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Showing posts from February, 2014

Political funding kept out of CSR ambit | Business Line

Political funding kept out of CSR ambit | Business Line Online comments posted on February 28, 2014: Any initiative to bring transparency in spending from CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) funds and to curb use of black money for fighting elections should be welcomed. Even the long list of ‘eligible’ activities that can be funded with CSR allocations has not satisfied the corporates which crave for more flexibility in this regard. In the matter of social responsibility and avoidance of unethical practices in election expenditure, there are bound to be constraints for any regulatory approach to succeed. The final ‘judge’ will be the society and the Aam Aadmi who exercises his right to vote. The media and the educated population should play their role in creating awareness about the spirit of guidelines among the masses, who, in turn, should press for self-regulation by corporates and politicians. Incidentally, it would be desirable to keep donations like the ones to Pri

MAHASHIVRATRI, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Mahashivratri Shivratri is the time when Shiva takes a rest. Shiva rests for one 'prahar' (three hours) of the night. This 'prahar' is referred to as the Shivratri. When Lord Shiva takes rest, the function of 'Shivtatva' (Shiva Principle) ceases, i.e. Lord Shiva goes into a meditative state. Shiva's meditative state is the time when He is engrossed in His own spiritual practice. During that time, the 'Shivtatva' does not accept any tamogun (most base of the 3 elements in us - sattva, raja tama) or any halahal (venom churned from the ocean) coming from the Universe. As a result, the ratio of halahal or the pressure of the negative energies increases. For protection from this pressure, things like 'bilva patra', white flowers, 'rudraksha' beads etc are offered to Lord Shiva. These things attract the 'Shivtatva' from the atmosphere, thus providing protection from the increasing effect of the negative ener

NEWYORK TIMES ON INDIA

Copied below is a mail received from a friend(BADRI, rbichennaifriends) A LITTLE BIT OF FEEL GOOD FOR A CHANGE  THE INDIAN ELECTIONS - NEW YORK TIMES    It is truly the greatest show on Earth, an ode to a diverse and democratic ethos, where 700  million + of humanity vote, providing their  small part in directing their ancient civilization into the future.    It is no less impressive when done in a neighborhood which includes de-stabilizing and violent Pakistan, China, and Burma.    It's challenges are immense, more so probably  than anywhere else, particularly in  development and fending off terrorism -- but considering these challenges and its neighbors, it is even more astounding that the most diverse nation on Earth, with hundreds of languages, all religions and cultures, is not only surviving, but thriving.      The Nation:                  Where Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism were born, which is the second largest Muslim nation on Earth;        

Dr Raghuram Rajan's views on policy issues: Interview published on February 24, 2014

Bold face of India’s economy speaks out* Emerging markets Jacob Greber and Greg Earl report on governor with an impeccable pedigree Raghuram Rajan represents the bold face of India’s potential new economy – impeccably credentialed, upbeat and ready to force himself onto centre stage in the global debate about the reshaping of the world economy. Appointed as governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September, Rajan has taken no time to make himself heard in international financial markets. Last month he took the United States Federal Reserve to task for failing to recognise the negative consequences to emerging markets from its tapering program, saying international monetary co-operation was breaking down. On Saturday, in an interview with The Australian Financial Review, he warned against allowing a world order to emerge in which “everybody is in their own boat and they sink or swim. We’re in it together”. The former International Monetary Fund chief economist and Harvard economist i

Letters: Paying what's due | Business Standard

Letters: Paying what's due | Business Standard The government has taken the right decision to adopt the principle of " one-rank-one pension " for defence personnel. However, it will be implemented from the next financial year. Since it is a question of principle, there is a strong case for making it applicable with retrospective effect. When salaries are revised they are made effective from the date on which they were due. The retired staff should get the benefit of arrears in lieu of past payments (not made) with interest at the bank rate. It will undo the injustice done to them by the denial of payments in the past. A Seshan Mumbai

Some not-so-interim concerns | Business Line

Some not-so-interim concerns | Business Line Online Comments: Problems of Indian banking sector have grown much deeper than issues relating to capital adequacy and NPAs. RBI may not be able to hold on a thorough restructuring of banking system any longer, if a total collapse is to be avoided. This thought comes in the context of the suggestion that weaker banks would have to veer to narrow banking. RBI should go for wholesale restructuring of the banking system simultaneously with the issue of new bank licences. The reference to Centre’s treatment of RBI pensioners in the penultimate paragraph may not be clear to readers outside RBI and Finance Ministry. The word brutality itself could be perceived as mild as the issue is stifling of a fully funded pension scheme being administered by RBI with the approval of GOI, by finance ministry for reasons of administrative expediency for almost two decades now. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

Lok Sabha passes Telangana Bill - Moneylife

Lok Sabha passes Telangana Bill - Moneylife My online comments posted on February 19, 2014: By now, it is clear to the people of India that when it comes to major issues of national concern, the two national level political parties, namely Congress and BJP can come together and rescue each other. This has been proved last when they ‘resolved’ Telengana issue in the Lok Sabha on February 18, 2014. If these two parties formalise this temporary ‘living together’ relationship, the country will benefit. Economy of scale demands that. The parties should move forward and fight the 2014 LS Poll on a common platform. The broad areas of a pre-election alliance could be: i)                    Go by the norms suggested by Rahul Gandhi and P Chidambaram while selecting candidates. Rahul Gandhi has suggested in the last AICC meeting that fifty per cent of the candidates fighting 2014 Election should be below 35 years of age. Chidambaram is for fifty percent women candidates.

frequent debt restructuring of Lanco - Moneylife

frequent debt restructuring of Lanco - Moneylife  ONLINE COMMENTS POSTED ON FEBRUARY 17, 2014: MG Warrier 15 hours ago Concluding his speech at BANCON 2013, RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty had observed that the CDR Mechanism has been grossly mis-utilised and needs a thorough ovrthaul including setting up of an independent oversight body for approval of proposals as well as for monitoring regulatory guidelines on restructuring and technical write-off should be reviewed and these measures should be phased out for ensuring a stronger credit administration and recovery environment. RBI Governor Dr Rajan too has strong views against using CDR for accomodating healthy industrialists who cause huge NPAs in banks with which they deal. Efforts like the present one by Moneylife to protect public interest needs to be appreciated.

Letters to the Editor - Moneylife

Letters to the Editor - Moneylife POLITICS IS NOT BAD! This is with regard to “Governance is not rocket science; all it requires is right intent, says Dr Ashok Khemka”. Congratulations, Moneylife, for giving an opportunity to the public to listen to sane voices which uphold the values that sustain good governance. It will take some more time, and effort, to convince the common man that it is not ‘politics’ which is bad; it is a small minority of people who claim to be politicians but are really practising something else. MG Warrier  

Back to the aam aadmi | Business Standard

Back to the aam aadmi | Business Standard MY VIEW: ONLINE COMMENTS POSTED ON FEBRUARY 17, 2014: Perhaps this is the only newspaper which has given a balanced view of AAP’s game plan. As AAP did not have a majority in the Delhi Vidhan Sabha in the first place, no one can blame that party for making an exit when it found the support received from Congress was not real. Whatever be his other shortcomings, Arvind Kejriwal understands Delhi’s BPL(Businessmen-Politicians- Lawyers) rules of governance much better than P Chidambaram who credited Modi with knowledge which can be ‘written on the back of a postal stamp’ or Kabil Sibal who said Delhi Government’s filing FIR against Ambani revealed the CM’s ignorance of the law of the land. Having said that one is sadly aware that no one has a magic wand to clean up the mess in which the political system has sunk. Long back, Kejriwal had said in a media interview that “I am aware that the status quoist parties will derail us bec