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If you keep belching at the dinner table, you’ll be eating in the kitchen”—Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway, on his decision to not vote on an equity compensation plan for executives of Coca-Cola, even though he thought the plan was excessive“If I lose, my kettle is ready. I will go back and sell tea”—Narendra Modi, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, in response to a question often raised by Congressmen on his future if he happens to lose the general elections“This monitoring behaviour of the United States is within expectations”—Ren Zhengfei, founder and CEO, Huawei, on learning that the US National Security Agency was spying on his company“We want to invest in the partners that are really doing the right thing with the workforce”—Mark Parker, CEO, Nike, on shifting the company’s production within China after a major strike at a supplier’s factory“No company or individual is too big to jail”—Eric H. Holder Jr, attorney general, US, on the Justice Department preparing criminal charges against two of Europe’s largest banks — Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas“I have done more heavy lifting in the last 12 months than RBI”—P. Chidambaram, finance minister, taking credit for restoring calm in India’s financial markets last year“The Fed may get more raucous about what to do next as tapering draws to a close”—Alan Blinder, an economics professor at Princeton University and a former vice-chairman of the central bank, at a conference in Boston“I am pretty concerned about a Modi-run government. The indications that it will be a fairly bullying government are already there”—Salman Rushdie, author, at a conference(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 02-06-2014)
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The Election Commission on Monday (12 May) directed the Varanasi Returning Officer to file an FIR or complaint against Congress candidate Ajai Rai for displaying his party symbol and talking to media at a polling booth amounting to "canvassing" which is barred on the voting day.Official sources in the EC said that the FIR or complaint would be filed under Section 126 and 130 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 against Rai.Rai landed in a controversy after he went to vote wearing his election symbol on his kurta, with BJP and AAP seeking action against him.Special Election Observer Praveen Kumar said in Varanasi he has sent a detailed report to the Chief Election Commissioner on the issue.Varanasi Returning Officer Pranjal Yadav said he has seen the video of Rai going inside the polling booth in Ramakant Nagar of Chetganj area wearing Congress' election symbol."We have seen the video. We have informed the Special Election Observer and the higher authorities. Action would be taken immediately," Yadav said.Kumar said that flashing of election symbol at the booth is violation of Section 130 of the Representation of People Act.Rai, along with his family members, this morning went to cast his vote wearing a badge of Congress election symbol 'hand' on his kurta.He, however, defended his action, saying that he has the right to wear the symbol as a candidate.Rai also claimed that the case against Narendra Modi cannot be compared with his action as the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate had shown his lotus symbol after casting vote in Gandhinagar.(PTI)
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Wielding a broom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the country's biggest-ever cleanliness drive that is expected to cost Rs 62,000 crore, asserting that the "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan" (Clean India Mission) is "beyond politics" and inspired by patriotism. Modi swept the filthy streets in Delhi to raise public awareness about cleanliness and sanitation. Rejecting opposition criticism that his government has been taking credit for every achievement, the Prime Minister acknolwedged the efforts of all previous governments to make India clean. "All the governments in this country have made one or the other effort to do this work. Several political, social and cultural organisations have made efforts in this direction," Modi said in his 25-minute address at Rajpath, where he formally kicked off the five-year-long campaign that will cover 4,041 statutory towns. Administering a pledge to people to make India clean, he said that this task is not the responsibility only of municipal workers or the government but of all the 125 crore Indians. He said that the campaign should not be seen as a mere photo opportunity. Modi has urged every Indian to devote at least one hundred hours every year, two hours every week, towards cleanliness. In an event marked by fervour and symbolism, the Prime Minister earlier wielded a broom and swept pavement in Valmiki Basti, a colony of sanitation workers in the Indian capital. The urban component of the mission is proposed to be implemented over 5 years starting from October 2, 2014 in all 4,041 statutory towns. The total expected cost of the programme is Rs 62,009 crore, out of which the proposed central assistance will be of Rs 14,623 crore. The Cabinet had last month decided to merge the 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan', a campaign for rural sanitation with Swachh Bharat Mission. Congress CriticismThe Prime Minister countered Congress criticism that his government behaves as if everything happened only after he came to power. "I do not make any claim that the government, which has been elected to power just now, has done everything." The Congress has accused Modi of taking credit for the initiatives undertaken by the previous United Progressive Alliace (UPA) government and trying to give an impression that every good work was done only by him. Maintaining that everybody deserves kudos, the Prime Minister asked not to get into making political barbs on the issue. "Everybody before us has worked for it. Under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership, the Congress had led it. Who was successful, who was not. Let us not get into it who has done it, who has not. We should work responsibly," he said. Public AwarenessWhile ruing that 60 per cent of populace in rural areas still defecate in open, the Prime Minister said the stigma of women lacking toilet facilities has to be removed. Modi said that he has requested the corporates to evolve plans under corporate social responsibility to build clean toilets specially for girl students in schools. India, he said, should learn from foreign countries, where people are disciplined and do not litter in public places. He said though it is a difficult task, it can be achieved and for that people will have to change their habits. Modi said that a campaign has been unleashed on the social media as well where a separate website for the mission has been launched and he is tweeting about the drive on his Twitter handle. Expressing confidence that the nation can achieve the target of becoming one of cleanest in the world, the Prime Minister dwelt upon the low cost success of the Mars Orbiter Mission. "If people of India can reach Mars with minimal expenditure, why can they not keep their streets and colonies clean," he said. "If we make it a public movement, we can make our country being counted as one among the cleanest nations," he said. Modi earlier in the day visited the 'samadhi' of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary. Dismal NumbersQuoting a WHO estimate, the Prime Minister said a person in India loses about Rs 6,500 per annum due to illness and poor health as he is unable to perform day-to-day duties. He said if the surroundings are kept clean, then people will remain healthy and such losses can be minimised. Less than one-third of Indians have access to sanitation and more than 186,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation, according to charity WaterAid. A United Nations report in May said half of India's population still practise open defecation. Diseases and deaths because of unhealthy conditions cause major economic losses, and a World Bank report in 2006 estimated that India was losing 6.4 per cent of its GDP annually because of poor sanitation. (Agencies)
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India is on the cusp of political change that is widely expected to infuse a new life into an economy that is struggling to break away from a tale of weak growth and high inflation.But data due this week will probably show no improvement yet to its economic woes, as industrial output is expected to contract for a second straight month while inflation is forecast to pick up.Asia's third-largest economy is battling the worst slowdown since the 1980s as GDP growth has almost halved to under 5 per cent in the past two years.Output from mines, utilities and factories in March probably fell 1.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll of economists.If the forecast materialises, it would mark the fifth fall in industrial production in six months, reflecting the rut gripping the economy from weak consumer and investment demand.Meanwhile, consumer inflation is estimated to have quickened to 8.48 per cent in April from 8.31 per cent in March, the poll showed. Wholesale prices for the month are forecast to rise 5.73 per cent compared with a 5.70 per cent annual gain in March.The statistics ministry will release industrial production and consumer inflation data at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The commerce and industry ministry is due to release wholesale price figures on Thursday at around 12 p.m.Optimism For TurnaroundPolicymakers are hopeful of an economic rebound in the fiscal year that began in April, but much will depend upon the pace of reforms after a new government takes over in New Delhi following the conclusion of ongoing national elections on May 16."We concur that the economy has bottomed out in recent quarters and a right mix of policy coordination and governance should be able to kick-start the growth cycle," Singapore-based brokerage DBS said in a note last week."While the cycle could benefit from a stable government, the (growth) upturn will be gradual."High inflation and weak growth have dogged much of outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second term, damaging the prospects of his Congress party at the hustings and swelling public support for pro-business opposition leader Narendra Modi.Modi's promise to fix an ailing economy has made him the prime ministerial front-runner. The Nifty has surged 17 per cent since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader officially joined the fray for the country's top job on hopes he would script an economic revival.But that depends on his success in pushing up capital investment growth from an eleven-year low and cooling retail inflation that been averaging nearly 10 per cent for the past two years, way above the central bank's comfort zone."The promise of reform needs to match with improvement on the ground to sustain that optimism (in financial markets)," wrote DBS' economist Radhika Rao.ChallengesWhile many analysts are hoping for a rapid implementation of pending labour, fiscal and tax reforms for a faster economic recovery, some say high corporate leverage and rising bad loans at Indian banks will hamper the pace of recovery.Stressed loans in India - those categorised as bad and restructured - total $100 billion, or about 10 per cent of all loans. Debt-equity ratio of Indian firms has hit a two-decade high of 97.9 per cent, Nomura said.Compounding economic worries are the prospects of a below-average monsoon this summer, which could hit farm output and fuel inflation, leaving the central bank with little room to support the economy.In 2009, patchy monsoon rains led to India's worst drought in nearly four decades, resulting in runaway food inflation.(Reuters)
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Election Commission guidelines making it virtually mandatory for political parties to deposit their funds in banks and not to exceed ceiling limits in financial assistance for candidates to ensure transparency and accountability came into effect today.The Election Commission order of August 29 in this regard under Article 324 of the Constitution (superintendence, direction and control of elections) was part of a set of comprehensive guidelines on transparency and accountability in party funds and election expenditure.The poll body had said that guidelines will come into effect from October 1.Under the guidelines, the treasurer of a political party is now required to ensure maintenance of accounts at all state and lower levels and consolidated accounts at the central party headquarters.The accounts maintained by the treasurer shall conform to the guidance note on accounting and auditing of political parties issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants. The annual accounts shall be audited and certified by certified chartered accountants as required under the Income Tax Act.Under the guidelines, a party should ensure that no payment in excess of Rs 20,000 is made to any person or company in cash, except in a village or in town not served by a bank.Also it will not apply to payments made to any employee or party functionary towards salary, pension or reimbursement of expenses or where cash payment is required under any statute.Referring to the Representation of the People Act provision regarding ceiling for election expenditure of a candidate, the EC guidelines make it clear that such assistance from a political party shall not exceed the prescribed ceiling."Any payment in this regard by the party shall be made through crossed account payee cheque or draft or through bank account transfer and not in cash," says one of the guidelines.While the recognised political parties shall file all reports, namely the contribution reports in Form 24A, the audited annual accounts as certified by the chartered accountants and the election expenditure statements with the Commission.The unrecognised parties shall file them with the chief electoral officer of the states.The EC said in order to bring uniformity, all political parties shall submit to the Commission or to any authority mentioned by it a copy of the annual accounts with auditors report for each financial year before October 31 of each year.The Income Tax provisions do not allow any deduction on the contributions made in cash by any person or company to a political party.Accordingly, the Commission guidelines say, the political party shall maintain names and address of all such individuals, companies or entities making donation to it excepting petty sums donated by public during rallies.Further, any amount or donation received in cash, shall be duly accounted in the account books deposited in the party's bank account within a week of its receipt.However, the party can retain a reasonable amount required for day-to-day functioning and for defraying cash expenses.The Commission said concerns have been expressed in various quarters that money power was disturbing the level playing field and vitiating purity of elections.Noting that it is desirable for political parties to observe transparency and accountability in respect of funds raised and expenditure incurred both during elections and in other times, the Commission said it is necessary and expedient to provide guidelines for bringing that.(PTI)
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Reliance Industries Ltd gained as much as 4.2 per cent to its highest since April 2011 after the company and its partners in a gas block said on Saturday they were taking the government to arbitration seeking implementation of higher gas prices.Reliance and its partners BP Plc and Niko Resources issued the notice of arbitration to the government on May 9, the three companies said in a joint statement.Shares in Reliance also tracked a broad-based rally that sent both the benchmark Sensex and Nifty to record highs.Reliance Industries Ltd and its partners in a gas block, BP Plc and Niko Resources, said on Saturday (10 May) they were taking the government to arbitration seeking implementation of higher gas prices.The government in June last year approved a formula, linking prices of locally produced gas with global benchmarks, that could have nearly doubled gas prices from the current $4.20 per mmBtu from April 1.The Election Commission, however, in March asked New Delhi to defer an increase until the completion of the five-week general election, results of which will be declared on May 16.Reliance's five-year gas sale pacts with sectors including fertiliser makers and power expired on March 31, requiring buyers to sign new contracts for supplies from its D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin off the east coast.Reliance, India's second most valuable company controlled by its richest man Mukesh Ambani, and its partners issued the notice of arbitration to the government on May 9, the three companies said in a joint statement."The continuing delay on part of the Government of India in notifying the price in accordance with the approved formula for the Gas to be sold has left the Parties with no other option but to pursue this course of action," the statement said.BP has a 30-percent stake and Canada's Niko owns 10 percent in the gas block.A spokesman for the oil ministry could not immediately comment on the development.Gas output from the D6 block has fallen sharply since 2010. Reliance says the decline is due to the geological complexity of the block, while the government believes contractors have failed to drill the promised number of wells.Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining complex in Gujarat, and its partners said without any clarity on gas prices they were unable to sanction planned investments of close to $4 billion this year.Overall, the companies said, they were planning to invest $8 billion to $10 billion in the next few years to "significantly increase production" from the D6 block."In addition, this will also delay the ability of the Parties to appraise and develop other significant discoveries made last year," the companies said.The Election Commission in March gave no reason for its move to ask the government to delay the price hike, but it can order any new decision to be put on hold if it's seen influencing voters or benefitting any particular political party.Also, two petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court to strike down the gas price increase decision on grounds that it favoured a corporate house and was against the interests of the nation. The hearing in the case is continuing.Demand for gas in India far outstrips consumption and domestic supply, but the government has kept prices below global market levels for producers of fertilizer and electricity, which has deterred investment in domestic exploration and production. (Agencies)
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Article 47 in the Directive Principles of State Policy reads: “The state shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the use, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drinks ...” On the basis of this, various Indian states have tried to implement a ban on alcohol. Incidentally, even the Lok Sabha passed a Bill prohibiting alcohol on 31 March 1956. But, over time, such bans fizzled out owing to revenue considerations. With Kerala joining the ban-wagon, here is a snapshot of various states’ tryst with prohibition.Compiled by Neeraj Thakur; Graphic by Prashant Chaudhary(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-09-2014)
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India’s top trading partners, the European Union and the US, have accused it of holding the future of world trade to ransom by not signing the trade facilitation agreement protocol at the recently concluded WTO general council meeting in Geneva. But India remains an insignificant partner in their trading universe. Here is a snapshot of how India stacks up in the world trade order vis-a-vis its key trading partnersClick here to view graphicCompiled by Joe C. Mathew; Graphic by Prashant Chaudhary(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 22-09-2014)
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The rupee falls slightly to 60.08/09 versus its previous close of 60.0650/0750, with broad gains in the dollar versus other majors hurting the Indian unit but mixed cues from other Asian currencies will keep the USD/INR pair rangebound.Traders will monitor the local share market for cues on foreign fund flows. The rupee rose to a one-month high of 59.9225 on Thursday (8 May) and is seen moving in a 59.90 to 60.20 range during the session.The index of the dollar against six major currencies up 0.12 per cent. Asian currencies trading mixed versus the dollar.Asian shares mostly slumped on Friday (9 May) as a tense situation in Ukraine made investors cautious, though a tame inflation report from China calmed some nerves.(Reuters)
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An Indian-origin man is among six persons charged with carrying out a $30 million bank fraud conspiracy and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.Manjeet Bawa, 46, of New York and other co-defendants contracted to buy homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties from innocent sellers at market prices.The defendants then submitted fraudulent loan applications to the warehouse lenders that nearly doubled the true sales prices of the homes.The defendants also inflated their personal assets and concealed significant liabilities to get loan approval.The six defendants face up to 30 years' imprisonment and could be ordered to forfeit 19 residential properties traced to the bank fraud or up to $30 million dollars in a money judgement.According to the indictment and other court filings, between 2003 and 2008, the main defendant Aaron Wider, 50, operated a New York State licensed mortgage bank HTFC, which issued residential mortgages to borrowers.HTFC did not possess assets to fund these loans but relied on funding from other banks and financial institutions, commonly known as "warehouse lenders".The warehouse lenders relied on Wider and HTFC to ensure that home buyers were able to pay the mortgages and that the market value of the homes fully collateralised the loans.Instead, Wider and the co-defendants allegedly engineered a complex series of same-day sham transactions, or "flips", to artificially inflate the prices of homes.They then lied to the warehouse lenders to obtain mortgage funding that was 80 per cent more than the actual value of the homes, according to court filings."The conduct charged in the indictment is a prime example of the type of corrupt mortgage-lending practices that preceded the bursting of the real estate bubble, the loss of faith in securitised mortgage obligations and the financial collapse of 2007 and 2008," US Attorney Loretta Lynch said."Instead of using their skills in banking, the law and investing to assist individuals pursuing the American Dream, the defendants cooked up a sophisticated scheme that defrauded lenders and then fed toxic debt to the investigating public at large in the secondary mortgage market," he said.(PTI)
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