HIGH COURT TO EXAMINE ISSUE OF BANKS SHARING CUSTOMERS' PAN
DATA WITH CREDIT RATING AGENCIES
The Delhi High Court
Friday sought response of the Centre and the RBI on a PIL seeking to stop banks
from sharing PAN and financial transaction data of clients with credit rating
agencies without their formal consent. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon
and Justice V K Rao issued notice to the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve
Bank of India, seeking their stand on the plea The plea claimed that sharing of
a customer's Permanent Account Number (PAN) and other transactions with credit
rating agencies like Transunion CIBIL Ltd affects the person's right to
privacy. According to the petitioner, Abhijit Mishra, banks use the credit
reports given by agencies like CIBIL to decide whether to grant loans, issue
credit cards and even fix the rate of interest to be charged. The plea, filed
through advocate Payal Bahl, Mishra has contended that the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT) has not issued any notification regarding sharing of
customers' PAN and other transaction details by the banks with any private or
non-government entity. The petition states that even the Income Tax Act, 1961,
does not allow sharing of PAN data of citizens with agencies like CIBIL for the
development of a credit score. It has also claimed that there is no formal
agreement between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Finance
or CBDT on sharing of PAN and transaction details of the client by banks or
non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with the credit rating agencies. Mishra
has also contended that RBI has without independently reviewing, auditing or
validating the process used by such entities to generate a credit score,
granted the certificate of registration to them. The petition has sought
directions to immediately stop the credit institutions (banks) to share the
details of the transactions of the customers and borrowers based on PAN. It has
also sought a direction to RBI to frame a policy to regulate this practice.
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GOVERNMENT FAVOURS ZERO OR 3% GST RATE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
To bring buyers back to
the real estate market, a Group of Ministers set up by the GST Council is
studying the feasibility of two very bold proposals. The first proposal--and
one that states may not favour--is to charge buyers Zero GST on the purchase of
a property categorized as affordable housing. The second proposal--and one that
in all likelihood will be more acceptable to states--is to levy a 3% GST rate The
Centre is very keen on Zero GST rate on affordable housing and has been seeking
inputs on its financial implications. The states may not agree and will prefer
a 3% levy. Either way, there will be a clear definition of affordable housing.
It will also reconcile with RBI's so that there is problem in buyers getting
home loans, said a government official. Another proposal on the table is to cut
the effective 12% GST rate to a flat 5% with no input tax credit for all
properties not categorised as affordable housing. Builders are not in favour of
this, and have been saying this could actually have an inflationary impact as
they will not be able to offset against steel, cement and all other
construction material. Builders have requested the GST Council to consider
another option, and that is an effective tax rate of 7.2% but with input tax
credit. Again, the final call will be that of the GST Council. Either way in an
Election Year, the Centre is hoping to get all states on board to announce
massive cuts, and provide a much needed booster shot to housing market that has
been in the midst of a major downcycle since 2008.
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GOM FAVOURS CUTTING GST TO 5 PC ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES, 3
PC ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
A panel of state ministers
Friday favoured lowering GST on under-construction residential properties to 5
per cent, from 12 per cent currently. In its first meeting, the GoM also
favoured slashing GST on affordable housing from 8 per cent to 3 per cent.
Officials said the report of the GoM would be finalised within a week and would
be placed before the GST Council in its next meeting. The GoM favoured lowering
GST rates on residential houses to 5 per cent without input tax credit and to 3
per cent for those under affordable housing, an official said. GST, however, is
not levied on buyers of real estate properties for which completion certificate
has been issued at the time of sale.
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ONLY 61 INDIVIDUALS DECLARED GROSS INCOME OF OVER RS 100 CRORE
IN AY2017-18
There were only 61
individuals who declared an income of more than Rs 100 crore during assessment
year 2017-18, though the number has risen sharply from 38 in the previous year.
The number of individuals disclosing a gross total income of more than Rs 100
crore in a year in his/her return of income filed with the Income Tax
Department was 24 in assessment year 2014-15 and since then it has been
steadily rising. The minister also said there was no official/uniform
definition of classification of a person as 'billionaire' Replying to another
question, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said that government
is taking action under Benami Properties Transactions Act, and properties
valued at Rs 6,900 crore were under attachment by agencies. The income tax
authorities till December 2018 have identified more than 2,000 benami
transactions, he added. These include, deposits in bank accounts, plots of
land, flat and jewellery, he said, adding that provisional attachment of
properties have been done in over 1,800 cases.
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ANGEL TAX EXEMPTION MAY BE HIKED TO RS 25 CRORE
The Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and Central Board of Direct Taxation
are likely to increase the exemption threshold for startups from the so-called
Angel Tax. Under the new rules, companies whose share premium does not exceed
Rs 25 crore will get immunity from the taxation. The earlier limit was Rs 10
crore. Angel tax is a term used to refer to the income tax payable on capital
raised by unlisted companies via issue of shares where the share price is seen
in excess of the fair market value of the shares sold. The exemptions will be based
on the submission of audited financials and income tax returns of a startup,
along with a self-certified declaration that the angel funds raised by the firm
have and will not be used for inappropriate purchases. This is based on a
submission made by LocalCircles and iSPIRT, people aware of the discussions
told. The move will bring relief to a majority of startups that over the past
few months have received notices from the I-T Department to pay tax on capital
they’ve raised from angel investors. The working committee put in place by
DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek on Feb 4 with the aim to accept suggestions and
come up with solutions for the issue, also agreed to redefine startups as any
entity incorporated for a period of up to 10 years with turnover not exceeding
Rs 50 crore. Under the previous definition, the government of India recognised
a startup as an entity incorporated less than seven years ago with a turnover
of less than Rs 25 crore. A notification from the ministry of commerce and
industry announcing these changes is expected to come as soon as February 11.
What they’ve agreed to is a blanket exemption of Rs 25 crore in share premium
for a DPIIT registered startup, regardless of the source - whether it’s from an
individual, friends and family, unlisted company, etc. The CBDT will not
question that, said a person aware of discussions that took place on February
8. This is going to be retrospective as well, meaning any startup that has a
pending order can submit the required documents and the commissioner of appeals
needs to take it into consideration, the person added.
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TAX DEDUCTED FROM BANK ACCOUNTS OF START-UPS; I-T DEPARTMENT
CLARIFIES
Two start-ups, TravelKhana
and Babygogo, have claimed that the income-tax (I-T) department withdrew lakhs
from their bank accounts for angel tax it feels they are liable to pay. The
department had allegedly frozen four bank accounts of TravelKhana (Duronto
Technologies) and withdrew about Rs 33 lakh on investments raised by the
company from angel investors in 2015-16. Babygogo got an SMS alert from its bank
showing a negative balance of Rs 72 lakh, but it did not have much in its
account. In the case of TravelKhana, its founder and Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Pushpinder Singh has said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) took
coercive action by freezing its bank account and withdrawing money despite
assurances from the government that no action would be taken. He said their
requests for abeyance sent to the tax department were unheeded to. Countering
these claims, the CBDT clarified later in the evening that the additions in tax
demands have been made using provisions of Section 68 of the I-T Act, which
deals with unexplained cash credits to companies, and not Section 56, which
dwells on tax on share premiums. The CBDT said TravelKhana failed to substantiate
the source of some cash deposits, which resulted in a tax demand of nearly Rs
2.22 crore. It said it had requested for confirmation of persons making the
deposits from the food-on-the-go start-up. Wherever confirmations were
submitted, the same were accepted and no tax addition was made. However, where
no confirmations were furnished, the assessing officer made the addition after
issuing a show-cause notice and obtaining a reply, the CBDT said in their
official release. While TravelKhana’s accounts have been unfrozen, the money
has not been returned. This is despite the finance minister assuring start-ups
that no coercive action would be taken against them.
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DORABJI TATA TRUST CHALLENGES I-T DEPT'S DECISION TO WITHDRAW
TAX EXEMPTION
The Dorabji Tata Trust has
challenged the income-tax department’s decision to withdraw tax exemption to
the organisation. The trust has moved the Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT)
Appeals, considered to be the first appellate authority to hear a tax
grievance. On December 31, 2018, the I-T department had issued an order denying
exemption to the Trust for alleged violation of certain conditions relating to
‘’significant compensation’’ paid to Managing Trustee R Venkataramanan. The
trust has challenged the assessing officer’s order in the CIT appeals. It has
also sought a stay on the tax demand raised against it, according to an I-T
official privy to the development. In the appeal, the Trust is learnt to have
contested the findings of the assessing officer, saying the 87-year old Trust
deed provides for the compensation to its trustee. Typically, any matter with
CIT Appeals takes six months to one-year to finalise. And if the order upholds
the plea of of the Department, the assessee can approach the income tax
Appellate Tribunal. The assessing officer in the order had pointed out the compensation
of Venkataramanan (referred to as Venkat) was beyond the permissible limit
under the I-T Act. The order also raised objection on the Trust’s deed, terming
Venkat’s payment excessive. The scrutiny of the books reveals some inaccurate
particulars of the total income making the taxable income to the tune of Rs 315
crore. So accordingly, the Trust has to deposit 20 per cent of the tax demand
raised against it with the Department until the matter concludes. The tax
demand is typically 30 per cent along with the interest of the total taxable
income. Besides, the penalty proceeding, if initiated, could go in the range of
100 to 300 per cent of the total demand raised, the official quoted above said.
According to the CIT, there is a huge difference in the percentage of the
remuneration paid to trustees in case of Sir Dorabaji trust and other trusts.
The executive trustee of the Dorabji Trust gets over 1.18 per cent of the total
income, which is not reasonable, while others get a maximum of 0.15 per cent,
it said.
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NEW RETURN FILING SYSTEM OF GSTN
GSTN will focus, amongst
others, on the development of new return filing further improving the user
interface, and Business Intelligence and Analytics. Improvement in User
Interface on the basis of feedback is a continuous process Few important
initiatives/improvements made for better User Experience are:
·
Questionnaire for filing
GSTR-3B to avoid errors by taxpayers.
·
Option to generate
pre-populated Challan by the system to avoid depositing Cash in wrong Head by
the taxpayers.
·
Introduction of one click
Nil return filing.
·
Suggested utilisation of
ITC informed to the taxpayer for discharging tax liability.
·
Contextual help for GST
transactions like Registration, Returns, Payment, etc.
GSTN has started work on
BI & Analytics Different scenarios of BI have been identified on which work
is going on such as Persona based Analysis, Predictive Analysis, Fraud/Anomaly
Detection, Statistical Scoring, 360-degree view of taxpayers, Circular Trading
& Network Analysis, etc. Further, GSTN shares data with tax authorities on
the following:
·
Mis-match between figures
reported in GSTR-1 & GSTR-3B.
·
Mis-match between figures
reported GSTR-3B and that computed by the system in GSTR-2A.
·
Taxpayers who have
generated e-way bill but not filed tax returns
Comparison of GSTR-1 &
GSTR-3B for liability analysis, GSTR-2A & GSTR-3B for comparison of ITC
being claimed by taxpayers, and analysis regarding taxpayers who have generated
e-way bill but not filed tax returns is being done and the reports generated
are shared with tax authorities for taking appropriate action.
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DIRECT TAX COLLECTION DURING APRIL-JANUARY STANDS AT RS 7.89
TRN: GOVT
Net direct tax collection
during the April-January period of current financial year stood at Rs 7.89
trillion Parliament was informed on Friday. Shiv Pratap Shukla said there were 9.92
crore direct taxpayers in Assessment Year 2016-17, which increased to 7.41
crore in 2017-18. Total direct tax collection in 2017-18 stood at Rs 10.02
trillion. In the April-January period of current financial year, total direct
tax collection stood at Rs 7,88,930 crore. In the revised estimates for current
financial year, the government has pegged direct tax collection at Rs 12
trillion. In the 2017-18 financial year, the Direct Tax-GDP ratio stood at 5.98
per cent.
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I-T SEARCHES YIELD ₹433 CR. FROM THREE
COMPANIES
The Income Tax (I-T)
Department has found over ₹433 crore of unaccounted money during searches at retail firm
New Saravana Stores Bramandamai and two real estate firms — G Square Realtor’s
Private Limited and Lotus Ventures and Infrabuild Private Limited. According to
officials of the I-T Department, Investigations Wing, of the total, ₹284
crore belonged to the retailer while the rest was from the two real estate
firms. During the search operations, the taxmen seized ₹24.36
crore cash, gold weighing 12.53 kg and diamonds (626 carats). Over 72 places
belonging to the three firms were under the I-T scanner since the first raids
on January 29. An official, who was part of the search operation, said, It took
a long time to conclude this operation because we had to search each floor at
New Saravana Stores Bramandamai. One of the properties had nine floors. We also
had to go through the CCTV footage in each of the floors thoroughly. Another
source said that the taxmen noticed suppression of sales to the tune of over ₹1,500
crore by manipulating software used by the retailer. In the following days, the
proprietors of all the firms where the taxmen searched would be summoned for questioning,
an official said.
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EXPORT CREDIT
Export Credit extended by
Scheduled Commercial Banks has continued to reflect a steady increase As per
data compiled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Export Credit – Balance
Outstanding in respect of all Scheduled Commercial Banks at the end of
financial year 2016-17 & 2017-18 stood at Rs. 2,43,505 Crore and Rs.
2,43,890 Crore respectively. It declined marginally by 0.56% to Rs. 2,42,523
Crore in the First Quarter of Current Financial Year before registering an
increase of 4.59% to Rs. 2,53,676 Crore in Second Quarter ending Sept. 30th,
2018. Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) has urged the Government
to increase the flow of credit to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME)
exporters. Government has taken various steps in this regard. These,
inter-alia, include raising interest equalization rate under Interest
Equalisation Scheme (IES) from 3% to 5% for MSME exports; including Merchant
exporters under IES for Pre and Post Shipment Rupee Export Credit; facilitating
export under GST by permitting Letter of Undertaking in place of bond with no
bank guarantee for exporting goods or service or both; allowing Merchant
exporters to procure goods, from domestic suppliers, for export, with nominal
GST of 0.1%; Provisional sanction of 90% refund amount within 7 days in case of
exports etc.
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ICAI TO START E-HEARING IN DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS FROM FEB 9
The Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India is gearing up to cross another milestone in its long
historical journey towards technological advancement by adopting the e-hearings
in its Disciplinary processes which is instrumental in bringing out
cost-effective disciplinary mechanism. The newly introduced e-hearings would
pave the way for expeditious disposal of Disciplinary cases The Institute, for
the first time, fixed to conduct e-hearing of disciplinary proceedings on
February 9, 2019 through Video-conferencing in terms/compliance of the recent
amendments made to the Chartered Accountants (Procedure of Investigations of
Professional and Other Misconduct and Conduct of Cases) Rules, 2007.
e-hearings, ICAI as a pilot project decided to commence, initially from its
five regional headquarters located at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and
Kanpur which would be gradually extended to other locations.
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VIJAY MALLYA SENT MONEY FROM LOANS OUTSIDE INDIA, HAD NO
INTENTION OF REPAYING, REVEALS ED PROBE
Absconding liquor baron
Vijay Mallya had no intention of paying back loans of over Rs 5,500 crore to a
consortium of banks even though creditors agreed to restructure debt for his
Kingfisher Airlines (KAL) offering a lifeline to the now defunct airline. Investigations
into the financial mess at KAL undertaken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)
have revealed that Mallya's intentions of not paying the banks post
restructuring emerged as he did not push profit-generating United Breweries
Holdings (UBHL) and other group companies to strengthen KAL by infusing
capital. Instead, an amount of Rs 3,516 crore was channelised through various dummy
companies through a circuitous route as unsecured loan to KAL by UBHL. This
further eroded the net worth of KAL as restructured principal loan amount
itself stood at Rs 5,575.72 crore. Interestingly, UHBL arranged unsecured loans
from entities such as Wave Group (Rs 188 crore), a Sahara Group company - SICCL
(Rs 200 crore). Thus, unsecured loan was arranged through a circuitous route
obliterating the origin of the funds thereby increasing debt of KAL and eroding
its viability further. In its investigations, ED concluded that Mallya did not
have the intention to pay for loans taken by him as debt was being added to
loss-making KAL and he, with UBHL, also challenged invocation of personal
guarantee on loans given by the two in the Bombay High Court. In fact, the
agency officials say, criminal conspiracy was hatched for obtaining and
restructuring loan to KAL and they had no intention to repay loan ab initio. The
investigations have also tracked the money trail of loans given to KAL and have
revealed that a major portion of loans given to the airline has been remitted
outside the country and falsely shown as expenses on account of operational
expenses or lease rentals. A total of over Rs 3,200 crore of loans given to KAL
by State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Axis Bank was
remitted outside the country towards aircraft rental leasing and maintenance,
spare parts but investigations have found huge variations in the payments,
especially towards lease rentals even for the same kind of aircraft for the
same period of time. As repeated reminders to KAL to furnish supporting documents
for lease rentals did not elicit any action, ED concluded that bank loans
obtained were siphoned abroad under the ruse of lease rentals in a calculated
and pre-designed manner. Post restructuring of loan in 2010 the principal
outstanding for KAL fell from just over Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 5,575.72 crore.
This amount further reduced RS 4,930.34 crore in December 2010 as banks such as
SBI realised some amount by selling a portion of shares pledged to the
consortium of banks of the shares.
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SYNDICATE BANK FRAUD: ED FILES ANOTHER CHARGESHEET
In a breakthrough in the
massive Syndicate Bank fraud, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a
Supplementary Prosecution Complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering
Act, 2002 (PMLA) against several persons accused in the massive Syndicate Bank
fraud. Investigation revealed that during the period from 2011 to 2016, Bharat
Bomb, an Udaipur-based Chartered Accountant who was the master mind of the
fraud, in collusion with bank officials and others indulged in fraudulent
transactions such as discounting of forged cheques, discounting of forged
inland bills, and availing of overdraft facility against non-existent LIC
policies and thereby caused the bank loss to the tune of ₹1,055
crore. Further, these accused siphoned off funds of the bank for illegal
personal gains. The tainted money earned by them was invested in immovable
assets or transferred in various bank accounts through complex maze of
transactions. Till now, the ED has identified proceeds of crime worth ₹302.66
crore consisting of movable and immovable properties which have been attached
under the PMLA.
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GUJARAT HIGH COURT RESERVES JUDGMENT IN BULLET TRAIN CASES
The Gujarat High Court on
Thursday reserved its judgment in the bunch of petitions filed by land owners opposing
the acquisition of their land for the ambitious bullet train project between
Ahmedabad and Mumbai by offering meagre compensation. The division bench of
Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav had earlier clarified
that they will dictate the judgment in the open court and the final verdict on
the same was expected on Thursday. However, the bench clarified that the judgment
is incomplete and kept it reserved With the bench reserving the verdict, it is
expected that the final verdict on the case will be now pronounced in the court
and there will be no more hearings. Notably, the farmers and other land owners
have vehemently opposed the acquisition of their land by the state government
by offering compensation as per the 2011 jantri rates. The petitioners have
demanded that their land should be acquired by the authorities at the rate at
which the state government had sold its land for other projects. The
petitioners have also demanded that the state should take care of their
rehabilitation and resettlement as mandated under the central Land Acquisition
Act 2013. Counsel for the petitioners Anand Yagnik said, The farmers are not against
the bullet train project. It is a policy decision and they will abide by it. All
they want is a fair compensation for their land. Jantri rates of 2011 are
certainly not the benchmark that can be considered for calculating the
compensation. There are cases where the market rate is 10 times of the jantri
rates.
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NSEL SCAM: COURT SENDS EX-DIRECTOR JOSEPH MASSEY TO 6-DAY
JUDICIAL CUSTODY
The Maharashtra Protection
of Interest of Depositors (MPID) court on Friday awarded six-day judicial
custody to Joseph Massey, the former director of the scam-hit defunct spot
commodity trading platform National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) in connection with
a Rs 5,600-crore payment default. Massey has been in police custody since his
arrest by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police on January 27. The
former NSEL director, in the meanwhile, has moved a bail application in the
MPID court claiming that he has been fully co-operating with the police in the
ongoing investigation. The court is set to start hearing his bail plea on
Monday. Massey will now be produced before the court on February 13.
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PROBE VADRA, CHIDAMBARAM BUT GIVE ANSWERS ON RAFALE: RAHUL TO
GOVT
Rahul Gandhi on Friday
said he has no problem if the government investigates his brother-in-law Robert
Vadra or senior party leader P Chidambaram as long as it also answers questions
on the Rafale jet deal Gandhi launched a fresh broadside against the government
on the deal following a report claiming the Defence ministry raised strong
objections to parallel discussions conducted by the PMO during the negotiations
between India and France. Whatever inquiry you want to do, you do it. You
implement the law. Robert Vadra, P Chidambaram - you implement the law on
everyone. No problem. But you also give answers on the Rafale matter he said. Describing
Rafale as an open and shut case, he said, I am telling you that whatever
investigation you want to do, you should do it. You are the one who is in
government. But then investigate this (Rafale) too.
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RAHUL GANDHI'S RAFALE ALLEGATION 'YET ANOTHER LIE': BJP
The BJP Friday described
Rahul Gandhi's allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rafale
deal as yet another lie from his lie-manufacturing factory and accused the
Congress president of working at the behest of foreign forces for the
cancellation of the fighter aircraft deal. The Prime Minister's Office was directly
involved in negotiations with the French on the Rafale deal and Modi was guilty
in the scam, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday in a fresh attack
on the government over the fighter jet agreement. It is an open and shut case,
Gandhi declared, citing a report claiming the Defence ministry raised strong
objections to parallel discussions conducted by the PMO during the negotiations
over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India and France. The
lie-manufacturing factory of Rahul Gandhi continues to operate and he has
served us yet another lie. We absolutely reject his allegations, Prakash
Javadekar told. He demanded Gandhi should tell them as to which aircraft
company officials he had met during his recent visit to Europe. Rahul Gandhi
and the Congress are working to get the Rafale deal scrapped. They are playing
in the hands of foreign forces and companies with vested interest, Javadekar
alleged. He said the Congress-led UPA government had finalised the Rafale deal
in 2011 but did not go ahead with it because it had not got any commission.
There cannot be a deal in a Congress government without any commission,
Javadekar alleged. The Supreme Court has said there is no scam in the Rafale
deal. Gandhi does not accept it. Repeating a lie would not make it true, he
said. Nirmala Sitharaman Friday also dismissed the media report on the Rafale
jet deal as flogging a dead horse and accused the opposition of playing into
the hands of multinational companies and vested interests. They are flogging a
dead horse. Periodical enquiries by the PMO cannot be construed as
interference, the minister said during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha.
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MAMATA GOVT DEFAMED BENGAL, LEFT PEOPLE HELPLESS: PM MODI
Modi Friday launched a
scathing attack on the Mamata Banerjee government, claiming it had defamed the
soil of West Bengal and rendered its people helpless. Modi said it was an
extortionist syndicate and not 'Didi', as Banerjee is fondly called, that was
running the state. Those who got power in Bengal in the name of 'Maa, Maati,
Manush' after unseating the Left have also adopted the culture of violence. They
have defamed the soil of Bengal and rendered its people helpless, Modi said
attacking TMC government. Assailing Banerjee for the sit-in she staged against
the attempted questioning of Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar by the
CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam case, the prime minister said it was for the
first time that a chief minister had staged a dharna to protect the fraudsters
who looted lakhs of poor people. This chowkidar will spare neither the
perpetrators of chit fund scams nor those protecting them, he asserted.
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NARENDRA MODI MASTER OF CORRUPTION: MAMATA BANERJEE
Mamata Banerjee Friday hit
out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling him the master of corruption and
said that she supported the views of the Congress on the Rafale deal. She
described Rafale deal as one of the biggest scam of the country. I do not know
how much money changed hands or what had happened, but certainly there must be
something behind the curtain. Rafale deal is a big scam and I support the
Congress' views on it, Banerjee told. Rahul Gandhi had alleged that the prime
minister has stolen Rs 30,000 crore of your money, bypassed a process, and
given it to his friend Mr Anil Ambani. He demanded answers to questions raised
by a media report that the PMO conducted parallel negotiations on the Rafale
deal, saying it is now crystal clear that the watchman is the thief. He is the
master of arrogance and a shame for the country. I have no words to describe
him. His standard is so low that we have never expected such a man to be the
prime minister. We have respect for the chair but not for this man, she said.
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PMO DID NOT HOLD PARALLEL PARLEYS: OFFICIAL WHO LED THE RAFALE
NEGOTIATION
Amid a fresh controversy
over the Rafale deal, Air Marshal SBP Sinha (retd), who was leading the Indian
negotiating team for the fighter jet purchase, Friday rejected the charge that
the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had held parallel negotiations. G Mohan Kumar
also said it was absolutely wrong to say that the PMO was conducting a parallel
negotiation, as alleged in a media report to which the Congress and other
opposition leaders have latched on to attack the Modi government over the
Rafale deal. There was no parallel negotiation and every word in the
Intergovernmental Agreement is jointly decided by the Indian and the French negotiating
teams without participation of any other agency, Sinha said. Sinha was one of
the top Air Force officials leading the Indian negotiating team. None of us
were aware of the note and neither was it discussed with the Indian negotiating
team, Sinha said.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
AUGUSTAWESTLAND CASE: CHRISTIAN MICHEL APPROACHES DELHI'S
PATIALA HOUSE COURT FOR BAIL, NEXT HEARING ON FEB 12
On Friday, alleged
AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel approached Delhi's Patiala House
Court for bail in CBI and ED cases Delhi's Patiala House Court has now sought
the response of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and ED (Enforcement
Directorate) on the bail plea of Michel. Next date of hearing is February 12. The
CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million
(approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on
February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million. The
Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June
2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from
Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland.
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VVIP CHOPPER CASE: COURT EXTENDS BY 4 DAYS ED CUSTODY OF
RAJEEV SAXENA
A Delhi court on Friday extended
by four days the ED custody of Rajeev Saxena, arrested in the ₹3,600-crore
AgustaWestland money laundering case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought
his further custody before the court, saying the probe is at a crucial stage.
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SC TO HEAR PLEA FOR FRESH PROBE IN HAREN PANDYA MURDER CASE ON
FEB 11
The Supreme Court Friday
fixed February 11 for hearing a plea filed by an NGO seeking re-investigation
into the murder of former Gujarat minister Haren Pandya on the ground that some
new facts have surfaced after the trial. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S
Abdul Nazeer said that an appeal arising out of this case has been already
heard by a different bench. It will be appropriate if the same bench hears this
petition, the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on February 11. The
bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had on January 31 reserved its verdict in
the appeal by CBI against Gujarat High Court's acquittal of all the accused.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner NGO CPIL said that four
new facts have surfaced after the trial and re-investigation needs to be
ordered. The NGO had moved the apex court last month seeking a court-monitored
investigation into the murder. Pandya was a minister of state for home in the
then Narendra Modi government in Gujarat. He was shot dead on March 26, 2003,
in Ahmedabad near Law Garden area of the city during morning walk.
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WIFE JUSTIFIED TO STAY SEPARATELY IF ABUSED BY IN-LAWS, CAN
SEEK MAINTENANCE FROM HUSBAND: BOMBAY HC
The Bombay High Court while
rejecting a petition filed by an estranged husband challenging the maintenance
amount granted to his wife and rejecting his plea for restitution of conjugal
rights by the family court, said, If the wife is not comfortable because of the
approach and attitude of the parents of her husband and the treatment given to
her by them, the wife is just to live separately and demand maintenance from
the husband. Justice VK Jadhav while dismissing the petition added, In our
society, importance is given to the wishes of the husband. Even if the wife is
not comfortable with her inlaws, she has to follow the wishes of her husband
and stay there along with the parents of her husband in order to respect the
wishes of her husband. However, in the changing scenario of the lifestyle and
considering the developing concept of nuclear family, importance is also
required to be given to the wishes of the wife. The estranged husband claimed
that he and his wife tied the knot in 2002 and a few days later the woman left
the matrimonial house. Later, the man moved an application for restitution of
conjugal rights, claiming that he is a young person and needs her company.
Further, the wife resides with her parents without any just cause and as such,
she is not entitled to maintenance. Moreover, he cannot stay separately by
leaving his old aged parents. The woman filed a reply saying she has cordial
relations with the husband and is willing to live separately with him provided
he also executes an undertaking that he will not ill-treat her as she feared
for her life. The woman also claimed that the mother of the husband would
assault and ill-treat her and on her instance, the husband had also on several
occasion physically assaulted her, thus she left the matrimonial house. The court
after going through the evidence led by the parties said, Husband has failed to
substantiate his contention that wife is staying with her parents without any
just cause. I do not find any mistake in the order passed by the family court,
rejecting the application filed by the him.
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MUZAFFARNAGAR RIOTS 2013: COURT AWARDS LIFE IMPRISONMENT TO 7
CONVICTS
Seven persons were sentenced
to life imprisonment on Friday by a court here for killing two men, which is
believed to have triggered the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 in Uttar Pradesh. Himashu
Bhatnagar also imposed a fine of Rs 21,20,000 on each of the seven accused -- for
killing Gaurav and Sachin on August 27, 2013 and rioting. The court said that
80 per cent of the fine will go to the family of the two men who were killed.
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SC TURNS DOWN SACKED IPS OFFICER SANJIV BHATT'S PLEA SEEKING
SECURITY FOR HIS FAMILY
The Supreme Court on
Friday refused to entertain sacked Gujarat cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt's
plea seeking security for his family. A bench of Justices A K Sikri and S Abdul
Nazeer asked Bhatt to approach the Gujarat High Court with his plea The apex court
had held it was not appropriate for it to interfere in the ongoing
investigation. Bhatt was suspended in 2011 on charges of remaining absent from
duty without permission and misuse of official vehicles and later sacked in
August 2015. His wife Shweta had unsuccessfully contested assembly election as
a Congress party candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Maninagar
constituency in Ahmedabad in 2012. At the time, Banaskantha Police claimed that
drugs were found in a hotel room occupied by Rajpurohit in the district's
Palanpur town. However, a probe by Rajasthan Police concluded that Rajpurohit
was allegedly falsely implicated by Banaskantha Police to compel him to
transfer a disputed property at Pali in Rajasthan. It also claimed to have found
that Rajpurohit was allegedly abducted by Banaskantha Police from his residence
at Pali.
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NEVER AGAIN FALL FOR BJP'S GIMMICKS: AKHILESH YADAV TO VOTERS
The Samajwadi Party took
to Twitter on Friday with the hashtag, 'NeverAgain', asking people to vow that
they would stand against the BJP and not fall for its gimmicks in Lok Sabha
polls. Let us vow that we will #NeverAgain let people die waiting in line to
withdraw money from a bank, fall for the 15 lakh rupee lie, allow farmers to
kill themselves, let national security enrich the famous few, let people be
killed for their beliefs, let two and half men rule us, SP president Akhilesh
Yadav tweeted. It was followed by the SP running a series of tweets on its account
with the same hashtag and endorsing Yadav's message to corner the Bharatiya
Janata Party. It's an attempt to make people aware of the BJP gimmicks and
stand against it, a senior party leader said. The SP chief is very active on
Twitter and has 90 lakh followers on the microblogging site, while the party
has more than 16 lakh followers. The series of tweets is seen as an attempt by
the SP to counter the BJP IT cell, which was dubbed recently by Yadav as
Internet Terrorist cell. On Tuesday, Yadav had repeatedly said two and a half
men were running the country, apparently targeting Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
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PROMOTING MORE BALANCED INDIA-CHINA TRADE
India’s exports to China
have grown after several years. India is poised to achieve its highest ever
exports to China this fiscal. Between April-December 2018, exports were USD
12.7 billion which is closer to last year’s exports of USD 13.33 billion. The
Department of Commerce took the initiative to identify and share with Indian
exporters and other stakeholders, specific lines where US would lose
competitiveness in China and where India had an export potential and encouraged
the exporters to seize this opportunity. Several B2B meetings with Chinese
buyers were facilitated through the Indian embassy in Beijing. The growth in
India’s exports to China has been driven by marine products, organic chemicals,
plastics, petroleum products, grapes and rice.
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LET THE WORLD BANK BE GOVERNED BY THE WORLD
In many ways, David
Malpass, whom US President Donald Trump nominated on Wednesday to head the
World Bank, is an unsurprising choice. He is a senior Treasury official
overseeing international affairs. Plus, his background absolutely screams Trump
nominee: He is not a woman (Indra Nooyi, formerly of PepsiCo Inc, was being
considered). He is an outspoken critic of the institution he is now to head
(recall Scott Pruitt’s tenure at the Environmental Protection Agency). And he
has a controversial Wall Street background (he was chief economist at the
ill-fated Bear Stearns), as well as some embarrassing calls in his past (he
wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed in 2007 insisting that the housing market
could not pull down the broader economy). Even so, this is the moment when the
American reign over the World Bank must end. Europe, which gets to pick the
head of the International Monetary Fund in return for ceding the World Bank
choice to the US, should vote with emerging-market nations in order to ensure
that, for the first time, a nominee from the rest of the world runs the bank.
Ironically, as with surprisingly many of Trump’s decisions, there is a germ of
a good idea in Malpass’s appointment. Some of the criticisms levied against him
by the development policy community are, in fact, good reasons for him to have
the job. In particular, Malpass has gotten three big things right. First, he
acknowledges that the World Bank must diversify away from its decades-old fight
against extreme poverty. That became its focus under Robert McNamara, at a time
when there was little attention and less capacity devoted to understanding what
kept people in the developing world poor. In the years since 1990, though, the
world has made great strides in eradicating poverty. It is now time to focus on
the bank’s original purpose, and one of the biggest constraints on the
developing world becoming rich: the shortage of infrastructure. Second, Malpass
knows that China’s lending in the developing world is a problem. In testimony
before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee a few months ago, he argued that
China’s use of non-market export credits, opaque financing, and exclusive
procurement practices often benefits the donor more than the recipient and
undermines debt sustainability, domestic institutions, and environmental and
social standards. This is exactly right, and both the financial and development
communities need to understand that this is a challenge that must be answered,
not ignored. Finally, Malpass understands how the World Bank’s role in developing
countries needs to change In that same testimony, he argued that multilateral
development banks need to focus more on the quality of their project loans,
rather than the quantity and on helping developing countries get their policy
environment right for using private capital inflows effectively. The truth is
that the amount of private capital in the world available to build sustainable,
climate change-ready infrastructure dwarfs the amount that the World Bank and
its peers can put into the field. They need to transition to working more
closely with private capital if they are to become truly transformative.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
HELICOPTER-LAUNCHED ANTI-TANK MISSILE ‘HELINA’ TEST-FIRED
India test-fired its helicopter
launched version of one of the most-advanced anti-tank weapons from the Odisha
coast on Friday. Helina, the helicopter-launched version of the Nag anti-tank
guided missile with a hit range of 7-8 km was launched from an Army chopper.
The weapon system was tested for its full range at 12.55 pm near the Integrated
Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district, defence sources said. Helina was
released smoothly from the launch platform, following which the missile tracked
the target all through its course in order to strike with high precision. Developed
by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), it is one of the
most-advanced anti-tank weapons in the world, sources said. It is guided by an
infrared imaging seeker (IIR) operating in the lock-on before-launch mode and
helps in further strengthening the defence capabilities of the country.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
EU TO ADD SAUDI, PANAMA TO LIST OF NATIONS FAILING TO CURB
MONEY LAUNDERING
The European Commission is
planning to name Saudi Arabia and Panama in a list of high-risk countries that fail
to fight money laundering despite resistance from Germany, France and the UK,
the Financial Times reported on Friday. The blacklist includes the Gulf kingdom
and more than 20 other territories over alleged failures to fight illicit cash
flows, the paper said citing European Union officials.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
US CONSIDERS WITHDRAWAL OF ZERO TARIFFS FOR INDIA
India could lose a vital
US trade concession under which it enjoys zero tariffs on $5.6 billion of
exports to the US, amid a widening dispute over its trade and investment
policies, people with close knowledge of the matter said. A move to withdraw
the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) from India, the world’s largest
beneficiary of a scheme that has been in force since the 1970s, would be the strongest
punitive action since President Donald Trump took office in 2017 vowing to
reduce the US deficit with large economies. Trump has repeatedly called out
India for its high tariffs Prime Minister Narendra Modi has courted foreign
investment as part of his Make-in-India campaign to turn India into a
manufacturing hub and deliver jobs to the millions of youth entering the
workforce. Trump, for his part, has pushed for US manufacturing to return home
as part of his Make America Great Again campaign. The trigger for the latest
downturn in trade ties was India’s new rules on e-commerce that restrict the
way Amazon.com Inc and Walmart-backed Flipkart do business in a rapidly growing
online market set to touch $200 billion by 2027. That, coming on top of a drive
to force global card payments companies such as Mastercard and Visa to move
their data to India and the imposition of higher tariffs on electronic products
and smartphones, left a broader trade package the two sides were working on
through last year in tatters. The GSP was tied to the trade package and since
that deal had slipped further away, the United States was considering
withdrawing or scaling back the preferential arrangement, two sources said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The
US Trade Representative (USTR) was completing a review of India’s status as a
GSP beneficiary and an announcement was expected over the next two weeks, the
sources said. (The two sides) were trying to sort out the trade package but
were not able to actually finish the deal. In the meantime these other things,
data localisation and e-commerce, have come along, one of the sources said. In
a sense its like someone has rained on the parade. India and the United States
have developed close political and security ties But bilateral trade, which
stood at $126 billion in 2017, is widely seen to be performing at nearly a
quarter of its potential. US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross is due in New Delhi
next week where he is expected to raise concerns about the e-commerce policy
and data localisation, officials said. If the United States eliminates
duty-free access for about 2,000 Indian product lines, it will mostly hurt
small businesses such as jewellery, said one of the sources. The number of
goods qualifying for preferential treatment could be reduced, or the whole
programme could be withdrawn.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
US IN TALKS WITH INDIA OVER MISSILE DEFENCE COLLABORATION:
PENTAGON
The US has discussed a
potential missile defence collaboration with India, a top Pentagon official has
said, underlining that America wants to build a much deeper and broader
relationship with the country. Under Secretary of Defence for Policy John Rood,
however, said that it is early to determine how far India, which already has
substantial domestic missile defence capabilities, will go regarding the
defence collaboration. We have talked to the Indians about missile defence as
potentially an area as well to collaborate on. It's early days to determine how
far that will go, Rood said. The Indians have substantial capabilities
domestically of their own and they've done some development of missile
defences. So the degree to which they're interested in acquiring or working
collaboratively with us in the US remains to be seen, Rood said when asked
about reports that India is interested in purchasing the Terminal High Altitude
Area Defense system popular as THAAD from the US. The previous Obama
administration was not very forthcoming in sharing its advance missile defense
system with India, following which New Delhi went ahead to procure it from
Russia. As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, the Trump administration now
seems to be more than inclined to let India procure its missile defense system
with talks between the two countries having already started. Making an
appearance before the prestigious Hudson Institute think-tank, Rood said the US
is certainly open to this kind of collaboration with India. We have had
excellent meetings and we're expanding our agenda. There's more meat to it, if
you will. So I'm really feeling very good about the overall trajectory of that
relationship, said Rood who has been personally involved through successive
administrations in building India-US relationship: in both the Bush
administration, the Obama administration, and now in the present Trump
administration. The US has also agreed to sell two advanced missile defence
systems to India for two Boeing-777 Head-of-State aircraft for an estimated
cost of USD 190 million, a decision that will enhance the security of the
planes flying the president and the prime minister.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
TRUMP SEES NO SUMMIT WITH CHINESE PRESIDENT BY TARIFF DATE
President Donald Trump
said he won’t meet Chinese President Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline to
avert higher US tariffs on Chinese goods, intensifying fears the two won’t
strike a deal before the end of a 90-day truce. Trump responded No and shook his
head Thursday when reporters at the White House asked him if he would meet with
Xi this month. Then he added, Unlikely. But the U.S. president said the two
would maybe meet later. Trump told last month that he planned to meet Xi in
late February, adding there was a good chance of striking a deal. Time is
running out for the US and China to reach an agreement before the deadline the
Trump administration has set to more than double tariffs on $200 billion of
Chinese goods. While the U.S. has said it’s a hard deadline for the tariffs,
Trump has also suggested he could agree to extend negotiations beyond month’s
end if progress is being made. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are leading a group of administration
officials headed to Beijing next week as part of the trade talks. Lighthizer
told reporters last week that it was not certain a deal could be reached. One
senior administration official said the decision not to go ahead with a meeting
between Xi and Trump before March 1 should not be read as a sign the talks were
breaking down. Rather it was due to the amount of work that still needed to be
done by negotiators. The two leaders could also speak by phone, the official
said. There’s growing concern among White House officials that Trump could
agree to a cosmetic deal that wouldn’t address core issues like China’s alleged
intellectual property theft, according to a person familiar with the talks. But
the president and other senior administration officials have publicly and
privately stated the negotiations are going well and that the two sides are
continuing to bridge their differences at every round of talks. In a meeting at
the White House Wednesday, Trump’s trade team discussed the next steps for the
trade talks, according to a person briefed on the matter. Lighthizer and
Mnuchin don’t have a mandate to bring back a draft deal from their Beijing
trip, the person said. The president is headed to Asia to meet North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam Feb. 27 and Feb. 28. A delay in the meeting
between Trump and Xi isn’t a deal breaker, says Derek Scissors, a China expert
at the American Enterprise Institute. Trump meeting Xi makes it more likely any
deal will last. When it was agreed that they would meet, it was known at the
time that it would be hard to match schedules before March 2, Scissors said. By
itself, a delay until after March 2 is not a threat to the chances of a deal.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
INDIA HOPES TO SIGN FTA WITH EU IN ‘FORESEEABLE FUTURE’
The government Friday
expressed hope that it would be able to sign a free trade agreement with the
European Union (EU) in the foreseeable future. We will find the necessary
balance between ambition and sensitivity in the foreseeable future to have
trade agreements with various countries including the EU. The FTA will happen
soon I am sure, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said. Asked if auto is the
only concern, he declined to elaborate but said that auto component is one of
the few sectors something which is at the cutting edge of global standard and
we have to virtual find a way forward. He also added that the EU has expressed
some concerns about India’s service sector. Wadhawan seemed optimistic about
India surpassing the export level that had peaked during 2013-14. We will reach
a peak level this year. Our exports had peaked at USD 314 billion in 2013-14
and I think we will go past that peak, he said. In 2013-14, the country’s
merchandise exports touched USD 314.4 billion level. After that, exports came
under immense pressure again due to global slowdown. On the agriculture exports
showing inactivity, he said, food exports stagnated a bit because of price
issues. Global commodity prices have fallen but the volumes have not come down
The quantities are still rising. We export over USD 40 billion worth of
agriculture products. We are the largest exporters of rice in the world. The
third quarter showed a slowdown in exports but the secretary attributed it to
the global prices. Petroleum prices are coming down. Our exports are 15 per
cent petroleum products and that 15 per cent is lagging. Agriculture commodity
prices have come down worldwide and agriculture export is about USD 40 billion
out of over USD 300 billion. So all the pressures are there and the global
slowdown is coming so that will obviously have its effect, he said. He added
that certain categories like grapes have recorded a huge jump on the back of
the trade war between China and US. Asked how free trade and opening up of borders
would materialise in future when global giants US and China are at loggerheads,
he said,I am sure better sense will prevail at a global level and countries
will not destabilise the WTO.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
UK'S MAY APPROACHES NUMBER OF LABOUR MPS FOR AMENDMENT TO
WITHDRAWAL MOTION: REPORT
British Prime Minister
Theresa May has approached a number of members of parliament from the
opposition Labour Party to put forward an amendment to her withdrawal motion
Theresa May is planning to back a new package of workers' rights in a deal with
some members of the Labour Party, the report said. On Wednesday, Labour made
public a letter written by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to Theresa May
offering to support her Brexit deal if she makes five legally binding
commitments, including joining a customs union. Britain is due to leave the
European Union on March 29.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
US VISA FRAUD: LAWMAKERS SEEK FAIR TREATMENT OF DETAINED
INDIANS
A bipartisan group of
eminent American lawmakers has asked authorities to facilitate consular access
to Indians held for enrolling in a fake university allegedly to remain in the
US, and treat them fairly and humanely after the community raised concerns over
the manner they were detained In multiple raids last month, federal authorities
arrested 129 Indians an a Palestinian enrolled as students in the fraudulent
university in Metro Detroit area. The Farmington University was set up by the
DHS’s investigating unit in Greater Detroit area to bust the pay-and-stay
racket. Immigration attorneys claimed that they knew nothing about the
varsity’s illegal operation and were trapped. The US State Department said they
were aware that they were committing a crime to fraudulently remain in the
country. In a letter, the lawmakers led by Indian-American Congressman Raja
Krishnamoorthi urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ensure students detained were
treated properly and are afforded all rights provided to them under law,
including access to an attorney and release on bond for those eligible. The
lawmakers express concerns surrounding the recent undercover operation
conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, in which HSI special agents
operated a fake university designed to target recruiters and foreign students
believed to be engaged in immigration fraud. India said Tuesday it has obtained
consular access to 117 of the 129 Indian students detained in the US for enrolling
in a fake university and legal assistance was being extended to them. The
Indian government has continued to closely monitor and take proactive measures
to deal with the detention of Indian students, the Ministry of External Affairs
said in a statement in New Delhi.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
BILL ALLOWING US TO SUE OPEC FOR INFLATING OIL PRICES CLEARS
KEY HURDLE
Legislation that would allow
the US government to sue Opec for inflating oil prices cleared a key hurdle in
the new session of Congress. The House Judiciary Committee, now led by
Democrats, advanced the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act Thursday.
That sets the bipartisan NOPEC bill, which would subject the cartel to possible
antitrust action by the Department of Justice, up for a possible House vote. A
similar bill targeting Opec was introduced in the Senate on Thursday. Opec’s
members deliberately collude to limit crude oil production as a means of fixing
prices, unfairly driving up the price of crude oil, House Judiciary Committee
Chairman Jerrold Nadler said before voting in favour of the legislation. The
law would amend the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the law used more than a
century ago to break up the oil empire of John Rockefeller. Various iterations
of the bill have been proposed in the past, and former presidents have
threatened to use their veto power to scupper the legislation. But President
Donald Trump could be more amenable, given his frequent twitter attacks
accusing the group of keeping oil prices artificially high. I’m not going to
predict it will get passed and enacted into law, but I think its prospects are
pretty good, said Seth Bloom, former general counsel of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee.
OPEC doesn’t have too many friends right now and the legislation may likely
have a friend in the White House given Trump has written favourably about it in
the past. US Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim told members of a House
subcommittee in December the administration continues to study the legislation.
If Opec members conducted the same manipulation in the United States that they
practice in Vienna, they could be prosecuted, said Robbie Diamond, who heads up
Securing America’s Future Energy. Their actions have a profound impact on US
consumers, businesses and our military, and our government can no longer allow
that.
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BILLS INTRODUCED IN HOUSE AND SENATE TO REMOVE PER-COUNTRY
GREEN CARD LIMITS
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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