The government of India has announced a slew of measures for controlling prices of essential commodities.

Some of the measures are stringent actions against hoarders and black marketers and import and export of all essential commodities to be reviewed on a regular basis.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

- State units to intensify purchases of essential commodities, particularly edible oils and pulses, for distribution through their retail network

– Existing schemes for subsidised distribution of edible oils and pulses to be continued

– Exports of edible oils and pulses, as well as non-basmati rice to remain banned

– Committee of Secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary to review the prices situation with individual states

– An inter-ministerial Group set up under the Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance to review the overall inflation situation

– State Governments to be urged to consider waiving mandi tax, octroi and other local levies to bring down prices further

– A scheme to support the state governments in the setting up of farmers’ mandis and mobile bazaars and to improve the functioning of civil supplies corporations and cooperatives

In addition to these, the government is expected to encourage investements in supply chains including provisions for cold storages and increase storage capacities and promoting awareness campaigns.

Tags: essential commodities, inflation, mandi tax, octroi, retail network

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that it is not possible to provide information on black money stashed in tax havens abroad as it will entail violations of its treaty obligations.

Manmohan Singh told reporters when asked about the government’s stand that ‘The information will not be made public. It will be a violation of the treaty.’

From in.news.yahoo.com:

‘There is no instant solution to bring back what is called black money. We have got some information and that has been provided to us for use in the collection of taxes,’ he added.

As per the guidelines of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), India has signed independent treaties with a host of countries and territories to share information on illegal transfers, often referred to as black money.

Manmohan Singh’s remarks came on a day the Supreme Court voiced displeasure over the government’s reluctance in providing full information on the black money stashed by Indians in foreign banks, saying it was a theft of national wealth and amounted to ‘plunder’ of the nation.

Government’s reluctance to disclose names points the needle of suspicion towards it, according to BJP president Nitin Gadkari.

Tags: black money, foreign banks, tax havens

Experts have suggested that NASA should touch on the topic of space sex. The experts said there haven’t been any studies on whether a child be conceived in zero-G or how sex would even work in space and an effort by NASA will prove informative.

Fox News quoted Dr. Rhawn Joseph from the Brain Research Laboratory in California as saying, “Human beings are sexual. They think about it a lot. So if you’re on a trip to Mars, it’s going to be dark out, you’ll be in a long period of isolation, and there’s not going to be a lot to do.”

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Joseph added that on the long space journeys that NASA takes, it would be impossible to expect astronauts not to form emotional ties.

“The Antarctic is comparable to space: It’s extremely cold down there and you spend a lot of time indoors. So NASA and lot of organizations think that’s a great analog to what it’ll be like on Mars,” Joseph said.

“And we see that researchers will go down there for extended periods of time in these extremely hostile conditions, and women will get pregnant. It’s just part of normal behaviour,” he added.

“So if you put an infant on Mars, they would adapt to varying degrees of the new environment. And after several generations, you’d have a new species,” he said.

NASA does not take a position on sex in space. According to the “Astronaut Code of Professional Responsibility,” astronauts are expected to adhere to “a constant commitment to honorable behavior,” but NASA won’t go much further than that.

The article appears in The Journal of Cosmology.

Tags: astronauts, emotional ties, NASA

In this YouTube video, you will be accessing info on showcasing your business products and services before potential clients in an easy way. The video advice will not only help you save time but you will also be able to engage with your customers in a powerful way that will allow them to understand you business immediately.

Tags: potential clients, video advice, YouTube video

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday wrote to parliament’s Public Accounts Committee expressing his willingness to appear before it on the 2G spectrum scam.

The committee would take an ‘appropriate decision at an appropriate time’, Panel head Murli Manohar Joshi said.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not impressed by the prime minister’s offer and insisted on its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe. The Congress hit back, saying the PAC was chaired by a BJP leader and the opposition party should demand a JPC only if it didn’t believe in Joshi’s abilities.

The prime minister Monday followed on his assurance to the Congress plenary a week ago and wrote to the PAC chairman conveying his willingness to appear before it in connection with the 2G spectrum scandal. He said in his letter that there was no precedent for the prime minister appearing before a PAC, but he was ready to do so.

‘To the best of my knowledge, the PAC takes evidence from the secretaries of the departments concerned or the heads of departments or the public sector undertakings,’ Manmohan Singh wrote in his letter to Joshi.

The prime minister said his office has provided the relevant documents sought by the PAC on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)’s report into the issue of licences and allocation of 2G spectrum.

Tags: 2G spectrum, 2G spectrum scam, joint parliamentary committee, JPC, Public Accounts Committee

Views of a solid economic growth pace in the 4Q for the United States were reinforced after new U.S. claims for jobless benefits dipped last week and consumer spending increased in November for a fifth straight month.

The data also demonstrated gains in orders for a range of long-lasting manufactured goods and in new home sales last month.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

“The data releases today support our estimate that GDP growth probably accelerated to between 3.5 percent and 4.0 percent annualized in the fourth quarter,” said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.

Initial jobless claims fell 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000, the Labor Department said, matching economists’ expectations.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed spending rose 0.4 percent after increasing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in October.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, to rise 0.5 percent last month after a previously reported 0.4 percent gain in October.

Prices for U.S. government debt were trading down, while stocks on Wall Street were flat. The U.S. dollar was flat against a basket of currencies.

In another report, the Commerce Department said orders for long-lasting manufactured goods excluding transportation increased 2.4 percent, the largest increase since March, after a 1.9 percent drop in October.

But overall orders dropped by a larger-than-expected 1.3 percent last month, dragged down by a plunge in bookings for civilian aircraft and motor vehicles.

Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics in New York, said, “Durable goods orders were reassuring in that we saw a manufacturing plateau over the summer and while the number released today was not strong, at least it showed some resilience in terms of capital goods orders apart from aircraft.”

Tags: economic growth, GDP growth, jobless benefits, jobless claims, Wall Street