Ub News

“The father daughter duo of Mr. Ram Verma and Ms. Vandana Sehgal presents Doublet art work”

A combination of Architectural and spiritual musings going to melt into incorporeal art at a solo exhibition cum book launch being presented by Ms. Vandana Sehgal along with her father, Mr. Ram Verma, at The Lalit on the occasion of Ram Navmi, on 24^th march, 2010.

Ramayana, the Hindu epic, after all, makes for sumptuous food for imagination. It is replete with colorful and fascinating gods, goddesses and characters, whose visual representations are equally imaginative and spiritually uplifting. Colorful portraits of RAMA, hanuman, adorn the walls and puja rooms of almost every Hindu household in India but here it also abets Mr. Ram Verma’s book -  Before He was God, Ramayana, Reconsidered, recreated. Both of them have rendered this composition in a synchronized manner. The uncanny tryst of colors and brushes of Vandana and the recital blank verses of Mr. Ram give a perfect blend of ethereal art.

Aspired to make painting a passion, Vandana is an architect by profession and if we talk about her father then he is a retired IAS officer and was English lecturer in Jodhpur University. Ram Verma was drawn to the fount of English poetry right from his school day, but he entered the charmed world of Vedas, Valmiki, Vyasa, Kalidasa and Bhasa after his retirement.

Ram Varma’s rendering “Before He was God, Ramayana, and Reconsidered, recreated” is refreshingly different from the Valmiki’s Ramayana where ram is a historical figure like Krishna or Buddha. . His re-creation takes support on the bedrock of the latest textual, sociological and archeological research. In his own words, “the story recited by the well meaning pundits of Puranic times was an senseless exaggeration. It was vital to restore the attention of the viewers or the readers, but this beautiful story did not need any artificial support. Its beauty remains undiminished even in a realistic portraiture of events. Ram Varma captures those vignettes and there is an aroma in his rendering which gives the pleasant smell of an odor of Vedic times.”

The theme of Vandana’s paintings is Ramayana and she captures her inspirations in monologues, a collection of 65 paintings which will be on display at The LaLiT on 24 March. There is an effort to be true to the narrative of the author. Commenting on taking up Ramayana as a theme Vanadana said that, “Ramayana is such a theme that one is absorbed into it with a force that is difficult to comprehend and when I had gone through my fathers book who believes that apart from meeting Vasishtha, Vishwamitra and Gautama earlier, Rama met other great diviners like Bharadwaja during his sojourn in Dandakaranya, I got inspired and thought of depicting this story on my canvas. He lived in their ashramas, saw them perform yajna and heard them recite the hymns. It has been a spiritual journey- these 65 paintings which took up six months are also a parallel journey with Ram.”

A self taught artist, applied her god gifted art and created oil cum acrylic paintings with the contemporary spiritual and traditional theme. Earlier also she had presented a solo exhibition “Between Spaces” in Lucknow. They were the spaces that her mind conceived – some were real and some surreal.

And this time the main uniqueness of this exhibition cum book launch is that it’s a unique a venture father and a daughter and more than that it’s a collaboration of a writer and an artist who tied up and miniatures of all 65 paintings have been nestled along with the “Before He was God, Ramayana”. Both father’s and daughter’s creation abets the Indian heritage and culture.

Exhibition cum Book launch: Before He was God, Ramayana, Reconsidered, recreated.

Date: 24.03.10

Time: 4.30

Venue: The Lalit, (near Bengali Market)

Two of India’s main political parties pulled out from the ruling Congress-led coalition on Monday to show their disapproval to a controversial bill reserving one third parliament seats for women.

The move is expected to abate the government’s facility to pass laws.

Socialist Samajwadi Party (SP) and regional Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have been supporting the ruling United Progressive Alliance from outside, and are not directly a part of the coalition. They represent 26 seats in the 545-membered lower house of parliament.

The withdrawal happened after lawmakers from the two parties, bitterly opposed to the bill, rushed to the centre of the house and tore copies of the bill.

“We will withdraw our support to the government and continue our protests against the bill,” Lalu Prasad Yadav, the RJD leader, told reporters.

The house was thereafter repeatedly adjourned for the day.

The parties have repeatedly accused the government of crushing on the interests of women belonging to minorities and backward class, and helping those already in privilege class.

Incidentally, the scenes at the parliament happened on a day when both the houses had assembled to call to rejoice and honor them in the decision making process to mark International Women’s Day.

According to sources, the bill would now be taken up for voting on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called for an all-party meeting to reach a consensus over the deadlock.

The controversial bill, which was first introduced in 1996, even has the support from main opposition Hindu-nationalist National Democratic Alliance, as well as the Communist parties.

The bill will provide 33 percent reservation of women in Parliament and the State Assemblies. It is aimed at elevating women’s stature in a country where women lag behind in social and health indicator. It is intended to speed up women’s empowerment in a country where women lag far behind on many social and health indicators.

A majority of women in India receive very little or no education as compared to men and are weighed down by illetracy, poverty and many social evils like child marriages, dowry deaths and female infanticide.

The UPA has also promised to give women 50 percent seats in local government institutions like the village council.

“We have a majority of 200 and we could have passed the bill. But a bill of this nature, which will have a historical importance and have important implications and seeks constitution amendment cannot be bulldozed,” federal Law Minister Veerappa Moilly told reporters.

A recently-released UN report says the Asia-Pacific region ranks near the bottom on many women development issues such as political representation, impacting the growth prospects of developing nations.

The report also said over 96 million women in Asia have “disappeared” because of gender gap that deprives them of access to health care and good nutrition, of which 34 million are in India.

India is out of hockey world cup semifinal :India today lost all chances of reaching into semi-finals in Hockey World Cup. The team conceded defeat in the must-win match by 2-3 against England. England book a place in hockey world cup semifinal with four successive win. This is India’s third Successive loss in Hockey world cup.

European champions England extended their lead over India to 3-0 within 11 minutes after halftime.

In spite of two penalty corners, India failed to open their account even as England spanked home a field goal with utmost authority.

India is now out of semifinal. India gained just 3 pts. In 4 games. India also lost to Australia and Spain earlier. This is 3rd straight loss for India.

Ashiana Housing Limited-one of the finest real estate people in the country known for its timely deliveries & unmatched construction quality, strengthening its position in West India debuted in Pune and is all set to replicate its success story of Utsav – the retirement resorts, to the western part of country.

Retirement Resort –Utsav

To mark its West India entry, Utsav Pioneers of Retirement Resorts concept in India, has strategically chosen the upcoming world class city –Lavasa to set up Utsav in Lavasa.

Mr Manoj Tyagi, Vice President, Ashiana Housing Limited said, “We are entering West India, not by chance but with a plan, and “It’s the growing acceptance among discerning Indian Senior Citizens for Ashiana’s Retirement Resorts, that’s making us more confident about the market’s potential & growth in West India. We are positive that this is the market of the future. And after Utsav Lavasa, we envision to spread our footprints in Pune & Mumbai as well.

“We are proud to bring UTSAV to LAVASA. Simply because its close to Pune / Mumbai where the large number of Senior Citizens are residing. Also the penchant of people of Pune & Mumbai for good life which will make ‘UTSAV LAVASA’ the most preferred retirement resort. Hence we foresee LAVASA as an important market for ASHIANA.” He further added

Spread over in 30 acres of land with 6.20 lakhs sqr feet as the constructed area, Utsav Lavasa is the first real estate project of Ashiana outside North India. And it is the third in row Retirement Resort after Utsav in Bhiwadi (NCR) spread over 15.5 acres with 640 units & Utsav in Jaipur spread over 7.5 acres of area comprising of 310 apartments.

Encapsulated inside the mystic mountain ranges, the 200 crore Utsav Lavasa, Ashiana is only Real Estate brand who signed up with Lavasa. UTSAV Lavasa will house 475 retirement housing units comprising of Villas & multiple choices Apartments engulfed with emerald green mountains on three sides with the fourth opening into the fascinating Lavasa Lake. The phase I possession will be handed over to the patrons by October 2011.

The beauty of this retirement resort lies in the fact that its residents will be able to maintain the active, healthy lifestyle that they have grown accustomed to, but with more luxuries like Hobby Clubs, Activity Rooms, Swimming Pool, Health Club, Computer Center, Billiards Room, Badminton, Table Tennis, Cards Room, Board Games, Wheel Chair friendly campus. The resorts will also host weekly fortnightly activities including cinema, satsang, theatre, tambola, cultural events, festivals etc.

The interiors of the units are also specially designed to cater to the needs of the senior citizens. Emergency switches at different places, big sized switches in red colour, inbuilt night lamp, smooth corners, matt finish and anti skid tiles within the units help the silvers to be independent without any concern. The bathrooms are specially equipped with gab rails, and arthritis friendly handles.

The biggest USP of Utsav Retirements Resorts is that they are managed and maintained by in-house facility management arm of Ashiana Group to ensure every best possible comfort to the residents. The moving in and bill payment services are also provided. 24 X 7 availability of nurses, ambulance is ensured. Doctors, taxi, drivers and maids are available on call.

As far as security is concerned Lavasa is one of the most secured townships. The access routes to Lavasa will be gated and manned by security personnel. At night the entire complex will be lit to subvert any untoward incident. An emergency response system will also be installed in each unit. For additional peace of mind, Emergancy response system is installed in each unit, connected to a central control room, intercom in each unit, Security Staff on duty 24 hrs a day in the Retirement Resort.

Utsav by Ashiana is a novel concept that promises to make life after retirement a celebration. Utsav Retirement resorts are planned, constructed and maintained as quality living places for the silvers catering to the all their aging needs.

The Tata Group said it is studying the decision of its insurance partner AIG to sell the Asian operations to British insurance major Prudential. U.K. insurer Prudential PLC (PUK) will take a decision in “due course” on whether to acquire American International Group Inc.’s (AIG) 26% stake in an Indian life insurance joint venture with Tata Group, a senior Prudential executive said Tuesday.

Sources say the likely possibilities are that either Tata buys out AIG’s 26% stake in Tata AIG Life or inducts a new partner. Sources at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority or IRDA told that, they have not yet received any communication from either AIG or Prudential. However, they will give the companies some timeframe to resolve this issue. The IRDA is very clear, however, on its stand that no company can have a stake in two ventures.

The news comes as Tidjane Thiam, Pru chief executive, is on a three-day tour of some of AIA’s offices to secure staff support for the planned deal and to meet regulators.

Any purchase would be part of Prudential’s $35.5 billion cash-and-shares plan to buy AIG’s Asia life unit American International Assurance Ltd., or AIA. As per the norms, an insurance player cannot hold stakes in two insurance firms in the country. Therefore, Prudential cannot have stake in Tata AIG Life.

By Irda data, while ICICI Prudential had around 7 per cent market share in total premiums at the end of January, Tata AIG Life had only 1.23 per cent share.

Prudential already has a joint venture in India with ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s largest private bank by assets, and Indian regulations allow foreign players to have an interest in only one insurer in the country. It holds a 26% stake in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Ltd.

The Union Budget 2010-11 presented to the parliament today by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

“There is a good and clear indication in the Budget 2010 that the GST is going to be a reality from 2011 onwards.The question as to whether the 2011 roll out of GST is practical or not is subjective, especially in a country like India, Involving so many state govts, with different value base, political outlooks, regional interests etc. The govt has already placed the draft GST document open to public scrutiny and comments for quite some time now. Further, CMs/finance ministers of all different states have held atleast seven meetings so far, to debate, highlight & sort out each state’s issues/concerns on rolling out the GST as soon as possible. Despite all these, some of the States are still at a disagreement mode with the Centre on some ground or the other, giving a clear signal that implementing GST with a consensus from all the state participants are practically impossible, atleast in the near future.In this scenario however, from the language used in his Budget speech today, it appears that the FM is determined to bulldoze and get thru on the subject (may be through Central govt incentives or sharing of possible revenue losses with the State govts etc, etc ), in the committed one year time period again. And knowing Mr.Pranab Mukherjee, this approach is quite practical and hence the GST roll out too, from 2011 as promised in today’s Budget,” said Shaili jain from eScan.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh congratulated Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for presenting an ”exceedingly good budget”, which sought to pick up the pace and return to a growth rate of nine percent.

Sales & Marketing MB BU, GIGABYTE India, Rajan Sharma said, “given that the industry is still in a recovery mode the tax incentive should have been extended. The rolling back of excise duties may affect sales. There has been no proposal to abolish Special Additional Duty (SAD) across products which is discouraging. We are glad that the roadmap for GST has been finally unveiled, which is very critical for creating a single-India market. We hope for better involvement and engagement of the Government with the industry as the finer details of the GST is worked out.”

In a statement, Chidambaram said: “The Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget for 2010-11 is a very balanced effort marked by a mature assessment of the state of the economy and of the measures required to sustain high and inclusive growth. The centre piece of the Budget is obviously the aam aadmi.”

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Presenting the Union Budget 2010-11 in the Lok Sabha today, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, said that three challenges would continue to engage the Indian policy planners for next few years.

The first challenge is to quickly revert to the high GDP growth path of 9 per cent and then find the means to cross the double digit growth barrier.

The second challenge is to consolidate recent gains in making development more inclusive.

The third challenge is to remove weaknesses at different levels of governance and to improve public delivery mechanism. The Budget, therefore, focuses on fiscal consolidation, making growth more broad-based and ensuring that supply-demand imbalances are better managed.

The Union Budget this year has aimed to focus on inclusive growth and insuring food security. These concerns for aam aadami have gone hand in hand with credible measures for improving investment climate, strengthening infrastructure and fiscal consolidation. As the country looks to ‘quickly revert to high GDP growth path’ in the wake of ‘uncertain times’, concerns for inclusive growth targeting the disadvantaged sections form the defining features of the Budget.

Many new initiatives have been introduced for sustained and inclusive growth. These include setting up of Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, Financial Stability and Development Council, Gold Regulatory Authority, Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects, National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal Reforms, Independent Evaluation Office and National Clean Energy Fund,

General budget 2010-11 Highlights

• The finance minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee lays emphasis on consolidated growth, improving investment environment, inclusive development and strengthening transparency and public accountability in budget 2010-11.

• The total expenditure proposed in the budget estimates is rs.11,08,749 crore , an increase of 8.6 per cent over last year.

• The plan and non-plan expenditure estimated at rs.3,73,092 crore and rs.7,35,657 crore respectively, an increase of 15 percent in plan expenditure and 6 per cent in non-plan expenditure over the be of previous year.

• Fiscal deficit at 5.5 per cent of GDP works out to be Rs. 3,81,408 crore.
• Rolling targets for fiscal deficit pegged at 4.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent for 2011-12 and 2012-13.
• Net market borrowing would be of the order of rs. 3,45,010 crore leaving enough space to meet credit needs of private sector.

• Against a fiscal deficit of 7.8 per cent in 2008-09 , inclusive of oil and fertilizer bonds, the comparable fiscal deficit is 6.9 per cent as per re 2009-10.
• Gross tax receipts estimated at rs.7,46,651 crore and non-tax receipt estimated at rs. 1,48,118 crore.

• Status paper giving road map for curtailing the overall public debt to be brought out within 6 months.
• About rs. 25,000 crores to be raised through disinvestmet programme
• To simplify the fdi regime, for the first time both ownership & control recognised as central to the fdi policy.
• Rs. 16,500 crore to be provided to public sector banks to achieve a minimum 8 per cent tier-i
• Growth of 127 per cent recorded in exports from sezs till december, 2009.
• A four-pronged strategy to spur the growth in agriculture sector envisaged. which includes agricultural production, reduction in wastage of produce , credit support to farmers and thrust to the food processing sector.
• Agriculture credit flow target raised to rs. 3,75,000 crore from rs.3,25,000 crore
• Subvention for timely repayment of crop loan increased from 1 per cent to 2 per cent.
• Infrastructure development gets an allocation of rs. 1,73,552 crore, 46 per cent of total plan allocation , an increase of 13 per cent in road transport sector.
• India infrastructure finance company limited’s disbursements to reach rs. 20,000 crore by march 2011.
• Allocation for power sector increased by more than doubled to rs. 5,130 crore.
• New tax incentives announced for infrastructure sector.
• National clear energy fund for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy technologies to be set up.
• Spending on social sector to account for 37 per cent of total plan outlay at rs.1,37,674 crore
• Allocation for rural development enhanced to rs.66,100 crores. allocation for nrega stepped up to 40,100 crore.
• Rs. 48,000 crore allocated for bharat nirman programme
• Backward region grant fund allocation enhanced to rs. 7,300 crore.
• Rajiv awas yojna for slum dwellers and urban poor to get rs. 1,270 crore , an increase of over 700 per cent
• National social security fund for unorganised sector workers to be set up with an initial amount of rs. 1,000 crore.
• Mahila kisan sashaktikaran pariyojna with a provision of rs.100 crore launched
• 80 per cent increase in the allocation for ministry of social justice & empowerment at rs 4,500 crore.
• Minority affairs to get rs.2,600 crore, an increase of 50 per cent.
• To rewrite and clean up the financial sector laws, financial sector legislative reforms commission to be set up.
• Unique identification authority of india to get an allocation of rs. 1,900 crore. a technology advisory group for unique proect to be set up.
• Allocation for defence increased to rs.1,47,344 crore
• National mission for delivery of justice and legal regorms to be set up to provide timely justice to all.
• Income tax slabs broadened – 10 per cent on income above rs 1.6 lakh to 5.00 lakh, 20 per cent on income above 5.oo lakh to 8.00 lakh , 30 per cent on above rs. 8.00 lakh
• Additional deduction of rs. 20,000 for investment in infrastructure bonds
• Surcharge of 10 per cent on domestic companies reduced to 7.5 per cent
• Mat increased from 15 per cent to 18 per cent
• Weighted deduction non expenditure incurred on in-house r&d from 150 per cent to 200 per cent
• Limit of turnover for presumptive taxation of small business enhanced to rs. 60 lakh.
• Limits of turnover needing audit enhanced to 60 lakh for businesses and rs. 15 lakh for professions.
• Proposal of direct tax to result in revenue loss of rs. 26,000 crore where as indirect taxes to result in a revenue gain of rs. 46,500 crore.
• Service tax proposals to result in net revenue gain of rs.3,000 crore.
• Accredited news agencies which provides news feed online exempted from service tax
• Saral –ii for individualsalary taxpayers ready for notification
• Service tax retained at 10 per cent.
• Certain new services to be brought within service tax purview..
• Micro-wave ovens, pre-packaged imported goods, mobile phones, watches, readymade garments, toy baloons, long pepper, replaceable household water filter to be cheaper.
• Infotainmet sector to benefit from concessional custom duty
• Indian rupee to get a symbol, join the select club of currencies
• Special duty concessions to promote clean environment clean energy cess @ rs. 50 per tonne on coal
• Rate reduction in central excise duties partially rolled back ad valorem on non petro products & cars increased by 2 per cent
• Uniform basic duty of 5 per cent and cvd of 4 per cent on import of medical equipmnet.
• Scientified inputs for orthopaedic implants exempted from import duty
• Central excise on petrol & diesel raised by rs. one per litre.
• Major tax relief to agriculture & related sectors
• Project import status for the setting up of cold storages
• Full exemption from excise duty to trailers & semi –trailers.

Information source :- http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=58418

Today on Februry 26th, 2010 from 11.A.M.onwards Shri Pranab Mukherjee to present a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for the year 2010-11. SHRI PRANAB MUKHERJEE to lay on the Table the Lok Sabha following Statements under section 3 (1) of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 : –
(i) Macro-Economic Framework Statement;

(ii) Medium-Term Fiscal Policy Statement; and

(iii) Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement.

SHRI PRANAB MUKHERJE annual union budget 2010-11

If you too are desperately waiting to watch the annual union budget 2010-11 live but can not have television in front of you than you can visit the following site where the live streaming is available of Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presenting the union budget 2010 in Lok Sabha live .

The main websites are :

Moneycontrol MY TV and

NDTV Profit.

The other microsites who offers updates on the budget are BloombergUTV, The Times of India, DNA and so on.

Sachin Tendulkar is equal to God of Cricket. Super Sachin!! Sachin is the Living God. We have so many names for master blaster, Sachin Tendulkar. One of the finest batsmen we could ever get. The social networks like facebook and twitter was filled with so many different names that Sachin himself could not think of. Sachin created history and became the first ever batsman at the age of 36 to hit a Double Century in ODIs, One day Internationals as India made 401 runs against South Africa in the second match at Gwalior.

If anyone could bat better than Sachin, it would only be God. Thus, God of Cricket is equal to Sachin. Sachin has played 2962 matches so far and a Double Century on Wednesday, i.e. Feb 24th , 2010.

The innings played yesterday by Sachin is sure to give all the spectators one of their fondest memory ever. His arms lift up with triumph.

Sachin in his speech stated that this Double Century of mine is dedicated to all the people of India who have always stood behind him, supporting him no matter what for the past two decades. He summed up everything with the two words he gave to the nation, “Thank You”.

Felicitations came from around the world for Sachin. The president of India, Prime Minister, each and everyone sent their wishes to this living god of cricket.

There was enthusiasm and felicity among people all over. Sweets were being distributed outside his house in Mumbai.

Every individual had something extraordinary to say about Tendulkar. Harsha Bhogle stated, everytime he thinks he has seen all of Sachin, he comes up with something else. Honorable President, Pratibha D. Patil also had something to speak about Sachin. She stated that Tendulkar has set stiff targets to break for future generation of cricketers.

Not to forget Shane Warne, he tweeted, “Nervous for my friend, Everything crossed for you mate!!! P.S. Glad I’am not bowling to him today.”

India’s railway budget for the fiscal year 2010-2011 was presented by the Indian Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today. She announced 101 new suburban trains for Mumbai. She emphasized that she wants to make peoples’ life easy by giving more amenities to the common people and announced that e-ticket based mobile vans will be inducted for issuing reservation tickets in University campuses, IT hubs, Government medical college hospitals, High Courts, District Courts, IITs and IIMs.
E-ticketing will be affordable because of the reduction of service charge. She also announced that there would be no hikes in passenger fares and freight tariff. Modern toilets at railway stations, Railway exams to be carried on in Hindi, English and Urdu languages, suggested 6 bottling plants that would help supply clean and fresh water at affordable prices as bottled water turns out to be expensive for the passengers . Plant locations would be at Thiruvananthapuram, Farakka, Ambala, Amethi and Nasik.
Cancer patients can travel FOC in Third AC and sleeper class with 75 percent concession for companion. There would be No privatization of railways and the security for women passenger to be enhanced. Launching of Double Decker trains (pilot launch), Women’s RPF wing to be created and Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah, Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur, Bharat Tirth train to mark Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary.
There would be a Special train during Commonwealth Games, High-speed dedicated passenger corridors; railways employees in service for over 10 years would be allotted houses.
New tourist train on tourist routes to be introduced and 54 new trains would be there in 2010. Others included:
• New Janmabhoomi train between Ahmedabad and Udhampur
• New Karmabhoomi train for working class
• Matribhoomi special trains for women
• Railway research centre at IIT Kharagpur
• Design, Development and Testing centre to be set up at Bangalore
• Five sports academies to be set up
• Construction of more underpasses, besides road overbridges