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Showing posts from November, 2009

50% of foreign money in mkts from ‘tax havens’

No Cause For Concern: Pranab Pradeep Thakur TNN New Delhi: Nearly half of the Rs 70,000 crore in offshore investment that’s come into Indian bourses this fiscal, till October, is from alleged tax havens such as Mauritius, Hong Kong and Luxembourg — the three together contributing almost Rs 25,000 crore of the net inflow from foreign institutional investors. Significant omissions from this list are FIIs from Singapore and Switzerland, two countries that had figured among the top-five with highest investments in Indian equities during the economic slowdown of 2008. FIIs from the two countries had put in over Rs 15,000 crore last year. The government says there is no cause for concern on the strong FII inflow into stock markets, with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee stating that regulators are keeping a close watch and will act if it’s found alarming. Till October 2009, FII-held equities totalled over $160 billion. A finance ministry statement said the highest investments came from US-ba

Declare Your Assets Campaign

Dated: 6th November, 2009 Dear Sir, In the recent past, issues relating to probity, transparency and accountability of public servants have been a subject matter of public debate. The debate has led to the voluntary placement of details of assets of all Hon’ble Judges of the Supreme Court, and some Judges of different High Courts on web sites in the public domain. Details of assets possessed by all candidates contesting elections to Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies are also being placed in the public domain by the Election Commission of India. Public demand for placement of such details of bureaucrats, Judges of High Courts, District Courts and subordinate judiciary are also being made. 2. It is understood that under the Right to Information Act, pronouncements have been made by the Chief Information Commissioner directing Government to make available the details of assets declared at the beginning of every year by senior officers, especially All India Service Officer

Madhu Kodas of India

Madhu Kodas of India, An Appeal to Fellow Citizens I have been closely following recent happenings relating to Shri Madhu Koda, Member of Parliament and former Chief Minister of Jharkhand and some of his cabinet colleagues that have been appearing in the Press. Without going into the murky details which vividly reveal the tale of greed, avarice, and ambition of relatively young, elected representatives for whom politics is the stepping stone to a life full of riches, unbridled power and the license to loot, let it be understood that it reflects the tragic case of an opportunity lost for crores of tribal and non-tribal residents of Jharkhand! It is the culmination of a story of betrayal by their own leaders in whom people had reposed their trust. However, this is not the story of Jharkhand alone. We believe that the same story is being unfolded in other States of India whether they are in the North, South, East, West or the North East. Lust for power, hunger for wealth, intolerance of d