Monday, January 30th, 2012

HEADLINES

• Figures bust myth that bureaucracy is bloated, as India has only one fifth of the number of bureaucrats in the US in the percentage of population; Sikkim tops while Bihar has the lowest government employees to population ratio.
• Government knew of Devas deal at every stage, says Madhavan Nair.
• CEC asks government to take up electoral reforms in this parliamentary session including the “Right to Reject” Proposal.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mandana art getting killed by urbanisation
  • Mandana, a popular folk art meant to grace the floors and walls of rural homes, is on the verge of extinction due to rapid urbanisation in Rajasthan
  • The designs of Mandana are mainly drawn on the mud and crimson red soil-smeared platforms with white lime paste.
  • Urbanisation is killing this rich art by rustic women as the mud houses are disappearing and concrete houses coming up

• India to grant $1.5 million to Chicago varsity for Vivekananda chair.
  • India will provide a grant of $1.5 million to the University of Chicago to establish a Vivekananda Chair for Indian studies, as part of the initiatives to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the 19th century luminary, Swami Vivekananda, and polymath Rabindranath Tagore.
  • The grant is meant to honour Swami Vivekananda's life and legacy and facilitate exchange of research scholars from/to India.
    
    
• Pranab pitches for foreign investment in infrastructure.
  • Pitching for foreign investment in the infrastructure sector, which needs $1 trillion in the 12th Five Year Plan, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday asked U.S. investors to access the Indian debt market through a mechanism of regulated entities with a sustained long-term interest rate.
  • Mr. Mukherjee assured the fortune 500 companies that India had evolved a transparent and stable regulatory regime in sectors such as electricity, telecommunications, ports, airports, petroleum and natural gas, and that a regulator for the coal sector was on the anvil.
  • India had recently liberalised foreign participation in the debt-equity market by allowing foreign investors to invest in the Indian equity directly.
    
    
• National health insurance scheme
  • The national health insurance scheme is set to benefit thousands of below poverty line (BPL) families with a cashless insurance cover for hospitalisation in both government and private health care institutions.
  • The beneficiaries under the flagship scheme, launched by the Union Labour and Employment Ministry are entitled to an insurance cover up to Rs.30,000 for most of the diseases that require hospitalisation.
  • The risk cover extends to five members of the family, which includes the head of household, spouse and up to three dependents
  • Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs.30 as registration and the Union and State Governments pay the premium to the insurer selected by the latter through competitive bidding.
  • The scheme is run with shared financial contribution by having 75% from the Union and rest from the State Governments.
  • The biggest-ever health insurance scheme in the country had reached out to 2.65 crore people, who had obtained their biometric-enabled smart cards containing fingerprints and photographs, enabling them to receive in-patient medical care from empanelled hospitals.
  • It is running successfully in all States, except Andhra Pradesh
    
    
• India signs international tax treaty
  • India signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, a multilateral agreement that promotes international cooperation while respecting the rights of taxpayers.
  • The Convention provides for administrative cooperation among the parties in the assessment and collection of taxes, with a view to combating tax avoidance and evasion.
  • This instrument hitherto available for members of the OECD and the Council of Europe was amended in 2010 and made open for all countries in June 2011.
  • . It not only facilitates the exchange of information, but also provides for assistance in the recovery of taxes. This will give a fillip to the efforts of the government to bring back Indian money illegally stashed away abroad.
  • This allows tax officials to enter into the territory of the other country to interview individuals and examine records.
  • It also provides for automatic exchange of information, spontaneous exchange of information and exchange of past information in criminal tax matters.
  • The information received under the convention can also be used for other purposes besides those related to tax cooperation, such as countering money laundering, with the approval of the supplying state.
    
    
• Finance ministry, RBI against restructuring the textile loans
  • The Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have turned down the Textiles Ministry proposal to restructure textiles sector loans worth Rs. 1 lakh crore, mostly from PSU lenders, With the fiscal deficit threatening to go out of control, putting adverse pressure on the exchequer and inflation still a matter of concern.
  • As per the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry, out of 287 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 122 had reported net loss in the first quarter of 2011-12.
    
    
• India- Japan coast gaurds show their might
  • The Indo-Japan Coast Guard Joint Exercises, which alternates between India and Japan every year, was organised off the Bay of Bengal where fleets headed by the newly-commissioned Indian Coast Guard vessel Vishwast and the Japanese ship Settsu simulated a range of search-and-rescue, pollution control and anti-piracy operations.
  • The joint exercise is named “Sahyog-Kaijin-XI”

INTERNATIONAL

• UK plans new rules to cherry pick immigrants
  • Wealthy immigrants and “world class” artists, musicians and intellectuals are to be given preference under plans designed to attract “the brightest and best” to Britain while keeping out those likely to be a burden on the state.
  • New rules would also make it more difficult for those on work visas to qualify for British residency.
  • The move sparked accusations of “cherry picking,” with critics arguing that it would discriminate against people from poorer countries.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS AND COLUMNS

• Opinion on the recent controversies surrounding the freedom of expression
• Write up on the state of affairs in Kazakhstan
• Editorial on Croatia joining the EU

BUSINESS/ECONOMICS

• A must read article on RBI's monetory policy

• Nice article on DAVOS