News, Views and Gossip for NRI's

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and other Indian ministers, tried to end Britain’s aid last year but relented after Britain asked them to keep taking the money. Britain has sent over 1 billion pounds to India in the last 5 years and plans to spend a further 600 million pounds on Indian aid by 2015.
India is the world’s top recipient of British bilateral aid, even though its economy has been growing up to 10 percent a year and is projected to become bigger than Britain within a decade.
Recently India …

Speaking to chief secretaries from state governments at a conference in Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his government has moved forward substantially in tackling corruption, but it has a long way to go.
PM Singh also said he is confident a strong anti-corruption bill will still pass in parliament even though it unfortunately failed in the upper house in December. The bill proposes setting up an independent ombudsman, or Lokpal.
The government has been dogged by several corruption scandals and a recent survey said corruption has cost billions of dollars and …

The Supreme Court today said a woman in an illicit relationship cannot be punished for adultery despite being an abettor in the crime though the man is liable for punishment.
A bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice RM Lodha quashed the case of adultery registered against Kalyani by another woman Sailaja who alleged that her husband was in a illicit relationship with the former.
Though Kalyani had challenged the registration of case against her by police under sections 497 (adultery) and 341 (wrongful restraint), the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed her …

Over seven years after Ishrat Jahan and her three friends were killed and passed off as militants, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has concluded they were murdered by state police in a staged shootout.
The court-appointed SIT said Jahan 19, from Mumbai, Javed Sheikh, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed before June 15 2004, the date earlier given. They were shot in a private car on the outskirts of Ahmedabad and police claimed they were linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group and were in the city to …

Commenting on the debt ridden Kingfisher Airlines petition for government assistance, Bajaj Auto chief Rahul Bajaj commented that private sector companies should not be bailed out and “those who die must die”.
Bajaj said he is a proud private sector man and doesn’t see the logic of bailing out private sector companies either for the good of employees or customers.
He called it a free market economy and challenged the government asking, if Bajaj Auto got into a mess would they then bail him out?

The Income Tax Department has sent notices to various NGOs including those run by Team Anna member Kiran Bedi, to check if any are engaged in commercial activities. Ms Bedi is the founder of the India Vision Foundation and Navjyoti India Foundation.
Bedi stated that her NGOs are not engaged in any commercial activity, adding that those who raised a voice for the Jan Lokpal bill are now on notice, and she will respond fittingly when it becomes necessary. Meanwhile she intends to carry on regardless as …

His name is Sushil Kumar, he comes from Bihar one of India’s poorest states. He works as a computer operator and tutor. Now he is a real life slumdog millionaire. He won the $1 million jackpot on India’s version of ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’, called ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.
Sushil 27, works for a monthly salary of less than $150. He married just five months ago and he now plans to use his winnings to pay off his debts and buy a new home …

The Income Tax Department has slapped a fresh notice on Arvind Kejriwal, asking its former officer to pay up over Rs.900,000 in dues by the month-end.
The department says the new notice was issued because Kejriwal violated bond clauses under which he went on a study leave for two years.
Kejriwal and other Anna Hazare Team members termed the issuance of the notice as an action by the government’s “dirty tricks department” under instructions from political bosses.
Kejriwal says he did not violate bond provisions and had resigned from the job after …

Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi, who is now a resident of Tihar Jail for his part in the Commonwealth Games farce, may be out of sight but is apparently not out of clout.
A controversy erupted after Maharashtra Congress president Manikrao Thakre announced the formation of a 21 member coordinating committee to work out the electoral strategy for the coming civic polls in Pune. Anti-Kalmadi factions within the party allege that the panel was dominated by loyalists of the tainted imprisoned MP Kalmadi.
Kalmadi, who virtually handled Congress party affairs in Pune …

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi began a three day fast for ‘peace, unity and harmony’ in Gujarat. He thanked those who pointed out his mistakes in the last decade and said the state has realised that communal frenzy and casteism never helped anyone grow in the country. He added “the constitution of India is supreme and as chief minister of the state, the pain anyone in the state feels is my pain. Justice for everyone is the duty of the state!”
Modi’s remarks are interpreted by …