President’s Buddha Purnima Greetings

The President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, in her message on the occasion of Buddha Purnima which is being observed tomorrow, has said: - “On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima, I send my greetings and good wishes to my fellow citizens. Lord Buddha’s teachings have had influence on Indian culture and thoughts. The message preached by the Tathagatha, of compassion, non-violence and equality should serve as a beacon for humanity in its path towards spiritual emancipation”.

Bypassing the bypass

by Dr Syed Zair Hussain Rizvi
Pakistan

EVERY SEED OF POMEGRANATE WHICH GOES IN YOUR STOMACH IS A SEED OF LIFE FOR YOUR HEART

Two things are full of benefits for the human being, lukewarm water and pomegranate. Pomegranate is a seasonal fruit in Pakistan so I tried an experiment with dried pomegranate seeds(DRY ANARDANA in Urdu), prepared a decoction boiling the fistful of dried seeds in half litre of water for 10 minutes, squeezed the seeds, strained the decoction and advised those patients suffering from painful angina to use a glass of lukewarm decoction on an empty stomach in the morning, amazing result was observed, the decoction of dried pomegranate seeds worked like a magic, the feelings of tightness and heaviness of chest and the pain had gone,

It encouraged me to try more experiments on all types of cardiac patients so I tried other experiments on patients who were suffering from painful angina, coronary arterial blockage, cardiac ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle) etc, waiting for a bypass surgery, the same lukewarm decoction was used empty stomach in the morning, the patients experienced quick relief in all symptoms including painful condition

In another case of coronary arterial blockage the patient started using half glass of fresh pomegranate juice everyday for one year, although all symptoms were completely relieved within a week but he continued taking it for a whole year, it completely reversed the plaque build-up and unblocked his arteries to normal, the angiography report confirmed the evidence, thus decoction of dried pomegranate seeds, fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on empty stomach in the morning proved to be a miracle cure for cardiac patients,

But the lukewarm dried seeds decoction proved to be more effective compared to eating a whole pomegranate or fresh pomegranate juice, use of pomegranate in any way has demonstrated even more dramatic effects as blood thinner, pain killing properties for cardiac patients, lowers LDL (low-density lipoprotein or bad cholesterol) and raises the HDL (high-density lipoprotein or good cholesterol) , there are more than 50 different types of heart diseases the most common being coronary artery disease (CAD), which is the number one killer of both women and men in some countries, and there has been no medicinal cure for this disease, many cardiac patients have reversed their heart diseases on my advice using one glass of lukewarm decoction of pomegranate dried seeds, half glass of fresh pomegranate juice or eating a whole pomegranate on empty stomach in the morning, it was the very first real breakthrough in the history of cardiology to successfully treat the cardiac diseases by a fruit, The more super foods to obtain the even faster results for cardiac patients which are most promising curative and protective agents like fresh raisins, quince, guava, prunes (dried plums), natural vinegar, mixture of grape fruit juice and honey in the morning (empty stomach), basil leaves, chicory leaves, powder of oregano leaves and rock salt in equal quantity (in case the patient is not hypertensive) and sesame oil as cooking oil for cardiac patients.

It is regretted to say that treating the heart patients and bypass surgery has become far more profitable business around the world which has failed to help avert life threatening heart attacks and life time cardiac complications resulting in almost paralyzed life. A regular use of pomegranate in any way ensures a healthy cardiac life, thinning your blood, dissolving the blood clots and obstruction inside the coronary arteries, maintains an optimal blood flow, supports a healthy blood pressure, prevents and reverses atherosclerosis. (Thickening of the internal lining of the blood vessels) from whatever I experienced and observed in last several years, I can say:

“A pomegranate a day keeps the cardiologist away” you can try and see the wonder.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has recently cut India's outlook to negative from stable and issued a threat of potential downgrade, citing high fiscal deficit. As a result, Indian government is facing tremendous pressure to reduce its fiscal deficit. In order to increase revenues for the government, India is planning to review the double-taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius. The reason behind the review is to prevent misuse of the treaty and track illicit money allegedly stashed in the African island nation. The country was losing more than USD $600 m every year in revenue because of the tax treaty, besides incurring the risk of militant groups using it to route money into India. This announcement had sent a panic wave in the Indian stock markets. It must be noted that Mauritius has the biggest share (39%) of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in India.

Data source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry *April 2000 to February 2012

S.56 pertaining to gifts, deemed gifts / under-valuations

• Sunday, April 22, 2012, 17:21
• Income Tax
• Articles, Featured

It is the considered view of the Government that in the materialistic world in which we are living, gifts are not possible from non-relatives. In the past, frequently claims were successfully made  by individuals about receipt of  huge amounts as gifts from other individuals even though the donor and the donee were not related to each other but there was natural love and affection. Government has not accepted such situations.   We are also aware that recently Indian judiciary has recognized live-in relationships.  Such relations may be sometimes more intimate than recognized blood relations. But so far as income tax law is concerned, such relations would not be recognized and gifts in such relations  would also become taxable. Government has  started taxing gifts of sum of money. Then realizing the possible leakage in cases of gifts in kind now virtually in  every budget proposals Government has started thinking in terms of roping in more items in the list of  gifts in kind.

Since October 2009 gifts of immovable properties and specified immovable properties have been brought within taxing purview. So far taxable entities for gifts were only individuals and HUFs. By Finance Act, 2010 first step has been taken to expand the scope of taxable entities also.

Provisions of section 56(2) : Reg. popularly known as gifts :

Section 56(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 inter alia deals with receipts without consideration. Since most of such receipts tantamount to gifts, the provisions are popularly known for gifts and deemed gifts. Till 30 09 2009 only sum of money received without consideration was gift if the recipient is either an individual or a HUF. By the Finance No.2 Act, 2009 with effect from 01 10 2009 the provisions were so much expanded that they even included cases of  immovable properties received for inadequate consideration as compared to stamp valuation. The expanded provisions also include receipt of specified movable properties either without consideration or at inadequate consideration as compared to fair market value.

No more steep climb for tourists to get atop Singalia range

Press Trust of India / Gangtok May 04, 2012, 12:05
The breath-taking scenic spots on the Singalia range of the Himalayas in Sikkim remain out of bounds for most tourists who are unable to trek through the 12-km steep uphill route to get there.

Only the brave and the young can negotiate the narrow route that starts from Uttarey village in West Sikkim to Chewa Bhangyang, Kalijhar, Phoktey Dara and other such beautiful spots.

But, now a motorable road being built from Uttarey village in West Sikkim to Nepal right across the Singalia range will come to their help.

 The West Sikkim District Collector, Santa Pradhan, said the importance of the road cannot be overemphasised.

“When completed, the road will be a dream-come-true for numerous tourists who are forced to end their journey at Uttarey village, finding themselves helpless before the steep climb," Pradhan said.

Pradhan said the portion of the road in Nepal was almost complete, just 2.5 km away from the Sikkim border.

On the Indian side, however, the progress of the road, being built under the Border Area Development Programme, has been tardy.

The road on the Nepalase side, sources said, had already reached Chanpathuk where the Nepal army check post is situated, a distance of around two kilometres from Chewa Bhanjhyang.

The district collector said that the proposal for the road from Uttarey to Chewa Bhangyang had been sanctioned around five months back. PTI COR MD

New 49A Form for PAN Application, Changes in PAN Data w.e.f. 8th April 2012

New 49A Form for PAN Application, Changes in PAN Data w.e.f. 8th April 2012

Income Tax Department has released a new form for Fresh PAN Card Application and /or Changes or correction in existing PAN Data. The new form is simple then earlier form 49A and easy to fill. The form also has column to fill AADHAAR number for the applicants who already own UID. 

With effect from April 8, 2012, PAN applications are required to be furnished in the new form. Indian citizens will have to submit their ‘Application for allotment of new PAN’ in revised Form 49A only. 

Clarification regarding admissibility of area-based exemption: Central Excise Circular No.965/08/2012-CX dt. 17th April, 2012

Clarification regarding admissibility of area-based exemption: Central Excise Circular No.965/08/2012-CX dt. 17th April, 2012

Extracts from Circular No. 965/08/2012-CX  F.No. 101/ 15/2010-CX-3 dt 17^th April, 2012

Sub: Clarification regarding admissibility of exemption under area-based Notification No. 56/2002-CE dated 14.11.2002 – reg.

            Your kind attention is invited to Notification No. 56/2002-CE dated 14.11.2002 which provides for exemption from the duty of excise to specified goods cleared from industrial units in the State of Jammu & Kashmir to the extent of duty paid in cash by way of a refund mechanism, for a period of ten years from the date of publication of the notification or from the date of commencement of commercial production, whichever is later.  The exemption is available to new units which have commenced commercial production on or after 14.06.2002 as well as existing units which have undertaken substantial expansion or have made new investments for employment generation on or after 14.06.2002.

2.         A doubt has been raised whether in the case of existing units undertaking substantial expansion, the 10 year exemption period has to be computed from the date of commencement of initial commercial production or from the date of commencement of commercial production from the expanded capacity.  Some field formations have taken a view that in the case of existing units which had commenced commercial production prior to 14.06.2002, the exemption period of ten years would be computed from the date of publication of notification, i.e., 14.11.2002, irrespective of the fact that such units had undertaken substantial expansion after 14.11.2002.

3.         The matter has been examined in the Board.  It is clarified that the exemption period of ten years is to be computed from the date of publication of the notification when a new unit commences commercial production or an existing unit undertakes substantial expansion and commences commercial production from such expanded capacity during the period from 14.06.2002 to 14.11.2002.  However, if a new unit commences commercial production or an existing unit undertakes substantial expansion and commences commercial production from such expanded capacity after the date of publication of the notification, i.e., 14.11.2002, the ten year exemption period is to be computed from the date of commencement of commercial production in the case of new units and from the date of commencement of commercial production from the expanded capacity in the case of existing units.

Managing the Rise of a Hydro-Hegemon in Asia: China’s Strategic Interests in the Yarlung-Tsangpo River

By Jesper Svensson

This Paper examines the Sino-Indian water-relations in Yarlung-Tsangpo/Brahmaputra river in order to suggest policy implications for India. Though the Great Plan to divert water from the Yarlung-Tsangpo to the Yellow River has been dismissed or ignored by all legitimate academic institutions in China, it has been reinforced throughout this Paper that a strong water demand management policy, combined with the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will be unable to solve the water shortage crisis of the North China Plain. However, it argues that if national interest of China demands major water diversion projects in Tibet, it will undertake such projects if the price of transferred water is cheaper than conservation or getting water from the sea. Although Chinese scholars have taken an initiative to cooperate with India on smaller and less contentious water issues, Beijing has not been transparent to its lower riparians given the fact that China has started preliminary work on building a 38 gigawatt dam at the Great Bend of Yarlung-Tsangpo/Brahmaputra. To address China´s position as a negative hydro-hegemon, a two-step strategy seems appropriate: widen the field of cooperation with less contentious water issues so that it creates ”spillover” effect into greater benefits for China, while trying to bring Bangladesh into the negotiations over the Yarlung-Tsangpo/Brahmaputra.
The Paper examines China´s general performance as a hydro-hegemon in Asia, presents the case study on China´s hydro-behaviour in the Yarlung-Tsangpo river basin, and outlines a framework for promoting trans-boundary watercooperation.( Source:IDSA)

How much does an economy lose out because of illiteracy? A recent report by World Literacy Foundation titled Economic and Social Cost of Illiteracy answers to that question. Among the BRIC countries, China and India lead the losses owing to illiteracy with estimated yearly losses of US$ 135.6 bn and US$ 53.56 bn, respectively. The provisional data of the 2011 census suggests that about 74% of India's population aged 7 years and above is literate. As per the same report, illiteracy costs the global economy over US$ 1.19 trillion every year.

Data source: Firstpost

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images/Ministry of Defence

Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft fly in a low-level 

tactical formation during the “Shoor Veer” military exercise near Hanumangarh,

Rajasthan, close to the India-Pakistan border. More than 300 combat vehicles

 and 60,000 troops took part in the exercise.

Source: NYtimes

Farmers transforming traditional agriculture with modern technology and desi jugaad

Source: The Economic Times
By Sudipto Mundle
  
.The chattering classes of urban India are engaged in animated discussions about Didi, scams, policy paralysis , faltering reforms and declining growth. Meanwhile, the farming classes, who haven't seen much reform since the Green Revolution 50 years ago, continue to combine bits of modern technology with their ingenious capacity for 'jugaad' in transforming traditional agriculture. Here are a few examples.

The tractor displaced the bullock in ploughing and other farm operations. With a trailer attached, it has also displaced the bullock cart in transporting everything from construction materials to farm produce to people. Tractors also double up as earthmovers, dumpers and even motors for water pumps when there is no power supply.

This shift from the bullock to the tractor has had far-reaching effects. With milk prices soaring, cows are much in demand. But nobody wants the bulls. They are no longer required to pull ploughs or carts, and not many are required for procreation since the advent of artificial insemination , another modern innovation . So the male calves have short lives. At the earliest opportunity they are transported - legally or illegally - to the nearest butcher or slaughterhouse, or smuggled across the border.

The bull culling has played havoc with the bovine gender balance. It has also depleted the supply of gobar. It is a significant impediment to the resumption of organic agriculture, which our farmers practised till the Green Revolution came along. Also, organic agriculture cannot match the productivity of chemicals-based agriculture. However, farmers are well aware of the risks of such agriculture. Typically , they maintain a home patch where they grow crops organically for home consumption . The produce of chemical agriculture is all for the market. I sometimes wonder whether our rising incidence of cancer is only because of our toxic air and water, or also because of the toxic residues in the farm produce we consume.

The cellphone is another innovation that has radically transformed rural markets. While policy wonks debate whether to reform or scrap the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act to improve market efficiency, farmers have greatly enhanced efficiency by recourse to the cellphone.

Visit any village and you will notice that as a crop is readied for the market, the farmer will usually make a few 'missed calls' - another fabulous Indian jugaad - to auctioneers. Within minutes he will get return SMS messages giving him the current price in each market, and he knows where to go for the best price. With thousands of farmers undertaking the same process of price discovery, the outcome is a highly efficient market.

I have seen itinerant fish traders do much the same thing in the fishery belts of Bengal and in Rajasthan and Haryana, but with additional jugaad for a cold chain. At the crack of dawn, the trader and his team will drive their truck to an appointed tank. The front of the payload bay is converted into a makeshift fish container with PVC sheets. In the rear half, the boys crowd in with slabs of ice, fishnets and other equipment.

On reaching the site, the net is spread across the tank and drawn in with the catch. While the fish lies corralled in the tank, the container is filled with water and slabs of ice. The cold chain has now been established. The fish are then weighed, a drum full at a time, and poured into the container. The fish will remain alive in this cold container for a couple of hours till they reach the market. Meanwhile, the trader sends out his missed calls, gets his wholesale price quotes, and decides where to sell.

These are just a few examples of the many ways in which farmers have adapted 'modern' technical elements to local conditions through their jugaad, transforming traditional agriculture . But if our farmers have been so innovative, how come agricultural productivity has only grown at less than 3% a year over decades?

There is no simple answer to this question, but a major part of it has to do with the large variations in performance between crops and across states in our vast country. While average foodgrain productivity is 2,000 kg per hectare, wheat productivity is 3,000 kg per hectare, and has reached 4,000 kg in some parts of the country. If best practices achieved within the country could be disseminated throughout the country, India's agricultural performance would compare reasonably well against international benchmarks.


However, that is easier said than done. Inter-regional variations in soil, topology and climate apart, the total cultivable area in the country is limited. Productivity growth can only be sustained through multiple cropping, which requires irrigation . But only a third of the cultivated area is irrigated, the rest is rain-fed . In foodgrains, for instance, it has taken 40 years to double productivity, and this is mainly attributable to a doubling of the foodgrain area under irrigation over the same period. The increase has mainly come from private investment in tubewells . This has been depleting groundwater in the absence of adequate recharging through surface irrigation projects.

Such projects can only be undertaken by the government. Thus, our farmers' initiatives notwithstanding, rural transformation remains dependent on government action. Agriculture is a state subject and should be a high priority for the state governments. However, their combined allocation for agriculture and allied activities is only 6% of their total plan expenditure . Need we say more?

The writer is emeritus professor at the National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, New Delhi.

 Oil's not well on South China Sea

Abhishek Shukla
Source: The Hindu

   

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Boosting bilateral energy cooperation with Vietnam, the Philippines and other ASEAN countries will work to India's advantage.

China has once again warned companies looking to explore for hydrocarbons in the South China Sea (SCS) to stay away from the disputed waters. The South China Sea is believed to hold large reserves of undiscovered oil and gas.

The US Geological Survey pegs the discovered and undiscovered resources at 28 billion barrels of oil and 7.5 trillion cubic metres of gas in the offshore basins of the SCS — reason enough for the dragon to spew fire.

India in SCS cauldron

Despite the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) guidelines, ownership disputes continue to stir up the SCS waters. Among the nations flanking its shores, China, Vietnam and the Philippines are aggressively claiming sizeable portions of the sea.

China has been demanding almost the entire area and is rooting for bilateral talks to resolve the territorial disputes, arguably to use its size to influence the one-to-one dialogues.

Recently, Beijing raised objections to ONGC's presence in SCS. ONGC's overseas arm, ONGC Videsh (OVL) holds stakes in a producing gas field — Block 06.1 in the Nam Con Son basin off Vietnam's south coast — in a joint venture with TNK-BP and state explorer PetroVietnam.

In 2006, OVL won a contract to jointly explore, along with PetroVietnam, Blocks 127 and 128 in the Phu Khanh basin, Vietnam. It then signed a three-year deal with Petrovietnam in September 2011 to jointly explore for oil and gas in these blocks. OVL later relinquished Block 127 after it encountered dry wells.

The blocks in question — 127 and 128 — lie within the Vietnamese maritime border as per the UNCLOS guidelines and partially beyond the line of control claimed by China. However, China's claims are based on historical maps that find little support in international law.

energy ties with ASEAN

Not only is the South China Sea believed to possess substantial hydrocarbon reserves, but it is also a vital transit point for ships. Despite China's repeated warnings to nations for cessation of exploration in South China Sea, India has maintained its stand of respecting the freedom of international navigation through this key shipping route.

The region can be an important piece on the energy supply map for both India and China. It opens up the shipping route for bringing ONGC's Sakhalin oil to India's coast through the Strait of Malacca.

Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are pushing for increasing exploratory drilling in their respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and Indian companies, like other international players, should grab this opportunity with both hands.

First, this will add a hydrocarbon supply source that is closer to its own shores, cutting down on the transportation distance; second, India's relationship with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gain ground, apart from the ‘customary' regional cooperation status.

Diplomatic masterstroke

Notwithstanding China's rhetoric, India has reiterated its intention to partner with Vietnam in exploring for oil and gas in the disputed waters and expanding the decade-old cooperation with Vietnam on key sectors, including energy.

New Delhi has, so far, done well in dealing with the Chinese diplomacy on this issue. Moreover, India's commitment to partner Vietnam can be a dampener for China's intentions; China would have thought of using its size to dominate the bilateral negotiations with stakeholders for its claims of ‘indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea' — a bid to seek regional hegemony.

To protect its interest in the South China Sea and in ASEAN, India needs to be both forceful and diplomatic. As of now, New Delhi's reply to Chinese bickering has been that India has faith in Vietnam's sovereign claims over the concerned blocks and ONGC's investment is purely commercial in nature, with no political connotation. As per the UNCLOS boundaries, India stands justified.

New Delhi, with due regard to its own stand on Kashmir, should not put its foot in its mouth by giving opinions on territorial debates. It also has to deal with the tempestuous task of settling its own border dispute with Beijing. Hence, concerted efforts to increase bilateral energy cooperation with Vietnam, the Philippines and other ASEAN countries may prove to be a diplomatic masterstroke, as it will check China's high-handedness in the region and establish India's commercial interest without political spite.

All about energy security

Conventional wisdom says having more friends always helps. Both India and China would be reluctant to get into a debate that threatens the stability of the region. Moreover, the South China Sea is not the only thread in Sino-Indo ties.

In today's globally interdependent world, India and China need each other in more ways than one. Military engagement will bring no material gains to either side. China seems to understand this, considering its reluctance so far to use its military might in thwarting oil exploration efforts in the SCS.

Igniting a dispute that leads to a full-fledged military engagement — which unites the ASEAN against Beijing, stops all exploration activities and provides the US a reason to intervene — will surely be unpalatable for Beijing.

India, like China, is on the cusp of a demographic and economic makeover, and in need of increasing energy supplies to fuel economic development. Both the countries are keen on securing energy supplies from across the globe, with energy import bills damaging their balance of trade. The South China Sea is one such region that holds promise. It will be foolhardy to let the opportunity pass, while global majors flock to exploit the region despite the sovereignty disputes.

The presence of energy majors such as ExxonMobil and BP in the SCS substantiates the promise that the region holds. Hence, it is in the best interest of both countries and the other littoral states to let the region be explored and its potential be assessed through material developments.

Internal strife could lead to waning international interest and lesser involvement of global energy majors, who bring with them invaluable expertise and world-class technology.

Indian policymakers will do well to stick their neck out for protecting India's interest in the SCS, without jeopardising the peace of the region by taking a radical diplomatic stand at ASEAN.

The debate on the territorial sovereignty is not new, and many companies continue to explore in the region without much problem. Fittingly, as the energy industry believes, challenges and opportunities go hand-in-hand.

(The author is with Energy and Chemical Practice of Evalueserve. The views are personal) 

RECRUITMENT RALLY

A recruitment rally is being organised for the Male citizens of Sikkim.

Date and Venue of Rally

1.       20^th – 21^st May 2012 – Palzor Stadium, Gangtok

2.       22^nd May 2012 – Kyongsa Ground, Geyzing

Pre Recruitment Training

1.       13-19 May 2012 – Palzor Stadium, Gangtok

2.       14-20 May 2012 – Kyongsa Ground, Geyzing

The registration for the rally would commence from 05.00 hours at respective locations during each day of the conduct of rally.

………………………………………

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is undertaking recruitment of Meritorious Sportspersons (Male and Female) for filling up 418 vacancies in the post of constables /GD against sports-quota in ITB Police on All India basis. The recruitment will be conducted at 13^th Bn ITB Police, Village Sama Sevic, Lingdum Busty, P.o. Dhajey, Gangtok w.e.f. 07.05.2012 to 11.05.2012.

While our imports have exceeded imports most of the time, the difference in FY12 has come as high as US$ 185 bn. Combine this with weak capital inflows and one gets an idea on why rupee seems to be under immense pressure. Unless petro prices cool off, we do not think a big respite is in the offing any time soon. Of course, imports of precious metals such as gold have also caused the problem to exacerbate a bit.

Source: Business Standard

 Intra-bank Deposit Accounts Portability

• 
  RBI/2011-12/528

DBOD.AML. BC. No. 97/14.01.001/2011-12

April 27, 2012

The Chairmen/Chief Executive Officers,
All Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding RRBs)/Local Area Banks

Dear Sir,

Intra-bank Deposit Accounts Portability

It has been brought to our notice that some banks are insisting on opening of fresh accounts by customers when customers approach them for transferring their account from one branch of the bank to another branch of the same bank. Such insistence on opening of fresh account or making the customer undergo full KYC process again causes inconvenience to them resulting in poor customer service. It is not reasonable in view of the fact that most bank branches are now on CBS and KYC records of a particular customer can be accessed by any branch of the bank.

2. Banks are advised that KYC once done by one branch of the bank should be valid for transfer of the account within the bank as long as full KYC has been done for the concerned account. The customer should be allowed to transfer his account from one branch to another branch without restrictions. In order to comply with KYC requirements of correct address of the person, fresh address proof may be obtained from him/her upon such transfer by the transferee branch. It may be noted that instructions regarding periodical updation of KYC data in terms of para 2.4(e) and those on maintenance of records of identity and transaction in terms of para 2.21(iii) of our Master circular DBOD.AML.BC. No.2/14.01.001/ 2009-10 dated July 01, 2011 remain unchanged and banks will be required to carry out the updation at prescribed intervals as also maintain records of transactions and verification of identity as prescribed.

3. Please acknowledge receipt.

Yours faithfully,

(Sudha Damodar)
Chief General Manager

Fund Convenience Store

• Source: Valueresearch.

V Ramesh, Deputy Chief Executive, AMFI, presents us with a very practical scenario. “Let’s take a town called Dindigul in South India. Now assume that no AMC has an office there and neither an R&T presence. If that be the case, one has to send the transactions by post or courier to the nearest town.”
The solution? AMFI’s new online platform, MF Utility. “This being on the internet, the investor will be able to simply log in and transact,” says Ramesh. Though an investor with internet connectivity does have online options available today, MF Utility promises a lot more.
It has a simple and focussed function – to be an order-routing application platform. There will be no processing done here. The orders will come in through various channels and this will be a collection zone where all the transactions will be collated and channelized to the R&T agents.
So all players – AMCs, distributors and investors can input their orders here. This system will aggregate all orders – online and offline, before it electronically transfers it to the R&T agent, as an aggregated transaction file, for processing. This is possible simply because all fund houses and distributors will be connected to the platform. It definitely is much more efficient and scalable than the current process.
Will this affect the current players in terms of business? Not at all.
The existing infrastructure is not substituted as the workflow continues to be the same for those in the trade. The R&T agents will continue to process purchases, redemptions, switches, dividend payments and all other such transactions.
Distributors will still play a very important role in advisory, something that this platform will not provide. Being an industry body, the platform will be neutral and not favour any single AMC. While fund related information in terms of offer documents and fact sheets will be provided, there will be no advisory in terms of performance rating, fund analysis, recommendations or comparisons.


The distributor will be able to extend his window to accept transactions. Today, since he has to submit the clients’ transaction by 3pm at a particular location, the internal cut off time is much earlier, depending on how far he is from the nearest transaction point. With MFU, since he can directly enter the transaction, he can probably accept the transactions in his office till much later.
The distributor will also be able to see snapshots of his clients’ portfolios and asset allocation for the transactions that have come through him. There will also be various MIS available to him, which will help him view his business, and accordingly strategise.
Going forward, no distributor needs to create a full online module to have a web presence. He can simply have the front page and link his website to MFU for transactions.
Eventually, by offering a convenient and efficient consolidated platform, MF Utility will play an important role in bringing in more investors. Unfortunately, online trading platforms have not met with overwhelming success. While volumes have shown some amount of pick-up for online brokerage-driven platforms, not much has been transacted through the direct online route of AMCs. Maybe this could change the dynamics.
Benefits to investors
Reach
Once they obtain a log-in ID and password, investors and distributors from all over the country can invest via this platform.
Efficient
Since account opening is centralised, the investor can transact on all the mutual funds with one account number. In case of any change in bank details etc, the investor needs to make the change at just one place.
Ease of transaction
Investors can invest in multiple funds with a single payment. Let’s say an investor wants to invest Rs 50,000 in five funds. While in the current scenario he/she will have to cut five cheques, under MFU, a consolidated cheque of Rs 50,000 can be paid.
Convenient
At one single window, the investor will have access to all fund houses and all their schemes. For all the funds, the investor needs to remember only one log-in ID and password; unlike at present where he will probably have multiple ones for different funds and their websites.
Portfolio review
Having one account for all transactions, a unified view of each investor’s fund portfolio is provided.

India, China next destination for talent from the West

DUBAI: The booming markets of India and China, where a new war for professional talent is hotting up, will see incredible opportunities for Western professionals, a noted marketing expert has said.

"The new war for professional talent is hotting up like never before and will see huge and developing opportunities for westerners looking for jobs in India and China," Nirmalya Kumar, Professor of Marketing at London Business School said.

Speaking to industry leaders, students and alumni at a session at the Dubai Centre celebrating London Business School's five years of commitment to education in the region, Professor Kumar highlighted the shift from Indians and Chinese looking to the west for jobs and the reverse happening at a rapid rate.

"When you go to the emerging markets it's about growth, it's about ambition and setting up businesses and factories," Kumar, who recently launched his book India Inside and is the co-director of the School's Aditya Birla India Centre, said.

Multinational companies are ramping up in new markets on a scale that is incredible and presents opportunities for Westerners looking for jobs in India and China.

"We have to move our people from the west to the east and we have to make it easier. We have to pressure China and India to be as open to western people as westerners have been to Indian and Chinese immigrants," he said.

Kumar believes this change will set corporate agendas over the next decade. According to him, the Indian government needs to be encouraged to make it easier for Europeans and Americans to get visas to work in India.

Delivering his presentation on 'The Emergence of Growth Economies and Corporate Giants' here, Nirmalya Kumar, Professor of Marketing at London Business School also touched on India's ability to transition from services whilst changing perceptions that the country is not innovative enough.

"Bright ideas are bizarrely regarded as a Western preserve. Indians make good accountants and programmers, but are not the best for innovation. After all, where are the Indian Googles and iPods?," Kumar asked the audience.

"Take for example, Intel - a company that prides itself on "Inspired Innovation that's Changing the World." While Intel ensures consumers know they're using a personal computer powered by Intel innovation, there isn't any label on the product showing that the innovation originated in India," he said.

European Pressphoto Agency

A Coppersmith Barbet peeps from its nest in a betel-nut tree, for predator birds in Guwahati, Assam.

Source:NYtimes

Solar storms threaten high-tech civilisation

DPA

Source: The Hindu   

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AP No room for complacency: We are ill-prepared for the threat from solar storms.

The upper atmosphere suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree under infra-red radiation at the beginning of March. A violent solar storm was to blame, spewing out a huge cloud of charged solar particles that swept past the earth at high speed.

This solar storm heated up the upper atmosphere with a huge blast of energy of 26 billion kilowatt hours, according to NASA. This was sufficient energy to power the homes of a city like New York for two years.

“This was the biggest dose of heat we've received from a solar storm since 2005,” according to solar researcher Martin Mlynczak of Nasa's Langley Research Centre. “It was a big event and shows how solar activity can directly affect our planet.” Luckily in this case the effects were primarily spectacular polar lights, but these geomagnetic storms generated by the interaction between the electrically-charged solar particles and the earth's own magnetic field could have more serious consequences.

They are able to overload electricity supply networks and cause breakdowns, cause communications and navigation satellites to fail, and endanger astronauts and people in aircraft.

Geomagnetic storms are a serious hazard to a highly technological society in the view of British space weather researcher Mike Hapgood, writing in the journal Nature.

In the view of the professor at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, we are ill prepared for this threat and need to be able to assess better the probability of severe space weather disruptions and their effects. There have always been solar storms, but our increasingly technology-dependent civilisation is becoming more susceptible. There is evidence of damage caused by solar eruptions since the time electricity first began to be harnessed. An exceptionally powerful solar storm knocked out the newly introduced telegraph cables in early September 1859, causing fires in telegraph stations and also generating polar lights that were visible as far south as Rome and Havana.

The effects today could be much worse.

A study by the British electricity and gas supplier, UK National Grid, indicated that an event of this kind could cut electrical supplies to certain regions for months.

A solar storm in mid-March 1989 did in fact disrupt power supplies to millions of Canadians for several hours and cut contact with around 1,600 satellites.

Since then many electricity networks have improved their equipment, but preparations need to be made, not only for events similar to those in the past, but also for the extreme events that might arise only once in a thousand years.

The first need is to assess the risks better. This would be possible with the aid of numerous historical records, although these are largely not yet available in electronic form.

In addition solar weather forecasting needs to improve, Hapgood says. Nasa's “STEREO” solar satellites indicate that reliable warning of at least six hours to an accuracy of one hour is possible.

US aviation authorities are currently calling for international standards for space weather briefings for aviation.

Passenger flights may need to avoid severe solar storms under certain conditions, particularly on polar routes.

Solar storms occur when the sun hurls large clouds of electrically charged particles into space and these strike the earth. The solar cycle takes around 11 years to complete.

“We are currently emerging from a deep solar minimum,” says James Russell, a colleague of Mlynczak's at Hampton University.

He predicts the cycle will rise in strength to a peak in 2013. In addition the sun is in a big maximum phase that has occurred 24 times over the past 9,300 years and is currently approaching its end.

This “solar climate change” does not necessarily mean a calmer period in space weather, as Luke Barnard of Reading University in Britain has deduced.

According to his analysis, the chance of isolated extreme space weather events in the next 40 years has risen by around a half, as Barnard reported at a recent gathering of British astronomers.

There is a precedent for this. The big solar storm of 1859 took place outside a large solar maximum. 

The quarterly results of Indian pharma majors may not be accurately indicative of their long term future. But data regarding the demand for generic drugs clearly puts all speculations to rest. Notwithstanding regulatory hurdles in the West, Indian drug makers have a lot to benefit from the rising share of generic drugs in India too. The increasing spend on generic drugs can by itself bring in healthy revenue stream to domestic pharma majors.

Data source: Mint

Koovagam, India's largest Transgender Festival,opens

By Michael Edison Hayden

photo by:Ayush Ranka

Harani, center, a transgender from Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu was 

crowned the first runner-up at the beauty pageant held a day before 

the Koovagam festival, April 30, 2012. source: NYTimes.com

SIX PRINCIPLES OF LIFE......

1· No point using limited life to chase unlimited money.

2· No point earning so much money we cannot live to spend it.

3· Money is not ours until we spend it.

4· When we are young, we neglect our health to chase wealth; later, we use our wealth to buy back our health. Can we? Difference is that, it is too late.

5· How happy a man is, is not how much he has, but how little he needs.

6· No point working so hard to provide for the people we have no time to spend with.
Money is no doubt required for a nutritious, well-balanced diet, clothing according to the season, a reasonable dwelling place, needs of the family like health and education and for fulfilling social obligations. But how much do we really need for all these? 
Let us understand the limitations of money..... 
1. Money can buy delicious food, but not an appetite to really enjoy it. 
2. Money can buy expensive beds, but not sleep.
3. Money can buy expensive medicines, but not health.
4. Money can buy blood, but not life.
5. Money can buy clock, but not time.
6. Money can buy books, but not wisdom.
7. Money can buy weapons, but not valour.

8. Money can buy position in the society, but not respect.
9. Money can buy sycophants, but not true friends. 
10. Money can attract opportunists, but not well-wishers.
11. Money can buy a house, but not home, where there is love and warmth.
12. Money can buy objects of pleasure, but not happiness.
13. Money can buy sex, but not love.

14. Money can buy make-up items which can break-up, but not beauty. A smile is the best make-up and makes a face beautiful, but money can't buy smile. It is an expression of contentment and inner happiness.

Remember -- We come into this world with nothing, we leave this world with nothing!

The things we carry with us after we drop our body are our karma-s (actions) and our adhyaatmik saadhanaa (spiritual practices).

So we need to accumulate more and more of these which we will eventually carry after dropping the body.   

This is the proof that you don't have to have money to be happy!!

Indo-China border trade fails to begin today due to inclement weather

May 1,  6:1 PM This year’s Indo-China border trade through Nathula in Sikkim, could not begin today due to inclement weather. The trade has been deferred for the time being in view of the prevailing bad weather conditions. The State Commerce and Industries Secretary, B K Kharel told our Gangtok Correspondent that traders, immigration officials and all other concerned could not go beyond Sherathang as a thick layer of snow blocked the road leading to Nathula. He said that as all efforts by the BRO to clear the snow proved too little to the enormosity of the snow, it was decided to defer the trade for an indefinite period. Mr. Kharel said that fresh dates for commencement of the trade will be announced later on. The centuries old trade through this route had resumed in July 2006 after coming to an abrupt halt in the wake of the 1962 Indo-China War. The trade takes place from 1st May to 30th November every year. Nathula is one of the three Indo-China border trade points besides, Shipkila in Himachal Pradesh and Lipulekh in Uttarakhand. ( ALL INDIA RADIO)

" India will add about 497 million to its urban population from 2010 to 2050, as per United Nations' Revision of the World Urbanisation Prospects Report-2011,"

India China border trade at Nathu La resumes

May 1,  1:46 PM Border trade at Nathula, one of the three open trading border posts between China and India resumed in Sikkim's East district this morning and will continue till 30 November. District Collector, East, D Anandan said that his office received 301 applications from traders, which were sent to the Intelligence Bureau office for clearance. He said 50 applications have been cleared from the IB office. Remaining 251 are likely to get clearance within a week. Agreements between New Delhi and Beijing limit trade across Nathula to 29 types of goods from India and 15 from the Chinese side after it was reopened in 2006.

The India-China Rivalry by Robert D. Kaplan

As the world moves into the second decade of the 21st century, a new power rivalry is taking shape between India and China, Asia's two behemoths in terms of territory, population and richness of civilization. India's recent successful launch of a long-range missile able to hit Beijing and Shanghai with nuclear weapons is the latest sign of this development.

This is a rivalry born completely of high-tech geopolitics, creating a core dichotomy between two powers whose own geographical expansion patterns throughout history have rarely overlapped or interacted with each other. Despite the limited war fought between the two countries on their Himalayan border 50 years ago, this competition has relatively little long-standing historical or ethnic animosity behind it.

The signal geographical fact about Indians and Chinese is that the impassable wall of the Himalayas separates them. Buddhism spread in varying forms from India, via Sri Lanka and Myanmar, to Yunnan in southern China in the third century B.C., but this kind of profound cultural interaction was the exception more than the rule.

Moreover, the dispute over the demarcation of their common frontier in the Himalayan foothills, from Kashmir in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east, while a source of serious tension in its own right, is not especially the cause of the new rivalry. The cause of the new rivalry is the collapse of distance brought about by the advance of military technology.

Indeed, the theoretical arc of operations of Chinese fighter jets at Tibetan airfields includes India. Indian space satellites are able to do surveillance on China. In addition, India is able to send warships into the South China Sea, even as China helps develop state-of-the-art ports in the Indian Ocean. And so, India and China are eyeing each other warily. The whole map of Asia now spreads  out in front of defense planners in New Delhi and Beijing, as it becomes apparent that the two nations with the largest populations in the world (even as both are undergoing rapid military buildups) are encroaching upon each other's spheres of influence -- spheres of influence that exist in concrete terms today in a way they did not in an earlier era of technology.

And this is to say nothing of China's expanding economic reach, which projects Chinese influence throughout the Indian Ocean world, as evinced by Beijing's port-enhancement projects in Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This, too, makes India nervous.

Because this rivalry is geopolitical -- based, that is, on the positions of India and China, with their huge populations, on the map of Eurasia -- there is little emotion behind it. In that sense, it is comparable to the Cold War ideological contest between the United States and the Soviet Union, which were not especially geographically proximate and had little emotional baggage dividing them.
The best way to gauge the relatively restrained atmosphere of the India-China rivalry is to compare it to the rivalry between India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan abut one another. India's highly populated Ganges River Valley is within 480 kilometers (300 miles) of Pakistan's highly populated Indus River Valley. There is an intimacy to India-Pakistan tensions that simply does not apply to those between India and China. That intimacy is inflamed by a religious element: Pakistan is the modern incarnation of all of the Muslim invasions that have assaulted Hindu northern India throughout history. And then there is the tangled story of the partition of the Asian subcontinent itself to consider -- India and Pakistan were both born in blood together.

Partly because the India-China rivalry carries nothing like this degree of long-standing passion, it serves the interests of the elite policy community in New Delhi very well. A rivalry with China in and of itself raises the stature of India because China is a great power with which India can now be compared. Indian elites hate when India is hyphenated with Pakistan, a poor and semi-chaotic state; they much prefer to be hyphenated with China. Indian elites can be obsessed with China, even as Chinese elites think much less about India. This is normal. In an unequal rivalry, it is the lesser power that always demonstrates the greater degree of obsession. For instance, Greeks have always been more worried about Turks than Turks have been about Greeks.

China's inherent strength in relation to India is more than just a matter of its greater economic capacity, or its more efficient governmental authority. It is also a matter of its geography. True, ethnic-Han Chinese are virtually surrounded by non-Han minorities -- Inner Mongolians, Uighur Turks and Tibetans -- in China's drier uplands. Nevertheless, Beijing has incorporated these minorities into the Chinese state so that internal security is manageable, even as China has in recent years been resolving its frontier disputes with neighboring countries, few of which present a threat to China.

India, on the other hand, is bedeviled by long and insecure borders not only with troubled Pakistan, but also with Nepal and Bangladesh, both of which are weak states that create refugee problems for India. Then there is the Maoist Naxalite insurgency in eastern and central India. The result is that while the Indian navy can contemplate the projection of power in the Indian Ocean -- and thus hedge against China -- the Indian army is constrained with problems inside the subcontinent itself.
India and China do play a great game of sorts, competing for economic and military influence in Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. But these places are generally within the Greater Indian subcontinent, so that China is taking the struggle to India's backyard.

Just as a crucial test for India remains the future of Afghanistan, a crucial test for China remains the fate of North Korea. Both Afghanistan and North Korea have the capacity to drain energy and resources away from India and China, though here India may have the upper hand because India has no land border with Afghanistan, whereas China has a land border with North Korea. Thus, a chaotic, post-American Afghanistan is less troublesome for India than an unraveling regime in North Korea would be for China, which faces the possibility of millions of refugees streaming into Chinese Manchuria.

Because India's population will surpass that of China in 2030 or so, even as India's population will get gray at a slower rate than that of China, India may in relative terms have a brighter future. As inefficient as India's democratic system is, it does not face a fundamental problem of legitimacy like China's authoritarian system very well might.

Then there is Tibet. Tibet abuts the Indian subcontinent where India and China are at odds over the Himalayan borderlands. The less control China has over Tibet, the more advantageous the geopolitical situation is for India. The Indians provide a refuge for the Tibetan Dalai Lama. Anti-Chinese manifestations in Tibet inconvenience China and are therefore convenient to India. Were China ever to face a serious insurrection in Tibet, India's shadow zone of influence would grow measurably. Thus, while China is clearly the greater power, there are favorable possibilities for India in this rivalry.

India and the United States are not formal allies. The Indian political establishment, with its nationalistic and leftist characteristics, would never allow for that. Yet, merely because of its location astride the Indian Ocean in the heart of maritime Eurasia, the growth of Indian military and economic power benefits the United States since it acts as a counter-balance to a rising Chinese power; the United States never wants to see a power as dominant in the Eastern Hemisphere as it itself is in the Western Hemisphere. That is the silver lining of the India-China rivalry: India balancing against China, and thus relieving the United States of some of the burden of being the world's dominant power.