Probe into SpeakAsia affairs hits legal hurdle
Debate over whether Serious Fraud Investigation Office has powers to probe a firm registered outside India
Press Trust of India / New Delhi Sep 30, 2012.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office's probe into the alleged scam at multi-level online marketing entity SpeakAsia has hit a legal hurdle on whether the agency has powers to investigate a company registered outside India.
Regarding probe into SpeakAsia, which is registered in Singapore, SFIO is now awaiting advice from the Corporate Affairs as well as the Law Ministries.
Officials close to the development said the SFIO has sought clarification on whether it has the powers to probe irregularities of a company, which is registered overseas, but has operations in India as well.
The agency is awaiting clarity before proceeding further on the case, they added.
In the wake of an alleged scam at SpeakAsia, which came to light early last year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had ordered an SFIO investigation into the issue.
SFIO, under the MCA, was set up for investigations into corporate frauds under the provisions of the Companies Act 1956.
Going by its website, SpeakAsia is not registered as a company in India as it is not a permanent establishment (PE) here. The members, who register with SpeakAsia after paying an annual fee, are required to conduct online surveys for various clients.
According to experts, under the existing Companies Act, there is no clarity on whether Indian authorities have powers to probe an overseas entity having operations in the country.
However, this issue has been addressed in the new Companies Bill 2011, which is expected to be taken up during the next Parliament session.
In the new Companies Bill, clause 228 provide powers for authorities to look into affairs of overseas companies having operations in India.
As per the Bill, "This is a new clause and seeks to provide that the provisions relating inspection or investigation under Chapter XIV shall also apply mutatis mutandis to inspection or investigation of foreign companies".
Chapter XIV is related to inspection, inquiry and investigation of companies.
Earlier this month, SFIO in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query said the SpeakAsia case is pending investigation and has been referred to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs/Ministry of Law and Justice on a legal issue. However, specific details were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, Moily recently said the final draft of the Companies Bill 2011 is now before the Cabinet and is likely to be discussed in the next Parliament session.

Source: Business Standard

Protesters torch Buddhist temples, homes in Bangladesh
Reuters | Sep 30, 2012

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam, police and residents said.
Members of the Buddhist minority in the Cox's Bazar area in the southeast of the country said unidentified people were bent on upsetting peaceful relations between Muslims and Buddhists.
Muslims took to the streets in the area late on Saturday to protest against what they said was a photograph posted on Facebook that insulted Islam.
The protesters said the picture had been posted by a Buddhist and they marched to Buddhist villages and set fire to temples and houses.
Police said they had deployed extra security forces and banned gatherings in Buddhist-dominated areas.
"We brought the situation under control before dawn and imposed restrictions on public gatherings," said Salim Mohammad Jahangir, Cox's Bazaar district police superintendent.
Many people in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh have been angered in recent days by a film made in California that mocks the Prophet Mohammad.
Muslims in Bangladesh and beyond have also been outraged by violence over the border in Myanmar where members of the majority Buddhist community clashed with minority Muslims this year.
Police had escorted the man accused of posting the insulting photograph and his mother to safety, Jahangir said.
Sohel Sarwar Kajal, the Muslim head of the council in the area where the arson took place, said he was trying to restore communal peace.
"We are doing everything possible to quell tension and restore peace between the communities," he told reporters.

Courtesy: The Times of India

Meet the nurse who's plagued by 100 orgasms a day!
A nurse is agonized by a medical condition that gives her up to 100 orgasms a day

August 28, 2012: London: Kim Ramsey, 44, feels constantly aroused and the slightest movement can trigger a climax.

Trains, driving and even housework start the reaction.
The orgasms leave her in pain, exhausted and unable to have a normal relationship.
“Other women wonder how to have an orgasm - I wonder how to stop mine,” a major newspaper quoted her as saying.
Kim was diagnosed with incurable Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder.
Doctors blame spinal cysts caused when she fell down stairs ten years ago.
Kim, from Hitchin, Herts, but now living in Montclair, New Jersey, US, first had problems after sex with a new boyfriend in 2008.
I had constant orgasms for four days. I thought I was going mad. It also happened with a new partner and I even tried sitting on frozen peas,” Kim said.

Courtesy: Mid-Day

Religion no bar for this mandal

A Ganpati mandal in Mumbai has around 50 Muslim workers helping with festival preparations, who even worked throughout the month of Ramzan

~~Chetna Yerunkar

Sepember 01, 2012: With just 18 days remaining for the Ganpati festival, every mandal in the city is going all out to be better than the rest before the Lord makes his arrival. The Fort Vibhag Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus has even transcended the boundaries of religion, with about 50 Muslim labourers working at the pandal for the last two months.
Even though they do not celebrate the festival themselves, the Muslim labourers play a major role in the mandal’s success. The labourers work under the art director, Anand Sawant, who has been relying on them for the past three years. While around 80 labourers are employed for the construction of the pandal, 50 alone are members of the Muslim community.
The mandal will be placing their idol for 11 days in a replica of the Laxmi Niwas palace. The height of the pandal is more than 45 feet, and it has an entrance gate spanning 40 feet. The total area covered by the pandal is 160 square feet, which the mandal claims is one of the most spacious in the city.
The construction of this set began on July 15, and will be completed at an estimated cost of about Rs 60 lakh.
One of the labourers working at the pandal, Abu Ahmad, said, “I have been associated with this mandal for a long time and have been a involved in making the 12 Jyotirlingas as well. For us, the work is more important than anything else. We are never discriminated against here and we had a pleasant Ramzan here with the mandal’s members. We have bonded with this mandal and will continue to be here even next year.”
President of this mandal, Ravindra Surve said, “There are some workers who have been associated with our mandal for a long time, but this year the need for workers was more and hence they (the muslim labourers) were hired. They have been working with us for the whole of Ramzan and because of them, we held Iftaars for the whole month — they would break their fast in the pandal itself.” 

Courtesy: Mid-day