26 December 2013

Ø  Arvind Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi’s seventh Chief Minister on Saturday, after the spectacular debut of his Aam Aadmi Party in the Assembly elections.  The swearing-in will take place on the Ramlila Maidan, from where Mr. Kejriwal launched a crusade, along with his mentor Anna Hazare, for a Jan Lokpal.  He assured the people on Wednesday that the AAP would begin supply of 700 litres of water free every day to every household “within 24 hours of taking over.”  Mr. Kejriwal, 45, an IIT-Kharagpur graduate and Magsaysay winner, defeated the three-time Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, in the New Delhi constituency by over 25,000 votes.  Rakhi Birla, at 26, is the youngest of all Ministers.

Ø  Egypt’s military-installed government declared the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsy a “terrorist” group on Wednesday, banning all its activities, Ministers said after a Cabinet meeting. It comes a day after a suicide car bombing of a police station killed 15 people, in an attack condemned by the Brotherhood and claimed by an Al-Qaeda-inspired group.

Ø  Long accused of being a route for avoiding taxes for foreign investments into India, Mauritius has put additional safeguards in place to thwart such wrong perceptions and to boost its image as a preferred global financial centre. Mauritius’ integrated financial sector regulator Financial Services Commission (FSC) has put in place ‘greater substance requirements’ for global business companies operating from its jurisdiction to ensure their substantial presence there, and not just a ‘proxy address’ to benefit from tax treaties with India and other countries. Most global investors use GBC-1 route to make investments into India and other countries through Mauritius.  Besides, a Tax Information and Exchange Agreement (TIEA) between India and Mauritius has been finalised.