India to be 2nd Largest Steel Producer by 2013:B P Verma

India to be 2nd Largest Steel Producer by 2013: Shri Beni Prasad Verma

The Union Minister for Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma said that India will become the world's second largest producer of steel by 2013. With an installed annual production capacity of 120 million tonnes up from the present the present 80 million tonnes. Addressing the 5th India steel Summit in New Delhi today, he said that currently, India has the fourth largest steel sector in the world, both in terms of capacity and production. He said, further the capacity is expected to be over 150 million tonnes by 2020.

On the occasion, the Steel Secretary, Shri P K Misra said that by the end of the current financial year, the steel manufacturing capacity of the country might reach around 90 MT. He said, this is likely to cross 110 MT by next financial year when the brownfield capacity addition projects of SAIL and other private sector projects get commissioned.

The secretary also called upon the steel industry to come forward for expansion in Research & Development and infrastructure development specially of port and railways. Shri Misra said that the industry and the technologists to seriously consider and prioritize innovation, research design and manufacturing activities in the steel technology area.

Shri Misra said, considering the many challenges, the industry faces at present; Ministry of Steel has decided to formulate a New National Policy and vision Document on Steel sector. This will project a medium term horizon of 10 years and also a long term vision of 25 years. Four eminent personalities in the related fields have offered their services to head the Task Force committees. The various Committees have already started functioning with wide interactions and consultations with the stakeholders and the industry. The report is expected to be ready by December this year, said the Secretary.

Following is the text of the speech made by the Minister of Steel, Shri Beni Prasad Verma on the occasion:

“I am indeed happy to be present on the occasion of ‘Fifth India Steel Summit’ organised by the Associated Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Conference has come at a right moment when Indian Steel Sector is passing through an important phase, where it needs to address key issues relating to capacity enhancement, value creation and competitiveness.

Currently, India has the fourth largest steel sector in the world, both in terms of capacity and production. By 2013, India will be the second largest steel producer in the world riding on the high levels of growth in construction, housing, real estate, automobiles and agriculture. Currently, steel demand in the country is growing at an average rate of 10%, which may exceed even 12% in near future. In order to meet the demand from domestic consumers, steel production capacity in India must increase at average rate of 10 to15%. We have, therefore a challenging task ahead of us in setting up the desired capacities, within the shortest possible time.

As you may be aware, the progress of steel projects also depends upon allocation of raw material resources, land, water, environmental & forest clearances as well as development of infrastructure. There is also the issue of delay in iron ore mining lease to major steel producers, many of whom have no captive source of raw materials. I hope the Conference will deliberate on these key issues affecting investment and suggest a way regarding how Investors and the Government can expedite steel investment.

India is endowed with significant iron ore reserves, estimated at 25 Billion tonne. However, the proven economically mineable reserve is only 7 billion tonne, of which the high reserve grade is only 1.3 billion tonne. Considering we will be producing more than 200 million tonnes of steel in another 10 years, there is an urgent need to conserve our scarce natural resources. As a matter of policy we have taken fiscal measures in imposing 20% duty on export of all kinds of iron ore. This is expected to encourage domestic value addition in the country. Also in order to encourage better utilization of iron ores fines, export duty on Pellets has been exempted in the last budget.

There are a large number of projects currently in the pipeline including the major ones such as expansion plan of SAIL, RINL, Tata, Essar, JSW and JSPL. A number of greenfield projects are also at different stages of progress including the large foreign investment projects such as Posco and Arcellor-Mittal. I have been told that, the brownfield projects are progressing well, whereas some of the greenfield projects are lagging behind their schedules by 2 to3 years period. My Ministry is closely monitoring the major steel investment projects. The progress of public sector steel units is also being closely monitored by the Ministry. By the year 2013, it is estimated that Indian would have a steel production capacity of 120 million tonnes, up from the present 80 million tonnes. Further the capacity is expected to be over 150 million tonnes by 2020.

Land Acquisition has become a major challenge. Steel investors need thousands of acres of land for setting up their projects. India is a thickly populated country. Most of the people in rural areas are largely dependent upon agricultural land for maintaining their livelihood. Acquisition of land without ensuring adequate compensation, rehabilitation and employment, has already generated massive unrest and protests, in various parts of the country. However, land is also essential for any industrial development activity. To maintain the fine balance, Government is seriously working on a new Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill. I hope this will be finalized very soon.

Steel projects and the mining activities are usually located in relatively underdeveloped regions of the country. The industry has a responsibility for looking after the needs of the local population and act as a facilitator for social development. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) assumes a significant role in this area. All profitable public sector companies under my Ministry have made commitments to the cause of CSR and have earmarked at least 2% of their distributable surplus for CSR activities focusing on environment, family welfare, education, health, water supply and sanitation. I also request the private sector to take a massive lead in this direction.

Steel consumption in India is around 50 Kilograms per person per year. A large section of rural India does not have good distribution network to avail the steel products. Rural steel consumption in the country is only 10 Kilograms per person. Various government social schemes like NREGA and Indira Awas Yojana are expected to bring about development in the rural areas and increase steel consumption. In addition I have also directed the Public sector steel units to increase their distribution network in rural and remote areas of the country.

I understand that the National Summit will be addressed by eminent persons from the industry as well as representatives from some of the State Government. I request the participants and delegates to focus upon the key issues affecting growth and development of Indian steel industry into a world leader and in achieving long term sustainability. I wish the Conference all success”.

Increase in Policy repo rate

RBI Gives Strong Signal to further Moderate Inflation and Check Inflationary Expectations by making 50 basis Points Increase in Policy repo rate; Expects more Comfortable Inflation Situation of 6 to 7 per cent at year end: FM
The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that by announcing a 50 basis point increase in the policy repo rate, raising it from 7.50 per cent to 8.0 per cent, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sought to give a strong signal to further moderate inflation and check inflationary expectations. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee was reacting here today to the 50 basis points increase made in the policy repo rate under Liquidity Adjustment Facility(LAF) by RBI in its First Quarter Review of Monetary Policy 2011-12 which was announced today in Mumbai.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that he expects that with this policy adjustment, we will be able to get back to a more comfortable inflation situation that takes us to the year end inflation level of 6 to 7 per cent.

The Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that in recent months, inflation has softened, particularly so in case of food inflation, but due to the hardening of non-food manufacturing inflation, headline inflation continues to be around 9 per cent. Shri Mukherjee said though this is consistent with the RBI assumption for the first half of 2011-12, medium-term concerns on growth require that we bring it down to more acceptable level at the earliest. The Finance Minister Shri Mukherjee said that notwithstanding some slowdown of GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011-12, as reflected in the some indicators including the IIP and moderation in the growth of interest-sensitive sectors, the overall GDP growth for 2011-12 so far is in line with the momentum attained in 2010-11.

Amended Indo-Swiss DTAA might be in place

Amended Indo-Swiss DTAA might be in place by end-2011: Pranab:The protocol signed by India and Switzerland to amend their existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement so as to facilitate information sharing on black money stashed away in Swiss banks may come into force by the end of this year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said."We have signed a protocol amending the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Switzerland last August. As per their law and Constitution, their international agreements are to be ratified by both houses of Parliament and local authorities. "The ratification by the two houses are over. Ratification by local authorities may be over by the end of this year," Mukherjee told newsmen at India House in London on Monday evening. being asked whether former Telecom minister A Raja had consulted him on the 2G spectrum issue, Mukherjee, who was heading the Group of Ministers, said: "I was involved in resolving the issue -- spectrum to be vacated by Ministry of Defence.There were divergent views. I was heading the External Affairs Ministry and I resolved the issue by making the Defence Ministry to vacate certain quantum of spectrum," he said.Asked whether the government would be investigating the Rupert Murdoch issue in India, Mukherjee said: "If we receive any complaints in India we will look into them. What happens in other countries is left to them to decide."The High Commissioner of India to the UK, Nalin Surie, and Deputy High Commissioner Rajesh Prasad were also present on the occasion.

EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW IRELAND REGION,PAPUA NEW GUINEA-Japan

6.4-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEW IRELAND REGION,PAPUA NEW GUINEA

6.2-magnitude quake hits Japan's Fukushima Prefecture-early Monday Morning, said the Japan Meteorological Agency.The focus of the quake, which occurred at 03:51 a.m. local time was located some 40 km under the sea off Fukushima, said the agency.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to properties, and no tsunami warning was issued. Tremors were felt in Tokyo, about 240 kilometers away from the prefecture.

Russian team won seventh gold medal : 2011 World Aquatics

Russian team won the 7th gold medal at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai.
Russia scored 98.620 points to beat China, which finished with 96.580. Spain won the bronze with 96.090 points.This year Russia broke the record at swimming championships since no country has ever won seven gold medals at the championship before.The winners' plane will land at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on July 24;
Russia's Natalya Ishchenko has won the gold medal in the Technical Solo synchronized swimming event, at the 2011 Swimming World Championships in Shanghai, China."Basically I am pleased with my performance but it is too early to relax," Ishchenko said, adding that there were still a lot of competition days left.
Ishchenko finished first with 98.300 points. Huang Xuechen of China was second with 96.500 and Andrea Fuentes of Spain won the bronze with 95.300.
Ishchenko became the world's first-ever eleven-time world champion in synchronized swimming.

Development of New Environment Friendly Technologies to Play Very Important Role: Prime Minister

Development of New Environment Friendly Technologies to Play Very Important Role: Prime Minister

Regulatory Mechanism For Appraisal And Pricing Required For Mining Sector : CJI SH KAPADIA

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “In this increasingly integrated world that we live in, we have to devise cooperative solutions to deal with the pressing emerging global challenges and concerns. The development of new environment friendly technologies is going to play a very important role. The task ahead is to design a system of intellectual property rights which provides adequate incentives to invest in the development of new environment friendly technologies and at the same time ensuring that these technologies become available to poor countries at affordable cost.” Delivering a valedictory address at the end of three-day International Seminar on Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society” here today, Dr Singh said The United Nations Conference held at Stockholm in 1972 marked the first major international event to deal with environmental issues. But securing global cooperation for the protection and preservation of the environment has proved quite difficult. All countries, both rich and poor, developed and developing, countries of the north and countries of the south need to cooperate in this sort of global effort now.The very definition of growth has been enlarged to accommodate environmental and related concerns. . It is no longer possible to treat the environment with passive disregard. Sustainable development has been accepted widely as the strategy that marries the aspirations for growth and development with preservation of the environment.

The Prime Minister said, “At times of the newly liberalized we did not bear the depletion of the nation's natural resources as the cost of doing business silently and did not compromise. Our judiciary enforced laws passed by a farsighted legislature to ensure that these concerns were neither diluted nor dismissed. Our safeguards are now far more stringent. A major challenge ahead is to put in place a legal and regulatory framework which is effective in protecting the environment but without bringing back the hated license permit raj of the pre-1991 period.”

Giving an outline of national agenda for environmental protection to meet the challenges of disaster management and climate changeduring last last four years, Dr Singh explained, “We have a target for greening 10 million hectares of forest land to increase incomes of the poor through a national Green India Mission. Action for generating over 20,000 MW of solar energy by the year 2020 is underway. Our mission for enhanced energy efficiency will reduce substantially need for capacity addition. Our mission for sustainable habitat will develop standards for green buildings which we intend to make integral to our municipal laws. Our missions on sustainable agriculture and water conservation will increase productivity of dry land agriculture as well as increase efficiency of water use. All these steps will cumulatively lead us to a low carbon growth path. These are steps that we have decided to take on our own as responsible global citizens.”

Justice Sh S H Kapadia, Chief Justice of India, who was presiding over the function said, “The concept of environmental protection should be a continuous process in the context of what constitute clean, decent and viable environment. It is the case of applied ethics where governments and authorities have to look into. We need electricity for our huge population and industrial growth. We need clean energy.”

Giving details of India’s vast topography in reference to coastal Regulatory Zone, Justice Sh Kapadia said, “ We have to see the practical aspects of all problems for straight and zigzag coastline to implement the same order. This is one way of balancing ecology and livelihood. Most acute problem the Supreme Court faces today is the plants, buildings, projects come up and suddenly at the end, a PIL comes and we are there to decide post facto approval. Large investment is thrown out. In future conferences should look into this post facto approvals as Brithish System has done ‘Meets and Rationality’ development on scientific lines.”

Justice Sh Kapadia, further said that under the Environment Protection Act, we have public participation. He regretted to say that sometimes some village durbars and local bodies which initially grants okays NOCs, later on they turn back, they object the project to come up. It becomes difficult to deal with this kind of problems? Even in public participation, the views change for certain reasons at later date, he added.

Regarding judicial restraint he said, “As long as the principle of sustainable development are followed, Green Tribunal is now working. A case of what is called margin of appreciation should be applied, so that Ministry of Environment and Forests and other authorities can balance environment.” He suggested the Ministry to take into account a regulatory mechanism for enforcement of environmental issues. India is a vast country. We can’t just rely upon the report of project proponent. MoEF alone cannot have this appraisal in some of the cases. For mining, he elaborated, the regulatory mechanism should not be in charge of only term of appraisal, but also in charge of pricing. All norms and mining plans are there, but at the state level , they are being flouted for some reasons. We do not have machinery to supervise even mining plans for environmental protection. There is a biggest problem of pricing. Time has come when excavated minerals should be judged, auctioned or should have price determining mechanism. The ad valorem royalty is not considered which result in public sector companies earning less profit margin and the private companies earn huge profit margin because of differences between the royalties they pay to the government and the amount they realize abroad. Due to this, ill legal mining is going on in many states. A regulatory mechanism for appraisal and pricing are required.

Law Minister Sh Salman Khurshid said, “This gathering of global world from all sections of judiciary and governments was here to discover new concepts and new principles that will bind us together and secure environment for our succeeding generation with sense of confidence. Disasters, disease, concerns about life style we understand in the right context of economics, morality, management and philosophy.”

Minister of State for Environment and Forests, (I/C), Smt Jayanthi Natarajan said, “ We have eight missions started by our Prime Minister for preserving environment, reducing pollution, increasing green cover and climate change. They will reduce substantially need for capacity addition. All these steps will cumulatively lead us to a low carbon growth path.”

Justice Sh Altamas Kabir deliver keynote address. Justice Sh Swantanter Kumar welcomed the gathering.A special issue of the journal of the Indian Law Institute on ‘Climate Change and Environmental Law’ was released by the Prime Minister.

FICCI HEAL 2011

FICCI HEAL 2011

“From Dis-ease to Health-ease”

September 8 & 9, 2011

FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi

 

I am pleased to inform you that Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is organizing 5^th FICCI HEAL 2011, the two-day annual healthcare conference on September 8 & 9, 2011 at FICCI, New Delhi. The central theme of the Conference is “From Dis-ease to Health-ease”.

 

Preventive healthcare requires significant investment and coordinated efforts between different government agencies over a period of time to benefit society in the long run, typically making it economically unattractive for the private enterprise. In India, the absence of hygienic living conditions and clean drinking water results in communities to continue suffering from communicable diseases. The situation has been compounded with the increasing burden of life style diseases on both rural and urban population. As 80% of healthcare delivery is currently being provided by the private sector and is focused on curative care, the key issue to be addressed is how and what role private sector can play in supporting the government to focus on preventive healthcare.

 

The Conference would be a conglomeration of policy makers and national and international leaders from healthcare and associated industries. Our endeavor, through this conference, is to keep prevention as the core theme of the conference and deliberate on the emerging opportunities, challenges and solutions. We have invited Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India to inaugurate the Conference. 

Shabana Azmi new-avatar-of-Audit Advisory Board

The film star Shabana Azmi is made a member of the newly set up Audit Advisory Board (AAB). This board is constituted by the government under Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). AAB's main function is to advise the CAG in matters relating to audit and suggest improvements in the performance and focus of audit.Rohini Nilekani, ICICI Bank and Infosys chairman K V Kamath, social activist, film star Shabana Azmi have been made members of the newly set up Audit Advisory Board (AAB).

Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, who is its ex-officio chairman,. Its main function will be to advise the CAG in matters relating to audit and suggest improvements in the performance and focus of audit.

4th SAARC home ministers’ meet begins Saturday

4th SAARC home ministers’ meet begins today-The fourth SAARC Home and interior Ministers meeting is being held in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu today. Home Minister P Chidambaram will attend the meeting along with his counterparts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The meeting will consider the report of the home secretaries who met on Friday.- Ministerial Meeting will focus on strengthening regional efforts towards preventing and combating terrorism, the abuse of illicit traffic of narcotic drugs and human trafficking.

Menace of money power :EC

 Election Commission on Thursday told senior officers that neutrality was "non-negotiable" in elections,"Though there was no specific complaint, political parties have pointed out towards politicisation of bureaucracy during their meeting with us. We have told top officials that neutrality is non-negotiable and they should be 100 per cent neutral", Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi told reporters.Claiming to have successfully controlled use of muscle power in elections, Quraishi said the EC would also check use of money power using its experiences in recent Assembly polls in five states."Use of muscle power in elections is history as is the case of booth capturing. Now we will be effectively keeping a tab on use of money power," Quraishi said.On the demand of some parties for early polls in the state, Quraishi said two parties wanted early polls in January-February citing harvesting season, competitive examinations and excessive heat in the later months as reasons."We will take a call on it later. We have to make preparations for four other states as well," he said.About the trend of paid news during elections, the CEC said the EC was legally examining ways to deal with it.

Bihar land scam

Congress on Wednesday strongly criticized Bihar Government for the land scam allegedly involving relatives of ministers and bureaucrats. The party spokesman Mr. Shakeel Ahmed told media in New Delhi that Congress is fully backing state unit.

India US trade,economic to-strengthen:Clinton

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Calls on Pranab Mukherjee,both Leaders Decide to Further Strengthen India US Strategic and Economic Partnership. This is Clinton's three-day visit and her second to India as secretary of state. Clinton said, civilian nuclear energy as a priority area, where the US and India "can and must do more".Further Clinton said,she was "encouraged" by renewed dialogue between India and Pakistan, which was "so necessary for us to deal with the underlying problem of terrorism".

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said that India gives high importance to India US Strategic and Economic Partnership. He was speaking on the occasion when an official US delegation led by the US Secretary of State, Ms. Hillary R. Clinton called on him, here today. He stated that India is carrying its reforms agenda further by making major change in the tax sector – involving both direct and indirect taxes. Shri Mukherjee said that in the field of direct taxes, efforts are on to make Direct Tax Code (DTC) effective w.e.f. 1st April, 2012. In field of indirect taxes, efforts are also on to build a consensus among all the stakeholders including state governments to make Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective at the earliest. He said that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are expected to finalize the guidelines of Infrastructure Debt Fund soon which would help in expediting investment by the US companies in India.

Speaking on the occasion, US Secretary of State Ms. Clinton hoped that the relationship between India and US in the field of trade, infrastructure investment, business, defence and strategic matters would be further strengthened. She said that US India have excellent working relationship especially in field of economic and financial partnership. She said that India can play a major role in enhancing regional economic cooperation and optimizing the large potential available in this region. She specifically mentioned that India can play a major role in the economic development of Afghanistan. Responding to that Shri Mukherjee said that India is already engaged in economic development of Afghanistan and helping it in building roads and improving power generation among others.

Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that India would make efforts to ensure that the India US participation in trade, investment, agriculture and education further expand in future. The US delegation consists of Mr. Robert O’ Blake, Asstt. Secretary, Mr. Daniel B. Poneman, Deputy Secretary, Energy, Ms. Elizabeth Littlefield, Head of Overseas Private Investment Corporation among others. The Indian delegation included among others Ms. Meera Shankar, India’s Ambassador to US, Shri R.S. Gujral, Revenue Secretary and Dr. Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor.

GoM approves additional Equity infusion of Rs 1200 crore for Air India

GoM decides additional equity infusion of Rs 1200 crore for Air India
A group of ministers on civil aviation has decided in-principle additional equity infusion of 1,200 crore rupees to Air India. Government decided payment of 532 crore rupees to national carrier for operating VVIP and rescue flights.

Speaking to reporters on Monday after the meet, civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi said the GoM would again meet next week to finalise the payment details.Mr Ravi said a consensus has been reached on expediting equity infusion and implementing the revival plan.The panel is expected to take a final call on Air India’s turnaround and financial restructuring plans - prepared by the State Bank of India’s financial advisory arm SBI Caps - at its next meeting.

Hina Rabbani Khar elevated Foreign Minister of Pakistan.

Hina Rabbani Khar will be the new Foreign Minister of Pakistan.
 Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has sent the summary to President Asif Ali Zardari, Geo News reported.
Prior to this development Hina Rabbani Khar was serving as the State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Cash-for-vote scam: Police make first arrest

Delhi Police on Sunday made its first arrest in the cash for vote scam case picking up Sanjeev Saxena, believed to be an aide of Amar Singh, for allegedly trying to bribe BJP MPs ahead of UPA govt's trust vote in 2008.

A senior police official said the investigators would also question expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and a few others in the coming days.

Police sources said, Saxena was arrested on Sunday afternoon following his questioning in connection with the probe into the incident which came to light on 22^nd July 2008 when BJP MPs displayed wads of notes in Lok Sabha alleging that the money had been offered as bribe to them.

Saxena has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, police said. The BJP had alleged that Saxena was Amar Singh's aide and he was allegedly caught on camera giving money to the BJP MPs.They had also alleged that it was Saxena who called Amar Singh from his mobile phone and got the three MPs to talk to him in order to fix a deal.Amar Singh had denied any role and had also distanced himself from Saxena."He (Saxena) was arrested from Delhi by Crime Branch team. There was evidence against him in this case. He will be produced before the court tomorrow," a top police official said.The allegation was levelled by then BJP MPs Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora.

The MPs alleged that it was Saxena who had delivered Rs one crore in cash to them at the 4 Ferozshah Road residence of Ashok Argal on 22^nd July 2008, hours before the vote of confidence in Lok Sabha.The sources said police had questioned Khulaste and Bhagora in connection with the case about two months.The police action came two days after the apex court came down heavily on Delhi Police for its "callous approach" in probing the scam and asking why it has not taken action so far against those involved in the case.

In strong words, the court had said, "We are not happy at all with the probe done by the Delhi Police. This is not the way to probe the offence of such serious nature."

A seven-member parliamentary panel had probed the allegations and asked the Delhi Police to investigate the role of Saxena, besides that of Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of BJP leader L K Advani, and Suhail Hindustani in the case.The apex court had expressed concern that no progress has been made by the police in the case."Investigation has been done with callousness on the complaint filed by Lok Sabha Secretary," it said.The bench said it was "fully dis-satisfied" with the status report filed by the police and pulled it up for not carrying out custodial interrogation.

The court was hearing a petition filed by former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh seeking directions to the government to take action against politicians involved in the scam.

Swiss Central Bank:Indian holders over USD 2bn

Swiss Central Bank has put estimates the total liabilities of Swiss banks towards Indian holders at about USD 2.5 billion in 2010 , against projections of about USD 1.5 trillion by experts,political parties,NGO's. 
Media reports, to the data provided by the Swiss bank, India has more black money than rest of the world combined. India topping the list with almost $1500 Billion black money in swiss banks, followed by Russia $470 Billion, UK $390 Billion, Ukraine $100 Billion and China with $96 Billion. http://www.iretireearly.com/1-4-trillion-indias-black-money-stashed-in-swiss-banks.html

"The Swiss National Bank  only say that liabilities of Swiss banks towards Indian holders according to our annual statistics... were Swiss francs 1.945 billion [USD 2.5 billion] in 2010," Walter Meier, the spokesperson for the Swiss National Bank President, told PTI. He said the liabilities of the Swiss banks towards Indian holders were Swiss francs 1.965 billion (USD 2.7 billion) in 2009 and Swiss francs 2.4 billion (about USD 3 billion) in 2008.

  Aftermath of the financial crisis of West after the the collapse of the Lehman Bank in the United States in 2008, Swiss private banks, UBS,  suffered huge losses. A substantial withdrawals of funds from Swiss banks.Many legal cases against banks, UBS, for parking funds by wealthy US citizens tax evasion, plus infuriating  international pressure from the Paris-based OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) along with G-20, financial regulation forced the Swiss government to considerably relax their secrecy  confidentiality provisions of numbered accounts. Swiss government thus gradually relaxed its banking secrecy laws.

EU,chapter, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) in its report,has  listed "uncooperative" countries such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria and Liechtenstein, to the G-20, thus a panic reaction.OECD formulated a set of strong rules and standards to curb banking secrecy laws in the offshore tax havens that include the Isle of Man, Hong Kong, and Singapore along with Switzerland, Liechtenstein Monaco, Austria and Andorra.Reported, Indian companies and private holders have moved funds from Switzerland to Singapore following the financial crisis in 2008.Trends suggest that Switzerland continues to attract funds on a huge scale, its banks are now in robust health even as other industrialized countries are drowned in unprecedented fiscal crises."The strengthening of the Swiss frank against all major currencies over the last one year is a clear sign that funds are coming back to the Swiss banks," said an Indian banker in Geneva, anonymously.Walter Meir said, Swiss government is holding negotiations with the governments on the proposal of having a "withholding tax" on assets held by foreign entities in Swiss banks, suggesting that he doesn’t have any information about India looking at a similar arrangement.

India  opened  window for money laundering in late 90s in Mauritius and  is actively used now for carrying out illegal money transactions,there are 9000 international corporations and financial institutions including Swiss Private banks registered in Mauritius  are doing business in India and investing in Indian stock /commodities markets. Mauritius  becomes the defacto route for FDI and FII money flow in and out of India,Reports NGO-would not take much time to get the banks in India to provide the reports of all the cash inflows and outflows from and to to all these tax havens including Mauritius in the past 10 years in matter of weeks this can be done - these reports are also filed with RBI
Tax heavens, Swiss, Cayman, BVI, Guyana, Jersey and a host of other countries over 70 tax heavens not just tax treaties also extradition treaties with governments who are known to encourage asylum like US /EU/ Canada /UK.

Five LeT militants, one jawan killed in JK Kupwara

Five militants have been shot dead while an Army jawan laid down his life and four security personnel injured in a fierce gunbattle in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Friday.

Troops of 18 Rashtriya Rifles and special operation group of local police had launched a search-cum-cordon operation in Maidanpora village in Lolab, in the wee hours on Friday following information about the presence of foreign militants.In an effort to escape the armed forces, the militants had entered the house of local. The army waited for civilians to evacuate before the operation to eliminate the militants began. The operation came to end after 10 long hours.

One army jawan identified as Nayak Sumer Singh from Nagaur district of Rajasthan was killed while another received a bullet injury in his stomach, a police spokesman said. Besides this, four others
including an army captain received minor injuries in the operation. 

Singapore:Opp party member Tan Jee Say-to-contest Prez Election.

Singapore:Opposition party member Tan Jee Say said on Friday he is stepping forward to contest the Presidential Election.
Mr Tan collected forms for the Certificate of Eligibility from the Elections Department on Friday morning-
Mr Tan said he is doing so because many Singaporeans want a non-PAP President whose independence of the PAP is clear, obvious and cannot be in doubt.

India and US to Sign Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement Dr. Zaidi “India Aviation-2012”

India and US to Sign Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement Dr. Nasim Zaidi Launches “India Aviation-2012” Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation launched “India Aviation-2012”, the 3rd international Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation here today. The event will be held at Begumpet Airport from 14-18th March, 2012. Addressing on the occasion, Dr. Zaidi said that it would be necessary to redefine the parameters of regulation in order to assure travelers the guarantee of safety. The ministry is considering restructuring the DGCA into a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). In order to prevent repetitive accidents, an Independent Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Committee has been set up within oversight of Ministry of Civil Aviation to coordinate and oversee the investigation into accidents and also effective follow up of compliance of recommendations. Steps are under way to set up a full-fledged Independent Accident Investigation Board. He announced that a land mark Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement has been approved by the Cabinet and will be signed with USA, during the visit of Ms. Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State. The proposed agreement will open up huge market for export of aeronautical products manufactured in the country in USA and other regions of the world. This will open up huge potential for investment.

Emphasizing the passengers’ facilities and consumer protection, he said that the rights of the passengers need to be respected and protected at all times. The significant steps for consumer protection has been taken through CARs on disability related rights, refunds, cancellations, delays, over-bookings and denied boardings. He suggested that Airlines and Airports should compete with each other in offering to passengers better of facilities, services and protection of their rights. He announced that a task force is working in Ministry to prepare an outline to set up an Ombudsman institution in civil aviation sector. Ministry of Civil Aviation has also set up an Innovation Council to suggest primarily IT lead innovations to improve products, services and customer related matters by airlines, airports and air traffic management service providers.

Dr. Zaidi also announced that the Ministry of Civil Aviation is also proposing to declare 18th February every year as Civil Aviation Day.

On connectivity, he said that the Ministry is reviewing policy of route dispersal guidelines to enhance connectivity in inaccessible areas and islands of the country. With a view to increase regional connectivity, regulatory framework pertaining to schedule and regional operators is also currently being reviewed to ensure that regional connectivity gets boost with the support of Airports Authority of India and private sector participating in the development of Tier II and Tier III cities. A task force is also working to examine the ways and means required to cut transaction time, cost and various other measures to simplify procedures to improve business environment with regulatory authorities.

Highlighting the growth of Civil Aviation Sector that the Secretary said that the sector has registered phenomenal growth in India in past decade. Passenger traffic has grown at 18% year on year basis and the year 2010 closed at 90 million passengers both domestic and international. India is the fastest growing aviation market and expected to be within 4-5 big aviation markets by 2020 and 3rd in terms of domestic market after US and China. India will cross 450 million mark of domestic passengers by 2020. During the last two decades from a fleet of only about 100, the scheduled operators today have 435 aircrafts connecting the nation and the world. It is projected that the center of gravity in the aviation industry will be shifting to the Asia-Pacific region in the coming years. Considering the geographic position of India, it has the potential to become an aviation hub at the cross roads between Europe/ Middle East and Asia Pacific. He informed that T-3 Terminal at Delhi International Airport is already evolving into a hub. About 11000 passengers are transiting from various spokes to different destinations in the world by utilizing spoke and hub system. Air India is already contributing to this growth including Jet Airways. It is also proposed to develop Mumbai and Chennai as hubs in next 2 years.

The “India Aviation-2012”, the 3rd international Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation is being organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation jointly with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). It will witness participation of over 250 exhibitors comprising of Aircraft Manufacturers, Aircraft Machinery & Equipment Companies, Aircraft Interiors, Airlines, Airlines Services & Air Cargo, Skill Development, Airport and Infrastructure, MROs. The exhibition will be spread over as area of 20,000 square meters. UK is the partner country for the 2012 event with France as Focus country and USA as the Guest Country. The Host State is Andhra Pradesh and the Overseas Associate for the show is Famborough International Ltd.

Apart from the Exhibition, India Aviation-2012 will have a conference on policy issues and business aspects of the civil aviation sector, a CEOs Forum representing chief executives of leading aviation companies, Chalets, Static Display, Demonstration Flights and Media Conferences.

Afghan president,brother-Ahmed Wali Karzai-shot dead

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the younger brother of the Afghan president, was shot dead in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday, officials said.The killing of his chief local power broker will be a huge loss for President Hamid Karzai in Kandahar, the heartland of the Taliban insurgency as NATO troops rush to start withdrawing combat troops after a decade of war.Initial details were sketchy, with a family friend telling a news agency on condition of anonymity that he was killed by a bodyguard while entertaining guests at home and an Afghan intelligence official saying he was shot dead by a guest.

"We can confirm he has been martyred," Kandahar provincial government spokesman Zalmay Ayubi told a news agency, providing no further details.