Contain uncontrolled passion for gold: Chidambaram Mumbai: Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday asked countrymen to contain their "uncontrolled passion" for gold and instead save in financial instruments. "Have faith in our financial sector. Unfortunately, we have difficulty shedding our old habits and put our money in gold," he said while speaking at an event to mark the platinum anniversary celebrations of state-run Dena Bank. "The uncontrolled passion for gold must be contained," Chidambaram said and reeled out data to show how increasing gold imports are hurting the Current Account Deficit (CAD).



People should rather switch to financial products to funnel their savings, the Minister said and added the soon-to-be-luanched inflation indexed bonds is a very lucrative option. He also sought to demolish gold as a hedge against inflation, saying many such investors are finding the going difficult ever since the price of gold plummeted to Rs 26,000 from over Rs 33,000 per ten grams last year. He said that in 2012 the country bought USD 50 billion worth gold and fortunately, it was able to finance the CAD of USD 90 billion on the back of higher foreign flows and could maintain the foreign exchange reserves level at around USD 290 billion.

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02:03 AM, May 25, 2013

US institutions imparting training to Indians: Pallam Rajahmundry: Some prominent US educational institutions are imparting industrial training to students in India under the Centre's Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP), Human Resource Development Minister M Pallam Raju on Friday said. Under the initiative, training is provided to students who have passed polytechnic and engineering courses, based on their understanding of the subject and as per the needs of industry. The first phase of the World Bank-sponsored TEQIP,...  
12:27 AM, May 25, 2013

Mamata govt's decision to take over 2 channels may hit roadblock New Delhi: The West Bengal government's decision to take over two channels owned by scam-tainted Saradha Group which were facing closure may hit the roadblock as present guidelines do not allow state governments to run TV channels. "At present no proposal has come to us from the state government but as per the present set of guidelines state governments are not allowed to run television channels," a senior Information &...  
08:43 PM, May 24, 2013

I hope to start an academy for underprivileged students: N Shivakumar From being a newspaper delivery boy to becoming a newsmaker himself, 23-year-old Shivakumar has got through to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Calcutta. Shivakumar, an engineering student and the only educated member in his family, has fought hard to make his dreams come true. N Shivakumar joined IBNLive readers for an interaction. Q. How did you finance your engineering course? Are you taking loan for the IIM course...  
05:26 PM, May 24, 2013

'Gas deal a mega scam, favours Ambani's RIL' New Delhi: CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in a gas deal that he says deliberately favours Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Dasgputa also called for Oil Minister Veerappa Moily to step down for favouring RIL. He said if RIL's sale price of gas to the government is accepted, the government's subsidy burden would rise by Rs 36,000 crore. He said the corresponding...  
11:23 AM, May 24, 2013

Bangalore: Boy who delivered newspapers makes it to IIM-Calcutta Bangalore: From being a newspaper delivery boy to making news himself, 23-year-old Shivakumar has got through to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Calcutta. Shivakumar, an engineering student and the only educated member in his family, has fought hard to make his dreams come true. For the past ten years, N Shivakumar's day has started at the crack of dawn, sorting newspapers and heading out to deliver them in...  
08:49 AM, May 24, 2013

WB: Left Front asks Mamata to come clean on graft allegations
by IANS
Kolkata: The Left Front on Thursday asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to respond to allegations by a senior West Bengal IPS officer about "corrupt practices" when she was the railway minister. "Serious allegations of corruption have been levelled by a senior and respected IPS officer from the state. We don't to want question her (Banerjee) integrity. But to keep that image intact the chief minister must come out with an...  
04:26 AM, May 24, 2013

Australia looks into allowing Sikhs to wear turban at work Melbourne: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Thursday promised to look into allowing Sikhs to wear turbans at work places and also while riding a motorcycle. "We will work with your community to help make the necessary changes requested on cultural and religious grounds," Gillard assured Australian Sikh Association members in a closed door meeting at a Gurdwara in Glenwood, a suburb of Sydney. The Association members also asked her...  
03:06 AM, May 24, 2013

WB govt to take over two TV channels of Saradha Group Kolkata: The West Bengal government has acquired two television channels - Tara Muzik and Tara News - which were previously owned by the Saradha Group. The two channels had to be shut down following the Saradha chit-fund crisis. Announcing the decision, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters at Writers' Buildings that the decision was taken following appeal by employees of Tara News and Tara Muzic channels for government intervention. The...  
05:11 PM, May 23, 2013

IIM-Bangalore receives hoax bomb threat Bangalore: A telephone call about a bomb being planted in the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) on Thursday created panic with the staff and the students being evacuated from the building but it turned out to be hoax. The call received at the IIMB reception at 12 noon sent the staff into a tizzy and in no time the building was evacuated as there was skeletal staff and very...  
03:30 PM, May 23, 2013

Heat wave continues to grip North India Bhubaneswar: The heat wave continues to grip northern India with the Met department predicting a further rise in temperatures. The heat wave continued unabated in Delhi on Thursday with the minimum temperature settling five notches above average at 31.4 degrees Celsius and the maximum expected to hover around the 45 degrees Celsius mark. "Heatwave conditions would continue across the national capital. The maximum temperature on Thursday is expected to be...  
11:03 AM, May 23, 2013

Raveena enjoys busy life of an actor
by IANS
Chennai: Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon, who is making a comeback to the Telugu industry after a decade, is enjoying being busy on the sets of an untitled multi-starrer. This is Raveena's third film in Telugu after 'Bangaru Bullodu' and 'Akasa Veedhilo'. "(I'm) up early, make-up hair and back to the grind! Literally! (Shooting a) song for the Telugu film with Mohan Babu. (It) has been super fun. Rocking song by...  
10:46 AM, May 23, 2013

Bangladesh player linked to IPL spot-fixing: sources New Delhi: Involvement of a prominent Bangladeshi player, who never played in the IPL, has now emerged in the IPL spot-fixing scandal, police sources told CNN-IBN on Wednesday. Investigation moved forward at a rapid pace on Wednesday when name of the BCCI president N Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, who is also the Team Principal and CEO of Chennai Super Kings, also surfaced - allegedly for illegal betting. But the involvement...  
05:01 PM, May 22, 2013

Kerala CM gets UN award for 'Mass Contact Programme' Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has won the United Nation's Public Service Award for his Mass Contact Programme, which saw him directly engaging with people in the state to address their grievances. Chandy bagged the first prize from the Asia Pacific region with awardees chosen every year from five zones around the world, a release from the CM's office said. Since 2003, UN has been giving the award as...  
03:50 PM, May 22, 2013

Akshay injured during the shoot of Vipul Shah's film Mumbai: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar was today briefly admitted to a private hospital after he met with an accident while shooting for his upcoming movie. Kumar was admitted to Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in suburban Andheri at around 4 PM and was discharged soon after, sources close to the actor said tonight. They did not disclose the nature of the injury suffered by the 45-year-old actor, but said he was given...  
11:15 AM, May 22, 2013

Camera rolling for documentary on Kolkata's Jews
by IANS
Kolkata: A new documentary is on its way to showcasing the status of the dwindling number of Jews in the city through the eyes of the youngest member of the community. Filmed by director duo Jaydip Mukherjee and Aloke Banerjee, the documentary will focus on Shalom Israel, caretaker of the Jewish cemetery and the juniormost of the now remaining 26 Jews of the city. "I chose Shalom as he is...  
11:02 AM, May 22, 2013

Mulayam may skip UPA dinner hosted by PM tonight New Delhi: Distancing himself from the UPA's falling fortunes, Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav may skip the dinner which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host on Wednesday for its allies and supporting parties, according to sources. An invite has also gone to the BSP's Maywawati. However, sources say she may skip the dinner too, but the key aide Satish Mishra will be attending. Both SP and BSP support the...  
10:08 AM, May 22, 2013