PURULIA ARM CASE
Kim Davy,
one of the accused in the Purulia arms dropping case
, has told Times Now that it was
the then Narasimha Rao govt that planned the whole operation to destabilise the
communist government in West Bengal.
, has told Times Now that it was
the then Narasimha Rao govt that planned the whole operation to destabilise the
communist government in West Bengal.
AMERICA DISAPPONTED BY INDIA
Masking its
disappointment over India rejecting the bids by Boeing and Lockheed Martin to
supply next generation F16s for the Indian Air Force, Pentagon spokesperson Col
Dave Lapan is quoted in the New York Times as saying 'We are deeply
disappointed by this news but we look forward to continuing to grow and develop
our defence partnership with India. We remain convinced that the United States
offers our defence partners around the globe the world's most advanced and
reliable technology.' Describing India's rejection of the two US majors as a
blow for President Barack Obama, the NYT points out that Obama had pushed hard
for various defense deals when he visited India in November 2010. Speaking of
how the US has struggled, despite improving relations, to land big contracts in
India, the NYT points out that part at least of the reason is that the 'the
Indian defence establishment are still wary of American intentions and United
States military aid to Pakistan, India's main adversary.'
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC)
was Thursday split down the middle with panel chief Murli Manohar Joshi walking
out in anger as the ruling combine rejected the draft report on the 2G spectrum
case and the opposition vociferously backed it.
During the meeting at the Parliament
House complex here, Congress and DMK members, supported by the Samajwadi Party
and Bahujan Samaj Party, moved a resolution that the draft report should be put
to vote.
The ruling alliance members gave 11
votes in writing, exactly half of the 22-member panel.
At this, Joshi, who is a leader of
the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), got angry, abruptly adjourned the
meeting and walked out. Joshi had support from members of the Shiv Sena, Janata
Dal-United and the Biju Janata Dal.
Congress member Naveen Jindal said
the chairman had not adjourned the meeting. The remaining 11 members then
appointed Saifuddin Soz as the acting chairman to preside over the meeting.
Soz, in his capacity as the acting
chairman, got a resolution passed rejecting the report, Jindal said.
Soz and the rest of the members then
submitted the resolution rejecting the report and the written votes of 11
members to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
The BJP said that Joshi in his
capacity as the chairman of the panel could still finalise the report and
submit the report.
The draft 270-page report, which was
circulated among members Wednesday, has criticised Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh for giving an 'indirect green signal' to former IT and communications
minister A. Raja to execute his 'unfair and dubious designs' in selling scarce
radio waves at throwaway prices.
for giving an 'indirect green signal' to former IT and communications
minister A. Raja to execute his 'unfair and dubious designs' in selling scarce
radio waves at throwaway prices.
RBI releases paper
on savings bank deposit rate deregulation
|
The Reserve Bank of India on
Thursday released a discussion paper on deregulation of savings bank deposit
rate, and has asked for feedback by May 20.
In the discussion paper, the central
bank pointed out that the deregulation of the savings bank deposit rate, which
is currently at 3.5%, would improve monetary policy transmission.
EPFO to pay 9.5% on
claims till new rate is decided
|
Subscribers of retirement fund
manager EPFO, settling their final claims before the new rate is announced for
the current fiscal, will get the existing 9.5% interest on their deposits.
"Since the rate of interest (on
deposits) for FY11 has been declared as 9.5% per annum, settlement of claims of
the EPF subscribers during FY12 shall be made at 9.5% per annum till rate of
interest is declared for FY12," said an order issued by the Employees'
Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The decision will benefit those subscribers
who are either retiring or going in for full and final settlement of their
accounts before the new rate is announced for FY12.
In September, EPFO had announced
9.5% rate of return on deposits for over 4.71 crore subscribers for FY11, which
has been ratified by the Finance Ministry.
The order is contrary to the view of
the Chairman of EPFO's apex decision making body, Central Board of Trustees
(CBT), who wanted to give 8.5% rate for FY12 to all outgoing subscribers
settling claims this fiscal.
CBT, which is headed by the Labour
Minister, had expressed the view of providing 8.5%.
EPFO had been providing 8.5% rate of
return to its subscribers for five years since FY06. It was raised to 9.5% for
FY11 after EPFO discovered a surplus of over Rs 1,700 crore.
According to the Employees'
Provident Fund Scheme, EPFO has to settle claims at the rate provided for the
previous fiscal, in case the rate for the subsequent financial year has not
been declared.
This rule will benefit all those
subscribers who would settle their claims before the announcement of the rate
of return for FY12.
They will retain the gains even if
EPFO announces interest rate lower than 9.5% for this fiscal, but will be able
to claim the difference if the rate happens to be higher.
PAC setback for RBI governor Subbarao
Questions over Duvurri Subbarao's role in the
2G spectrum scam could be a setback to the former IAS officer's chances of
getting a second term in the Reserve Bank of India in September.
In fact, the names of economic affairs secretary R Gopalan and chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu have already started doing the rounds as a possible successor. Both joined the finance ministry after Pranab Mukherjee moved into North Block in late 2008.
Apart from having been in charge of the financial sector department in the ministry, Gopalan was a public sector bank employee before joining the IAS. Basu is an economist who is on leave from Cornell University.
When Subbarao moved to Mumbai in September 2008, he was given a three-year term and he was widely expected to get a two-year extension. Yaga Venugopal Reddy, Subbarao's predecessor on Mint Road, had served a five-year term while Bimal Jalan's three-year term had been extended though he decided to resign midway to become a Rajya Sabha member.
The draft PAC report, which was not accepted by all the committee members, had said Subbarao should be asked to explain why he did not raise questions over telecom ministry's move to ignore finance ministry's recommendations.
Officials said there was no formal proposal to either extend the present governor's tenure or find a replacement. A final call would be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee closer to the expiry of Subbarao's term.
In 2008, in a first, a committee headed by P Chidambaram, then finance minister, with C Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's economic advisory council, as a member shortlisted possible candidates and zeroed in on Subbarao.
Though Subbarao is seen to have handled the impact of the global financial crisis well, he has publicly opposed the government on at least two issues. The first area of difference was the establishment of a joint committee of regulators for dispute resolution that is headed by the finance minister. Similarly, he was severely critical of the government's decision to set up the Financial Stability & Development Council, which is again headed by the finance minister.
On both occasions, however, he was placated by the government after signals from the North Block that RBI governor is the first among equals when it comes to financial sector regulation.
After Chidambaram's departure from the finance ministry, the government has stayed away from reappointments in regulatory agencies with former Sebi chairman C B Bhave and former RBI deputy governor Usha Thorat being examples. At least two senior finance ministry officials - revenue secretary P V Bhide and finance secretary Ashok Chawla - were not given extensions and were allowed to retire just a month before the budget was presented.
In case of banks and financial institutions, too, the government has decided that any reappointment will take place only after the incumbent's performance is reviewed by a specially-appointed panel.
In fact, the names of economic affairs secretary R Gopalan and chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu have already started doing the rounds as a possible successor. Both joined the finance ministry after Pranab Mukherjee moved into North Block in late 2008.
Apart from having been in charge of the financial sector department in the ministry, Gopalan was a public sector bank employee before joining the IAS. Basu is an economist who is on leave from Cornell University.
When Subbarao moved to Mumbai in September 2008, he was given a three-year term and he was widely expected to get a two-year extension. Yaga Venugopal Reddy, Subbarao's predecessor on Mint Road, had served a five-year term while Bimal Jalan's three-year term had been extended though he decided to resign midway to become a Rajya Sabha member.
The draft PAC report, which was not accepted by all the committee members, had said Subbarao should be asked to explain why he did not raise questions over telecom ministry's move to ignore finance ministry's recommendations.
Officials said there was no formal proposal to either extend the present governor's tenure or find a replacement. A final call would be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee closer to the expiry of Subbarao's term.
In 2008, in a first, a committee headed by P Chidambaram, then finance minister, with C Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister's economic advisory council, as a member shortlisted possible candidates and zeroed in on Subbarao.
Though Subbarao is seen to have handled the impact of the global financial crisis well, he has publicly opposed the government on at least two issues. The first area of difference was the establishment of a joint committee of regulators for dispute resolution that is headed by the finance minister. Similarly, he was severely critical of the government's decision to set up the Financial Stability & Development Council, which is again headed by the finance minister.
On both occasions, however, he was placated by the government after signals from the North Block that RBI governor is the first among equals when it comes to financial sector regulation.
After Chidambaram's departure from the finance ministry, the government has stayed away from reappointments in regulatory agencies with former Sebi chairman C B Bhave and former RBI deputy governor Usha Thorat being examples. At least two senior finance ministry officials - revenue secretary P V Bhide and finance secretary Ashok Chawla - were not given extensions and were allowed to retire just a month before the budget was presented.
In case of banks and financial institutions, too, the government has decided that any reappointment will take place only after the incumbent's performance is reviewed by a specially-appointed panel.
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