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| Sanjeev Sanyal: Villages that live in our cities |
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| As our cities have expanded over the years, they have absorbed the surrounding agricultural lands. In some cases, the old villages too have been swept away. However, in most cases, the old villages survive despite being engulfed by the expanding urban sprawl. Scattered across modern Indian cities, there remain enclaves where the contours of the old villages can be clearly discerned decades after the surrounding farmlands were converted into offices, roads, houses and shops. In some ways, this is a distinctive aspect of Indian civilisation — the ability to allow the past to live in the present. Yet, these urban villages have dramatically changed with the times. Despite being ignored by civic authorities, they play an important role in the evolving social and economic life of Indian cities. ...Read |
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| A K Bhattacharya: What ails Railways under Mamata |
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| Now that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to embark on her maiden foreign tour after becoming a minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, her advisors may like to do some homework on what she can tell her English hosts on how the Indian Railways has performed under her charge in the last 16 months. She will, of course, prefer to talk about Singur, Nandigram and her “Three-M” slogan — Maa, Maati and Maanush (roughly translated, they mean Mother, Mother Earth and Man!). But she also needs to be prepared to face some hard questions during her tour on the performance of the Indian Railways. She may wonder why, but her advisors should know the reasons. The Indian Railways has a lot to worry about these days. ...Read |
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| M J Antony: Stalling loan recovery |
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| Banks’ non-performing assets are reported to be rising and are anywhere within range of Rs 31,400 crore. ...Read |
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| Should women enjoy tax rebates? |
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| India is one of the few countries where taxes have been used as an affirmative action policy for women — in India, women are explicitly advantaged by some aspects of the tax system and reforms. The question, however, that remains unanswered is whether a differential tax treatment has been effective and if this really benefits women. ...Read |
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| M Govinda Rao: Bill on DTC - Baby Steps in Tax Reform |
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| The Bill on the direct taxes code (DTC) placed in Parliament is very much on expected lines. The wide-ranging proposals to broaden the base in the first discussion paper have been diluted in the revised paper which is broadly reflected in the Bill. The only major difference is in the treatment of capital gains. The second discussion paper proposed to include short-term capital gains from all assets, including equity shares, in the total income and tax them at applicable rates. ...Read |
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| Ajai Shukla: The shadow of Xinjiang |
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| The recent brouhaha over Beijing’s refusal to issue a regular stamped visa for an official visit to China by Lt Gen B S Jaswal, India’s top military commander in J&K, bore the familiar stamp of our public overreaction to Chinese provocation. But there was something remarkable this time. ...Read |
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| Surinder Sud: Farming without fear |
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| Consider these startling facts. Nearly 45,000 agricultural workers lose their lives every year working in the fields and 755,000 others suffer various kinds of injuries, many of which can be wholly or partially debilitating. The economic losses from such accidents are estimated at a whopping Rs 54,000 crore a year. ...Read |
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| Nilanjana S Roy: The debutantes' ball - The Shakti Bhatt prize |
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| It’s not about competing or not competing with the greats,” says Mridula Koshy, winner of the 2009 Shakti Bhatt Prize, about India’s only book prize for debut writers. “When you’re a new writer, it’s not that you’re necessarily an amateur — the need is for the newness of what you have to say to be recognised. It’s about recognising how literature evolves. So, for writers on the shortlist of this sort of prize, what it does is to allow writers to engage with readers, and — just as important — with other writers.” This year’s Shakti Bhatt Prize shortlist spotlights six writers across a wide range of genres — three first novels, two of them from Pakistan, the biography of one of the subcontinent’s most fiercely political families, a graphic novel set in the Delhi of the Emergency, and a mesmerising food-and-travel odyssey. ...Read |
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| Sanjaya Baru: Diplomat's business |
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| It is probably a first of its kind. A press release issued by an Indian embassy abroad in support of an Indian company and a very Indian brand. Last week, the Indian embassy in Nepal was constrained to issue a press release alleging that sections of the media in the neighbouring country were seeking to malign an Indian company and suggesting that such a malicious campaign against an Indian brand could hurt bilateral relations. ...Read |
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| Evan A Feigenbaum: Challenge of a changing Asia |
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| It’s been a rough six months in East Asia, as tensions ratchet up in Korea, navies drill, and governments, from China to Vietnam, trade barbs, claims and counterclaims to the South China Sea. ...Read |
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| A V Rajwade: Reality checks on growth |
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| Continuing the last week’s argument (“The reality beyond the numbers”, September 1), can the environmental agenda as implemented by our young and energetic minister take precedence over every other objective of the democratic government of a still poor country? Consider the number of major industrial/infrastructural projects/developments blocked on environmental grounds, some for years — Posco Steel (Orissa), Jindal Power (Chhattisgarh), East Coast Energy, Nagarjuna Construction, Polavaram Dam and JSW Aluminium (Andhra), Navi Mumbai Airport, different projects in Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts (Maharashtra), genetically modified seeds, various highways under NHAI, the Ganga Expressway (UP) and so on. Depending on your definition, some (or all of them) would have some adverse impact on the environment and displace some residents. ...Read |
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| Statsguru-06-September-10 |
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| THE SENSITIVE INDEX (Sensex) and Nifty are at their 30-month highs and look expensive at the price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of 22 time for 12 months earnings till June 30, 2010. At current prices, the indices are trading around 17 times FY11 forward earnings. Automobile, banking, technology and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies drove the benchmark indices to this level at a time when oil and gas, telecom and realty were struggling to return to the black. ...Read |
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| K Subrahmanyam: Countering China's new assertiveness |
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| There can be no doubt that China is trying to apply pressure on India through measures like refusing a visa to India’s Northern Army Commander in Jammu and Kashmir, issuing stapled visas to people from that state visiting China, undertaking large-scale projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and discussing the possibility of limited war against India. ...Read |
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| Edwin M Truman: The çase for an Indian sovereign wealth fund |
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| The Indian government is once again considering whether it should establish a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) with an initial endowment of $10 billion. Would that be a wise policy? The answer depends on the fund’s objectives. Consider five possible objectives. ...Read |
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| Sreelatha Menon: Chinese food for thought |
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| The Uttar Pradesh government cannot be called insensitive when it comes to farmers. But it could take a lesson from China in the manner it values farmland. ...Read |
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| Q&A: B K Hariprasad |
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| Ticket aspirants are thronging your office. ...Read |
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| 'Reforms not backed by right machinery' |
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| I congratulate the minister (Kapil Sibal) for one thing. He has been thinking aright on these reformist measures. But, unfortunately, it is not backed up by the kind of implementation machinery it requires. Be it in the Right to Education or the disputes, in all these kinds of things, it is not only the intentions but the wherewithal that you try to carry and organise which becomes important. ...Read |
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| 'Our aim is to connect rural India and have all Panchayats connected with broadb |
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| One of the few young members of the UPA government, Sachin Pilot -- Minister of State for the Department of Information Technology (DIT) -- has taken charge of this portfolio at a time when there are great expectations from the information, communications and technology (ICT) industry. In a chat with Leslie D’monte and Kirtika Suneja, the young minister broadly outlines his vision for the industry even as he's learning the ropes. ...Read |
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| Web Excl: Restoration of tax breaks on natural gas output |
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| Section 80-IB (9) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 (‘Act’) provides for a tax holiday to an undertaking engaged in commercial production of mineral oil or refining of mineral oil. Tax holiday is available for a period of 7 consecutive tax years, starting from the year in which the undertaking begins commercial production or refining of mineral oil. ...Read |
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| Web Excl: Analysis of Report Card on implementation of Kelkar Committee |
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| The Report of the Task Force on the Implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 (‘the Second Committee Report’) was presented in July 2004 and is popularly known as the Kelkar Committee Report. It aimed at reducing fiscal deficits within the country. ...Read |
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| Radhika Anand & Subir Gokarn: Rupee impact is large, |
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