Hire Mary to knock out deficit,FM told

Euphoria of Mary Kom's assurance of a medal at Olympics has led to M&M Vice-Chairman...

The euphoria of boxer Mary Kom’s assurance of a medal at London 2012 has led to Mahindra & Mahindra Vice-Chairman and MD Anand Mahindra suggesting new Finance Minister P Chidambaram to hire her to “knockout” fiscal deficit.

On a day when Chidambaram announced steps to boost investment and economy by fine-tuning policies,the win of the lone Indian woman boxer at the ongoing Olympic games over Tunisia’s Maroua Rahali also came as a source of inspiration to lift the slowing economy.

“Mr Finance Minister,you need to hire Mary Kom,complete with a superhero cape. You’ll have a real shot at a knockout blow to the fiscal deficit,” Mahindra tweeted.

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His tweet followed the five-time world champion’s victory in the women’s 51 kg category quarterfinal bout against the Tunisian opponent,which she won by a 15-6 margin. With the win,she created history as India was assured of its fourth medal.

Chidambaram,who took charge of the finance portfolio last week,made a detailed statement today as to how he planned to boost investment and economy by putting in place a stable and non-adversarial tax regime,a possible cut in interest rates and measures to attract domestic savings and foreign capital.

He has also directed a review of tax provisions that have a retrospective effect in order to find a fair and reasonable solution to pending as well as likely disputes between the tax department and assessees concerned.