By A Correspondent

On January 15, 2010, Sydney Girl Sanghmitra made a quiet entry into Bollywood with the release of “Bhavnao Ko Samjho” in which she plays the lead role. The film has also entered Guinness Book of records for featuring 51 stand-up comedians. The story of the film revolves around Suman (Sanghmitra) who is the doting grand-daughter of a wealthy businessman and heiress to his property.

Sanghmitra has been appreciated by the critics for her scintillating performance in the movie and seems to have crossed the first hurdle in her journey to stardom. Her next film, Idiot Box is also due to be released soon in which she plays a pivotal role. Continue Reading

The brutal killing of two Indians, Nitin Garg and Ranjodh Singh in Melbourne and Griffith, respectively, last week has revived the debate that whether the attacks were racially motivated or just a law and order problem. In both the cases, it is not good for the image of the Australian Government. The attacks are happening despite the assurances by top political leaders, including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Education Minister.

The Indian Government has once again threatened of strong action that will affect one of the biggest revenue earning industries for the Australian Government — education. To begin with let’s presume the attacks are racially motivated, it is then up to the Australian government or the police to prove it otherwise. Continue Reading

By Roseline Deleu

Who does not enjoy browsing in pre loved shops in search for a good bargain?

 Keep in mind that the 2^nd hand goods are carrying subtle energies, storing memories of their previous owners, their moods, their vibrations, their energies, their laughter, their joy too of course! Displaying pre-loved items in your home will have an impact on your life; so follow these suggestions to take essential precautions.

 Mirrors

To my understanding and my perception, and… having visited and consulted so many houses over the past 17 years, I can tell you that mirrors are real gateways to spirits. They also act like sponges and ‘keep in mind’ all what happened in their vicinity. This is one of the reasons why having mirrors in a bedroom (new or old mirrors) can be disturbing your sleep, having babies waking up at night crying for no obvious reason. Do you have a mirror reflecting your body when laying in bed? It is recommended to cover it during your rest. Continue Reading

Team India after its series win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai

After over 77 tests and remaining minnows for several decades, India today became the number one team in Test rankings following it victory over  Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final cricket Test to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin. Needing just four wickets to record an emphatic victory, the hosts took just about 40 minutes to polish off the visiting team’s tail to record their second consecutive innings victory.

Resuming at 274 for six, the Sri Lankans lost their heroic captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the very first over and were bundled out for 309 with Zaheer Khan being the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72. The Sunday crowd at the Brabourne Stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, witnessed a historic moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men crowned themselves the number one team. Continue Reading

By Ashok Handoo

The latest inflation figure in the country has slipped down the 12 per cent mark which, if nothing else, should at least give a psychological relief to the people; the same way as a mere marginal increase in the inflation rate would ring the alarm bells in the media leading people to be overduely concerned about the issue. But a marginal fall in the inflation rate is not something one can be satisfied with. What, however, is a matter of satisfaction is that the phase of constant rise in inflation seems to be over.

During his recent trip to the United States with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters that inflation rate will return to single digit by the end of current fiscal. Some even believe that a single digit figure will be achieved by the end of December and by March the position would be still better.

The Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Pronab Sen is of the view that inflation will remain in double digit until January, due to the base effect and higher prices of manufactured products.

Dr. Ahluwalia however indicated that the government is not in favour of taking excessive harsh measures to check inflation because that will impact the growth of the economy.

The government has already taken a number of measures to increase the domestic supply of goods and services in the country. For this purpose while the import of goods has been liberalised, restrictions have been placed on the exports of certain commodities. For instance, in the case of pulses, customs duty on imports has been reduced to zero, until March 2009. Simultaneously a ban has been imposed on its export up to March end. Custom duty on semi-milled or wholly-milled rice too has been completely done away with, till March 2009. Export of non basmati rice was banned and the minimum export price of basmati rice was raised to $1200 per tonne . In the case of wheat there will be no import duty till December this year. In order to pave the way for increased supply of edible oils, a commonly used medium of cooking in India, a number of steps have been taken. Customs duties on crude and refined edible oil have been reduced by about 50 percent and now range from 20 to 27.5 percent. Simultaneously, the import of crude edible oil at zero duty and refined oil at 7.5 percent has been allowed. Customs duty on palm oils too was reduced by 10 percentage points. The 4 percent additional countervailing duty on all edible oils was also withdrawn. Export of all edible oils has already been prohibited.

Customs duty on maize imported under Tariff Rate Quota of five lakh metric tonnes was also done away with. Import of Portland cement, other than white cement, was exempted from countervailing duty. At the same time, export of cement was banned. Basic customs duty on various kinds of steel too was either reduced or done away with. On cotton imports the 10 percent customs duty along with 4 percent special additional duty was abolished. Crude oil and petroleum products also received a favourable consideration. In the case of crude oil customs duty was done away with. On petrol and diesel it was reduced from 7.5 to 2.5 percent. On other petroleum products it was halved to just 5 percent. Excise duty on petrol and diesel too was reduced by Rs. 1 per litre. What is a matter of some consolation is that the international price of crude oil is coming down and has already reached $ 94 a barrel. If the trend continues it will bring down the inflation level in the days ahead.

A series of monetary measures too have been taken to deal with the situation. These include repeated increases in the cash reserve ratio of banks and the Repo, as well as reverse Repo rates. The purpose is to check the flow of liquidity into the open market and thereby reduce the price level.

The problem is that just like any health care medicine, the economic measures mentioned above have a negative aspect too. They can impact the growth rate also if adopted without proper monitoring.

The real treatment of the problem is to increase the supply position. This is bound to happen as soon as fresh crops come to the market. In the long run, the government needs to draw a strategy to ensure that agriculture produce in the country, which continues to be our mainstay, increases. Since food represents more than half of the expenditure of a vast majority of our poor population, adequate attention needs to be given to this aspect.

The question now is how far is the meltdown in the US financial market going to affect the Indian economy. Dr. Ahluwalia maintains that its’ direct impact on India has been negligible. There is also a silver lining. The country has ample stock of foreign exchange reserves. So we should be able to deal with the situation that may arise temporarily in the financial markets. But the US financial turmoil is not likely to end anytime soon. Economists believe that this may happen only by the end of the next year. As such India cannot be completely insulated against the economic uncertainties in future. Even the US government believes that the massive bail- out package of $ 700 billion that it has approved may not be enough to stave a financial turmoil in the US. The sub- prime crisis in the United States is a matter of concern since it is exerting pressure on the financial systems and growth implications around the world.

Ultimately it boils down to somehow increasing the supply of goods and services in the market by increasing the imports and reducing or stopping altogether the exports of certain key commodities, reducing money supply in the short run and ensuring proper distribution of whatever stocks are available. That is precisely what the government is doing right now. How soon it can overpower the monster of inflation can be anybody’s guess. All that we can say right now is that we seem to have crossed the inflation hump. — PIB

*Freelance Journalist

Disclaimer :  The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of PIB

By R.C. Rajamani

The world has changed drastically and dramatically since the passing away of the “Father of the Nation” sixty years ago. Political and social tensions have increased. Of course, war and violence were not unfamiliar to the world during Gandhi’s lifetime. But the menace of terror is a phenomenon that came much later. Acts of violence during his time were not targeted at innocent people and soft targets. Even those acts he did not approve of as he preached non-violence. Today, acts of terror are being committed and brazenly justified as means to political, social and economic ends. Worse, they are sometimes being given a religious dimension.

As Arun Gandhi,a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, New York, argues, “Violent and aggressive civilisations have thrived momentarily but in the end they have all met a very violent end, it is the comparatively more humane and non-violent societies that have been blessed with longevity”. As he points out, the power of non-violence has been best proved in the liberation of South Africa and the fight for civil rights in USA.

Nelson Mandela originally believed in a violent freedom movement against the pernicious apartheid regime but after he studied Gandhi during his long imprisonment, he altered his approach and brought a welcome change in his country without further bloodshed.

In the United States Dr. Martin Luther King fought against race and colour prejudice and got dignity and equality for his people by resorting not to bombs and bullets, but to non-violent methods of mass civil disobedience and passive resistance. It is well known that the Leader drew inspiration from Gandhi.

Gandhi never wavered in his unshakable belief in non-violent protest and religious tolerance. When Muslim and Hindu compatriots committed acts of violence, whether against the British who ruled India, or against each other, he fasted until the fighting ceased. Independence, when it came in 1947, was not a military victory, but a triumph of human will. To Gandhi’s despair, however, the country was partitioned into Hindu, India and Muslim, Pakistan. The last two months of his life were spent trying to end the appalling violence in the name of religion.

For Gandhi Ahimsa was a Dharma. It never bothered him if it was a plant of slow growth. Satyagraha, the pursuit of Truth, fully imbibed with Ahimsa, was the only weapon he used to fight his political battles with the British. Though he faced many trials and tribulations all along, he finally won freedom for India. It was possible because he was steadfast in his beliefs, political philosophy. It was possible also because he was brave and humble at the same time. Above all, the Mahatma was free from hatred. Herein lies the solution to the world’s many conflicts today. If people are free from hatred, they can find answers to any question, political, economic and social.

Needless to stress that such an approach would demand both-courage and freedom from ill-will among nations. Gandhi was always ready to negotiate and discuss. In the late 1920s he opposed the exploitation of the textile workers of Ahmedabad by the mill-owners. But he did not seek a strike to end it. He favoured discussion, dialogues, conciliation, arbitration and adjudication as the last resort.

Gandhi lived an austere life, practiced strict vegetarianism and abstained from alcoholic drinks, tobacco and even the milder stimulants like coffee and tea. His attachment to simple natural remedies against illness and disease and his radical ideas on education find expression in the system of governance. Village economy and village self-rule are being followed in the running of the Panchayati Raj system. His stress on basic education finds expression in the universalisation of elementary education. His fight for women’s rights and emancipation also find expression in the current efforts to give them a place of importance in political decision-making.

Gandhi’s relevance today was acknowledged globally when the UN General Assembly observed, for the first time, the Mahatma’s birth anniversary as the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2 last year. The day now forms a significant occasion in the calendar of the world body. — PIB