Govt to unveil strategy on black money tomorrow

STAFF WRITER 14:57 HRS IST

New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) Under attack from the Supreme Court and the Opposition over stashing of large amount of money in Swiss banks and other tax havens, the government will unveil its strategy to deal with the issue tomorrow.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will announce the measures the UPA government intends to take to bring back the unaccounted money into the country and tighten the regulatory and tax framework to prevent further illegal outflows.

"Finance Minister will hold a press conference on the issues related to black money tomorrow," Finance Ministry spokesman said.

The Supreme Court had pulled up the government for withholding information on black money stashed in foreign banks, saying it is not just limited to tax evasion but a "mind boggling crime" amounting to "theft" and "plunder" of national wealth having security ramifications.

Agra, world's greatest cultural destination: Travel guide

H S Rao

London, Jan 24 (PTI) India is home to three of the world's 50 Greatest Cultural Destinations, including the top one - Agra, where the famous Taj Mahal is located.

According to a special supplement on Greatest Cultural Destinations brought out by The Sunday Telegraph and travel experts Page & Moy, the other two cultural destinations in India are Jaipur in Rajasthan and Lucknow in UP.

Besides Taj Mahal, the other places recommended for visit are the Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, Itimad-ud-Daulah, Vrindavan and Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary.

Jaipur comes 27th and Lucknow 32nd in the list.

Some other greatest cultural destinations listed are: Amsterdam, Angkor Wat, Athens, Bangkok, Barcelona, Beijing, Bukhara, Cairo, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Kyoto Sydney, Tehran, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw.

Banks lead BSE rally on Q3 results

STAFF WRITER 16:37 HRS IST

Mumbai, Jan 24 (PTI) Strong third quarter results posted by top banks SBI and ICICI pushed up the BSE benchmark Sensex by about 144 points to 19,151.28, despite mixed global trends, sustained capital outflows and fears that RBI may hike key rates to tame inflation in monetary policy review tomorrow.

The country's largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) closed 3.66 per cent up and was the top gainer from the Sensex pack, after having posted 14 per cent jump in Q3 net profit, which was above market expectations.

Biggest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, too notched smart gain of 1.69 per cent as its Q3 net profit jumped 30.51 per cent.

As a result, other banking stocks like Yes Bank, BoB, Union Bank, Axis Bank, PNB and Indusind Bank also closed with rise in the range of 2.56 to 5.05 per cent.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi passes away

PUNE: Legendary vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who enthralled generations of connoisseurs with his renditions of Hindustani classical music, passed away at a city hospital on Monday after a prolonged illness.

He was 87. A recipient of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award, Joshi had been put on life support system following old age- related ailments leading to kidney and respiratory failure after his admission to hospital on December 31, his family said.

Joshi, the most-celebrated exponent of 'Kirana gharana' of Khansahib Abdul Karim Khan, leaves behind three sons and a daughter.

A pall of gloom descended on the city as the news of his demise spread with people making a beeline to his residence to pay their last respects to the singer who was the most powerful figure on the Hindustani music concert platform of 'khayal gayki'.

Born on February 4, 1922 at Gadag in Dharwad district of Karnataka, Joshi got a boost to his career during a concert in Pune in January 1946 on the occasion of the 60th birthday of his guru Sawai Gandharva.

What distinguished him from the ordinary was his powerful voice, amazing breath control, fine musical sensibility and unwavering grasp of the fundamentals that made him the supreme Hindustani vocalist, representing a subtle fusion of intelligence and passion that imparted life and excitement to his music.

In the forays he made outside the classical fold, Joshi lent is voice as a "dhrupad" singer for a Bengali film based on the life of Tansen and later sang as a playback singer for Marathi film "Gulacha Ganapati", produced and directed by celebrated Marathi humorist "Pu La" Deshpande in addition to Hindi movies "Basant Bahar" and "Bhairavi".

But it was his 'Sant Vani' recitals, which bore the flair of Marathi 'Bhakti Sangeet' that added immensely to his popularity in both Maharashtra and Karnataka which have had a long succession of saint-poets.

He was honoured with the Padma Shri (1972), Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Hindustani vocal music (1975), Padma Bhushan (1985) and Madhya Pradesh government's "Tansen Samman" in 1992. Bharat Ratna was bestowed on him in 2008.

Joshi had undergone a surgery for removal of a brain tumor in 1999 followed by a cervical spine operation in 2005.

The maestro's last surprise public performance that regaled the audience was during 2007 'Sawai Gandharva' annual music festival which he himself had started to commemorate the memory of his guru.

Read more: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi passes away - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pandit-Bhimsen-Joshi-passes-away/articleshow/7351463.cms#ixzz1Bx1Mr8Pe