India Budget 2009- What matters most.

This is the 3rd budget by Pranab Mukharjee and there were great
expectations from it especially from city folks and salaried class which gave massive support to Congress so as to enable it to sweep cities like Delhi,in the recent polls..

Sadly this budget offers little and is expected yet again to increase the fiscal deficit and  is  inflationary and sufficiently ambiguous, as many things haven’t been provided for, especially the expected expenditure under new food guarantee act.

This reminds me of Mr PCs qoute  “Trust me. Do you think I am so stupid as to not provide funds for such an important scheme?”  that on the NREGS and the results are plain to see. More ambiguity means more  corruption and lack of clear thinking not good in an economic downturn.

What matters most- DIRECT TAXES

Individuals

Other than the lollipop of increased rebate of 10000, just so that there is a rosy headline in tomorrows papers, there is nothing on offer to the middle and salaried class that pays between 10 and 30% income tax.
New Cut-offs/ Exempt limit for tax free income will be

240000 for SENIOR CITIZENS

190000 for RESIDENT WOMEN TAXPAYERS

160000 for RESIDENT MEN.

Surcharge Scrapped: 10 lakh + earner gets relief.

Direct Benefits: Less than a Rs100  a month. A mere 1000 Rs a yr tax rebate that when CPI inflation has been in double digits for an extended period of time.
Come on folks – We are the Middle Class, not the UPAs aam admi ,we don’t vote anyways so will never have a voice or be on the FMs mercy radar.

Sec 80DD: Disabled Dependents : Increase in scope and rebate  to Rs 1 lakh.
Sec 80E: Deduction on Education loan scope increased to cover Vocational training after class 10.

EEE OR TAX EXEMPTION for NPS or NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME :

This is a big plus to unorganised sector worker and an attempt to seriously implement the NPS, which would never have taken off without this exemption. It is time i seriously consider opening an NPS account.

CORPORATE TAXES

No change in tax rates (expected)

FRINGE BENEFIT TAX Scrapped (again expected)
81 D (9) Benefits extended to natural gas and bidders of NELP8
Will it be positive for GAIL and Reliance?

MAT (minimum alternative tax) rate to be increased to 15% versus 10% of book profit

Sunset clause extended by one year and tax holidays for exporters is extended to 2011

GST to come into effect from April 01, 2010
CTT on Commodities abolished. A big relief to commodity traders

No change in status quo on STT. Govt to hold 51% in PSUs.

Market operators will be unhappy and markets will go down.

Mukherjee announced increasing import duty on gold bars from Rs 100 per 10 gram to Rs 200 per 10 gram, while other forms of gold (excluding jewellery) is increased from Rs 250 per 10 gram to Rs 500 per 10 gram.

Full exemption from excise duty on branded jewellery.
5% Customs duty on STBs – bad for dth and cable operators.
5% Customs duty on LCD panels – Will the producers of lcd tvs pass on the benefits ?

BUDGET STATISTICS

The Total budget expenditure for 2009-10 will Rs 10,28,032 crore, crossing Rs 10 lakh crore mark.The targetted fisc deficit will go up from last yrs estimate of 2.7% to 6.8% which means the govt has estimated something close to the last yrs actual deficit of 6.07 percent which was revised to 6 percent of gross domestic product from an initial estimate of 2.5 percent. Can the govt balance its books ? I doubt it, if  we look at the govts past performance.

Subsidy bill will expectedly go up. No mention however of accountability.

The government plans to borrow nearly Rs 4,00,000 cr from markets during 2009-10, a rise of about 50% over what it borrowed a year ago, to fund the widening fiscal deficit

National ID Card provision of Rs 120 crore and is expected to be implemented within 1.5yrs  Read this wonderful article for more on that project.

Rural Spend

Crop loan at 6 pc interest for farmers on short term crop loan
for farmers who pay their dues in time.

An allocation of Rs 39,100 crore to be made for NREGA in
2009-10, an increase of 144 per cent.
Gram Sadak Yojana allocation has been hiked up 59% to Rs 12000 crore.
Rs 2,000 crore for rural housing fund under National Housing Bank. Indira Awas Yojana, allocation to be increased by 63 per cent in 2009-10 to touch Rs 8,800 crore.

Rs 7,000 crore to rural electrification scheme.

Direct transfer of subsidy to farmers being worked out.
Subsidy regime for fertilisers to change to nutrient- based rather than price-based.
This could be revolutionary if implemented correctly.

Infrastructure spend

NHAI allocation up by 23 per cent.

Allocation for the Railways has been increased from Rs.10,800 crore made in the Interim Budget for 2009-10 to Rs.15,800 crore

IIFCL will refinance 60 per cent of commercial bank loans for PPP projects in critical sectors over the next fifteen to eighteen months.

Urban Spend

New funds allocation to the  Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) being stepped up by 87 per cent to Rs.12,887 crore in the current budget.

Brihan Mumbai Storm Water Drainage Project (BRIMSTOWA)
More funds of Rs.500 crore allocated to help Mumbai fight floods during rains.

Provision for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to improve the lot of the urban poor.

AMBIGUOUS REFORMS

New DIRECT TAX code to be implemented in 45 days

will it make the complex it return forms and procedures and the harassment go away?

New Arbitration panel for tax litigation cases.

Karnataka will have a tax database for all returns filed digitally.
A sign of automantion but still very ambiguous – Will this
offer any real change in the Tax officer raj? when most refunds
are never sent electronically, refunds require 10% speed money,
and harassment of small taxpayers under draconian scrutiny laws
is common.

100 per cent tax deduction for donations for electoral funds
How will it really increase accountability? No political party returns are scrutinized anyways and are out of? the ambit of  RTI.

Highlights of Union budget 2009-10 ET

Are we paying attension to Iran?

Iran is one of our neighbors , but we are hardly talking about it. We are talking about the Shiney rape case the T20 debacle and the US-push  talks  our Pm had with Mr 10%.

Indian coverage is almost nada! Most prominent dailys are adding tiny oneliners, not even talking about the rapid changes  out there, while express is talking about more protests.

TOI -Iran polls bring women to the fore (most likely picked up from guardians Heather Harvey)

HT doesnt even really cover it

Ibn live – US urged Twitter to keep running during Iran poll

The events and rapid changes in Iran could be historic to say the least.

Never has a candidate said in open television debates,

“Why should we lie to the people and tell them that they have no problems at all“

That being the reaction of Mousavi when Ahmedinajad showed an inflation rate of 15% when it actually was 25%.

Never has a campaign been run by women so effectively and called  the Mousavi-Rahnavard presidential race …

It is the first time technology, twitter, blogs, sms etc been used so effectively to campaign .

Never has the Ayatollah  Khameni has been forced on the back foot ,since he first declare Ahmedinajad winner even before full counting was over.

Never has been so much open defiance in such a hostile environment!

Read Huffington post

In fact at one point, Mousavi’s supporters were shouting ‘thank you, thank you’ to the soldiers.
One woman went up to the special forces men, who normally are very brutal with Mr Mousavi’s supporters, and said ‘can you protect us from the Basij?’ He said ‘with God’s help’.

It was quite extraordinary because it looked as if the military authorities in Tehran have either taken a decision not to go on supporting the very brutal militia – which is always associated with the presidency here – or individual soldiers have made up their own mind that they’re tired of being associated with the kind of brutality that left seven dead yesterday – buried, by the way secretly by the police – and indeed the seven or eight students who were killed on the university campus 24 hours earlier.

Quite a lot of policeman are beginning to smile towards the demonstrators of Mr Mousavi, who are insisting there must be a new election because Mr Ahmadinejad wasn’t really elected. Quite an extraordinary scene.

Bombai-Mumbai-Conbay?

Of late the heat in Mumbai is getting unbearable, so much so that almost all the houses not only in my colony but the whole of my area, even many chawl kholis or boxes are sporting A/c’s, and im also considering purchasing one.

I had been wondering why, and just like most people i instantly blamed it on climate change, el ninio, darn the first world etc.

This is not a healthy sign, and shows that Mumbai climate is getting more and more extreme each year. The temperature has been close to 38`c for the whole of last week, at least 4 to 5 degrees above normal and there is hardly any wind.Most people i know, shower 3 times a day and they are not alone.

Recently when id been to Gorai off Borivli, i was amazed to see how much development happened in the marshlands there and how rapidly the mangrove cover has all but disappeared, just as the fields of veggis that dotted my aunts house close by. My friends father had recently showed me how the mangroves in his backyard had been systematically culled in  Bangur Nagar at Goregaon, replaced by hutments and in some places appartment blocks.

Recently just sick and tired of the sauna like climate we decided to goto Dahanu to enjoy the beach, and once we touched naigaon off mira bhayander the weather started to change, and so did the air, at Vaitarna, Saphale we felt like we were in a different more laid back world.

At the beach even in that intense noon heat where the sand baked and the feet burnt, we never really burst into sweat, In shade we could feel the cool breeze and  the crisp air.

While returning -  once we touched mira road dahisar, we felt like home … as we automatically burst into sweat and felt the intense stink .

Moral of the story…

Is Bom-Bai – the Good bay – the Mumbadevis Mumbai turning into a  CONcrete-Bay or o be more clear Buildermafia-bay?

Im afraid it is.. just chk out this pic of the man made concrete jungle published  by the TOI as a world environment day special…

PS this is a 1992 pic , when there were still farms in borivli, and marshlands in Goregaon and Gorai,  shudder to think what  she looks like now!

Digesting news May3,09

27/11 aftermath

The 27/11 trial to me is becoming more and more of a farce, and other than the lone surviving Hashshashin Ajmal being given a death sentence (which might take some time as he will be 23  on jr madams pending list)(if there will ever be a speedy trial) no-one i expect/suspect will be brought to book.

Worse, i wonder why the case is getting so much special treatment ? Why is that lawyer being overpaid so ?

Why cant the state focus on the security of the aam admi  as single mindedly as it is focussing on securing Ajmal ? Is sucularism at play?

I repeat to myself – we are not Israel to go and bomb the hell out of Jamait u Dawa mosques  and the camps churning out fidayeen in dozens by the day, which seems the only real short term solution to me.

The Blundering state politicians have gotten a raise with the ex Cm being appointed in the Central Govt Cabinet, Ex Dycm and home minister is now a NCP state unit boss.

The Bungling bureaucrats and Top Cops will slip away with a clean chit from the Ram Pradhan Committee Report findings, leaving the loved ones of the brave martyrs fuming.

Pakistan is getting lots of aid from the US in a quid pro quo of sorts just so that they take on the taliban in Swat. The taking of Buner scared the Americans so much, that the long term thinking whent for a toss and  they rushed for the quick fix, sans clause J which requires Pakistan ‘not to support any person or group that conducts violence, sabotage, or other activities meant to instil fear or terror in India.’

Yet again proving that to America its interests are supreme, the universal war on terror is humbug, and blackmail and guilt induction is an effective tool in Pakistans arsenal. There are no permanent friends in Diplomacy only Permanent Interests, when will our people learn ?

This was a strong signal signifying business as usual and that the support to the so called freedom fighters running terrorist camps in the so called Azad Kashmir is ok It is not unexpected when  todays headline read

Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed released.

What is worse our goverments have time and again reconciled to this fact.

We need to deal with Pakistan and realize that this will be a lone battle and  no one other than ourselves will help us.

Aussi Attacks

It was not as if violent racist attacks against Asians or Indians to be more specific never happen before in Australia , they are simply being reported now, considering how ingrained it is in our psyche that reporting is a useless waste of time, thanks to our police and justice system.

I think it is about time that things changed especially when Australia wants to advertise itself as a leading higher education destination droves of Indians are switching to Australia,  as the preferred destination for education from the erstwhile UK and US.

There are racists everywhere including here in India, but here we tend to fight amongst ourselves or express it to people from the african subcontinent thanks to color bias  but i think with an incarcerated immigrant history and being red meat eaters (i may be wrong here) they are a lot more cruel than the Indian lot.

Atanu has two wonderful posts on the media bias and the real culprits that should bear the blame.

Lastly

Its Gandhi VS Gandhi in parliament now . Jai Ho !

Using Condoms effectively

Chk out how many ways one can use a condom !

Hope this is useful

NSE at Circuit !

The markets have for the first time gone up up and away that to in a single day, hitting all 3 circuit breakers as most  stocks especially in banking and real estate instantly notched up double digit gain. But behind all the euphoria lies a few facts that most people didn’t even realize.

MKTS HIT UPPER CIRCUIT; WILL TUE BE AN ENCORE?

Mkts did go up but on lower volumes, and due to the circuits people could not trade, and avg daily turnover dropped from 70000 crores to 2900 Crores.

Most people couldn’t either buy or sell anything once the circuits were triggered at 11:56 so this feels more a notional gain rather than actual gain.

Mutual funds declared it as a “non-business day’’ thus there was no NAV declaration, and anyone who traded yesterday will do so at todays NAV.

Sad bit was that most Indians couldn’t trade but most well informed resourceful investors took their trade to Singapore. One does wonder why people aren’t be allowed to trade against the circuit direction so that the cooling off period aids cooling off of the markets/ scrips.

The bear turned bull as we saw a sudden change in the stand of Shankar Sharma from extreme bearishness to sudden cautious bull when he said that the markets might go up 40% from yesterdays close. (though his estimated are good one musnt forget that he was a part of the tehelka episode and was rumored to be a part of the big bear cartel during the k10 days)

Is this a fools rally? …. Time will tell

Hank Williams

Have u heard these Hank Williams country classics?

This one was featured in one of my fav movies (shawshank redemption)..

You are What u eat !

This is an interesting video

For the more inspired lot there is always the Rambodocs 7-Day Challenge.

He also has a good post on understanding hunger

VOTE !

As a citizen of India id like to humbly request people to vote !

Its your constitutional duty so please vote and then  go on that much needed outing because voting still starts at 8am.

If the waste from the open gutter is still lying there even if 3 days have passed or if the road repair / telephone repair / mmrda flyover / bmc gutter repair is forever in progress and it is impossible to walk on ur road , still hold that nose or watch ur step and vote !

Even if ur vote really doesn’t count as much of the illegal vote of the illegal migrant from (un)friendly neighbor country or the hutment dweller carefully cultivated by that friendly neighborhood politician with free electricity water (even if it lasts for an hr a day) and a promise of pucca 225sq feet flat etc ( it means  money for that politician ) or with those promises of  Rs3 a kg rice , free tv, electricity , loan maafi, or the direct money distribution , liquor distribution etc .

Even if ur MP is a crorepati who was a footpath dweller a few yrs ago , while ur assets are beginning to dwindle, still go vote

You may be frustrated  that this govt is leaving little money in ur pocket thanks to its uncontrolled spending on doles that show little result on ground thaks to massive corruption, mainly based on printing notes out of thin air and the resulting CPI inflation has doubled prices of everything since it came to power, or by blanket loan maafi to some undeserving farmers too when ur house loan emi is skyrocketing.

Do vote, because u never know , ur vote might just count !

Why do i say this ? voter turnout in India averages between 45 and 60% in this country.

Sorry Priyank i know u really want to vote but darn that govt which fails its constitutional duty to facilitate ur vote

Susan Boyle – I Dreamed A Dream – Britain’s Got Talent 2009

I was just youtube surfing and caught this video

She is a simple, funny, sweet and confident 47 yr old Scottish woman, who decided to come out of a quaint town and Sing and wow Britain  and did just that and a lot more ! She has become a you tube singing sensation!

Will we have such shows shows rather than the over the top scripted emotion filled soap opera styled talent shows here in India?