INDIA'S PUSH TO SPUR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING NATIONS
WITH ADB'S HELP
India Saturday made a case
for channeling pension and sovereign wealth funds of advanced countries to
emerging markets with the help of ADB to spur economic growth in developing
member countries (DMCs). Innovation in financing will be the key to success of
long-term growth strategy, Subhash Chandra Garg said. He said, adding that a
more long-term structural view needs to be taken rather than responding to
short-term uncertainties and risks presently seen. If we can, with ADB
assisting, ensure flow of funds from advanced economies to the emerging market
and developing economies, we would succeed in not only keeping global growth
sustained high but also make significant dent on poverty and infrastructure
services debt, he said. He emphasised that it is in emerging markets and
developing economies where consumption is rising and more investment can and
should be made there. On the other hand, he said, owing to several factors,
advanced economies are seeing stagnant consumption and they have much larger
savings pools in pensions, insurance and sovereign wealth funds than their
investment requirement. Garg said it has witnessed a robust growth of 7.5 per
cent on an average in the last five years and has emerged as the fastest
growing major economy in the world. This momentum in growth has been combined
with efforts in containing inflation to an average 4.6 per cent, and reducing
the fiscal deficit to 3.4 per cent in 2018-19, he said. India has managed to
contain the debt-to-GDP ratio at 46.5 per cent in year 2017-18. At the same
time, public investments, development initiatives and poverty alleviation
programs have been further expanded, he added. On various structural reforms
undertaken by India in the recent past, he said introduction of the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) has led to an increased tax base and addition of more than
5.5 million businesses. Banking reforms and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
(IBC) was our other path breaking initiative, which has ushered in a
resolution-friendly mechanism to tackle the stressed assets these reforms,
coupled with a stable and predictable regulatory regime, has enabled India to
attract $239 billion worth Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the last five
years, he said. As part of social protection programmes, India has initiated a
structured income support targeted at 120 million poor farmer families, he
said. To provide pension coverage to millions of workers in the informal
businesses in India, the government has initiated comprehensive social security
coverage for 420 million workers in the unorganised sector to assure them a
monthly pension starting at the age of 60 years, he said. With regard to
financial inclusion, he said nearly 340 million Jan Dhan bank accounts have
been opened in the last five years and the biometric identification initiative
has got universal recognition.
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SPATE OF NBFC DOWNGRADES RAISE FRESH LIQUIDITY FEARS
A spate of rating
downgrades over the past fortnight has stoked fears of another impending liquidity
crisis in the non-banking financial company (NBFC) sector, with a cascading
effect on the broader markets that have been on a fragile road to recovery
since the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) crisis
broke out last September. In recent weeks, rating agencies have revised credit
ratings of certain debt instruments of Reliance Capital firms Reliance
Commercial Finance (RCFL) and Reliance Home Finance (RHFL) to default, or D, on
account of the deteriorating financial profile of its parent. A D rating means
that the instruments in this category are either in default or expected to soon
be in default. On 2 May, more downward revisions followed, with CARE Ratings
placing PNB Housing Finance Ltd (PNBHFL) on a rating watch with developing
implications due to its requirement for raising money to maintain comfortable
capital adequacy and gearing level. Besides, the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDAI) on Friday said the insurers with exposure to RCFL
and RHFL will have to make provisions for debt following their downgrade. These
follow the downgrades at mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL)
earlier this year, following the IL&FS crisis and the scare of defaults at
several corporates, such as the Essel Group. These events meant that several
debt market investors, such as mutual funds, slowed down on lending, further
squeezing liquidity for NBFCs and housing finance companies (HFC). Industry
watchers said the latest developments are likely to raise fresh concerns of
asset-liability mismatch, which in turn, could further push up the cost of
funds for the NBFCs and HFCs, which are already reeling under tight liquidity
conditions. Cost of funds for NBFCs have gone up by 50-60 bps over the last
seven months. The recent events have led to a situation where NBFCs could face
a challenge in terms of availability of funds. So, the next one week is crucial
as it will decide whether cost of funds will go up further, said Umesh
Rewankar. Sanjay Chaturvedi, added that the recent events have made investors
anxious and these could lead to the cost of funding rising further. Given the
recent developments, one could expect it (cost of funding) to go up by another
20-25bps. While certain actions by regulators and a few large non-bank lenders,
such as selling off assets to raise liquidity, have helped control the crisis,
a wider resolution of the sector’s issues is still some time away, feel
industry participants. Tighter regulatory oversight and asset sales have staved
off the worst of the problems afflicting India’s non-bank financial firms
following last year’s defaults by IL&FS. Even so, it will be another 12-18
months before the liquidity issues in the wider sector are resolved, said
Aditya Puri. Sanjay Agarwal, senior director at CARE Ratings, the individual
credit profile of some companies have been affected because of the lack of
liquidity from the debt capital markets, even though, generally, the quality of
assets originated and business operations remain robust. They face difficulty
in arranging fresh funding and refinancing of maturing liabilities. Subject to
risk of idiosyncratic events, the players in the industry are now working on
tackling the problems in a more individualist manner, depending on the
situation of the company concerned, added Agarwal.
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RTI CAN’T PRY OUT DETAILS OF CM’S MEDICAL RELIEF FUND
The state information
commission in an order has stated that the chief minister's medical relief fund
(CMMRF) does not come under RTI The commission upheld the reasoning given by
the public information officer (PIO) to deny information under RTI. So if you
look to know the name of the beneficiary or the person who recommended, these
may be out of bounds. The order issued on Friday (May 3) has February 12, 2019
as the order date after the matter was decided after a series of hearings. The
order was given on a complaint filed by Govind Tupe by state chief information
commissioner, Sumit Mullick. Through his application, Tupe had sought
information of CMMRF about name of beneficiaries, public figures or others who
recommended names of the beneficiaries for the relief fund, the hospital under
which the treatment was taken, bogus applications and action taken on them
among others. I had sought this information because I got to know of cases
where needy people were not getting money and were dying but people roaming
around in big cars aspiring to be public representatives were getting it. There
was corruption and cases where hospitals were taking money from patient and
from relief fund. I doubt hospitals taking money and not treating anyone, said
Govind Tupe, a journalist. The PIO form chief minister's office said that CMMRF
started since August 23, 2015 and has seen 8,847 beneficiaries with over Rs 90
crores disbursed to them. He added that on website hospital wise report,
disease wise report, donation report, donations to CMMRF, financial aid for
medical, and financial aid for natural calamities and un-natural deaths among
others are available online. However, names of beneficiaries and name of public
representative or the person who recommended, details of those were not
available among others. The reasons PIO cited denying the above information
were that patient's disease name is shared with doctor in fiduciary
relationship and being personal in nature has no public interest attached to
it. Hence it is exempted under RTI. The other reason was that donations from
private people does not fulfill the criteria of terming CMMRF as public
authority because as per definition, non-Government organization substantially
financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate
Government are public authority - meaning not by private donors. Activist
panned the order saying that information that should be public under law was
being left to be declared as per wishes of the government. It is a wrong and
confusing order as it should have first decided if the CMMRF is a public
authority or not. Chief minister's relief fund (CMRF) is a public authority and
under RTI. So by extension of that logic, even CMMRF is. He should have
compared the two in detail. The very word chief minister at the beginning
denotes something. Chief minister's come and go but the fund remains. In my
case when I had sought details, back then Vilasrao Deshmukh was chief minister
when they had to eventually give details under RTI after much dilly dallying. I
can understand that details of disease for which patient is given money is not
given as it is rightly in fiduciary capacity. But names of the beneficiary,
hospital name and those who recommended along with money given should be part
of suo motu disclosure. By law it should be publicly disclosed instead of
government making a show that they are putting up some information when by law
they should be putting all of it, said Shailesh Gandhi, former central
information commissioner. The order is unacceptable and contradicts earlier
order that chief minister's relief fund is under RTI. Former PM Manmohan
Singh's medicine details may not be given as they will give away disease but
his medical allowance details has to be given. Name of MLA who recommends
people needs to be published, said Bhaskar Prabhu, another RTI activist. I will
take legal opinion and take further action. I had told them they can given
remaining information besides the one where fiduciary relationship is involved,
said Tupe.
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DOT ASKS KARNATAKA TO ALIGN INFRA ROLL OUT POLICY WITH ROW
POLICY
The Karnataka government
has been asked by the telecom department to align its infrastructure roll out
policy with the Centre's following incidents of cable cutting by the local
municipal body in Bengaluru. The DoT in a letter dated May 1 to the state
government said that the proposed regulation in Karnataka for telecom
infrastructure roll out is not aligned with the Right of Way policy
notification of November 2016. Referring to a communication last month, the DoT
Advisor for Karnataka telecom circle said, it has been requested to pursue with
state government for implementing the state RoW policy aligned with the central
(Indian Telegraph) Right of Way policy. Recently, the Bruhat Bengaluru
Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had ordered to cut down telecom cables laid over the
ground, citing them to be non-compliant with existing norms, and has demanded
fees from companies to lay them underground. However, telecom service providers
said the cables were laid overhead temporarily due to road construction work
and they had already paid the fees for laying them under the ground. Telecom
cables connect mobile towers with each other and also provide bandwidth for
broadband connections. The DoT has requested the state government to conduct
workshop to create awareness about radiation, finalise the state RoW policy
aligned with central (Indian Telegraph) Right of Way policy.
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APRIL SERVICE SECTOR GROWTH AT 7-MONTH LOW, DENTED BY LS
ELECTIONS : PMI
India’s services sector expanded
at its slowest pace in seven months in April as some businesses postponed
decisions and expansion plans until seeing results of the general election
currently under way, a private survey showed on Monday. The Nikkei/IHS Markit
Services Purchasing Managers’ Index slipped to 51.0 in April, the lowest since
September, down from 52.0 the previous month.
It remained above the 50
mark, the threshold separating growth from contraction, for an 11th consecutive
month. Although the Indian private sector economy looks to be settling into a
weaker growth phase, much of the slowdown was linked to disruptions arising
from the elections and companies generally foresee improvements once a
government is formed, Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit,
said. Voting in the election began on April 11 and ends on May 19. Results will
be announced on May 23. With inflation below its medium-term target, the
Reserve Bank of India cut its main interest rate twice in the run-up to the
election - which was possible because inflation has remained low compared with
previous years. The lack of inflationary pressures in both the manufacturing
and service sectors, which coupled with slower economy growth, offers room for
a further cut to the benchmark repurchase rate, De Lima said. Factory output
also expanded at a weaker pace in April than the previous month amid
uncertainty about what policies the new government might adopt. That brought
down the composite PMI to its lowest in seven months at 51.7.
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TRAI ROPES IN BECIL TO AUDIT SYSTEMS OF CABLE TV, DTH
OPERATORS UNDER NEW REGIME
Sector regulator TRAI has
roped in state-owned Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) for conducting
audits to ensure that cable TV and DTH companies are complying with its new
regulatory norms. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, which had earlier
warned of action against operators found to be flouting the new tariff order
and regulatory regime, said that audits in this regard will begin soon. BECIL
will be conducting the audit on behalf of TRAI to ensure compliance with the
new regulatory framework. We request all distribution platform operators (DPOs)
to ensure compliance with the new regulatory framework in letter and spirit,
TRAI Secretary S K Gupta told. Gupta said that a decision is being taken on the
companies that would face the audit of systems. DTH and Cable TV operators will
be randomly selected and audit will be conducted to see if they are in
compliance with the new regulatory framework, he said. It is pertinent to
mention here that over the last few days, TRAI has pulled up a number of
operators, both Cable TV and DTH service providers, for violation of rules, as
it acted on consumer complaints pertaining to specific offerings, grievance
redressal helplines, and arbitrary migration of subscribers with valid
long-term packs to new plans. In some of the cases, TRAI noted that the players
were forcing channels and package schemes to the consumers, and subscribers
were not able to exercise their choice. Most recently, TRAI rapped
direct-to-home (DTH) operators Tata Sky, Dish TV, and Sun Direct TV, for
failing to abide by the rules, particularly pertaining to the migration of
subscribers who had long-term packs. R S Sharma had, last month, said that the
regulator plans to initiate audit of subscriber management and other IT systems
of errant operators. Sharma had said consumer choice and consumer interest are
non-negotiable and cannot be compromised and that companies not adhering to
rules will have to face the consequences. The audit planned by TRAI will look
at multiple aspects including subscriber management system and billing, and
also determine whether consumers are indeed getting their choice of channels,
be it bouquets or a la carte. The audits will start very soon, Gupta said.
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DEBIT CARDS DOUBLE IN 5 YEARS, BUT ATMS SEE ONLY 20% RISE
The number of debit cards
in India has doubled to 94 crore in February this year from 42 crore in August
2014 when Jan-Dhan Yojana was launched. However, the number of ATMs has
increased only 20% from 1.70 to 2.02 lakh, and a stand-off between banks, ATM
companies and cash logistics firms on sharing costs are holding back
investments. While cash in circulation has jumped to Rs 21.36 lakh crore, the
ATM network of banks has shrunk from 2.06 lakh a year ago to 2.02 lakh this
year. At the heart of the stand-off is the question of who will bear the
additional costs over the RBI’s new security guidelines for ATMs. While a large
public sector bank did float a procurement process for new machines, the
transaction did not materialise as there was no consensus on who will bear the
increased costs. With banks outsourcing deployment of ATMs, management service
providers who operate the networks or even rent out machines to banks have a
large role to play. Banks, which are trying to contain costs, are refusing to
pay more for the same services. The cash logistics companies are seeking an
additional Rs 4,900 per ATM per month because of the increased security
features.
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NITI AAYOG INVITES PROPOSALS TO EVALUATE 28
CENTRALLY-SPONSORED SCHEMES
In line with government’s
commitment to evaluate all centrally-sponsored schemes before fresh appraisals,
the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) under NITI Aayog has invited
proposals for consultants to evaluate 28 umbrella centrally sponsored schemes
under 10 sectors. The exercise is expected to be completed before the start of
20th Finance Commission post March 2020. In order to rationalise the available
resources based on the recommendations of the Finance Commission for the
achievement of the National Development Agenda, the government had made the
approval of the schemes co-terminus with the Finance Commission cycle. Since
the 14th Finance Commission cycle will end in March 2020 and the 15th Finance
Commission will begin after that, government has assigned DMEO, NITI Aayog the
responsibility to conduct independent third-party evaluation of all the CSS in
a time-bound manner so that the findings of the evaluation are made available
for determining the rationalisation of the schemes. As per DMEO there will be
two-stage selection process for evaluating the proposals comprising technical
and financial bids. In the first stage technical evaluation will be done and
the short-listed applicants will qualify for the second stage of financial
evaluation.
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GOVT SEES LITTLE SCOPE FOR JET AIRWAYS REVIVAL AS BIDDERS STAY
AWAY: REPORT
The government sees little
hope of a bidder emerging for debt-laden Jet Airways Ltd., two senior finance
ministry officials said, even as thousands of employees plead with the
government for a rescue. Parties that had initially expressed interest in Jet,
which is saddled with roughly $1.2 billion of debt, have so far failed to make
firm bids to bail it out, increasing the odds that it could soon face
bankruptcy proceedings. There is little scope in the revival of Jet, said one
official, adding that if a bidder emerged, the government was still willing to
return slots to the private airline which have temporarily been given to
rivals. A second senior finance ministry official said it was only a matter of
time before someone dragged Jet to the National Company Law Tribunal—the
country's bankruptcy court--for recovery of dues from Jet. It will most likely
be one of Jet's creditors and not its lenders that do so, said both the
officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Unions have been pleading with
the government to ensure the airline is rescued. Last week, in a letter to the
prime minister seen by Reuters, its pilots union urged the government to
intervene and speed up the bid process for the airline and stop the
deregistration of its aircraft by its lessors.
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ASIA-PACIFIC TO GROW 5.7% THIS YEAR: ADB
The Asia-Pacific region is
expected to power ahead growing at 5.7% this year but escalating trade tensions
are a source of worry, according to Takehiko Nakao. Nakao said that consumer
and investor behaviour could be undermined by trade tensions between countries.
There has been much debate about it but I’m a firm believer in the multilateral
system, he said, adding, but we have to reform and reorient ourselves to earn
the support of members and their taxpayers. The bank’s lending grew to a record
$21.6 billion in 2018, 10% higher compared to 2017. Mr. Nakao elaborated on the
Strategy 2030 plan of ADB which will focus on six key areas — operational and
action plans for the private sector, addressing remaining poverty and
inequality, accelerating progress in gender equality, continuing to foster
regional cooperation and integration, expanding private sector operations and
using concessional resources effectively. Josaia Voreque Bainimarama said: The
world has come to us. This conference marks the end of an era of missed
opportunities for the Pacific region. This is the single largest gathering in
Fiji with over 2,000 delegates and was the first time that the ADB held its
annual meeting in the Pacific region, he pointed out.
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RAFALE DEAL: CENTRE FILES REPLY IN SUPREME COURT
The central government on
Saturday filed its reply in the Rafale jet case praying for the dismissal of
the review petition and the application seeking production of official
documents, which has allegedly been filed on unsubstantiated media reports and
illegally obtained incomplete official documents. The review petition was filed
against the Supreme Court’s order of 14 December which had given a clean chit
to the government in the case related to Rafale jets being bought from Dassault
Aviation. The plea was filed by Former Union ministers Arun Shourie and
Yashwant Sinha and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan. On 10 April, the Supreme
Court issued a unanimous decision rejecting the primary objections raised by
the government against the acceptance of the 'leaked' official documents which
formed the basis of the review petition. The reply has been filed with respect
to the contents of the review petition along with the admitted ‘leaked’
documents. The Centre in its reply stated that the petitioners were attempting
to bring out the internal processing of this government to government
procurement and trying to present a selective and incomplete picture of the
same. Further, it is also submitted that Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
and Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest decision making bodies on
defence matters, had taken sovereign decisions with respect to the deal keeping
in mind the critical operational necessity of Indian Air Force. The reply also
states that the PMO did monitor the progress of the deal, but this is not meant
to be construed as 'parallel negotiations'. Additionally, the Centre submitted
all the pricing details related to the Rafale deal to the Comptroller and
Auditor General of India (CAG), which had concluded that the price of 36 Rafale
jets is 2.86% lower than the audit aligned price, apart from additional
benefits. The government shall provide all these documents for the court's
perusal. The Centre concluded in its reply that in the garb of a review
petition the petitioners were seeking additional documents and wanted to reopen
the matter. The case shall be heard in the Supreme Court on May 6 before a
bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
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PMO ‘MONITORING’ RAFALE DEAL PROGRESS IS NOT TANTAMOUNT TO
PARALLEL TALKS WITH FRENCH SIDE, GOVT TELLS SC
The Prime Minister’s
Office (PMO) did monitor the progress of the Rafale fighter aircraft purchase
deal, but this did not amount to conducting parallel negotiations with the
French side, the Union government told the Supreme Court on Saturday. The
monitoring of the progress by PMO of this Government to Government process
cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations, a 13-page reply
filed by the government said. Everything was transparent, it observed, as then
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had himself noted that it appears that PMO
and French President’s office are monitoring the progress of the issues which
was an outcome of the summit meeting. PMO was conducting parallel negotiations
with the French for the off-the-shelf purchase of 36 Rafale jets manufactured
by Dassault Aviation even as the Indian Negotiation Team was having detailed
talks with its French counterpart. The government affidavit, filed by the
Ministry of Defence, said the petitioners, who include former Union ministers
Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan, were
attempting to bring out internal processing of this Government-to-Government
procurement and trying to present a selective and incomplete picture of the
same. The affidavit said, The decisions by the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS), the highest decision making body in the Government on defence matters and
also by Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the highest decision making body in
Ministry of Defence have been made keeping in view all the facts of the case
and the critical operational necessity of Indian Air Force. The Defence
Ministry said the actions of the petitioners [were] tantamount to questioning
the sovereign decision concerning national security and defence. The
petitioners were trying to link unrelated issues and create controversies on
the basis of certain media reports. There was no relation whatsoever between
the French government giving concessions to a subsidiary of an Anil Ambani
company and the Rafale deal, it said. The affidavit explained that the CAG, a
constitutional body, after examining extensively the process of procurement of
126 MMRCA, had clearly stated in its audit report that in the case of 126
MMRCA, the procurement that started in 2000 had made no progress even after 15
years had lapsed and, in fact, failed on the two-fold issue of calculating the
manpower costs of producing the aircraft in India and non-guarantee of aircraft
by M/s Dassault Aviation, the OEM, for aircraft to be licence-manufactured by
M/s HAL in India. The government alleged that the petitioners had made a false
allegation that Rajeev Verma, who was one of the three officers who had
highlighted the issues of concern, had proceeded on leave because of this. In
fact, Shri Rajeev Verma signed the Note for the Cabinet in the instant case. At
the time of the signing of the contract, Shri Rajeev Verma had proceeded on
official training abroad of Department of Personnel & Training, for which
he had applied and the training was approved several months earlier, it said. In
the garb of a review, the petitioners were trying to reopen the whole matter,
it added.
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PANEL'S REPORT ON CJI PLAINT UNLIKELY TO BE MADE PUBLIC
The report of the
three-judge in-house committee headed by Justice SA Bobde, inquiring into a
dismissed Supreme Court woman employee's sexual harassment complaint against
CJI Ranjan Gogoi, is unlikely to be made public even after its likely
submission to the full court comprising all SC judges. SC sources said since
Justice Gogoi himself is the subject of inquiry, the inquiry report cannot be
submitted to the CJI as is the norm governing submission of in-house inquiry
panels. It is the CJI who appoints in-house panels to inquire into complaints
against judges and the panel submits the report to him. So, it is most likely
that the Justice Bobde panel, also comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and Indira
Banerjee, will submit its report to the full court, which had ratified Justice
Bobde's decision in setting up the panel. Justice NV Ramana was initially part
of the three-judge panel. But the complainant sought Justice Ramana's recusal
while alleging that he had a close relationship with CJI Gogoi. Justice Ramana
recused even though he strongly refuted the complainant's claims. Justice
Malhotra took Justice Ramana's place and this gave the panel a majority of
women. The complainant participated in the inquiry proceedings for two days and
recorded her statement. But on the third day, she opted out and complained that
she was denied assistance of advocate Vrinda Grover before the panel. Advocates
Grover, Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Indira Jaising and Kamini Jaiswal had
helped the woman file the sexual harassment complaint against the CJI. Sources
cited an SC judgment of May 9, 2003, on a PIL filed by Jaising, who had
approached the court demanding making public the report of a three-judge
committee which inquired into complaints allegedly involving three sitting
judges of Karnataka HC and gave them a clean chit. One of the three HC judges,
whose alleged involvement in the Mysore scandal was inquired into by the
in-house panel, later became an SC judge. The bench had said, If the petitioner
(Jaising) can substantiate that any criminal offence has been committed by any
of the HC judges, appropriate complaint can be lodged before a competent
authority. No such complaint was lodged, or if lodged, taken to its logical
end.
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SACKED BSF JAWAN MOVES SC AGAINST EC DECISION TO CANCEL HIS
CANDIDATURE
Sacked BSF jawan Tej
Bahadur Yadav on Monday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's
decision to cancel his candidature from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency
from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is contesting. Yadav, who was dismissed
in 2017 after he posted a video online complaining about the food served to the
troops, was fielded by the Samajwadi Party as its candidate from the Varanasi
seat. However, the returning officer rejected Yadav's nomination papers citing
his failure to submit a certificate that he was not sacked for either
corruption or disloyalty. Yadav, in his plea, termed the decision of the poll
panel discriminatory and unreasonable and said it should be set aside. The SP
had initially fielded Shalini Yadav as its candidate to contest against Modi
and later nominated the sacked BSF jawan.
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FICCI SEEKS GOVT'S INTERVENTION FOR RESUMING MINING OPERATIONS
IN GOA
Industry body Ficci has sought
the government's intervention for early resumption of mining in Goa, claiming
that the Rs 3,400-crore sector that contributes around 10-12 per cent to the
state GDP was under severe threat due to the apex court quashing mining leases.
The sudden discontinuance of mining operations in Goa is creating a huge loss
to the mineral sector as a whole. Therefore, government's intervention is
requested for early resumption of mining operations as the situation at ground
is a grave concern for the whole sector, Ficci said. A sizeable population of
Goa, it said, is directly or indirectly dependent on mining activities, adding
that the mining industry in the coastal state has a size of around Rs 3,400
crore. Goa Mining Industry is under severe threat due to the recent Supreme
Court decision. This can severely impact the employment of around 1.5 lakh to 2
lakh people, who are directly or indirectly dependent on the sector for
livelihood, it said. Needless to say, this can also potentially lead to severe
loss of investor confidence in the country by increasing the non-performing
Assets pertaining to the Mining sector.
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INDIA ISSUED 2.5 MN E-VISAS IN 2018, NUMBER JUMPS 5-FOLD FROM
2015
India had issued over 2.5
million e-Visa last year, a five-fold jump from 2015, and reduced the main
category visa from 26 to 21, an official said Sunday. The Home Ministry
officials also said sub-categories of visa has been reduced from 104 to 65,
thus rationalising and simplifying the visa regime and removing confusion. The
number of e-Visas issued by the Bureau of Immigration, under the Home Ministry,
has risen from 529,000 in 2015 to 25.15 lakh last year, the official said. On
the other hand, the number of regular or paper visas issued by Indian missions
abroad has come down from 4.5 million to around 3.5 milliom in the same period.
The number of main categories of qvisa has been reduced from 26 to 21 by
clubbing some categories. The e-Visa facility now covers 166 countries and
foreigners can obtain online visa within 72 hours for travel related to
tourism, business, health, medical attendant and conference purposes. The scope
of film visa has been increased to include web shows and series and recce of
locations. No registration is now required if stay of a foreigner with film
visa is up to 180 days in India, the official said. These measures will remove
the present obstacles in implementation of film visa regime and is expected to
promote India as a favourite destination for shooting of various kinds of films
and shows. Now, a foreigner can come for internship in India at any time during
his studies. Visa for internship in Indian companies can now be given for a
lower salary minimum of Rs 360,000 per annum instead of the earlier minimum
limit of Rs.780,000. This would facilitate grant of more Internship Visas to
foreigners. The duration of e-Tourist and e-Business visas increased from 60
days to one year. Restrictions on two entries in one year has been removed. Now
multiple entries are allowed on these e-Business and e-Tourist visas. A
foreigner can apply online for e-Business and e-Tourist visas any time.
Restriction of maximum 120 days of advance application prior to expected date
of arrival in India dispensed with, the official said.
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CII BACKS FAME-II SCHEME DESPITE EV MAKERS’ RED FLAG
The Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) has backed the Centre’s revised Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles or FAME-II scheme. The industry
body’s support for the ₹10,000-crore scheme comes despite multiple electric
two-wheeler and personal mobility manufacturers red-flagging provisions in the
scheme. The main aim of the scheme is to encourage faster adoption of electric
and hybrid vehicle by way of offering upfront incentives on purchase of
electric vehicles and by way of establishing a necessary charging
infrastructure. The scheme will not only help in addressing the issue of rising
environmental pollution in cities but will also help in India’s fuel security,
a CII statement said. But sector experts note that more than 95 per cent of the
electric two-wheeler models being produced now won’t be eligible for incentives
under the new scheme announced by the Ministry of Heavy Industry and Public
Enterprise. According to Crisil Research, the electric two-wheeler segment will
be the most impacted by the new rules as manufacturers may need to scramble to
conform with stringent FAME-II, unless the government helps out by diluting the
norms. India has a vision that by 2030, there will be100 per cent
electrification of three-wheelers, commercially used four-wheelers as well as
vehicles used in public transport. Another aim is for 40 per cent
electrification in private two- and four-wheelers by then. According to the
Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle (SMEV), rules in the FAME-II scheme
mandate that only companies that produce 50 per cent localised vehicles can
avail the incentives. This makes almost impossible for any manufacturer to
avail the scheme as Indian component suppliers are not yet ready to manufacture
components for the current low volume of EV, the SMEV has alleged. CII too
notes that FAME alone is not the way ahead for increasing the reach of electric
vehicles. However, with EV penetration in India currently at just 1 per cent,
FAME alone is not enough to reach the 2030 target, CII said.
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ASHOK LAVASA WANTED ELECTION COMMISSION TO WRITE TO PM MODI
FOR HIS COOPERATION
Election Commissioner
Ashok Lavasa wanted the Commission to send a formal communication to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi seeking his cooperation in the implementation of the
model code of conduct as a first response to complaints against his speeches.
Lavasa had concurred with the district electoral officer that his speech in
Latur was inconsistent with the EC advisory on not politicising the Pulwama
blasts and the Indian attack on a terror camp in Balakot. However, his
suggestion for a reminder to the PM was set aside after other two fellow
commissioners — CEC Sunil Arora and commissioner Sushil Chandra — found no merit
in the complaint against the PM’s speeches. A complaint against provocative
communal comments by BJP leader Gulab Chand Kataria in Udaipur seems to have
set off the dissension row within the EC, especially after Chandra recorded
that he be condoned as this was his first offence. Lavasa, however, recorded
that he should not only be barred from campaigning but an FIR also be lodged
against him. Eventually, the EC just handed him a censure. Even on the issue of
Pragya Thakur’s various condemnable comments, one of the commissioners is
believed to have suggested a lenient view as she had made the remarks before
filing her nomination. Lavasa, however, disagreed and requested a meeting of
the EC where his view prevailed and a 72-hour ban was handed out.
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INDIA GENERATED 1.45 MT WASTE PER DAY TILL FEB, ONLY 53%
PROCESSED: RTI
53 per cent of the solid
waste generated in the country was processed till February this year, with
Chhattisgarh topping the list by processing 84 per cent waste followed by
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, an RTI reply has found. In reply to an
RTI application, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said Mizoram and
West Bengal processed only 4 per cent and 5 per cent of the solid waste they
generated. Mizoram and West Bengal produced 201 metric tonnes and 7,700 metric
tones of waste per day respectively. Jammu and Kashmir produced 1415 metric
tonnes waste, but processed only 8 per cent. According to the ministry, the
country generated nearly 1.45 lakh metric tonnes waste per day till February
this year and of this, only 53 per cent of waste was processed. Under the
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), a flagship programme of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, the Centre aims to attain 100 per cent scientific management of solid
waste, and also make the country Open-Defecation Free (ODF) by October 2, 2019,
the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. Chandigarh came first in
Union Territory category by processing 89 per cent of the 420 MT waste
generated a day. Chhattisgarh generated 1650 MT waste a day and of this, 84 per
cent was processed while both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh stood at second by
processing 74 per cent of 10,721 MTD and 6,424 MTD of waste respectively.
Telangana could manage to process 73 per cent of 8,634 metric tonnes waste it
produced. Maharashtra, which tops the list of municipal solid waste generators,
produced 22,570 MT waste per day, but processed 57 per cent. The government
said Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were processing 57 per cent and 51 per cent of
15,500 and 2,272 metric tonnes of waste respectively. After Maharashtra, Uttar
Pradesh is the second state in generating municipal waste in the country. Tamil
Nadu processed 58 per cent of water it generated. Uttrakhand processed only 39
per cent of 1406 metric tonnes while Odisha processed 12 per cent of 2,721 MT
waste. Tripura generated 308 metric tonnes of waste, but processed 45 per cent.
Goa processed 65 per cent of 260 MT waste a day. Haryana processed only 39 per
cent while Jharkhand stood at 56 per cent.
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REPORTS OF 1.2 MN DEATHS IN INDIA DUE TO AIR POLLUTION FALSE:
HARSH VARDHAN
Harsh Vardhan has discredited
the recent global reports claiming over one million deaths in India due to air
pollution, saying such studies are only aimed at causing panic. The Minister of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from
Chandni Chowk constituency in the national capital. BJP leader said his
government is working hard to tackle the problem of pollution and has been
supporting the AAP-led Delhi government in this direction. We are doing our
best to handle air pollution. The number of (achhe din) good days are
consistently going up and bad days coming down, he said. Regarding the
high-profile data of millions of deaths, I do not agree with that because
pollution can cause premature illness and other things. Pollution does affect
health, but to create such a panicky situation and say millions of people are
dying, I do not agree with that, Vardhan told PTI. The US-based Health Effects
Institute report revealed that around 1.2 million people were killed in India
in 2017 due to air pollution. The Union minister highlighted the initiatives
taken by the Centre and said aggressive campaigns have been organised in the
national capital to handle pollution. You must be already aware of our National
Clean Air Program (NCAP) which we started pro-actively and aggressively to
improve air quality in 102 cities, where we found that consistently for five
years, the PM 10 levels were beyond the desirable levels. You know about our
graded response action plan and other activities like rules for dust mitigation
and solid waste management. We have been handling it in the most aggressive
manner, he asserted. Vardhan, who is also the Union Minister of Science and
Technology, said 60 teams of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) were
sent to the national capital to tackle the pollution mess. He said the results
can be seen as compared to the scenario in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The minister
also underlined that the city government led by Arvind Kejriwal was helped by
the Centre in every possible way to curb pollution woes. He, however, added
that along with governments, the public should also be conscious and
responsible towards environment.
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SUPREME COURT ASKS CONGRESS MP TO BRING ON RECORD EC ORDERS
GIVING CLEAN CHIT TO PM MODI, AMIT SHAH
The Supreme Court Monday
asked Congress MP Sushmita Dev to bring on record the Election Commission's
orders giving clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit
Shah on complaints of Model Code violations. A bench comprising Chief Justice
Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta has now listed the plea of Dev, a
Congress MP from Silchar Lok Sabha seat in Assam, for hearing on May 8. A M
Sighvi, appearing for Dev, alleged that the poll panel has passed unreasoned
orders dismissing the complaints of the Congress party on violations of MCC (Model
Code of Conduct) by the prime minister and Shah who are accused of using armed
forces in their campaign. The bench asked the lawmaker to file an additional
affidavit bringing on records the orders passed by EC on the complaints of MCC
violations by the top two BJP leaders. The EC has given clean chit to Modi for
two of his speeches -- one in Latur last month urging first time voters to
dedicate their votes in the name of Balakot air strike heroes and soldiers
killed in the Pulwama attack, and the other in Wardha on April 1, where he
indicated that Wayanad constituency had more voters from the minority
community. In her plea in the top court, Dev had alleged that inaction by the
poll panel on complaints against top BJP leaders was a sign of invidious discrimination
as also arbitrary, capricious and impermissible as it was destructive of the
integrity of electoral process.
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MAHARASHTRA STATE GOVT ORDERS RTO TO RECORD ALL LICENCE, OTHER
TESTS
In an effort to curb corruption
and negligence taking place during the doling out of licences and vehicle fitness
certificates at Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) across Maharashtra, the state
transport department is now all set to closely track a number of activities at
these facilities. The department had a passed a regulation, stipulating that
all RTOs in the state will mandatorily be asked to record procedures wherein
vehicles are being tested, in a bid to strengthen road safety norms. A state
government official, who chose to stay unnamed, told Mirror, There have been
many cases in the past where we have noticed that vehicles were given fitness
approvals without even being tested. This has especially been the case with
autorickshaws and private buses/tempos. The ground-level staff that is
responsible for the checking these vehicles often give clearance to unfit ones.
We are also making provisions for employees deployed from the state transport
department to overlook the entire procedure of driving tests, be it for learning
licences or permanent ones. All RTOs have also been asked to make video and
closed-circuit television (CCTV) recordings of these tests and send them to the
transport department from time to time, so the latter can keep a check on and
maintain records of the said vehicles. In addition, the offices have also been
asked to upgrade testing machines used for brake tests, headlights, pollution
level checks, and more.
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ELOQUENCE OF SILENCE NEEDED IN POLL PERIOD, SAYS CEC SUNIL
ARORA
Breaking his silence over
the dissension within the Election Commission of India over clean chits to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign speeches, Chief Election Commissioner
Sunil Arora told he considered the controversy highly avoidable and that he
would rely on the eloquence of silence until the elections are over. At this
point of time, my considered view is that eloquence of silence is always
difficult but far more desirable to see the (election) process through, instead
of creating ill-timed controversies, CEC Sunil Arora told. After studying
Supreme Court orders, the legal wing has opined that orders on the Model Code
of Conduct violations are executive decisions in which there has not been any
occasion to incorporate minority decision. Lavasa while recording his
dissenting view with respect to several recent EC decisions had wanted his
observations to be recorded separately and put in the public domain. Arora did
not want to get into the details of the subject but when pressed said: There
are so many pronouncements of Hon’ble courts which say exactly what
quasi-judicial proceedings are and should be and also what executive decisions
of the Commission are. The present controversy as reported in the media was
therefore highly avoidable. In the Commission there have been instances of
communication both, majority and minority, decisions in reference case/symbol
orders. However, there has not been any occasion to incorporate minority
decision in the decisions concerning violations of the MCC, which are primarily
executive decisions and does not have outcome certainty (of yes/no), the legal
divisions has said.
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CYCLONE FANI: PM GRANTS RS 1,000 CR MORE FOR RELIEF WORK;
HAILS CM PATNAIK
Narendra Modi on Monday
conducted an aerial survey to take stock of the loss and destruction in areas
affected by Cyclone Fani in Odisha and announced Rs 1,000 crore more to the
state government for conducting relief and restoration work. The amount is in
addition to the Rs 381 crore announced previously. The Prime Minister also
praised Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his handling of the crisis.
Naveen babu has done a very good job, his planning is excellent. There has been
excellent coordination since the last seven-eight days between the state and
central governments. The communication has been perfect. The state government's
team was proactive and responsive too. I was also monitoring. The way people of
Odisha and fishermen complied with every instruction of government is
praiseworthy, Prime Minister Modi said. Meanwhile, the relief assistance of Rs
1,000 crore announced by the Prime Minister is in addition to the Rs. 341
crores already released to the state government on April 29. The Prime Minister
announced ex-gratia of Rs two lakhs to the next of the kin of the deceased and
Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured in the cyclone. The central and state
government will continue to work together. In the coming days, relief and
restoration work will be done. The government of India had announced Rs 381
crore earlier, a further Rs 1,000 crore will be released now. A team of the
central government will come to do an assessment of the work, PM Modi said. He
assured the people of the state that the Union Government stands shoulder to
shoulder with them at this difficult time.
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EMISSION FIASCO: NO COERCIVE ACTION AGAINST VOLKSWAGEN, SAYS
SC
The Supreme Court Monday
said no coercive action will be taken against German auto major Volkswagen
against whom the National Green Tribunal has imposed a fine of Rs 500 crore for
damaging the environment through use of cheat device in its diesel cars in
India. A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde virtually stayed the imposition of
fine for the time being against the multinational automobile company. The apex
green tribunal had on March 7 slapped a fine of Rs 500 crore on Volkswagen and
directed the car maker to deposit the amount within two months.
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FORGERS ARE FORCING $9-TRILLION GLOBAL TRADE FINANCING INTO
DIGITAL AGE
The $9 trillion business
of financing global trade needs to go digital according to southeast Asia’s
second-biggest lender. Forgers have become so adept at faking documents used by
banks that going paperless has become a necessity for the industry, said Ng
Chuey Peng, the region’s second-biggest bank by assets. Digitalisation will
also make the financing process more efficient, she said. Trade finance is due
for a transformation, Ng, who has over 20 years experience in commodities,
said. Going paperless has to happen. In the high-tech world of financial
markets, the continued use of paper receipts in trade finance looks arcane.
While some processes are already being digitalised and banks and commodity
traders are experimenting with blockchain technology, paper documentation
remains widespread and the risk of fraud elevated. As much as 80 percent of
global flows of merchandise -- worth about $9 trillion -- is financed by some
form of credit, guarantee or insurance, according to a global survey by the
International Chamber of Commerce. Trade finance revenues were $39 billion in
2017. Paper is used throughout the process to establish the existence,
ownership and payment of goods. The documents, including bills of lading,
customs notices, inspection certificates, invoices and warehouse receipts, also
track the origin and whereabouts of the merchandise and are critical for banks
lending money to finance the trade. Forgeries are so good that you can’t tell
the difference, Ng said. The color, the watermark is exactly like the original.
Simon Collins, the co-founder of online trading platform TradeCloud Services
Pte describes the documents used in commodities trading as paper bridges that
link together disconnected systems in the trading process. These paper documents
are open to manipulation in various ways, said Collins, who was formerly head
of metals at Trafigura Group. This is high-risk given the large transaction
size in the commodities industry. Digitalization, with a high level of
security, can significantly reduce these risks.
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41 FEARED DEAD AFTER RUSSIAN PASSENGER PLANE CRASH-LANDS IN
MOSCOW: REPORT
Forty-one people including
at least two children are believed to have died when a Russian passenger plane
made an emergency landing and was engulfed in flames at Moscow's busiest
airport Sunday, investigators said. Dramatic footage shared on social media
showed Aeroflot's Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft, land at Sheremetyevo
international airport, flames and black smoke pouring from its fuselage.
Passengers could be seen leaping onto an inflatable slide at the front and
running from the blazing plane as huge black columns of smoke billowed into the
sky. There were 78 people including crew members on board the plane, the Investigative
Committee said in a statement, adding it had headed to the northwest Russian
city of Murmansk. According to the updated info which the investigation has as
of now, 37 people survived. Another 11 people were injured, Dmitry Matveyev,
the Moscow region's health minister said earlier in the day. Three of them had
been hospitalised but they were not in a serious condition, he added.
Investigators said they were looking into various lines of inquiry and it was
premature to draw any conclusions about the cause of the accident. Russian
President Vladimir Putin had offered his condolences to the victims' loved
ones, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. After the take-off, the crew reported
an anomaly and decided to come back to the departure airport. At 6:30 pm, the
aircraft made an emergency landing, it added. It attempted an emergency landing
but did not succeed the first time, and on the second time the landing gear hit
(the ground), then the nose did, and it caught fire, the source added.
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BOEING DID NOT DISCLOSE 737 MAX ALERT ISSUE FOR MORE THAN A
YEAR, SAYS FAA
Boeing Co did not tell US
regulators for more than a year that it inadvertently made an alarm alerting
pilots to a mismatch of flight data optional on the 737 MAX, instead of
standard as on earlier 737s, but insisted on Sunday the missing display
represented no safety risk. The US planemaker has been trying for weeks to
dispel suggestions that it made airlines pay for safety features after it
emerged that an alert designed to show discrepancies in Angle of Attack
readings from two sensors was optional on the 737 MAX. Erroneous data from a
sensor responsible for measuring the angle at which the wing slices through the
air - known as the Angle of Attack - is suspected of triggering a flawed piece
of software that pushed the plane downward in two recent crashes. In a
statement, Boeing said it only discovered once deliveries of the 737 MAX had
begun in 2017 that the so-called AOA Disagree alert was optional instead of standard
as it had intended, but added that was not critical safety data. A Federal
Aviation Administration official told Reuters on Sunday that Boeing waited 13
months before informing the agency in November 2018. By becoming optional, the
alert had been treated in the same way as a separate indicator showing raw AOA
data, which is seldom used by commercial pilots and had been an add-on for
years. Neither the angle of attack indicator nor the AOA Disagree alert are
necessary for the safe operation of the airplane, Boeing said. They provide
supplemental information only, and have never been considered safety features
on commercial jet transport airplanes. Boeing said a Safety Review Board
convened after a fatal Lion Air crash in Indonesia last October corroborated
its prior conclusion that the alert was not necessary for the safe operation of
commercial aircraft and could safely be tackled in a future system updated.
Federal prosecutors, the Transportation Department inspector general's office
and a blue-ribbon panel are also looking into the 737 MAX's certification. A
U.S. House of Representatives panel will hold a hearing on the plane's status
with the FAA's acting chief, Dan Elwell, and National Transportation Safety
Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt on May 15.
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RAHUL GANDHI TARGETS NDA OVER DEALING WITH TERRORISM
Cornering the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA), Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the government of
compromising in dealing with the challenge of terrorism. He said that if voted
to power, Congress would adopt stricter measures in combating terrorism that
the incumbent NDA government. Strictest of actions should be taken against
Masood Azhar. He is a terrorist, but who sent him back to Pakistan? Who bowed
down to terror and released him? Not the Congress, but it was the BJP
government, Gandhi said. Gandhi said The Army, Air Force or Navy are not
personal properties of Narendra Modi. When he says that surgical strikes during
UPA were done in video games then he is not insulting Congress but the Army. He
alleged that the BJP government had destroyed the economy.
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'I DON'T REMEMBER': FIERY DAY IN COURT AS MJ AKBAR QUESTIONED
BY PRIYA RAMANI'S LAWYER
In a heated courtroom drama
that lasted for almost two hours, former Union minister M J Akbar Saturday
recorded his statement and was cross examined in a defamation case filed by him
against journalist Priya Ramani. Akbar, who appeared before Additional Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, said the allegations made by Ramani were
malafide and defamatory. John, appearing for Ramani, cross examined Akbar on
details regarding Ramani joining The Asian Age, among others. However, Akbar
responded to most of the questions as I do not remember. The court has posted
the matter for the next hearing on May 20.
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CYCLONE 'FANI' LED TO EVACUATION OF 1.2 MILLION PEOPLE IN
ODISHA, DEATH TOLL IN SINGLE DIGIT: NAVEEN PATNAIK
The Odisha government claimed
the cyclone 'Fani' has led to one of the biggest human evacuations in history
as a record 1.2 million people were evacuated in 24 hours including 3.2 lakh
from Ganjam district and 1.3 lakh from Puri. 3.2 lakh from Ganjam and 1.3 lakh
people from Puri were evacuated with almost 7000 kitchens catering to 9000
shelters were made functional overnight. The mammoth exercise involved more
than 45 thousand volunteers, 3 million targeted messages, 2000 emergency
workers, youth clubs and other civil society organizations, ODRAF, NDRF, PRI
agencies, said Naveen Patnaik. Patnaik also added that the death toll is only
in single digit without mentioning the exact number. According to our latest
report, it is only in single digit, he said. The Odisha government is now on
the task of restoring infrastructure afresh in Puri district and parts of
Khurda, which is severally ruined.
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EXPLOSIVES FOUND BURIED IN SRI LANKA MOSQUE BACKYARD
Three locally made bombs
and 100 grams of ammonia have been found buried in a backyard of a mosque in a
Sri Lankan district, the police said. The police said a 42-year-old suspect was
arrested after the recovery of explosives. Officials also seized 16 circuit
boards of high technology, 16 SIM cards, several compacts discs, computer
accessories and a car in a house at Pirivena Mawatha in Mount Lavinia. According
to the police, each circuit board had the capacity to contain 12 SIM cards. A
52-year-old man was detained along with the items. The recovery was made after
the authorities cancelled weekend masses in the capital due of fears of fresh
bomb attacks.
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SUICIDE BOMBERS VISITED KASHMIR, KERALA FOR TRAINING: SRI
LANKA ARMY CHIEF
Sri Lanka Army's chief has
said that some of the suicide bombers who carried out the country's worst
terror attack on Easter Sunday visited Kashmir and Kerala for some sorts of
training or to make some more links with other foreign outfits. It is the first
time that a top Sri Lankan security official has confirmed the militants' visit
to India which had shared intelligence inputs with Colombo ahead of the attack.
Nine suicide bombers, including a woman, carried out a series of devastating
blasts that tore through three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21,
killing 253 people and injuring over 500 others. Mahesh Senanayake, Commander
of the Army, divulged some details on the movements of the suspects in the region
and also international links. They (the suspects) have gone to India, they've
gone to Kashmir, Bangalore, they've travelled to Kerala state. Those are the
information available with us, he said. Asked what activities they were doing
in Kashmir and Kerala, the Army chief said: Not exactly, but definitely in some
sorts of training or to make some more links towards the other organisations
outside the country. The Islamic State terror group claimed the attacks, but
the government blamed local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jamaath
(NTJ). Sri Lanka banned the NTJ and arrested over 100 people in connection with
the blasts. About the possibility of an involvement of a foreign group, the
Commander said that by looking at the pattern of operation and the places that
the suspects travelled, there has to be some outside involvement of some
leadership or instructions. Asked why the threats were not taken more seriously
after receiving information from India, Senanayake said: We had some
information and intelligence-sharing, situations and military intelligence on a
different direction and the others were different and there was a gap that
everybody could see today. He said that as the Chief of the Army, he believes
that everybody who is responsible for intelligence-gathering and the national
security is to be blamed, including the political hierarchies. Commander said:
Too much of freedom, too much of peace for the last 10 years. People forget
what happened for 30 years. People are enjoying peace and they neglected
security.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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