-The Times of India   The finance ministry is devising a voluntary tax disclosure scheme that could provide amnesty to people who have stashed unaccounted money in tax havens and other jurisdictions abroad by charging them a "levy". Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, after a meeting with industry captains recently, activated a committee on black money set up last year to work out a scheme on voluntary disclosure. This scheme will allow corporates and...

Have you heard of the Yangtze River Dolphin? For the longest time, it used to be found along 1,700 kilometres of the middle and lower reaches of the mighty Chinese river. The Baiji, as it is known, was white finned, a little over two metres long, had poor eyesight and relied mainly on sonar for navigation. A few decades ago, as populations along the river grew, as shipping traffic rose,...

-PTI   Encouraged by support from Haryana labour authority and its parent Suzuki Motor Corp in the ongoing tussle with workers at the Manser plant, Maruti Suzuki India is understood to be planning to recruit new permanent employees to replace the existing ones. With no signs of an end to the standoff that started on August 29, the company has decided to give the current workers time till Monday to sign the "good...

Do agencies like the Ford Foundation push their own agenda through the NGOs they support? It’s often said, tongue in cheek, that India’s “shadow” government works out of the nondescript, low-slung buildings abutting the Lodhi Garden in Delhi. That’s partly hubris, but it also stems from being close to the centre of power. This rarefied zone houses powerful “cultural” institutions like the India International Centre, as well as a host...

-The Times of India   Suzuki chief Osamu Suzuki on Friday took a tough stand on the labour standoff at Maruti's Manesar plant, saying the company will not accept "any indiscipline". In his first reaction to the problems at Manesar, Suzuki told representatives of the company's recognised workers body that there will be "no compromise on discipline". "Indiscipline is not tolerated... not in japan, not in India. It is never in the interest...