Day: September 11, 2012

New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday made it clear that the hike in fuel prices is unavoidable.
“I would like to tell the people, in all humility, that increase is unavoidable. It will not give us pleasure. We will have to perform our unpleasant duty,” he said.
Reddy further said the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), which is meeting later in the day to decide on the hike, may take a decision in this regard if the matter is listed for discussion.
“I had circulated a note to all the members of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) about the problem of increasing under recoveries. As of now, if you project for the remaining period the under recoveries will exceed 1,88,000 crores. And with prices going up further at the global level with rupee not softening, the under recoveries could be anything beyond that,” said Reddy.
“So, I tried to acquaint the members of CCPA about these matters. Yesterday I sent an updated version of the same. Today there is a meeting of the CCPA. This item has not been listed. If it is taken up today, which I said is not likely; some decisions may be taken. If it is not taken up today, the decisions may have to be postponed by a few days,” he added.
Reddy had earlier last Friday denied speculations that oil-marketing companies were going to hike fuel prices.
Reddy said that there was a need to lower the under-recoveries faced by the oil companies by selling fuel at subsidized rates.
“We are facing a tremendous crisis of unprecedented magnitude. However, there is no immediate proposal to hike fuel prices, including petrol. The Cabinet will take the final call,” he said.
With reports that there may be an increase in the prices of diesel, kerosene and LPG, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier last week alleged that the ruling UPA Government was merely trying to divert the attention of the people, as it is currently embroiled in various scams.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar had then said this step of the government would be like rubbing salt into the wounds of the common people.
“The government does not want to tell the truth in Parliament. It wants to run away from the coalgate scam and wants to evade the issue of corruption by raising the fuel price,” he said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja also echoed similar sentiments on the issue, and said that the if the government hikes the prices of fuel then the people of the country would have to face the brunt.
“Once the session is adjourned, government and the oil marketing companies will go for another hike in the price of diesel, petroleum, and other petroleum products and it has become a routine for the Congress led UPA-2 Government. Once the session is over, they will allow the oil marketing companies to hike the price of diesel and petroleum,” said Raja.
According to reports, an increase in petrol, diesel, domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene prices looks imminent after the Finance Ministry said it has no money to provide for fuel subsidy.
Diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene rates have not been changed since June 2011 even though cost of production has soared 28 percent.
State-owned fuel retailers are losing Rs 560 crore per day on sale of diesel and cooking fuel, and are forced to resort to short-term borrowings to meet funds needed for importing crude oil (raw material).

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/hike-in-fuel-prices-is-unavoidable-jaipal-reddy/

MNS:- There have been several times in the last two decades when the ethical behavior of organisation has been the center of attention. This may be due to lack of knowledge on the issues related to compliance. Compliance is all about internal control processes. The board should also ensure that compliance plays a significant role in both strategic plans and product development. Compliance should not be something that is retro-fitted to products, reorganization, and similar decisions. It should be a part of the DNA of the organization as well as design and decision-making process.
Corporate governance norms in India are in a constant state of refinement, in search of a balance between voluntary and mandatory approaches. Equally, the very concept of corporate governance is at a threshold in India where regulations attuned to Indian conditions require a deep understanding of underlying factors and issues before expecting compliance from corporations. Good governance has always been an important element in human interactions and in an increasingly uncertain global climate has now become an imperative. Corporations today wield immense economic power (sometimes greater than the GDP of some countries), and based on this economic power, considerable political power as well. It is not surprising that there is an increasingly intense demand to regulate corporations all over the world. This has led to a flurry of laws, regulations and compliance parameters in practically every country.
However, there are no set and final answers; the quest for good governance is a matter of on-going debate to arrive at practicable solutions both for internalising the goals of governance at every level of the organization and for implementing the regulations that are already in force.
India has a complex set of Central Government and State laws that businesses need to comply with. Researching the applicable laws, keeping up with changes and implementing necessary compliance procedures is time consuming and expensive.
IICA has identified that the main reasons for non-compliance are:
1. The high cost of compliance
2. Lack of knowledge of the laws
3. Lack of systems within enterprises to monitor legal compliance
4. Perception of compliance as an unnecessary burden
5. Lack of uniform enforcement
In order to deliberate on the challenges in staying legally compliant in India especially for small and medium enterprises, the IICA has accordingly organised a one day long conference on Corporate Governance titled as “INSPIRING CONFIDENCE IN INDIAN BUSINESS”. A galaxy of eminent and experienced speakers with an objective to bring awareness and to provide solutions to address the challenge will address the gathering.
As part of the MoU between IICA and Intel a Legal Compliance Manual (LCM), has been developed. This has been developed as a generic manual, applicable to companies working in similar businesses and has been extended to include adjacent areas such as Factories Act compliances which apply to a vast number of companies in India. The IICA version of the LCM will not cover all types of businesses but it will assist a substantial number of them to quickly learn about compliance obligations without incurring costs. The LCM will be provided with the caveat that it may be continuously updated to include new areas.
It is noteworthy that the IICA along with Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI) and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) have in 2011 entered into a collaborative arrangement to conduct a comprehensive study on the state of Corporate Governance in India covering four fundamental aspects of governance in India using quantitative and empirical research techniques.
The study should be of interest to companies, policy makers, analysts and academics alike and is titled” State of Corporate Governance in India- Policies to Reality”

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/inspiring-confidence-in-indian-business/

New Delhi, Sep 11 : Asserting that Muslims have lived in India’s religiously plural society for over a thousand years, at times as rulers, at others as subjects and now as citizens, Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said that Indian Muslims are, in more ways than one, ‘sui generic’.
Vice President Ansari, who released the book “Muslims in Indian Cities” here on Monday in his address said, ‘the subject of India’s Muslim minority, and its socio-economic condition, has been the subject of considerable study in recent years’.
“The debate has thus progressed from informed and less informed speculation to diligent collection and analysis of actual conditions based on ground data.
Indian Muslims are, in more ways than one, sui generic. They are 13.4 percent of India’s population; at the same time, they are the second or third largest Muslim community in our world of nation-states,” said Vice President Ansari.
“They have lived in India’s religiously plural society for over a thousand years, at times as rulers, at others as subjects and now as citizens. They are not homogenous in racial or linguistic terms and bear the impact of local cultural surroundings, in manners and customs, in varying degrees,” he added.
Vice President Ansari said the partition of India in 1947, a result of political calculus, compromises and adjustments of elites but not of population at large, affected adversely the Muslims in India, particularly in the northern and eastern states of the Indian Union.
“For several decades thereafter the socio-economic impact of that event on the Muslim minority remained largely un-studied or understudied. Ad hoc government initiatives taken occasionally were poorly implemented,” he added.
Vice President Ansari further said the government set up a high-level committee under Justice Rajinder Sachar in March 2005 to collect authentic information about the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community so that it could be used for formulation of specific policies and programmes to address its socio-economic backwardness.
“The Sachar Report has become a landmark and is being used by the Government for affirmative action in different areas. The extent to which it has succeeded is the subject of a lively debate. Amongst the many studies undertaken, I could mention the volume edited in 2010 by Rakesh Basant and Abusaleh Shariff and the Report published last year by Harsh Mander’s Centre for Equity Studies. Both shed much light on the conceptual and practical limitations of the extant policies,” said Vice President Ansari.
“The volume before us today adds some useful empirical data to the debate. It is yet another example of the thoroughness and diligence of the CNRS, Paris and of its guiding light, Professor Jaffrelot, who needs no introduction to an Indian audience. It is a sociological study of the condition of Muslim communities specifically in a dozen urban centres. It explores patterns of segregation as well as of resilience. The concluding essay by the editors offers a nuanced view of social and territorial marginalisation through typologies and argues that Muslims are losing ground,” he added.
The Vice President said: “This conclusion may be contested on two grounds. In the first place, any generalisation for so large a number spread over a vast area is hazardous. Secondly, and as the editors point out, the Muslims of India are not a homogenous entity. Different strata of the community have performed differently.”
“The elite of a feudal past have lost ground but some amongst them have adapted themselves well in new callings. New elites have sprung up amongst those who in the past were socially under-privileged and are now doing well in terms of educational levels and economic well-being,” he added.
Vice President Ansari further said: “Above all, the realisation is dawning that as equal partners in a democratic polity governed by the ideals of social, economic and political justice, they can make the weight of numbers felt in political decision-making and seek a fair access to it.”

Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/indian-muslims-are-sui-generic-hamid-ansari/