GUJARAT TRAVEL MART- a show case for stimulating,Travel,Tourism,Hospitality, 
Leisure & other related Industries,both from within the country and from outside.

Gujarat Travel Mart is aimed at bringing about a face to face encounter with the
Travel,Trade,Hoteliers & other stake holders from India and abroad.

Gujarat Travel Mart will be held at Gandhinagar-Gujarat from 31st March to 2nd April,2013.

Venue:Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar,Gujarat.

FORD MOTORS INDIA APOLOGISES FOR AN AD CAMPAIGN.

The ad campaign showed scantily clad voluptous women stuffed in the trunk of the 
car maker's Figo model. In a statement the advertising firm expressed regret over
the publication of the ads and said  they  should never have been created in the 
first place.It said the firm deeply regrets  the publishing  of posters that were
distasteful and contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency.
Source:ANI & Yahoo India Finance.

SUCCESS STORIES.

VILLAGE OF 60 MILLIONAIRES -HIWARE BAZAAR-AHMEDNAGAR DIST.
MAHARASHTRA.

Popat Rao Pawar, VillageHead of Hiware Bazaar in Ahmednagar district  was instrumental in transforming his village from drought struck  poverty ridden village to one of the best models for India to replicate. How he did it ?.

The first thing Pawar did was to get rid of the 22 illicit liquor dens,ban consumption of liquor altogether,ban tobacco & gutka.

Then he inspired the villagers to pitch in to build dams and dig ponds to store the little rain that came in.This new water management system helped immensely as the wells soon filled,allowing farming to begin with fields becoming lush and green.Now the villagers look content with their monthly per capita income crossed Rs.30,000 and in a village of 235 families and 1250 individuals,there are 60 millionaires. In 1995,there were 168 BPL families in the village,now there are only 3 families who live below poverty line and the village is now working to help them improve their income with hopes that in next year, no villager will be poor.

This village has shown that if there is good leadership and strong will,anything can be achieved.

Source: Yahoo news India.

U.S TREASURY CLOSER TO INKING FOREIGN TAX INFO SHARING DEALS.

U.S.Tax authorities and foreign governments are on track to conclude dozens of
agreements in coming months on the sharing of financial data about 
citizens, with deadlines nearing implementation of a sweeping U.S anti tax evasion law. 
The U.s.Treasury also initialled an inter governmental agreement (IGA) with Germany. The deal still needs final approval by both countries' tax officials,but shows progress being made in implementing the Foreign Account
Tax Compliance Act (FACTA)

FACTA made law in 2010 as part of a crackdown  on tax dodging by wealthy 
Americans, requires foreign financial institutions to disclose to the Internal 
Revenue Service more about Americans' offshore accounts that are worth  more than $50,000. .Completed pacts  are in place with Britain,Denmark,Ireland,Mexico 
 and since earlier this month with Switzerland.

FACTA implementation is seen by some tax experts as contributing to greater tax
strictness around the world.

"There has been a real shift on the international level in identifying tax evasion  
as a massive social problem",said Heather Lowe,Director of government affairs 
at antigraft watchdog Global Financial Integrity.
Source: GFI & REUTERS.

KOHINOOR IS OURS SAYS BRITAIN.
RETURN TO INDIA WILL BE A GOOD GESTURE.

British Prime Minister David  Cameron ruled out handing over the 105 carat Koh-I-Noor Diamond,now on display in the Tower Of London .
It will be a good gesture on the part of Britain to return the Kohinoor Diamond  to India where it belongs . Even Britain knows the diamond was mined in India and is the property of India. In the present economic situation, Britain needs India more than India needs Britain and this will be a good starting point to build new strategic relations with India.

EDITORIAL.

The Parliament Sessions opens today.This will be an important session because of the presentation of Railway Budget and General Budget.The people of India are interested in smooth functioning of the Parliament where healthy debates take place and issues are handled on the merit of each issue.The responsibility lies with the ruling coalition and the opposition parties to see that both the Houses function smoothly and the business is conducted as per the set Parliamentary practices .As both the ruling coalition parties and the opposition parties represent the people , there should not be any 'one upmanship' attitude on either of the parties which will spoil the smooth functioning of the Parliament. Of late, we miss the wit & humour in the parliament debates which used to be there during the Nehruvian era.As the people are watching,we wish this session will be a session for healthy debates,and complete the business agenda set out for this session.

SRI LANKA WOOS INDIAN TOURISTS.

Sri Lanka,the Island nation with sun kissed virgin beaches,blessed by nature,greenery all around,has embarked on wooing Indian Tourists to visit Sri Lanka.

Indian tourists spend on an average $935 next only to Americans & Germans.

GET SRI LANKANED starts from 21st February in Bengaluru at Taj Vivanta and also in Garuda Mall.This promotion will provide consumers and potential travellers  an oppurtunity to taste Sri Lankan food,get glimpse of Sri Lankan culture and their traditional dancing.Live games will be organised at the Garuda Mall and the winners will be awarded with free holiday packages to Sri Lanka.The 'Get Sri Lankaned'campaign will also be held in Delhi,Mumbai,Hyderabad,Kochi and Ahmedabad.

THE ECONOMIST CALLS ON U.S.,U.K.,DEVELOPED COUNTRIES TO CLEAN UP THEIR OWN BACKYARD.

Cover Page Editorial & 10 article "Special Report" highlight Trillions of dollars in Dirty Money flows facilitated by Delaware,Miami,City of London and offshore Tax Havens.

Raymond Baker,the Director of Global Financial Integrity (GFI),a Washington DC based research and advocacy organisation,released the following statement :
"Offshore secrecy jurisdictions and developed western economies facilitated the illicit outflow of nearly $6 trillion in dirty money from developing countries over the past decade.This is an astronomically large amount of money.We are talking about nearly $6 trillion that could have been used to invest in Health care,education,pull people out of poverty and save lives. Instead the money is sitting in bank accounts in Miami,London and Zurich owned by anonymous shell companies and trusts registered in Delaware,the British Virgin Islands and Luxembourg.

This report should be a wake up call  G 20 leaders meeting in Moscow this week,as well as legislators in Washington and London,that action must be taken to eliminate anonymous shell companies,to enforce strong anti money laundering controls at International banks,to force multinational corporations to open their books  and to collect and exchange tax information automatically between jurisdictions".

 EDITORIAL.

CHOPPER DEAL- INDIA'S REPUTATION AT STAKE.- PRO ACTIVE STEPS NEEDED .

India reacted positively by suspending the deal .But this is only a reactive  
action.There should be more proactive action  from the central government  to restore the image of the of the country.It is reported in the media that the middlemen have penetrated the system and this does not augur well for our country.

THE IESA VISION SUMMIT 2013 KICKS OFF IN BANGALORE-A TWO DAY EVENT.

The IESA Vision Summit 2013,the annual conclave of THE INDIAN ELECTRONICS AND SEMICONDUCTOR ASSOCIATION began today in Bangalore.

 HEALTH:

SUGARY SOFT DRINKS LINKED TO HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE SAYS THE EXPERTS.
The American Heart Association says people should not drink more than three 355ml cans of soda a week.
Source:BBC News-Health.

FINMECCANICA-ITALIAN AEROSPACE & DEFENCE FIRM SOLD 12 HELICOPTERS TO INDIA FOR VVIP USE.- CEO ARRESTED ON ALLEGED CORRUPTION CHARGES.

Prosecutors allege bribes paid to ensure the sale of 12 helicopters to the Indian Government. Italian Government has acted,Will the Indian Government act to find out who got the bribe?.
Source:BBC News-Business.