with a group of editors here, Manmohan Singh moaned that India's economic story would be hit because of "constant sniping" between the government and the opposition.
"I think there is a growing perception that this government is in siege, that we have not been able to deliver on our agenda," he said in his opening remarks.
"An atmosphere has been created in the country - and this I say with all humility - the role of the media today in many cases has become that of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge."
This way, Manmohan Singh said, no parliamentary democracy could work.
The prime minister spoke his mind out amid growing corruption scandals that have badly dented the image of the Congress-led government that began its second five-year innings in 2009.
While admitting that some people may "deliberately do wrong things", he said it was vital to create an atmosphere where the governments, ministers and civil servants could work without fear.
"We take decisions in a world of uncertainty, and that's the perspective I think parliament, our CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) and our media must adopt if this nation is to move forward."
The remarks followed a still unravelling corruption scandal involving allocation of second generation spectrum by his government that has landed a former cabinet minister, a key MP and some industrialists in jail. A prominent Congress leader is also in prison over corruption charges linked to last year's Commonwealth Games.
The prime minister warned that if an atmosphere of cynicism was created all round, "I think the growth impulses ... will not flourish."
And that, he said, "worries me".
Corruption, the economist-turned-politician admitted, "is a big issue. It has caught the imagination of the people, and we will deal with it."
Manmohan Singh said there were differences and "there will be differences" over how to battle corruption, "but there are mechanisms to resolves these differences".
He made a specific mention of both Gandhian Anna Hazare and yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who have taken to the streets campaigning against corruption and black money.
But he made it clear that while the government would introduce a strong Lokpal bill to fight corruption, "it is for parliament to pass it or amend it and that right cannot be taken away".
In any case, the government had no magic wand, he underlined.
"We can deal with corruption, we can deal with black money but quite frankly it is wrong for anyone to assume there is a magic wand which will lead to an instant solution of these difficult societal problems."
The prime minister, who enjoys widespread respect for personal probity, made no effort to hide his frustration.
"In the situation today, day in day out we are described as the most corrupt government.
"There have been aberrations. But quite frankly I have been a civil servant all my life, except the last 20 years. What surprises me is not that there are corrupt civil servants but that despite all the temptations, so many of our civil servants remain honest and lead frugal lives and this is the mainspring that we have to tap.
"We must punish the wrong doers but we must not paint all civil servants as babus and contemptuously describe them as a despicable class."
PM questions black money estimate of Rs.4 lakh crore
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday questioned the calculation behind estimating black money stashed by Indians abroad at Rs.4 lakh crore ($89.16 billion) but said all possible steps were being taken to bring it back.
"Four lakh crores or whatever the figures of black money being mentioned, I do not know what is the basis of those calculations. Whatever is possible is being done," the prime minister said in his introductory remarks during an interaction with a select group of print editors.
According to the prime minister, black money was a scourge that affected not only India but other economies as well and that there was no magic wand that could provide an instant solution to what he described as a societal problem.
Unofficial estimates put the amount of ill-gotten money stashed by Indians abroad upto $1.4 trillion.
The prime minister said his government was in the process of negotiating double taxation avoidance agreements and tax information agreements with many countries to bring the black money back.
"We have fought hard in the G20 to see that the secrecy of tax saving banking systems should be modified," he said.
"This is not a one-shot operation. We are doing all that is possible and we could accelerate it. We are committed to pursue all that is fiscally possible to deal with these problems of black money, problems of tax evading money and corruption," the prime minister said.
Manmohan Singh emphasised on the need for a strong mechanism to deal with illegal activities including tax evasion, narcotics and trafficking of human beings.
Independent India's first caste census kicks off
HEZAMARA: Independent India's first census to determine the caste-wise breakup of the country's 1.21 billion people was launched from here Wednesday.
The census started in this remote tribal dominated village, 45 km north of Tripura capital Agartala.
"In the general census 2011 (Feb 9-28), people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes have been counted. In the caste census, there would be four categories -- Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, others and no caste," Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India C. Chandramauli told IANS.
"The census would be completed by December," he said.
The caste census would be conducted simultaneously with the socio-economic survey to determine the number of people living below poverty line (BPL).
According to the officials, the people living without shelter, destitutes, beggars, manual scavengers, primitive tribal groups, and legally released bonded labourers would get the highest priority to be included in the BPL lists.
Households headed by women with no adult male member between age 16 and 59, tribals and Scheduled Castes people, and households with no literate adult above 25 years would also be included in the list.
Families who own a motorised vehicle or two-wheeler, a concrete house or a house with three or more rooms or a fixed phone, a fishing boat or agricultural equipment, pay professional or income tax, have a member in government service, earn above Rs.10,000 per month or have Kisan Credit Cards with Rs.50,000 and above would not be included in the BPL list.
"The caste survey would be conducted by the union rural and urban development ministries in association with the state governments across the country. Each state has to complete the caste census in a period of 40 days," Chandramauli said.
Media is "accuser, prosecutor and judge": Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Sharply critical of the media for being "accuser, prosecutor and judge", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday warned against creation of an atmosphere of cynicism in the country.
The Prime Minister began a 100-minute interaction with a group of editors here with his opening remarks which started with a comment that there was a growing perception in the media that the government was under siege and was not able to implement its agenda.
An atmosphere had been created in the country in which the media had become an "accuser, prosecutor and judge", he said, adding that no parliamentary democracy can function that way.
Obviously referring to media's coverage of recent scams, Singh said that sometimes the government did not know all the facts when taking a decision. Nevertheless, it had to take decisions.
Ex-post facto, whether it is the CAG, a Parliamentary Committee or any other body, they may have a lot more facts which were not available to those who took the decisions, he said.
If India "is besieged with constant sniping between the government and the opposition, or an atmosphere of cynicism is created allround, the growth impulses and entrepreneurial impulses of the people would not have full play," the Prime Minister said.
"That worries me the most," he told the group.
Lokpal essential, but not a panacea: Manmohan
Manmohan rules out inclusion of higher judiciary in Lokpal
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that while the Lokpal Bill was essential and desirable, it was not a panacea.
During a 100-minute interaction with five editors at his official residence, the Prime Minister said he would try to find a way on the Lokpal issue and work for a national consensus. However, he stressed that while the government would reach out to the civil society, no group could insist that their views "A to Z" are the last word.
As for bringing the office of the Prime Minister under the purview of the Lokpal, Dr. Singh said that he had no hesitation in bringing himself under it. However, many of his Cabinet colleagues were of the view that bringing the institution of the Prime Minister under Lokpal would create "an element of instability which can go out of hand".
In any case, the Prime Minister is covered by the anti-corruption act and is a "24-hour servant" of the people, he said pointing out that a person holding that office can be removed by Parliament.
Dr. Singh said that he would like to be "guided" by political parties on this issue. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha and her Punjab counterpart Prakash Singh Badal had both expressed their views that this office should be kept out of Lokpal's purview.
Not Lameduck
Dismissing the talk that he is a "lameduck" Prime Minister, he said he had been entrusted with the job by the Congress party from which he has not heard "any contrary view".
Terming the perception that his government had gone "comatose" and was "lameduck" as clever propaganda of the Opposition "to which some sections of the media had lent ear", Dr. Singh asserted that "truth will prevail" and his performance would speak.
"Sonia not an obstacle"
Dr. Singh spoke of "maximum possible cooperation" that he was getting from Congress president Sonia Gandhi whom he met one-on-one every week. He had never felt that she was an "obstacle".
Ms. Gandhi had done a "superb job" as Congress president for nearly 15 years now, he underlined.
Asked about occasional statements from party functionaries that Rahul Gandhi should become Prime Minister, Dr. Singh said that the Congress party and its president had entrusted him with this job and he had not heard any contrary view from the Congress high command.
"In fact, the Congress high command has always been most supportive, particularly Mrs. Gandhi," the Prime Minister said.
He went on to add, "Personally, if you ask me, the general proposition that younger people should take over, I think, is the right sentiment". Whenever the party "makes up its mind I will be very happy to step down, but so long as I am here I have a job to do".
Cabinet reshuffle
To a question about a possible reshuffle of his Cabinet, the Prime Minister said it was a "work in progress". Asked if it could take place soon, Dr. Singh replied, "I cannot predict."
On ties with DMK
Told about doubts being raised about the stability of his government, particularly in the light of problems with the DMK, the Prime Minister said, "We have some points of tension but nobody wants an election."
On dialogue with civil society, he said that the government should appear to be receptive to what the society says and he had himself encouraged a dialogue with Anna Hazare.
On Baba Ramdev also, the effort was not to create unnecessary misunderstanding, he said, adding that he had earlier written to the yoga guru to share some of his concerns on blackmoney and corruption.
About the controversy surrounding the decision of four union ministers to meet Baba Ramdev at Delhi airport, the Prime Minister said it was not to "receive" him but the meeting had been arranged so that it could take place before he entered Delhi.
Responding to a question about police action against Baba Ramdev and his followers at Delhi's Ramlila ground in the middle of the night, Dr.Singh said it was unfortunate but he did not see any alternative.
If action had been taken the next day there would have been larger crowds, he said.
Asked if Mr. Hazare was naive or politically motivated, the Prime Minister said it was not good to question the motives of those government is negotiating with.
Blackmoney
Asserting that his government was committed to pursuing whatever was feasible to deal with blackmoney, tax evasion and corruption, the Prime Minister said it was not a "one-shot operation".
He acknowledged that the telecom scam, the CWG scam and other perceived cases of corruption had caused genuine concern to the middle class whom he assured that the guilty would be punished.
In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister said there was a growing perception in the media that the government was under a siege and not able to implement its agenda.
He then went on to hit out at the role of the media for having become "accuser, prosecutor and the judge". No parliamentary democracy could function in that manner.
About foreign relations, the Prime Minister said India lived in a very uncertain neighbourhood and a very uncertain international economic environment.
On Pakistan, he said that the action taken by it so far on dealing with terror emanating from its soil was not satisfactory but India had to keep that country engaged.
He said that terror should never be used as a state policy. Terror groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were offshoots of ISI.
Asked about the possibility of his visiting Pakistan, Singh said they were keen about it but there must be something solid to achieve.
About China, he said that the Indian media should not sensationalise differences with that country. He had dealt with the present leadership of President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao whom he regards as men of peace.
At the same time, the Prime Minister said India could not compromise on the issue of Arunachal Pradesh to which China lays claim and on river systems.
Manmohan rules out inclusion of higher judiciary in Lokpal
New Delhi: Asserting that he has no hesitation in subjecting himself to the jurisdiction of Lokpal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday ruled out inclusion of higher judiciary within the ambit of the anti-corruption ombudsman.
Bringing higher judiciary under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal would be contrary to the Constitutional scheme of things, he said while voicing confidence that a national consensus would be evolved on the proposed Lokpal Bill.
He told a group of editors in New Delhi that his Cabinet colleagues were of the view that bringing the institution of Prime Minister under Lokpal would create an element of instability which, at times, can go out of hand.
"I, for one, have no hesitation in bringing myself under the purview of the Lokpal," he said.
Affirming that he was not saying "anything one way or the other", he said that the office of the Prime Minister was covered by anti-corruption Act in any case. Any person holding this office was a "24-hour servant of the people" who can be removed by Parliament through a vote of no confidence.
There were divergent opinions on the subject in the country, he said, adding that he would like to be "guided" by political parties. On higher judiciary, the Prime Minister said "there are clear reservations" in bringing it under Lokpal.
Judiciary must be encouraged to find its ways and means to regulate its own affairs consistent with the spirit of the Constitution, he said. "How would the Supreme Court pronounce on complex issues if it is subject to the jurisdiction of the Lokpal," Dr. Singh asked.
Source: PTI
Pranab rules out rollback of LPG, diesel prices
Washington: Ruling out any rollback of the recent hike in prices of petroleum goods, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the decision to cut duties would not impact the fiscal deficit of the Indian government.
"No. No question of revoking," he told PTI when asked whether there was any possibility of a part withdrawal of the hike in prices of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene announced by the government recently.
The Finance Minister was here to participate in the 'U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership' jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think-tank.
In view of the spiralling prices of crude oil in the international market, the Indian government had increased the price of diesel by Rs 3 per litre, cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 50 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs 2 per litre.
The government had also reduced excise and customs duties on crude oil and other goods, sacrificing annual revenue of Rs 49,000 crore.
The hike in prices of petroleum goods led to protests in several parts of the country and many state governments announced the withdrawal of value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products to lessen the impact of the hike on the common man.
Referring to the impact of the duty reduction on the fiscal deficit of the central government, Mukherjee said the shortfall would be made good by buoyancy in tax collection and improved compliance.
"I do not think so because this was the conscious decision... about Rs 49,000 crore will be the shortfall in the duty. I think it would be possible for us to make it up through buoyancy and by better compliance," he said when asked about the impact of the duty cut on government finances.
The government proposes to bring the fiscal deficit down to 4.6 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal from 4.7 per cent in 2010-11. It was as high as 6.3 per cent in 2009-10.
Mukherjee has already written to state Chief Ministers to look at the possibility of reducing the sales tax on petroleum products to reduce the impact of the price hike on the common man.
Source: PTI
Open to Rahul after me, but have heard nothing so far: PM
PM says he is willing to be under Lokpal's ambit, but leaves the final decision to his cabinet colleagues on the draft panel
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said he does not object to Rahul Gandhi succeeding him but said no such discussions were currently taking place within the ruling party.
Meeting senior editors on Wednesday - an exercise that is likely to become a regular feature in a bid to rejig his reticent image - a relaxed Singh reiterated he was no "lame duck" Prime Minister but someone who had been entrusted with a job. He has not heard "any contrary view" about his work from the Congress party, Singh said.
Singh said the Opposition had spread a "clever propaganda" that his government was "comatose" or that he was "lame duck". Some sections of the media had lent ear to it, he added, saying the "truth will prevail" someday.
Singh heaped praised on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for her "maximum possible cooperation" to his work, letting on that he met Gandhi one-on-one every week. He had never felt she was an "obstacle".
Sonia Gandhi had done a "superb job" as Congress President for nearly 15 years now, he underlined. During a 100-minute interaction with five editors at his official residence, the Prime Minister confidently fielded questions on a wide range of issues including on talk that Rahul Gandhi should take his place.
Asked about occasional statements from party functionaries that Rahul Gandhi should become Prime Minister, Singh said the Congress Party and its President had entrusted him with this job and he had not heard any contrary view from the Congress High Command.
"In fact, the Congress High Command has always been most supportive, particularly Mrs Gandhi," the Prime Minister said.
He went on to add, "Personally, if you ask me, the general proposition that younger people should take over, I think, is the right sentiment." Whenever the party "makes up its mind I will be very happy to step down, but so long as I am here, I have a job to do."
To a question about a possible reshuffle of his Cabinet, the Prime Minister said it was a "work in progress". Asked if it could take place soon, Singh replied, "I cannot predict."
Singh said the Lokpal Bill was essential and desirable. The country needed a strong Lokpal although it is not a "panacea", he said. He told editors he would try to find a way on the Lokpal issue and work for a national consensus. The government would reach out to civil society but no group can insist that their views "A to Z" were the last word.
On the critical issue of bringing the institution of the Prime Minister under Lokpal, Singh said he had no reservations whatsoever "but many of my Cabinet colleagues feel this will create instability".
In any case, the Prime Minister is covered by the anti-corruption act and is a 24-hour servant of the people, he said, pointing out that a person holding that office can be removed by Parliament.
Singh said he would like to be "guided" by political parties on this issue. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha and her Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal had both expressed their views that this office should be kept out of the Lokpal's purview.
On 'The Indian Express' report that Finance Minister Pranab mukherjee's office might have been bugged, he said Pranab had complained and he had ordered the Intelligence Bureau to investigate. "It is a closed chapter now," he said.
Singh also said he expected inflation, the highest of a major Asian economy, was expected to moderate by March next year. Told about doubts being raised about the stability of his government, particularly in the light of problems with DMK, the Prime Minister said, "We have some points of tension but nobody wants an election."
On dialogue with the civil society, he said the government should appear to be receptive to what the society says and he had himself encouraged a dialogue with Anna Hazare.
With regard to Ramdev too, the effort was not to create unnecessary misunderstanding, he said, adding he had earlier written to the yoga guru to share some of his concerns on black money and corruption.
About the controversy surrounding the decision of four Union ministers to meet Ramdev at the Delhi airport, the Prime Minister said they had not gone to "receive" but to "meet" him before he entered Delhi.
On police action against Ramdev and his followers at Delhi's Ramlila ground in the middle of the night, Singh said it was unfortunate but he did not see any alternative. If action had been taken the next day, there would have been larger crowds, he said.
Asked if Hazare was naive or politically motivated, the Prime Minister said it was not good to question the motives of those the government is negotiating with. Asserting his government was committed to pursuing whatever was feasible to deal with black money, tax evasion and corruption, the Prime Minister said it was nevertheless not a "one-shot operation".
He acknowledged the telecom scam, the CWG scam and other perceived cases of corruption had caused genuine concern to the middle class. He assured the guilty would be punished.
In his opening remarks, the Prime Minister said there was a growing perception in the media that the government was under a siege and not able to implement its agenda.
He then went on to hit out at the role of the media for having become "accuser, prosecutor and the judge". No parliamentary democracy could function in that manner.
About foreign relations, the Prime Minister said India lived in a very uncertain neighbourhood and a very uncertain international economic environment. On Pakistan, he said the action taken by it so far on dealing with terror emanating from its soil was not satisfactory but India had to keep that country engaged.
He said terror should never be used as a state policy. Terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were offshoots of ISI. Asked about the possibility of him visiting Pakistan, Singh said they were keen about it but there must be something solid to achieve.
He added the Indian media should not sensationalise differences with China. He President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are men of peace. At the same time, the Prime Minister said India could not compromise on Arunachal Pradesh to which China lays claim.
Source: PTI
BSP to lose power, SP will be No.1: poll
New Delhi: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is sure to be voted out in Uttar Pradesh next year while the Samajwadi Party (SP) will sit on top of a hung assembly, says an opinion poll released Wednesday.
Chief Minister Mayawati "is certain to lose power", with the BSP projected to win just 112 seats, 94 less than her 2007 tally, said the survey of voter sentiment conducted by the news website LensOnNews.com.
In what is shaping up to be a tough four-cornered contest, Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP is pulling way ahead of the BSP. But, with some 168 seats, it will fall well short of a majority in the 403-seat assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress are likely to emerge a distant third and fourth with 53 and 45 seats respectively, it said. Although the SP emerges well ahead of BSP in the seats tally, it has only a tenuous lead in terms of vote share.
It is projected to get a 26.9 percent vote share as against 26.1 percent for BSP. The SP's better performance is due to the favourable distribution of its dominant support base (Yadavs and Muslims), it said.
In contrast, Dalits, who form the core support base of the BSP, are uniformly spread across the state. Thus, the BSP cannot win a substantial number of seats unless it crosses a minimum threshold level.
The BJP is projected to get 15.3 percent votes and the Congress 14.5 percent. According to the survey, the Mayawati government is seen to rate poorly on all governance issues of concern to the common person.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said the government's record had been poor in tackling crime; 55 percent find the delivery of electricity, roads and water services unsatisfactory.
More than two-thirds find the government fares poorly in relation to providing a corruption-free administration and in giving fair treatment to all castes. The result of the perceived all round failure in governance has produced a strong wave of anti-incumbency sentiment all across the state.
Thus, 69 percent of the respondents want a change whereas only 28 percent would like the government to continue, it said. Mayawati won a comfortable majority in the 2007 elections by cobbling together a rainbow coalition that includes upper caste Brahmin and also a sizeable chunk of Muslim voters.
The LensOnNews poll shows that the upper caste Hindu vote has gone back mostly to the BJP and the Congress, while the Muslim vote shifted to both the SP and Congress -- in varying numbers.
Mulayam Singh Yadav emerged as the most favoured for the post of chief minister (33 percent), followed by Mayawati (29 percent) and BJP's Rajnath Singh (18 percent).
In contrast, no single popular name has emerged from the Congress.
The poll was conducted from May 26 to June 4 among a representative sample of 2,822 voters spread across 12 assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. The findings are subject to a margin of error of three percent.
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