Death photos next at officer's cannibalism trial

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012, file courtroom drawing, Federal Defender Julie Gatto requests bail for her client, New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, right, at Manhattan Federal Court in New York. The FBI claims its analysis found that 40 of Valle?s emails and chats were evidence he wanted to abduct, torture and eat women. But an agent also testified on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 at Valle?s federal trial that there were thousands of others the FBI concluded were mere fantasy, even though they contain the same ghoulish elements. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2012, file courtroom drawing, Federal Defender Julie Gatto requests bail for her client, New York City Police Officer Gilberto Valle, right, at Manhattan Federal Court in New York. The FBI claims its analysis found that 40 of Valle?s emails and chats were evidence he wanted to abduct, torture and eat women. But an agent also testified on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 at Valle?s federal trial that there were thousands of others the FBI concluded were mere fantasy, even though they contain the same ghoulish elements. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

This undated photo submitted into evidence by Assistant Federal Defender Julia L. Gatto shows Gilberto Valle with his daughter. Valle is accused of conspiracy to kidnap a woman and unauthorized use of a law enforcement database that prosecutors say he used to help build a list of potential targets. Gatto tried to soften the image of her client by showing jurors pictures of a uniformed Valle and the couple?s 1-year-old daughter, a moment that caused the wife on the witness stand and eventually the officer at the defense table 30 feet away to cry out amid sobs. (AP Photo/Assistant Federal Defender Julia L. Gatto)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The dark twists at the cannibalism trial of a New York police officer will continue if prosecutors succeed in showing jurors pictures of dead and dismembered people as they wrap up their case.

Defense lawyers are opposing the presentation Friday of as many as 34 ghastly exhibits of images the government says it took from Officer Gilberto Valle's computer.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe said he'll decide when the time comes whether jurors will see pictures of dead and mutilated women that defense lawyers say may have been saved on the 28-year-old officer's computer automatically without him ever seeing them when he went on certain web sites.

The government says the exhibits include a picture of a dead body whose feet were not attached that Valle's wife testified she saw when she went to one of his favorite Internet sites as she discovered why he stayed up late at night on the Internet.

The photographs were discussed out of the presence of jurors. They did hear an FBI agent testify that Valle's New York Police Department supervisor was among women the officer considered a potential target for a kidnap and torture.

Developments Thursday were not limited to the courtroom. It was reported that a man considered to be one of Valle's co-conspirators, identified in the U.S. case by the online name Moody Blues, had been detained but released in a separate case in Great Britain.

In Manhattan federal court, FBI agent Corey Walsh told jurors that a search of Valle's computer turned up a file with multiple photos of a woman the agent identified as an NYPD officer who supervised Valle. The government had previously introduced a transcript of a February 2012 email exchange in which Valle offered a co-conspirator a menu of women he could abduct for rape and torture.

"The second girl listed is a cop ? Evelyn, 33 years old," Valle wrote.

"No I want a reg girl," the man responded.

The revelation came as the defense sought to discredit allegations that Valle conspired with Internet friends to kidnap, kill and eat women, pressing Walsh on why some communications were deemed proof of a crime while others were deemed fantasies.

Defense attorney Robert Baum directed Walsh to obvious falsehoods in communications that the government has used as evidence Valle was a threat. In one, Moody Blues insisted he and Valle would need a secluded place to cook a woman alive.

"I have a place on the mountains," Valle wrote. "Nobody's around for three quarters of a mile."

Asked if that was true, Walsh testified that authorities "are not aware of a place he had in the mountains."

Valle has been held without bail since October, when he was arrested on charges of conspiring to kidnap women in a cannibalism plot born on the Internet. Throughout the trial, which began Monday, Valle's lawyers have attacked government evidence as nothing more than the reflection of a man engaging in extreme sexual fantasies with like-minded people around the world. The government has conceded that Valle never met the purported Internet co-conspirators and no women were harmed.

Even the judge Thursday as he issued a legal ruling said "there is almost no evidence of action by Valle beyond computer-based activity."

Jurors have heard testimony from Valle's estranged wife and from former classmates and other women who testified they knew Valle on a casual basis and never considered him dangerous. Their testimony was followed by evidence that all of them were the subjects of emails and chats describing how they could be snatched away and eaten.

One of the women, special education teacher Alisa Friscia, appeared angry and agitated as she testified Thursday that she had worked with Valle's wife but wasn't close to her.

As for Valle, she snapped: "No, he's never been a friend!"

She was followed to the stand by police Officer Robin Martinez, a police academy instructor, who said there were severe penalties for unauthorized searches of the national police database that Valle was accused of abusing to collect information about targeted women.

"You are going to face serious trouble, including being prosecuted, being arrested, being fired," she said.

Prosecutors allege Valle's cyber co-conspirator Moody Blues told the officer he had killed and eaten at least two women. The New York Post reported Thursday that two men had been arrested in a child porn case in Britain and that one was Moody Blues.

When asked Thursday whether there had been any arrests related to the Valle prosecution in New York, local police in the southern England county of Kent said they had briefly detained two men from the area around Canterbury, the famous cathedral city about 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of London.

Kent police identified the men only as a 57-year-old and a 30-year-old, saying that they had been arrested a week ago on suspicion of conspiracy, child grooming and possession of child abuse images.

No charges had been filed, and police said the men have since been released on bail.

The statement said Kent police had "been in contact with U.S. law enforcement agencies in relation to this investigation" but did not go into any further detail.

An FBI spokesman in New York declined to comment.

___

Associated Press writer Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-01-Police%20Officer-Cannibalism/id-9ab4c221aa914436acd66ee9b9bb9aac

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Trackable drug-filled nanoparticles: Potential weapon against cancer

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Tiny particles filled with a drug could be a new tool for treating cancer in the future. A new study published by Swedish scientists in Particle & Particle Systems Characterization shows how such nanoparticles can be combined to secure the effective delivery of cancer drugs to tumour cells -- and how they can be given properties to make them visible in MR scanners and thus rendered trackable.

The team, which consisted of scientists from Karolinska Institutet (KI) and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, and from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, developed so-called 'theranostic nanoparticles' by combining therapy and diagnostics in one and the same nano material.

"For this study, we produced theranostic nanoparticles able to make pinpoint deliveries of drug payloads to breast cancer cells," says Professor Eva Malmstr?m of the School of Chemical Science and Engineering at KTH. "They are also detectable in an MR scanner and can therefore be used diagnostically. The building blocks that we use are biodegradable and show no signs of toxicity."

The new study has resulted in a method of making such theranostic nanoparticles that spontaneously form themselves out of tailored macromolecules (polymers). The balance between hydrophilic (water attracting) and hydrophobic (water repelling) components are important to the successful outcome of this process, the latter being what makes it possible for the particles to be filled with the drug. A relatively high concentration of the naturally occurring isotope 19F (fluorine) makes the particles show up clearly in high-resolution MR tomograms, and by tracking the theranostic nanoparticles through the body, researchers can learn about how the drug is taken up by the tumour and how efficacious the treatment is.

The researchers filled the nanoparticles with the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin, which is used to treat cancer of the bladder, lungs, ovaries, and breast. They showed through experiments on cultivated cells that the particles, while harmless in themselves, are effective at killing cancer cells when loaded with the drug.

The next step is to develop the system to target brain tumours, pancreatic cancer and drug-resistant breast cancer tumours, which are currently difficult to treat effectively with chemotherapy.

"Adding targeting groups to the surface or by changing the size of or adding ionic groups to our nanoparticles will make it possible to increase the selective uptake of these particles in tumours," says Dr Andreas Nystr?m, Associate Professor in nanomedicine at the Swedish Medical Nanoscience Center, part of Karolinska Institutet's Department of Neuroscience.

It is hoped that one day this research will lead to tailored chemotherapy treatments that specifically seek out tumour cells. In that the drug, which is toxic to the body, can be delivered more precisely to the tumour, the treatment can be made much more effective with greatly reduced side-effects.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Karolinska Institutet, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Christian Porsch, Yuning Zhang, ?sa ?stlund, Peter Damberg, Cosimo Ducani, Eva Malmstr?m, and Andreas M. Nystr?m. 19F-based Polymer Nanoparticles as Breast Cancer Theranostics. Particle & Particle Systems Characterization, 28 February 2013 DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201300018

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Yb6Iq-SCyv0/130228113440.htm

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Obama chides GOP for killing plan to address cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is chiding Senate Republicans for blocking a Democratic plan to replace automatic spending cuts that are set to kick in Friday.

Senate Republicans objected to $55 billion worth of new taxes in the Democratic plan. It would have replaced the cuts with tax increases on millionaires and spending reductions over 10 years.

Obama says Republicans chose to cut services for kids, older people and the military rather than close loopholes for the rich. He says Republicans want the middle class alone to pay for deficit reduction.

Republicans floated their own plan to give Obama more flexibility to find $85 billion in spending cuts this year. Democrats and tea party Republicans killed that plan Thursday.

Obama and congressional leaders are to meet Friday to discuss potential ways ahead.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-28-US-Budget-Battle-Obama/id-a9851a6ac68945dfb4d9e5bbc0df643d

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Macklemore's Pro-Gay ?You Can Play? PSA: Watch The ...

Out Of The Thrift Shop & Into The Streets!

The latest artist to throw their high-profile support behind gay youths who are struggling with bullying and their identities is chart-topping, bargain-shopping Seattle MC Macklemore, who, along with Ryan Lewis, recently spent four weeks atop the Hot 100 with breakout hit ?Thrift Shop.? In a new video clip for the You Can Play campaign, the 29-year-old, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, says, ?Things are really good for us right now.? He later adds, ?We?ve also got some great friends and family, and some of them are gay.?

Bringing the point home, Haggerty continues: ?You know someone who?s gay: athletes, musicians ? people in your life. They just haven?t told you yet.?

The rapper says that being gay doesn?t matter, because if ?you have the skills, talent and the heart, you can play. Don?t let being gay hold you back.? He then notes that anti-gay language has ?no place in sports or music.?

And, hey ? if there?s anyone who knows all about maintaining a cool balance of confidence in their life, it?s the man who penned the line, ?Walk into the club like, ?What up? I got a big cock!??

[Via MTV News]

?

Source: http://idolator.com/7444022/macklemore-gay-you-can-play-psa

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Are you experiencing problems with Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, iCloud backup?

Apple's iCloud services aren't having a great morning, with problems being reported for Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and iCloud Backup. According to Apple's System Status:

Multiple iCloud Services - Some users affected

Users are experiencing a problem with the services listed above. We are investigating and will update the status as more information becomes available.

Looks like it started around 4:30 am and persists. If you're having issues, let us know in the comments, and when things clear up, let us know that as well. If you want to keep track, hit the link below.

Source: System Status

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/qv98oSCwG3o/story01.htm

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Budget 2013 Minor sops Income Tax payers surcharge on super rich ...

Walking a tight rope ahead of next year?s General Elections, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday did not tinker with the Income Tax slabs or rates while presenting the Union Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha. As part of his tax proposals, he gave a benefit of Rs 2,000 to individual tax payers with taxable income of up to Rs 5 lakh.

Chidambaram also imposed a surcharge of 10% on those earning over Rs 1 crore in a year. This surcharge has been imposed on individuals, HUFs, firms and entities with a similar tax status. The surcharge would be payable for the 2013-14 fiscal only.

The Finance Minister announced that first-home buyer who takes a loan for an amount not exceeding Rs 25 lakh would be allowed an additional deduction of interest of Rs 1 lakh to be claimed in assessment year 2014-15 with spillover effect.

But in bad news for consumers, the Finance Minister made mobile phones, cigarettes and luxury vehicles costlier by hiking duties on these products.

Chidambaram also announced the setting up of Nirbhaya Fund for women safety and allocated Rs 1,000 crores to it.

In the earlier part of his speech, Chidambaram noted that the global economic growth has slowed, including that of India. He however added that high growth is a novelty and not beyond India?s capacity.

Highlights of Union Budget for 2013-14

Personal Tax Corporate Tax Direct Tax
Indirect Tax Tax Reforms Growth, Inflation
Fiscal Health Rural, Social Sector Agriculture, Food
Financial Sector, Banks Infrastructure Subsidy
Estimates Miscellaneous

Personal Tax

No case to revise either tax slabs or rates
Personal income tax slabs unchanged FY14
Some relief to tax payers in Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh bracket
Tax credit of 2,000 rupees for incomes of upto 5 lakh rupees
Surcharge of 10% on people with income over 10 mln rupees
Surcharge on high income tax payers only for one year
Only 42,800 tax payers with income over 10 mln rupees
Education cess to continue at 3%
Donation to national children fund to get 100% tax relief

Corporate Tax

10% surcharge on cos with income above 100 mln rupees
Dividend distribution surcharge raised to 10% vs 5%
GAAR modified provisions seen effective Apr 1, 2016
20% withholding tax on profits distributed by unlisted cos
Tax holiday for power plants extended to Mar 2014
Sops for power projects to continue for 1 year
15% tax on dividend from overseas arms to continue
Financial institutions securitisation trust exempted from tax

Direct Taxes

Direct tax proposals to yield 133 bln rupee FY14
To introduce DTC Bill before end of Budget Session
To incorporate Jan decisions on anti-tax avoidance rule
Direct Taxes Code work in progress
Tax on MF redemption, purchase on exchanges cut to 0.001%
Agricultural land exempt from TDS on property deals
Royalty to overseas parents to attract 25% tax vs 10%
No income tax on investor protection fund of depositaries
1% TDS on immovable property transfer of over 5 mln rupee

Indirect Taxes

Indirect tax proposals to yield 47 bln rupee FY14
No change in standard rate of excise duty
No change in peak basic custom duty rate on non-agri goods
No change in standard rate of service tax
Customs duty on leather making machine cut to 5.0% vs 7.5%
Transaction tax of 0.01% on non-farm commodities future
Commodity Transaction tax on non-farm derivatives trade
Transaction tax on equity futures cut to 0.01% vs 0.017%
Pegs FY14 customs revenue at 1.87 trln rupees
To impose service tax on all air-conditioned restaurants
Sops for low-cost housing to continue
Films exhibited in cinema halls to have no service tax
Moots voluntary compliance encouragement plan for service tax
Vocational courses exempt from service tax
Coir, jute handmade carpets exempt from excise duty
Farm produce testing service included in negative list
Export duty on rice bran oil, oil cakes withdrawn
To provide certain concessions to aircraft MRO industry
To up import duty on set-top boxes to 10% from 5%
Cut custom duty on leather footware machines to 5% vs 7.5%
Import duty on raw silk to be raised to 15% from 5%
10% export duty on unprocessed ilmenite
2% customs duty on bituminous coal
To up import duty on luxury cars to 100% from 75%
Import duty on yatchs raised to 25% from 10% now
Duty on 800CC motor cycles raised to 75% vs 60%
Zero excise duty on cotton, fibre
Handmade jute, coir carpets to be excise duty exempt
Zero excise duty on cotton at fibre stage
To up specific excise duty on all cigarettes by 18%
To raise excise duty on non-taxi SUVs to 30%
Female passengers can get 100,000 rupees duty-free gold
Male passengers can get duty-free gold worth 50,000 rupees
Ships, vessels exempted from excise duty
To up duty on mobile phones above 2,000 rupees to 6%
No change in mobile phone excise duty up to 2,000 rupees
Excise duty on marble hiked to 60 rupee/sq mtr vs 30 rupee
Basic customs duty on dehulled oatgrains cut to 15%
No change in 10% basic customs duty on non-farm products

Tax Reforms

To set up tax administration reform commission
Little room to raise taxes in constrained economy
Need for state and central govts to pass a GST law
Draft bill on GST in Parliament in next few months
2 additions to service tax negative list
Include vocational courses in negative list
One-time amnesty scheme for service tax due from 2007
Allocates 90 bln rupee as CST compensation to states
To encourage voluntary compliance to boost service tax collection

Growth, Inflation

Final GDP growth rate would be lower than CSO, RBI view
CSO estimated FY13 GDP growth at 5%
RBI estimated GDP growth at 5.5% FY13
Overall GDP growth rate seen at 6.1-6.7% in FY14
Global economic growth slowed to 3.2% in FY12 from 3.9% FY11
Challenge to achieve trend growth rate of 8%
Only China to grow faster than India in FY14
Average GDP growth of 8% in 11th Plan
Growth is highest goal
Achieving high growth not beyond our capacity
No development, inclusiveness without high growth
Can achieve faster growth rates as seen earlier
Growth a necessary condition for development
Battle against inflation must be fought on all fronts
Food inflation is worrying
Govt spend is both good, bad from inflation perspective
Need to augment supply side to fight food inflation
Oilseed, pulses supply-demand mismatch pushes up inflation
No choice but to rationalise spending
Govt expenditure boosts aggregate demand
Efforts over last few months brought down WPI inflation to 7%
Efforts in last few months brought down core inflation to 4.5%
India can become 7th largest economy by 2017
Can become USD 5 trillion economy by 2025
We have achieved high growth before, can do it again
UPA govt believes in inclusive development

Fiscal Health

FY13 net short-term borrowing revised to 457 bln rupees
FY13 fiscal deficit estimate revised to 5.2% of GDP
Need to bring down fiscal deficit to 3% by FY17
FY13 revenue deficit revised at 3.9% of GDP
Need to bring down revenue deficit to 1.5% by FY17
Need to have zero effective revenue deficit FY17
FY13 divestment mop-up seen 240 bln rupees
FY13 gross market borrowing seen at 5.58 trln rupees
Pegs FY15 fiscal deficit at 4.2%; 3.6% in FY16
FY13 Plan expenditure was too ambitious
FY13 non-Plan expenditure too conservative
12th Plan total expenditure revised to 14.31 trln rupees
FY13 Plan spend too ambitious, non-Plan too conservative
Fiscal consolidation can?t be done only by spend cuts
Current account deficit high on gold, coal imports
Need to encourage foreign investment
Need USD 75 bln to finance current acct gap over next 2 yrs
Current account deficit high on oil imports
India doesn?t have choice between FII and FDI
Foreign investment is an imperative
No choice but to encourage foreign investment
Faced with huge fiscal gap, no choice but curtail spend
Economic space constrained by high fiscal gap
Hope FY14 Budget will be testimony to inclusive growth
Exports, imports amount to 43% of GDP
Economic space constraints due to high fiscal deficit
Reliance on FX inflows to fund current acct deficit
Current account gap is greater worry
Gross domestic savings down 6% in FY12
To remove distrust in minds of investors
Will improve communication of our policies to investors
Doing business in India should seem mutually beneficial
Pvt sector remains main contributor to savings
Econ space constraints on low saving, tight RBI policy
Global crisis spared none
India not unaffected by what is happening in rest of world
There is no reason for gloom or pessimism

Rural, Social Sector

Giving enough funds to programmes for women, children
Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for Scheduled Castes sub-plan
Gender budget allot 971.34 bln rupees FY14
Funds for the sub-funds cannot be diverted
Allotment to minority ministry 35.11 bln rupees FY14
To allot more 2 bln rupee to child, women welfare ministry
To allot 373.3 bln rupees for health, family welfare
To allot 1.1 bln rupees to disability dept FY14
373.3 bln rupees for health, family welfare in FY14
To allot 47.27 bln rupees for medical training & research
To allot 658.67 bln rupees to human resource ministry
212.39 bln rupees in FY14 for new national health mission
Allocate 658.67 bln rupees to human resource department
Allot 16.5 bln rupees to 6 AIIMS-like institutes
FY14 for new national health mission allocation up 24%
Allot 272.58 bln rupees to Sarva Shiksha mission
To allot 272.58 bln rupees for Sarva Shiksha scheme
132.15 bln rupees for mid-day meal scheme FY14
To create opportunities for youth to get skills for jobs
To allot 245.98 bln rupees to the tribal sub-plan
Allocate 415.61 bln rupees for Scheduled Castes sub-plan
To allot 772.36 bln rupees to child budget FY14
Allot for girl child development plan 52.84 bln rupees
To allot 177 bln rupees for child development scheme
Allocation for HRD 17% over FY13 revised estimate
To allot 152.6 bln rupees for drinking water, sanitation
Allot 177 bln rupees for early childhood care, education
14 bln rupees for water purification plans FY14
To allot 801.9 bln rupees for UPA flagship schemes FY14
Allocates 330 bln rupees for rural employment scheme
To allot 151.84 bln rupees for Indira Awas scheme
To launch new scheme for rural road development
MNREGA allocation hiked to 330 bln rupees FY14
Allocates 148.73 bln rupees Nehru urban renewal mission
PM rural road scheme for Andhra, Maharashtra
PM rural road scheme for Haryana, Rajasthan
PMGSY allocation for FY14 at 217 bln rupees
1.5 bln rupees for healthcare plan for elderly
To allot 115 bln rupees for Backward Region Fund
Skilled, trained youth to give enormous boost to economy
To give 10 bln rupees to skill development fund for youth
Made modest, cautious start for direct cash transfer Jan 1
Direct cash transfer scheme covered 1.1 mln people so far
Cities above 100,000 population to have pvt FM channels
Viability gap funds to city bodies for energy from waste
115 bln rupees for backward regions grant fund FY14
To cut number of centrally-sponsored plans to 70 vs 173

Agriculture, Food

To allot 270.49 bln rupees for agri ministry FY14
FY14 farm credit target 7 trln rupees
To allot 34.15 bln rupees for agri research
Farm credit will top FY13 target of 5.75 trln rupees
Interest subvention for short-term farm loans to continue
Farm loan Interest subvention Plan to continue
5 bln rupees for crop diversification programme
Farmers who repay loan on time will get loan at 4%
To allot 5 bln rupees for crop diversification programme
To spend 10 bln rupee on green revolution in east India
10 bln rupees to eastern states for farm development
Rashtriya Krishi Vikas scheme to get 99.54 bln rupees FY14
Allot 22.5 bln rupees for food security mission
To allot 53.87 bln rupees for integrated watershed plan
11th plan growth in farm sector was 3.6%
FY13 total food grain output over 250 mln tn
Farm exports were 1.384 trln rupees in Apr-Dec
To allot 50 bln rupees to NABARD for warehouses FY14
2 bln rupees for pilot plan for nutri-farms
To allocate 10 bln rupees to rice-producing East states
Plant Protection Institute to be set up in Chhattisgarh
Indian Institute of Bio-Technology to be set up at Ranchi
To launch national livestock mission in FY14
Allot 750 mln rupee for coconut rejuvenation pilot plan
To allot 3.07 bln rupees for National livestock mission
750 mln rupee more for revival of coconut palm in Kerala
Allot 100 bln rupees for food security plan FY14
Credit guarantee fund to be created for small farmers
1 bln rupee credit guarantee fund for small farmers
Food security bill a promise of UPA govt

Financial Sector, Banks

To introduce investment allowance for high value invest
To introduce 15% investment allowance to attract invest
Rajiv equity plan to be eased; to cover MF investments
Rajiv Gandhi equity plan invest cap up by 200,000 rupees
15% deduction for invest up to 1 bln rupees till FY15
Expect to raise 250 bln rupees via tax-free bonds FY13
Pvt sector infra investment seen 47% in 12th plan
To allow some institutions to issue tax-free bonds FY14
To OK 500 bln rupee tax-free bonds in FY14
To encourage infra debt funds to boost infra growth
PSU banks well regulated, must be adequately capitalised
To allot 140 bln rupees for capital infusion in PSU banks
140 bln rupees to PSU banks for recapitalisation FY14
Will ensure PSU banks always meet Basel III norms
Gave 125 bln rupees to PSU bks for recapitalisation FY13
PSU banks assured all branches to have ATMs by Mar 2014
Plan to set up exclusive bank for women
To provide 10 bln rupees initial capital for women?s bank
Plan council for international competitiveness of financial sector
To allot 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund under NHB
License to women bank by Oct 2013
To provide 60 bln rupees for rural housing fund
20 bln rupee allocation to create urban housing fund
NHB to set up urban housing fund
KYC of banks sufficient for insurance policies
Insurance cos can open Tier 2 city branch without IRDA nod
Banking correspondence can sell micro-insurance products
Towns with 10,000 people to have LIC, GIC offices
Inflation indexed bonds to be introduced
To launch inflation-indexed certificates
To introduce inflation linked instruments
Scope of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to be expanded
Hope insurance, PFRDA bill will be passed in this session
India capital market best regulated
OK to FII to trade in exchange traded FX derivatives
SEBI to ease norms for foreign portfolio investment
Allow FIIs to use corporate bond income for margin need
SMEs will be allowed to be listed without IPO
FII status for investment less than 10% in a company
FDI status for investment over 10% in a company
Distributors can become members of exchanges? MF segment
Stock Exchanges to have dedicated debt segment
MF distributors allowed to become stock exchange members
Insurance, pension cos can directly trade in debt segment
Exchanges can introduce dedicated debt segment
ETFs will be eligible for pension, insurance investment
Post offices to move to core banking solutions
To give 5.32 bln rupees for core banking at post offices
5.3 bln rupees to post offices for core banking solution
To allot 3 bln rupees for mother, child nutrition plan

Infrastructure

IIFCL, ADB to offer credit enhancement for infra cos
Rural Infra Dev Fund corpus raised to 200 bln rupees
To set up regulatory authority for road sector
Road construction facing financial stress
To set up regulatory body for road sector
Revival of invest in manufacturing sector a key challenge
30 bln rupee road projects to be awarded in Apr-Sep
To allot 148.73 bln rupees for JNNURM
To use bulk of Nehru urban renewal Plan for buying buses
To buy 10,000 buses from fund of Nehru urban renewal plan
Infra debt funds to be encouraged
12th plan projects $1 trln for infra invest
1.51 trln rupees for textile upgradation fund 12th Plan
Allocates 500 mln rupees to set up apparel parks
960 mln rupees for interest subvention in textile FY14
Loans at 6% rate for women textile entrepreneurs
Assure support to commerce ministry to boost exports
Initial work on Chennai-Bengaluru corridor started
To give Delhi-Mumbai corridor more funds if needed
To set up 2 new ports at Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal
2 ports at Andhra, W Bengal to add 100 mln tn capacity
To have Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial corridor
Plan grid connecting waterways, roads, ports
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Project has made rapid progress
Oil, gas policy to move to revenue sharing model
Natural gas pricing policy to be reviewed
Work on 2 new smart industrial cities will start FY14
Natural gas policy will be reviewed
To announce policy on Shale gas exploration
Shale gas projects to be encouraged
To move oil E&P pacts to revenue sharing from profit sharing
Must reduce dependence on imported coal
5 mtpa LNG terminal to be fully operational in FY14
Coal import estimated to rise to 185 mln tn by FY17
To cut dependence on coal import in medium-, long-term
States must prepare plans immediately for power distribution cos
Urge state govts to approve recast of electricity boards
To give 5 bln rupee to SIDBI for factoring loan guarantee
To double SIDBI?s refinance capacity to 100 bln rupees
Non-tax sop to MSME to stay 3 yr post move to higher class
Non-tax benefits to MSME for 3 yrs after moving higher
MSME benefits to stay 3 yrs post move to higher category
Textile tech upgrade scheme to get 24 bln rupees FY14
Additional tax sop for first time home owners
Up to 2.5 mln rupee 1st home loan to get more tax cut
No custom duty for plant, machinery for semi-conductors
Wind energy sector deserves incentives
Generation-based incentives for wind energy projects
To expand pvt FM stations to 294 more cities
294 more cities to be connected by FM radio
To auction 839 more radio channels in FY14

Subsidy

FY14 total subsidy seen 2.31 trln rupees
FY14 petroleum subsidy seen 650 bln rupees
FY13 petroleum subsidy seen 969 bln rupees
FY14 food subsidy seen 900 bln rupees
FY13 food subsidy seen 850 bln rupees
FY13 fertiliser subsidy seen 660 bln rupees
FY14 fertiliser subsidy seen 660 bln rupees

Estimates

FY14 total spend pegged at 16.65 trln rupees
FY14 total Plan spend pegged at 5.55 trln rupees
FY14 Plan spend 29.4% more than FY13 revised estimates
FY14 non-Plan expenditure estimated 11.09 trln rupees
FY14 gross market borrowing seen at 6.29 trln rupees
FY14 net market borrowing seen at 4.84 trln rupees
FY14 fiscal deficit projected at 4.8% of GDP
FY14 revenue deficit projected at 3.3% of GDP
FY14 total capital receipts seen at 6.09 trln rupees
Pegs FY14 excise revenue at 1.975 trln rupees
FY14 divestment mop-up aim at 400 bln rupees
Pegs FY14 svc tax revenue at 1.80 trln rupees
Pegs FY14 non-tax revenue at 1.72 trln rupees
FY14 divest mop-up in non-government cos seen 140 bln rupees
FY14 short-term borrowing pegged 198.4 bln rupees
FY14 gilt redemptions seen at 1.45 trln rupees
FY14 nominal GDP growth pegged 13.4%
Pegs FY14 gross tax revenue at 12.36 trln rupees
Pegs FY14 corporate tax revenue at 4.195 trln rupees
Kept 500 bln rupees for gilt buyback/switch
Gilt buyback/switches for better debt management
Miscellaneous capital receipts pegged 558.14 bln rupees
FY14 total non-debt receipts pegged 664.68 bln rupees
Net MSS receipts pegged 200 bln rupees
FY14 external assistance pegged 105.6 bln rupees
FY14 small savings receipt seen at 57.98 bln rupees
FY14 recovery from loans, advances seen 106.54 bln rupees
FY14 defence allocation 2.03 trln rupees
867.4 bln rupees in FY14 for defence CAPEX
To allot 62.7 bln rupees to science, technology ministry
Allocate 39.83 bln rupees for high school education scheme
58.8 bln rupees for department of atomic energy
To allot 56.15 bln rupees to Department of Space
Transfer to state, Union Territories 5.87 trln rupee FY14

Miscellaneous

Initiatives underway to ensure women security
Allot 10 bln rupees for ?Nirbhaya? women safety fund
To set up national institute of sports coaching
To provide 2.5 bln rupees for sports university at Patiala
Allot 2.5 bln rupee to sports coaching institute over 3 yr
Grant 1 bln rupee each to four universities
1 bln rupee grant each to Aligarh, Banaras universities
Allocate 1 bln rupee grant to TISS, Guwahati

Source: http://www.9newz.com/udget-2013-minor-sops-income-tax-payers-surcharge-on-super-rich

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Pretty cool: Massive ice boulders make waves on the Web

You know it?s cold when the snowballs are so big they look prehistoric.

The rounded ice boulders on the shore of Lake Michigan caught the attention of the Web when North Michigan resident Leda Olmstead posted pictures of them on Facebook. They proceeded to go viral.

Olmstead, who lives near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, walks in the area frequently with her dogs. She first noticed the snowballs-on-steroids last week and snapped some photos.

"I thought it was the coolest thing ever especially since I've never seen anything like it," Olmstead told local station WZZM13. "I have a small English bulldog, and they were as tall as her. They were pretty massive." She estimated that hundreds of snow boulders stretched for about 100 feet along the lakeshore.

While the ice balls seem to be an oddity, there's an explanation. Sleeping Bear Park Ranger Amie Lipscomb told Michigan Live they're created thanks to a combination of wind, water and waves.

"The rounded ice forms the same way the rounded and smooth stones that wash up on the beach form: Chunks of ice break off from the large sheets that form over Lake Michigan," Lipscomb said. "Waves tumble and pummel the ice, rounding and smoothing edges. The waves then wash the boulders up on shore."

"People think it's so boring and gross up here in the winter," Olmstead told WZZM13. "But I think it's beautiful."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/pretty-cool-massive-ice-boulders-waves-213910196.html

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