Chances of any immediate cut in interest rates faded Friday with the government reporting a further spike in prices that have driven the inflation rate to a new nine-month high. Official data showed that wholesale price index rose by a worrisome 5.11 percent in the week ended March 1 from a year ago, up from the previous week’s 5.02 per cent. Wire money online to India with Xoom.com for as low as $4.99. “Inflation is on the rise. It is a matter that causes worry to any government,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told Parliament as the news came in. “When inflation is on the rise, all of us should be concerned,” he said, adding the government will take all such fiscal steps necessary to keep prices under check. Chidambaram didn’t elaborate on the measures that could follow, but experts said mounting price pressures would prevent the Reserve Bank of India from easing its monetary policy.Over the past two years, the central bank has repeatedly increased interest rates in bid to curb inflation. Those moves have been unpopular among many people, including home loan buyers and industries looking to borrow money from banks to invest in new projects. In recent months, Chidambaram has persuaded some banks to reduce interest rates on home loans and consumers had hopes more banks would follow suit in coming months. That appears unlikely to happen now.The yield rate on the 10-year government bond a key indicator of where interest rates are headed – eased by two basis points to 7.62 per cent after the release of the data, but then inched back up to 7.64 per cent. The pressure on inflation is well understood, but it has reached a worrying level. In case, the wheat crop is not good, India might to have resort to imports that would put further pressure on the price situation as global wheat prices are ruling at high levels. There are chances that the country could face general elections earlier than May, when the tenure of the present government ends. High inflation, especially in food products, could become politically detrimental for the ruling coalition.
Archive for March 15th, 2008
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1942: A Love Story
March 15th, 2008 
krishna Producer and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s “1942: A Love Story” was released in 1993 and boasted of a star cast consisting of Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher and Pran. The association of R D Burman as the music director of the movie ensures it being a hit musical definitely. As the title suggests, the film is based in 1942 when India was under British colonial rule and protests and revolutionary meetings against the British were the primary activity of the people not employed under the British rule. During such chaotic times, two young hearts discover love when Anil sees Manish and is a victim of love at first sight. The movie also circles around the class difference between the two lovers’ social status since Anil is the son of a wealthy British loyalist. To add fuel to the drama, Manisha’s father, Pran is involved in the movements against the British. The drama intensifies when Anil has to choose between his love and his father and his loyalty towards British but the spark for national love gets kindled in Anil’s heart and he becomes a revolutionary himself who joins the movements against the colonial rule. The film has all the ingredients of a successful commercial movie: be it the love story, rich-poor scheme to the love story, national sentiments, juxtaposition to choose between family and love and many others. The direction and the music of the movie deserve special mention and no single character in the film has been loosely dealt with. Still the love story part of the movie could have been reduced a bit to keep up the pace of the movie.
COUNTING BEYOND 123
March 15th, 2008 krishna The fine damask table cloth has been laid out, the sterling silver cutlery set and the bone china crockery’s in place. All we need, how is for the dinner guests to arrive. If the Left has its way, the dinner party for the Indo-US nuclear deal is off but the government still seems to be waiting for the banquet to begin. The signs favour the UPA government. First, the July deadline set by the US for the deal to be inked has been relaxed, a message conveyed by Defence Secretary Robert Gates on a recent visit to New Delhi. Well, that takes care of the Left’s bellicosity that Washington is no one to set any date for us. The one-year extension given to Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen and the permanent representative to the UN Nirupam Sen, both key players in the crafting of the deal, is significant. It suggests that the government wants these crucial officials in place till both countries go in for elections. The Hyde Act that so exercised the Left as an instrument that would render India a client State of the US has been put on the backburner, something that has displeased many in the US administration. All this suggests that the Bush administration, though on its last legs, is willing to go the extra mile for the deal. Now many may argue that this is because George Bush needs one significant foreign policy triumph before he heads off to Texas. Maybe. But the fact remains that the deal comes on the very best terms that India can ever hope to get. The Left, though it has blustered about bringing down the government over the deal, seems to have no objections to the ongoing talks the government has undertaken with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The much-vaunted Third Front, the Left’s designer baby, is still to get off the drawing board, rallies notwithstanding. The UPA seems to sense that it is now or never as far as the deal goes, and seems set to go ahead. On his visit, Mr Gates also called on Opposition leader and prime ministerial candidate of the NDA, L.K. Advani. The veteran leader did not raise any objections to the deal, at least not publicly. This could be because, regardless of whoever is in power, a sovereign Indian government cannot be seen to go back on [...]
BHUTAN
March 15th, 2008 krishna There is always two sides of believe- up and down. This goes with the democracy as will which has it s own downside. That’s what monarchial Bhutan is finding out along the porous 605 km border it shares with India. So are the Indian states bordering the Himalayan country, especially militancy scarred Assam? From Arunachal Pradesh to the east and Sikkim to the west, Bhutan with snow carpeted adjoining with theses two states has its southern border runs some 400 km along Assam and West Bengal through dense, sub-Himalayan forests and seemingly inaccessible hillocks. No wonder, Northeastern militant outfits such as, ULFA, NDFB and KLO operated over 30 camps deep inside the jungles of southern Bhutan until they were ejected in December 2003. It has been four years now since the 14 Sashastra Seema Bal battalions were deployed there and it forces the militants to go back into southern Bhutan. Thimphu (capital of Bhutan), moving from monarchy to democracy; denies this but admits Nepal-based Maoists could be filling up the void left behind by Northeast ultras. The arrest of eight Maoists from two clandestine camps in southern Bhutan bordering Baksa and Udalguri districts of Assam earlier this month, made this apparent. When Thimpu cracked down on the people identified as “illegal settlers”, more than a million Nepalese people found refuge in the northern West Bangal and Nepal. Some of the “refugees” formed the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist) while the advent of democracy encouraged others to form the Bhutan Maoist Party. The red corridor from Nepal to Bhutan through Assam is a matter of concern for the Bhutan officials at the strategic headquarters of Samdrup Jongkhar district right on the border kissing Darranga Mela town in Assam. It is possible that there is an increase in the Maoist influence among Adivasis living with other tribes and suspected Bangladeshis on a l0 km wide forested strip on this side of the border. Likewise, Indian officials are troubled by those who smuggle petrol and kerosene that cost Rs 8 to 15 less in Bhutan; and cannabis cultivated in southeastern Bhutan. Indian officials are worried about the unregulated flow of labourers many of suspected nationality-into Bhutan. “The Bhutanese need to travel through Assam to move from one part of their country to another. Since the 2003 anti-ULFA operation, security concerns have made it mandatory for Bhutanese nationals to move in [...]
