Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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Prettiest Gita of them all? PM Modi's khadi covered gift to Obama is special - Firstpost

When Narendra Modi gifted a Bhagvad Gita to the Japanese emperor he quipped that television talk-shows would create a “toofan” of controversy about it. But actually there’s nothing controversial about gifting the Gita. It’s a lovely and thoughtful gift especially for a powerful politician who probably has everything.

You can never go wrong with a book that inspires. It’s far better than a tacky replica of the Taj Mahal, does not take up too much space and as Modi rather touchingly said he gives a Gita to maharajas and prime ministers “(b)ecause I don’t think I have anything more to give and the world has anything more to get than this.”

The Gita is turning out to be quite the gift for all seasons when it comes to Modi and world leaders. Everyone needs a Gita and there’s a Gita for everyone.

Xi Jinping got a Gita in Mandarin and Shinzo Abe got a Gita in Japanese. And Obama got a very special Mahatma Gandhi version with a khadi cover.

Not all Gita gifts are equal: PIB

The Gideon society is famous for placing Bibles in hotel rooms around the US. Narendra Modi has surpassed them in a diplomatic masterstroke by placing Gitas in the chambers of power around the world. Going by his track record, by the time Modi’s tenure ends there will be a Gita in practically every prime ministerial or presidential residence around the world. Or perhaps more than one since Modi will likely meet some of those leaders more than once as well.

But because Modi is Modi, he adds a little personal touch to all his gifts so they do not look like something some official at the MEA picked up at the Cottage Industries emporium on his way home from work. And we will surely soon be faced with the Gita-oneupmanship games.

Put simply, is my Gita better than yours?

A Gita in Japanese is very culturally sensitive but does it carry the same cachet as the “Gita by Gandhi” with a custom khadi cover? Foreign policy pundits will surely be examining with a fine tooth-comb the importance New Delhi accords to Washington versus Tokyo as they compare the Gitas in their gift-bags. This is a case where a book will indeed be judged by its cover.

Modi ordered a special edition of The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi and “copies of it were specially done up with a certain get up as khadi on its cover” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

What about a Gita plus a book on Vivekananda in Japan as compared to a Gita plus a handwoven khadi jacket? What does that say about how Modi views Shinzo Abe versus Xi Jinping?

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott must be feeling a little left-out of the spiritual upliftment programme as he leafs through Modi’s gift to him and discovers that he got not the Bhagavad Gita like everyone else but a book on yoga. Australia’s stereotype as a laidback country where people like their beaches and sports and physical activity seems to have determined that gift choice. On the plus side he will be ready for World Yoga Day.

Actually surprisingly for a man with a brahmachari reputation, Narendra Modi is quite the hands-on gift-giver. His gifts carry a personal touch rather than conveying the stiff unimaginative formality of the head of state.

As the Gita says “ A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.”

India surely does expect something in return from Washington DC but digging out the old recordings of Martin Luther King in India and putting them together along with a photograph of King at Rajghat as a gift for Barack Obama is actually quite a moving gesture on many levels. In a society where we often measure the worth of a gift by its price tag this could be a lesson to many of the prime minister’s compatriots – the best gifts are ones that are rare, that show caring and thought and an understanding of the recipient, rather than the size of the gift-giver’s bank account. While the 15 cases of sindhri and chausa mangos Nawaaz Sharif sent might be very tasty, a khadi-cover Gita is far more tasteful in its subtlety. However that sari for Modi’s mother was a nice touch, Mr. Sharif.

Of course Modi is not above making the ostentatious gesture either. 2500 kilos of precious sandalwood and 2400 kilos of ghee to Pasupatinath temple in Nepal for example. That adds up to a Rs 4 crore price tag. According to Rediff.com a senior government official described the gesture as India’s “bhaktibhaav se arpan (an offering to God with India’s devotion).”

Modi probably did not give the prime minister of Nepal a Gita as well because that would be a little gratuitous in what used to be the world’s only Hindu kingdom. There’s no word whether his Gita-giving spree also extended to our other neighbours.

Is Nawaaz Sharif, for example, pondering on the Gita’s warning that for the honourable, dishonour is worse than death? Will the king of Saudi Arabia get a Gita as well if Modi has the chance to meet him? The Gita politics can take interesting turns as we follow Modi to capitals around the world.

Meanwhile in an ironic twist, Modi has found himself with an extra Gita in his luggage. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress gave Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita, the one on which she was sworn in as US congresswoman, the one she found solace in while serving in the Iraq war as a soldier. “Nothing could have been more special and valuable to me than this Gita , which I have had with me since a child" she says.

Gabbard might have just out-Gita-ed Narendra Modi himself when it comes to the Gita with the personal touch.

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Two reasons markets are cheering RBI policy - Economic Times

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India's policy fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review meet was a non-event. The central bank has left the key policy rates unchanged, as expected my economists and bankers.

However, the market has surged higher after the policy meeting led by gains in rate sensitive sectors such as capital goods, banks, auto and realty.

The market is taking cues from Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan's comments that CPI target of 6 per cent by January 2016 can be met even though there is significant upside risk to it.

According to the Governor, there are number of disinflationary factors underway such as lower crude prices and relatively stable rates are positive for inflation.

However there are some uncertainties on the evolvement of inflation. He said it needs to be seen how food inflation will evolve over time as headline inflation is buffeted by food inflation.

The RBI may ease interest rates if CPI inflation comes below 6 per cent before January 2016. If inflation moves above 6 per cent in the same period then the central bank may be forced to hike rates as well.

"We expect inflation to continue falling in the coming months due to benign global commodity prices on the one hand as well as the government's focus to bring down food and wage inflation by avoiding inflationary impulses from sharp MSP price hikes, etc," said Dinesh Thakkar, Chairman & Managing Director, Angel Broking.

"Hence, we expect that in the coming 6-12 months, we are headed for lower inflation and therefore interest rates, which should be a key positive catalyst for investments, growth and capital markets," Thakkar added.

There is another little change that has been made by the Reserve Bank that might enthuse markets. The limit on short sale for liquidity bonds has been increased to 0.75 from 0.50.

According to Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Axis Capital, hiking limit on short sale for liquidity bonds will help markets

"In a cycle where people expect interest rates to cut eventually if not immediately, it is unlikely that most people will be happy to build long-term short positions. I doubt people will be willing to use it in the near to medium term but certainly from a market point of view, this is an encouraging enabling provision," he told ET NOW.

The RBI is reducing ceiling on SLR securities under HTM from 24 per cent to 22 per cent in phased manner. This move will have an impact on the banks.

"Partial decrease in HTM limits is also driven by the liquidity coverage ratio. Clearly that will be the driver for the consideration of decreasing the HTM limit so that the excess SLR can be used for improving liquidity coverage ratio," Shah added.

At 01:05 p.m.; the Nifty was at 8,018, up 59.10 points or 0.74 per cent. It touched a high of 8,030.90 and a low of 7,943.75 in trade today.

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Obama, Modi vow to boost strategic ties, create model for world - IBNLive

Washington: US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed on Monday to expand and deepen their countries' strategic partnership and make it a model for the rest of the world.

In a joint "vision statement" issued after their first meeting at a White House dinner, the two leaders said they would work together "not just for the benefit of both our nations, but for the benefit of the world."

They said their countries would cooperate on security and to fight terrorism and would back a "rules based" global order in which India assumes greater multilateral responsibility, including a reformed UN Security Council.

The two leaders also said their countries would work to ensure that economic growth brought better livelihoods for all people.

They also vowed to work together against the threat posed by climate change and to cooperate to address the consequences of unchecked pollution.

"We have a vision that the United States and India will have a transformative relationship as trusted partners in the 21st century. Our partnership will be a model for the rest of the world," they said in their statement said.

The two leaders also said their countries would work to ensure that economic growth brought better livelihoods for all people and stressed the importance of open markets and fair and transparent practices to allow trade to flourish.

Washington has been keen to expand business and security ties with India, which it sees as a key counterbalance to an increasingly assertive China in Asia. Obama has backed New Delhi's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

However, the relationship has failed to live up to his declaration in 2010 that it would become "one of the defining partnerships of the 21st Century."

Modi, who came to power in May, has received a warm welcome in the United States, even though he was denied a visa in 2005 over rioting in his home state three years earlier that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Modi denies any wrongdoing and has been exonerated by an Indian Supreme Court investigation.

He has maintained a frantic schedule since arriving in America on Friday, even though he is fasting in accordance with Hindu custom and drank only warm water at the White House.

As part of an effort to spur foreign investment, he met more than a dozen U.S. corporate leaders early on Monday and told them he was committed to liberalizing India's economy, which has underperformed other emerging markets recently after years of breakneck growth.

'Big things'

On Saturday, Modi addressed the UN General Assembly and then appeared before some 60,000 people at a musical event in New York's Central Park aimed at ending global poverty and bringing essentials such as sanitation to all.

On Sunday, he received a rapturous welcome from a big crowd of Indian-Americans in an appearance in New York's Madison Square Garden arena.

He will hold further talks with Obama on Tuesday.

Modi's spokesman, Syed Akbaruddin, said the dinner meeting was "extremely convivial" and the two leaders found they had a common interest in technology and shared experience in that they were relative political outsiders before coming to power.

He said they agreed they "should focus on some big things they can achieve in a finite time period in the next few years."

Modi sought suggestions from the US business leaders as to how the investment environment could be improved. When some complained about unpredictable taxes, he said he was "committed to a stable tax regime" as this was necessary to encourage investment, Akbaruddin said.

He said Modi had invited the US BlackRock investment management firm to stage a major conference in India early next year to bring in big investors from around the world. He said BlackRock had said the event could bring in as much as $6 billion in investment.

Among those attending the breakfast meeting with Modi were the chief executives of Caterpillar Inc and Boeing Co.

Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman said he had been impressed by Modi's determination to revive the Indian economy. "I believed him. He was very serious," he said.

However, last week the US Chamber of Commerce and 15 other business associations representing various sectors gave a more cautious assessment, questioning Modi's record and urging Obama to press him to remove barriers to trade.

They highlighted India's blockage of a key World Trade Organization deal reached last year, which overshadowed a July 30-August 1 visit to India by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, Modi reiterated his WTO stance, saying that while India supported the trade pact, its demands for food stockpiles were not incompatible with it.

He stressed his campaign to encourage domestic manufacturing and India's desire for US know-how, something U.S. firms have been reluctant to share without stronger intellectual property protections.

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Two reasons markets are cheering RBI policy - Economic Times

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India's policy fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review meet was a non-event. The central bank has left the key policy rates unchanged, as expected my economists and bankers.

However, the market has surged higher after the policy meeting led by gains in rate sensitive sectors such as capital goods, banks, auto and realty.

The market is taking cues from Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan's comments that CPI target of 6 per cent by January 2016 can be met even though there is significant upside risk to it.

According to the Governor, there are number of disinflationary factors underway such as lower crude prices and relatively stable rates are positive for inflation.

However there are some uncertainties on the evolvement of inflation. He said it needs to be seen how food inflation will evolve over time as headline inflation is buffeted by food inflation.

The RBI may ease interest rates if CPI inflation comes below 6 per cent before January 2016. If inflation moves above 6 per cent in the same period then the central bank may be forced to hike rates as well.

"We expect inflation to continue falling in the coming months due to benign global commodity prices on the one hand as well as the government's focus to bring down food and wage inflation by avoiding inflationary impulses from sharp MSP price hikes, etc," said Dinesh Thakkar, Chairman & Managing Director, Angel Broking.

"Hence, we expect that in the coming 6-12 months, we are headed for lower inflation and therefore interest rates, which should be a key positive catalyst for investments, growth and capital markets," Thakkar added.

There is another little change that has been made by the Reserve Bank that might enthuse markets. The limit on short sale for liquidity bonds has been increased to 0.75 from 0.50.

According to Nilesh Shah, MD & CEO, Axis Capital, hiking limit on short sale for liquidity bonds will help markets

"In a cycle where people expect interest rates to cut eventually if not immediately, it is unlikely that most people will be happy to build long-term short positions. I doubt people will be willing to use it in the near to medium term but certainly from a market point of view, this is an encouraging enabling provision," he told ET NOW.

The RBI is reducing ceiling on SLR securities under HTM from 24 per cent to 22 per cent in phased manner. This move will have an impact on the banks.

"Partial decrease in HTM limits is also driven by the liquidity coverage ratio. Clearly that will be the driver for the consideration of decreasing the HTM limit so that the excess SLR can be used for improving liquidity coverage ratio," Shah added.

At 01:05 p.m.; the Nifty was at 8,018, up 59.10 points or 0.74 per cent. It touched a high of 8,030.90 and a low of 7,943.75 in trade today.

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2015 Honda CR-V First Drive: A New Engine, Grille, and Transmission

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