Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Should India Revalue the Rupee?
Indian Rupee INR has fallen again now to a new historic low of Rs. 52.76/ 1 USD$. At this rate it will touch Rs 58/$ by end of 2012. Now as we say that India is growing as an economic power is it possible to allow its currency to fall at this rate. Currently Indian Rupee is one of the weakest currencies of the top 10 economic powers. How can we say India as an economic power when its actual power i.e. its currency is one of the weakest in the world. Indian government is fuelling inflation by not revaluing the rupee as it says that it will hurt IT and Exports? How? Is India an export oriented country? Then let me point out that Chinese Yaun and Thai Bhat are both stronger than the rupee and both countries export far more goods than India. India imports large amount of cured oil which cost us USD to pay our vendors. Why can't Indian Government force these countries to accept Rupees rather than USD to pay for our oil requirements. Iran recently agreed for the same, but our government made the payments in Euros rather than Indian Rupee. Do we print Euros or USD to give these countries? No so the best option is to make payments in Indian Rupee. We should make agreements with all our trade partners for a currency Swap program which will allow these countries to buy Indian Rupees and pay in them for goods imported from us. This will also revalue our currency and allow it to be accepted world wide.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Trivia Softwares:: New Website TMPC.in Launched
Trivia Softwares has launched a new website, http://www.tmpc.in Which is a social organization website.
India to test fire sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay next year
India to test fire sub-sonic cruise missile Nirbhay next year
NEW DELHI: Looking to add more lethal firepower to its arsenal, India is planning to test fire its latest 1000-km range sub-sonic land attack cruise missile 'Nirbhay' early next year.
Nirbhay will be a terrain hugging, stealthy missile capable of delivering multiple warheads as per mission requirements.
"We are looking to test-fire the new sub-sonic cruise missile in the first quarter of 2012. The Nirbhay will be a new state-of-the-art missile," DRDO officials told PTI here.
With its range of 1,000 Km, the missile has longer reach than Pakistan's Hatf-7 Babur missile, which claims to have a range of 700 km.
The missile is being developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory under the DRDO.
Sources said the missile will be sleeker than other similar weapon systems that are operational with different countries.
The Nirbhay will be India's second cruise missile after the 300 km range BrahMos, which is a supersonic system. The missile can be launched from multiple launchers and will be inducted into all the three services.
NEW DELHI: Looking to add more lethal firepower to its arsenal, India is planning to test fire its latest 1000-km range sub-sonic land attack cruise missile 'Nirbhay' early next year.
Nirbhay will be a terrain hugging, stealthy missile capable of delivering multiple warheads as per mission requirements.
"We are looking to test-fire the new sub-sonic cruise missile in the first quarter of 2012. The Nirbhay will be a new state-of-the-art missile," DRDO officials told PTI here.
With its range of 1,000 Km, the missile has longer reach than Pakistan's Hatf-7 Babur missile, which claims to have a range of 700 km.
The missile is being developed by the Advanced Systems Laboratory under the DRDO.
Sources said the missile will be sleeker than other similar weapon systems that are operational with different countries.
The Nirbhay will be India's second cruise missile after the 300 km range BrahMos, which is a supersonic system. The missile can be launched from multiple launchers and will be inducted into all the three services.
Kalam frisked at JFK airport; US apologises
The United States has apologised to former President A P J Abdul Kalam for subjecting him to frisking at New York's JFK airport, an incident that had provoked sharp reactions from India which threatened retaliatory action.
In a written apology to Kalam and the Indian government, the US said, "Appropriate procedure for expedited screening of dignitaries had not been followed".
"We deeply regret the inconvenience that resulted for him (Kalam) as a result of the September 29 incident involving the security screening at JFK Airport in New York," a statement from the US embassy in New Delhi said, noting that it had the utmost respect for Kalam. They also said that US was actively working to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
Taking serious note of the incident, India had threatened retaliatory action with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna directing Indian Ambassador to US Nirupama Rao to take up the matter in writing at the "highest level" with Washington.
Officials said the minister has also sought a detailed report on the incident from its mission into the incident which they said was "unacceptable".
The US said that subsequent to the frisking incident, US Charge d' Affairs Peter Burleigh personally hand delivered a letter from the US Transportation Security Administrator to Kalam and a similar letter was delivered to the government of India regretting the incident.
Maintaining that it "deeply values and appreciates" the strong relationship and partnership with India, the US said, "We are confident that despite this regrettable incident, we will continue working closely with India in the many areas of our strategic partnership".
80-year-old Kalam was frisked in New York on September 29 before boarding an Air India flight. Sources said that even after Kalam had taken his seat in the aircraft, the US security personnel forced the crew to open the door and took away the jacket and boots of the former President to check for explosives since they had forgotten to do so before his boarding. The items were later returned to Kalam.
Sources close to Kalam said he doesn't give much thought to such incidents and never complains about them. However, this time, his office informed the Ministry of External Affairs about the incident after he returned home.This is not the first time that Kalam has been frisked by US aviation officials.
Kalam was frisked by officials of US airliner Continental Airlines in April, 2009 despite his name featuring in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security's list of people exempt from security checks in India.
In a written apology to Kalam and the Indian government, the US said, "Appropriate procedure for expedited screening of dignitaries had not been followed".
"We deeply regret the inconvenience that resulted for him (Kalam) as a result of the September 29 incident involving the security screening at JFK Airport in New York," a statement from the US embassy in New Delhi said, noting that it had the utmost respect for Kalam. They also said that US was actively working to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.
Taking serious note of the incident, India had threatened retaliatory action with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna directing Indian Ambassador to US Nirupama Rao to take up the matter in writing at the "highest level" with Washington.
Officials said the minister has also sought a detailed report on the incident from its mission into the incident which they said was "unacceptable".
The US said that subsequent to the frisking incident, US Charge d' Affairs Peter Burleigh personally hand delivered a letter from the US Transportation Security Administrator to Kalam and a similar letter was delivered to the government of India regretting the incident.
Maintaining that it "deeply values and appreciates" the strong relationship and partnership with India, the US said, "We are confident that despite this regrettable incident, we will continue working closely with India in the many areas of our strategic partnership".
80-year-old Kalam was frisked in New York on September 29 before boarding an Air India flight. Sources said that even after Kalam had taken his seat in the aircraft, the US security personnel forced the crew to open the door and took away the jacket and boots of the former President to check for explosives since they had forgotten to do so before his boarding. The items were later returned to Kalam.
Sources close to Kalam said he doesn't give much thought to such incidents and never complains about them. However, this time, his office informed the Ministry of External Affairs about the incident after he returned home.This is not the first time that Kalam has been frisked by US aviation officials.
Kalam was frisked by officials of US airliner Continental Airlines in April, 2009 despite his name featuring in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security's list of people exempt from security checks in India.
Friday, October 7, 2011
India to mull tax sops for IT firms
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will consider giving tax sops for information technology companies after the direct tax bill comes into affect, Telecoms and Information Technology minister Kapil Sibal said on Friday.
India is trying to pass a bill in parliament to overhaul its archaic direct tax laws, a key reform aimed at simplifying procedures for investors and bring in more revenue by widening the tax net.
"We will certainly try and do something," Sibal told reporters without giving details.
A spurt in tax rates due to expiry of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme earlier this year has hurt margins and crimped profits at Indian IT firms.
India is trying to pass a bill in parliament to overhaul its archaic direct tax laws, a key reform aimed at simplifying procedures for investors and bring in more revenue by widening the tax net.
"We will certainly try and do something," Sibal told reporters without giving details.
A spurt in tax rates due to expiry of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme earlier this year has hurt margins and crimped profits at Indian IT firms.
Trapped between a friend and a twin brother
India's decision to underwrite and, in effect, guarantee Hamid Karzai's feeble Afghan government is not wholly lacking in logic. In a strategic pact signed this week, the two countries pledged to co-operate on trade and counter-terrorism, and Delhi agreed to train and equip Afghan security forces. With US and NATO forces edging towards the exit in 2014, it follows that Delhi, the region's military and economic heavyweight and an aspiring superpower, should take up the strategic slack. But that is not how Pakistan or the Taliban will see the newly announced bilateral security, political and commercial ''partnership''. India may yet pay heavily for its presumption.
India's role, or ''meddling'', in Afghanistan is already viewed with enormous suspicion in Islamabad, which nurtures a visceral fear of encirclement arising from its bruising, losing wars with its southern neighbour. Pakistan privately regards Afghanistan as its own backyard, and is widely believed to fund and collude with terrorist groups in order to maintain its influence and keep the Kabul government weak.
''Pakistan has pursued a double game toward Afghanistan, and using terrorism as a means continues,'' Karzai complained this week before travelling to India. Pakistan - or at least elements of its security services - has been accused by Kabul of complicity in last month's murder of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president and peace talks negotiator.
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India, meanwhile, has detected Pakistan's hand in the bombing of its Kabul embassy in 2008 and 2009, as well as terrorist attacks on Indian soil. Pakistan denies all the allegations.
Demonstrating that he, too, can play both sides against the middle, Karzai offered reassurances that the partnership deal with India was not aimed at Islamabad. ''Pakistan is a twin brother, India is a great friend. The agreement that we signed yesterday with our friend will not affect our brother … the signing of the strategic partnership with India is not directed against any country. It is not directed against any other entity,'' he said.
Karzai's sudden attack of tact is not born of bonhomie. It reflects the political reality that a lasting settlement in Afghanistan is impossible without Pakistan's agreement, or at least acquiescence. Karzai's attempt to sweeten the pill may also reflect his desire to keep open the possibility of a negotiated settlement with the many-headed Taliban despite the continuing insurgent violence. The Taliban will not have forgotten India's backing of the non-Pashtun Northern Alliance in the 1990s, which eventually swept them from power in 2001 with US help. The idea of India playing an enhanced security role inside Afghanistan, as agreed in Delhi this week, is thus likely to be rejected by them as more unwelcome foreign interference. Karzai noted bitterly last week that if peace were ever to come to Afghanistan, his government needed to talk to Pakistan, not India or the US.
India has been expanding its involvement in Afghanistan since 2001, opening provincial consulates, embarking on infrastructure programs, and donating about $US2 billion in bilateral aid. But this week's agreement represents a substantial and risky increased commitment. Nobody in Delhi is talking about Indian troops or security forces on the ground in Afghanistan. But the Afghan forces training role India has accepted marks it out as NATO's successor, and potentially a target for insurgent wrath.
Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, seemed to brush aside such concerns when he met Karzai. ''India will stand by the people of Afghanistan as they prepare to assume responsibility for governance and security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014,'' Singh said. These are fateful words. They may come back to haunt the Indians.
India's leaders one day may come to rue their vainglorious generosity in picking up the hot potato that the US, Britain and the rest all gingerly dropped. It seems a high price to pay for outflanking Pakistan.
India's role, or ''meddling'', in Afghanistan is already viewed with enormous suspicion in Islamabad, which nurtures a visceral fear of encirclement arising from its bruising, losing wars with its southern neighbour. Pakistan privately regards Afghanistan as its own backyard, and is widely believed to fund and collude with terrorist groups in order to maintain its influence and keep the Kabul government weak.
''Pakistan has pursued a double game toward Afghanistan, and using terrorism as a means continues,'' Karzai complained this week before travelling to India. Pakistan - or at least elements of its security services - has been accused by Kabul of complicity in last month's murder of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president and peace talks negotiator.
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India, meanwhile, has detected Pakistan's hand in the bombing of its Kabul embassy in 2008 and 2009, as well as terrorist attacks on Indian soil. Pakistan denies all the allegations.
Demonstrating that he, too, can play both sides against the middle, Karzai offered reassurances that the partnership deal with India was not aimed at Islamabad. ''Pakistan is a twin brother, India is a great friend. The agreement that we signed yesterday with our friend will not affect our brother … the signing of the strategic partnership with India is not directed against any country. It is not directed against any other entity,'' he said.
Karzai's sudden attack of tact is not born of bonhomie. It reflects the political reality that a lasting settlement in Afghanistan is impossible without Pakistan's agreement, or at least acquiescence. Karzai's attempt to sweeten the pill may also reflect his desire to keep open the possibility of a negotiated settlement with the many-headed Taliban despite the continuing insurgent violence. The Taliban will not have forgotten India's backing of the non-Pashtun Northern Alliance in the 1990s, which eventually swept them from power in 2001 with US help. The idea of India playing an enhanced security role inside Afghanistan, as agreed in Delhi this week, is thus likely to be rejected by them as more unwelcome foreign interference. Karzai noted bitterly last week that if peace were ever to come to Afghanistan, his government needed to talk to Pakistan, not India or the US.
India has been expanding its involvement in Afghanistan since 2001, opening provincial consulates, embarking on infrastructure programs, and donating about $US2 billion in bilateral aid. But this week's agreement represents a substantial and risky increased commitment. Nobody in Delhi is talking about Indian troops or security forces on the ground in Afghanistan. But the Afghan forces training role India has accepted marks it out as NATO's successor, and potentially a target for insurgent wrath.
Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, seemed to brush aside such concerns when he met Karzai. ''India will stand by the people of Afghanistan as they prepare to assume responsibility for governance and security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014,'' Singh said. These are fateful words. They may come back to haunt the Indians.
India's leaders one day may come to rue their vainglorious generosity in picking up the hot potato that the US, Britain and the rest all gingerly dropped. It seems a high price to pay for outflanking Pakistan.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Russia begins trials of stealth frigate for Indian Navy
MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday commenced sea trials of the India Navy's first of the three advanced stealth frigates in the Baltic Sea and the first of these warships will be delivered by early next year.
'Teg', the frigate of the Project 11356, also known as Talwar Class, is first of the three frigates ordered by the Indian Navy in 2006 under a 1.5 billion dollar deal with Russia.
India Navy already operates three of these stealth frigates and had ordered three more to bolster its fleet.
The two other warships of the same class - the 'Tarkash' (Quiver) and the 'Trikand' (Bow) are at various stages of construction at the "Yantar" naval shipyard in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
'Teg', the frigate of the Project 11356, also known as Talwar Class, is first of the three frigates ordered by the Indian Navy in 2006 under a 1.5 billion dollar deal with Russia.
India Navy already operates three of these stealth frigates and had ordered three more to bolster its fleet.
The two other warships of the same class - the 'Tarkash' (Quiver) and the 'Trikand' (Bow) are at various stages of construction at the "Yantar" naval shipyard in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
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