Neo Nazies Swarm the GLOBE! After the Encounter Now Uttar Pradesh Migrant  Lynched in Mubai!India Inc May Lay Off 25% Jobs in 10 Days. Why North is So Hated in Maharashtra and Elsewhere? No Fuel Price Cut for Now! Resurgence of Nazism and PURE Blood adovocates, supported by Hindutva and Zionist Black hatred may kill the lofty Dream of martin Luther King even if US white system is honest enough to protect the life of Barrack Hussein Obama!RBI relaxes forex derivatives accounting norms!Asia Pacific at greater risk amid global economic slowdown!

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 96

Palash Biswas

Court orders brain mapping, polygraph tests on Malegaon blast accused
Press Trust of India - ? 3 hours ago ?
 Fresh Ne…Nashik, Oct 29 (PTI) A court here today ordered brain-mapping, narco and polygraphy tests of the two retired army officers arrested in connection with Malegaon bomb blast after it was told by the police that one of them was in touch with sadhvi Pragya …
Upadhyay, Kulkarni remanded to police custody till Nov 10 NDTV.com
Ex-armyman arrested in Malegaon blast case Times of India

‘Ignore The Polls"

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xvRmgO60yyc

After the fake Encounter now the Uttar Pradesh Migrant is Lynched in Mumbai. Global ruling Class seems to be in Hurry to Disintegrate Indian nation once again!
Government railway police have registered a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown people a day after a 25-year-old labourer from Uttar Pradesh was lynched on a Mumbai local train. This is the result of Globalisation! This is the FACE REAL of HINDUTVA so patriot and so National! Hindu superpower India, on the other hand,may become a major player in the emerging small satellite manufacturing industry. The country’s space agency has estimated a market potential of 50 satellites over the next decade, worth around $1.5 billion, says a space official.Keeping this in mind, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has already formed a special team to manufacture small satellites.As global leaders engage themselves to grapple with the worst economic crisis since 1929, WTO chief Pascal Lamy wants India, among other e merging economies, on board for a new financial world order.

Over 100 children were on Wednesday taken hostage by militants in Pakistan"s troubled northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan.  A group of 10 to 12 militants entered a state-run school in Darwaz Gai area of Mohmand tribal agency after a gun battle with security forces and took over the premises. Some 100 children were inside the school, TV channels reported.

The incident shows the Inhuminity as  More than 160 people were killed, scores injured and around 15,000 left homeless as a powerful earthquake jolted southwestern Pakistan ear ly today destroying hundreds of mud houses and sending people scurrying onto the streets in panic! The death toll could mount as Dilawar Kakker, mayor of Ziarat warned as he said that hundreds more were buried under the rubble as the quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale triggered landslides and rockfalls on the houses catching the people as they were asleep.

“As policy makers go about creating multilateral architecture in areas like international finance…no international agreement on finance or climate change is possible today without China, India, Brazil and Indonesia on board…," Lamy said in a speech posted on the WTO website.

While Europe and North America face an economic slowdown, the emerging economies of Brazil, India, Mexico, China, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa continue to grow, in large measure because of trade, he said at Stanford University on Monday.

The fast growing economies are of special interest to the US where exports are contributing significantly to GDP growth. On an annualised basis, the second quarter export growth and slowing imports were responsible for the US" GDP growth of 2.9 per cent.

meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India said it will conduct a special 14-day repo auction for Rs 11050 crores ($2.2 billion) on Wednesday. 

The reversal of Wednesday"s auction will take place on November 12, it said in a statement. The auction was introduced on October 14, and is being held every day until an allocated 200 billion rupees has been used. ($1= 48.8 rupees)

Obama would be the first black president in U.S. history if he defeats Republican John McCain in the November 4 election. Concerns about Obama"s safety led the Secret Service to provide round-the-clock protection from early in his campaign.About six percent of US voters are still undecided in the final sprint of the White House race, boosting Republican John McCain hopes he may yet pull off a last-minute election day upset.Obama had a lead of 50.4 to 43.1 percent over McCain in RealClearPolitics" weekly average of polling data as of October 26 — with 6.5 percent still uncommitted.But the gap had tightened to 50.3 to 44.1 percent by October 27, with undecided numbers down to 5.5 percent.Last minute deciders can influence the outcome most of all in toss-up states, where the race is tight.

The Undecided Voters are mostly white as well as Racial! Resurgence of Nazism and PURE Blood adovocates, supported by Hindutva and Zionist Black hatred may kill the lofty Dream of martin Luther King even if US white system is honest enough to protect the life of Barrack Hussein Obama!Those indecisive Americans are being fervently wooed by both parties in the final days of a two-year White House battle. What if a Gallup poll released Tuesday, Oct. 28, reveals that around the world, Obama is the preferred candidate for President of the United States! While 27 percent of global respondents support the Democratic candidate for president, only 7 percent said they support the Republican candidate McCain.Barak Obama seems to be especially popular in the the ancient fishing village of Obama, Japan. Japanese ‘Obama Girls" shout “Yes we can!" during a rally to support Barack Obama.

The Zionists, White Racists and the Hindutva injected life by Neo Nazies won`t allow any CHANGE still in so much demand!Contradictorily, though the citizens of France, India, Germany and Georgia (the country) cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election, a new Gallup poll shows how they would vote if they could. If the world could vote for the U.S. president, Obama would win by a landslide–though turnout would be quite low. The enslaved balck Untouchable and Indigenous communities worldwide supports Martin Luther King as well as Barrack Hussein Obama!

The American Neo -Nazi movement started in the streets in the middle 1980"s, in the U.S. The movement is an act to keep alive the beliefs and actions of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Regime. Believers and activist in the movement are known as Skinhead, or “Skins." Some are dresses like a lot like the original British movement, which was started by some rough looking teenagers in combat boots hanging out on the streets. The average Skinhead, wears combat boots or Doc Martens, thin red suspenders, and a bomber jacket. The hair is completely shaven or closely cut to the head. The Skins wear many symbols supporting the movement, such as, swastikas supremacy slogans, and other white power emblems or tattoos. Neo-Nazis believe that to be white is to be right. That the Aryan race, the whites, are the pure race and that there should be no other ethnic groups or races. Homosexuals, Jews, Hispanics and Afro-Americans are the main targets for this organization. But there are others. Any minority……

Ethnic nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the “nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations. It also includes ideas of a culture shared between members of the group, and with their ancestors, and usually a shared language; however it is different from purely cultural definitions of “the nation" (which allow people to become members of a nation by cultural assimilation) and a purely linguistic definitions (which see “the nation" as all speakers of a specific language).

The central political tenet of ethnic nationalism is that each ethnic group on earth is entitled to self-determination. The outcome of this right to self-determination may vary, from calls for self-regulated administrative bodies within an already-established society, to an autonomous entity separate from that society, to a sovereign state removed from that society. In international relations, it also leads to policies and movements for irredentism — to claim a common nation based upon ethnicity.

In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism bases membership of the nation on descent or heredity - often articulated in terms of common blood or kinship - rather than on political membership. Hence, nation-states with strong traditions of ethnic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus sanguinis (the law of blood - i.e. descent from a person of that nationality) while countries with strong traditions of civic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus soli (the law of soil - i.e. birth within the nation-state). Ethnic nationalism is therefore seen as exclusive, while civic nationalism tends to be inclusive. Rather than allegiance to common civic ideals, then, ethnic nationalism tends to emphasise shared narratives and common culture. For example, Germany is often cited as an example of ethnic nationalism; German citizenship is open to “ethnic Germans" (e.g. descendents of Germans living in the former Soviet Union).

The theorist Anthony D. Smith uses the term ‘ethnic nationalism" for non-Western concepts of nationalism as opposed to Western views of a nation defined by its geographical territory. Diaspora studies scholars extend this non-geographically bound concept of “nation" among diasporic communities, at times using the term ethnonation or ethnonationalism to describe a conceptual collective of dispersed ethnics.[1]

A nation-state for the ethnic group derives political legitimacy from its status as homeland of that ethnic group, from its protective function against colonization, persecution or racism, and from its claim to facilitate the shared cultural and social life, which may not have been possible under the ethnic group"s previous status as an ethnic minority.

Ethnic nationalism has sustained criticism because of its use by extremists to advocate racist agendas and genocide, such as the case of Nazi Germany and its extermination of millions of Jews and other ethnic and cultural groups during the Holocaust. More recent acts of violence that used ethnic nationalism as a justification include ethnic cleansing such as the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, and Operation Storm in Croatia in 1995.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_nationalism

White nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of national identity for white people, in opposition to multiculturalism. The contemporary white nationalist movement in the United States is a reaction to the decline (based on US census projections) in white demographics, politics and culture.[1] According to Samuel Francis, a key white nationalist writer, it is “a movement that rejects equality as an ideal and insists on an enduring core of human nature transmitted by heredity."[2] Anti-racist organizations generally have argued that ideas such as white pride and white nationalism exist merely to provide a sanitized public face for white supremacy.[3]

The goal of white nationalism is to appeal to a larger audience. Most are nonviolent groups working for separatism.[4]

Supporters see themselves defending the legitimate civil rights of white people against society"s alleged racial double standards.[5] Jared Taylor, another key writer in the movement, claims similar racial views were held by many mainstream American leaders before the 1950s.[6] Opponents accuse them of hatred, racial bigotry and destructive identity politics.[1][7]

According to Samuel P. Huntington, the modern movement is increasingly cultured, intellectual and academically trained.[8] Rather than espouse violence, they use statistics and social science data to argue for a self-conscious white identity.[9] They say a natural hierarchy should triumph over the “false promise of egalitarianism"[10] and that the downfall of white dominance spells doom for representative government, the rule of law and freedom of speech.[11]

Supporters say they stand for racial self-preservation and claim culture itself is a product of race.[12] As a result, according to Huntington, they say the demographic shift in the US towards non-whites brings a new culture that is intellectually and morally inferior.[13] With it comes affirmative action, immigrant ghettos and declining educational standards.[14] By challenging established policy on immigration, civil rights and racial integration, they seek to build bridges with moderately conservative white citizens.[15]

White separatism and supremacism are two smaller subgroups within white nationalism.[5] The former seek a separate white nation-state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and Nazism to their ideology.[5] Some white nationalists deny they are in either category.[5] Both schools of thought generally avoid the term “supremacy", saying it has negative connotations.[16]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nationalism

Black nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black nationalism (BN) advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of black national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different black nationalist philosophies but the principles of all black nationalist ideologies are 1) black pride, and 2) black economic, political, social and/or cultural independence from white society. Marcus Garvey is considered to be the grandfather of black nationalism.

The origins of black nationalism lie in the 19th century with people like Henry McNeal Turner, Martin Delany, Henry Highland Garnet, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Paul Cuffe, etc. The repatriation of black American slaves to Liberia or Sierra Leone was a common black nationalist theme in the 19th century. Marcus Garvey"s Universal Negro Improvement Association of the 1910s and 1920s was the most powerful black nationalist movement to date, claiming 11 million members. Although the future of Africa is seen as being central to black nationalist ambitions, some adherents to black nationalism are intent on the eventual creation of a separate black American nation in the U.S. or Western hemisphere.

According to Wilson Jeremiah Moses in his famous work Classical Black Nationalism, black nationalism as a philosophy can be examined from three different periods giving rise to various ideological perspectives for what we can today consider what black nationalism really is.

The first being pre-Classical black nationalism beginning from the time the Africans were brought ashore in the Americas to the Revolutionary period. After the Revolutionary War, a sizable number of Africans in the colonies, particularly in New England and Pennsylvania, were literate and had become disgusted with their social conditions that had spawned from Enlightenment ideas. We find in such historical personalities as Prince Hall, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones a need to found certain organizations as the Free African Society, African Masonic lodges and Church Institutions. These institutions would serve as early foundations to developing independent and separate organizations. By the time of Post-Reconstruction Era a new form of black nationalism was emerging among various African-American clergy circles. Separate circles had already been established and were accepted by African-Americans because of the overt oppression that had been in existence since the inception of the United States. This phenomenon led to the birth of modern black nationalism which stressed the need to separate and build separate communities that promote strong racial pride and also to collectivize resources. This ideology had become the philosophy of groups like the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam and the latter Nation of Gods and Earths. Although, the Sixties brought on a heightened period of religious, cultural and political nationalism, black nationalism would later influence afrocentricity .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalism

Asia Pacific region is at a greater risk now as concerns have now shifted from financial failure to worries about global economic slowdown
and with it the region will be hardest hit as exports are a major contributor to the regional output, say a latest Moody report.

“The Asia-Pacific region has escaped relatively unscathed from the financial effects of the credit crisis. But the region will not remain immune from its economic effects," Moody"s Economy.Com, a subsidiary of Moody"s Corporation said in its latest report.

Impact of the global economic slowdown would be so much that a major slowdown in Asian exports is on the cards later this year and in early 2009, the report added.

“The greatest risk to Asia is not a financial crisis but an economic slowdown, considering that exports are such a major contributor to regional output," Moody"s Economy.Com Senior Economist Daniel Melser said.

The recent tumble in global equity markets illustrates that the global credit crisis is entering a new phase, Moody"s Economy.Com said adding that concerns about financial failure are starting to ease, but worries about prospects for growth are mushrooming.

How the Ruling Hegemony creats Neo nazies promoting Blind Nationalism!

ISRO will launch two such satellites in 2009 and 2010, both having overseas payloads!

The earth orbit of India"s first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km on Wednesday, an official here said. 

“The Chandrayaan spacecraft, orbiting at a distance of around 165,000 km apogee (farthest point from earth) will be raised Wednesday to around 267,000 km. As of now, everything is normal and as per our expectations," Chandrayaan-1 project director M. Annadurai said.

The third orbit-raising was done Oct 26 and the spacecraft was raised up to 164,600 km, instead of 199,277 km apogee as originally announced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

“The important date for us is Nov 3 when the final orbit manoeuvre will happen. Between Oct 22 and Nov 3 we have the leeway to carry out the orbit raising activity," he said.

On Nov 3, the ISRO will take the spacecraft to 384,000 km apogee.

The subsequent firing of spacecraft motors will take it near the lunar orbit and it is expected to get into lunar orbit Nov 8.

The fact remains the same! Despite the Scientific and Technical gimmicks , Indian geopolitics stills remains a homeland of SNAKES!

Neo nazies swarm the GLOBE. Not only the ZIONIST, not only the HINDUTVA, all forces of DARKNESS create complete Dark Moon for the survival of Human Civilisation on this planet.Reckless borrowing against Earth"s exhausted bounty is driving the planet toward an ecological “credit crunch", the World Wildlife Fund warned on Wednesday. Growing demands on natural capital - such as forests, water, soil, air and biodiversity - already outstrip the world"s capacity to renew these resources by a third, according to the WWF"s Living Planet Report.

Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in Tennessee over plans to go on a killing spree and eventually shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, court documents showed on Monday.Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman were charged in a criminal complaint with making threats against a presidential candidate, illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun and conspiracy to rob a gun dealer.The plot did not appear to be very advanced or sophisticated, the court documents showed.The suspects met over the Internet about a month ago, said an affidavit filed by Brian Weaks, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In India, Economic NAZIES led by Chettiar Gang of World bank IMF slaves with FINMIN and RBI continue to Divert National revenue bypassing Parliament and Constitution!

An empowered group of ministers is meeting here on Thursday to find a way of removing anomalies in calculation of tax benefits for IT spec
ial economic zones, which account for bulk of the SEZs approved.

“The issue (relating to Section 10 (AA) of the Income tax Act) will be discussed by eGom. Ministers will take a decision," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here on Wednesday.

Pillai said Section 10 (AA) needs to be amended so that the tax benefits under the SEZ Act are given without any distortion.

The section provides exemption from income tax to the SEZ units on the export income. For calculating the exemption, export turnover is divided by the total turnover of the assessee. But an assessee may have a unit outside the SEZ as well.

In the absence of change in the law, the IT SEZs promoted by most of the big groups such as Wipro, TCS, Satyam and Infosys stand to lose. Of the 531 SEZs approved, 320 are IT and ITeS units.

At its last meeting on October 24, the eGom headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee decided to clear Essar"s steel SEZ in Hazira and Adani"s port SEZ in Mundra. Both the Essar and Adani SEZs were facing objections from the Revenue Department on different counts.

Now RBI relaxes forex derivatives accounting norms to save the MONEY Machine of Corporate imperialism and Brahaminical Hegemony!

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday relaxed the accounting guidelines for valuing derivatives, a move that will help the Indian banks with overseas
branches to post better financial results.

“It has now been decided to confine the applicability of the principle of borrower-wise asset classification to only the overdues arising from forward contracts and plain vanilla swap and options", the central bank said, while modifying its earlier notification for off-balance sheet exposures of banks.

Under the borrower-wise classification norms, all other funded facilities given to a defaulting clients are required to be shown as non-performing assets (NPAs)

Earlier, the RBI had said borrower-wise classification norms will apply to all funded facilities of a client if the receivables representing mark-to-market value of a derivative contract remains unpaid for over 90 days.

With the modification of the earlier circular, the unpaid amount towards foreign exchange derivatives contract entered between April 2007 and June 2008 will have to be parked in a separate account in the same of client.

RBI further said that amount overdue for more than 90 days will not make other funded facilities provided to the client as NPA as per the borrower-wise asset classification principle.

Rising overnight interest rates are a matter of concern but the liquidity position in the money market is comfortable now, a senior finan ce ministry official said on Wednesday. The official, who did not wish to be identified, also said short selling of stocks was no longer a concern as the stock market regulator had taken steps on the issue. Overnight cash rates rose to a two-week high of 12.75 per cent on Wednesday as treasury bill auctions and expectations of a bigger sale of government securities this week pushed up demand in a holiday-shortened week.

Largest public sector lender State Bank of India today said interest rates have peaked and now borrowers could see some softening of rates in the coming months mainly due to steps taken by the Reserve Bank and government to infuse liquidity.

Economic times reports:

The additional resources generated by the Union budget will determine just how much of the massive dues of fertiliser companies’ will be 
settled in bonds this year. With the financial climate worsening, indications are that any clarity on the bonds from the Centre can only emerge by November end or even as late as December.

Recent back-of-the-envelope calculations by the fertiliser department indicated that around Rs 14,000 crore of the pending dues (against unpaid subsidies/concessions) could be settled in bonds in the current financial year while another Rs 31,000 crore-odd could see a cash settlement. However, those plans depend, more than ever, on how well the government is able to manage its fiscal deficit in 2008-09.

Earlier this week, finance minister P Chidambaram admitted that the government could overshoot its fiscal deficit targets for the year in view of the ongoing financial turmoil and the overall economic downturn. Well-placed government sources told ET, “Any clear perspective on what shape and size the fertiliser bonds for the current year may take would continue to remain fuzzy, atleast for another month."

Although input prices are now on the downslide, in consonance with crude oil prices, phenomenally high global prices for these materials during the year’s first half meant that the industry"s working capital needs increased by four times over that of 2007-08.

This made it im-possible for fertiliser makers to leverage additional funds of that magnitude from financial institutions. Therefore, the government"s fertiliser subsidy bill for the year is still projected at well over Rs one lakh crore. Apprehensions of the declining rupee trend have also added to the woes.

The pending dues account for a substantial chunk of the projected fertiliser subsidy bill of Rs 1, 20,000 crore. Budgetary provisions for the year, ironically and quite inexplicably, were only a paltry Rs 31,000 crore, spelling a massive difference. That allocated amount, infact, was enough to ensure fertiliser supplies only up to June 2008.

Not surprisingly, fertiliser companies are aggressively pushing for squaring up of all dues by the government urgently and in cash, while being deadset against the issuance of bonds. During 2007-08, Rs 7,500 crore, about 19% of the total subsidy for the year, was settled in the form of bonds.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Finance/Fiscal_deficit_to_decide_fate_of_Rs_45k_cr_fertiliser_dues/articleshow/3649448.cms

NBFCs can raise capital through perpetual debts: RBI

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday granted another window for non-deposit taking NBFCs to raise capital by issuing perpetual debts. 

Considering the need for enhanced funds for increasing business and meeting regulatory requirements, it has been decided the non-deposit taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) may augment their capital funds by issue of perpetual debt, RBI said in a notification.

Such instruments would be considered as Tier I capital to the extent of 15 per cent of total Tier I capital as on March 31 of the previous accounting year, it said.

It also said that the amount of excess perpetual debt over permissible limit would qualify as Tier II capital within the eligible limit.

The minimum investment by single investor in such issue should not be less than Rs 5 lakh, it said, adding, the rate of interest payable to the investors may be either at a fixed rate or a floating rate referenced to market determined rupee interest benchmark rate.

The instruments which will be perpetual in nature will be issued in Indian Rupee only subject to lock-in clause with regard to payment of interest rates.

Commercial banks are allowed to raise capital by issuing perpetual debt for meeting capital adequacy ratio.

“The individuals began discussing going on a ‘killing spree" that included killing 88 people and beheading 14 African Americans," Weaks said in the affidavit.

ATF special agent in charge James Cavanaugh said “H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet and 88 stood for “Heil Hitler."

“The U.S. Secret Service takes all threats against presidential candidates seriously and is actively investigating the allegations," said Richard Harlow, special agent in charge of the Secret Service-Memphis Field Office. “The Secret Service does not comment on this type of investigation."

Three-quarters of Americans now disapprove of President George W. Bush’s performance. Given this, and the fact that the policies and values of John McCain and his vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, are almost identical to those of Bush, you would expect Obama to be leading in the polls by a wider margin than he is.

The worldwide survey, conducted from May through October, also measured the level of interest in the U.S. presidential election campaign among world citizens. The survey asked whether respondents thought the election would make a difference in their country.

See, so caled Civil rights and trade union leaders in the United States are warning of last-minute efforts to deny victory to Democratic candidate Barack Obama by preventing thousands of likely pro-Obama voters from casting ballots on November 4.Known as “vote suppression,” the tactic involves challenges to eligibility on a variety of grounds, including improper voter registration and insufficient proof of US citizenship or place of residence.

Asking leaders from Bihar not to add ‘fuel to the fire’ over the raging controversy on the anti-North Indian campaign, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad should not meddle in Maharashtra"s affairs.In a suspected attack as part of the campaign against north Indians in Maharashtra, a 25-year-old Uttar Pradesh migrant died after being beaten up in a local train by fellow commuters, who allegedly picked up a fight with him and his three friends, police said on Wednesday.

The Bihar leaders should ‘not add fuel to the fire’ by making statements over the condition of north Indians in Mumbai.

Reacting to Lalu Prasad"s demand that Sena should be banned, Uddhav said the ‘real’ culprits of Bihar people are their own leaders.

“Bihar leaders should ask themselves why people from their state have to migrate to Mumbai to make a living," Uddhav said.

“I would advice Lalu not meddle in Maharashtra"s affairs," he said.

Meanwhile, in the wake of killing of a youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh in Mumbai, Chief Minister Mayawati asked the Centre and Maharashtra government to take immediate action to stop attacks on North Indians, saying they have ‘failed’ to prevent such incidents.

“The Centre and Maharashtra government should initiate immediate measures to check attack on North Indians in Maharashtra," Mayawati said in a letter shot off to the Union government and Maharashtra Chief Minister.

Terming the attacks as ‘unfortunate’, the Chief Minister said that both Centre and Maharashtra government have failed to check such ‘unconstitutional acts’.

Communalism falred once again to subvert the issues related to life and death of Common man in India! Washington Italian government is in no mood to relax Hanging Rope to KILL! thus, the SUPERSLAVE Government is not considering reduction in prices of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG despite crude falling to its lowest-level in 15 months as prices have to stablise at this level to wipe out the current revenue losses on fuel sales, an oil ministry official said. “There is no proposal to reduce fuel prices. We have to watch (the) situation for a few more weeks," said S Sundareshan, Additional Secretary in the Oil Ministry in New Delhi. The basket of crude India buys on Tuesday averaged at USD 56.72 per barrel, a level at which state-run Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum would break even if global prices were to stabilise for a month

On the other hand, Indian firms are likely to lay off a quarter of their employees in the next 10 days, as part of steps to contain costs in the face of shrinking margins amidst the economic turmoil, an industry body said on Wednesday. Trade body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said the job cuts would be across the steel, cement, construction, real estate, aviation, IT-enabled services and financial services sectors.
Expansion has slowed in Asia"s third-largest economy in the last two quarters, from the 8 per cent or more annual growth in the past four years, with high interest rates crimping demand and on the global financial crisis.

The central bank last week cut its forecast for growth in 2008/09 to 7.5-8 per cent from its earlier view of 8 per cent. This compares with the economy"s 9 per cent growth in 2007/08.

“Employers have no other alternatives as part of their corporate strategy … for sustaining their operations with squeezed margins (even) after after drastic cost cutting measures," ASSOCHAM said in a statement.

Last week, realty firm Parsvnath Ltd said it would axe “non-performing" employees, as it was facing slowing sales.

Top private carrier Jet Airways had sacked 1,900 employees mid-October, citing declining demand and high fuel costs, but reinstated them days later on protests and political pressure.

The deceased, Dharam Dev, a resident of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, was onboard a Mumbai CST-bound local train from Khopoli along with the three friends yesterday when incident occurred.

Dev, who works as a helper at a construction site, was occupying the window seat in the train, when a group of eight to ten commuters, who appeared to be local villagers, forced them to vacate the seat, police said.

The local group then asked Dev and his friends if they were ‘bhaiyyas" after which they started abusing them, they said.

According to the statement given by the victim"s friends, the four were slapped and kicked, thus rendering Dev unconscious.

The local group got off the train at Karjat, while Dev and his friends remained in the train. The victim"s friend then called up the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control number, which is displayed in trains.

Officials from the RPF then boarded the train at Badlapur and Dev was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

A K Sharma, Commissioner of GRP, said, “As per our information, the person died at the hospital. The information we have suggests that there were no external injuries on the victim"s body. We are waiting for the postmortem report".

“We have filed a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown persons at the Karjat railway police station," Sharma said.

“Some persons have been brought in for questioning at Karjat police station but no arrests have been made yet in the case," he added.

Death of UP youth: Shivraj Patil speaks to Maha CM

New Delhi, October 29:

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil talked to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of a youth from Uttar Pradesh being beaten up in a local train in Mumbai.

Patil spoke over telephone to the Chief Minister amidst suggestions from the Centre that the state administration should remain cautious and alert in the wake of possibilities of linking the death of a weapon-wielding youth from Bihar in a police shootout to attacks on North Indians in the state.

Minister of State for Home Shakil Ahmed that since these are very sensitive times, Maharashtra should be extra careful.

He said Maharashtra government has informed the Centre that the death of the UP migrant was due to clash between two groups of youngsters on sitting arrangement in a local train.

A Home Ministry spokesman said details have been sought from the state government about the incident, which came close on the heels of the death of Rahul Raj, a youth from Patna, who was shot dead by the police in a Mumbai bus on Monday.

Rahul had held a bus load of passengers hostage in Mumbai with a country-made revolver.

Lynching of youth not ‘hate crime": Patil

Mumbai, October 29:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil made it clear that lynching of a person in a train was not a ‘hate crime’ against North Indians and the government will pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the victim, who was beaten to death by fellow commuters.

“This is not a hate crime and we will give compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the victim," Patil said.

“The state government owns the responsibility of protecting migrants from other states including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.

When asked whether the attackers were MNS activists, he said, “I do not have any confirmation of the report. But we will take strict action against the offenders."

Paswan demands imposition of President"s rule in Maharashtra

Patna, October 29:

Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan demanded dismissal of Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra and trial of MNS leader Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on charges of murder and sedition in view of MNS" anti-North Indian campaign.

‘If a warning has not yet been issued to Maharashtra government under Article 355, there is no need for it any more and Vilasrao Deshmukh government must be dismissed forthwith,'" Paswan, president of Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), said.

Alleging that North-Indians were being attacked as part of ‘deep rooted conspiracy", Paswan said Maharastra Navanirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray and his uncle Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray must be tried on charges of murder and sedition.

Pressing his point, Paswan said barely a day after a youth from Patna Rahul Raj was shot dead by Maharashtra police, who were reluctant to pull the trigger against MNS mobs brutalising helpless Biharis, a youth from Uttar Pradesh Dharamdev Rai was beaten to death in a train by ‘divisive forces trying to reap political benefit by fomenting regionalism".

Paswan, who was speaking after visiting Rahul Raj"s family here, said an all-party delegation had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court.

‘"It is unfortunate that the Maharashtra government is getting the incident probed by the chief secretary. The LJP rejects this probe and will settle for nothing less than a judicial inquiry,'" he said.

Lalu threatens to cancel train operation

New Delhi, October 29:

Against the backdrop of killing of a North Indian youth on a train in a Mumbai suburb, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad threatened to suspend train movement in states where rail passengers and properties are repeatedly attacked.

“Railways are becoming soft target in many states these days. If railway properties and passengers continued to be attacked we may think of cancelling train operations in those areas," Prasad said.

The Minister, however, clarified that he did not mean any particular state.

Prasad also spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and expressed serious concern over the incident involving Dharam Dev, the youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh who was beaten to death by fellow commuters.

The Minister also announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the next kith and kin of the deceased youth.

“Prime Minister and Soniaji have assured me that they would immediately take up the matter with Maharashtra government," he said.

Seeking tough action against those involved in the train incident, Prasad requested the Prime Minister to ensure ‘full security’ to North Indians in Maharashtra during the Chhath festival.

“I have told the Prime Minister to take stringent action against those behind the incident. I also spoke to Deshmukh for action against the culprits," he said.

‘Maha Govt treating Raj Thackeray as its son-in-law’

 Linking the death of a migrant from Uttar Pradesh in Maharashtra to the violation of the ‘honour’ of the state, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh asked Congress to ‘wake up’ and check such incidents before it faces the ire of voters in the coming elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
“The attack on the migrant from Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh which led to his death was in fact an attack on the honour of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," Singh said.

Attacking the Maharashtra government, he alleged that the Vilasrao Deshmukh dispensation was treating MNS chief Raj Thackeray as its ‘son-in-law’ even as he continues attacks on North Indians.

The police force of Deshmukh, R R Patil and Sharad Pawar has failed to protect north Indians, he alleged.

“While they shot dead Rahul Raj (a gun-wielding youth who died on Monday), they have not used even a stick on Raj Thackeray," he said.

“Congress should wake up before it faces the ire of North Indians in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said, while condemning the lynching of a youth from Uttar Pradesh in a train in Maharashtra on Tuesday.

Singh would soon meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to urge her to prevent repetition of such incidents.

Amar asks Lalu, Paswan to quit UPA

The Samajwadi Party asked Union ministers from Bihar Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan to resign from the Cabinet in the wake of attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra in an apparent bid to put pressure on the UPA government to prevent such incidents in that state.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, SP leader Amar Singh said Lalu Prasad and Paswan should take a serious view of the attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra and resign from the Cabinet as a protest.

“Had I been in the Cabinet, I would have resigned as the Vilasrao Deshmukh government is not taking steps to prevent attacks despite the Prime Minister"s intervention…I request Lalu Prasad and Paswan to resign from the Cabinet," Singh said.

He said he would not support the demand for imposition of President"s Rule in Maharashtra as “fortunately or unfortunately we are supporting the UPA".

“The attack on a migrant from Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh which led to his death was in fact an attack on the honour of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," he said.

He also asked Congress to “wake up" and check such incidents before it faces the ire of voters in the coming elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

“Congress should wake up before it faces the ire of north Indians in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said, while condemning the lynching of the youth in a train on Tuesday. Singh said he would soon meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to urge her to prevent repetition of such incidents.
US groups warn of moves to deny Obama victory

“This year has brought heightened efforts to disenfranchise and intimidate voters,” Wade Henderson, director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, declared recently. “These are targeted and insidious attempts to suppress the vote, particularly in communities of colour.”

John Sweeney, the head of the largest US trade union confederation, charges that groups favouring John McCain are responsible for vote-suppression campaigns in some key states.

Mr Sweeney said the labour movement “strongly condemns the coordinated national effort by the Republican Party and allied political operatives to suppress voter turnout and deny ballots to newly registered voters, particularly young people, the poor and people of colour.”

Tens of thousands of individuals in six swing states have been purged from voter rolls or have been prevented from registering to vote, The New York Times reported earlier this month. Many of these moves by state election officials appear to be in violation of federal law, the Times added.
The newspaper also said, however, that the purges and denials of eligibility do not seem to be coordinated by any political party.

CBS News reported this week that there is so far no indication of widespread voter suppression in states where balloting is permitted to take place weeks in advance of Election Day. Based on surveys it conducted in 17 of those states, the US television network found that charges of vote fraud or vote suppression “are far more rhetoric than reality.”

Some voting-rights activists have also warned that the machines used to count ballots at thousands of polling places are vulnerable to “hacking.” Computer experts could rig these machines to record inaccurate vote totals, these monitors say.

Even if broadly conducted and highly effectively, vote suppression and hacking of voting machines would probably not alter the outcome of this year"s presidential election. Nearly all reputable polls show Senator Obama with a substantial lead that may be impossible to erase through such tactics.

Still, the Obama campaign plans to deploy armies of attorneys at polling places around the country on November 4 to monitor voting procedures and to initiate urgent legal action in response to complaints of vote suppression. The McCain camp is preparing a similar, though smaller, effort.

Millions of names are removed from voter rolls every year in the United States in response to deaths or changes in residency. But other factors may also be involved in some states. And that leads Wendy Weiser, an elections expert at New York University, to describe the culling process as “secret, prone to error and vulnerable to manipulation.”

“Lots and lots of eligible voters could get knocked off the voter rolls without any notice and, in many cases, without any opportunity to correct if before Election Day.”

Conversely, Senator McCain"s campaign has voiced fears about efforts to inflate voter rolls by adding invalid registrations in neighbourhoods likely to support Senator Obama by wide margins. Senator McCain has pointed in particular to a group that organises in low-income urban communities. It was recently revealed that 30 percent of 1.3 million voter registrations submitted by the group were faulty.

Obama around the world

Outside the United States, Obama-mania continues to capture hearts and minds. A ‘Japanese Obama ’, Noyomus Sato, has attracted attention on his comedy show and in Chicago, where he got an ‘Obama cut’ from Obama’s real-life barber, Zariff

Since he started impersonating Obama, his website has gone from receiving 200 hits per day to 100,000: a clear sign that he should focus his comedy routines on the Democratic candidate for president.

Meanwhile, in Kenya in early October, author of the Obama-skeptical book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality Jerome Corsi was deported due to apparent visa difficulties. He was detained for 4 ½ hours before being released.

Though immigration officials said he was not in possession of the requisite work permit, his publicist Tim Guehler told Time Magazine that they had been assured in advance that their papers were in order. Could Corsi’s critical (and “factually-challenged”, according to Time) portrayal of Obama been at issue?

US Judge rejects Obama-born-in-Kenya claim!

A US federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit claiming Senator Barack Obama is ineligible to seek the presidency because he was either born in Kenya or is a citizen of Indonesia.

The US Constitution requires that a person be born in the United States and be a citizen of the country in order to be eligible to serve as president.

Judge Richard Barclay Surrick ruled that Philip Berg, an attorney in the state of Pennsylvania, lacked standing to bring such a suit.

The claim filed by Mr Berg, a supporter of Hillary Clinton"s presidential campaign, is one of several desperate attempts by Senator Obama"s opponents to block what appears to be his increasingly likely victory at the polls on November 4.

Segments of the US right wing will be disappointed by the court decision thwarting this move to depict Senator Obama as less than an authentic American.

Many of the same extremists have sought to link Senator Obama closely to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is portrayed by Obama-haters as both a communist and a supporter of radical Islam.

Senator Obama has posted on his campaign Website a birth certificate showing that he was born in the state of Hawaii in 1961 to Ann Dunham, an American woman, and Barack Obama Snr, a Kenyan who was studying at the University of Hawaii at the time. Following their divorce, Ms Dunham married an Indonesian man.

“I am totally disappointed by Judge Surrick"s decision and, for all citizens of the United States, I am immediately appealing to the US Supreme Court," Mr Berg said in a statement following Friday"s ruling.

It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will review Mr Berg"s plea for a hearing prior to the November 4 election.

Gang unleashes terror in City Centre

A shop assistant was killed and a businessman seriously injured when gangsters unleashed terror in Nairobi City Centre on Tuesday afternoon.

Six gangsters robbed shops on Nairobi"s Kaunda Street and Kenyatta Avenue. They fired their guns as they dashed through Wabera Street, Banda, Kimathi and later Biashara streets before escaping.

On Tuesday, three premises were raided and a police officer mugged in two hours.

Ran in circles

Some gang members walked towards Tom Mboya Street as police ran in circles searching for them.

After the robbery at Kant’s shop on Kaunda Street, the gangsters walked a block away to an electronics shop next to The Stanley Hotel where they shot dead a shop attendant before robbing the shop and walking away.

However, as the gang was escaping from Kenyatta Avenue, they bumped into police officers on patrol on Banda Street and ran in different directions.

One of them was seen tucking his gun in his trousers on Kimathi Street before disappearing towards Biashara Street.

On Biashara Street, the gangsters are said to have shot and killed a shop attendant as they engaged police in a shoot-out for 30 minutes.

A witness said the robber who killed the worker intimidated three police officers who were pursuing him as they had pistols while he had an AK- 47 rifle.

The victim is said to have been a worker at Kashmir Crafts, which the gang wanted to rob.

“He tried to run away after he realised thugs had stormed the shop and a thug who was keeping vigil outside killed him. I tried to alert a watchman to no avail as he walked confidently down Muindi Mbingu Street,” a witness said.

He said the gangster wore a short-sleeved white shirt and carried himself confidently.

The afternoon incident affected businesses and operations on Muindi Mbingu, Banda, Kimathi and Biashara streets and Kenyatta Avenue.

Pedestrians scampered for safety and hid under vehicles and in buildings as gunfire rent the air. Some people were injured in the melee.

Another witness said a middle-aged gangster drew a gun when he realised he was being trailed by police officers.

“He shot in the air three times before he disappeared,” he said, adding: “We did not know what was going on. Everything happened so fast.”

Meanwhile, a suspected mugger was arrested on Muindi Mbingu Street after he and his accomplices robbed a police officer of Sh300,000.

Are insurance firms fair to the fairer sex?
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Agencies
Posted: Oct 29, 2008 at 1225 hrs IST

New Delhi, October 29: They have conquered many a male bastion whether it is driving an Auto-Rickshaw or playing a role in the armed forces. Women, in India, however have little option when it comes to taking an insurance cover.
As a matter of fact, in a country where there are 930womenper 1000 men, Bajaj Allianz is the only company which offers insurance policies exclusively designed for women.

Recently, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) withdrew Jeevan Bharathi 1, a policy for women. “The policy wasn"t popular. It didn"t sell enough. So we withdrew it. We"ll bring out a new policy soon", says Devraj Kashyap, Development officer at LIC.

However, Vinit Vidyarthi, Principal Officer at Almondz Insurance brokers Ltd, says, “Jeevan Bharthi didn"t do well because it was not pushed well by LIC."

A Commonwealth Fund report ‘Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap", by researchers at the National Woman"s Law Centre, says that women are at a disadvantage because they have greater health care needs and lower incomes than men.

“Yes, We don"t have policies that are exclusively for women. But we understand that Women are equally at risk due to modern urban lifestyle," Says Soumi Rao, Manager of Public Relations at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

“While most of the health risks women face are similar to men and hence the coverage required is similar, they are at higher risk for cancer and hence could look at buying cancer protection," he adds.

I’m too old to play a prostitute: Julia Roberts
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ANI
Posted: Oct 29, 2008 at 1536 hrs IST
Washington, October 29: One of Hollywood’s greatest actresses Julia Roberts has laughed off reports of a sequel to her hit movie ‘Pretty Woman’, insisting that she’s too old to play a prostitute.
The now 41-year-old played the role of a ‘hooker with a heart of gold’ in the 1990 movie, which also starred Richard Gere.

While telling TV show Extra at a charity event in California on October 27, the actress made it clear she had no plans of returning to the streets of Los Angeles.

“No one wants to see an old hooker! Do they?" Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.

Malaysia likely to issue Fatwa against Yoga
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Agencies
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 at 1354 hrs IST

Kuala Lumpur, October 29: Yoga may soon be outlawed in Malaysia, if a prominent body of clerics which is planning to issue a fatwa on the practice, has its way.
Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council is going to impose Fatwa on Yoga after Zakaria Stapa, a lecturer of University of Kebangsaan’s Islamic Studies Centre, on Tuesday advised Muslims who have taken up Yoga to stop practising it fearing that it could deviate their belief, local news reports said in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“A ruling would be made by the council’s Chairman, Abdul Shukor Husin, in this regard,” Deputy Director-General of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, Othman Mustapha, quoted as saying by New Straits Times online edition

RBI must try to keep systemic liquidity ‘positive’

29 Oct, 2008, 0022 hrs IST,JAYESH MEHTA, 

The first policy announced by the new Reserve Bank of India governor was intentionally devoid of any bells and whistles and signals a clear intent t
o be vigilant, intercede regularly and act swiftly for effective management of liquidity.

Basically, they showed that they are ready to manage the trinity of financial stability, price stability and growth. A key focus for RBI is to ensure the global credit crises has limited impact on the Indian markets and banking system.

The global environment has had its influence in India through different channels and markets are looking to RBI to see how best India’s strong banking system can remain reasonably insulated.

The announcement impact had been diluted in advance after RBI cut the CRR by 250 bps in multiple stages and the repo rate by 100 bps over the past few weeks.

Markets were looking at the policy to get news on whether RBI will keep liquidity easy and whether there would be more measures to spur credit growth. RBI signalled intent to provide liquidity when required without going the whole hog and is clearly not willing to compromise on credit quality.

The key thing to watch out is how RBI responds to exchange-rate movements if the dollar strengthening story continues. The liquidity angle has been complicated, given RBI’s foreign exchange intervention wherein the dollar sales would have had an adverse impact on rupee liquidity. As the offshore capital markets are kind of shut down from raising money point of view, the burden has got shifted to the banking system. This has put an extra stress on domestic liquidity.

RBI has shown its intent to provide liquidity as and when required by both conventional and non-conventional route. Another key thing, which has come out very clearly from the policy, is the fact that RBI is looking at SLR from prudence point of view (and not just liquidity tool). They see SLR as a source of strength in the current financial scenario and future liquidity interventions will be managed through more CRRs, OMOs and LAFs for market intervention.

The markets were expecting a rollback in some of counter-cyclical measures on “Risk Weights” and “Capital Adequacy” which they had initiated over the past few years, as those concerns have receded somewhat.

We think that this will give some boost to relevant sectors, as the scenarios have reversed. It is very clear that we have entered into a slowdown phase in economy though we may all have different views on the extent of it. Inflation is a lagging indicator and the pace of deceleration is going to increase.

To give a boost to the economy, we believe that RBI will continue to rely on conventional tools like CRR, repo, reverse repo rate cuts and other unconventional moves like providing more accommodation in SLR.

In short, given the current environment, RBI should try and keep systemic liquidity from ‘negative to positive’, and in order to assure markets, can continue with the measures announced in the past fortnight for the medium term at the very least, rather than keeping it as a temporary measure. This will definitely go a long way in bringing much-needed stability in the Indian financial markets.

(The author is MD " head of FICC, DSP Merrill Lynch)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/RBI_must_try_to_keep_systemic_liquidity_positive/articleshow/3649295.cms

More firms ban execs from ill-gotten pay

29 Oct, 2008, 2020 hrs IST, REUTERS
NEW YORK: Nearly two-thirds of big U.S. companies have banned their leaders from keeping hefty bonuses when there are questions over executive condu
ct or the accuracy of financial results, a policy the government is also demanding from firms selling shares to the Treasury Department as part of the bailout plan.

A new study to be released on Thursday finds that these big corporations have voluntarily adopted so-called “clawback" policies that allow them to recoup portions of executive pay in the event of financial restatements, unethical conduct or other reasons. An early copy was provided to Reuters.

Many investors say such rules should be standard practice at companies, saying it"s outrageous for executives to be able to keep ill-gotten pay. The Treasury Department, in compensation rules laid down as part of the financial rescue, has also latched onto the hot topic and demanded that companies selling equity stakes to the government agree to adopt clawback policies.

Overall, 64.2 percent of the largest 95 publicly held companies in the Fortune 100 had disclosed clawback policies as of this year, up from 42.1 percent in 2007 and 17.6 percent in 2006, according to the study from pay research firm Equilar Inc.

“We"re switching from a situation from where it was a toss-up as to whether a company would have a clawback policy to now, there is a clear consensus that clawbacks are a good corporate governance policy," said Alexander Cwirko-Godycki, a research manager at Equilar and one of the study"s authors.

Lockheed Martin Corp, Motorola Inc and Hess Corp are among the companies that have disclosed clawback policies this year, according to Redwood Shores, California-based Equilar.

The provisions vary from company to company. The study found that overall, clawback policies are becoming broader, applying to more types of conduct and covering more kinds of compensation that executives receive.

The policies generally do not require CEOs and others to forfeit all their compensation. Instead, they target things like cash bonuses as well as stock options, restricted shares and shares granted for meeting various performance goals, Equilar said.

A handful of companies, including PepsiCo Inc. also have extended clawback provisions to apply to outside directors on the board, not just company executives, the study found.

The clawback concept is not new. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law included a provision requiring the CEO or chief financial officer of a public company to repay compensation if there were to be an accounting restatement as a result of misconduct.

That has led to pressure for companies to enact their own policies. The primary driver for boards of directors, according to Equilar, is to deter corporate managers from taking actions that could potentially harm the company"s financial position.

The recent Treasury Department requirements also go further than Sarbanes-Oxley, expanding the provisions to the top five officers at a company, for example. The Treasury rules only cover financial institutions selling equity stakes to the government.

Michael Melbinger, a partner at law firm Winston " Strawn LLP in Chicago who advises boards of directors on compensation matters, said the clawback concept is gaining more acceptance among boards, as well as among corporate executives.

“They feel like they want to be part of good governance and they don"t think they are going to do anything that leads to a clawback, so they are amenable to it," he said.

IMF announces 20-bn-euro rescue package for Hungary

29 Oct, 2008, 1526 hrs IST, AGENCIES

WASHINGTON: A group of donors led by the International Monetary Fund announced they would loan 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) to Hungary, whi
ch has been hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Out of the total, 12.5 billion euros has been pledged by the IMF, 6.5 billion from the European Union and a billion by the World Bank, the IMF said in a statement late Tuesday.

“An IMF staff mission and the Hungary authorities have today reached agreement… on an economic program supported by an 12.5-billion-euro loan under a 17-month stand-by arrangement," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.

“The EU stands ready to provide a loan of 6.5 billion euros and the World Bank has agreed to provide 1.0 billion euros."

The IMF loan is subject to approval from the IMF executive board, expected in early November.

As the fallout from the financial crisis ripples around the world, a number of countries have found themselves needing assistance from the IMF, a lender of last resort to cash-strapped nations.

Iceland has also agreed a loan and Belarus and Pakistan have appealed for assistance.

The European Union confirmed on Wednesday that it was prepared to grant the 6.5-billion-euro loan to Hungary.

Falling market makes stocks cheaper than Diwali snack

28 Oct, 2008, 0830 hrs IST, ET Bureau

MUMBAI: In yet another attempt to salvage a sinking stock market, market regulator SEBI has made it easier for promoters with over 55% stake in companies to increase their holdings through creeping acquisition. However, though stock prices are at their extreme lows, it’s unclear how many promoters would use this opportunity, given the liquidity crunch and turmoil in financial markets.

SEBI has now allowed promoters to buy up to 5% stake every year to increase their holdings up to 75%. In order to ensure that such buying is reflected in the stock prices and provides an opportunity for retail investors to exit, the regulator said that such share purchases should be in the open market. “This is aimed at bringing in the promoters as natural buyers. In the absence of buyers, even a small offloading by FIIs is difficult for the market to absorb,” said a senior investment banker.

Also, promoters are automatically exempt from SEBI regulations for a 5% increase in stake annually as a result of a buyback by the company. This again will make it easier for companies to carry out stock buyback.

SEBI announced the relaxation on Monday, when the Sensex broke yet another psychological level, slipping below the 8,000-mark intra-day before recouping a major portion of losses. The rupee dipped below Rs 50 a dollar intra-day, but closed higher following RBI intervention and dollar selling by a large US bank. The Sensex plunged to a three-year low of 7,697.39, before bouncing back to close the day at 8,509.56, down 191.51 points, or 2%, from the previous close.

The 50-share Nifty closed at 2524.20, down 59.80 points, or 2.3%, from the previous close. Bears were clearly unruffled by reports that the regulator was analysing data to find out attempts to hammer down prices. It is also becoming obvious by now that the ban on overseas lending of Indian shares by FIIs is not having the desired impact. As per provisional data, FIIs pulled out a net Rs 1,027 crore on Monday. However, the only silver lining is that domestic institutions still appear to be flush with funds: they bought shares worth Rs 916 crore net on Monday.

Aishwarya most bankable Bollywood star

29 Oct, 2008, 2008 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: At 35, Bollywood"s blue-eyed-girl Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who celebrates her birthday on Saturday, continues to woo Indian filmmakers wit
h her international appeal, making her one of the most bankable stars in the Indian film industry.

Says popular film critic Taran Adarsh, “Aishwarya"s career graph has been very good though not excellent but she is the only actress who can attract national and international crowds. She is the face of so many international brands and a very good actress also.”

London-based Indian filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra, who directed the actress in the critically acclaimed English movie “Provoked”, also credits her as a superstar with an international appeal.

“She is a superstar. Not only is she a recognised name worldwide; she is a totally bankable star. My personal experience with her from ‘Provoked" says that the film wouldn"t have worked without her.

“The best thing about her is that despite her stature, she is completely a director"s actor. She would also give her inputs in the character and would never come back to see a shot once the director approves it. She is thoroughly professional,” Mundhra added.

Aishwarya, now married to Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and Vrinda Rai, a writer.

After winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya took to acting in 1997 with a Tamil film “Iruvar” opposite southern superstar Mohanlal and made her Bollywood debut in the same year opposite Bobby Deol in “Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya". Both films bombed.

In the following year, she won her first Filmfare Best Actress award South for the Tamil film “Jeans” but became an overnight star with Sanjay Leela Bhansali"s “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” in 1999. She bagged the Filmfare Best Actress award for this too.

In 2000, she gave a power packed performance in Subhash Ghai"s “Taal" but followed it up with a string of flops like “Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai"(2000), “Dhai Akshar Prem Ke"(2000), “Albela" (2001), “Hum Kisise Kum Nahi"(2001) and many more.

In between, she was recognised for her supporting role in Yash Chopra"s 2000 hit “Mohabbatein”. Her career was resurrected in 2002 with Bhansali"s “Devdas” fetching her another Filmfare award in the Best Actress category.

She was highly appreciated for her performances in “Chokher Bali"(2002), “Raincoat” (2004), “Guru"(2006), “Dhoom 2” (2006), “Provoked"(2007), “Jodhaa Akbar” (2008) and “Sarkar Raj” (2008).

In her career spanning 11 years, Aishwarya has acted in over 40 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English. Her English projects included “Bride " Prejudice” (2003), “Mistress of Spices” (2005), and “The Last Legion” (2007).

She is also starring in another international project “Pink Panther 2”, a sequel to the original comedy.

The beauty queen-turned-actress is also counted among the 100 most beautiful women in the world. Actress Priyanka Chopra feels that “Aishwarya has a perfect face”.

“She is a gorgeous lady, a very elegant person and a great representative of India abroad and I think she has made some great cinema recently. I"d like to watch a lot more of her in films,” Priyanka told media.

After her wedding in April last year, Aishwarya has cut down on her projects and has become very choosy too. But critic Adarsh feels it is only due to her “added family responsibilities”.

Currently, the actress is busy shooting with Abhishek in Kochi for Mani Ratnam"s forthcoming film tentatively titled “Raavan”.

Russia looks at India, China amid global financial turmoil

29 Oct, 2008, 1547 hrs IST, PTI

MOSCOW: A key strategic plan prepared by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for Russia"s foreign and economic ties in the next decade has identified Indi
a and China as priority partners, with most of the top western nations headed for recession.

The government of Prime Minister Putin on Monday adopted a strategy to develop former Communist nation"s foreign economic ties till 2020, in which the world"s most dynamically emerging India and China have been identified as the priority partners.

According to an unnamed official, quoted by the state-owned ITAR-TASS news agency, most of the strategic plan adopted by the cabinet is highly confidential; few passages for public consumption mention India and China as the priority partners, albeit Moscow will continue to look at the currant focal partner European Union for hi-tech, energy investments and acquisition of European assets.

With European markets falling and the continent slipping into a long recession, Moscow seems to be willing to grant India, as its priority partner, wider access to its energy assets.

The acquisition by ONGC Videsh of London-listed Imperial Energy operating in west Siberian region of Tomsk is expected to be speedily cleared by the government.

Russia seems to be willing for greater mutual investments in the energy sector and the issue is likely to be on the top of the bilateral agenda of the annual Indo-Russian summit in the first week of December, when President Dmitry Medvedev is to pay his maiden visit to India.

Farming out: Pune’s tillers reach out to tourists

29 Oct, 2008, 0404 hrs IST,Omkar Sapre, ET Bureau

PUNE: The picturesque Maval taluka in Pune district is a popular tourist destination, famous for its dams, caves, forts and its awe-inspiring mounta
ins. A group of 25 farmers from the taluka have joined hands to set up weekend getaways for tourists.

Pooling around 100 acres of their land, the farmers have formed the Maval Agri-Tourism Development Co-operative Society with the intention of promoting agritourism. The Pune District Cooperative Bank will provide loans to these farmers to help them upgrade facilities at their farms.

Agritourism involves visiting a working farm, or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation, for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or involvement in the activities of the farm. The host farmers also double up as guides.

Maval taluka has been an attraction in recent times with many actors and industrialists making a beeline to buy land there. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s controversial 22-acre plot is located here while yesteryear hero
Dharmendra owns a farmhouse.

“Lots of tourists visit the dams, caves and forts in the Maval taluka. Lonavala and Khandala are also a major attraction. Most tourists are unaware about the specialties of our area and keep roaming without any direction. We want to attract them to our farms, which will help also us generate additional income,” Vijay Kalekar, sarpanch of the Kale Colony village, the headquarters of the farmers’ society, said.

One of our members also operates a boating club in the backwaters of the Pavana dam, he said. “We want to introduce tourists to activities like floriculture, harvesting, bee-keeping, sericulture and dairy.”

The Kale Colony gram panchayat would be the entry point for tourists, who would be received by farmers and escorted to their farms. “Some farmers have residential arrangements on their farms, while the others are upgrading their premises,” Mr Kalekar said.

The activities are based on the model devised by the Agri Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), a private, Pune-based body set up by entrepreneur Pandurang Taware in 2005. ATDC is promoted by Baramati-based Rajendra Pawar, nephew of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

Mr Taware, who operates agritourism projects in 52 locations, providing expertise, said, “Many unemployed farmers in Maval taluka were cheated of their lands as they sold at throwaway rates. Later, they worked as watchmen and domestic help on the same land.

Agritourism will help them generate jobs. We are aware of parties happening in places like Lonavala, Khandala and Pavananagar in Maval taluka. We are targeting tourists who want to spend a weekend on the farms.”

Apart from being acquainted with agricultural operations like sowing and harvesting, tourists also get a chance to savour authentic ethnic food, handicrafts, dress, culture, music and language. Rural activities, such as bullock-cart rides, milking and picking farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, are some of the other highlights.

Agritourism is a growing activity as people are increasingly choosing rural areas for leisure trips, Mr Taware said. “ATDC started with a pilot project in Baramati in 2005. We received 6,000 tourists during the first year of our operations. Our turnover was then Rs 2 lakh. We now operate in 52 locations across the state and look to close this financial year at Rs 50 lakh,” Mr Taware said.

Germany unaware of EADS plan to shift headquarters

29 Oct, 2008, 2013 hrs IST, REUTERS

BERLIN: The German government is unaware that European aerospace group EADS is considering shifting its entire headquarters to Paris, a German gover
nment spokesman said on Wednesday.

The company currently has joint headquarters in Paris and Munich.

“I am not aware of such considerations," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regular government news conference when asked if he knew about any plans by EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois to move the headquarters to Paris.

“I cannot imagine they (the plans) would be pursued."

  

EU to propose doubling aid available to troubled member states

29 Oct, 2008, 1819 hrs IST, AGENCIES
 
BRUSSELS: The European Commission will propose to nearly double the maximum amount of EU aid that can be given to member states facing economic troub
le to 25 billion euros, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

“We sent to the council (of member states) proposals for increasing this ceiling to 25 billion euros (32 billion dollars)," Almunia told journalists in Brussels.

Under a 2002 rule, the European Union can provide up 12 billion euros in financial assistance to member states that do not use the euro when their economies run into serious trouble.

On Tuesday, the EU agreed to provide Hungary 6.5 billion euros in aid as part of 20 billion euro package along with the International Monetary fund and the World Bank.

Global finance could lose $2.8 trillion in crisis

28 Oct, 2008, 1526 hrs IST, REUTERS

TOKYO/LONDON: The global financial system could lose $2.8 trillion to the credit crisis, the Bank of England said on Tuesday, before an expected interest rate cut in the United States that others are poised to match.

Governments have agreed to inject around $4 trillion into banks and markets to contain the worst financial crisis in 80 years, which has forced stock markets to tumble and banks out of business, hastening a recession in much of the world.

Japan restricted investor bets on falling share prices with immediate effect to try to end a stock market slide, which has particularly hit its banking sector, and tried to talk down a rallying yen that threatens to deepen its economic downturn.

European shares gained 0.9 percent and Japan"s Nikkei climbed 6.4 percent after hitting lows not seen in 26 years.

Prime Minister Taro Aso delayed a parliamentary election to take steps to concentrate on protecting Japan, the world"s second biggest economy, from global recession.

The Bank of England (BoE) said the work so far in containing the crisis should calm the banking system but was cautious about the impact on the wider economy. It projected losses globally at $2.8 trillion.

“The instability of the global financial system in recent weeks has been the most severe in living memory," said Deputy Governor John Gieve. “And with a global economic downturn under way, the financial system remains under strain."

The BoE is expected to cut interest rates next week, a move the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are also expected to take to try to encourage more spending in economies increasingly fearful of a long, deep recession.

The consensus among Fed watchers is for a half-point cut in overnight rates to 1 percent, the lowest level since June 2004. It has already cut the benchmark federal funds rate to 1.5 percent from 5.25 percent over the past 13 months.

It will announce its decision on Wednesday. The ECB and Bank of England are expected to cut rates on Thursday next week.

An opportunity for Indian IT?

29 Oct, 2008, 0306 hrs IST,Vivek Sharma, 

The financial crisis in the US, accentuated by the demise/restructuring of big financial institutions, has veritably taken the world by storm, leadin
g to a lot of speculation on the impact of the same on different industry verticals, the world over. To assess the impact of the financial crisis vis-à-vis the Indian IT industry, following facts need to be reviewed:

The world output is estimated at more than $50 trillion and the US represents more than 25% of this output. Any crisis in this mega economy will have overall effects. Today, the world is not only much more economic (than political as in the past), it is getting integrated with strong interdependencies.

Major emerging economies like China and India have removed the economic insulations/barriers, thus further contributing to making the world one economically integrated entity. Not only are the geographies much more interdependent, industries are also much more interdependent. A problem or opportunity in any major economy or industry has a cascading effect. Hence, it is understandable that IT being the multi-geography and multi-industry enabler gets affected by the mega trends in any of these. The question is whether Indian IT gets positively affected or negatively in the current financial crisis.

If we go back to the hi-tech bubble of this decade, Indian IT was positively impacted. There were many reasons like cost competitiveness of Indian IT, relatively smaller presence of IT in India, availability of talent pool and language communication advantage, etc. All these together enabled the growth of Indian IT. What followed was a big wave of outsourcing to capitalise on the above advantages. The companies already existing in India ramped up their operations and many companies started their first operations in India. We also started to see much lower brain drain and in certain cases even reverse brain drain. This further helped the companies operating in India to scale up the operations as the availability of experienced manpower increased.

However, the scenario now is quite different. For example, the size of IT companies in India is already quite significant with employment of more than one million people. In the past few years, the cost advantage, though not fully gone, has surely diminished due to high salary increases year after year. Moreover, the strengthening of the rupee in the recent past was also eroding the cost competitiveness. Weakening of the rupee these days may provide certain temporary relief; however, the trend will stay. Therefore, optimising costs by further outsourcing may not be that lucrative anymore. Already, there are hiring freezes and even size reduction by certain IT companies in India. This is a recent phenomenon as in the past operations in India were not affected by hiring freezes, etc. It is, therefore, a clear demonstration of local operations maturing and becoming costlier.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/An_opportunity_for_Indian_IT/articleshow/3649498.cms

India"s demographic dilemma

29 Oct, 2008, 0311 hrs IST,Janmejaya Sinha, 
We talk these days about India"s favourable demographics. We are one of the few countries in the world where the dependency ratio will improve in the
coming years. There are 570 million people in India under the age of 25. When most of the developed world is beset with the problem of ageing, we have a uniquely young population.

However, whether this is an advantage or not depends on our ability to have a productive population. If we have a large group of young uneducated people without the ability to participate in the workforce, what we will have is a demographic disaster. We will have an army of young people not ready for the 21st century, left behind and increasingly frustrated with their lot. Their frustration can find an outlet in violence and rage that may challenge the very fabric of our society. To ensure they can join the workforce is not being good but simply being smart.

India"s workforce today has 484 million people. Of these 273 million are working in rural areas primarily in agriculture (many of them clearly underemployed), there are another 61 million working in manufacturing and about 150 million in services. Shockingly, 40% of the current workforce is illiterate and another 40% is below 12 class pass. That means 200 million of our workers cannot even sign their name! Given that 60% of our workforce is in rural areas, which provides only about 18% of our GDP and the growth engine for our economy is the services sector, these simple statistics condemn our rural workforce to penury and destitution.

What is worse, given their skill levels it is very difficult for them to escape their fate by migrating to the services sector. It is true that much of our services sector is correctly characterised by the woman carrying bricks on a construction site or the family run neighbourhood kirana store - both services reasonably tolerant of illiteracy. However the openings arising in modern India, even in modern retail and more mechanised construction, will seek a basic education. It is hard to use uneducated people in the productive parts of our economy. At the higher end in IT, financial services and healthcare the problem is different - we need high quality graduates. In fact, we will not be able to accelerate our GDP growth rate to over 10% or have any meaningful impact on inequality in incomes unless we can address this.

Let me ply you with some unfortunate statistics. Currently about 23 million children are eligible for entry into the school system yet only six million finish the 12 standard and only about 2.3 million graduate. Thus 17 million do not even finish school. It gets worse than that - the quality of education on offer is abysmal. On any day 25% of the teachers are absent and 50% of children in class V cannot read a story and 21% of them cannot recognise numbers. Little wonder that parents dependent on government schools do not see the relevance of sending their children to school.

Our estimates show that there are 89 million people expected to join the work force in the next five years. However, 47 million of these will be school drop-outs. Only 13 million of these will be graduates and above. While our demand over the next five years is met by the supply on offer in overall numeric terms, if we disaggregate this by sector, we find that there will be a shortage of 600,000 graduates by 2012. However, if we adjust for employability, which is about 60% for graduates, we find the overall shortage will be in excess of five million for graduates.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Comments__Analysis/Indias_dem