GST COUNCIL DEFERS DECISION ON TAX ON REAL ESTATE; EXTENDS
DEADLINE FOR SALES RETURNS
The GST Council has deferred
a decision on tax rates on real estate and lottery till Sunday and extended the
deadline for businesses to file sales returns for January till Friday Briefing
reporters after a meeting of the GST Council on Wednesday, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said, because of the rush of filing of returns, the due date has
been extended till February 22 for all states; and February 28 for Jammu &
Kashmir. The due date for filing summary sales return - GSTR-3B - is February
20. With regard to goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on under-construction
housing properties, Jaitley said, since certain states wanted physical meeting
for this agenda, hence, the Council would meet again on February 24 to take a
decision “Today's meeting has been adjourned till Sunday,” Jaitley said, adding
discussion on real estate and lottery will continue.
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GOM ON GST ON HOUSING SUBMITS RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL
A Group of Ministers (GoM)
headed by Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel which has favoured 3 per
cent tax on the affordable housing category down from 8 per cent, has submitted
its report to the GST Council for taking it up and decide on it by Wednesday.
The Council, in its meeting on Wednesday, might also consider reducing tax on
cement from 28 per cent to 18 per cent to boost the realty sector. The proposed
Goods and Services Tax (GST) cut in cement and the GoM report are on the agenda
of the meeting, sources said, adding that the government is looking at the
housing sector closely ahead of the coming Lok Sabha elections. Another
ministerial panel set up to review tax rate on lottery favoured a uniform GST
rate but whether it is 18 or 28 per cent, a final call would be taken at the
meeting Currently, a state-organised lottery attracts 12 per cent GST while a
state-authorised lottery attracts 28 per cent tax. Wednesday's meeting could
also change the definition of affordable housing to accommodate more poor
people under a 3 per cent tax rate. Currently, affordable houses are defined up
to 50 square metres of carpet area which is likely to be increased to 80 square
metres to include more people in the category. Developers and prospective home
buyers are expected to gain from this move. The panel set up to look into
GST-related issues of the real estate sector is also said to have recommended
GST for under-construction residential properties at 5 per cent, down from 12
per cent currently. But it claimed that input tax credit (ITC) would no longer
be possible on such transactions. GST is currently levied at 12 per cent on
premium housing and 8 per cent on affordable housing on payments made for
under-construction properties where completion certificate has not been issued
at the time of sale. No GST is charged if a property is bought after the issue
of completion certificate.
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TAXMAN WANTS TO CHARGE GST ON TRADEMARK AND LOGO USE BY
SUBSIDIARIES
Does a subsidiary need to
pay fees to its parent for using a common logo, trademark or brand name? Indian
conglomerates that use a common logo across subsidiaries are in for some
trouble as the taxman wants to levy Goods and Services Tax (GST) on notional
valuation of these brands. After issuing notices to banks, the indirect tax
department has turned their attention to Indian conglomerates and companies for
allowing their subsidiaries to use their logos for free or at a lower price The
tax department wants to first discover the exact valuation of these brands and
logos, calculate the fees subsidiaries must pay to the parent and then levy 18%
GST on that. While no notices have been issued yet, the taxman has started
questioning tax heads, finance heads and CFOs in this regard, said people with
direct knowledge of the matter. Even in cases where subsidiaries pay fees for
using logos, taxman wants to find out if the fees paid was at an arm’s length.
Arm’s length is a concept wherein the tax department decides whether the fees
are as per industry standards or subsidiaries are being given a special
treatment. The tax department’s line of questioning has spooked several
companies and the issue is being discussed at the highest level, said insiders.
In most cases Indian companies to not pay these fees and only multinationals
tend to pay for logos to their parent. Organisations should evaluate the
applicability of GST and in case of related parties the valuation assigned
where are licensed.
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TAX CASE: MCKINSEY HAS KPO IN INDIA NOT BPO, SAYS SUPREME
COURT
In a setback to the global
white shoe consulting firm the Supreme Court rejected a special leave petition
(SLP) filed by McKinsey Knowledge Centre against a Delhi High Court order. The
High court had upheld an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal’s (ITAT) order that
ruled that research and information services rendered by McKinsey India to its associated
enterprise was categorized as high-end knowledge based research services (KPO).
The services, ruled the ITAT were not a business process outsourcing (BPO)
unit. The High court also upheld the ITAT order on interest on delayed
realisation of receivables, considering it to be a separate international
transaction requiring an independent benchmarking. The Supreme Court after duly
hearing both the sides, dismissed the SLP of McKinsey India, a research by
Deloitte said. Though there have been several judgements till date regarding
the distinction between the BPO and KPO, but this judgement is significant.
Lower judicial levels in this case analysed the facts of the case in detail and
gave clear findings on them. The Supreme Court, after duly hearing both the
sides, upheld them, the Deloitte research said. This comes at a time when
several BPOs have been under intense scrutiny by the indirect tax department.
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RELAXATION IN NORMS FOR START-UPS TO UNSHACKLE ANGEL
INVESTING: INDUSTRY
The government's move to relax
norms for start-ups will unshackle angel investing and unleash the next wave of
entrepreneurship in the country, helping India further strengthen its position
as a leading start'up nation, according to industry experts. Giving major
relief to budding entrepreneurs, the government Tuesday relaxed the definition
of start-ups, and allowed them to avail of full angel tax concession on
investments worth up to Rs 25 crore. Previously, a start-up was allowed to
avail tax concession only if total investment, including funding from angel
investors, did not exceed Rs 10 crore. According to Padmaja Ruparel, the
development will unshackle angel investing and bring in domestic monies for
start-ups. The message the government has given is that India will not only be
the world's start-up hub but start-ups which can go global by increasing the
turnover from Rs 25 crore to Rs 100 crore. This is a seminal move for angel
investing she said. This eliminates a major obstacle for Indian start-ups and
if implemented right, could give a significant boost to the Indian start-up
ecosystem, as individuals with tax paid income as well as corporates will be
able to easily participate in start-up investments, Sachin Taparia said. I am
absolutely delighted that the government has in effect abolished angel tax for
startups. Angel tax had begun to dampen the enthusiasm of angel investors and
startups, who had begun migrating abroad, Saurabh Srivastava said. He added
that the announcement will unleash the next wave of entrepreneurship, moving
India from third place to being the number one start-up nation in the world.
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I-T DEPT RAIDS DIVI’S LAB PREMISES
Drug firm Divi’s
Laboratories on Tuesday said income tax department has conducted raids at its
premises including its head office and manufacturing sites, between February
14-18. The company said the raids were conducted by the officials of Income-Tax
Department under Section 132 of the Income-Tax Act. The company has extended
full cooperation to the officials during the search and provided all the
information sought The search operation concluded on February 18, 2019 and no
irregularities have been found, Divi’s Laboratories said in a regulatory
filing.
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GUJARAT PRESENTS VOTE-ON-ACCOUNT WITH NO TAX PROPOSALS
The Gujarat Government on
Tuesday presented Vote-on-Account for the year 2019-20 with gross surplus
estimates of ₹12,241.40 crore without any tax proposals Revenue receipts for
the year 2019-20 is estimated at ₹1,54,885 crore, while
revenue expenditure is estimated at ₹1,45,022 crore. Nitin
Patel said in his Budget address that sufficient time is not there to think
over the demands of this year. Hence, Vote on Account proposal for period of
four months upto July 31, 2019 will be presented before the House. House will
be able to discuss the demand for the whole year when modified budget will be
presented. The State government did not levy any new taxes as tax income has
increased following the effective steps of tax compliance and tax collections.
In the financial year 2016-17, the State government's own tax income was ₹64,443
crore which increased to ₹71,549 crore in the year 2017-18, Patel said, adding that the
State's financial management was lauded by the Fifteenth Finance Commission
during their recent visit to the State. The State's GSDP is reported at ₹13.15
lakh crore during 2017-18, showing a growth of 14 per cent over previous year. As
per the revised estimates for the year 2018-19, the State is estimated to have
surplus of ₹1,374.18 crore as against the previously estimated surplus of ₹783.02
crore. During the year 2017-18, the per capita income of the State at current
prices stood at ₹1,71,652, which is 12.6 per cent higher than previous year.
The share of Gujarat's industrial output in national output stood at 16.8 per
cent. In a pro-poor measure, the State government also announced a One-Time
Waiver scheme for electricity bills Patel said that the principal and interest
and penalty amount of electricity bills of all eligible domestic power
connections of Below Poverty Line (BPL) consumers in urban and rural areas will
be waived. This means outstanding dues amount of ₹691 crore will be waived. The
Minister further stated that Gujarat has been on the forefront in the
electricity consumption. The per capita annual power consumption of electricity
in the State was 1,424 unts in 2007-08, which increased to 2,007 units in
2017-18. India's average per capita annual power consumption is 1,149 units. State
government has declared 6,174 villages of 96 talukas as scarcity-hit. About
16.27 lakh farmers from these talukas have been paid ₹1,557
crore as assistance. The government has introduced a special assistance package
of ₹2,285 crore for over 23 lakh farmers and cattle owners of 96
talukas of the state. Patel stated that as per the 19th Livestock Census, with
rise of 15.36 per cent in livestock population, Gujarat ranks first in the
country. In the past 15 years, the per capita availability of milk in the state
improved by 243 grams per day and is now 564 grams per day, he said. For the
Narmada Dam project, Patel informed the house that out of the total length of
71,748 km of Sardar Sarovar canal network, 84 per cent or 60,427 km has been
completed. And between 2001-2008, a total of ₹51,786 crore was spent on
the project, and a provision of ₹6,945 crore has been made
for the year 2019-20. Under this scheme, a total of 9,083 villages and 166
cities were supplied domestic water. In other highlights of the budget, Patel
announced increase in VAT subsidy on diesel for fishing boats from ₹12
a litre to ₹15. The much-awaited Ahmedabad Metro rail Phase-I will have a
commercial run on a 6.5 km route by March 2019. For the year 2017-18, 311
million tonnes of goods were transported through various ports in Gujarat,
which is 31 per cent of the total transportation in the country.
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UP BUDGET 2019: RELIGION, COWS AMONG YOGI ADITYANATH’S 4 POINT
DEVELOPMENT FORMULA
Religion and cows are
among the four major areas that have gained a substantial attention in the Yogi
Adityanath’s development plan for Uttar Pradesh. After presenting a massive
budget of Rs 4.28 lakh crore last fiscal, Uttar Pradesh Government has increased
the budget to Rs 4.80 lakh crore for FY20, which is a 6.7 per cent increase
over FY19, said SBI in its Ecowrap report.
Rural livelihood and cows
A provision of Rs 6,240
crore has been made towards PM Awas Yojana (Gramin). This is in addition to
allocation made towards National Rural Employment Generation Scheme and National
Rural Drinking Water programme, said the report. Further, allocation of Rs 500
crore has been made towards cow welfare.
Women welfare
The budget incorporates
few populist schemes with the new schemes with a total of Rs 21,213 crore,
noted SBI in its report. Among the new schemes, ‘Kanya Sumangala Yojana’ was
allocated Rs 1200 crore aims at raising health and educational standard of
girls, brighten their future and bring in a positive change in the thinking
towards women. An amount of Rs 1,200 crore has been proposed for this scheme.
Religious Tourism
Government has allocated
Rs 207 crore to develop Gangaghat to Kashivishwanath Temple corridor, Rs 101
crore for Ayodhya, Rs 125 crore for Braj Tirth and Rs 300 crore for development
of shrines.
Infrastructure
Government has made an
allocation of Rs 3,194 crore for the construction of expressways and of Rs
13,135 for laying of roads in the state. It has further earmarked Rs 1,000
crore for construction, expansion and strengthening of airstrips in the state.
The budget aims to create
a generous fusion between rural livelihood and cattle economy, women welfare,
development of tourist destinations, modernization and training of police force
and connecting major towns by air and expressways, said the SBI in the report. Further,
the budget estimates a total expenditure of Rs 4.79 lakh crore in FY20, which
is a 6.7 per cent growth over FY19. During FY20, the capital expenditure is
projected to decline by 0.9 per cent over FY19 while the revenue expenditure is
expected to jump by 9.4 per cent. The state’s fiscal deficit in FY20 has been
estimated at 2.97 per cent of the its GDP and the total debt to GSDP is
expected to reach 30 per cent. This implies that UP will not be eligible for
additional borrowing, said the report.
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WTO WARNS OF TRADE SLOWDOWN AS QUARTERLY OUTLOOK INDICATOR
HITS 9-YEAR LOW
A quarterly leading
indicator of world merchandise trade slumped to its lowest reading in nine
years on Tuesday, which should put policymakers on guard for a sharper slowdown
if trade tensions continue, the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday. The
WTO's quarterly outlook indicator, a composite of seven drivers of trade,
showed a reading of 96.3, the weakest since March 2010 and down from 98.6 in
November. A reading below 100 signals below-trend growth in trade. This sustained
loss of momentum highlights the urgency of reducing trade tensions, which
together with continued political risks and financial volatility could
foreshadow a broader economic downturn, the WTO said in a statement. The WTO
forecast last September that global trade growth would slow to 3.7 per cent in
2019 from an estimated 3.9 per cent in 2018, but there could be a steeper
slowdown or a rebound depending on policy steps, it said. The quarterly
indicator is based on merchandise trade volume in the previous quarter, export
orders, international air freight, container port throughput, car production
and sales, electronic components and agricultural raw materials. Indices for
export orders (95.3), international air freight (96.8), automobile production
and sales (92.5), electronic components (88.7) and agricultural raw materials
(94.3) have shown the strongest deviations from trend, approaching or
surpassing previous lows since the financial crisis, the WTO said. The index
for container port throughput remained relatively buoyant at 100.3, but that
may have been influenced by a front-loading of shipments before an anticipated
hike in U.S.-China tariffs, the WTO said. International trade tensions could
spike next month if the United States and China escalate their tariff war, a
step that could have negative consequences for the world trading system,
according to the United Nations trade agency UNCTAD. A new round of US-China
talks will take place in Washington on Tuesday, with follow-up sessions at a
higher level later in the week, the White House said on Monday, following a
round in Beijing last week.
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EX-BIHAR CMS HAVE TO VACATE GOVT BUNGLOWS, CAN'T HOLD IT FOR
LIFETIME: PATNA HC
In a fresh turn of
developments, the Patna High Court on Tuesday ordered that all former Chief
Ministers of Bihar will have to vacate the government bungalows allotted to
them for the lifetime. The judicature issued this notice after taking suo-moto
cognizance of a provision that allows former chief ministers to occupy their
official bungalows for life. The court on February 11 had reserved the order on
the issue. The decision from the Court came on a PIL which was filed by Nitish
Kumar and other leaders of the state over the matter of allocation of bungalows
to former Chief Ministers. Last week, the High Court rejected Rashtriya Janata
Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav's petition challenging the Bihar government's
order to vacate his official accommodation. The bungalow was allocated to
Tejashwi in 2015 on his appointment as the deputy chief minister in the
Kumar-led government in the state. However, he continues to occupy the house
even after RJD broke the alliance with Kumar's Janata Dal (United). In October
last year, the Patna High Court rejected Tejashwi's appeal against the Bihar
government's plea to evict him from his official residence at 5, Deshratna
Marg. Thereafter in November, Tejashwi had filed a fresh appeal challenging the
high court's judgment. The bungalow was reassigned to present Deputy Chief
Minister Sushil Modi in 2017 after RJD formed the coalition with Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
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ED PEGS VALUE OF SEIZED PROPERTIES OF ROSE VALLEY AT RS 4685.4
CR
The Enforcement
Directorate (ED) Tuesday submitted a report before the Calcutta High Court
pegging the market value of seized immovable properties of chit fund company
Rose Valley at Rs 4,685.40 crore. The base value of these properties, which
include hotels, land and buildings, stood at Rs 896.13 crore when these were
attached since 2017, the ED report said. The chit fund is estimated to have raised
Rs 15,000 crore from investors The ED, in its report submitted before a special
bench comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Joy Sengupta, estimated the
current value of the seized immovable assets at Rs 4,685.40 crore At least 150
matters relating to chit fund companies, including Saradha Group and Rose
Valley Group, are pending before the high court. The seizures pertained to
different companies of the Rose Valley Group. Apart from these, cash amounting
to Rs 12.7 lakh and gold, jewellery, diamond and precious stones worth Rs 41
crore were seized from M/S Adrija Gold Corporation, an unit of Rose Valley
Group.
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GOVT’S ANGEL TAX FIX GIVES VCS, ANGEL GROUPS EDGE OVER HNIS
The government
notification on the so-called angel tax could force startups to approach
venture capital funds and angel groups for investment over wealthy individuals.
New rules that were made formal by the notification from the Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade exempt investments of up to Rs 25
crore made by Category 1of Alternative Investment Funds from the provisions of
the tax, compared with Rs 10 crore earlier. VCs and angel groups come under
this category of investors, giving them an undue advantage over individual
investors who are not part of it, said industry experts. While changes
announced on Tuesday are largely in line with the demands of the industry, the
government did not extend the benefits to startups that have already received
assessment orders from the tax department, which left the industry concerned.
Experts also sought a level playing field for individual investors. The
informal sector, which now consists of super angels, should be encouraged to
invest in startpus and not just overseas investors and funds. India is the
fastest growing destination for millionaires, and you certainly want to bring
that capital to startups, said Rehan Yar Khan. Entrepreneur-turned-investors
such as Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal, Kunal Shah and Kunal Bahl — some of them
have made as many as two dozen investments — could be hurt by the move. The
cheques they’re known to sign are larger in size than typical individual
investors, said people tracking the sector. Also, high-net-worth individuals
(HNIs) are known to take far riskier bets in comparison to institutional
investors, making them the preferred backers for innovative startups. While the
government was mulling extending the same benefits given to alternative
investment funds to individuals with income of over Rs 50 lakh in the previous
year and net worth of more than Rs 2 crore, issues related to certification of
such investors led to the section being dropped in Tuesday’s notification.
However, a fix could be on the way, said industry trackers.
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MONEY LAUNDERING CASE: VADRA APPEARS BEFORE ED A DAY AFTER
SKIPPING SUMMONS
Robert Vadra, appeared
before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case probe
officials said. He reached the agency's office at Jamnagar House in central
Delhi at about 10:30 AM along with his lawyers, they said. This is a scheduled
appearance of Vadra before the investigating officer (IO) of the case in a
criminal complaint related to allegations of money laundering to purchase
assets abroad. He had skipped the summons Tuesday, citing bad health. Vadra has
been questioned by the ED in this case for 23 hours over three days of
deposition earlier this month. He has been asked by a Delhi court to cooperate
in the probe being conducted by the central probe agency.
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MOD TO WITHDRAW PLEAS AGAINST BENEFITS TO DISABLED SOLDIERS
The ministry of defence (MoD)
has decided to withdraw its appeals made before the Supreme Court against grant
of disability benefits to soldiers by various courts and tribunals. Sources
confirmed that instructions have already been issued not only to withdraw the
pending appeals filed over the past few years but also to concede such covered
cases of disability pension filed by aggrieved litigants in the apex court on a
case-to-case basis. The development is significant not only for being an
emotional issue, but also because the apex court as well as various high courts
have expressed extreme anguish in the past over the MoD’s apparent inclination
to challenge verdicts passed in favour of disabled soldiers by military
tribunals or high courts. Anguished over the indiscriminate appeals filed by
MoD against disabled soldiers, the courts had even suggested the Centre must
change its bureaucratic psyche.
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SC JUDGE NAGESWARA RAO RECUSES FROM CBI PLEA IN SARADHA CHIT
FUND PROBE
Supreme Court judge,
Justice L Nageswara Rao, Wednesday recused himself from hearing the CBI's plea alleging
obstruction in its probe into the multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam probe by
West Bengal authorities. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan
Gogoi and Justices Rao and Sanjiv Khanna adjourned the hearing on pleas of the
CBI, saying that one of the judges was not inclined to be part of the bench to
hear the matter. Justice Rao said he had appeared for the state as a lawyer and
therefore cannot hear the case. The bench has now posted the matter for hearing
on February 27 before an appropriate bench of which Justice Rao is not a part.
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PULWAMA ATTACK: INDIA REJECTS IMRAN'S RESPONSE, SAYS HE
IGNORED JEM CLAIMS
India Tuesday rubbished
Prime Minister Imran Khan's comments on the ghastly Pulwama attack, saying
disclaiming Pakistan's link with terrorist attacks is an oft-repeated excuse by
the nerve centre of terrorism. India's seven-point hard hitting response came
hours after Khan said he would act against the perpetrators of the Pulwama
attack if India shares actionable intelligence, but warned against any
retaliatory action. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said India
was not surprised that Khan refused to acknowledge the attack on India's
security forces in Pulwama as an act of terrorism, adding his offer to
investigate the attack if provided proof is a lame excuse. Disclaiming any link
between the terrorist attack and Pakistan is an oft-repeated excuse by
Pakistan. The Pakistani Prime Minister has ignored claims made by the
Jaish-e-Mohammad, as well as by the terrorist, who perpetrated this heinous
crime, the MEA said. It is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its
leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for
Pakistan to take action, it said.
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SIR DORABJI TATA TRUST CONTESTS R VENKATARAMANAN TAX ORDER
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust has
appealed against the income tax department’s order that stemmed from the salary
of outgoing managing trustee R Venkataramanan. The department had withdrawn the
exemption given to such philanthropic organisations on account of this in a
December 31 order. The trust confirmed the move without giving details. The
trust has challenged the assessment order by filing an appeal before the
commissioner of income tax (appeals), it told. According to people with
knowledge of the matter, the trust stated that taxes had been paid in
accordance with the Income Tax Act governing charitable trusts and that its
FY16 income of around Rs 300 crore shouldn’t be brought under tax purview. The
matter concerns Rs 2.66 crore paid as salary to Venkataramanan by the trust for
the assessment year 2015-16, which the income tax department views as excessive
and a violation of the rules under Section 13 of the I-T Act. The Central
Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate are probing
Venkataramanan in a separate case involving AirAsia India, in which the Tata Group
has a 51% stake. The trust has filed an appeal before CIT (commissioner of
income tax), appeals, challenging the exemption wing’s order revoking the
exemption granted to the trust, said one of the persons cited above. In its
appeal, the trust has stated that the conditions under Section 13 of the I-T
Act have not been violated and that the trust was very much within its limits
to offer the compensation it made to the former managing trustee. The CIT,
appeals, will decide the matter based on the order submitted by the exemption
wing and the grounds on which it has been contested, said one of persons cited
above. The subsequent courts of appeal are the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
(ITAT), the high court and the Supreme Court in that order.
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HC SEEKS NGO'S REPLY ON CBI PLEA FOR CUSTODIAL QUESTIONING OF
DEEPAK TALWAR
The Delhi High Court
Tuesday sought response of an NGO on a plea by CBI seeking custodial
interrogation of its former president Deepak Talwar in a case related to alleged
violation of foreign funding law, FCRA Talwar, an alleged lobbyist, is in
judicial custody in a money laundering case lodged by the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) following his deportation from Dubai on January 30. A case was
lodged in 2017 against the NGO, Talwar and others for the alleged offences of
criminal conspiracy, forgery and using forged document as genuine under the IPC
and various sections of the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) for allegedly
diverting Rs 90.72 crore worth of foreign funds meant for ambulances and other
articles received by his NGO from Europe's leading missile manufacturing
company. CBI contended in the court that the NGO had received foreign
contribution of Rs 90.72 crore during the financial years 2012-13 and 2015-16
and an interest of Rs 6.69 crore on it. CBI's counsel Rajdipa Behura told the
court that Talwar's custodial interrogation was required to confront him with
documents, unearth the conspiracy and to ascertain the actual beneficiary of
the funds received by the NGO. The agency said the investigation had revealed
that the foreign contribution received by the NGO was misused and diverted for
some other purpose The court has listed the matter for further hearing on
February 27.
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HC JUNKS PLEA ASKING MEDIA TO USE 'MARTYR' FOR REPORTING
CASUALTIES IN TERROR ATTACKS
The Delhi High Court on
Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking directions to the media to use the words
martyr or shaheed, instead of killed when reporting deaths of security
personnel in terror or other attacks. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon
and Justice V K Rao declined to hear the application filed by a lawyer, who was
pulled up by the court for moving such a plea. The application was filed by
Abhishek Chaudhary in his main petition seeking martyr status for paramilitary
personnel killed in the line of duty. The petition was dismissed in 2016 by the
high court, which had said the plea was misconceived. Dismissing the
application on Tuesday, the bench said it was unfortunate that such a plea was
moved by a lawyer, despite being aware that the main petition was dismissed. Referring
to the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, Chaudhary
had said the deaths should have been described by the media using respectful
words like martyred or shaheed and not as killed or died.
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YASHWANT SINHA MOVES SUPREME COURT AGAINST GOVT IN RAFALE DEAL
CASE
Yashwant Sinha moved the
Supreme Court on Monday seeking initiation of perjury against the Centre for
filing notes in a sealed cover allegedly containing false information on the
Rafale case. The application is yet to be taken up for hearing in court. On 14
December, the apex court ruled that it found no evidence of wrongdoing in the
government’s decision-making process, as it rejected petitions for an
investigation into the Rafale deal. The court had rejected a batch of petitions
for a probe into India’s purchase of 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets, saying
it found no evidence of wrongdoing in the government’s decision-making process
or in the choice of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd as the Indian partner and
refused to go into pricing details.
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ANUJ SHARMA TAKES CHARGE AS KOLKATA POLICE CHIEF, RAJEEV KUMAR
POSTED AS AGP & IGP, CID
On Tuesday, Additional
Director General of West Bengal Police (law and order) Anuj Sharma replaced
Rajeev Kumar and has been appointed as the Kolkata Police Commissioner Sharma,
who is a 1991 batch IPS officer, took charge as the Kolkata police chief on
Tuesday after orders were issued by the state secretariat Nabanna. On the other
hand, outgoing city police chief Rajeev Kumar, who has been in news for quite
sometime now because of a controversy over the CBI questioning him in chit fund
scam case, has been posted as ADG (Additional Director General of Police) and
IGP (Inspector General of Police) of the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID). The move comes following an Election Commission directive.
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BULLETPROOF JACKETS FOR SOLDIERS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BULLET
TRAIN: AKHILESH YADAV
Akhilesh Yadav on Monday
said that the priority of the country's leadership should be to ensure that bulletproof
jackets are provided to its soldiers, rather than focussing on bullet trains The
Samajwadi Party leader also raised questions over intelligence agencies and
called on the central government to formulate a long term strategy for securing
the country's borders.
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PUNJAB CM AMARINDER SINGH TEARS INTO IMRAN KHAN, SAYS INDIA
WILL NAB MASOOD AZHAR IF PAKISTAN CAN’T
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh
on Tuesday tore into Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying that if Pakistan
cannot catch Jaish e Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, then India will Masood
Azhar’s militant outfit JeM has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror
attack that claimed the lives of at least 40 personnel of the CRPF on February
14. The Captain, as he is popularly known in Punjab, said on Tuesday said that
if the neighboring country finds it hard to deal with terrorism, India can do
it on its own. He further added that Pakistan can let India know if it cannot
deal with terrorism as India will nab the Jaish chief for its neighboring
country if Pakistan cannot.
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PULWAMA ATTACK: IMRAN KHAN DESERVES ANOTHER CHANCE
Hoping for some action
from Pakistan against terror outfits on its soil after Pulwama attack, former
chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that Prime
Minister Imran Khan deserves another chance since he has recently taken over
However, she ended up with linking anger on the Indian side to the upcoming
general election. Mufti said: Disagree. Pathankot dossier was given to them but
no action was taken to punish the perpetrators. Time to walk the talk. But Pak
PM deserves a chance since he’s recently taken over. Of course, the war
rhetoric has more to do with the impending elections than anything else. The
Pulwama terror attack was carried out by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed run by
Masood Azhar. In fact, the terror organisation has already taken responsibility
for the attack. Despite this, no action has been taken action against Masood
Azhar. Digvijaya Singh slammed the Pakistan PM over inaction on the
perpetrators of terror attacks in India. Come on Hon Prime Minister of Pakistan
show Guts and hand over Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar the Self Confessed
perpetrators of Terror, to India. You would not only bail out Pakistan out of
Financial Crisis and also be the Front Runner for Nobel Peace Prize.
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PULWAMA ATTACK: KERALA OFFERS ₹25 LAKH TO FAMILY OF CRPF
PERSONNEL KILLED
Kerala has announced a
financial assistance of ₹25 lakh to the family of V V Vasanth Kumar, the CRPF personnel
from the state who was killed in the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and
Kashmir. The state will also provide a permanent government job for Kumar's
wife Sheena, and bear the expenses of his two children, Amandeep (5) and
daughter Anamikauntil (8) until they reach adult age, said Vijayan.
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‘PAKISTAN NERVE CENTER OF TERRORISM’: MEA RESPONDS TO IMRAN
KHAN'S STATEMENT
After Pakistani PM Imran
Khan's first statement on the Pulwama attack, India today hit out at him saying
he should stop misleading the world and take credible and visible action
against those behind the attack. We are not surprised that Pakistan PM Imran
Khan refuses to acknowledge the attack on our security forces in Pulwama as an
act of terrorism, read a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs. It is
regrettable that the Pakistani Prime Minister has insinuated that India's
response to the terrorist attack is determined by the forthcoming General
Election. India rejects this false allegation India's democracy is a model for
the world which Pakistan would never understand, said a foreign ministry
statement. The ministry also said that Pakistan has always denied its links to
terrorism and terror activities launched from its soil. It is a well-known fact
that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan,
the MEA said. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action,
read MEA statement.
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ICJ REFUSES TO ENTERTAIN PAKISTAN'S REQUEST TO ADJOURN
KULBHUSHAN JADHAV CASE
The International Court of
Justice on Tuesday refused to entertain Pakistan's request to adjourn the
hearing in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav to appoint a new ad-hoc judge Pakistan,
which is presenting its case, asked the judge to adjourn the case, citing the
illness of its ad-hoc judge. Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the ad-hoc judge for
Pakistan in the ICJ suffered a cardiac attack ahead of the hearing. Attorney
General Anwar Mansoor Khan, who is representing Pakistan, at the start of the
hearing said: We applied our right provided to us that we can appoint an ad hoc
judge. But since our judge is indispensable at this point. In light of the
above Pakistan would like to place before the court that another judge to be
sworn in which right has been provided under article 35-5 and the judge be
given ample amount of time to go through the briefings before going ahead with
arguments, he said. But the world court declined Pakistan's plea and asked it
to continue argument in the absence on ad-hoc judge. On the first day of
hearing, India urged the ICJ to annul Jadhav's death sentence and order his
immediate release, saying the verdict by a Pakistani military court based on a
farcical case hopelessly fails to satisfy even the minimum standards of due
process.
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PAK RESPONDS TO INDIA'S ARGUMENTS AT ICJ OVER KULBHUSHAN
JADHAV'S CASE
Pakistan on Tuesday
responded to India at the International Court of Justice in the case of
Kulbhushan Jadhav, insisting that the Indian Navy officer was a spy and not a
businessman India, I am sorry to say, has demonstrated a lack of faith
throughout these proceedings good faith is part of international law, lawyer
Khawar Qureshi said. India doesn't know Pakistan, Pakistan is a state that has
provided the largest contingent for peacekeeping, whose soldiers have lost
lives in pursuing world security, he said. India's conduct and abusive process.
India has deployed this process for political theatre, lawyer Qureshi said. He
alleged that the Indian Navy officer was a spy and not a businessman Qureshi
also alleged that Jadhav was an instrument of India's official policy of
terror. On the first day of hearing, India urged the International Court of
Justice (ICJ) to annul Jadhav's death sentence and order his immediate release,
saying the verdict by a Pakistani military court based on a farcical case hopelessly
fails to satisfy even the minimum standards of due process. While India argued
on Monday and Pakistan responded to India's arguments on Tuesday. India will
reply on February 20 while Islamabad will make its closing submissions on
February 21.
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ISRAEL OFFERS UNCONDITIONAL HELP TO INDIA TO DEFEND ITSELF,
ESPECIALLY AGAINST TERROR: ENVOY
Israel has offered
unconditional help to India in defending itself, especially against terrorism,
asserting that there is no limit to its assistance an assurance which assumes
significance amid demands that the government should consider Israeli-type
retaliation to terror strikes Whatever India needs to defend itself there is no
limit. We are here to help our close friend India to defend itself specially
against terrorism because terrorism is the problem of the world and not only of
India and Israel, Malka told. Emphasising that the world should fight terrorism
and eliminate it by collaborating, he said, So, we help India, share our
knowledge, share our technique because we really want to help our really
important friend. India has been maintaining that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was
involved in the Pulwama terror strike. The Pakistan-based UN-proscribed terror
outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed the responsibility for the attack on
February 14.
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MORE THAN 1000 ISIS TERRORISTS FLED SYRIA TO WESTERN IRAQ IN
LAST 6 MONTHS
Over 1,000 ISIS terrorists
have fled Syria to western Iraq over the last six months with around the US
$200 million in tow, according to a US military official. The fleeing continues
as the United States has upped the ante against the terrorist organisation in
its fight to completely defeat ISIS in the run-up to the US pullout from the
region. There are around 20,000 to 30,000 ISIS fighters remaining in Syria and
Iraq combined. Thousands are involved in efforts to completely defeat ISIS,
including obliterating networks which fund the organization and nabbing people
who provide the terrorist outfit with safe havens.
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DESPITE SANCTIONS, IRAN'S OIL EXPORTS RISE IN EARLY 2019: REPORT
Iran's exports of crude
oil were higher than expected in January and are at least holding steady this
month, according to tanker data and industry sources, as some customers have increased
purchases due to waivers from US sanctions Shipments are averaging 1.25 million
barrels per day (bpd) in February, Refinitiv Eikon data showed and a source at
a company that tracks Iranian exports said. They were between 1.1 and 1.3
million bpd in January, higher than first thought. A high rate of Iranian
shipments would weigh on oil prices and work against a global push to cut
supply in 2019 led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
OPEC member Iran negotiated an exemption from the production-cutting pact. We
think people are taking more ahead of the deadline, said the industry source
who tracks Iranian exports, referring to the scheduled end of US sanctions
waivers in May. Increased exports from the Islamic Republic might prompt
renewed US efforts to clamp down on flows. However, this would run the risk of
driving up oil prices as Washington is also seeking to curtail exports from
another foe, Venezuela. Iran's exports have become more opaque since US
sanctions on the country's oil sector took effect in November. While most agree
they have dropped steeply, views on flows can differ by as much as several
hundred thousand barrels per day - enough to affect prices.
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PAN-INDIA EMERGENCY NUMBER ‘112’ LAUNCHED
Rajnath Singh and Minister
for Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi jointly launched the
Women Safety initiative of Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) in 16
States/UTs and Mumbai city. People in these states and UTs can now call a
single pan India number 112 for any emergency In addition, Investigation
Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) and Safe City Implementation
Monitoring Portal were also launched. Rajnath Singh said launch of ERSS is a
milestone in women safety in the country. Rajnath Singh said, to improve the
ecosystem of women safety in the country, we have to not only strengthen the Judicial
System but also to change the mind-set of the society towards women. He said
that women safety is a sensitive issue and each one in the society should take
responsibility for it so that women can equally and freely contribute for
strengthening the economy, politics and society of the country. Highlighting
the importance of ERSS, he said that very soon it will be implemented across
the whole country. He said that people need not remember multiple helpline
numbers. One can dial 112 or use Panic Button on their phones or 112 India
Mobile App to connect to a single emergency services number 112 which will
combine Police, Fire, Health and other helplines through an Emergency Response
Centre in the State. Menaka Sanjay Gandhi appreciated the assistance of Home
Ministry in preparing these women safety projects. She thanked Shri Rajnath
Singh for sanctioning funds to strengthen six Forensic Science Laboratories for
quick investigation in rape cases and sought provision of investigation kits at
every police station in the country specially at the One Stop Centres.
The emergency response
system can be triggered in the following manners:-
·
On the smart phones, the
power button (which is dedicated panic button) when pressed three times
quickly.
·
Dialing 112 from any
phone.
·
In case of feature phones,
long press of the touch key 5 or 9.
·
Using 112 India Mobile App
which is available for free downloading.
·
For women and children,
112 India App provides a special SHOUT feature which alerts registered
volunteers in the vicinity of victim for immediate assistance.
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SAFAR APP LAUNCHED IN 8 LANGUAGES
Suresh Prabhu, addressed
the first stakeholder consultation on the draft logistics policy prepared by
the Department of Logistics of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in New
Delhi. Minister said that the cost of logistics in India is extremely high as
compared to other countries. India is now aiming to become one of the most
efficient logistics providers in the world. Minister further stated that for
this the Ministry of Commerce has drafted a National Logistics Policy which
will provide an overall vision and direction to integrated development of
logistics in the country. Suresh Prabhu informed that logistics is a very
important component of ease of doing business as 80 % of ease in business
relates to logistics. In order to ensure cross-ministerial coordination, a robust
governance framework has been set up bringing together government, academia,
and industry. Minister launch the SAFAR Mobile App This app will help to gauge
the actual issues faced by transporters on the road. The app tracks the
incidence of a number of parameters faced by transporters and automatically
records the location of the issue. The app is available in 8 languages. N.
Sivasailam, said that the logistics business in the country is worth USD 160
billion and is growing at 7% - 8 % every year. The key objectives of the policy
are to reduce logistics cost from 14% to 10% of GDP, create additional 10-15
million jobs in the sector, become a single point for all logistics & trade
facilitation and reduce losses in agriculture to less than 5%, by facilitating
agri-logistics in the country.
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GREAT INDIAN FAMILY DOESN’T HELP WORKING WOMEN
Domestic duties including
childcare might be keeping many Indian women from working but living with the
in-laws does not mean that women are more able to take up jobs new research
indicates. On the contrary, women who live in joint families are significantly
less likely to participate in the labour market. India has some of the lowest
levels of female labour force participation in the world. Fewer than a quarter
of adult women (23.4%) reported working or being available for paid work in the
2011-12 National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey on unemployment. According
to leaked portions of the 2017-18 report, this share fell even further. Of the
149 countries for which the International Labour Organization (ILO) has
comparable data, only 10 countries have a lower share of women in the paid
workforce than India. Research by ILO economist Stephen Kapsos and colleagues
suggests that the declining participation of women in the job market has
several causes—from higher enrolments in higher education to rising household
incomes to occupational segregation restricting job opportunities for women.
The lack of childcare exacerbates the problem According to ILO data, Indian men
shoulder less than 10% of the burden of unpaid housework in terms of time spent
(an average of 31 minutes), among the lowest in the world. However, that
comparison is based on India’s last time use survey which was in 1998-99, and
there is no more recent comparable data. Other, more recent data sources
buttress the fact that domestic work and childcare still restrict women from
taking up paid work. According to more recent data from the National Family
Health Survey and the National Sample Survey Office, the presence of children
aged 0-5 is a strong predictor of dropping out of paid work. The primary reason
that women engaged in domestic duties (including childcare) gave to NSSO
surveyors in 2011-12 for not being part of the workforce was that there was no
one else to carry out their domestic duties. Then, would living in a joint
family, where typically grandparents reside, provide the childcare that frees
women to pursue paid work? Researchers Sowmya Dhanaraj of the Madras School of
Economics and Vidya Mahambare of the Great Lakes Institute of Management,
Chennai, found that this is not the case. Using data from two rounds of the
India Human Development Survey (IHDS) conducted by the National Council for
Applied Economic Research and the University of Maryland, they found that
residing in a joint family reduces rural women’s participation in non-farm
employment by more than 10 percentage points, and that this was mainly through
the restriction of women’s decision-making authority and mobility within and
outside the household. (read more) Newly married couples typically tend to live
with one or more married couples—usually the man’s parents—and may then move to
live independently when they face a lack of space or migrate for work, data
from the IHDS indicates. On average, 34% of rural women live in joint families.
Non-farm employment rates for women from joint families lag substantially
behind those for women in nuclear households. Such work typically involves
leaving the house and working among people other than one’s family, and the
rates of non-farm employment are lower for women from joint families in all
education categories, narrowing only for tertiary education levels. The
researchers also find that women from upper caste groups are more likely to
reside in a joint family system than those from disadvantaged groups. The higher
social status associated with being upper caste acts as an inhibitor for
‘allowing’ women to leave the house for paid work, other research has also
shown. Joint families in the IHDS sample are also associated with restrictions
on decision-making ability and mobility. There is no real evidence of a joint
family offering childcare The difference in proportion of women working in
non-farm employment between joint and nuclear families only decreases for older
women when the children have grown up.
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NO LEAK OF AADHAAR DATA BY US: INDIAN OIL CORP CLARIFIES
Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC), the country’s largest fuel retailer, issued a clarification saying no
leakage of Aadhaar data occurred through its portal. The clarification came in
response to a news report based on a French researcher’s claim that he had
found a major security lapse that allegedly exposed millions of Aadhar numbers
of dealers and distributors associated with IOC’s LPG brand Indane. Indian Oil
in its software captures only the Aadhaar number which is required for LPG
subsidy transfer. No other Aadhaar related details are captured by Indian Oil.
Therefore, leakage of Aadhaar data is not possible through us, the company said
in a detailed response posted on its twitter handle. The company also said that
Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) were in the past hosting consumption of
subsidized LPG refills by consumers, multiple connections list having customer
information like consumer number, name, LPG ID and address in public domain
(transparency portal) in their respective websites which was available for
social audits. There is no Aadhaar number hosted on this website, the firm
said.
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TTD UNVEILS RS 3,116-CRORE BUDGET FOR 2019-2020
Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD) that manages the richest hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara
presented Tuesday its budget proposals for 2019-20, expecting an overall
revenue of about Rs 3,116 crore during the year, a top TTD official said. Of
the overall income, the cash offerings were projected at Rs 1,231 crore, TTD
chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav told reporters on the Tirumala hills. The revenue
from the interest on deposits in nationalised and private banks was estimated
to be about Rs 846 crore, he said. The sale of tickets for various forms of
worship, including rituals in the temple, special entry tickets of VIPs and the
online tickets priced at Rs 300 could get Rs 292 crore while the laddu prasadam
might bring in about Rs 270 crore, he said. The proceeds from the auction on
human hair to be offered by millions of devotees, including the aged, women and
infants, as fulfilment of their vow were projected to be Rs 10 crore, he said.
On the expenditures, he said, the salaries and other wages to the over 6,000
staff might touch about Rs 625 crore while the expenses for the out-sourcing
personnel could cost about Rs 340 crore. About Rs 400 crore was expected to be
spent on new constructions of pilgrims' amenities, taking up repair and laying
of roads, he said.
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LAUNCHES TELE-LAW: MOBILE APPLICATION
& DASHBOARD AND NYAYA BANDHU MOBILE APPLICATION
The Government is trying
to make every citizen get justice and efforts are on to ensure that road to
justice is available at the door step Ravi Shankar Prasad said this while launching
mobile application and dashboard and Nyaya Bandhu mobile application. He said
policy of this Government is to ensure empowerment of common man by
popularizing technology to a level that it becomes a instrument of change. He
said with this purpose Government has directed that CSC be permitted to extend
its services for tele-law throughout the country. He said a pilot project in
this regard has proved useful and more than 50,000 affected people have already
availed this service in the States of UP, Bihar and J&K. He said to encouraging
social service among law fraternity the collegium should consider introducing
provision for getting preference in appointment as judge if the advocate has
substantive credit of providing pro-bono service. Benefit from towards
fulfilling the Constitutional commitment under Article 39A for providing Access
to Justice to all and aiming to realize the government mandate of Sabka Sath,
Sabka Vikas and Sabka Nyaya, Department of Justice (DoJ) has successfully
endeavored to spearhead its two key programmes namely Tele –Law: Mainstreaming
Legal Aid through Common Service Centers and Nyaya Bandhu (Pro Bono Legal
Services), through leveraging with different technology based channels to boost
legal advice and aid in the country. The application will benefit 73,000 PLVs
of National Legal Service Authority and State Legal Services Authorities (SLSA)
in the country who will be associated under Tele-Law service. Till January,
2019, it has resulted in enabling legal advice to 49,192 beneficiaries that
include 36,526 (Women), 7049 (SC) and 13970 (ST) in 11 states namely Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar and all North-Eastern states and the State of Jammu and
Kashmir.So far, 391 lawyers have registered to provide pro bono services and
341 cases have been registered on the already available online web service for
this purpose. Thus to accelerate and facilitate the practicing advocates to
register and connect with the registered eligible beneficiaries Nyaya Bandhu (
Pro Bono Legal Service) mobile application is developed to solidify the pro
bono culture in the country. In about identified 937 locations that include
spaces near the district courts, bus shelters, auto hood wraps, public
convenience etc., and in 730 retail outlets of Oil marketing companies,
information about the above two programmes has been displayed through
Hoardings. In addition to the above, Posters and Flyers are displayed and distributed
to reach and educate the masses in the gram panchayat of 1800 CSCs in 11 States
(Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and all North-Eastern states and the State of Jammu and
Kashmir).
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WORKERS STRIKE AT TIRUVOTTIYUR FACTORY ILLEGAL AS NOTICE NOT
SERVED: MRF
Tyre major MRF said on
Tuesday that the ongoing strike by a section of employees at the company's
Tiruvottiyur factory, near Chennai, is illegal The strike started on February
9, 2019. After workers alleged that they were forced to go on strike in
response to the company's decision to install surveillance cameras and delay
the wage settlement, the company said that the strike was illegal as the notice
of the strike, including reasons for the same, had not been served on the
company. The management claimed that its efforts to reach an amicable
settlement with the union had been inconclusive and as a result, the matter was
pending for adjudication before the industrial tribunal in Chennai. The union
noted that the wage settlement was pending for almost 10 years and the matter
was currently in court. Even as it tries to seek the government's help in
resolving the camera issue, the union said that it would intensify the protest
in the next few days. The union is also demanding a tripartite meeting, if a
bilateral meeting is not fruitful, to resolve the issue. While the management
said that the installation of CCTV cameras was aimed at boosting safety,
security etc, the union's demands were also rejected by the Industrial
Tribunal. It may also be noted that installation of CCTV cameras is a
requirement under the prevailing laws in Tamil Nadu, the company said.
Meanwhile, responding to employees, who said that CCTV cameras violated the
workers' privacy rights, company management said that it had installed the
cameras after getting a favourable order from the Court, which said that it was
not in violation of workers' rights.
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FOCUS ON REPLACING REGULATORY ‘CONTROL’ BASED ENVIRONMENTS
WITH ENABLING ‘STRATEGIC’ PLANNING FRAMEWORK
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri,
has said that in the last few years a more holistic view of urban development
has emerged that focuses on replacing regulatory ‘control’ based environments
with a more enabling ‘strategic’ planning framework, on active citizen
engagement and co-creation, on sustainable green growth principles, on compact
mixed-use planning of cities and on data-linked governance and service
provision. He said, many of the policies of the Government have focused around
creating such an enabling environment that can harness not just growth but
‘good growth’ Shri Puri said, engagements in the preparation of the next
perspective planning blueprint for the city of Delhi will help in furthering a
process of transformation that has already been initiated by the Government,
through many of the progressive national level urban policies and more
specifically through several progressive policies/projects that we are
implementing in Delhi. Shri Puri said that while we focus on developing our
cities as vibrant centres of investment and productivity, we must ensure that
such growth is environmentally sustainable and equitable. In other words,
growth that meets the 3Es of sustainable development – equity, economy and
environment, he said. The Minister said that inability of planned development
to catch up with the speed of population growth and increase in demand for
planned housing, commerce, industry, etc. has resulted in acute shortage on the
one hand, and on the other, it has spurned an entire unregulated supply chain
of unauthorized developments that have come up to fill the gaps in the market.
In order to correct this situation, we have initiated the Land Pooling Policy.
This is a major paradigm shift towards people-led development where landowners
will pool land together, be part of a co-created integrated plan for the sector
and undertake development as per requirements, he added. He said, the Policy is
expected to create a large number of housing units that will cater to Delhi’s
unmet housing demand in addition to becoming centres for new institutions, city
level green spaces, commercial areas, and cultural centres/entertainment areas
for citizens.
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RS 6,000 CASH DOLE-OUT MAY FETCH VOTES FOR NARENDRA MODI:
REPORT
The Rs 6,000-per annum
cash dole out to each farmer family in basic income support will help swing
votes for the ruling BJP, but issues like the stray cattle menace in the
electorally crucial Uttar Pradesh are a concern, says a brokerage report. The
Swiss brokerage UBS in a report Tuesday also said unlike the past election,
this election has no Modi-wave or any wave at all and that its field visits did
not give enough fodder for it believe that the BJP will return to power after
the summer hustings. The report also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's high
approval rating is possibly because of the low ratings of the other contenders.
Basic income for small and marginal farmers--which the main opposition dubbed
as an affront on the farmers' dignity as it's worth Rs 16a day, is a key
decision and the voters will distinguish it from the usual pre-poll doles if
implemented well, UBS said in the report prepared after a field trip and
meetings. The budget sought to placate rural voters with this scheme
retrospectively from December 2018 creating a Rs 20,000 crore additional hole
in the already porous budgetary numbers. For the full fiscal next year it will
leave a bigger hole of Rs 1.75 lakh crore on Central finances. The report said
the government is quite serious about quickly rolling out the scheme and added
the first tranche of the payouts could happen as early as the first week of
March in UP, which got the party as many as 73 MPs from a total of 80 parliamentarians
in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Modi's approval rating as a Prime Ministerial
candidate remains high, possibly because of the low ratings of the other
contenders, it said.
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DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS WORTH RS. 3350 CRORES UNVEILED BY PM IN
VARANASI
The Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi unveiled development projects worth Rs. 3350 crores for Varanasi.
These projects pertain to various sectors of Health, Sanitation, Smart City,
Connectivity, Power, Housing and others. PM said that his Government is working
on two fronts to give a boost to development The first one relates to building
infrastructure like Highways, Railways etc. while the other is to ensure that
the benefits of development reach out to the people. He added that several
announcement were made in the Budget to this effect. About, Ayushman Bharat, PM
said, around 38 thousand people have already availed the benefits under it in
Uttar Pradesh. He told that around 1 crore 20 lakh families in UP will be benefitted
from the scheme. He also spoke about PM Kisan Samman Nidha Yojana and said it
will benefit about 2.25 crore poor farmers in UP.
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TEXTILES MINISTER LAUNCHES FOUR PROJECTS IN NORTH EAST FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SILK SECTOR
Smriti Zubin Irani, launched
four projects in North East for the development of silk sector through video
conference in New Delhi. The Minister also inaugurated new office building of
Weavers Service Centres (WSC) in Indore, Madhya Pradesh and Kannur, Kerala. She
interacted with the people’s representatives, officials and farmers and urged
them to generate awareness among the farmers and weavers about loan schemes
available under MUDRA YOJANA and recently announced income support programme
for farmers – PM Kisan and pension scheme for workers in unorganized sector-
Pradhan Mantri Sram Yogi Mandhan Yojna. Muga Silkworm Seed Production Centre
(SSPC), Tura, Meghalaya is one of the projects taken up directly by Centre Silk
Board(CSB) for implementation under Integrated Sericulture Development Project
(ISDP) of NERTPS for creation of seed infrastructure units in NE States. The
infrastructure facilities available presently with the State are insufficient
to meet the demand of required quantity of Muga basic seed. The creation of
additional Muga SSPC in Tura will strengthen the Muga seed sector to make the
State self-sufficient for production and supply of Muga silkworm seed. The seed
production capacity of the unit is one lakh commercial dfls per year and around
300 farmers will be covered directly. Silk Printing & Processing unit in
Agartala, Tripura has been setup at a total project cost of Rs.3.71 crore for
production, printing and processing of 1.5 lakh meter silk per annum. The project
covers 684 beneficiaries and would generate employment of 3,250 man-year. It is
estimated that established Eri plantation of 500 acres (400 acres new
plantation and 100 acres existing plantation) will earn revenue of around
Rs.60,000/- to 70,000/- per acre/annum depending upon the cocoon rates and
including the selling of pupae.
#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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