MFIs in Andhra Pradesh are paying for the sins of their past. Market for new loans has dried up, banks have turned off their spigots while the AP government is content to sit back and watch. It has been eleven months since the Andhra Pradesh government issued an ordinance—later converted into the Andhra Pradesh Micro-Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act—which, the microfinance industry hoped, would be the magic remedy that...

-The Indian Express   Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s direction to his ministers to update details of their business interests, assets and liabilities has yielded an interesting profile of his cabinet. The financial status of the powerful — how much wealth they have and how they invest it — always draws curiosity. Dr Singh sticks to Fixed deposits, keeping his investment beyond controversy. A.K. Antony’s loan funds a second-hand car. And Kamal...

-Express News Service   On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directed his cabinet colleagues to update details of their business interests, assets and liabilities. In the first such exercise last year, only two cabinet ministers had explicitly declared their interests in private companies — Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora. Kamal Nath mentioned 23 companies in which either he or his family have a “business interest”. Deora...

When it comes to increasing wealth, legislative experience, it turns out, beats the best investment planning hollow. An analysis of the assets of re-contesting legislators certainly suggests that – with the growth in their assets being more than what investing in gold, mutual funds or Fixed deposits would yield. According to analysis of affidavits done by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch, the percentage rise in assets of...

Social activist Anna Hazare has cash assets worth Rs.68,688.36. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi which is being used by his family. Two other pieces of land donated to him by the Army and by a villager have been donated by him for village use. This is all that Mr. Hazare, who lives in a temple in Ralegan Siddhi, a model village, owns. Sent to chairman The assets of...