There lived a saint in an ashram in the kingdom of Emperor Akbar.
He was believed to prophecy the future correctly.
Once he had a visitor who had come to treat their niece. The child's parents were killed in front of the girl's eyes. Once she saw the saint, she started to scream loudly saying that that saint was the culprit.
Angered by the girl's words, the saint demanded the couple to get away with their child.
The whole day the girl cried which made the couple to realize that the girl was not lying.
Therefore, they decided to seek the help of Birbal.
Birbal consoled them and asked them to wait at the Emperor's assembly. Birbal had invited the saint to Akbar's court too.
Then in front of all the ministers he drew a sword and neared the saint to kill him. The saint in bewilderment immediately drew another sword and began to fight. Thus by this act of the saint it was proved that he wasn’t blind.
Therefore, Akbar demanded to hang the culprit and rewarded the girl for her bravery for telling the truth even at the critical situation.
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US honours Mother Teresa, releases stamp
Washington: The United States on Sunday released a 44-cent postal stamp in the honour of Mother Teresa, acknowledging her unrelenting humanitarian service for nearly half a century.
The US Postal Service issued the stamp during a special ceremony held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
The stamp features a portrait of Mother Teresa, who received a Nobel prize in 1979, painted by award-winning artist Thomas Blackshear II of Colorado Springs.
Blackshear II, was also in attendance at the event. Mother Teresa, who died in Kolkata on September 5, 1997, and is buried there, was awarded honorary US citizenship in 1996.
Noted for her compassion toward the poor and suffering, Mother Teresa, a diminutive Roman Catholic nun and honorary US citizen, served the sick and destitute of India and the world for nearly 50 years.
Teresa's peace prayer finds echo at centenary celebration
"Often, stamps are referred to as a nation's 'calling cards' because they reach a national, and even an international audience," said Postmaster General John Potter in dedicating the stamp.
"They focus attention on subjects our country regards with respect and affection, and that is certainly true of Mother Teresa, who believed so deeply in the innate worth and dignity of humankind and worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor, sick, orphaned and dying," Potter said.
"That's why today I am so very proud that our country, after making her an honorary citizen in 1996, is honouring Mother Teresa with such a lasting memorial," Potter said on the occasion.
Mother Teresa was of Albanian ethnicity and an Indian citizen who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding missionary's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.
When Mother Teresa accepted the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, she did so "in the name of the poor, the hungry, the sick and the lonely," and convinced the organisers to donate to the needy the money normally used to fund the awards banquet.
Well respected worldwide, she successfully urged many of the world's business and political leaders to give their time and resources to help those in need.
The then US President, Ronald Reagan, presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985, the same year she began work on behalf of AIDS sufferers in the US and other countries. In 1997, Congress awarded Mother Teresa the Congressional Gold Medal for her "outstanding and enduring contributions through humanitarian and charitable activities."
Following her death she was beatified by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Kolkata.
DTC Bill brings bad news for NRIs
More NRIs may fall under the tax net if the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill proposal to impose a levy on their global income if they stay in India for more than 60 days in a year is approved by Parliament.
As per the existing Income Tax laws, an NRI is liable to pay tax on global income if he is in India in that year for a period or periods amounting to 182 days.
Furthermore, in case an NRI resides in India for a period of 365 days or more over a period of four years prior to the assessment year, he is also liable to pay tax on his global income.
The new DTC Bill has proposed to make an NRI liable to pay tax on global income is he resides in India in a particular year for a period or periods amounting to 60 days, down from the existing provision of 182 days in the existing Income Tax Act.
However, the present dispensation for taxation of global income if an NRI resides in India for 365 days or more over a four-year period has been retained in the proposed DTC.
The DTC hopes to plug loopholes with the proposed changes with the aim of preventing tax evasion through this route, said a senior Finance Ministry official.
In addition, the DTC has also removed the 'Resident Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR)' category to simplify the tax laws, the official said.
Now, there will be only two categories, 'Resident' and 'Non-Resident', the official added.
Commenting on the proposal PwC Executive Director (Tax) Kuldeep Kumar said, "With this change, a non-resident would be at greater risk of becoming an ordinary citizen and become liable to pay tax in India as the threshold limit has been reduced."
There would be liability on a resident belonging to a country where the tax rate is lower than India and there is a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between both the countries. The non-resident would be considered a resident if the threshold limit of stay has been exceeded for the purpose of imposing tax.
In the case of a resident of a non-treaty country, which India has no DTAA with, the tax burden would be higher if he exceeds the threshold limit of stay in India, Kumar said, adding that he has to pay tax on all the global income in India as well as the country of residence as per the prevailing tax laws of that country.
At present, India has comprehensive DTAAs with about 74 countries, including the USA, Singapore, UK, Thailand, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Australia.
Experts feel that the DTC proposal could be a damper for NRIs visiting India to meet their relatives or for business promotion.
In every company, a panel to fix CEO salary?
NEW DELHI: A key parliamentary panel wants the government to make it mandatory for the boards of companies to have a committee specifically tasked with determining the salaries of key managerial personnel, in a recommendation that seems to have been shaped by the growing unease over the stratospheric salaries drawn by CEOs.
The recommendation is part of a cluster of suggestions Parliament's standing committee on finance has made in response to the Companies Bill, 2009. This seeks to replace the Companies Act, 1956.
The panel, headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, also said that the liabilities of independent directors should be distinguished from those of full-time directors.
Sinha confirmed that the panel's recommendation for a committee to fix remuneration was influenced by "obscenely high" salaries that celebrity CEOs insisted on drawing even during the downturn, and the raging perception that economic reforms and globalisation had widened the income gap.
The suggestion that the government, while drafting the new law governing companies, should differentiate between full-time directors and independent directors is significant. The absence of a distinction between the two sets renders independent directors liable for consequences flowing from day-to-day operations of a company with which they may not have even been remotely associated, and threatens to scare away experts who could be roped in as independent directors.
The fear of being harassed has grown manifold after the "politically motivated" move to prosecute investment banker Nimesh Kampani as well as populist demands for action against Harvard don Krishna Palepu and other independent directors of Satyam. The committee said RBI could draw a panel from which companies could appoint independent directors.
In a crucial suggestion that seems to have been clearly influenced by Satyam scam, Sinha and his colleagues — drawn from all political parties — have also suggested a scheme of rotation of auditors to ensure proper scrutiny of accounts.
The standing committee has also counselled that the government should forbid companies from making political contributions to individuals.
Ingredients: 1 loaf Bread
1/2 cup grated Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
1 Tomatoes
1 Onions
2 Green chillies
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Butter as needed
Method:
Chop onions, chillies and tomatoes.
Mix the grated paneer with chopped vegetables, salt, red chilli powder and keep aside.
Take two bread slices and butter them, put some paneer mixture on one slice and cover it with other bread slice.
Put this in sandwich toaster until the bread turns crispy and brown.
Serve with ketchup.
Contributed by Anthony
Ingredients:
