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After this apparent sleight wherein it seemed like Pranabbabu was taking the decisions that were in his territory, Mr Chidambaram threw a fit. He was completely compromised and made to look like he had no clue on what was going on around him. That seems to be the reason why Jairam Ramesh got a...

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In a welcome move, SEBI has made it mandatory for mutual funds to disclose to investors how they exercise their voting rights as corporate shareholders—never mind that SEBI does not want to probe clear cases of fraud. Mutual funds are not only large enough to be heard on matters of governance,...

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Singapore’s Changi Airport has been named the world’s best airport in the Skytrax World Airport Awards. Incheon International Airport (rated the best in 2009) came a close second. These awards are based on the results from 9.8 million questionnaires completed by airline passengers during...

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A survey in Britain has revealed that one in every five spouses secretly checks the partner’s email or text messages. Surveillance was undertaken more often by women than men. Around 8% of men and 14% of women read their spouse’s emails. Even mobile phones were not spared. Among males, 7%...

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The babus have never had it so good. A few years ago, every secretary of the government of India used his/her pre-retirement years to lobby for a post-retirement sinecure. Regulatory bodies have been their favourite destinations, because they ensure a continuation of power and clout over all the...

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This happy scenario of IAS officers planting themselves into every conceivable aspect of public and private administration is only likely to face a block when it comes to exercising quasi-judicial functions. In a landmark judgement in May 2010, a five-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme...

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Ravi Samalad 18 June 2010
SEBI’s new contentious rule on client-broker relationship has been postponed till 30 June 2010. But the onus is now on stock exchanges to handle this thorny issue To bring clarity and accountability into a client-broker relationship, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had issued...

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Even regular market-watchers were rather startled with the SEBI press release announcing that Motilal Oswal Securities had filed consent terms in what was dubbed the IPO (initial public offering) or multiple application scam of 2003-05. The firm settled the case on 6th May by paying Rs5 lakh...

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The Income-Tax Department keeps the transcripts of the Niira Radia tapes a closely guarded secret. They are marked ‘Top Secret’ and ‘Strictly Confidential’, obviously because the PR firm, which has the accounts of Reliance Industries Limited as well as the Tata group, is bound to have enormous...

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Can Indage Vintners be salvaged? Indage Vintners, an audacious and a pioneering venture of Shamrao Chougule, who started his life as a farm boy, is unravelling. In late March, the Bombay High Court ordered India’s largest wine producer to wind up, following a winding-up petition filed by its...

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Pallabika Ganguly 18 June 2010
The Unilever chief should be deeply worried about HUL’s recent record Unilever chief Paul Polman recently visited India as successive Unilever chiefs do. All these years, Unilever chairmen have been praising Hindustan Unilever (HUL) as the jewel in the crown—even when growth was clearly...

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Ravi Samalad 18 June 2010
Multi-level marketing schemes are expressly prohibited under the Insurance Act. Yet such schemes are proliferating under various guises, reports Ravi Samalad Gujarat-based insurance broker agency, Jeevan Suraksha Medicare Services Ltd, is among a long and growing list of companies engaged in...

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Orient Abrasives has a superb operating margin of 24% and a fast-growing domestic and global client list There are hardly too many stocks at attractive valuations currently. Orient Abrasives is probably one such. It makes fused alumina abrasive grains for cement, steel & copper, and zinc...

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Pallabika Ganguly 18 June 2010
Mumbai builders are slapping new home-buyers with value-added tax and service tax. The jury is still out on this issue Builders are demanding extra money under value-added tax (VAT) and service tax from home-buyers. The demand comes up when a buyer goes to complete possession formalities.

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Ravi Samalad 18 June 2010
LIC agents are painting a rosy picture and promising guaranteed returns to clueless investors Even as insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is busy bailing out initial public offerings of public sector units, its agents are finding new ways to trick investors. The...

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Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) had spent Rs213 crore to buy a 37.5% stake in the Murugappa group’s non-banking finance company, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company Ltd, in June 2006. It has exited from the joint venture at Rs129 crore, suffering a straight loss of Rs83 crore. This...

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Forex trading gets a multi-level marketing prop Chain marketing, which is rampant in mutual fund and insurance sales, has now caught up with the high-risk, high-return business of foreign exchange (forex) trading. Mauritius-based company, Maximus Trades Inc, which provides a forex trading...

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Pallabika Ganguly 18 June 2010
The original title deed of properties is often missing It is no secret that the Indian property market is a tangled web of deceit and legalise that can only be navigated by intrepid professionals. What is not so well known is that in most property transactions, it is difficult to get clarity on...

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Sanket Dhanorkar 18 June 2010
Shriram Transport Finance Company’s MD R Sridhar speaks with Moneylife’s Sanket Dhanorkar on his firm’s growth, funding and expansion plans ML: Are you going to continue focusing on niche businesses? RS: We are financing only small truck owners. We pull these people from the unorganised sector...

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Rudreshwar Malkani 18 June 2010
Nominees, not legal heirs, get ownership rights of shares, rules Bombay High Court A Bombay High Court judgement has overturned an established practice in the matter of transmission of shares by giving all ownership rights to the nominee rather than the legal heirs. In the verdict, Justice...

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