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.

CANARA BANK -3rd QUARTER RESULTS.
                                As on 31.12.2012.
Global Business:Rs.5.42 lakh crores.
Net Profit          : Rs.711 crores, reduced from 
                             Rs.875 crores as on 31.12.2012.
Total Deposits; Rs.3,23,963 crores, Total Advances: Rs.2,18,242 crores.
Credit Deposit ratio:67.4%. Mr.R.K.Dubey, CMD of the bank said that the CD ratio will increase to 75% by March 2013. 

Gross NPA (%) : 2.77 increased from 1.73 as on 31.03.2012.
Net    NPA (%) :  2.35 increased from 1.46 as on 31.03.2012.
EPS                  :  Rs.16.04 (not annualised). 

MARTYRS DAY MARKS THE DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF OUR FATHER OF THE NATION

Prime Minister paying floral tributes at Rajghat.

MAHATMA GANDHI. LET US ALL PAY HOMAGE TO HIM.

EDITORIAL.

DO WE REQUIRE TO WOO THE FOREIGN INVESTORS ?

To this question the answer is an empahatic 'NO'.Every state sends delegation
to various state capitals in the world to woo the investors to come to their state
for investment.Some organise Global Investors Meet to attract investment.Even 
the central government formulates various schemes to attract FDI. The moot
question is "Is this necessary?".Let us think of the global  economic scenario.
Europe is reeling under recession barring few countries.US is just recovering
from financial recession.Russia is till finding it bearings in the economic scene.
China is in an advantageous position as the balance of trade between India &
China is to their advantage. Let us analyse India's Advantages:
1.We are a big market.
2.Growing middle class,
3.Purchasing power is increasing amongst Indians continuously.
4.Sizeable young population who will be the consumers.
5.Our strong IT Services sector & manufacturing sector.
6.Abundant english speaking talent.
7.Good return on investments.
8. Robust  stock market.
Hence, what we have to do is only to leverage our strengths by taking
advantage of our above mentioned strengths instead of  wooing &cooing
the foreign investors. The investors globally will also find India an interesting
place to invest along with few developing countries,Only thing the government
should do is to tone up our bureacracy,make the laws simple,enable speedy
legal process,take concrete measures to minimise corruption at all levels and
last but not the least the committed political will.

Mr.R.K.Bansal Corporate General Manager launching SME loan Festival.

BANK OF BARODA,India's International Bank Launched SME Loan festival from 01st January,2013 to 28th February,2013.The bank has offered concessions in rate of interest and processing charges during this SME Festival.The bank expects to disburse around Rs.242 crores in SME sector in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Zone.