The rupee is trading lower at 61.96/97 from its close of 61.9250/9350 on Friday (14 February) ahead of the interim budget presentation due to start at 11 am.Dealers largely expect Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to stick to his fiscal deficit aim of 4.8 pct this FY; will also look at market borrowing numbers for FY15."Big expenditure numbers will be negative for the rupee," says a dealer with a state-run bank.Traders will also watch domestic stock and debt markets for clues on the direction of foreign fund flows.Most Asian share markets edged higher on Monday in a nod to the resilience of Wall Street, but Japanese stocks struggled with both a stronger yen and a surprisingly weak reading on economic growth.Local shares up 0.5 per cent.(Reuters)
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With assets worth Rs 7,710 crore, as declared in his affidavit to the Election Commission, Bangalore South Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani has emerged the richest candidate contesting the 2014 LS polls. The former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India and co-founder of IT giant Infosys, Nilekani said almost 80 per cent of his wealth is from Infosys shares. He owns 1.45 per cent and his wife Rohini 1.3 per cent in Infosys.Gold RushGoldman Sachs Group’s chief executive officer Lloyd C. Blankfein got his biggest pay cheque in six years in 2013, receiving $23 million in salary and bonus. The compensation was up $2 million from the year before. He will get a further $6-million cash bonus if the company meets certain targets over the next three years. The long-term bonus was $5 million last year and $3 million in 2012 for the 59-year-old, who is the highest-paid CEO among peers at top US banks for a second straight year.End Of An EraThe old guard of US television is on its way out. First, David Letterman, host of late-night television shows for 34 years and the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS for 21 of those years, announced his retirment in 2015. He has earned 52 Emmy nominations so far and has his name up in neon lights outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. The other television stalwart signing off was Barbara Walters — the woman who broke the glass ceiling of TV news. After 50 years in the business and 12 Emmys, she retires next month at the age of 84 as the host of The View.Strip ShowThe erstwhile ‘king of good times’, Vijay Mallya, now stands to lose his ‘Kingfisher’ brand as lenders have begun the process of selling trademarks associated with the grounded Kingfisher Airlines. The carrier, whose licence has been suspended, owes Rs 8,000 crore and banks are now looking to sell ‘Kingfisher’, ‘Fly The Good Times’ and ‘Flying Models’, among other brands, to make good their losses on account of the airline going belly up.Rich Harvest ajay piramal’s Piramal Enterprises sold its entire 10.97 per cent stake in Vodafone India to Vodafone Group Plc for Rs 8,900 crore. It sold its shares for Rs 1,960 apiece, securing a gain of Rs 3,000 crore, or a 52 per cent return, in just two years. Piramal bought the stake at Rs 1,290 a share. Max Healthcare founder Analjit Singh too sold his 4.65 per cent stake for Rs 1,241 crore.Not So GayMozilla CEO Brendan Eich has stepped down after an online dating service — OkCupid — urged a boycott of the company’s browser because of a donation Eich made to opponents of gay marriage in 2008. He had donated $1,000 in support of California’s Proposition 8 campaign. The controversy over his views on same-sex marriage erupted when Eich, the creator of Javascript, was recently promoted on 24 March.The RisingNoel Naval Tata has been named chairman of Tata Group’s retail arm, Trent. The 57-year-old has succeeded F. K. Kavarana, who retired recently after turning 70. The largest single shareholder of Tata Sons, with 18.5 per cent equity, Noel was the vice-chairman of Trent and instrumental in bringing in British retail giant Tesco as a partner to invest in Indian retailing.Going By The Rules Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck has announced his retirement in 2017, in line with company rules that prevent board members from standing for re-election once they reach the age of 72. He turns 70 in November. Brabeck joined the Swiss food giant in 1968 as a salesman, and later became the CEO and chairman of the company in 1997 and 2005, respectively. He stepped down as CEO in 2008.(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 05-05-2014)
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India's top court on Tuesday recognised the country's long marginalised transgender community as a third gender and, in a landmark judgment lauded by human rights groups, called on the government to ensure their equal treatment. There are hundreds of thousands of transgenders in India, say activists, but because they are not legally recognised, they are ostracised, discriminated against, abused and often forced into prostitution. "Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue," the Supreme Court's two-judge bench said in its ruling. "Transgenders are also citizens of India. The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender." A person who is transgender does not identify with the gender stated on their birth certificate. The court ruling - which came after hearing a petition filed by a group of transgenders demanding equal rights - recognised the community as a marginalised group and directed authorities to implement policies to improve their socio-economic status. The petitioners' lawyers said that this would mean that all identity documents, including a birth certificate, passport and driving licence would recognise the third gender, along with male and female. The government will also have to allocate a certain percentage of public sector jobs, seats in schools and colleges to third gender applicants, said lawyer Sanjeev Bhatnagar. Due to their lack of access to jobs and education, many male-to-female transgenders - also known as "hijras" - are forced to work as sex workers or move around in organised groups begging or demanding money. Hate crimes in the conservative country are common, say activists, yet few are reported partly due to a lack of sensitivity by authorities such as the police. Transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi said the verdict was a great step towards ending such discrimination. "Today Justice Radhakrishnan and Justice A.K. Sikri said that any nation can progress only after it grants all the rights and human rights to its citizens. The transgenders have been given the biggest right," said Tripathi. "Today I feel a proud citizen of India." The Supreme Court was slammed by human rights activists in December when it reinstated a ban on gay sex, following a four-year period of decriminalisation that helped bring homosexuality into the open. The court said only parliament could change the law. Human rights groups said they hoped the ruling on transgenders would encourage the new parliament to repeal the anti-homosexuality law as one of its first actions. India is currently holding general elections with the results due on May 16.(Reuters)
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Finance Minister P Chidambaram will visit Australia later this week to attend the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors and hold roadshows to attract investment.Chidambaram will be accompanied by ministry officials, including Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, on his visit to Sydney. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan will also attend the meeting.Sources said the minister will highlight the huge potential of India's infrastructure sector to investors.As per the schedule, Chidambaram will attend the G20 meeting on February 22 and 23, followed by investor conferences on February 24 and 25.The G20 meeting will focus on the impact of US Federal Reserve tapering, International Monetary Fund quota reforms and steps to facilitate exchange of information to check tax evasion.Last month, the US Fed started scaling down its bond purchase programme as its economy showed signs of recovery.The IMF quota reform had hit a road block with US lawmakers not agreeing to the new funding mechanism.As far the roadshows are concerned, Chidambaram will interact with the business community and sell the India growth story. He had conducted similar roadshows in major global financial hubs, including Toronto, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and Singapore.India needs foreign capital to fund its current account gap. The current account deficit (CAD) had touched a record high of $88.2 billion, or 4.8 per cent of GDP, in 2012-13.An estimate of the CAD in this financial year will be made in the interim budget to be presented by Chidambaram in Parliament on Monday.The country needs $1 trillion of investments in the infrastructure sector during the five-year period ending 2017.(PTI)
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A day after Arvind Kejriwal stepped down as Delhi Chief Minister, Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday (15 February) made it clear that it would contest the Lok Sabha polls under his leadership."...It is clear that Aam Aadmi Party will contest general elections under Kejriwal's leadership across the country," senior AAP leader Yogendra Yadav told reporters in New Delhi.Kerjriwal on Friday (14 February) resigned as Delhi Chief Minister shortly after his government was defeated on the issue of tabling of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Delhi Assembly in the face of a united resistance by outside supporter Congress and BJP.Congress and Opposition BJP said Kejriwal was never serious about governing and was looking for an excuse to "run away" to cover up his "failure" to deliver on his commitments.The BJP also made it clear that the party would seek fresh elections in Delhi and was ready for it rather than form an alternative government since it did not have the required numbers in the state Assembly.(PTI)
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A rvind Kejriwal, who pledged to root out corruption after steering AAP to power in Delhi, was a man in a hurry and set a scorching pace to try to fulfil his anti-graft legislative agenda but his tumultous journey as Chief Minister ended in seven weeks. As the controversy over the Jan Lokpal Bill deepened with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung advising the Delhi Assembly Speaker against allowing its tabling and Congress and BJP opposing it, Kejriwal stuck to his word today by carrying out the threat to quit if the proposed legislation did not get through even at the introduction stage. Emerging as a mascot of an alternative brand of politics, the 45-year-old engineer-turned-civil servant changed the political discourse with a stunning showing of his fledgling Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) in the December Assembly polls that brought Congress' 15-year rule to an end. But he courted controversy within weeks by sitting on a dharna in the heart of Delhi near Parliament House during the tense face off with the Centre last month over his demand for suspending three police officers for allegedly not acting against criminals. He had also come under attack on the governance agenda. Leading from the front, Kejriwal had earlier anchored his campaign in an unconventional way to see it emerge as the second largest party in Delhi with 28 seats. AAP formed the government on December 28 with outside support from Congress. With interests of the common man at the core of AAP's agenda, Kejriwal's triumph over three-time Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit earned him the tag of 'giant killer'. Often called the anti-corruption man, the diminutive and bespectacled IITian and a former tax official catapulted himself leading a people's movement to check graft and get wide support. Formed in November 2012, AAP cemented its place in politics, tapping students, farmers, civil rights groups, NGOs, social activists, women?s groups and the urban youth to emerge as a force. Born on August 16, 1968 in Hisar in Haryana to Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi, Kejriwal sent the entire political spectrum into a tizzy, attacking both BJP and Congress on the issues of corruption, exorbitant rise in power and water tariff, safety of women and had managed to make a dent in the vote banks of both the parties. He came into prominence during the agitation by 75-year-old activist Anna Hazare in support of Jan Lokpal Bill in 2011. Kejriwal won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for his contribution to the enactment of the Right to Information Act. In 2006, after resigning from the IRS, he donated his Magsaysay award money as a corpus fund for an NGO, Public Cause Research Foundation. Shortly after coming to power, the AAP government announced 20 kilolitres of free water to every household per month. In yet another populist measure, it decided that consumers who did not pay their electricity bills as part of AAP's power agitation will have to shell out only half of their total dues, a move that cost the exchequer Rs six crore. Keeping a pre-poll promise, Kejriwal had announced a 50 per cent subsidy on electricity consumption of up to 400 units. The AAP government also ordered the Comptroller and Auditor General to audit the finances of the three private power distribution companies serving Delhi. (PTI)
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There is not much to differentiate between the manifestos of the two leading parties in the electoral fray. Both make tall promises that are at great variance from the current ground realitiesClick here to view graphicCompiled by Anup Jayaram & Joe C. Mathew; Graphic by Prashant Chaudhary(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 05-05-2014)
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday (14 February) gave enough indications that his government may quit after the BJP and Congress combined to defeat introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill which he tabled in the Assembly defying Lt Governor's advice. "This appears to be our last session. I will consider myself fortunate if I have to sacrifice the chief minister's post 1,000 times and my life to eradicate corruption," he said in a brief speech in the Assembly after his government suffered defeat on its pet anti-graft legislation. On a day of dramatic developments in the Assembly lasting over four hours, the 45-year-old Chief Minister, who has had a roller coaster ride ever since he took over reins of power on December 28, last year, accused the Congress and BJP of "colluding" with each other against the Bill after his government ordered filing an FIR against RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. Uproarious scenes were earlier witnessed in the House on the issue of introduction of the Bill with BJP and Congress forcing the Speaker to read out the Lt Governor Najeeb Jung's advice to the Assembly against tabling the measure since it was not in accordance with procedures laid down under the law. After an adjournment with opposition notably BJP leader Harshavardhan and Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely demanding voting on the Lt Governor's advice and government opposing it, Kejriwal dramatically rose to table the Jan Lokpal Bill. This attacking provoked the opposition which contended that the government had no right to introduce a Bill against Lt Governor's advice and such step would be "unconstitutional". Chaotic scenes prevailed and Speaker M S Dhir was forced to adjourn the House. When the House resumed again, the treasury benches demanded a discussion which was also resisted by the opposition who insisted on voting. After some melee, the Speaker put the resolution seeking leave for introduction of the Bill to vote. The Bill was defeated in the introduction stage itself with 42 members voting against it and only 27 in favour. After the resolution for the Bill's introduction was defeated, AAP sources said Kejriwal may take the "extreme step of resigning soon". "The Chief Minister feels there is no point in remaining in the government," the sources told PTI, adding all the party workers have been asked to come for consultations at the AAP headquarters. (PTI)
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