NEWS AROUND THE World – 31 March, 2013

March 31, 2013

Two  killed, thirteen  injured as bus falls into ravine in Mexico
Two people died and 13 have been injured in a car crash in Mexico after a microbus lost control and fell into a ravine, Itar-Tass reported. The accident took place in the state of Hidalgo. The injured passengers were taken to hospitals, some of them by helicopter. Several victims are said to be in grave condition, including one child. Mexico has one of the highest road traffic mortality rates. Police are investigating the cause of the accident.
Five dead in helicopter crash in South Africa
Five air force personnel died in a helicopter crash in South Africa’s Kruger National Park during an anti-poaching operation, according to a statement by the South African military. The team was on a regular patrol of the park, and an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the crash. South Africa is struggling to stem the widespread poaching of rhinos, whose horns are sold to buyers in Asia where it is believed to sure diseases. However, no medical evidence supports these claims.
Egyptian satirist faces arrest warrant
Egypt has issued an arrest warrant for a popular Egyptian satirist for allegedly insulting Islam and the country’s president Mohammed Morsi, raising fears of a crackdown on freedom in the region, Media reports . Earlier, Bassem Youssef faced several complaints against his show ‘El Bernameg.’ The arrest warrant comes following the detention of five prominent pro-democracy activists in an apparently widening campaign against dissent. Last summer, Egyptian authorities arrested a minority Coptic Christian teacher for allegedly posting cartoons on Facebook that insulted Islam – charges that are becoming a common theme in a country ruled by an Islamic government.
One dead, one wounded in Toronto mall shooting
One person is dead,another  wounded at a shooting at the Yorkdale Mall parking lot in Toronto. Multiple shots were fired in the parking lot at around 8:00pm local time on Saturday. Wounded victim given medical treatment after being rushed to hospital, and is reportedly in serious but stable condition. Local media alleged that the shooting was part of a confrontation between two groups of people. Police tape cordoned off the parking lot where the incident took place, and a command post was later set up in the southwest corner of the mall.
Two killed, three wounded in Libya army base attack
Two soldiers have been killed and another three wounded in an attack on a military camp in Libya. Assault took place on the Tamahind base, near the desert town of Sabha, some 800 km south of the capital Tripoli. “They came in cars, shooting. Two officers were killed and three others were injured,” Ali al-Sheikhli, spokesman for the army chief of staff, said. Matter is put under  investigation way.
Media agencies

National Team BJP announced 2013

March 31, 2013

Uma Bharati VP,Prabhat Jha fInds place but surprisly Shivraj left out,Varun Gandhi gets G Secretary,Amit Shah too inducted . Amit has court cases but his induction is attributed to Narendra win.Hindutva shines ,Yashwant Sinha, Ramjethmalani, Mahesh fades out.BJP with their inner differences amongst their top leadership tough time for RajnathBJP chief to work with Rss idealogue of hindutva likely to emerge in coming elections.posterboys of Modi finding place thus bank upon Modi magic.
BJP team becomes important for the saffron party to tread with ease in the ensuing G Election and nearly ten assembly election around.BJP chief , President Rajnath Singh could not announce his team due to consensus differed on induction of two leaders Amit Shah from Gujarat and CM Shivraj  Singh the later is backed by Advani and Sushma and former by Naredendra Modi.Possibly BJP chief Rajnath Singh may be able to get consensus on two names and pronounce today his Organsiation  structure. General election round the corner does make the team BJP an important political gameplan for brand BJP to embattle the ballot war to achieve nation governance .
BJP core decision making team of five members are Rajnath Singh,Arun Jaitly,Sushma,Nitin and Modi which explicitly explains the majority  of Rss. There is hidden cold battle being fought to swift take over by the RSS ideologues to take  saffron reigns.The process of putting the young leadership with eloquence and ideologue would definitely bring its colorful image in order.Saffron leadership equal arrogance with that of ruling class brings its image in par with ruling party. Most of the saffron leaders are left out in process of dynamics of political race openly say that Congressisation of BJP is damaging the party and leaders at top of BJP and Congress are in amicable state and sharing the fruits
Thus we are advancing into state of fluid and the political functionary do bring aberration in the dynamics of political ideation where individuals ,leadership,and party gets takes front seat,the national voice,nation ideation,and ultimate power to move ahead with other developed nation reach low ebb.It is therefore  lurking thought prevail ,bio polar party system may end in India but either of two parties may give outside support in forming the government to regional parties with adequate numbers of senate or one party loss could be gain to other major brand.
Narendra Modi gets inducted into parliamentary board of eleven members with prominent role and likely to play an important role in campaign of nextGeneral election.Modi shall be leading the party with modern tech and with his team thus paving way for RSS to put their men in vanguard of electoral battle to follow in ten states and general election.
Putting in frame the fact of ascending heights in political arena,      CM’s who have done welfare and masses  work in the past with ease and determination plus vision has been rewarded with coveted post either in Cabinet, two apex post, PM and President  in time of coalition call.
Hence branding of a politician in individual capacity is very essential with flair of ethics and truism paves his way onto  the two coveted apex post of this great nation. 
The contenders are essential features of politics in building leadership for the cause of nation running in dignified manner,there lies the hopes of billion plus people on their righteous attitude.How are they recognized ? By their fan following ? By their influence they exert with money ? Or it is shear when one achieve confidence of all classes of people.The  holistic strata  of the society look upon to this man essentially a gentleman on whom mass build the trust. 
Presently we term him empirically with “PM Material” ,these special beings or species need to be present in all political parties which help the nation to take strides in various streams of development.During Ensuing  election year,the debate of leadership quality,with the dilution of  each other action are put on debate by various group . In an era of all around developments, education, communication moot point of selection of leaders remain with the masses which spring surprise to all of us.
The new BJP parliamentary board members:
Rajnath Singh, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkeya Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitely, Narendra Modi, Anant Kumar, Thawar Chand Gehlot and Ram Lal.
Rajnath’s new team  comprises vice-presidents: C P Thakur, Jual Urao, Sadananda Gowda, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi,S S Ahluwalia, Balbir Punj, Satpal Malik, Prabhat Jha, Ms Uma Bharti, Ms Bijyo Chakravarti, Ms Lakxmikanta Chawla, Ms Kiran Maheshwari and Smriti Irani.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that due representation has been given to women, youth and backward classes in the the new BJP team.

Anna Hazare begins walk for democracy from Amritsar

March 31, 2013

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Sunday embarked on his ‘Janatantra Yatra’ (walk for democracy) here to rally support against the Congress-led UPA Government in the run up to the next general elections.
Accompanied by a small group of supporters, the 75-year-old activist paid obeisance at Durgiana Mandir and Golden Temple besides paying tribute to the martyrs at Jallianwala Bagh.
Golden temple being a Sunday, temple complex was teeming with visitors.
Addressing a group of people outside the Jallianwala Bagh, Hazare, who was flanked by former Army Chief V K Singh, said only a mass movement will bring change in the country.Hazare said after five months a big Jan-Sansad (public rally) will be organised at Ramlila Ground in the national capital “which will seal the fate of this corrupt government”.
The public rallies are being held to press 25-point agenda under the banner of ‘Janatantra Yatra’ to garner people’s support against the Congress-led UPA government ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls and make people aware of its efforts to ditch the Jan Lokpal bill, he said.
Hazare had floated ‘Janatantra Morcha’ after the protests on Lokpal Bill fizzled out and Team Anna split, with a faction led by Arvind Kejriwal forming a political party.
Hazare later left in a six-vehicle cavalcade and would pass through Rayya and Beas towns before leaving the city to reach Kapurthala and Jalandhar.
He will address eight public rallies in Punjab during the first phase of ‘Janatantra Yatra’

Pervez to contest three constituencies Karachi, Chitral and Islamabad.

March 31, 2013

Pakistani authorities have directed officials at airports across the country to bar former President Pervez Musharraf from going abroad. The Federal Investigation Agency formally issued written orders to immigration officials in this regard.
The move came a day after the Sindh High Court issued orders that Musharraf cannot leave Pakistan without the permission of courts that are hearing cases against him. The High Court issued the directive while extending by 21 days the pre-arrest bail granted to him in connection with several cases.
Musharraf plans to lead his All Pakistan Muslim League party in the upcoming general elections. He has filed his nominatio

Saina nominated for BWF's Female Player of the Year Award

Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal was on Wednesday nominated for the 2012 Female Player of the Year Award of the Badminton World Federation on the back of an impressive performance in the season which had seen her win a bronze medal in London Olympics.

World number two Saina is the only non-Chinese among the five contenders for the top annual award among women shuttlers instituted by the BWF.
The four Chinese are world number one Li Xuerui of China who won eight titles in 2012, including the London Olympic gold medal, Olympic silver medallist Wang Yihan Olympic Women's Doubles gold-winning pair Tian Qing/Zhao Yunlei (China). Should a pair win the award, they will share it, the BWF said in a statement.
Saina won four major titles in 2012 -- two Super Series and two Grand Prix Gold events, besides bagging London Olympics women's singles bronze. She won Indonesian Open and Denmark Open Super Series titles besides the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold and Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold events.
Among those nominated for the Male Player of the Year for 2012 are two-time Olympic gold medallist, Lin Dan of China and his perennial rival, Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei -- the current world number pone and two-time Olympic silver medallist.
Others in that category are Olympic bronze medallist and winner of BWF World Super Series Finals, Chen Long (China); Men's Doubles Olympic gold medallists Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng (China) and Lee Yong Dae and now retired Jung Jae Sung Korea), who won the Men's Doubles bronze medal at London 2012.
The key criteria for nomination include exceptional and consistent performance across a calendar year, performance at the Olympics, BWF events and Super Series events, a good role model for the sport which goes beyond on-court performance, ranked among top five in the world in the year of nomination.
The announcement of the winners -- to be chosen by the BWF Council -- and the presentation of prizes will take place at a gala dinner here on May 18, following the BWF Annual General Meeting.

Sharapova sets up Serena final in Miami

Maria Sharapova will face Serena Williams in the final of the Sony Open while Britain's Andy Murray will take on France's Richard Gasquet in the men's semi-finals after grinding down Croatian Marin Cilic.

World number one Williams needed just 65 minutes to deal with fourth seeded defending champion Agnieska Radwanska 6-0 6-3, while Sharapova, who won at Indian Wells earlier this month, demolished Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-2 6-1.
Sharapova, extended her winning streak to 11 matches with a lopsided win in just over an hour against Jankovic, a former world number one struggling to regain her best.
Despite Sharapova's good form, Williams will start as clear favourite in tomorrow's final - she is 11-2 in meetings with the Russian and has won the last 10 matches between the pair.
Williams, seeking a record sixth Miami title, is relishing the chance of taking on the woman directly below her in the world rankings.
HIGHEST SEED In the men's draw, second seed Murray twice fought back from a break down in the first set and then grafted his way through the second to overcome the tall Croat 6-4 6-3.
"It was a tough, tough match. Second set especially was a lot of long, long games and tough points," Murray said.
"I just managed to come through that. Obviously, I took a while to get to the finish line but I thought I played a solid match with not too many errors and was tough in the important moments," the world number three added.
The US Open champion is the highest seed left in the draw after world number one Novak Djokovic lost to 15th seed Tommy Haas and the Briton can leapfrog Roger Federer to second place in the world rankings if he wins the title.
Germany's Haas will play Spanish third seed David Ferrer in the other semi-final on Friday.

DMK firm on no support to UPA: Karunanidhi

Dismissing reports that DMK was going soft on Congress-led UPA despite pulling out of it, party chief M Karunanidhi ruled out even outside support to the ruling coalition on the ground that it failed to accept his party's demands on Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Recalling DMK's announcement on withdrawal of support to UPA on 19^th March over the Tamils issue, Karunanidhi said on that day itself he had made it clear that there would be no outside support and his party would not be responsible if "communal forces" came to power.

He dismissed as mischievous reports about DMK extending outside support to the UPA government and that it would not allow its fall.

"Our stand is that any government at the Centre should accept our demand for a credible, independent probe into war crimes by the Sri Lankan government and the genocide besides other resolutions adopted at TESO conference and party Executive. We came out of the alliance as UPA did not come forward to accept these demands," he said.

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had questioned Karunanidhi's silence over a reported statement by DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan that the party would not topple the government and continue with T R Baalu as chairman of a railway committee despite the party withdrawing support to UPA.

On Tamil Nadu Assembly adopting a resolution calling for referendum on Tamil Eelam among others, the 88-year-old leader said they were on the lines of those passed in last year's TESO conference and, therefore, Dravidar Kazhagam leader K Veeramani and VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan had welcomed it.

On Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan's personal opinion that the venue of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Colombo should be changed, Karunanidhi said it was a "laudable statement," but wished it became the stand of his party (Congress) stand also.

Manish Tewari emphasises on self regulation of media

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari emphasises on self regulation of the media and inaugurates Linguistic Journalism Festival of SAARC countries at Indore. 

Addressing the function at Press Club in Indore, he said that UPA Government believes that self-regulation of media will enable more stability in media.
Manish Tewari said that digitisation should be viewed as bridging the gap between cable operators and ultimate users.
During the two-day-long event, delegates of SAARC countries will deliberate on key issues associated with language journalism.
Minister for Road Transport & Highways Dr C P Joshi today joined the list of public figures who have interacted with the public through Google Hangout.

Six states agree to debt recast plan of discoms: Scindia

Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that as many as six states have come forward for the government's ambitious financial rejig plan of the state discoms.

"Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Haryana have agreed to the debt recast plan," Scindia told reporters in New Delhi on Thursday.

He also said the government is hopeful of executing the power distribution companies' debt restructuring soon.

Faced with mounting debts of power distribution companies (discoms), which is over Rs 2.46 lakh crore (as on March 2012), the government, in October last year, came up with financial restructuring plan.

Centre would recast Rs 1.5 lakh crore debt of the state electricity boards. Taking over of 50 percent short-term liabilities of discoms by respective state governments is a major proposal in the Central government plan.

Incentives such as re-reimbursement of 25 percent of discom debt taken over by the state government are part of the scheme.

However, the Power Ministry has not given specifics regarding re-reimbursement of debt burden to the states.

As per the financial restructuring plan, central government would provide 25 percent capital reimbursement of principal repayment by the respective state government on the liability taken over by it.

Under the scheme for state-owned discoms, the respective state government is to take over 50 percent of the outstanding short-term liabilities up to 31^st March 2012.

According to the plan this shall be first converted into bonds to be issued by discoms to participating lenders, duly backed by State Government guarantee.

"Takeover of liability by state government from discoms in the next 2-5 years by way of special securities and repayment and interest payment to be done by the state government till the date of takeover," according to the plan.

The last date for the states to register for the recast plan may be extended from the current 31^st March.

FIIs invest $2.5 bn in debt mkt this yr

Overseas investors have pumped in USD 2.5 billion into Indian debt market so far this year, out of which over USD 1 billion has been invested in March alone.

Market analysts attributed the inflows into the debt market to the easing of investment norms for Foreign Institutional Investors buying government and corporate bonds.

FIIs infused a net amount of USD 1.2 billion (Rs 6,532 crore) during March taking the total for 2013 so far to USD 2.49 billion (Rs 13,480 crore) for Indian bond market, as per data available with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India.

FIIs had pumped in USD 743 million (Rs 4,000 crore) in February and USD 551 million (Rs 2,947 crore) in January.

From March 1-26, FIIs were gross buyers of debt worth Rs 24,089 crore. They sold bonds worth Rs 17,557 crore, translating into a net investment of Rs 6,532 crore (USD 1.2 billion).

FIIs have also invested USD 1.5 billion (Rs 8,557 crore) in the stock market in March, taking their overall investment to USD 10.2 billion (Rs 55,055 crore) so far this year.

They had pumped in USD 4.57 billion in February and USD 4.05 billion in January.

Last week, Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced that the government would remove all restrictions and sub-limits within the two broad categories - government securities and corporate bonds – from 1^st April.

It will keep the ceiling of USD 25 billion for government securities and USD 51 billion for bonds issues by companies.

FIIs had pumped in around USD 6.64 billion (nearly Rs 35,000 crore) in the Indian debt market in 2012, highest in two years, largely on account of increased investment limits in bonds and weak rupee.

As on 25^th March, the number of registered FIIs in the country stood at 1,760 and total number of sub-accounts was 6,331.

CCI to give nod for projects within three weeks: Montek

The Cabinet Committee on Investments, which was set up in Jan for clearing major infrastructure projects, is expected to give its nod for a number of projects within the next three weeks, Planning Comm Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said. "My hope is that the Cabinet Committee on Investment in the course of next two to three weeks, will demonstrate that a number of (infrastructure) projects can get cleared," he told a seminar organised by SICCI in Chennai on Friday night. The Committee had met two or three times already, he said. His comments come close on the heels of the CCI in its first decision on 20th March clearing Reliance Industries' producing KG-D6 block and gas discovery area NEC-25. This was along with three other areas where the Defence Ministry had either barred oil and gas activity or put stringent conditions on it. Besides, the Environment and Forests Ministry had also informed CCI that it had initiated steps for speedy approval to infrastructure projects, stuck for want of green nod. Talking about energy prices, Ahluwalia favoured aligning domestic energy prices with global energy prices. "Domestic energy prices have to be more closely aligned to global prices. Very few of my political colleagues would find it easy to pursuade their audiences. I have addressed group of MPs trying to make this point that in a world in which energy is expensive, you will be shooting yourself in the foot, by trying to keep energy cheap at home," he said. He said the government had taken a bold step by increasing diesel prices by around 50 paise every month, with a goal to eliminate under pricing of diesel over an 18-month period. Pitching for a political consensus on aligning domestic energy prices with international prices, he said, "If you get that, it would probably be the best things for the Indian economy, in terms of growth potential". Ahluwalia also said current account deficit remaining high was a matter of great concern. "We need to move over the next two to three years, in a concerted way, in reducing the fiscal deficit, getting rid of supply constraints and solving the regulatory problems with infrastructure projects." "Most of all, solving the fuel supply problems for the power sector and all this put together will enable the Indian economy to see increase in investments," he said. During the next financial year that is about to begin soon, the emphasis would be "to simply make sure that (India's) infrastructure story, looks very good", he said. Noting that India should have more projects on power generation, he said such an expansion has been mainly done by the private sector. "We have been very successful in expanding the space in power sector. In 10th plan, we added 21,000 MW. In 11th plan which ended in 2011-12, we added 54,000 MW. In the last year of the plan, we added 22,000 MW which is a little more than the whole of what was done in the 10th Plan," he said.

DAILY POLL

Pakistan backs India's stand on UN Arms Trade Treaty

Pakistan has supported India's stand on the UN Arms Trade Treaty that would regulate the USD 70 billion conventional arms trade around the world, saying it favours the arms exporting countries and does not protects the interests of importers.

"The treaty may be seen by many as essentially a product of and by the exporters only. It falls short of striking an appropriate balance of interests and obligations among the exporters and importers as well as the affected states," said Pakistani Ambassador to the UN Masood Khan.

In his remarks to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference at the UN headquarters in New York - which concluded Thursday - Khan said the call for balance was echoed by an overwhelming majority.

"Some treaty provisions, however, legitimise in a global legal instrument what the existing national and plurilateral export control systems cover. The interests of exporting countries have been accommodated in the form of special exemptions, exceptions and protections," he has said.

The Treaty fell apart due to lack of consensus among the 193 member countries because of opposition from North Korea, Iran and Syria.

India said the treaty in its present form would compromise with its national interest mainly it does it favours the arms exporting nations and is weak on arms supply to non-State actors.

Pakistan, however, remained silent on the second concerns raised by India.

Proponents of the Treaty have now decided to put it to vote at the UN General Assembly as early as Tuesday. While the final decision by India is yet to be taken, New Delhi is most likely to end up abstaining, if not voting against the draft treaty.

The US on Thursday, however, tried to ally Indian fears by arguing that it "does not harm" India's national interest.

"My own view is that this treaty will not be harmful to India's security and certainly not in any way harm the very strong bilateral relationship between India and the United States," Tom Countryman, head of the US delegation to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference told reporters during a conference call late Thursday night.

In her intervention during the closing arguments at the UN headquarters in New York, India's Permanent Representative to Conference on Disarmament, Geneva and Head of the Indian Delegation to the Arms Trade Treaty Conference, Sujata Mehta, said that the final version fell short of India's expectations and that of other likeminded countries.

"At the commencement of this Conference India had made clear that the ATT should make a real impact on illicit trafficking in conventional arms and their illicit use especially by terrorists and other unauthorised and unlawful non-State actors. The provisions in the final draft on terrorism and non-state actors are weak and diffused and find no mention in the specific prohibitions of the Treaty," Mehta said in her intervention.

India, she said, has stressed consistently that the ATT should ensure a balance of obligations between exporting and importing states.

"India cannot accept that the Treaty be used as an instrument in the hands of exporting states to take unilateral force majeure measures against importing states parties without consequences," she said.

"The relevant provisions in the final draft do not meet our requirements. There is a fundamental imbalance in the text which is flawed as the weight of obligations is tilted against importing States. As an importing state we will take measures to ensure that the treaty does not affect the stability and predictability of defense cooperation agreements and contracts entered into by India," Mehta argued.

The draft text came up for approval on Thursday after the UN members failed to adopt it in July last year even after month-long negotiations.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment on the failure of the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty to reach an agreement on the text, which for the first time would have regulated the international arms trade.

Pak court extends Musharraf's pre-arrest bail

In a relief to former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, a Pakistani court on Friday extended by 15 days his pre-arrest bail period in a series of cases in some of which he has been declared a proclaimed offender.

A Sindh High Court bench accepted the request for extension of bail by 69-year-old Musharraf, who personally appeared before it.

Earlier on 22^nd March, the court had granted a 10-day bail period to the former president who returned home on Sunday after being in self-imposed exile since 2009.

The high court had also granted Musharraf a pre-arrest bail in the Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto murder cases.

Meanwhile, angry scenes were witnessed when Musharraf arrived at the court to seek the extention of his bail.

While a man lobbed a shoe at former Pakistani President, People including groups of lawyers, shouted slogans against him, as he was escorted into the court complex by uniformed security personnel.

He was required to appear in person in the court to extend the bail allowance.

Musharraf, who seized power in 1999 and left Pakistan after stepping down in 2008, is also wanted in the country for conspiracy to murder and illegally arresting judges.

The anti-terrorism court had declared Musharraf a fugitive and issued arrest warrants for him after he refused to cooperate with investigators probing Bhutto's killing.

Musharraf, who formed political party All Pakistan Muslim League, intends lead his party in the May 11 polls.

Fiscal deficit touches 97% of budget estimates in Apr-Feb

The government's fiscal deficit touched 97.4 percent of the budget estimates (BE) in the April-February period of the current fiscal.

In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between expenditure and revenue receipts, stood at over Rs 5.07 lakh crore at the end of February, according to the data released by Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Thursday.

The Government has estimated the fiscal deficit for current fiscal at Rs 5,13,590 crore, or 5.1 percent, of GDP in the budget for 2012-13.

However, in the revised estimate, it pegged the deficit to be at 5.2 percent for the fiscal ending 31^st March. The fiscal deficit rose from the budgeted levels due to the rising subsidy outgo.

To contain it at 5.2 percent, the government has taken a number of steps like rationalisation of expenditure including 10 percent mandatory cut on non-plan expenditure. Besides, steps have been taken to cut the subsidy outgo on petroleum products.

The fiscal deficit in the corresponding period last year was 94.6 percent of the budget estimates.

Expenditure during the April-February period of current fiscal was 85.2 percent of BE against 83.9 percent in same period last fiscal.

Total expenditure during the April-February period stood at over Rs 12.19 lakh crore. Total receipts stood at over Rs 7.12 lakh crore, or 78.3 percent of the BE.

Tax revenue during the period was over Rs 5.71 lakh crore, 77.1 percent of BE, compared to 76.9 percent achieved in the same period last year.

The government has rolled out the fiscal deficit road-map for the 12th Five Year Plan. It estimates fiscal deficit to come down to 4.8 percent in 2013-14 and to 3 percent of the GDP by 2016-17.

The government bridges its fiscal deficit through market borrowings.

I-T serves Rs 2,000 cr notice to Nokia; HC stays demand

The Income Tax department has served a Rs 2,000 crore demand notice on Finnish mobile firm maker Nokia for alleged evasion of taxes in its business transactions in the country.

The department had on 21^st March asked the firm to submit the amount of Rs 2,000 crore in about a week's time, I-T department sources said on Thursday.

The Delhi High court has granted an interim stay of the demand after the mobile phone manufacturing company filed a petition challenging the order.

Nokia confirmed receiving the notice and said it is in full compliance with laws related to its business operations.

Nokia reiterates its position that it is in full compliance with local laws as well as the bilaterally negotiated tax treaty between the governments of India and Finland, and will defend itself vigorously.

"In this regard, Nokia filed a writ before the Delhi High Court last week and on Friday, March 22 the Court has issued notice to the Income Tax department to file its counter affidavit and has granted interim stay of the entire tax demand raised against Nokia till further orders," a Nokia spokesperson said in a statement.

The IT department will soon file its reply in the Delhi High Court stating the provisions that "enable and authorise" it to issue such a time-bound notice, department sources said.

The notice has been issued by the I-T department after it completed its probe and had conducted a 'survey' operation on the premises of the Chennai in January this year.

The tax evasion, according to I-T department sources, pertains to royalty payment made against supply of software by the compamy's parent company which attracts a 10 percent tax deduction under the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) category.

The department has analysed the company's business statements since 2006, they said.

"Since establishing the Chennai factory in 2006, indeed since starting business operations in India in the mid-1990s, Nokia has been scrutinized by the authorities regularly and its policies have been validated by the Indian and Finnish Tax authorities in the normal course of tax proceedings.

"Nokia arrived in India 18 years ago and has grown to become a market leader, contributing to the rapid growth of the Indian economy. Nokia has invested over USD 330 million in Chennai since setting up the factory," the Nokia spokesperson said.

The I-T department, sources said, has got initial inputs about the company's operation after information was gathered by its investigation unit in Chennai.

"The Indian people, in turn, have shown their trust in us, recently voting Nokia the top trusted brand in the country," the Nokia spokesperson said.

"Nokia remains willing to cooperate fully with Indian tax authorities in accordance with all applicable laws. Nokia has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with India, and looks forward to a prompt and just resolution to this matter," the spokesperson added.

Pak SC issues contempt notice to former PM Raja Pervez Ashraf

by sagarmedia on March 28, 2013

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice for contempt of court to former premier Raja Pervez Ashraf , saying he had tried to influence the court by asking it to form a commission to investigate graft charges against him.

The notice was issued by a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, which ordered Ashraf to appear in person in two weeks.
Chaudhry observed that Ashraf had tried to influence the court by writing a letter to him on the issue of forming a commission to investigate an alleged scam in the setting up of “rental power projects”.
The chief justice observed that Ashraf had already accepted the court’s decision in the case and there was no need to re-examine the verdict and form a commission.
He noted that the government had also withdrawn its review petition in the case.
In its order, the bench said Ashraf’s decision to approach the court for setting up a commission was tantamount to seeking a favour from the court without the completion of due process.
The order asked Ashraf to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
The bench directed Wasim Sajjad, the counsel for Ashraf, to consult his client on whether he would withdraw the letter he had written in his capacity as the premier.
Sajjad argued that Ashraf had sent the letter to the chief justice through the Supreme Court’s Registrar’s office and that the move was not aimed at influencing the court.
Earlier, K K Agha, the prosecutor general for the National Accountability Bureau, told the bench that the apex court could refer the matter to any forum for a probe.
The chief justice was irked by the fact that the letter was written on the letterhead of the prime minister, and said such missives should not be addressed to the apex court.
The apex court had earlier ordered the arrest of Ashraf and other accused in the case but the NAB, Pakistan’s main anti-corruption agency, had said it had no evidence against the suspects to make arrests.
The charges against Ashraf date back to his tenure as power minister, when the Pakistan People’s Party-led government had cleared the setting up of rental power projects to overcome a crippling energy crisis.
The Supreme Court is probing alleged corruption in the setting of the projects

March 29, 2013

Naresh: Syria is in a state of crisis

Naresh: Syria is in a state of crisis. More than 70,000 people have been killed—over 3,700 are children—since the conflict started two years ago. President Barack Obama made stopping mass atrocities a priority and a “core national security interest.” Yet U.S. efforts to slow or stop the crisis in Syria—diplomacy and sanctions against the regime, primarily—have had little effect. We need a new approach: the United States must cut off the supply chains that provide Assad the resources his regime needs to commit atrocities. This includes weapons, troops, and access to money provided by Iran and Russia, among many other actors. Urge President Barack Obama to stop the supply chain to Syrian atrocities! We have been tracking Assad’s supply chains since the conflict spiraled and found that the United States is well positioned to disrupt it. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Iraq recently and  told Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki that Iraq must stop Iran from shipping arms to Syria through Iraqi airspace. This is a good step. But stopping Assad’s enablers of mass atrocities requires a multi-prong approach. The United States can do much more. Syrian casualties are mounting. Failure to act now to cut off these supplies will lead to even more bloodshed and will send the wrong message to those fueling Assad’s atrocities. Urge President Barack Obama to stop the supply chain to Syrian atrocities! Sincerely, Sadia Hammed Human Rights First

National School League

 

New Delhi, 28th March, 2013: India cricketer Gautam Gambhir today launched a cricket portal༯font>www.criclan.com, that is introducing National School League (NSL). As the name National School League suggests, it is a tournament where school children can participate on a larger scale, play at cricketing venues where international cricket or first-class cricket takes place and may be take a step towards realizing their dream of playing at the highest level.

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National School League (NSL) will be played across four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. In all, 80 schools will be participating with 20 from each of the four cities. In the first phase, the schools will compete in T20 format with 350 matches being played to determine the winning team which will take home Rs 3 lacs for its victorious efforts. First match of the tournament will be played between Pathways World School and Scottish High International School on 15th June, 2013 in Gurgaon. The final of the tournament will be played in Delhi in the last week of August 2013. Along the way the teams would have contested at Test grounds, stadiums and other cricketing venues.

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The T20 tournament is just the appetiser to the main course of the tournament involving two-day matches. The two-day matches amongst schools are being organized to ensure that young players value the longer format. These matches have been dubbed National Schools League Tests. 㗥 want to create that platform but without disturbing the basic fabric of the sport in our country. While we want to create platform for the youngster but we donⴠwant to do it necessarily through the T20 format. It will come through NSL – Tests,䠳aid the heart and mind behind༯font>Criclan.com, Dhruv Verma.

Gautam Gambhir supported Dhruv on this. Launching NSL, Gautam said: ㉴ is one thing pushing cricket in a particular age-group but it is something else to push the right aspect of cricket in that age-group. I am glad Criclan is doing that. India needs cricketers of substance.伯font>

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GambhirⳠurge to have 㣲icketers of substance䠨as been taken a step further by Criclan. In a bid to have a more well-rounded individuals, Criclan also declared the spirit-charter that all schools will have to sign before they play in this tournament. 㓰irit-Charter teaches them to not only respect the game more but also the opposition. We thought it was the need of the hour,䠳aid Dhruv.

PM seeks joint mechanism with China on Chinese dams on Brahmaputra

 

Notwithstanding pledges to take the bilateral relationship to a new level, PM Manmohan Singh in his first meeting with new Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought a joint mechanism to assess the construction work on dams on Brahmaputra river in Tibet.

 

 

“I took the opportunity to raise the issue of trans-border river systems. I requested the Chinese government to provide a joint mechanism to enable us to assess the type of construction activity that is going on in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR),” he told reporters accompanying him on his return today from a four-day visit to Durban in South Africa.

He was asked about the discussion on the water issue he had with Xi in Durban last night on the margins of the BRICS summit in the first-high level face-to-face contact between the two countries after the change of power in China.

President Xi assured him that China was quite conscious of their responsibilities and the interest of the lower riparian countries, the Prime Minister said.

As regards the specific mechanism that he had asked, the Chinese President told him that they would further look into it.

The Prime Minister taking up the construction work in the Tibetan region assumes signficance in the context of the Chinese proposal to build three dams on Brahmaputra which has raised concerns in India.

Officials have earlier talked about a joint mechanism but this may probably the first time the Prime Minister has spoken about it and that too at the highest level.

“But as of now, our assessment is that whatever activity that is taking place on the Brahmaputra region in Tibet, it is essentially a run-of-the-river projects and therefore there is no cause of worry on our part,” Singh said.

On his meeting with Xi, the Prime Minister said it was the first meeting between them and both agreed that they would continue to maintain the strong tradition of frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries to strengthen the ties.

We also agreed that high-level visits will be exchanged this year between India and China. I look forward to the opportunity of an early meeting with the Premier of China as well,” he said.

Asked about his assessment of the new Chinese leadership, Singh said even before the formal meeting yesterday he had had “productive exchange” of views with Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

He said both of them agreed to continue the exchanges that the type of intimate exchanges that used to take place when President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao were holding their positions. “Both of us agreed that we should aim to maintain similar relationship under the new leadership of China.”

He said the two leaders last night reviewed the entire gamut of the bilateral relations and discussed the opportunities for exchange of views in cooperation and coordination in regional and international fore.

Asked about five proposals made by President Xi last week to strengthen bilateral ties with India, Singh said this was his first meeting and both of them were keen to get acquainted.

“While we reviewed a whole gamut of relationship, we didn’t get to specifics. I got a distinct impression that the new Chinese leadership is serious as the former leadership to promote good neibhourly relations and to find practical and pragmatic solutions to outstanding issues between our two countries,” he said.

BRICS nations condemn human rights violation in Syria

by sagarmedia on March 28, 2013

BRICS nations condemned the increasing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law due to continuing violence in Syria.
The Durban Declaration issued at the end of the 5th BRICS Summit expressed deep concern of on the deterioration of security and humanitarian situation in Syria.
The Brics countries also expressed grave concern over deterioration of situation in the Central African Republic. BRICS welcomed the admission of Palestine as a member of United nations.
On Afghanistan, the BRICS said, the country needs time, development assistance and FDI, access to world markets and a clear end-stat strategy to attain peace and stability.
The BRICS also called for reform of International financial institutions to make them more representatives to reflect the weightage of BRICS and other developing nations.
BRICS expressed concern at the slow pace of reforms of the International Monetary Fund.
It also concurred that the new Director General of World Trade organizations should be a representative of a developing country

Sports Min constitutes Working Group for drafting bill

The Sports Ministry has decided to constitute a 12-member Working Group for re-drafting the National Sports Development Bill, which was initially drafted in 2011, in a bid to bring about transparency and good governance in the federations.

The government feels further consultations are required with the stake-holders on the provisions of the bill.

To facilitate the holding of such consultations and prepare a revised draft of the bill, as well as draft rules to be formulated under the bill, it has been decided to establish a group under the chairmanship of Justice Mukul Mudgal.

The committee will be submitting the draft bill by May 31 and draft rules by August 31.

The group will be examining the existing draft bill from both sports governance and legal angles and fine-tune/revise the same with the purpose of making it more precise and succinct.

It will also recommend draft model rules to be framed under the bill and examine the requirement for a separate model Sports Development Bill for enactment by the states.

The group will also examine the possibility of constituting separate bodies like a Sports Election Commission, a Dispute Resolution Tribunal and an Ethics Committee and suggest their power functions constitution and funding provisions etc.

Besides, it will make specific recommendations on preparation of electoral college and streamlining of state/district bodies.

The members of the group are Rahul Mehra, Vidhuspat Singhania, Abhinav Bindra, Boria Mazumdar, Narinder Batra, B V P Rao, Sayan Chatterjee, Viren Rasquinha, Joint Secretary (Sports), MYAS, Director (Sports), MYAS and Mitali.

Malaysian Grand Prix race:Sutil, di Resta suffer retirements

Sutil, di Resta suffer retirements at Malaysian GP

It was a forgettable Malaysian Grand Prix race for Sahara Force India as Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta failed to complete the race due to wheel nut problems, in Sepang on Sunday.

The poor qualifying spilled to the race day as Sutil was in the race for 27 laps while di Resta retired after 22 laps as both the drivers were troubled by wheel nut issues.

To save the cars from serious damage, the team chose to retire both the machines.

Defending champion Sebastian Vettel won the race ahead of his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.

Sutil chose to be optimist, saying it's early time in the season and they have plenty of time to recover from the disappointing result today.

"Were not sure exactly what happened yet so the team stopped the cars to make sure we understand the issue. Its a shame that this happened here because we had a very quick car today and I felt very comfortable as the track dried out. We have to stay positive, keep our heads up and remember that there are plenty of races left where we can make up for the disappointment of today," the German said.

Di Resta said the pace of the car was good but it made sense to retire the car to avoid damage.

"We saw an issue at Adrian's first pit stop when I was sat behind him, which cost me about 15 seconds, and then I had the same issue with the wheel nut at my second pit stop. As a precaution the team chose to retire the car," di Resta said.

Sania-Bethanie in quarters:Sony open

Sania-Bethanie in quarters, Bopanna-Ram out of Miami

Sania Mirza kept the Indian hopes alive by progressing to the women's doubles quarter-finals even as country's challenge ended in the men's doubles with the defeat of Rohan Bopanna and his partner Rajeev Ram in the second round of ATP-WTA Sony Open in Miami. Sania and her American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands overcame a fighting pair of Jarmila Gajdosova and Sabine Lisicki 6-1 3-6 10-7 in the second round. They will now fight it out with Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci for a place in the semifinals. In the men's doubles second round, unseeded Bopanna and Ram were knocked out by formidable second-seeded pair of Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-4 7-6(5). Somdev Devvarman was floored by world number one Novak Djokovic in the men's singles while Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi had exited from the doubles after suffering second-round defeats with their respective partners.

Bilawal leaves Pakistan

Bilawal leaves Pak after tiff with Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has left for Dubai after a tiff with his father, over the affairs of the PPP, leaving the party without its star campaigner for Pakistan's upcoming general election.

Bilawal, recently named patron-in-chief of the Pakistan People's Party, developed differences with Zardari and his sister, Faryal Talpur, over the party's handling of key issues, including militant violence, sectarian attacks against Shias and the award of party tickets for the polls scheduled for 11^th May.

Two sources privy to the development said that Bilawal had made it clear to his father that he felt the PPP had not strongly taken up issues like the shooting of teenage rights activist Malala Yusufzai by Taliban fighters last year and three devastating bomb attacks on Shias in Quetta and Karachi that killed nearly 250 people.

Bilawal was also upset with the PPP's handling of issues that affect the youth, especially in the wake of efforts by other parties like Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf to woo the youth ahead of the polls.

The 24-year-old nominal chief of the PPP was angered by Faryal Talpur's refusal to award tickets to certain candidates in Sindh province that he had recommended, a source said.

"Last month, Bilawal had recommended the names of some 200 PPP workers and asked former Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to give those jobs but Talpur had intervened, causing bad blood between them," the source said.

Bilawal discussed these matters with his father and sought authority to take decisions in party matters. But Zardari sided with his sister, who plays a key role in the PPP's affairs.

Bilawal's abrupt departure for Dubai last week has caused considerable disquiet within the PPP as the party had been banking on him to appeal to the voters who have traditionally voted for the Bhutto family.

"Bilawal had been projected as the PPP's star campaigner as the President cannot participate in the campaign due to pressure from the courts," a PPP leader said.

"Without Bilawal, the PPP cannot touch the emotions of the people, especially the hard core PPP workers," said the PPP leader, who did not wish to be named.

The leader said that he feared the PPP might not be able to get the "Bhutto vote" if Bilawal did not take part in the campaign.

PPP leaders have acknowledged that Bilawal will not be present when the party launches its election campaign on 4^th April from Garhi Khuda Buksh, the traditional stronghold of the Bhutto family in Sindh.

However, they contended that Bilawal was not participating in the event for "security reasons" and would instead deliver a telephonic address.

Latif Khosa, recently elected secretary general of the PPP, said that there were security threats to the party's leadership, especially Bilawal.

He said: "Bilawal may not attend election rallies due to security concerns and is likely to address gatherings on telephone or via video-conferencing."

PPP spokesman Qamar Zaman Kaira too said Bilawal would not attend the rally on April 4 because he was "facing more threats than other leaders of the PPP".

Party leaders are also concerned that the PPP's campaign is now likely to be led by former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is known for his lack of charisma.

This would place the PPP at a disadvantage as it is up against seasoned campaigners like Imran Khan and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.

Gilani sought to play down the issue of Bilawal's sudden departure from Pakistan, saying there were no differences between Bilawal and Zardari or Talpur.

"In our families, our children give immense respect to their elders," Gilani said.

Hasham Riaz, Bilawal's chief of staff, said Bilawal had gone to Dubai for "routine business".

He claimed the reports of differences between Bilawal and his father "mere rumours".

Asked if Bilawal would come back to Pakistan, Riaz said,"Of course."

Bilawal himself will not be eligible to contest polls till he turns 25 in September.

The PPP had formally launched his political career at a massive rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh that marked the death anniversary of his mother, former premier Benazir Bhutto, in December last year.