NEW YORK: The US government quietly agreed to forgo about $38 billions in potential tax payment from troubled financial giant Citigroup as part of a deal that help the company repay bailout funds, a media report has said.
"The federal government quietly agreed to forgo billions of dollars in potential tax payments from Citigroup as part of the deal announced this week to wean the company from the massive taxpayer bailout that helped it survive the financial crisis," the 'Washington Post' reported.
The government had injected $45 billion in the entity, hit by global financial crisis in 2008. Citi has to pay back $20 billion bailout money to the US government, since the government got a 34% stake in Citi for $25 billion.
According to the publication, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government.
The move would allow Citigroup to retain $38 billion tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.
The decision essentially gave up a longstanding rule that disqualified certain tax breaks if a significant ownership stake changed hands in an effort to discourage outside investors from buying tax benefits.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Delhi HC gets India’s first e-court
NEW DELHI: With gavel-hammering judges moving over to touchscreen handbooks, Delhi high court created history on Tuesday by showcasing the first e-courtroom in the country.
The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCD screen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice.
Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day.
Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy.
The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. ‘‘We will be able to get rid of our bulky files. Now we have to carry only a USB device or CD of our case, which is much easier,’’ said Swagat Sharma, a lawyer who appeared in the e-court. Some counsel, however, still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops.
The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays.
The court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat looked unlike any other courtroom, with a sleek, wide LCD screen on the wall and a touchscreen handbook replacing the bulky files as the HC launched its first eco-friendly initiative to go paperless and also bring about speedy justice.
Cumbersome paperwork has been replaced by digitalized files and judges can directly access them on a display monitor. With a target of digitalizing all documents within two years, the court has launched a pilot project which went on smoothly on the first day.
Though 33 matters were listed for the day, around 18 cases were disposed of within the first two hours, which on a routine basis take the entire day. The judge used his special LCD touchscreen to make corrections and his digital signature to certify the copy.
The lawyers gave the concept a thumbs-up, saying there were no glitches during the proceedings. ‘‘We will be able to get rid of our bulky files. Now we have to carry only a USB device or CD of our case, which is much easier,’’ said Swagat Sharma, a lawyer who appeared in the e-court. Some counsel, however, still preferred to use their paper files, an option given to them for the time being to enable them to adjust to accessing case files from their laptops.
The court has already digitalized around 5.5 crore papers pertaining to various cases upto 2007. It is also considering recording the statement of witnesses through video-conferencing to avoid procedural delays.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Cash is king for the holidays
Holiday shoppers are going green this year...paying for gifts with greenbacks, that is.
One in four consumers plan to pay with cash this holiday season, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation. That's up 9.1% from a year ago.
That's not too surprising considering both credit card companies and consumers have reined in usage during the Great Recession.
Another 42.5% of holiday shoppers plan to use primarily debit or check cards, a 2.5% increase from last year, the survey found.
Credit card usage, meanwhile, is expected to fall by 10.1% to 28.3%.
One in four consumers plan to pay with cash this holiday season, according to a new survey by the National Retail Federation. That's up 9.1% from a year ago.
That's not too surprising considering both credit card companies and consumers have reined in usage during the Great Recession.
Another 42.5% of holiday shoppers plan to use primarily debit or check cards, a 2.5% increase from last year, the survey found.
Credit card usage, meanwhile, is expected to fall by 10.1% to 28.3%.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Celebrity MPs among top absentees from Parliament
NEW DELHI: A pretty face does not amount to much in politics. Celebrity Members of Parliament may draw crowds but if parliamentary participation is any indicator, they have a long way to go. A study has shown that famous MPs were found wanting both in attendance and participation in debates in Parliament.
None of the 12 MPs tracked attended more than 20% of the total number of days in each session. The absentees were led by Congress MP Govinda who did not attend Parliament on a single day followed by BJP MP Dharmendra. BJP leaders Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were the other two MPs who had low attendance. National Social Watch's `Citizen's report on governance and development 2008-2009' analysed attendance of MPs in the 11th and 12th sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha and the 210th and 211th session of the Rajya Sabha.
Seven members attended Parliament for less than 10% of the total days. In the Lok Sabha, members did not participate more than four times in 2007, and five members (in both LS and RS) did not participate in the debates even once.
With regard to the number of questions, the pattern is equally dismal. Out of the 12 celebrity MPs, five including Shyam Benegal, Govinda, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Bimal Jalan did not raise a single query. No member has raised even 1% of the total questions in both Houses.
The report notes that MPs who held corporate positions were more efficient. On an average, all eight members raised a fair number of questions and five of them excluding Vijay Mallya and Rajeev Dhoot attended 50% of parliamentary sittings.
Parliamentary record on an average was nothing to boast about and only indicated a fall in standards. Only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40% of bills with less than one hour of debate. The average hours of working of Parliament was not even 50% of the total time.
Slogan-shouting, walkouts, boycotts and adjournments were increasing over the years. The 11th Lok Sabha lost 5.28% of its time due to pandemonium which went up to 22% by the 14th Lok Sabha. Incidentally, each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer Rs 26,035. "There was not a single session of Parliament during 2008 and 2009 that has not lost valuable man-hours on account of unruly incidents. The year 2008 even witnessed the virtual abrogation of a whole session of Parliament," John Samuel, NSW convener, said.
The report also found increasing absenteeism among MPs with more than 75% of MPs featuring below the median point of 16 or more days of attendance, according to the report.
None of the 12 MPs tracked attended more than 20% of the total number of days in each session. The absentees were led by Congress MP Govinda who did not attend Parliament on a single day followed by BJP MP Dharmendra. BJP leaders Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu were the other two MPs who had low attendance. National Social Watch's `Citizen's report on governance and development 2008-2009' analysed attendance of MPs in the 11th and 12th sessions of the 14th Lok Sabha and the 210th and 211th session of the Rajya Sabha.
Seven members attended Parliament for less than 10% of the total days. In the Lok Sabha, members did not participate more than four times in 2007, and five members (in both LS and RS) did not participate in the debates even once.
With regard to the number of questions, the pattern is equally dismal. Out of the 12 celebrity MPs, five including Shyam Benegal, Govinda, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Bimal Jalan did not raise a single query. No member has raised even 1% of the total questions in both Houses.
The report notes that MPs who held corporate positions were more efficient. On an average, all eight members raised a fair number of questions and five of them excluding Vijay Mallya and Rajeev Dhoot attended 50% of parliamentary sittings.
Parliamentary record on an average was nothing to boast about and only indicated a fall in standards. Only 173 MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha actually spoke on legislative issues while the House passed nearly 40% of bills with less than one hour of debate. The average hours of working of Parliament was not even 50% of the total time.
Slogan-shouting, walkouts, boycotts and adjournments were increasing over the years. The 11th Lok Sabha lost 5.28% of its time due to pandemonium which went up to 22% by the 14th Lok Sabha. Incidentally, each minute of Parliament costs the exchequer Rs 26,035. "There was not a single session of Parliament during 2008 and 2009 that has not lost valuable man-hours on account of unruly incidents. The year 2008 even witnessed the virtual abrogation of a whole session of Parliament," John Samuel, NSW convener, said.
The report also found increasing absenteeism among MPs with more than 75% of MPs featuring below the median point of 16 or more days of attendance, according to the report.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Integration Server Admin not working
If, even after starting the Integration Server, your integration server administrator (http://localhost:5555) is returning a page cannot be displayed or not accessible, then mostly it could be because the sql server is not running on your server.
Try starting your ms sql server. Goto DOS (type cmd in RUN) and "net start mssqlserver". If it says it's already started, try stopping and then restart.
net stop mssqlserver
net start mssqlserver
Then, delete the LOCK file previously created (\webmethods7\integration server\) and then click on Integration server (program files -> webmethods7 -> servers -> integration server) and wait for a couple of minutes and then check now.
Try starting your ms sql server. Goto DOS (type cmd in RUN) and "net start mssqlserver". If it says it's already started, try stopping and then restart.
net stop mssqlserver
net start mssqlserver
Then, delete the LOCK file previously created (
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Poll talk
Newspaper sale perks
When elections are here can ‘aaya rams-gaya rams’ be far behind? But then politics make strange bedfellows. Sworn enemies can be hugging each other in no time. So, it is becoming impossible to keep track of leaders with most of them hopping parties overnight. Elections also unleash lot of ‘tu tu-main main’ with leaders trading charges.
Lesser mortals have nothing better than the daily newspaper to keep pace with the happenings.
No wonder sale of all newspapers have shot up. Whether candidates win or not their polemics are providing enough fodder for rumour mills.
With the media itself having an axe to grind, one is unable to sift fact from fiction. Naturally people are forced to buy more than one newspaper.
Sensex rises to three-month high, ends 447pts up
MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex rose to a three-month high on Thursday, adding nearly 447 points ahead of a gathering of world leaders
in London to consider an agenda aimed at tackling the global economic slump.
The Sensex surged on Thursday 446.84 points to 10,348.83, a level last seen on January 6, as funds indulged in buying bluechips led by interest-sensitive realty and metal sectors on expectations of interest rate cuts, completing three days' gains.
The key index moved between 10,432.31 and 10,107.25 points during the day.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 150.70 points at 3,211.05, after moving between 3,228.75 and 3,061.05 points.
Marketmen said the buoyancy was based on expectations that the G-20 summit of world leaders is likely to ease the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Buying activity picked up after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies showing "traction" amid widening stimulus efforts, they added.
With inflation, despite a small rise, still remaining close to zero, there are expectations of rate cuts by the RBI, something that could boost sales of homes and consumer durables.
The maximum support to the market came from sectors like realty, metal, oil and gas and banking.
in London to consider an agenda aimed at tackling the global economic slump.
The Sensex surged on Thursday 446.84 points to 10,348.83, a level last seen on January 6, as funds indulged in buying bluechips led by interest-sensitive realty and metal sectors on expectations of interest rate cuts, completing three days' gains.
The key index moved between 10,432.31 and 10,107.25 points during the day.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty spurted by 150.70 points at 3,211.05, after moving between 3,228.75 and 3,061.05 points.
Marketmen said the buoyancy was based on expectations that the G-20 summit of world leaders is likely to ease the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Buying activity picked up after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said global economies showing "traction" amid widening stimulus efforts, they added.
With inflation, despite a small rise, still remaining close to zero, there are expectations of rate cuts by the RBI, something that could boost sales of homes and consumer durables.
The maximum support to the market came from sectors like realty, metal, oil and gas and banking.
G20 leaders seal $1trillion global deal
LONDON: World leaders agreed a trillion-dollar deal on Thursday to combat the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression.
At a G20 summit, they also signed off on plans to commission blacklists of tax havens and tighten financial rules to bring hedge funds and credit rating agencies under closer supervision.
"This is the day that the world came together, to fight back against the global recession. Not with words but a plan for global recovery and for reform and with a clear timetable," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the summit host, said.
Markets reacted positively.
The index of top European shares was up 5 percent after Japan's Nikkei gained 4.4 percent. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq was up 4 percent and the Dow Jones 3.6 percent. The price of oil jumped above $52.
But economists warned against euphoria.
"The IMF funding is more than expected, and in so far as that means there is a larger pot of money available to bail out troubled economies that is good news. But these troublespots particularly in Eastern Europe are still there and this will not make them go away overnight," said Nigel Rendall, emerging market strategist, Royal Bank of Canada.
Brown said that while there were "no quick fixes," the decisions meant that "we can shorten the recession and we can save jobs." The final communique forecast the measures taken would raise world output by four percent by the end of next year.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the results were beyond what could have been imagined.
Germany's finance minister welcomed the fact that no obligation was agreed for countries to adopt further stimulus packages. The issue had created tension in the summit build-up, with Washington favouring such packages and Paris and Berlin preferring to let earlier measures take their course.
Addressing a key demand from France and Germany, Brown said the leaders agreed "there will be an end to tax havens that do not transfer information on request. The banking secrecy of the past must come to an end."
He said they committed new resources of 1 trillion dollars that are available to the world economy through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions.
This included 250 billion dollars of IMF reserve units called Special Drawing Rights. "This is available to all IMF members," Brown said. In addition, the IMF would see its own resources tripled, with up to $500 billion of new funds, of which $40 billion would come from China.
The G20 asked the IMF to bring forward sales from its gold reserves, raising funds to help the poorest countries, Brown said. And it agreed a trade finance package worth $250 billion over two years to support global trade flows, which have shrunk under the impact of the credit crunch.
The tax haven issue had threatened to be a stumbling block to agreement, with France and Germany demanding a crackdown on jurisdictions whose bank secrecy laws they portrayed as enabling the rich to dodge taxes at a time of economic hardship.
"Since Bretton Woods, the world has been living on a financial model, the Anglo-Saxon model -- it's not my place to criticize it, it has its advantages -- clearly, today, a page has been turned," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, referring to the landmark conference that created the post-war economic order.
In the United States, meanwhile, an industry body announced a major change to accounting rules that would give banks more flexibility on how they value toxic assets. This would relieve pressure on banks with impaired balance sheets, which has been a major driver in financial market distress.
The change in the Financial Accounting Standard Board rules helped fuel a stock market rally.
At a G20 summit, they also signed off on plans to commission blacklists of tax havens and tighten financial rules to bring hedge funds and credit rating agencies under closer supervision.
"This is the day that the world came together, to fight back against the global recession. Not with words but a plan for global recovery and for reform and with a clear timetable," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the summit host, said.
Markets reacted positively.
The index of top European shares was up 5 percent after Japan's Nikkei gained 4.4 percent. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq was up 4 percent and the Dow Jones 3.6 percent. The price of oil jumped above $52.
But economists warned against euphoria.
"The IMF funding is more than expected, and in so far as that means there is a larger pot of money available to bail out troubled economies that is good news. But these troublespots particularly in Eastern Europe are still there and this will not make them go away overnight," said Nigel Rendall, emerging market strategist, Royal Bank of Canada.
Brown said that while there were "no quick fixes," the decisions meant that "we can shorten the recession and we can save jobs." The final communique forecast the measures taken would raise world output by four percent by the end of next year.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the results were beyond what could have been imagined.
Germany's finance minister welcomed the fact that no obligation was agreed for countries to adopt further stimulus packages. The issue had created tension in the summit build-up, with Washington favouring such packages and Paris and Berlin preferring to let earlier measures take their course.
Addressing a key demand from France and Germany, Brown said the leaders agreed "there will be an end to tax havens that do not transfer information on request. The banking secrecy of the past must come to an end."
He said they committed new resources of 1 trillion dollars that are available to the world economy through the International Monetary Fund and other institutions.
This included 250 billion dollars of IMF reserve units called Special Drawing Rights. "This is available to all IMF members," Brown said. In addition, the IMF would see its own resources tripled, with up to $500 billion of new funds, of which $40 billion would come from China.
The G20 asked the IMF to bring forward sales from its gold reserves, raising funds to help the poorest countries, Brown said. And it agreed a trade finance package worth $250 billion over two years to support global trade flows, which have shrunk under the impact of the credit crunch.
The tax haven issue had threatened to be a stumbling block to agreement, with France and Germany demanding a crackdown on jurisdictions whose bank secrecy laws they portrayed as enabling the rich to dodge taxes at a time of economic hardship.
"Since Bretton Woods, the world has been living on a financial model, the Anglo-Saxon model -- it's not my place to criticize it, it has its advantages -- clearly, today, a page has been turned," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said, referring to the landmark conference that created the post-war economic order.
In the United States, meanwhile, an industry body announced a major change to accounting rules that would give banks more flexibility on how they value toxic assets. This would relieve pressure on banks with impaired balance sheets, which has been a major driver in financial market distress.
The change in the Financial Accounting Standard Board rules helped fuel a stock market rally.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Rupee may fall to 54 per dollar by 2009 end
MUMBAI: The rupee fell on Friday to end the week down 2% against the dollar, its worst performance in nearly two months, as a grim global economic outlook triggered concerns of capital outflows from local shares.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 49.72/74 per dollar on Friday, 0.2% weaker than Thursday's close of 49.62/63. It was the unit's poorest week since the end of December.
"Customer selling around 49.90 per dollar levels capped the dollar/rupee's fall but the medium term outlook for the rupee continues to be bearish and it is only a matter of time before it tests 50.50," said a senior dealer at a private bank.
Volumes were lower due to a strike by central bank employees and ahead of a market holiday on Monday, with most traders in state-run banks preferring to stay on the sidelines rather than take aggressive positions.
Shares fell 2.2% on Friday to their lowest close in a month, joining a global market rout. Foreign funds have sold Indian shares worth a net $1.35 billion this year after withdrawing more than $13 billion in 2008.
The outflows have piled pressure on the rupee, which has dropped 2.1% this year after falling 19.1% in 2008.
Some private economists expect the rupee to decline to a lifetime low of 54 by the end of 2009 as foreign direct investment and remittances fall sharply.
"While that may be overly pessimistic, the fall in FDI should certainly be spectacular, for global reasons if not the general deterioration in the security/political/corporate governance environment in India," Richard Yetsenga, a forex strategist at HSBC said in a recent note.
The dollar and the yen rose on Friday as growing global economic and banking sector woes drove investors into currencies seen as safe havens, while grim euro zone data added to negative sentiment on the euro.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at 50.10/17 to a dollar, weaker than the onshore spot rate, indicating a bearish near-term outlook. But traders said the central bank may sell dollars aggressively above 50 per dollar to prevent a sharp slide.
Data showed foreign exchange reserves for the week ended February 13 declined to $249.692 billion from $251.532 billion a week earlier.
The partially convertible rupee ended at 49.72/74 per dollar on Friday, 0.2% weaker than Thursday's close of 49.62/63. It was the unit's poorest week since the end of December.
"Customer selling around 49.90 per dollar levels capped the dollar/rupee's fall but the medium term outlook for the rupee continues to be bearish and it is only a matter of time before it tests 50.50," said a senior dealer at a private bank.
Volumes were lower due to a strike by central bank employees and ahead of a market holiday on Monday, with most traders in state-run banks preferring to stay on the sidelines rather than take aggressive positions.
Shares fell 2.2% on Friday to their lowest close in a month, joining a global market rout. Foreign funds have sold Indian shares worth a net $1.35 billion this year after withdrawing more than $13 billion in 2008.
The outflows have piled pressure on the rupee, which has dropped 2.1% this year after falling 19.1% in 2008.
Some private economists expect the rupee to decline to a lifetime low of 54 by the end of 2009 as foreign direct investment and remittances fall sharply.
"While that may be overly pessimistic, the fall in FDI should certainly be spectacular, for global reasons if not the general deterioration in the security/political/corporate governance environment in India," Richard Yetsenga, a forex strategist at HSBC said in a recent note.
The dollar and the yen rose on Friday as growing global economic and banking sector woes drove investors into currencies seen as safe havens, while grim euro zone data added to negative sentiment on the euro.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at 50.10/17 to a dollar, weaker than the onshore spot rate, indicating a bearish near-term outlook. But traders said the central bank may sell dollars aggressively above 50 per dollar to prevent a sharp slide.
Data showed foreign exchange reserves for the week ended February 13 declined to $249.692 billion from $251.532 billion a week earlier.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Status of passport application on mobile
NEW DELHI: From now on, you can get the status of your passport application on your mobile phone by just sending a message to the passport
department.
The regional passport officer announced on Tuesday that an applicant just needs to message "Ppt" to 57272 and the status of the application would be delivered immediately to the sender.
"File number always contains an English alphabet followed by eight digits. For example: A00018009. The cash receipt contains only an alphabet and six digits. Therefore, one needs to add two more digits which represent the year in which he/she applied.
To cite an example, if the year of application is 2007, add 07," the regional passport officer said, adding that this new facility was effective since February 9.
department.
The regional passport officer announced on Tuesday that an applicant just needs to message "Ppt" to 57272 and the status of the application would be delivered immediately to the sender.
"File number always contains an English alphabet followed by eight digits. For example: A00018009. The cash receipt contains only an alphabet and six digits. Therefore, one needs to add two more digits which represent the year in which he/she applied.
To cite an example, if the year of application is 2007, add 07," the regional passport officer said, adding that this new facility was effective since February 9.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Aaj Ka MLA
First, Uttar Pradesh legislators threw parliamentary norms out of the window when they jumped on tables and hurled objects at the state governor
inside the assembly. Next, it was the turn of MLAs in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to violently disrupt assembly proceedings. Things turned so ugly in the Andhra assembly that marshals had to physically throw out unruly MLAs.
This, of course, is not the first time that such things have happened inside state assemblies. In UP itself, 33 MLAs were injured in clashes inside the House in 1993; in 1997, microphones and chappals were hurled at the chair by opposition MLAs. Unfortunately, such behaviour is not restricted to state assemblies. The Indian Parliament is only a shade better. There have been occasions in the recent past when MPs have traded punches inside the Lok Sabha. Besides, disruption of Parliament is routine with MPs raising slogans or rushing to the well. And we had the unseemly spectacle last year of MPs displaying wads of cash inside the House, which they claimed were bribes paid to them to vote for the government during a trust vote.
As a result, Parliament and state assemblies are anything but the forums for debating and legislating public policy they are meant to be. This is shown in the figures for business conducted by the House. The number of sittings of Lok Sabha has come down from an yearly average of 124 in the first decade of 1952-61 to 81 between 1992 and 2001, a decline of 34 per cent. The picture in state assemblies is no better with an average of 20 to 50 sittings a year. The degeneration of parliamentary behaviour is a reflection of the state of Indian democracy, where many democratic norms and practices are yet to settle into the fabric of political life, even as regularly-held elections give us all a sense of complacency about the health of our polity.
Over the years, democracy has succeeded in empowering marginalised communities, such as Dalits, and electing them to Parliament and positions of power. But this has not been accompanied by a strengthening of the norms of democracy and respect for institutions such as Parliament. The unruly scenes in assemblies are a vivid symbol of this failing. There could be many reasons for the frailty of democratic norms in India, but the most important is the failure of our education system to teach and instill respect for the rules of democracy. While civics is taught in most schools, it is not considered an important subject. One glaring result of that neglect is the way we shrug at the deplorable antics of our elected legislators.
Source: Times of India
inside the assembly. Next, it was the turn of MLAs in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa to violently disrupt assembly proceedings. Things turned so ugly in the Andhra assembly that marshals had to physically throw out unruly MLAs.
This, of course, is not the first time that such things have happened inside state assemblies. In UP itself, 33 MLAs were injured in clashes inside the House in 1993; in 1997, microphones and chappals were hurled at the chair by opposition MLAs. Unfortunately, such behaviour is not restricted to state assemblies. The Indian Parliament is only a shade better. There have been occasions in the recent past when MPs have traded punches inside the Lok Sabha. Besides, disruption of Parliament is routine with MPs raising slogans or rushing to the well. And we had the unseemly spectacle last year of MPs displaying wads of cash inside the House, which they claimed were bribes paid to them to vote for the government during a trust vote.
As a result, Parliament and state assemblies are anything but the forums for debating and legislating public policy they are meant to be. This is shown in the figures for business conducted by the House. The number of sittings of Lok Sabha has come down from an yearly average of 124 in the first decade of 1952-61 to 81 between 1992 and 2001, a decline of 34 per cent. The picture in state assemblies is no better with an average of 20 to 50 sittings a year. The degeneration of parliamentary behaviour is a reflection of the state of Indian democracy, where many democratic norms and practices are yet to settle into the fabric of political life, even as regularly-held elections give us all a sense of complacency about the health of our polity.
Over the years, democracy has succeeded in empowering marginalised communities, such as Dalits, and electing them to Parliament and positions of power. But this has not been accompanied by a strengthening of the norms of democracy and respect for institutions such as Parliament. The unruly scenes in assemblies are a vivid symbol of this failing. There could be many reasons for the frailty of democratic norms in India, but the most important is the failure of our education system to teach and instill respect for the rules of democracy. While civics is taught in most schools, it is not considered an important subject. One glaring result of that neglect is the way we shrug at the deplorable antics of our elected legislators.
Source: Times of India
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sensex gains on rate cut hopes
MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex maintained an upward march on Tuesday, adding over 63 points on sustained buying by funds due
to expectations of interest rate cuts and another stimulus package.
The Sensex, which had recorded a handsome gain of 493 points in the last two trading sessions, added another 63.58 points at 9,647.47, after touching the day's high of 9,724.87.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 14.60 points to 2,934.50. It scaled to a high of 2,957.40 during the day.
The rally was driven by banks, and interest-sensitive sectors like realty and auto on reports that the Reserve Bank of India might cut interest rates to spur the economy.
Foreign funds bought fundamentally strong shares ahead of the US economic rescue plan, to be announced later tonight.
The realty sector index gained the most, by 6.58 per cent, to 1,536.13, on hopes that interest rate cuts might bolster demand for homes. Shares in real estate firm Unitech Ltd rose 9.45 per cent to Rs 31.85, after the company said it expects to receive a new business from Telenor this quarter. The second major DLF Ltd surged by 9.05 per cent to Rs 152.50.
Capital goods was the second-best performer, rising 3.14 per cent to 6,484.30, following a steep rise in engineering major Larsen and Toubro, and state-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
to expectations of interest rate cuts and another stimulus package.
The Sensex, which had recorded a handsome gain of 493 points in the last two trading sessions, added another 63.58 points at 9,647.47, after touching the day's high of 9,724.87.
The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 14.60 points to 2,934.50. It scaled to a high of 2,957.40 during the day.
The rally was driven by banks, and interest-sensitive sectors like realty and auto on reports that the Reserve Bank of India might cut interest rates to spur the economy.
Foreign funds bought fundamentally strong shares ahead of the US economic rescue plan, to be announced later tonight.
The realty sector index gained the most, by 6.58 per cent, to 1,536.13, on hopes that interest rate cuts might bolster demand for homes. Shares in real estate firm Unitech Ltd rose 9.45 per cent to Rs 31.85, after the company said it expects to receive a new business from Telenor this quarter. The second major DLF Ltd surged by 9.05 per cent to Rs 152.50.
Capital goods was the second-best performer, rising 3.14 per cent to 6,484.30, following a steep rise in engineering major Larsen and Toubro, and state-run power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
GM to cut 10,00 salaried jobs
DETROIT: General Motors says it's cutting 10,000 salaried jobs, blaming the need to restructure the company amid the continued drop in new
vehicle sales.
The Detroit-based automaker says it will reduce its total number of salaried workers to 63,000 from 73,000 this year. About 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried US jobs are expected to be eliminated.
The job cuts are part of the restructuring plan GM submitted to Congress late last year. Most of the cuts are expected to take place by May 1.
GM says the cuts will vary by global regions depending on staffing levels and market conditions.
GM also is cutting the pay of most of its salaried U.S. workers beginning May 1 and continuing at least through the end of the year.
vehicle sales.
The Detroit-based automaker says it will reduce its total number of salaried workers to 63,000 from 73,000 this year. About 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried US jobs are expected to be eliminated.
The job cuts are part of the restructuring plan GM submitted to Congress late last year. Most of the cuts are expected to take place by May 1.
GM says the cuts will vary by global regions depending on staffing levels and market conditions.
GM also is cutting the pay of most of its salaried U.S. workers beginning May 1 and continuing at least through the end of the year.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Oil prices slump under $33
LONDON: Oil prices slid close to a four-year low under $33 per barrel on Tuesday in a market plagued by weak global demand, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell as low as $32.70 a barrel. It later recovered slightly to stand at $33.57, down $2.94.
The February contract expires at the close of trade today, to be replaced by the March contract currently at $40.27 a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for March dropped 71 cents to $43.78 a barrel.
A large stockpile of oil in the United States has caused the New York contract to "become disconnected" from the rest of the market, said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants.
"The Nymex has been under a lot of pressure because stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, are very high. Storage is almost full," he said. Cushing is the delivery point for light, sweet crude.
Shum added that the higher March Brent price was more representative but said the weak global economy was having a negative impact.
"The global economy is now the main driver of oil... The macroeconomic outlook is bleak, with no signs of a turnaround in the global economy," Shum said.
Meanwhile the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president later today may have a positive but short-term effect.
"I think any Obama bounce may be short-lived. Equity markets may react positively for a day or two," said Shum.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell as low as $32.70 a barrel. It later recovered slightly to stand at $33.57, down $2.94.
The February contract expires at the close of trade today, to be replaced by the March contract currently at $40.27 a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for March dropped 71 cents to $43.78 a barrel.
A large stockpile of oil in the United States has caused the New York contract to "become disconnected" from the rest of the market, said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants.
"The Nymex has been under a lot of pressure because stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, are very high. Storage is almost full," he said. Cushing is the delivery point for light, sweet crude.
Shum added that the higher March Brent price was more representative but said the weak global economy was having a negative impact.
"The global economy is now the main driver of oil... The macroeconomic outlook is bleak, with no signs of a turnaround in the global economy," Shum said.
Meanwhile the inauguration of Barack Obama as US president later today may have a positive but short-term effect.
"I think any Obama bounce may be short-lived. Equity markets may react positively for a day or two," said Shum.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
US Airways jet down in NY river, passengers rescued
NEW YORK: A US Airways jet with about 150 people on board came down into the frigid Hudson River off Manhattan after apparently hitting a flock of geese on Thursday and officials said everyone was rescued. Rescued passengers said they believed everyone had survived the crash, which left the Airbus A320 intact and floating in the river.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating reports that the plane hit a flock of birds after taking off from New York's LaGuardia airport and fell into the river on a freezing winter day.
An FAA spokeswoman said: "We've confirmed everyone got off."
A passenger told Reuters there was what sounded like an explosion a few minutes after takeoff. "The engine blew. There was fire everywhere and it smelled like gas," Jeff Kolodjay, from Norwalk, Connecticut, told Reuters on a midtown Manhattan quay.
"People were bleeding all over. We hit the water pretty hard. It was scary." Another rescued passenger, Alberto Panero, told CNN, "I'm pretty sure everyone got off ... It's just incredible that everyone's alive."
As many as eight ferries and local water taxi services rushed to rescue passengers, some of whom lined up on the half-submerged plane's wings, some wearing yellow life vests, before police boats arrived.
"I saw the plane coming in very low but under control, it splashed down in the water. Once it cleared it was still floating on its belly," said Thomson Reuters employee Alex Whittaker who was in a 22nd floor meeting room at the company's Times Square building.
"The doors opened and we could see life rafts and we could just about see a few people climbing out onto the water," he said.
Flight 1549 was headed for Charlotte, North Carolina. US Airways said in a statement it was investigating the incident. The FAA said the plane was an Airbus A320 with 148 passengers and four or five crew.
Hinglish. It's got Aux, boss!
Back in the eighties, everybody was pretty much like Om Prakash’s character in Chupke Chupke: English was English and Hindi was Hindi and everything was fully separate separate and alag alag.
Thums Up was singing in a propah Brit Gary Lawyer-ish accent ki ‘Happy days are here again!’ Gold Spot was doing a Riverdale High-inspired ‘As crazy as crazy as we’re about Gold Spot, the zing thing’ and Enfield was saying in chaste hinterland Hindi ki ‘Yeh Bullet meri jaan, manzillon ka nishaan’.
But then Juhi Chawla wore a large black felt hat over an Anarkali-inspired salwar-kameez and crooned ‘Yeh hi hai right choice baby, aha’ along with Remo Fernandes and a new advertising language was born and embraced with gusto. It helped that this was just a little after Bachchan had sung ‘Hum tum pe itna dying, jitna sea mein paani lying, aakash mein panchi flying, bhavra bagiyan mein ga-ing’ in Namak Halal and Rajiv Gandhi had swept the nation off its feet by talking about how ‘humko 21st century mein jaana hai, aur India ko superpower banana hai’.
The language clicked because it reflected reality. That was the way we all spoke anyway. But we spoke that way when we were ‘off stage’. Not when doing serious stuff like addressing potential consumers in ads.
In those initial days, using Hindi mixed in with our English during formal communication processes had a bit of a cheap thrill to it. Of being irreverent. Of taking pangas with the purists. The same illicit thrill as using gaalis.
But once an American brand like Pepsi gave it the stamp of cool, Hinglish got official status. It got Standing. It got Aukaat. Or as the kids would say today, it got ‘aux’. ( I love ‘aux’, by the way, so much nicer than ‘status’ or ‘consequence’ or the hard, rude-sounding ‘aukaat’, a word I can never utter without feeling like Amrish Puri playing an evil zamindar in a Subhash Ghai flick.) And of course it helped that people had no problem reading Hindi words written in English because they’d been reading Hindi movie names that way for years!
Advertising embraced Hinglish with great gusto, because advertising always embraces all the latest trends with great gusto. But Hinglish has really stood the test of time. Mainly because Hinglish really is the national language of this country. Or Tamlish. Or Malluish. Or whatever.
It is Hinglish we’re using when we tell the brawling parties in any tussle ki ‘compro kar lo compro’! When something touches our hearts, we declare ki ‘feel aa gayee’. When we have a passing acquaintance with someone famous we say ki ‘woh mera known-to hai’. And of course, there’s the world-famous ‘adjust’.
Hinglish makes English-speaking brands a little more inclusive.
And it makes Hindi-speaking brands a little more aspirational. It’s the ultimate massifier. Also because it’s a shortcut language, it lets you say a lot of stuff in just about thirty seconds, which is vital in advertising. At a very basic level it also helps large national brands knit their slogans across the country together, more cohesively. So ‘Yeh hai Youngistaan meri jaan’ becomes ‘Idhu Youngstaan chellam’ in Tamil, ‘Idhu Youngistaan priyare’ in Malayalam, ‘Idhi Youngistaan my nestham’ in Telugu.
Hinglish has given us some lovely lines and phrases over the years. In advertising it’s given us ‘Yeh dil maange more’, ‘Kya karein control nahi hota’, ‘Mera number kab aayega’ and ‘Kya aap Close Up karte hain’. Of course, Hinglish has also delivered a load of total clunkers like ‘ILU-ILU’ which makes my children projectile vomit every time it comes on TV, and all the hideous songs from films starring Ritesh Deshmukh (Cash and Apna Sapna Money Money types).
Hinglish in the movies has gotten just a little too Hard Kaur for me at the moment, I guess. There have been some truly inane ad lines as well. Like the contrived ‘Don’t atko, Chocoleibe gatko.’ The glib ‘No jhik jhik, no chip chip’ for Fevistick. And the surreal ‘Kyonki fighter hamesha jeetta hai!’
Of course, the use of Hinglish itself will never guarantee an advertiser a hit line. Or vice versa. One of the coolest Pepsi lines ever (that I personally spent ages trying vainly to convert into Hinglish, in order to make it more ‘mass’ or ‘catchy’, back in the nineties) was ‘Nothing official about it’. It just didn’t work in Hinglish. And some truly sublime lines feature no Hinglish at all. ‘Thanda matlab Coca Cola’ is one. And so’s my personal favourite: Kurkure’s ‘Tedha hai par mera hai’.
Thums Up was singing in a propah Brit Gary Lawyer-ish accent ki ‘Happy days are here again!’ Gold Spot was doing a Riverdale High-inspired ‘As crazy as crazy as we’re about Gold Spot, the zing thing’ and Enfield was saying in chaste hinterland Hindi ki ‘Yeh Bullet meri jaan, manzillon ka nishaan’.
But then Juhi Chawla wore a large black felt hat over an Anarkali-inspired salwar-kameez and crooned ‘Yeh hi hai right choice baby, aha’ along with Remo Fernandes and a new advertising language was born and embraced with gusto. It helped that this was just a little after Bachchan had sung ‘Hum tum pe itna dying, jitna sea mein paani lying, aakash mein panchi flying, bhavra bagiyan mein ga-ing’ in Namak Halal and Rajiv Gandhi had swept the nation off its feet by talking about how ‘humko 21st century mein jaana hai, aur India ko superpower banana hai’.
The language clicked because it reflected reality. That was the way we all spoke anyway. But we spoke that way when we were ‘off stage’. Not when doing serious stuff like addressing potential consumers in ads.
In those initial days, using Hindi mixed in with our English during formal communication processes had a bit of a cheap thrill to it. Of being irreverent. Of taking pangas with the purists. The same illicit thrill as using gaalis.
But once an American brand like Pepsi gave it the stamp of cool, Hinglish got official status. It got Standing. It got Aukaat. Or as the kids would say today, it got ‘aux’. ( I love ‘aux’, by the way, so much nicer than ‘status’ or ‘consequence’ or the hard, rude-sounding ‘aukaat’, a word I can never utter without feeling like Amrish Puri playing an evil zamindar in a Subhash Ghai flick.) And of course it helped that people had no problem reading Hindi words written in English because they’d been reading Hindi movie names that way for years!
Advertising embraced Hinglish with great gusto, because advertising always embraces all the latest trends with great gusto. But Hinglish has really stood the test of time. Mainly because Hinglish really is the national language of this country. Or Tamlish. Or Malluish. Or whatever.
It is Hinglish we’re using when we tell the brawling parties in any tussle ki ‘compro kar lo compro’! When something touches our hearts, we declare ki ‘feel aa gayee’. When we have a passing acquaintance with someone famous we say ki ‘woh mera known-to hai’. And of course, there’s the world-famous ‘adjust’.
Hinglish makes English-speaking brands a little more inclusive.
And it makes Hindi-speaking brands a little more aspirational. It’s the ultimate massifier. Also because it’s a shortcut language, it lets you say a lot of stuff in just about thirty seconds, which is vital in advertising. At a very basic level it also helps large national brands knit their slogans across the country together, more cohesively. So ‘Yeh hai Youngistaan meri jaan’ becomes ‘Idhu Youngstaan chellam’ in Tamil, ‘Idhu Youngistaan priyare’ in Malayalam, ‘Idhi Youngistaan my nestham’ in Telugu.
Hinglish has given us some lovely lines and phrases over the years. In advertising it’s given us ‘Yeh dil maange more’, ‘Kya karein control nahi hota’, ‘Mera number kab aayega’ and ‘Kya aap Close Up karte hain’. Of course, Hinglish has also delivered a load of total clunkers like ‘ILU-ILU’ which makes my children projectile vomit every time it comes on TV, and all the hideous songs from films starring Ritesh Deshmukh (Cash and Apna Sapna Money Money types).
Hinglish in the movies has gotten just a little too Hard Kaur for me at the moment, I guess. There have been some truly inane ad lines as well. Like the contrived ‘Don’t atko, Chocoleibe gatko.’ The glib ‘No jhik jhik, no chip chip’ for Fevistick. And the surreal ‘Kyonki fighter hamesha jeetta hai!’
Of course, the use of Hinglish itself will never guarantee an advertiser a hit line. Or vice versa. One of the coolest Pepsi lines ever (that I personally spent ages trying vainly to convert into Hinglish, in order to make it more ‘mass’ or ‘catchy’, back in the nineties) was ‘Nothing official about it’. It just didn’t work in Hinglish. And some truly sublime lines feature no Hinglish at all. ‘Thanda matlab Coca Cola’ is one. And so’s my personal favourite: Kurkure’s ‘Tedha hai par mera hai’.
Rupee down by 21 paise against dollar
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee on Thursday lost 21 paise against the greenback to breach the 49-mark once again amid a steep fall in stock markets even
as the dollar continued to be strong against its rivals in the overseas market.
Anticipation of capital outflows to meet the monetary needs, which may come up if financial problems in the West get deepening, kept the rupee under pressure.
Global stock markets tumbled today as the worries of banking industry augmented further after German lender Deutsch Bank posted losses of USD 6.4 billion for the fourth quarter.
Firm dollar against the euro as well as other major rivals also affected the rupee sentiment, dealers in foreign exchange said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed lower at 49.15/20 a dollar. It later recovered some lost ground to settle the day at 49.03/05 a dollar.
as the dollar continued to be strong against its rivals in the overseas market.
Anticipation of capital outflows to meet the monetary needs, which may come up if financial problems in the West get deepening, kept the rupee under pressure.
Global stock markets tumbled today as the worries of banking industry augmented further after German lender Deutsch Bank posted losses of USD 6.4 billion for the fourth quarter.
Firm dollar against the euro as well as other major rivals also affected the rupee sentiment, dealers in foreign exchange said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit resumed lower at 49.15/20 a dollar. It later recovered some lost ground to settle the day at 49.03/05 a dollar.
Inflation eases to 5.24% against 5.91% week ago
NEW DELHI: Inflation declined for the tenth consecutive week on Thursday to 5.24% for the week ended January 3, primarily due to decline in prices of food articles.
Inflation, measured by movements in wholesale prices, dipped by 0.67 percentage points from 5.91 per cent in the previous week. It stood at 4.26 per cent a year ago.
The index of the food articles group declined by 0.6 per cent as prices of fruit and vegetables fell by three per cent, and gram, barley, condiments and spices by one per cent each.
However, the index of manufactured goods declined one per cent. Among manufactured items, paper and paper products declined by 0.4 per cent, and chemicals and chemical products fell by 1.2 per cent.
The index of fuel declined by 0.2 per cent due to lower prices of aviation turbine fuel (8 per cent) and light diesel oil (3 per cent).
However, naphtha became expensive by three per cent, and among food items jowar, tea, urad moong and rice moved up by one per cent each, and masoor by two per cent.
Inflation has been declining after it touched a peak of 12.91 per cent in August last year.
Inflation, measured by movements in wholesale prices, dipped by 0.67 percentage points from 5.91 per cent in the previous week. It stood at 4.26 per cent a year ago.
The index of the food articles group declined by 0.6 per cent as prices of fruit and vegetables fell by three per cent, and gram, barley, condiments and spices by one per cent each.
However, the index of manufactured goods declined one per cent. Among manufactured items, paper and paper products declined by 0.4 per cent, and chemicals and chemical products fell by 1.2 per cent.
The index of fuel declined by 0.2 per cent due to lower prices of aviation turbine fuel (8 per cent) and light diesel oil (3 per cent).
However, naphtha became expensive by three per cent, and among food items jowar, tea, urad moong and rice moved up by one per cent each, and masoor by two per cent.
Inflation has been declining after it touched a peak of 12.91 per cent in August last year.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The true human spirit!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After what is happening in Iraq and Lebanon the following does come to mind What would you do? You make the choice!
Don't look for a punch line; There isn't one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, He offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe,that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked,"Do you think they'll let me play?"Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning." Shay struggled over to the team's bench put on a team shirt with a broad smile and his Father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart.The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing the other team putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over, but the pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever ran that far but made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to second base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and he too intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay" Shay reached third base, the opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third Shay, run to third" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams and those watching were on their feet were screaming, "Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world. Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his Father so happy and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!"
Don't look for a punch line; There isn't one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, He offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe,that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked,"Do you think they'll let me play?"Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning." Shay struggled over to the team's bench put on a team shirt with a broad smile and his Father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart.The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing the other team putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over, but the pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever ran that far but made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to second base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions and he too intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay" Shay reached third base, the opposing shortstop ran to help him and turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third Shay, run to third" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams and those watching were on their feet were screaming, "Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world. Shay didn't make it to another summer and died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his Father so happy and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!"
iSteam iPhone Steam Simulation App is Amazingly Cool
This app has been downloaded over 1 million times so far in two-weeks and developers aim to hit a $100000 figure mark with an average 14 percent daily growth.
After the virtual beers, virtual flute, virtual lighter, boobs and farts, Apple iPhone users have made popular a unique application - iSteam. The iSteam is a steam simulation app available for $0.99 at Apple App Store.
Steam simulation app dazzles the iPhone/iPod Touch users with its realistic simulation function. This app also faced competition from similar iFog application listed at the App Store. It's barely two week since its release on Dec. 30, 2008, and the app is vastly-popular amongst iPhone users.
One can draw shapes, write messages and scrub finger over the screen to hear squeaking sound. This no-brainer app is sure fun for anyone. The iSteam app ranks in top 10 entertainment apps.
According to real-time iPhone application trends and analytics service provider Mobclix, iSteam app shows a steady growth and has been downloaded over 1 million times so far in two-weeks. The iSteam developers aim to hit a $100000 figure mark with an average 14 percent daily growth. Smule's Ocarina or Lighter iStream and many bizzare applications have truly unleashed iPhone platform's potential with intelligent programming.
Hyderabad Metro Rail now faces an uncertain future
HYDERABAD: The elevated metro rail project for the twin cities is doomed. With the Maytas-led consortium, the selected developer, facing a bleak future following the Satyam Computer Services scandal, there is little chance of the project taking off.
While the government claims to be reviewing the consortium’s capability to take up the project under the public, private partnership (PPP) mode, it is now clearly waiting for Maytas to blink first. The other option is to wait till the financial closure on March 18 when Maytas not only has to pay a performance guarantee of Rs. 180 crore, but also show its funds inflow and outflow to build the metro rail.
Financial closure would mean that the consortium has to show its equity around Rs. 4,000 crore and a debt component of Rs. 8,000 crore (1:2 ratio) to be raised from financial institutions. Considering the unfolding financial fraud involving Satyam, Maytas could find it extremely difficult to raise the debt and equity component as it is headed by Teja Raju, son of B. Ramalinga Raju, former chairman of scam-hit Satyam.
“It will be very difficult to raise even Rs. 100 crore for the consortium after the Satyam imbroglio,” affirm official sources.
Penal clauses
The government seems disinclined to cancel the deal unilaterally considering penal clauses in the Concessionaire Agreement signed with the consortium of Maytas, Navabharat Ventures, Ital Thai and IL&FS. With general elections notification expected soon, nothing is likely to happen on this front till the middle of next year.
While the government claims to be reviewing the consortium’s capability to take up the project under the public, private partnership (PPP) mode, it is now clearly waiting for Maytas to blink first. The other option is to wait till the financial closure on March 18 when Maytas not only has to pay a performance guarantee of Rs. 180 crore, but also show its funds inflow and outflow to build the metro rail.
Financial closure would mean that the consortium has to show its equity around Rs. 4,000 crore and a debt component of Rs. 8,000 crore (1:2 ratio) to be raised from financial institutions. Considering the unfolding financial fraud involving Satyam, Maytas could find it extremely difficult to raise the debt and equity component as it is headed by Teja Raju, son of B. Ramalinga Raju, former chairman of scam-hit Satyam.
“It will be very difficult to raise even Rs. 100 crore for the consortium after the Satyam imbroglio,” affirm official sources.
Penal clauses
The government seems disinclined to cancel the deal unilaterally considering penal clauses in the Concessionaire Agreement signed with the consortium of Maytas, Navabharat Ventures, Ital Thai and IL&FS. With general elections notification expected soon, nothing is likely to happen on this front till the middle of next year.
Rupee stronger by 30 paise against US dollar
MUMBAI: Fresh dollar offerings from banks and anticipation of capital inflows helped the Indian rupee to close stronger by 30 paise at 48.82/84 today against the greenback amid a rise in local stock markets.
Dollar sales by exporters also aided the local currency to recover from 49-level it touched yesterday, dealers in foreign exchange said. A fresh rise in equity markets where the benchmark Sensex jumped 299 points weighed in favour of the domestic unit, they added.
The rupee resumed higher at 48.95/97 per dollar and hovered in a range of 48.60 and 48.97 before ending at 48.82/84 as against the yesterday's closing level of 49.12/14, showing a gain of thirty paise.
Dealers further said lack of dollar demand from oil refiners also favoured the local unit.
Meanwhile, the world oil prices were higher in Asian trade after OPEC's comments that the cartel was prepared for "further measures" to shore up the market, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, went up by USD 1.27 to USD 39.05 a barrel.
Dollar sales by exporters also aided the local currency to recover from 49-level it touched yesterday, dealers in foreign exchange said. A fresh rise in equity markets where the benchmark Sensex jumped 299 points weighed in favour of the domestic unit, they added.
The rupee resumed higher at 48.95/97 per dollar and hovered in a range of 48.60 and 48.97 before ending at 48.82/84 as against the yesterday's closing level of 49.12/14, showing a gain of thirty paise.
Dealers further said lack of dollar demand from oil refiners also favoured the local unit.
Meanwhile, the world oil prices were higher in Asian trade after OPEC's comments that the cartel was prepared for "further measures" to shore up the market, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, went up by USD 1.27 to USD 39.05 a barrel.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wipro did nothing wrong: Premji to employees
NEW DELHI: Hours after World Bank made public that Wipro has been debarred from doing any business with the global lender, the company's chairman
Azim Premji wrote to over 1,00,000 employees saying that the company had not done anything unethical.
Denying charges levelled by the World Bank that Wipro provided improper benefits to the staff, Premji said, "Let me reaffirm that Wipro was right from a legal as well as ethical standpoint. We believe what we did what was right and we did it in the right manner."
The company, in 2000, had provided staff option to purchase its American Depository Shares at IPO price through a Directed Share Programme.
However, the World Bank in June 2007 determined that this was a conflict of interest.
In an internal communication to the company's employees, Premji said, "We have always prided ourselves for setting the highest standards of business ethics in our dealings with all our stakeholders. We have built a strong culture which upholds compliance in letter and spirit. The approach was no different in this instance also."
The World Bank deemed the IT firm ineligible to bid for direct contracts from it for the period 2007-2011. The World Bank also named other companies that were barred from doing business it in a list made public yesterday.
Premji further explained that all participants in the Direct Share Programme signed a conflict of interest statement that their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company.
Though the company maintained yesterday that the announcement will not have any impact on its revenues, its stock took a beating at the BSE yesterday. It, however, was trading 4.5 per cent up at Rs 237.6 on the BSE today.
Azim Premji wrote to over 1,00,000 employees saying that the company had not done anything unethical.
Denying charges levelled by the World Bank that Wipro provided improper benefits to the staff, Premji said, "Let me reaffirm that Wipro was right from a legal as well as ethical standpoint. We believe what we did what was right and we did it in the right manner."
The company, in 2000, had provided staff option to purchase its American Depository Shares at IPO price through a Directed Share Programme.
However, the World Bank in June 2007 determined that this was a conflict of interest.
In an internal communication to the company's employees, Premji said, "We have always prided ourselves for setting the highest standards of business ethics in our dealings with all our stakeholders. We have built a strong culture which upholds compliance in letter and spirit. The approach was no different in this instance also."
The World Bank deemed the IT firm ineligible to bid for direct contracts from it for the period 2007-2011. The World Bank also named other companies that were barred from doing business it in a list made public yesterday.
Premji further explained that all participants in the Direct Share Programme signed a conflict of interest statement that their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company.
Though the company maintained yesterday that the announcement will not have any impact on its revenues, its stock took a beating at the BSE yesterday. It, however, was trading 4.5 per cent up at Rs 237.6 on the BSE today.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Oil falls below $38 as investors eye US earnings
SIOUX FALLS: Falling crude demand in the world's largest consuming nation drove oil prices below $38 a barrel Monday as the US enters a corporate
earnings season expected to be fraught with bad news.
Economic worries outweighed factors that would normally boost the market — Mideast tensions, signs that OPEC was implementing large-scale production cuts, the ongoing Gazprom-Ukraine gas dispute and a winter likely to feature the coldest weather in a decade.
``It's amazing what the market's ignoring,'' said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. ``That really tells you the story of how bearish this is.''
Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 7 per cent, or $2.91, to 37.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Friday fell 87 cents to settle at $40.83.
``Clearly, the focus this morning is back on the macroeconomics, and the concern that the demand for oil is just not going to be there any time soon, and there's going to be plenty of oil out there,'' Flynn said.
Steel producer Alcoa, chip maker Intel and biotech company Genentech are expected to report fourth quarter results this week, giving investors a glimpse of how deep the current recession may be.
``Given that we're likely to see quite a few rather poor fourth quarter earnings reports, downward pressure will continue to be exerted on oil,'' said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. ``Worries about the macroeconomic outlook will continue to constrain oil.''
Although still far away from their Dec. 19 closing of $33.87, oil prices fell 17 per cent last week, weighed by fears that rising US unemployment will undermine crude demand.
earnings season expected to be fraught with bad news.
Economic worries outweighed factors that would normally boost the market — Mideast tensions, signs that OPEC was implementing large-scale production cuts, the ongoing Gazprom-Ukraine gas dispute and a winter likely to feature the coldest weather in a decade.
``It's amazing what the market's ignoring,'' said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. ``That really tells you the story of how bearish this is.''
Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 7 per cent, or $2.91, to 37.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Friday fell 87 cents to settle at $40.83.
``Clearly, the focus this morning is back on the macroeconomics, and the concern that the demand for oil is just not going to be there any time soon, and there's going to be plenty of oil out there,'' Flynn said.
Steel producer Alcoa, chip maker Intel and biotech company Genentech are expected to report fourth quarter results this week, giving investors a glimpse of how deep the current recession may be.
``Given that we're likely to see quite a few rather poor fourth quarter earnings reports, downward pressure will continue to be exerted on oil,'' said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. ``Worries about the macroeconomic outlook will continue to constrain oil.''
Although still far away from their Dec. 19 closing of $33.87, oil prices fell 17 per cent last week, weighed by fears that rising US unemployment will undermine crude demand.
World Bank bans any business with Wipro, Megasoft
MUMBAI: It’s just not Wipro. From an announcement on the World Bank website, there is one more Indian company (other than Satyam and now Wipro)
that has been deemed ineligible to receive contracts from the World Bank. US based IT service provider, Megasoft Consultants Ltd, which is an associate company of BSE listed Megasoft Ltd, have also been barred for four years since 2007.
The World Bank Group on Monday morning made public the names of all companies that have been debarred from receiving direct contracts from the Bank under its corporate procurement program. This change was made in the interest of fairness and transparency, it said.
Megasoft became the third Indian software vendor to have attracted the bank’s ire, while Nestor Pharmaceuticals and Gap International were non-IT entities. An individual Surendra Singh was barred from doing business with the Bank for violating guidelines.
The bank has barred three companies along with their affiliates under the Bank Group's corporate procurement program.
The ineligible firms are Wipro technologies for 4 years (2007-2011) for providing improper benefits to Bank staff, Megasoft Consultants Ltd. for 4 years (2007-2011) for participating in a joint venture with bank staff while also conducting business with the Bank and Satyam Computer Services, Ltd. for 8 years (2008-2016) for giving improper benefits to bank staff and failing to maintain documentation to support fees charged for its subcontractors.
This change aligns the disclosure practice for companies that provide goods and services directly to the Bank with the current policy governing procurement on Bank financed projects in developing countries.
As per reports the Bank has changed disclosure norms late 2006 which placed all the aforementioned companies under tech scanner in 2007. The bank has also said it will publicly list the names of companies debarred from its corporate procurement on a regular basis henceforth.
that has been deemed ineligible to receive contracts from the World Bank. US based IT service provider, Megasoft Consultants Ltd, which is an associate company of BSE listed Megasoft Ltd, have also been barred for four years since 2007.
The World Bank Group on Monday morning made public the names of all companies that have been debarred from receiving direct contracts from the Bank under its corporate procurement program. This change was made in the interest of fairness and transparency, it said.
Megasoft became the third Indian software vendor to have attracted the bank’s ire, while Nestor Pharmaceuticals and Gap International were non-IT entities. An individual Surendra Singh was barred from doing business with the Bank for violating guidelines.
The bank has barred three companies along with their affiliates under the Bank Group's corporate procurement program.
The ineligible firms are Wipro technologies for 4 years (2007-2011) for providing improper benefits to Bank staff, Megasoft Consultants Ltd. for 4 years (2007-2011) for participating in a joint venture with bank staff while also conducting business with the Bank and Satyam Computer Services, Ltd. for 8 years (2008-2016) for giving improper benefits to bank staff and failing to maintain documentation to support fees charged for its subcontractors.
This change aligns the disclosure practice for companies that provide goods and services directly to the Bank with the current policy governing procurement on Bank financed projects in developing countries.
As per reports the Bank has changed disclosure norms late 2006 which placed all the aforementioned companies under tech scanner in 2007. The bank has also said it will publicly list the names of companies debarred from its corporate procurement on a regular basis henceforth.
'Satyam fiasco won't tarnish Indian IT image'
HYDERABAD: Terming the Satyam fiasco as "unfortunate", Kiran Karnik, one of the three members of the newly constituted board of the crisis-ridden
IT firm, today said the scam is unlikely to affect the Indian software industry.
"Everybody who has interacted with the Indian IT industry is very well aware of the high standards of transparency and governance. There has been one very tragic, unfortunate case but that does not mean that the industry is under a cloud," Karnik said addressing the media for the first time after becoming the director of Satyam.
When asked about the World Bank debarment on another IT company Wipro for four years, he said, "Wipro and the World Bank, that is a different question altogether. On this forum we don't want to answer that."
Banker Deepak Parekh, who is also a member of the new board, which met today said that already two global clients have vouched for Satyam. "Two international customers have said that the quality and accuracy of services from Satyam are much better," Parekh said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Airlines which has engaged Satyam for its onsite professional services said, "We have been in discussions with Satyam and have been advised that the services will continue as usual."
IT firm, today said the scam is unlikely to affect the Indian software industry.
"Everybody who has interacted with the Indian IT industry is very well aware of the high standards of transparency and governance. There has been one very tragic, unfortunate case but that does not mean that the industry is under a cloud," Karnik said addressing the media for the first time after becoming the director of Satyam.
When asked about the World Bank debarment on another IT company Wipro for four years, he said, "Wipro and the World Bank, that is a different question altogether. On this forum we don't want to answer that."
Banker Deepak Parekh, who is also a member of the new board, which met today said that already two global clients have vouched for Satyam. "Two international customers have said that the quality and accuracy of services from Satyam are much better," Parekh said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Airlines which has engaged Satyam for its onsite professional services said, "We have been in discussions with Satyam and have been advised that the services will continue as usual."
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