AT LEAST 34 CRPF PERSONNEL KILLED IN SUICIDE ATTACK IN
KASHMIR'S PULWAMA DISTRICT
In the worst ever terror
attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber
on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the
Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 44 troopers and
injuring many others The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Moahammad (JeM) claimed
responsibility for the bloodbath and released a video clip of the suicide
bomber which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the audacious
attack in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar. The group said one of its
commanders, Adil Ahmad Dar, was the suicide bomber. Police sources and other
officials said the suicide bomber-driven SUV came along the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) bus when a 78-vehicle convoy carrying 2,547 security
personnel was going from the transit camp in Jammu to Srinagar and rammed it
into the bus around 3.15 p.m., triggering a deafening explosion. The first
report spoke of eight deaths. But the death toll quickly mounted as other CRPF
personnel who rushed towards the targeted bus found it in a mangled heap. The
bus was said to be transporting 39 troopers. CRPF officials said the bus which
was the main target of the militants was destroyed fully while another CRPF
vehicle was partly damaged. It is difficult to believe how anyone in the bus
could have survived, said a police officer. Jammu and Kashmir Police chief
Dilbag Singh said it could have been a suicide attack. This was confirmed by
other officials later. In a statement to a local news agency GNS, a caller
claiming to be a spokesman of JeM said it was a 'fidayeen' (suicide) attack. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in condemning the horror. The attack is
despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our
brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands
shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs, he tweeted.
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GST: THRESHOLD RAISED FOR SUPPLIERS OF GOODS IN MOST STATES
From April 1, all the
States barring Kerala and Telangana, and two Union Territories (with
assemblies), will have higher annual threshold limits for mandatory
registration for GST for goods suppliers. There is no change in the limit for
service providers. According to information available with the Finance
Ministry, 18 States and two UTs have exercised an option to revise the annual
threshold limit for nine States, the option was deemed to have been exercised.
Two UTs and all the 29 States were asked to select their option — whether to
raise the limit or maintain status quo. It was a one-time exercise meant mainly
to benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs.) The GST Council, in its
meeting on January 10, had decided that there would be two threshold limits for
goods suppliers — ₹40 lakh (for the bigger States apart from Himachal Pradesh,
Assam and J&K) and ₹20 lakh (for the seven North Eastern States apart from
Uttarakhand and Puducherry). At present, these limits are ₹20
lakh and ₹10 lakh, respectively. It was also decided that the States
would have a week to decide on one of the two limits The threshold for
registration for service providers would continue to be ₹20
lakh, and in the case of Special Category States, ₹10
lakh. According to a senior Finance Ministry official, the Kerala government
had said it would keep the threshold limit at ₹20 lakh but subsequently
said it was still under consideration. No further communication was received
from them, he said. Similarly, the Telangana government said it would maintain
status quo till a decision is taken by the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, another
Finance Ministry official clarified that the States have time till March 31 to
select their option and inform the Centre about it.
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INDIA ENDS MFN STATUS TO PAK, JAITLEY SAYS WILL ENSURE ITS
GLOBAL ISOLATION
India on Friday withdrew
the Most Favoured Nation (MNF) status accorded to Pakistan a day after 39 CRPF
personnel were killed in the deadliest terror attack on security forces in
Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama. At a security review meeting, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said those behind the terror attack would pay a very heavy price
for the huge mistake. Arun Jaitley said the government has decided to take all
possible diplomatic steps to ensure Pakistan's global isolation and that India
has withdrawn Most Favoured Nation status to the country. The ministry of
commerce will take the necessary steps to withdraw most favoured nation status
given to Pakistan. India will consult with all nations to implement it and
engage with the international community to ensure measures against terrorism
are now adopted at the earliest, Jaitley added. Removal of this status means
India can now enhance customs duties to any level on goods coming from
Pakistan, a trade expert said.
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ENDING MFN STATUS FOR PAKISTAN AN UNPRECEDENTED MOVE, SAY
TRADE OFFICIALS
With India exploring every
possible way to respond bilaterally to Pakistan including an economic
offensive, Commerce Department officials remain wary of a proposal to revoke
the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status given to the neighbouring country. While
the prospect of economic sanctions will have little effect on Pakistan, owing
to negligible bilateral trade between the nations revoking the MFN status India
granted to Pakistan back in 1996 has been argued earlier as well, as a
plausible way of sending a strong message to the country. While economic
offensive can take many forms revoking Pakistan’s MFN status may be an
unprecedented move on India’s part, Commerce officials told. Revoking MFN status
is frowned upon in multilateral trade forums as countries tend not to revoke
the MFN in cases apart from economic hostility by a trade partner, a senior
Commerce Department official said. India is also mulling the option of dragging
Pakistan to the dispute settlement body of the WTO because of this. However,
Islamabad has the choice to cite ‘security exceptions’ in Article XXI of GATT,
under which a member-country may not grant MFN to another member on grounds of
security as an excuse for withholding MFN status to India, a trade expert said.
However, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with sizeable representatives
from Punjab, said it is willing to sacrifice trade with Pakistan for the
country.
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EC MOOTS CHANGES: 5-YEAR I-T RETURNS, FOREIGN ASSETS,
MANDATORY PAN
The Election Commission of
India has sought changes in the affidavit candidates file along with their
nominations. In a letter to the Union law ministry this week, EC has suggested candidates
be asked to declare income-tax returns of the last five years (of self, spouse
and Hindu Undivided Family), details of all foreign assets and mandatory
disclosure of PAN, or its unavailability, in Form 26. EC sought changes to Form
26 at the earliest so that the amended document can be circulated to all
stakeholders well before the next round of elections The changes have been
mooted following suggestions of the Central Board of Direct Taxes at a
commission meeting held last week. The changes will require modification in
clause of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and make it easier for CBDT to
identify mismatch in candidates’ assets and publicise it. The proposed
amendments to Form 26 will be key to making part of CBDT’s verification report of
candidate affidavits public from now on. EC and CBDT are preparing to disclose
names of candidates in whose election affidavit discrepancies have been found
and also under which law it was taking action, sources said. The issue of
putting in public domain income-tax investigation director general’s
verification reports of mismatch between assets declared in Form 26 and returns
has been hanging fire for years. Though CBDT already ‘verifies’ electoral
affidavits, based on five criteria decided with EC in 2013, the report is never
made public though I-T and other departments act on the cases. CBDT had told
the Supreme Court in 2017 that it was investigating cases of 7 Lok Sabha MPs
and 257 MLAs but so far resisted EC’s constant nudge to make ‘verification reports’
public by citing Section 138 of the Income-Tax Act. The section prohibits
sharing information on I-T assesses. However, the EC held that a verification
report was not an investigation report and could be made public as it was in
voter interest. Once such information is in public domain, a complaint can be
filed under Section 125A of the Representation of People Act against a
legislator for declaring wrong/false information.
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GST APPELLATE TRIBUNAL FORMATION: ALLAHABAD HIGH COURT SEEKS
RESPONSE FROM GOVT
The Allahabad High Court,
on Wednesday, asked the State Government about the steps taken by it for the
formation of the GST Appellate Tribunal in the State. Justice Bharati Sapru and
Justice Piyush Agrawal was hearing a petition filed by M/s Torque
Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, wherein the Court directed that some
responsible officers from the state government, as well as GST Council, shall
appear before the court on February 28 to apprise it about the move taken for
establishing the GST Appellate Tribunal. In this matter learned counsel for the
G.S.T. Council is unable to tell as to whether the Tribunal is constituted or
not. Learned standing counsel appearing for the State is also unable to tell as
to whether the State has moved in the matter or not, the bench said. While
listing the matter to 28th February for hearing, the bench directed the counsel
for GST Council, Om Prakash Srivastava and state government counsel Nimai Das
to communicate the order to the state government authorities concerned for
compliance. Under Section 109 of GST Act, the Central government on the
recommendation of the state government will constitute an appellate tribunal
know as GST Appellate Tribunal, for hearing appeals against the orders passed
by the appellate authority or revisional authority. Counsel for the petitioner
contended that despite clear-cut provision for setting up of the appellate
tribunal, no GST Tribunal has been set up in the state so far. As a result, the
assessees of GST are facing problems in the state.
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COMPANIES STARE AT CASH FLOW PROBLEMS DUE TO NEW CREDIT
UTILISATION RULES
A tweak in the rule of how
Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit should be availed is set to create a major
cash flow problem for several companies beginning this month. The government
late last year had come out with credit utilisation mechanism that companies
have to follow beginning this month. Under the GST framework, to avoid double
counting of taxes, companies can accumulate tax paid on raw materials against
those levied on goods they sell. Prior to the regulation companies could set
off IGST credit against both CGST and SGST. However, as per the new utilisation
regulations this cannot be done And IGST credit has to be first utilised before
availing CGST or SGST credit. Tax experts say that this has started to result
in situations where on one hand companies have credit lying on their books but
they still have to end up paying GST in cash. This amendment has become a point
of worry for most industry players as they may now have to pay SGST liability
in cash even in scenarios where prior to this amendment these could be paid by
utilizing credits; the reason being the introduction of this new rule of
utilization of IGST credit, said Abhishek Jain. IGST credit is basically
accumulated by companies that import goods or have vendors outside the state
they are based. Most of the businesses have started facing the trouble said
industry trackers. Tax experts say that in the coming months this regulation
could also result in litigation. The main objective of GST is that there should
be no tax cascading but the underutilised or non-utilised credit would lead to
exactly that. The constitutional validity of this tax cascading could be
challenged in court as credit refunds could only be availed under the inverted
duty structure, said Abhishek A Rastogi. The only way companies can solve the
problem is by altering their supply chain structures. This, say industry
experts, may not be possible for most companies as supply chains cannot be
determined merely to save taxes. In several situations this means that IGST
credit is utilised against IGST and CGST tax liability. And even when companies
are left with CGST or SGST credit, that cannot be used to set off remaining
CGST or SGST taxes. Industry trackers say that for many companies that have
national presence they would see that in one state they would have huge credit
lying while in other states they would have huge pending taxes.
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INPUT CREDIT WITHDRAWAL TO HURT BUILDERS, CONSUMERS
The panel's suggestion to
slash the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate and withdraw the input tax credit
(ITC) for properties under construction could prove counterproductive for
builders, consumers and may encourage evasion, say industry experts. A tax
consultant, told that if the recommendation of the Group of Ministers (GoM) was
accepted then the real estate builders would lose out ITC on raw materials such
as cement and steel, which currently attract GST rate of 28% and 18%,
respectively. In the real estate sector, steel and cement constitute a major
chunk of the input used by it. Both of which come under higher GST rate
brackets (28% and 18%). Now, if the real estate builder is not able to get the
credit on these two inputs it is getting today, he will be worse off and would
increase the price for his customer, he said. The government is currently
levying 12% GST on properties under construction and 8% on affordable housing.
This is hurting the sector and has led to a big drop in sales of under
construction apartments and houses. Many property builders have been lobbying
for rationalisation of GST rate. The GST Council, which is expected to meet
next on February 20, will now consider the recommendation of the panel and
approve it.
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MULTI-CRORE SCAM INVOLVING GST EVASION THROUGH RLYS UNEARTHED
A scam of Goods and
Services Tax (GST) evasion, which could run into several crores involving
several Multi National Companies (MNCs) and top national industries, has
surfaced in the State with companies in connivance with some of the Railways
officials transporting goods from New Delhi or other Stations to Jammu without
payment of the GST Gareeb Dass told the Excelsior that a high level independent
inquiry has been ordered into the reports of tax evasion scam running into
several crores after the matter was brought to his notice by top officials of
Jammu and Kashmir, engaged in implementation of the GST rules. We have started
an independent inquiry into the scam and will shortly come out with details.
Stern action under the rules will be taken against all those found guilty, the
Director Vigilance said. Elaborating on modus operandi of the scam, sources
said, the companies, which included some prominent names in the market having
annual turnover of thousands of crores, used to book bogies on lease in the
train for transportation of their goods from New Delhi or any other destination
to Jammu without payment of GST on the goods. The goods were off-loaded with
the help of Railways staff either at Jammu, Udhampur or Katra depending upon
the situation, where there was no checking at that particular time, and then
safely shifted to godowns of the companies in the State, sources pointed out.
They said that in case of surveillance at all three major stations of Jammu,
the Railways staff sometime used to send back the items to New Delhi and they
were brought back in another train when the surveillance was over, sources
said, adding that some of the Railways staff was involved in the racket and
were in constant touch with each other, both at Jammu and New Delhi besides
other places to facilitate transportation of goods without taxes. Senior
Railway officials were not available for comments. This modus operandi was
going on for the past quite some time but situation seems to have aggravated
during past few months when the authorities discovered gap in collection of
taxes and during surprise raids detected that goods were being smuggled in
bogies of the trains from New Delhi or some other States to Jammu without
payment of the taxes, sources said, terming the scam as that of very serious
nature in which the Central and State Governments might have lost SGST and CGST
worth several crores.
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KARNATAKA: KUMARASWAMY GOVERNMENT MANAGES TO PASS FINANCE BILL
The H.D.Kumaraswamy-led
coalition government on Thursday managed to pass the Appropriation Bill or
Finance Bill not only allaying fears that several within its ranks could turn
hostile but actually emerging stronger as an alliance than how they started the
session The return of Congress rebels and the support extended by an
independent legislator helping the coalition pass the all important Finance
Bill even though not even a minute of the session was used to discuss the
budget. Interestingly, the three hour and four minute long budget speech last
Friday, which Kumaraswamy claimed was the longest ever, accounting for almost
20% of the time in a session that functioned for just over 15 hours since 6
February. Chief minister Kumaraswamy's decision to release an audio recording
to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on budget day dominating the entire
proceedings of the house, that is likely to reconvene only after the conclusion
of the Lok Sabha elections. Though the session, that concluded on Thursday, was
dominated by protests by the BJP over the government's insistence of setting up
a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the contents of the audio
recording, the attack on Preetham Gowda's house in Hassan, the sexist and
insensitive remarks by the assembly speaker K.R.Ramesh Kumar among other issues
that did not include the budget.
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ED ATTACHES PROPERTIES WORTH RS 904 CRORE OF DS KULKARNI
The enforcement
directorate (ED) on Thursday attached immovable properties worth Rs 904 crore
of city-based developer D S Kulkarni, popularly known as DSK, in the money
laundering case filed against him. The action was initiated under the
provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The ED seized land,
buildings, flats, bank deposits, policies and other properties of DSK. More
than 35,000 investors/depositors have allegedly been cheated by the arrested
builder. According to the ED, the DSK group cheated people of Rs 1,129 crore in
the deposit schemes started by Kulkarni, his wife Hemanti and son Shirish. They
were acting on various positions in the companies under the DSK Group of
Companies which was involved in the real estate, automobile, sports,
information technology and education sectors. The flagship company was D S
Kulkarni Developers Limited (DSKDL).
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SC TO HEAR PLEA AGAINST LAW ON LAND ACQUISITION NEAR DISPUTED
AYODHYA SITE
The Supreme Court Friday
decided to hear a fresh plea challenging the constitutional validity of the
1993 central law by which 67.703 acre land, including the disputed premises of
Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, was acquired. A bench headed by Chief
Justice Ranjan tagged the matter with the main petition in which a constitution
bench is dealing with the main title dispute. List the matter before the bench
already seized with the issue, the bench also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna
said.
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PULWAMA TERROR ATTACK: PM MODI SAYS ATTACKERS AND THEIR
SUPPORTERS WILL PAY HEAVY PRICE
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Thursday said that those who have targeted India and attacked the CRPF
soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir will have to pay a heavy price He said the
neighbour (Pakistan) thinks that terror attacks can weaken India, but they will
not be successful. My condolences to families of those martyred in Pulwama
attack, those behind the terror strike will be punished, Modi said and and
urged the world to come together to crush terrorism. PM also said that Indian
security forces have been given a free hand to reply. Security forces have been
given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling, Modi said.
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JAITLEY LIKELY TO CHAIR GST COUNCIL MEET NEXT WEEK; LOWER LEVY
FOR HOUSING ON THE CARDS
Arun Jaitley is likely to
chair the 33rd meeting of the GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council on February
20, which among other things will consider slashing tax on under-construction
flats The meeting could be the last one before the code of conduct for the
general elections comes into effect. Jaitley, who has just returned from the US
after treatment, is expected to resume work soon. Meanwhile, officials in the
Finance Ministry said the agenda for February 20 meeting will include proposal
to lower GST on under-construction flats and affordable housing A Group of
States’ Finance Ministers (GoFMs) has 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. Both the rates will be without input tax credit
and one condition for 5 per cent is to source at least 80 per cent of materials
from a GST-registered supplier. Another issue likely to be taken up at the
meeting is some relief for the exporters. As of now, exporters get refund of
basic Customs duty and no compensation for other levies which makes it
difficult for them to be competitive. Now an effort is being made to provide duty-drawback
kind of scheme where benefits will be provided through e-wallet. Such a
mechanism will help exporters deal with the issue of working capital.
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ICAI TO TRAIN 1 LAKH STUDENTS ON GST ACCOUNTING
The Institute of Cost
Accountants of India (ICAI) will be launching a course in Goods and Services
Tax (GST) accounting in a about a month from now. We are in discussions with
Government and modalities are being worked out Amit Anand Apte, told. The
50-hour course will be effectively free for students as the Centre will totally
bear the cost of course for one lakh candidates. The cost of course could be
around ₹ 5,000 per candidate. There will be an all-India entrance exam
with a nominal fee to screen the aspirants. All commerce graduates and those
who are pursuing graduation will be eligible to take exam. Most of the SMEs are
facing problems and we want to train one lakh accountants over next one year.
Apte said adding that the requirement for GST accountants for SMEs could be two
lakh. In the recent placements for ICAI students, the average annual salary per
annum was ₹ 7.5 lakh while the highest was ₹ 17.5 lakh, he said.
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CANNOT DISCLOSE DATA ON PHONE TAPPING PERMISSIONS: MHA
Information on permissions
given to central agencies for phone tapping cannot be disclosed as it would
prejudicially affect interests of the state might endanger a person or impede
the process of investigation, the Home Ministry said in response to an RTI
query. The applicant had sought to know the number of sanctions issued by the
ministry to central agencies permitting them to intercept phones between 2009
and 2018. He had also asked for data related to the number of times an agency
had sought permission to tap phones and about permissions being denied by the
ministry. The applicant did not seek any specific details such as cases,
individuals, file noting from the ministry. The Home Ministry invoked three
exemption clauses from the RTI Act to withhold the information without giving
any reasons. Giving reason is mandatory in case information is being denied by
a public authority. The ministry took refuge under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI
Act to withhold data. The section exempts disclosure of information that will
prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security,
strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign
State or lead to incitement of an offence. It also cited section 8(1)(g) which
exempts information that would endanger the life or physical safety of any
person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence
for law enforcement or security purposes. This is absolute nonsense. These
clauses cannot be applied in such a summary manner. It was a wrong order from
the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). Such details should have been
publicly displayed under Section 4 of the RTI Act. Whenever such exemptions are
invoked strong reasons must be given to justify them, former Central
Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi told.
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I-T DEPT RELEASES COFFEE DAY'S MINDTREE SHARES; ATTACHES
PROMOTER'S STAKE
Coffee Day Enterprises
Thursday said the Income Tax Department has released 74.90 lakh attached shares
of IT firm Mindtree, owned by the company and its promoter V G Siddhartha, but
attached Siddhartha's 46.01 lakh shares in Coffee Day Enterprises over
potential tax demand. Last month, Income Tax Department had attached 74.90 lakh
shares of Mindtree, in which 22.20 lakh shares belonged to Coffee Day
Enterprises and 52.70 lakh shares belonged to its promoter Siddhartha. The
company and the promoter, VG Siddhartha, have received orders dated February
13, 2019, for release of provisional attachment of Mindtree shares under
section 281B of Income Tax Act, 1961 vide ordered on January 25, 2019, Coffee
Day Enterprises said in a regulatory filing. In a separate filing, Coffee Day
Enterprises, which operates popular coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), said,
VG Siddhartha has received an order under section 281B of Income Tax Act, 1961
February 13, 2019, provisionally attaching 46,01,869 shares of Coffee Day
Enterprises held with Way 2 wealth Brokers of VG Siddhartha to safeguard the
interest of the revenue in respect of likely future tax and penality
obligations in respect of open assessments. The company said it would like to
clarify that in response to notices under section 148 and 153A of the Income
Tax (Act), the promoter (Siddhartha) has filed required revised returns and
discharged all the tax liability along with the revised returns. Further there
is no undisputed tax liability for the promoter it added.
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WASTING COURT’S TIME COSTS TATA SHAREHOLDERS ₹14 LAKH
A three-year-old legal
tussle between the Tata Group and some of its minority shareholders in a matter
related to the ouster of Nusli Wadia as an independent director has cost the
shareholders ₹14 lakh The Bombay High Court has imposed costs on the
entities for wasting substantial judicial time after the petitioners decided to
withdraw their suit without offering any reason. In an order on February 6,
Justice K.R. Shriram ordered the four plaintiffs to pay a total of ₹14
lakh after the defendants, including the Ministry of Corporate Affairs,
highlighted the fact that due to the suit they had to incur substantial costs
in hiring senior advocates. The suit is today being withdrawn unconditionally
without any reason being offered. Therefore, in my view, it will be only
appropriate that costs are imposed on plaintiffs, the order said. All the counsels
present today for defendants, except counsel for defendant no. 8, in unison,
state that substantial judicial time has been spent and substantial costs had
been incurred by defendants and press for costs. I have seen copy of order
dated 16.12.2016 and it appears that not less than 10 senior advocates have
appeared for the defendants. There are other dates also when various senior
advocates have appeared for defendants, Justice Shriram said in the order. Nusli
Wadia, one of the defendants, submitted that he did not want to claim any
costs. Incidentally, the matter has seen senior advocates. Of the total costs
of ₹14 lakh, an amount of ₹2 lakh each will have to
be paid to Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai Police Welfare Fund, Free Opthalmic
Hospitals Society and The Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
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SOME PARTIES TO MOVE SUPREME COURT AGAINST USE OF EVMS:
CHANDRABABU NAIDU
Some political parties
have decided to approach the Supreme Court against the use of electronic voting
machine (EVM), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N.Chandrababu Naidu said. In his
daily teleconference with Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, Mr. Naidu said this
decision was taken during a meeting of 15 parties at Sharad Pawar’s residence
in New Delhi on February 13 night. The TDP has been demanding that EVMs should
not be used in the coming general election and that the Election Commission of
India revert to the paper ballots. Sunil Arora, who was in Amaravati recently,
maintained that most parties reposed faith in EVMs, and regretted that some
were making the EVMs part of their motivated slugfest. Democracy will be in
danger in the hands of incompetent people. Our talks with national parties have
been successful, the release quoted the TDP chief as saying.
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MONEY LAUNDERING CASE: DEEPAK TALWAR SENT TO 14-DAY JUDICIAL
CUSTODY
A Delhi court Thursday
sent corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar, arrested in money laundering case to
14-day judicial custody. Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann sent Talwar to the
judicial custody after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that it does not
need him for further interrogation in its custody. The court has posted the
matter for next hearing on Feburary 28.
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CBI SWORD HANGING, KOLKATA POLICE COMMISSIONER RAJEEV KUMAR
LIKELY TO BE REMOVED BY FEB 20
Kolkata Police
Commissioner Rajeev Kumar who returned to the city last night after being
grilled by officials of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for 36 hours,
over five days, is likely to be transferred before February 20 when the next
hearing of CBI’s contempt of court case is due at the Supreme Court.;Sources
said that the transfer was almost certain following an order issued by the
Election Commission of India (ECI) on January 16. The order said that any
officer who has been engaged in the election process would have to be
transferred. It also said that officers who would complete three years of
office at any particular place as on May 31, 2019, would have to be transferred
as well. Earlier the deadline of carrying out the order was February 28 but
officials said that the deadline has been brought to February 20. Although some
names are doing the rounds it has not yet been settled as to who would replace
Kumar as the Kolkata Police chief.
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CAG HAS ALLOWED ITSELF TO BECOME A JOKE: CHIDAMBARAM ON RAFALE
REPORT
Calling the Comptroller
and Auditor General’s report on the Rafale deal useless, P Chidambaram on
Thursday said the institution had allowed itself to become a joke The CAG
allowed itself to become a joke and an honourable government in future will
restore the prestige and credibility of the institution he said.;The Congress
leader added, If you thought those 33 pages will bring to light the hidden
aspects of the deal and explain matters relating to numbers, pricing, delivery
etcetera and comment on correctness and propriety of a transaction, you will be
disappointed. The former Union minister also claimed that the report which was
tabled in Parliament on Wednesday contained no useful information or
conclusion. Its motive is to hide the truth, he said. Stating that CAG is not
God, Chidambaram rejected the Centre’s contention that the report should be the
final word on the contentious deal. He reiterated his party’s demand for a
joint parliamentary panel probe, saying only it can call for all relevant
records.
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IF BJP WANTS SUPPORT AT CENTRE NDA PARTNERS MUST GET CM POST:
SHIV SENA
Shiv Sena on Thursday said
that allies should get the Chief Ministerial post in their respective states if
a BJP-led NDA government is formed at the Centre after the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections. Sanjay Raut, however, said there is no change in the stand of Shiv
Sena on fighting the Lok Sabha polls alone and that talk of an alliance with
BJP is only media speculation. Raut told, If an NDA government is formed in
2019, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, and other major allies will have a role. All the
allies of NDA are strong in their states and if you (BJP) want to have an
alliance with them at the Centre, the Chief Minister in that state should be
from that ally. Asked if their condition for forging an alliance with BJP is
mandatory, he said, This is not a condition but this is our stand. We have
already said that the next Chief Minister in Maharashtra will be from Shiv Sena
and this has nothing to do with an alliance. If in future, there are
discussions on an alliance we will want an implementation of the 1995 formula
as per which Shiv Sena will have the role of a big brother in Maharashtra
whereas we will reciprocate similar support to BJP at the Centre, he added.
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GODHRA TRAIN ATTACK: GUJARAT GOVT DECIDES TO COMPENSATE KIN OF
DECEASED
Ahead of the 17th
anniversary of the Godhra train carnage, Gujarat government has decided to pay
Rs 5 lakh to each of the 52 victims who were killed when Sabarmati Express was
set on fire at Godhra in 2002. Announcing the decision, the state home minister
Pradeepsinh Jadeja said in a statement that the Rupani government will be
spending Rs 260 lakh for this purpose from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Jadeja
pointed out that the Gujarat High Court on October 9, 2017 had directed both
the Gujarat government and the Railway ministry to pay Rs 5 lakh each to the
kin of those who were killed on board on February 27, 2002. The deaths, mostly
of kar sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya, had sparked state-wide communal
riots in the state in 2002 where over 1000 persons were killed.
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PULWAMA ATTACK: INDIA’S AZHAR STAND AT UN MAY NOW CHANGE
Describing the Pulwama
terror attack as heinous and despicable, India used strong words to ask
Pakistan to stop supporting terrorists and called upon all other countries to
place Masood Azhar in the UN Security Council’s counter-terrorism sanctions
list. China has consistently stopped Azhar from being banned, as part of its
relationship with Pakistan. Every time Azhar has been proposed for a ban in the
UN Security Council’s 1267 Committee, China has blocked it. In its statement,
MEA said, the terror attack was perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a
Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United
Nations and other countries. This terror group is led by the international
terrorist Masood Azhar, who has been given full freedom by the government of
Pakistan to operate and expand his terror infrastructure in the territories
under the control of Pakistan and to carry out attacks in India and elsewhere
with impunity. Calling for international support against Azhar, India said we
reiterate our appeal to all members of the international community to support
the proposal to list terrorists including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a
designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security
Council and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories
controlled by Pakistan. But in all of 2018, India did not push the Azhar case
in the UN at all. After the Wuhan summit between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping,
India has been treading on eggshells where China is concerned, going the extra
distance to not disturb the fragile peace with China.
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RAFALE REVIEW: CJI DEFENDS SC, CRITICISES LAWYERS FOR GIVING
PUBLICITY
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi
defended the Supreme Court against flak it is facing over the pending review in
the Rafale case. Gogoi criticised the lawyers in the case and highlighted that
the review application was filed with defects and while it was lying with the
registry, no effort had been made to remove those defects The chief justice’s
comments on the Rafale review were delivered on an unrelated case. Yashwant
Sinha and Arun Shourie and lawyer Prashant Bhushan had moved the Supreme Court
in January seeking a review of its judgment that upheld the government’s
decision-making process in purchasing Rafale fighter aircraft. The petition
said the 14 December judgment relied on facts that were patently false and
should, therefore, be recalled. It also criticized the top court’s reliance on
documents placed by the Centre in a sealed cover and a report of the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on the pricing issue in delivering its
verdict, even though the audit is still to be completed. Deeming it to be a
substantial error on part of the court, the petition stated: The government has
blatantly misled the hon’ble court which has grossly erred in placing reliance
on false averments in the note not even supported by an affidavit. As the
judgment is based on evidently false averments in the note not shared with the
petitioners, on that ground alone the entire judgment ought to be not just
reviewed but recalled. The Centre’s submission had recorded that under
paragraph 25 of the judgment, it had stated that pricing details were shared
with the CAG and that the report was examined by the Public Accounts Committee
(PAC). Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before Parliament, the
judgment added. This had come under question as there was no CAG report on it
until then.
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JOB CREATION, TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER, INVESTMENTS DOMINATE
INDIA-US TALKS
India and the United
States focused on job creation, technology transfer and greater bilateral
investments at the India-US Commercial Dialogue, held on Thursday. Both nations
decided to expand the number of working groups of chief executives with top US
and Indian firms — from four to seven — with a new focus on financial trade and
investments as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). However, with the
absence of US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, there was no joint statement, as
the sides simply resolved to further expand and strengthen trade and commerce
ties. Working groups have been formed among the CEOs. They will be providing
recommendations to the government, Kenneth Juster, US ambassador to India,
said. He added that these groups would continue to work with both governments.
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PUTIN WRITES TO MODI; WHITE HOUSE ASKS PAKISTAN TO SHUT DOWN
TERROR HAVENS
USA and Russia for the
second consecutive day have asked perpetrators of Pulwama terror attack to be
brought to justice with President Vladimir Putin asking for action against
attackers and White House demanding that Pakistan dismantles terror
infrastructure Putin sent his condolences to President Ram Nath Kovind and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the killing of Indian security
force personnel in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. Please accept my
most sincere condolences for the Indian security force personnel killed in a
terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. We strongly condemn this cruel crime.
Those who ordered it and carried it out must undoubtedly be duly punished. I
would like to reaffirm our readiness to further promote antiterrorist
cooperation with our Indian partners, Putin wrote in his letter offering to
strengthen counter-terror partnership. The Russian people mourn together with
the friendly people of India and hope for the speedy recovery of all the
injured. The White House alleged attack was carried out by a Pak-based group and
demanded that Islamabad dismantles terror safe havens. The USA sought to expand
counter-terror cooperation with India. Indias close ally in SE Asia Indonesia
has also condemned the terror attack in Pulwama. The Government and people of
Indonesia express our deepest condolences and solidarity to the victims of the
terror attack and their families, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry noted in a
statement. Indonesia reiterates that acts of terrorism are criminal and
unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation. Indonesia will continue to work
with the international community to fight against terrorism, extremism and
radicalism as well as address its root causes. Indias close ally in the Gulf
UAE has condemned the terrorist attack on security forces in Kashmir. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement
that the UAE condemns this terrorist act, reiterating the country's principled
and unequivocal position rejecting all forms of violence and terrorism.
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INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE TO RESUME HEARING IN KULBHUSHAN
JADHAV CASE FROM FEBRUARY 18
The oral proceedings in
the Kulbhushan Jadhav case will commence from February 18 before the
International Court of Justice at The Hague, the Ministry of External Affairs
said Thursday. Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court
on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) in May the same year against the verdict.
A 10-member bench of the ICJ on May 18, 2017, had restrained Pakistan from
executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case. Ministry of External Affairs
Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar declined to go into the details of it. The oral
proceedings on the International Court of Justice are commencing on February
18. India will present its case before the court. Since the matter is subjudice
it is not appropriate for me to state our position in public.Whatever we have
to do, we will do at the court, he said in response to a question. Pakistan
claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from restive Balochistan
province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India
maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests
after retiring from the Navy. Jadhav's sentencing had evoked a sharp reaction
in India.
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'93 MUMBAI SERIAL BLASTS SUSPECT HELD IN UAE, MAY BE DEPORTED
SOON
A 51-year-old fugitive
wanted for plotting and helping transport the explosives used in the 1993
serial bomb blasts in Mumbai was detained in the UAE on Wednesday on inputs
provided by Indian security agencies, and is likely to be deported soon. Abu
Bakar Abdul Gafoor, a central Mumbai resident, is alleged to have undergone
training with several others on explosives and in assembling firearms in a camp
in Pakistan-occupied Kashimir (PoK) before the blasts. He was never arrested in
the bomb blast case, said a source. Sources said Abu Bakar's name cropped up
during the probe and in the statements of other accused, prompting the CBI to
issue a red corner notice in November 1997. The Interpol notice alerts security
agencies across the world about an accused and enjoins them to arrest the
person. There is no clarity on how he was detained by the UAE police. The
blasts probe had found that Abu Bakar participated in several conspiracy
meetings before the March 12, 1993 serial explosions. The meetings were
conducted at various places, and prime accused Dawood Ibrahim attended several
such meetings.
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FACEBOOK FACES US PRIVACY PACT THAT COULD COST BILLIONS
Facebook Inc. is in talks
with US regulators over alleged privacy violations that could force the
social-media giant to pay billions of dollars in a record-breaking settlement,
according to two people familiar with the matter. The US Federal Trade
Commission’s consumer-protection staff and the company are in discussions that
could lead to a resolution of the agency’s investigation into whether Facebook
violated a 2011 settlement with the FTC, said the people, who declined to be
identified because the matter is confidential. No settlement proposal has been
presented to the agency’s five commissioners, according to one of the people.
The commissioners have the final say over any agreement reached with Facebook.
It was unclear whether the two sides have discussed details of how much
Facebook would have to pay to resolve the case. The Washington Post reported
earlier that they are in discussions about a multi-billion-dollar fine.
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MODI’S SWACHH BHARAT MISSION AN INSPIRING MODEL, SAYS NIGERIAN
MINISTER
While India looks forward
to becoming an open-defecation free country in 2019, its African counterpart in
terms of open-defecation– Nigeria– will become the world leader of the menace
once India reaches her target. Minister of Water Resources, Federal Republic of
Nigeria– Suleiman H Adamu– said that the country is challenged by India’s
on-going Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and its success has spurred Nigeria. Now,
Nigeria is set to remodel its Open Defecation Free (ODF) campaign based on
India’s SBM model. Officials from Nigeria will soon be studying their Indian
colleagues to better understand how Swachh Bharat Mission can be adapted to the
Nigerian context, the minister wrote. He added that the country hopes to
exemplify their success for other African countries by following the Indian
example. Lauding SBM, the minister said that the mission is a testimony to the
world community as it has shown that with strong political will, appropriate
strategies, mobilisation of the populace, and adequate deployment of resources,
Sustainable Development Goals are achievable. He also said that as SBM has led
to a drastic cut in the population practising open defecation in India, Plans
were already being made for a Nigeria mission to India when I received an
invitation to the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Conference (MGISC),
in October 2018, he added. However, with the introduction of Swachh Bharat
Mission, the problem has been curbed to a considerable extent.
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3 INDIAN-AMERICANS CONVICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR MONEY
LAUNDERING SCHEME
Three Indian-Americans are
among six people convicted for their role in a two-year multi-million dollar money-laundering
scheme, the US Justice Department has said. Ravinder Reddy Gudipati, 61; Harsh
Jaggi, 54 and Neeru Jaggi, 51, all from Laredo, Texas, were convicted of a
money laundering conspiracy following a five-week jury trial. According to
evidence presented in court, from 2011 to 2013, Galvan-Constantini,
Montes-Patino and other co-conspirators helped to move millions of dollars
derived from the sale of drugs throughout the US to Laredo in Texas.
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TARIFF WAR: US, CHINA BEGIN HIGH-LEVEL TRADE TALKS AS MAR 1
DEADLINE LOOMS
US and Chinese negotiators
on Thursday kicked off two days of high-level talks that President Donald Trump
says could decide whether he escalates the bruising tariff battle between the
world's two biggest economies. Trump indicated this week he was open to
extending a trade truce beyond March 1 depending on progress in Beijing. He is
considering pushing the deadline back an additional 60 days Data released
Thursday in China showed its trade surplus with the US -- a major source of
anger within the Trump administration -- narrowed in January to $27.3 billion,
even as its American imports plunged 41 percent for the month from a year
earlier.
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PROTECTIONISM WON'T DO: INDIA SHOULD CALL A TRUCE IN US TRADE
CONFLICT
US and Indian officials
are meeting in New Delhi (Monday) for what promises to be a tetchy summit. The
trade relationship between their countries has never been easy. The fact that
India has a $22-billion trade surplus with the US —despite running a deficit
with many of its other major trading partners—is particularly annoying to the
Trump administration. The total might seem insignificant compared to America’s
$566 billion trade deficit with China. For its own sake, though, India would be
wise to address rather than try to minimise U.S. complaints. That’s not only
because the US seems to be preparing heavy-duty retaliation. It might remove
Indian exports from the General System of Preferences tariff plan, which
ensures that about 2,000 different kinds of goods--product lines, as the trade
negotiators call them -- can be imported into the U.S. without any tariffs
being levied. Washington seems serious: In November, 50 Indian product lines
were removed from the GSP. Normally, Indian negotiators would point out that
Indo-U.S. trade isn’t particularly unbalanced, that we’re still a developing
country and should get a few concessions, and that we’re all in this together
against China, aren’t we? That argument rings increasingly hollow, however. It
isn’t just Trump’s fixation on Harley-Davidson motorcycles: He famously
complained that Harleys imported into India were subject to a 50 percent
tariff, even after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the U.S.
president personally to tell him tariffs were being cut. They think they’re
doing us a favor, Trump fumed. That’s not a favor. More genuine is concern
about India’s growing protectionism. Indian tariffs on solar panels
(ironically, meant to control Chinese imports) prompted a U.S. complaint at the
World Trade Organization. Then, an Indian attempt to fix the price of stents
caused the U.S. medical equipment industry to rise up in protest. Now, India
has chosen to wage battle against U.S. companies on a completely new front:
data localisation. The Reserve Bank of India told all payments companies to
store the entire data related to payments systems solely in India. The
government followed up with two separate draft policies, one of which ordered
e-commerce companies to store user data in India and one which tells all
internet companies to store personal data of Indians in India. The latter
policy doesn’t even pretend to be anything other than an attempt to make it easier
for Indian companies to do business at the expense of foreign ones. And,
incidentally, it’s terrible news for any Indian who doesn’t want all her data
made available to an unaccountable and intrusive national security bureaucracy.
E-commerce has also been a major flashpoint. The government is going after
foreign-owned e-commerce web sites such as Amazon, telling them that they can’t
hold any inventory or allow their platform to be used by companies they’d
invested in. In other words, Amazon needs to find a middleman to sell Kindles
or Echos on its Indian website. Local companies face no such restrictions.
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EUROPEAN UNION ADDS SAUDI ARABIA TO DIRTY-MONEY BLACKLIST,
UPSETS BRITAIN
The European Commission
added Saudi Arabia, Panama, Nigeria, and other jurisdictions to a blacklist of
nations seen as posing a threat because of lax controls on terrorism financing
and money laundering, the EU executive said on Wednesday. The move is part of a
crackdown on money laundering after several scandals at EU banks but has been
criticized by several EU countries including Britain worried about their
economic relations with the listed states, notably Saudi Arabia. The Saudi
government said it regretted the decision in a statement published by the Saudi
Press Agency, adding: Saudi Arabia's commitment to combating money laundering
and the financing of terrorism is a strategic priority. Panama said it should
be removed from the list because it recently adopted stronger rules against
money laundering. Despite pressure to exclude Riyadh from the list, the
commission decided to list the kingdom. Apart from reputational damage,
inclusion on the list complicates financial relations with the EU. The bloc's
banks will have to carry out additional checks on payments involving entities
from listed jurisdictions. The list now includes 23 jurisdictions, up from 16.
The commission said it added jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their
anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing regimes. The 28 EU
member states now have one month, which can be extended to two, to endorse the
list. They could reject it by qualified majority. EU justice commissioner Vera
Jourova, who proposed the list, told that she was confident states would not
block it. She said it was urgent to act because risks spread like wildfire in
the banking sector. Britain, which plans to leave the EU on March 29, said on
Wednesday the list could confuse businesses because it diverges from a smaller
listing compiled by its Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is the global
standard-setter for anti-money laundering. The FATF list includes 12
jurisdictions - all on the EU blacklist - but excludes Saudi Arabia, Panama and
U.S. territories. The FATF will update its list next week. Five of the listed
countries are already included on a separate EU blacklist of tax havens. They
are Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago and the three U.S. territories of American
Samoa, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands.
#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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