DELHI HC DISMISSES MALVINDER SINGH'S PLEA ON ACCESS TO PENSION
FUND ACCOUNT
The Delhi High Court on
Friday dismissed a plea moved by former Fortis promoter Malvinder Mohan Singh
seeking permission to operate the accounts in which he received pension from
Daiichi Sankyo and Sun Pharmaceuticals Limited. A detailed copy of the
judgement is awaited. As a part of a 2008 deal, Singh had been receiving nearly
Rs 45 lakh as pension every quarter, first from Daiichi and later from Sun
Pharma. Singh and his younger brother Shivinder Mohan Singh had sold their
stake in Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Limited to Daiichi Sankyo in 2008. Sun Pharma
had later in 2014 acquired Ranbaxy from Daiichi Sankyo in a share-swap deal. The
deal with Daiichi Sankyo, however, came back to haunt the Singh brothers. The
Japanese drug major moved an arbitration application in Singapore accusing the
Singh brothers of misrepresenting facts and lying. A Singapore tribunal agreed
with Daiichi Sankyo and held that the Singh brothers and others were guilty of
misrepresenting and concealing the genesis, nature and severity of the US
regulatory investigations when Daiichi Sankyo bought their 34.82% stake in
Ranbaxy for $2.4 billion in 2008. To ensure that the money for the enforcement
of the award remained, the high court had ordered freezing of the accounts of
Malvinder Mohan Singh, Shivinder Mohan Singh and other members of the family.
The court had also asked them not to alienate or create third party interest in
any of the assets belonging to them or the Fortis group. The said pension was
also being received in one such account, which was frozen as per the court’s
orders.
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TRADE DEFICIT PUSHES CAD TO 2.5 PER CENT OF GDP IN Q3
The country's current
account deficit widened to 2.5 per cent of GDP in third quarter of the current
fiscal from 2.1 per cent a year ago, primarily on account of a higher trade
deficit, the RBI said Friday. In absolute terms, the CAD, or the gap between
inflow and outflow of foreign exchange in the current account, was USD 16.9
billion in the October-December 2018 period, up from USD 13.7 billion in the
year-ago period. The deficit, however, had moderated to USD 19.1 billion or 2.9
per cent of GDP in the preceding quarter (July-September). The widening of the
CAD (current account deficit) on a year-on-year basis was primarily on account
of a higher trade deficit at USD 49.5 billion as compared with USD 44.0 billion
a year ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement. The CAD
increased to 2.6 per cent of GDP during the April-December 2018 period, from
1.8 per cent in April-December 2017 on the back of widening of the trade
deficit.
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SMALL SAVINGS SCHEMES: GOVT KEEPS INTEREST RATES UNCHANGED FOR
APR-JUNE QTR
The government has kept
the interest rates on small savings schemes including NSC and PPF, unchanged
for the April-June quarter. Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings
Certificate (NSC) will continue to carry an annual interest rate of 8 per cent,
while Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) will give a yield of 7.7 per cent and mature in
112 months. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified on a
quarterly basis. The rates of interest on various small savings schemes for the
first quarter of the financial year 2019-20 starting April 1, 2019, and ending
on June 30, 2019, shall remain unchanged from those notified for the fourth
quarter of the financial year 2018-19, the finance ministry said in a
notification issued Friday. The interest rate for the five-year Senior Citizens
Savings Scheme has been retained at 8.7 per cent. The interest on the senior
citizens' scheme is paid quarterly. Interest on savings deposits has been
retained at 4 per cent annually. The girl child savings scheme Sukanya
Samriddhi Yojana account will offer 8.5 per cent rate during the first quarter
of the next fiscal. Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch interest rate in the
range of 7-7.8 per cent, to be paid quarterly, while the five-year recurring
deposit is pegged at 7.3 per cent.
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CAN'T DENY AIR INDIA DISINVESTMENT INFO UNDER RTI: CIC
The Central Information
Commission (CIC) has directed the Civil Aviation Ministry to provide
Lucknow-based activist Nutan Takur information regarding the disinvestment of
Air India (AI). The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Ministry had under
Section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act denied Thakur information related to the records
of the deliberations of the Cabinet. According to the PIO, the Cabinet had in
principle approved the proposed disinvestment of the national carrier, though
the process had not been completed. Information Commissioner Divya Prakash
Sinha said that the Ministry had grossly erred in invoking Section 8(1)(i) of
the RTI Act to deny information to Thakur, despite the PIO himself admitting to
the Cabinet decision in this regard. The Commission directed the PIO to provide
Thakur within 15 days the information available with the Ministry and send it a
compliance report.
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NO VIOLATION OF FDI NORMS IN APPROVAL TO SET UP AIRASIA INDIA,
CENTRE TELLS DELHI HIGH COURT
The Centre Friday denied
in the Delhi High Court that there was any violation of FDI norms while
granting approval to low-cost carrier AirAsia (India) Pvt Ltd -- a joint
venture of Tata Group and Malaysia-based AirAsia Berhad. The government also
opposed BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking stay on AirAsia India's
application for an international flying licence, saying it will take a decision
in this regard. The submissions were made in an affidavit placed before a bench
of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice A J Bhambhani in response to
Swamy's application in which he has alleged that Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) norms were violated while granting approval to set up AirAsia India. The
matter, however, was not taken up and listed for hearing on May 13. In its
affidavit, the central government said that FDI was permissible in an existing
airline as well as a new venture. On the issue of grant of international flying
licence to AirAsia, the government said it will take a decision after
considering all aspects of the matter as well as the rules and laid down policy
in this regard, and there was no need to pass an order putting on hold the
low-cost airline's application. The government has contended that Swamy's
application was devoid of any merit and it may be dismissed. In his
application, Swamy has claimed that since the legality and validity of the
principal licence -- the domestic flying licence -- granted to AirAsia India
has been challenged in the court, the airline ought not to be granted a licence
to fly internationally. He has sought directions to the Union of India not to
process the application of AirAsia until the final disposal of the main
petition in which the principal licence has been challenged. Swamy had earlier
argued that the flying licence granted to the carrier was in violation of the
government's policy on foreign investment. He had said that according to the
policy, foreign investment was allowed only in existing airlines and was not
meant for floating or starting a new airline, like AirAsia India. The BJP MP
had also alleged that there were questionable transactions in connection with
the setting up of AirAsia India.
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TRAI BEGINS CONSULTATION TO REVIEW TERMS, CONDITIONS FOR OSP
REGISTRATION
Telecom regulator Trai
Friday began a industry-wide discussion to review terms and conditions for
registration of other service providers (OSPs), offering services such as
tele-banking, tele-medicine, tele-education, ecommerce, call centre, and other
IT enabled services. In its latest consultation paper -- that was initiated
following a specific reference from the telecom department -- Trai raises
nearly three dozen questions to examine the existing procedure of OSP registration
Trai has sought stakeholders' view on multiple aspects ranging from validity of
registration to registration charges, and from connectivity and
interconnectivity aspects, to security conditions. Trai has issued paper on
'review of terms and conditions for registration of other service providers'
for the consultation of stakeholders, the regulator said in a statement. An
OSP, it explained, is a company providing application services such as
tele-banking, tele-medicine, tele-education, tele-trading, ecommerce, call
centre, network operation center and other IT enabled services by using telecom
resources or infrastructure provided by licenced telecom operators. The
authority has sought written comments on the consultation paper by April 29,
and counter comments by May 13. In view of the vast changes in technology and
evolution of different networking architectures and solutions for setting up of
OSP network and evolution of new user applications and service delivery
scenarios, a need has been felt by DoT to review the technical, financial and
regulatory requirements, scope of operations and the terms and conditions of
registrations of OSPs in a comprehensive and holistic manner, TRAI said. Also,
the Department of Telecom (DoT) is keen to ensure that a technology neutral
framework is devised so as to promote innovations for setting up the OSP
service delivery platform in the most cost-efficient manner, for faster
promotion of these service providers in the country. Do you agree with the
existing procedure of OSP registration for single/ multiple OSP centres? If
not, please suggest suitable changes with justification. Do you agree with the
existing provisions of determination of dormant OSPs and cancellation of their
registration?, Trai consultation paper said.
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FALLING HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS CAN WIDEN CAD, LEAD TO HIGHER RATES:
INDIA RATINGS
Declining household
savings can widen the current account deficit and push the interest rates up
warns a report. A wider current account deficit (CAD), which is the gap between
what a country earns by exports and spends on imports has in the past led to
instances of steep fall in the rupee, while a jump in the interest rates will
render the Reserve Bank's ongoing rate cuts ineffective. These scenarios can
come true if gross household financial savings net of financial liabilities
continue to grow slower than the net borrowings of the Centre and the states
plus their dependence on extra-budgetary resources and the gap is funded by
external sources, India Ratings said in a report Friday. Households' gross
financial savings net of financial liabilities has increased at an annualised
rate of 9.8 percent to Rs 11.29 lakh crore in FY18 from Rs 6.43 lakh crore in
FY12, the report said. However, net borrowings by the Centre and the states and
also their extra-budgetary resources rose to Rs 11.55 lakh crore in FY18 from
Rs 6.28 lakh crore in FY12, registering an annual growth of 10.7 percent. During
the same period, states' net borrowing grew at an annualised rate of 33 percent
followed by extra-budgetary resources growing at 15.1 percent and the that of
the Centre at 0.5 percent, it said. The ratio of gross household financial
savings net of financial liabilities compared with net borrowings of the Centre
and the states and their extra-budgetary resources slipped to 0.97x in FY18
from 1.02x in FY12 and 1.38x in FY16, the report said. With G-sec yields
continue to remain at elevated levels due to low household savings, and the cost
of money in the economy may be higher despite policy rate cut by the Reserve
Bank, it said. For this ratio to improve either gross household financial
savings have to increase or funding requirements of the Centre and states along
with their dependence on extra- budgetary resources have to decline, it
recommended. Relying on external funding is an alternative, it said foreign
portfolio investments are at very low utilisation levels of 17 percent for
state development loans. The report, however, is quick to warn that the fickle
nature of FPI can be quite destabilising for the economy and the same has been
witnessed on a number of occasions in the domestic context. The low consumer
price inflation is the silver lining for the moment, it said.
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PRESENT METHOD OF COUNTING VVPAT SLIPS MOST SUITABLE: EC TELLS
SUPREME COURT
The Election Commission on
Friday told the Supreme Court that the present method of counting the VVPAT
slips is the most suitable The poll panel justified the existing system of
random counting of the VVPAT slips from one polling booth per assembly segment.
The Election Commission, which was asked on March 25 by the apex court to give
its view on increasing the number of random sample surveys from one booth per
assembly segment, said in future elections, it may consider any suggestions
which result in further improving the holding of polls in free and fair manner.
It is submitted that with the imminent elections issues raised in the instant
petitions are matters that have already been considered, studied and determined
by the Election Commission of India and have since culminated in adopting the
course of conduct of the imminent election in the present manner, the EC said
in its affidavit. It said the writ petition filed by 21 opposition leaders, led
by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, does not raise any ground
or base for altering the existing system at this juncture. The poll panel said
the present system which is being adopted for the imminent elections be allowed
to be continued as it has been found to be most suitable. The poll panel
currently adopts a system of counting of VVPAT slips in one polling booth per
assembly constituency in legislative assembly elections and in one polling
booth in each assembly segment for the parliament election. The affidavit was
filed by the EC in a plea in which 21 opposition leaders sought that VVPAT
slips of at least 50 per cent of voting machines in each assembly constituency
be checked randomly in the Lok Sabha elections next month.
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50% VVPAT VERIFICATION WILL DELAY LOK SABHA ELECTION RESULTS
BY 6 DAYS, ECI TELLS SC
The Lok Sabha poll results
will be delayed by six whole days if the Opposition parties’ demand to increase
VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) slips counting by 50% became a
reality, the Election Commission of India (ECI) told the Supreme Court on
Friday. The 50% Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail slip verification in each
Assembly segment of a Parliamentary Constituency or Assembly Constituency on an
average shall enlarge the time required for counting to about six days, the ECI
said in a 50-page affidavit. The current confidence level in the Electronic
Voting Machine (EVM)-VVPAT accuracy was 99.9936%. Any increase in the sample
size of verification of VVPAT slips would only lead to a very negligible gain
in the confidence level, it said. The adoption of a particular percentage as a
sample for VVPAT slip verification was devoid of scientific logic or
statistical basis. In fact, it was rather otiose, it noted. The Supreme Court
recently made strong observations in favour of an increase in the sample VVPAT
slip counting for the coming elections. With this, the ECI has also chosen to
stand firm against a plea by 21 Opposition parties, who jointly moved the apex
court challenging the poll body’s guideline that VVPAT slips' counting would
take place only in one polling station in an Assembly constituency or each
Assembly segment in case of parliamentary elections. The ECI banks on a March
22, 2019 report of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) to buttress its case
against increasing the VVPAT slips’ counting. The ISI report recommends that a
sample verification of 479 EVMs and VVPATs out of a total 10.35 lakh machines
would lift the confidence to 99.9936%. But Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep
Jain, who has authored the affidavit, said the ECI’s sample verification for
the April-May Lok Sabha polls would cover 4,125 EVMs and VVPATs. This is 8.6
times the sample size recommended in the Indian Statistical Institute report,
the ECI said.
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RS 5,940 CRORE CLEARED UNDER PM KISAN, 29.7 MILLION FARMERS
RECEIVE RS 2,000
The government has
transferred Rs 5,940 crore as the first instalment of Rs 2,000 each to 29.7
million small and marginal farmers across the country, which is set to fuel the
rural economy during the poll season. Over one-third of the beneficiaries –
11.1 million farmers – were in Uttar Pradesh. States had sent data of 47.6
million farmers before the code of conduct was enforced. Out of that, we expect
to transfer money to 40 million farmers during the election phase. The
remaining 7.6 million farmers have been ruled out due to data discrepancies, a
senior agriculture department official said. The funds are being transferred
under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi. The government will start
transferring the second instalment from April 1, he said. With the disbursement
of the second instalment, the government is likely to transfer Rs 16,000 crore
to farmers under the PM KISAN scheme. Many farmers will get both instalments in
April, he said. The Election Commission allowed the government to continue
schemes for which beneficiaries were identified before the model code of
conduct came into force with the March 10 announcement of the Lok Sabha poll
schedule.
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NEXT CENSUS OF INDIA IN 2021: GOVT
The next census of India
will be carried out in 2021 with March 1 of that year as the reference date,
the Home Ministry announced Thursday. In a notification, the ministry said the
decision has been taken by the central government under the powers conferred by
section 3 of the Census Act, 1948 (37 of 1948). The central government hereby
declares that a census of the population of India shall be taken during the
year 2021. The reference date for the census shall, except for the state of
Jammu and Kashmir and snow bound non-synchronous areas of states of Himachal
Pradesh and Uttarakhand, be 00.00 hours of the first day of March, 2021, it
said. For Jammu and Kashmir and snow bound non-synchronous areas of Himachal
Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the reference date shall be the first day of October,
2020, the notification said. India's last census was carried out in 2011 when
the country's population stood at 121 crore.
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83% MPS ARE 'CROREPATIS', 33% HAVE CRIMINAL CASES: ADR REPORT
At least 83 per cent of
521 sitting MPs are 'crorepatis' and 33 per cent of them have criminal cases
against them, according to a report by election watchdog Association for
Democratic Reforms (ADR). The ADR, an NGO working in electoral reforms, has
compiled the report after analysing self-sworn affidavits of the 521 MPs out of
543 members elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2014 elections. Out of the 521
Sitting MPs analysed, 430 (83 %) are crorepatis. While 227 of them are from
BJP, 37 are from Congress, 29 from AIADMK, among others, the report said. The
average assets per sitting MP for Lok Sabha 2014 elections are Rs 14.72 crore.
While 32 MPs have declared more than Rs 50 crore worth of assets, only two MPs
have declared assets less than worth Rs 5 lakh. At least 33 per cent MPs have
declared criminal cases against them in the affidavits. While 106 of them have
declared serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to
murder, communal disharmony, kidnapping and crimes against women, 10 sitting
MPs have declared cases related to murder. Out of these, 4 sitting MPs are from
BJP, 1 MP from INC, NCP, LJP, RJD, Swabhimani Paksha each and one MP is an
Independent, the report said. 14 sitting MPs have declared cases of attempt to
murder. Out of these, eight sitting MPs are from BJP and one MP each from INC,
AITC, NCP, RJD, Shiv Sena and Swabhimani Paksha. 14 sitting MPs declared cases
related to causing communal disharmony. Out of them, 10 sitting MPs are from
BJP and 1 MP from TRS, PMK, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and AIUDF
each, it added.
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108 ECONOMISTS CAN’T BE IGNORED: OXFAM DISSES CAS; SAYS
ACCOUNTANTS DON’T REPRESENT 93% LABOUR FORCE
Amid the controversy about
the state of unemployment in India, Oxfam has come out guns blazing in support
of the 108 economists who raised concerns over political interference in
publishing official data, while dissing the 131 CAs who had countered the economists’
claims. The concerns raised by these 108 economists on the credibility of the
official data can not be dismissed Diya Dutta, said. These 108 economists are
the who’s who of the country and the world, therefore we cannot dismiss what
they are saying. The government must stand up to listen to what they are
saying, Diya Dutta said. The suppressing of the data such as PLFS is not
desirable. Without proper data, government cannot rectify the problems in the
society she said. Rising unemployment and falling labour force in India is of
concern given the demographic dividend of India, which may also turn into
demographic disaster if something is not done soon to address the problem.
Meanwhile, another official of the prominent NGO sought to dismiss the counter
claims made by 131 CAs, saying that they are not the true representatives of
India’s workforce. The CAs, whose job is to file income tax of companies, do
not represent the 93 per cent of the workforce, which is in the informal
sector, said Ranu Bhogal. Moreover, the thrust of the NSSO is to provide data
to a wide range of people who are able to subject it to analysis and decide for
themselves what they think. It is that process which has been interrupted, said
Partha Mukhopadhyay. The problem is not just jobs, but lack of decent jobs said
Diya Dutta. The vast majority of the youth who are being educated will not be
satisfied with low skilled manual labour jobs any longer, she said. She further
suggested the government to create enough number of quality jobs which can
provide social security benefits, job security and match the rising aspirations
of the working age population.
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443 CANDIDATES, INCLUDING 170 FARMERS, IN FRAY FOR TELANGANA
LOK SABHA POLLS
Sticking to their guns,
over 170 farmers remained in the fray in the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency
from where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha is seeking
re-election with withdrawal of nominations coming to an end Thursday. Election
officials said 60 nominations were withdrawn out of the 503 valid nominations.
A total of 443 candidates remained in the fray with Nizamabad topping the list
with 185 candidates, they said. Telangana, with 17 Lok Sabha constituencies,
goes to the polls in the first phase on April 11. The farmers had filed their
nominations protesting the alleged failure of the ruling Telangana Rashtra
Samithi to ensure minimum support price for turmeric and red jowar (sorghum)
produce. They are also demanding setting up of a turmeric board A total of 648
nominations were filed in the State of which 145 were rejected and 503
nominations were found to be in order after scrutiny, a release from Telangana
Election Commission said on Wednesday. A farmer leader said they have been
seeking a remunerative price for turmeric and red jowar crops and for ensuring
MSP for their produce for the past several days. I have introduced private
member bill (in Parliament). No government cared for turmeric farmers. Only the
TRS government cared for turmeric farmers. The TRS government gave Rs 2 lakh
subsidy on boilers worth Rs 4 lakh. KCR (as Telangana CM is referred to) worked
for the welfare of farmers but Prime Minister Narendra Modi never cared for
them, she said. Raghupathy Reddy, a turmeric farmer who filed his nomination,
said he was going ahead and contesting the elections over the demands.
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AMID FUND CRUNCH, EPFO SHELVES PLAN TO DOUBLE MINIMUM PENSION
After months of
deliberation, the plan to double the minimum pension for the nearly 4.5 million
pensioners of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been
shelved An internal panel of the retirement fund manager had recommended
increasing the pension for EPFO subscribers from the existing ₹1,000
per month to ₹2,000 per month. However, the Union labour and employment
ministry has shelved the plan at least for the time being three officials said,
requesting anonymity. This is now on hold. We cannot go ahead as it will burden
us financially, said one of the officials mentioned above. There are 6 million
pensioners under the EPFO, of which nearly 4.5 million receive less than ₹2,000
per month. An increase in the pension is likely to put an additional annual
burden of ₹1,500 crore on the government. The labour ministry, which
controls EPFO, said there are two constraints—one financial and other
the timing of the year. As it’s election time, it’s not possible to demand more
funding, another official said. EPFO does not have enough surplus to double the
pension on its own and needs financial support to implement the scheme which
will benefit pensioners getting less than ₹1,000. After announcing an
8.65% interest rate for its 60 million subscribers in February for 2018-19, the
surplus with the retirement fund body will be around ₹150
crore. The model code of conduct came in March, but the EPFO had sought clarity
from the government in January. There was no assurance from the government,
whether or not they will provide the money, said the first official.
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TELANGANA GOVT LAUNCHES MSME NETWORKING PORTAL TO DIGITIZE
OVER 2.3 MILLION MSMES
To digitize over 2.3
million Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the state, the Telangana
government launched MSME networking portal Telangana State GlobalLinker,
(ts-msme.globallinker.com), the portal aims to address the key challenges being
faced by MSMEs with the core objective of making their business growth simpler,
more profitable and enjoyable, said Jayesh Ranjan. He said Digitization is
going to be one of the game changers for MSME businesses as it helps them cater
to customers beyond local boundaries, allows their profit to grow twice as fast
and substantially increases their contribution to GDP. Besides digital profile,
the portal will provide MSMEs with access to global networking opportunities to
find buyers and suppliers, economies of scale on a wide range of business
services, access to industry news, articles and discussions.
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CEA ASKS THE INDIAN ECONOMIC SERVICE (IES) OFFICERS TO KEEP
THEMSELVES UPDATED
Dr. Krishnamurty
Subramanium, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) to the Government of India and Cadre
Head of the Indian Economic Service (IES) asks the IES officers to keep
themselves updated and skilled with tools and techniques concerning
econometrics, data analytics and effective visualization among others. He also
emphasized the need of sharing of experiences and best practices regularly on a
common platform amongst IES officers. It was agreed that IES officers can
contribute more effectively to the policy space by making all advice to the
Government evidence-based, objectively communicating the policies of the
Government, and widening the scope of engagement of IES officers to parastatals
and the State Government services. As the importance of specialization in
policymaking is increasing constantly, IES officers need to constantly engage
with academia and the private sector to provide sharp economic analysis. The
CEA also advocated continuous learning through training programs in India and
abroad in the best academic institutions and combining them with effective use
of the advantages provided by the online training courses.
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FIRMS RESPOND TO ECOMM POLICY DRAFT TO DPIIT, ADDRESS ISSUES
FROM DATA SHARING TO KEEPING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
The Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has received comments from
over 30 companies and industry trade bodies on the national draft ecommerce
policy so far, addressing issues from data sharing to maintaining a level
playing field, people close to the development told. The department has already
held closed door consultation meetings with numerous members of the industry,
who brought their concerns around the draft policy and suggestions on how to
accelerate the growth of ecommerce in the country. Among the prime concerns that
most companies highlighted to the DPIIT with the draft national ecommerce
policy is the mandate for them to share anonymised aggregate data with it that
can aid startups and in the forming of public policy. People who met DPIIT
officials said there was a sort of an impasse on this point. The government is
of the view that companies should not be the sole owners of such data and that
it should also be used for betterment of public as it belongs to citizens as
well. However, companies have argued that processed data is akin to
intellectual property and is the only thing giving them an edge over their
rivals. Data is what is driving innovation in the gig economy and sharing it is
akin to sharing IP. So, we really need to have a governance framework on how companies
share and what they share. If they (government) make it mandatory to share this
data, it might not throttle innovation, it might thwart it, said an executive
at Flipkart, who has worked on the company’s responses that will be submitted
to the DPIIT.
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WHATSAPP YET TO COMPLY WITH DATA LOCALISATION NORMS: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has said that the popular messaging platform WhatsApp is not in
compliance with the central bank’s data localisation norms in India. RBI’s
comments come as response in an affidavit, filed with the SC on Wednesday after
the apex court made the central bank a party to a writ petition in January.
This is the first time the central bank has made an official statement on
WhatsApp’s payments business and compliance with data localisation. Centre for
Accountability and Systemic Change, an NGO, had filed the petition challenging
WhatsApp’s compliance standards and absence of a local grievance officer here.
As informed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on November 16,
2018 and February 5, 2019, WhatsApp is non-compliant with the RBI circular (on
data localisation), RBI’s response in the affidavit said. WhatsApp entered
payments in India through Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is run by
NPCI. The original petition also challenged the Menlo Park-based company of
non-payment of local taxes. The RBI has maintained that payments service
providers and third-party payments app should follow its April 6 circular on
data localisation, which mandates storage of key payments data only in India.
The operative word here is — only — which payments companies had requested the
RBI to omit. The RBI did not entertain the request.
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NITI AAYOG VICE-CHAIRMAN RAJIV KUMAR SEEKS MORE TIME TO
RESPOND TO EC NOTICE ON POLL CODE VIOLATION
Niti Aayog vice-chairman
Rajiv Kumar has sought time till April 5 from the Election Commission to
respond to a show-cause notice issued to him for his remarks against the
Congress over its minimum income guarantee promise. Kumar had accused the
Congress of promising moon to win elections. He had also tweeted, saying the
proposed income guarantee scheme fails the economics test, fiscal discipline
test and execution test. In another tweet, Kumar had claimed that true to its
past record of promising the moon to win elections, Congress President
announces a scheme that will bust fiscal discipline, create strong incentives
against work and which will never be implemented. Kumar is reported to have
made similar remarks during an interview as well.
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RAGHURAM RAJAN SEEKS PROTECTION FOR RBI GOVERNORS; SAYS,
STATUTORY TERM NEED OF HOUR
Statutory protection for
the RBI Governor’s term is needed to strengthen the autonomy of Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), Raghuram Rajan said, adding It’s important that the central bank
has operation independence. maybe it is time that we set statutory limits or
(provide) statutory protection for the term of the RBI Governor. The term of
the Governor should be protected, so that the person cannot be impeached or
fired unless there is a dereliction of duty, he said. Similar to the Lokpal,
India could have a constitutional clauses for the protection of central bank
governor’s term he told. There is a need to have a limit on the powers
government wields, said the renowned economist, who went back to the University
of Chicago as a professor after his stint at the Reserve Bank between September
2013 and September 2016. Citing example of the budget making process in various
other countries, Raghuram Rajan said that an independent Fiscal Commission or
Council makes the entire financial exercise believable, and it’s needed in
India too. Constitutional limits are a consequence of the distribution of
power. When I say limits, it does not have to be constitutional amendments. Is
it time for us to discipline ourselves with that. Otherwise, the government can
spend what it wants and not be constrained by anything, he also told. After the
government is provided with a mandate either in terms of the financial
stability or price stability, it should be allowed to carry out the exercise.
If the government fails to deliver, the institution can hold them to account,
he added.
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GLOBAL M&A SLIDES IN FIRST QUARTER AS BREXIT WEIGHS ON
EUROPE
Global mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) sank 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, as
concerns about an economic slowdown and fears of a no-deal Brexit in Europe
spooked chief executives and corporate boardrooms from pursuing big tie-ups.
While dealmakers expected a slowdown after 2018 emerged as the third-strongest
year on record for M&A around the world, some worrying signs emerged,
including a major drop in cross-border activity. Cross-border M&A fell 45
per cent in the first quarter of the year, as companies focused mainly on
building scale on their home turf. Activity in Europe plunged 67 per cent,
according to Refinitiv data, and dragged down global M&A volumes to $927
billion. Many companies feel there is a lot at stake given all the uncertainty
surrounding Brexit and the trade tensions between the US and China, said Dirk
Albersmeier. While megadeals in the United States, such as Bristol-Myers Squibb
Co's $74 billion deal to buy Celgene Corp , were a bright spot lifting global
activity, Europe saw the average deal size shrinking well below the $5 billion
mark. Britain lost its ranking as the world's third-biggest M&A market to
Saudi Arabia, with activity down 62 per cent to $40 million while German
M&A tanked 76 per cent to $17 million. The region could remain anemic for
deals for some time, investment bankers said, with the exception of some
companies having to merge to build national champions, such as German lenders
Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. British companies planning their post-Brexit
survival could also turn to deals to better withstand a possible downturn said
Philip Noblet. The amount of pressure on these companies will accelerate in the
coming months and for some the choice will be between domestic consolidation
and restructuring, Noblet said. Currency volatility in Britain has so far
deterred overseas buyers from bidding for global champions trading in London,
but that could change after Brexit, he added. While global stock markets rose
in the first quarter, central banks appeared to be bracing for decelerating
growth. Earlier this month, the US Federal Reserve abandoned projections for
any interest rate hikes this year amid signs of an economic slowdown. The
macro-economic outlook is murky, said Wilhelm Schulz, chairman of Citigroup
Inc's EMEA M&A. It's not just because of Brexit or trade tensions. The main
reason why people are sitting on the sidelines is the slowdown in global
growth. In contrast to Europe, the United States, which is the largest M&A
market, got off to its strongest start since 2000, with $489.52 billion dollars
in announced deals, up 9.4 per cent compared to a year ago. The number of deals
was down by 40 per cent year-over-year, however, indicating that big-ticket
transactions were the main driver. Consolidation in the healthcare industry,
which was the busiest sector with $181 billion in value, shows no signs of
slowing down, said Sullivan & Cromwell LLP M&A lawyer Krishna
Veeraraghavan. Between competition for new drugs, improving technology, the
aging of the global population, a number of factors will continue to drive
M&A in the healthcare sector, whether it's biotech or insurance providers,
Veeraraghavan said. Unsolicited approaches, such as Barrick Gold Corp's $18
billion bid for Newmont Mining Corp in February, made a comeback, as well as
offers to gatecrash previously announced deals. This exuberance could be a sign
of the M&A markets overheating, investment bankers said. In March,
Germany's pharma group Merck KGaA launched a hostile $5.9 billion all-cash
takeover offer for Versum Materials, which already had agreed to a merger with
U38,586.S rival Entegris. British packager RPC Group ditched a previous deal to
be acquired by Apollo Global Management LLC after receiving a higher offer from
plastics maker Berry Global Group Inc worth 3.34 billion pounds ($4.4 billion).
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JET AIRWAYS DELAYS ECB REPAYMENT AMID LIQUIDITY CRUNCH
Crisis-hit Jet Airways,
where lenders are set to take control under a debt resolution plan, Thursday
said it has delayed repayment of overseas borrowing due to temporary liquidity
constraints. This is at least the fourth time that the airline has defaulted on
debt repayment in recent months. After weeks of speculations and uncertainties
over the future course of Jet Airways, which has grounded over 80 planes due to
financial woes, the airline's board Monday approved a resolution plan
formulated by SBI-led domestic lenders. the repayment of the External
Commercial Borrowing (ECB), availed by the company for working capital
purposes, falling due on March 28, 2019, has been delayed owing to temporary
liquidity constraints, the airline said in a filing to the BSE.
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‘FISCAL SYSTEM MUST BE PREPARED FOR MINIMUM INCOME GUARANTEE
SCHEME’
Though Minimum Income
Guarantee helps deal with poverty, it shouldn’t turn into some kind of a dole
pointed out Raghuram G Rajan. I think we need to deal with the curse of poverty
sooner or later. We have discovered direct income transfers help and there is a
lot to be worked out in terms of how to make this as effective as possible and
how to enable the fiscal position to support this, he said. This is about
capacity building and not about keeping people out of workforce and putting
them permanently on some kind of doles, he added. Presenting his views on the
Congress party’s proposed Minimum Income Guarantee plan, he said that the
fiscal position should be created and there could be ways to do it. However,
there are also other priorities that need strong focus which includes reducing
leakages and addressing agriculture distress. He said that there is a need for
bigger investment in agriculture and we need funds for that. Rajan also felt
that given the extent of arable land India is well-poised for an agriculture
revolution if things were carried out in the right way. It will be a better
option than treating agriculture as an industry that needs a subsidy. On crony
capitalism, he stated that the solution lay in limiting its adverse
consequences. I would feel the best antidote to cronyism is competition. We
have many people lobbying and each one will have a different objective. In many
ways economic competition and political competition are the antidote to
cronyism. Rajan said India is much better prepared for the next phase of growth
from a middle income to a rich nation. A democratic system, instead of an
authoritative one, will help achieve the next phase of growth.
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WITH 185 CANDIDATES IN THE FRAY, EC TO USE BALLOT PAPERS IN
NIZAMABAD
With 185 candidates,
including over 170 farmers in the fray, the Election Commission will use ballot
papers instead of EVMs in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana, from
where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha is seeking
re-election. This was necessitated as the number of candidates is higher than
what the EVMs can accommodate. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat
Kumar said there are 185 valid contesting candidates in Nizamabad and the polls
will be conducted through paper ballot In Nizamabad we have to go (conduct
polls) by ballot paper. This will be also referred to ECI to take approval for
what kind of ballot paper we will use. On the ballot papers, candidates of
recognised national parties will be on top, followed by state parties and then
unrecognised parties and independents, Kumar said.
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ELECTION COMMISSION APPOINTS 24 OBSERVERS TO SCAN WEST BENGAL
POLICE MACHINERY
The Election Commission of
India has deployed 24 police observers to monitor the state police machinery
during elections to West Bengal’s 42 constituencies. It is the largest such
deployment in Bengal so far. The appointment soon ran into trouble after chief
minister Mamata Banerjee objected to the neutrality of one of the observers —
retired BSF director general KK Sharma — who, she alleged. The CPM too
complained against the appointment. By the end of the day, EC replaced Sharma
with Vivek Dubey, a 1981 batch IPS officer. A senior state police official told
that the decision of appointing so many police observers was new. It has been
done after surveying the nature of the state. West Bengal has always been a
politically-sensitive state and it has a history of poll violence, the official
added. A senior EC official added: In every state, police observers are
deployed. According to rough estimates of appointment, a police observer will
supervise two constituencies. This is not unique to Bengal. In some places, the
number of officers can be lesser, depending on the political situation.
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DD, AIR RESPOND TO EC QUERY ON SOURCE OF FEED OF PM'S ADDRESS
Public broadcasters
Doordarshan and Ali India Radio have responded to the Election Commission which
had asked them about the source of feed of the prime minister's address to the
nation on Wednesday, a senior poll panel functionary said. He also said that
the prime minister's office had neither informed nor sought the EC's permission
on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address in which he informed people about the
successful test of an anti-satellite missile. Saxena is heading the committee
of officers set up on Wednesday to examine the matter related to Modi's address
to the nation in the light of the Model Code of Conduct which is in force for
Lok Sabha polls.
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SC RESERVES ORDER ON PLEA TO APPEAL TRIBUNALS’ FINDINGS ON
CITIZENSHIP
The Supreme Court on
Thursday reserved its orders on whether findings of foreigners’ tribunals were
final on the issue of a person’s citizenship without any further appeals. The
decision came after a complaint by those who were left out or dropped from the
NRC following adverse findings against them. A bench led by Chief Justice
Ranjan Gogoi had contested whether such an appellate forum could be created in
absence of any statutory scheme. Can we create an appellate forum? he wondered
loudly. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal espousing the cause of some affected by
tribunals’ findings said the court could create an appeal forum if it wanted.
In the alternate, he said, the consequences should only follow after the
superior courts have vetted any such finding. There were allegations in court
that those declared to be foreigners by these tribunals were dropped from NRC.
He argued that the lengthy process adopted by the NRC to vet citizenship on the
basis of 10 official documents and a family legacy cannot simply be ignored
because of an adverse finding by a tribunal. Then you cannot not provide for an
appeal if the NRC leaves them out (after an adverse finding). Responding to his
arguments, the CJI insisted that the findings of the tribunal ought to be final
as these were in the nature of judicial findings. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde
argued that these were not judicial findings but were quasi-judicial findings.
It is in the nature of an opinion and not conclusive, he said. But the
consequence was that the person had to reside in a particular place, Hegde
said.
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NO CONNECTION BETWEEN AYODHYA MEDIATION PROCESS AND RELEASE OF
FILM 'RAM KI JANMABHOOMI': SUPREME COURT
The 'Ram Ki Janmabhoomi'
film, which revolves around the Ayodhya controversy, is set for the scheduled
release on Friday with the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court refusing to
interfere with its screening There is no connection between the mediation
proceedings in the Ayodhya land dispute matter and the release of the film, the
Supreme Court said when the matter was mentioned before it for urgent listing.
Hours later, the Delhi High Court hearing a separate petition on the issue also
decided not to come in the way of the release of the film saying there was no
material on record to support the allegations that the movie has the potential
to promote communal disharmony. This court has not found anything objectionable
in it, the high court said. In the Supreme Court, a bench comprising Justices S
A Bobde and S A Nazeer, said no film can come in the way of mediation
proceedings and if the parties want to settle the issue, they will do it. There
is no connection between the mediation proceeding and the release of movie. If
the parties want to settle it, they will. They will not be affected by the
film. We are not so pessimistic about it. No film can come in the way of
mediation, the bench said. It said that the plea against the movie would be
heard after two weeks.
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RESERVATIONS TO ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTIONS: SC TO HEAR PLEAS
ON APRIL 8
The Supreme Court said it
would hear on April 8 a batch of pleas challenging the Centre’s decision to
grant 10 per cent reservation in jobs and admission for candidates of
economically weaker sections across all classes. The matter came up for hearing
before a bench of Justices SA Bobde and SA Nazeer. Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought adjournment saying he and Attorney
General (AG) KK Venugopal were appearing in the matter Thursday before a
constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. I am on my legs before
the constitution bench. Please accommodate me, he told the bench. On the matter
whether the batch of petitions on the reservation issue was needed to be
referred to a constitution bench, Mehta said the AG has to say something on it.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for one of the petitioners, said the
issue should be heard by a constitution bench. The bench, after a brief
hearing, said it would hear the matter on April 8.
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HOME BUYERS TO PAY IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PROJECT'S PROGRESS:
RERA
Government boards and
authorities involved in housing projects cannot charge money from buyers in a
fixed date linked schedule -- a practice common in Madhya Pradesh till now.
Boards and authorities will now charge money on the basis of the completion
stages of a project or in construction-linked payment module. After coming
across several complaints related to housing projects by government
organisations, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) observed that the
money charged by government agencies was not connected with the actual
construction while, ideally, people should be asked to pay in accordance with
the progress of a project, RERA observed. RERA has requested the state
government to correct its price charging structure after which the government
recently issued circular to all boards and authorities to do the needful. So
far, irrespective of a project that has started or been completed, the
government boards and authorities would charge money in a fixed slot of
three-month, six-month and on yearly instalments. The buyers would be fined if
they do not pay the instalment on the fixed date. Government boards and
corporations often roll out major real estate projects in a city. In Bhopal,
the most prestigious housing projects are of the housing board and Bhopal
Development Authority. RERA has received around 40 complaints with regard to
impractical payment structures by the government agencies. Housing projects by
government agencies would also have to mention delivery date. It is not
mentioned in the projects yet.
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GOLDMAN SACHS FINED $45 MILLION BY UK WATCHDOG FOR THIS REASON
Britain’s markets watchdog
said on Thursday it had fined Goldman Sachs International a record 34.3 million
pounds ($45 million) for failing to provide accurate reporting of transactions
over a decade. These were serious and prolonged failures, said Mark Steward,
the Financial Conduct Authority’s executive director of enforcement and market
oversight. Goldman agreed to resolve the case speedily, thus qualifying for a
30 per cent discount to avoid a fine of 49 million pounds. We are pleased to
have resolved this legacy matter. We dealt with the issues proactively at the
time and have made significant investments across the period to develop and
enhance our reporting procedures, the U.S. investment bank said. The FCA said
that Goldman is the 14th financial firm to be fined for transaction reporting
failures under the European Union securities law known as MiFID. Last week it
fined Swiss bank UBS 27.6 million pounds, at the time the highest penalty to
date. Accurate data on trades are essential for regulators to monitor for
market abuses and combat financial crime, the FCA said, adding that between
2007 and 2017, Goldman made more than 220 million errors in its transaction
reporting. The FCA also found that GSI failed to take reasonable care to
organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively in respect of its
transaction reporting, the FCA said.
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MALWARE ATTACKS ROSE 53% IN INDIA IN 2018: SONICWALL
While ransomware attacks
were down 49 per cent in India in 2018, the country experienced 53 per cent
rise in malware attacks last year, according to a new report from cybersecurity
firm SonicWall. Ransomware attacks were up in every geography except India and
the UK, showed the findings based on an analysis 3.9 trillion malicious events
in over 215 countries. Cyber perpetrators are not letting up in their
relentless pursuit to illegally obtain data, valuable information and
intellectual property, said Bill Conner, President and CEO, SonicWall. The 2019
SonicWall Cyber Threat Repor trevealed that 10.52 billion malware attacks were
blocked in 2018, the most ever recorded to date by SonicWall. Based upon a
sampling of more than 700 million malware attacks, the research revealed that
19.2 per cent of malware attacks used non-standard ports, a year-over-year
increase of 8.7 per cent. Analysed by the SonicWall Capture Labs, the data
showed 217.5 per cent increase in Internet of Things attacks in 2018.
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AFTER AADHAAR ORDINANCE, BANKS AIMING TO REWORK DIGITAL
ACCOUNT-OPENING PROCESS
Banks are once again
reworking strategies for instant opening of bank accounts using Aadhaar-based
authentication and KYC, with some likely to relaunch such facilities in the
coming weeks. The move follows the promulgation of Aadhaar and other laws
(Amendment) Ordinance 2019 earlier this month, which amended the Aadhaar Act
2016, Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2005, and Indian Telegraph Act 1885,
and enabled private banks and telecoms to use Aadhaar for authentication of
identity. Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank plans to review its
immensely popular digital account opening platform 811 through this method. Now,
with the recent guidelines by the government, we are reworking on offering the
consent-based voluntary use of Aadhaar for bank account opening As we speak, we
are in the process of studying the changes. My take is very soon we will be
able to offer, with least amount of friction, a journey closer to, if not
exactly the way it was before the Aadhaar verdict, said Deepak Sharma. The bank
had temporarily suspended the 811 account opening facility after the Supreme
Court verdict on Aadhaar last year, which had prohibited the compulsory use of
the 12-digit biometric identification number-based KYC for bank accounts and
mobile connections. Later, the lender had partially restarted the service,
although there was a slowdown in customer acquisition. Aadhaar, as a service,
could be used only for those customers who wanted to use it for DBT purpose and
voluntary use of Aadhaar. They could proceed with the journey through OTP and
full KYC as we were doing pre-Aadhaar verdict, said Sharma, adding that the
second option was a wallet-based journey to customers. Such customers came
through a wallet route and then we quickly did their KYC and brought them on
board, he told.
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WE WILL 'REMONETISE' WHAT MODI 'DEMONETISED', SAYS RAHUL
GANDHI
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday
said the 'Nyay' scheme will remonetise what Prime Minister Narendra Modi
demonetised and asserted that his party's anti-poverty programme has thrown the
BJP into total disarray. Rahul Gandhi said the 'Nyay' scheme has the twin
objectives of giving money to the 20 per cent poorest families in India and
remonetising the economy damaged by demonetisation. What the PM has done over
the past five years is to remove all money from the economy with failed policies
like demonetisation and a poorly executed Gabbar Singh Tax (GST). Informal
sectors have been badly hit. The aim of the 'Nyay' scheme is two-fold. First is
to guarantee a minimum income to the bottom 20 per cent families. The second is
to remonetise the economy that has been demonetised by Modiji, Rahul Gandhi
said. The Congress chief said there is a reason why the party christened the
scheme 'Nyay', which translates to justice in Hindi. There is another aspect to
calling the scheme 'Nyay'. Why have we chosen to call this scheme 'Justice'?
Because over the last five years, Mr Narendra Modi has simply snatched from
poor and given nothing back. He has taken away from the farmers, he has
snatched from the small and medium businesses, he's taken away from the unemployed
youth, he has extinguished the savings of mothers and sisters of this country.
We want to return to India's deprived sections what Modiji has snatched from
them, Gandhi said. Terming 'Nyay' (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) a game changer and a
final assault on poverty, Rahul Gandhi said the scheme is fiscally perfectly
doable and will not be implemented rashly like demonetization and GST of the
BJP. Asked about apprehensions of some economists that 'Nyay', which entails an
expenditure of Rs 3.6 lakh crore annually, could aggravate India's fiscal
deficit position, Gandhi said, No, that's not right. He said the party
consulted a large number of economists and experts, studied numerous papers and
other research material on this subject and run an extensive financial
modelling exercise before deciding to include the plan in its Lok Sabha
manifesto. To a question on the scheme being prima facie populist, Rahul said
it is not a populist measure as projected by some critics. If giving out Rs 3.5
lakh crore to 15 people by Narendra Modi is not considered populist, why should
this be as it is aimed at benefitting the poor, he said. Is it only the crony
capitalist friends of Mr Modi who are to benefit from government schemes? I'm
only asking for fairness, for justice, or 'nyay' for India's poor. There's
nothing populist about that, he countered. Taking a swipe at Modi, who
announced the demonetisation of high value currency notes in a surprise move in
November 2016, Rahul Gandhi said, We're not rash. We don't take steps like
demonetisation and GST without consultations, without conferring with the
experts. We have vetted this, tested this, and fiscally 'Nyay' as a scheme is
completely doable. The Congress president did not give a time line on when the
party planned to make India poverty free and said 'Nyay' will first be tested
through a pilot to smoothen out any flaws. We're not going to do it the way GST
was done. We are first going to run a short pilot project to smoothen out any
flaws in the implementation process and then roll it out nationwide. We're also
going to set down a robust way of identifying the beneficiaries, so that no
deserving family is left out, he said. Asked if the pilot will be run in
Congress-ruled states, Gandhi said experts will decide on that. This is for the
experts to decide. In the 10 years of the Congress-UPA government, we took 14
crore people out of poverty net. Our goal now is to finish the job, he said.
Gandhi added that 20 per cent to 22 per cent families are living in poverty
even today. Many of them have been pushed into this cycle by the prime
minister's demonetisation scheme and 'Gabbar Singh Tax' (GST), he noted. Our
goal is to completely eliminate poverty from India, he said, describing 'Nyay'
as the final assault on poverty.
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CONGRESS BLINDED BY ANTI-MODI SENTIMENT, STOPPED THINKING IN
NATION'S INTEREST: PM NARENDRA MODI
The Congress is blinded by
its anti Modi approach and has stopped thinking in the nation's interest Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said, raising issues of national security and terrorism
and questioning the party's statements following the Balakot strike. Modi
claimed the speeches of Congress leaders receive applause in Pakistan. He said
he was surprised at the Congress' reaction to his government's endeavour to
teach a lesson to the enemies of the country. What has happened to the Congress
party the anti-Modi approached adopted by them has blinded them to the extent
that they have stopped thinking in the interest of the nation Modi told the
gathering. The prime minister, who is campaigning for Jugal Kishore, the BJP's
candidate from Jammu-Poonch, also questioned the Congress' silence on National
Conference's Baramulla candidate Akbar Lone's reported remarks purportedly in
favour of Pakistan. I am surprised that they are alligning with such people who
are against the interests of the nation, Modi said. The Jammu-Poonch
parliamentary seat goes to the polls on April 11. He also asked people of the
state to remain vigilant against the policies of the National Conference and
the PDP, a former ally of the BJP, for their alleged pro-separatist agenda.
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EC ISSUES NOTIFICATION FOR PHASE 3 OF LS POLLS
The Election Commission on
Thursday issued a notification for phase three of the Lok Sabha elections to be
held on April 23 in 115 seats spread across 14 states. All the seats in Goa,
Gujarat, Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry will go
for polling in this phase. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal will head for
voting in all the seven phases of the general elections. According to the
Election Commission, the parliamentary constituencies going to the polls in the
third phase in Uttar Pradesh include Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad,
Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit. Jhanjharpur, Supaul
Araria , Madhepura Khagaria in Bihar and Surguja (ST), Raigarh (ST)
Janjgir-Champa (SC), Korba , Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur in Chhattisgarh will
head for voting in the third phase. The Anantnag seat in Jammu and Kashmir will
also go for polls in this phase. While the nominations begin on Thursday, the
last date for filing of filing papers is April 4 and scrutiny of nominations
will be held on April 5. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April
8, the notification said.
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CPI(M) RELEASES MANIFESTO, PROPOSES STOPPAGE OF MASS
SURVEILLANCE, STATUTORY MINIMUM WAGE OF RS 18,000
The CPI(M) on Thursday
proposed stoppage of mass surveillance, statutory minimum wage of not less than
Rs 18,000 per month and curbing monopolies over the telecom and Internet
service platforms in its manifesto for the coming Lok Sabha elections. In the
declaration, the party has proposed an alternative policy platform under which
it has called for protection of the secular principle and democratic rights
enshrined in the Constitution and enforcement of farmers’ right to sell their
produce at minimum support price. It has also proposed a statutory minimum wage
of not less than Rs 18,000 per month, universal Public Distribution System with
35 kg of food grains per family, rise in taxes of the rich, restoration of
inheritance tax and old age pension of Rs 6,000 per month.
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MAHARASHTRA SUGAR MILLS PAY 76% OF FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE
TO RYOTS
Even as the cane crushing
season comes to an end, sugar mills in Maharashtra have not paid the full Fair
and Remunerative Price (FRP) to farmers and sugar barons across party lines are
promising to pay arrears before the end of the poll season. In all, 193 sugar
mills in the State have crushed over 90,523 lakh tonnes (lt) of sugarcane,
producing over 101 lt of sugar. Out of ₹19,623 crore payable as
FRP, mills have paid ₹14,881 crore, while farmers are demanding immediate payment of
arrears of ₹4,742 crore. FRP is the minimum price to be paid by sugar
mills to the cane growers who provide cane to the mills. The Sugarcane
(Control) Order, 1966, stipulates payment of the cane price within 14 days of
supply failing which interest at the rate of 15 per cent per annum on the
amount due for the delayed period beyond 14 days is payable. Sugarcane farming
is the source of livelihood for nearly 2.5 crore people living in rural
Maharashtra. While the majority of sugar mills in the sugar belt of western
Maharashtra are controlled by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the
Congress, satraps from the BJP and Shiv Sena in the region and in other parts
of the State have joined the sugar mill lobby. In fact, sugar mills are the
lifeline of State politics. However, unlike Uttar Pradesh, where FRP arrears
have become a simmering political issue, it is not an election agenda in
Maharashtra. State Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said that action has been
initiated against 49 sugar mills that have failed to pay FRP. He added that
about 90 per cent of the FRP will be deposited in farmers’ accounts before
sugar mills close the crushing season.
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COFFEE BOARD ACTIVATES BLOCKCHAIN BASED MARKETPLACE IN INDIA
Anup Wadhawan, launched
blockchain based coffee e-marketplace through video conferencing in New Delhi.
Speaking on the occasion he said that this pilot project will help integrate
the farmers with markets in a transparent manner and lead to realisation of
fair price for the coffee producer. Wadhawan said that the blockchain will also
reduce the number of layers between coffee growers and buyers and help farmers
double their income. India is the only country in the world where entire coffee
is grown under shade, handpicked and sun dried. It produces one of the best
coffees in the world, produced by small coffee growers, tribal farmers adjacent
to National Parks and Wild Life Sanctuaries in the Western and Eastern Ghats,
which are two of the major bio-diversity hot spots in the world. Indian coffee
is highly valued in the world market and sold as premium coffees. The share of
farmers in the final returns from coffee is very meagre.
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PM MODI LAUNCHES BJP'S POLL CAMPAIGN, ASKS CITIZENS TO VOTE IN
LARGE NUMBERS
Launching the election
campaign of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the first phase of 2019 Lok Sabha
polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people that Hindus and Muslims
should come out in large numbers to vote for a government which is corruption
free, ensures basic health facilities to people, creates employment
opportunities for youth and works for safety of women. Modi also appealed to
farmers that the union government was working for them and the sugarcane dues
would be paid to them at the earliest by the state government under chief
minister Yogi Adityanath. Hindus, Muslims, youth, women and voters of urban and
rural areas should come out in large numbers to vote. Do not let people
misguide you on the day of voting. We have to make a strong and decisive
government. We have to make a government which works for New India, a place
where there is no corruption, health and education for all, basic facilities
are available to everyone, women are safe and farming is profitable, said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in Meerut, where he held his first public meeting for
the 2019 general elections. The poor of the country have realised that if they
want to remove poverty and then they should ensure that Congress does not come
to power. Poor have decided to defeat Congress from every corner of the
country, PM said.
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DELHI HC STAYS LINKING ‘RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL' TO
INDIAN-BUILT SHIPS FOR HAULING CARGO
Four local fleet owners
have secured a stay from the Delhi High Court on Thursday against a key policy
change of the shipping ministry that grants top preference to Indian-built
ships for carrying cargo or providing other services such as dredging and
offshore oil exploration support activities to state-run entities. The Great
Eastern Shipping Co Ltd its off-shore unit Greatship (India) Ltd, Seven Islands
Shipping Ltd and Samson Maritime Ltd together filed a writ petition in the
Delhi High Court seeking prospective application of the new rule and safeguard
their fundamental right to do business as an Indian entity. We are seeking a
direction from the court to set aside the policy change in the interest of
Indian ship owners, said an executive with Seven Islands Shipping. The policy
change – announced and took effect from February 13 just days before the election
dates were announced – had annoyed the local ship owners. The so-called right
of first refusal (RoFR) policy was re-designed to boost local shipbuilding and
fire-up the government’s faltering ‘Make in India’ initiative. The RoFR would
be exercised if the lowest bidder is a foreigner or company registered outside
India, offering a ship not built in India. Or, the lowest bidder is a Citizen
of India/company or society registered in India/Indian shipping
company/organisation with a ship registered/flagged in India, offering a ship
not built in India. In such cases, the first priority to exercise the RoFR
would be given to a bidder who offers an Indian-built ship. The director
general of shipping issued guidelines on March 22 to give effect to the policy
change. Nobody is against the government’s move to support Make in India, but
by definition it is prospective, and can’t be retrospective. The way they have
worded the policy of February 13, it does not say prospectively. Hence, if you
have built a ship ten years ago, it would be given top priority. You may not
even have placed the order originally, but just happened to buy the ship in the
second-hand market. How does that encourage future Make in India? Bharath
Sheth, chairman and managing director of Great Eastern Shipping told.
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INDIA SEEKS BIDS FOR $5 BN IN TRANSMISSION LINES TO FUEL
RENEWABLES GROWTH
India will launch $5
billion of transmission-line tenders in phases, beginning in June, to route a
targeted 175 gigawatts (GW) of power from renewable sources into the country's
grid by 2022, the Secretary at the Ministry of Renewable Energy said. India,
the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has pledged to cut
emissions and have clean energy account for at least 40 per cent of its
installed capacity by 2030, up from 21.4 per cent now, while looking to manage
its energy appetite as its population becomes more prosperous. The renewable
energy targets would require investment in feeder lines and infrastructure
upgrades. India has awarded tenders for 12 GW of transmission lines since
December, while bids for a further 16 GW will be launched by the end of June.
Another 38 GW will be bid out before March 2020, he said. Building transmission
lines for 66 GW worth projects would need an estimated investment of 430
billion rupees, the secretary for renewables, Anand Kumar, said. India, which
receives twice as much sunshine as European countries, wants to make solar
central to its renewable expansion as part of the fight against climate change.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has set a goal to raise solar power
generation to 100 GW and wind to 60 GW by 2022. The other 15 GW would come from
biomass and hydropower. India has cancelled tenders for renewable energy
projects with a capacity of at least 5 GW, saying the bid prices were too high.
Solar and wind energy developers have also complained about the difficulty of
leasing land and duties on solar equipment imports.
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CEMENT SECTOR VOLUME UP 13.6% TILL JANUARY THIS FISCAL, SAYS
ICRA
India’s cement industry
saw a 13.6% year-on-year increase in volume to 275.7 million metric tonnes in
the first ten months of the current fiscal, driven largely by rural and
affordable housing, according to a report by credit rating agency ICRA. The
growth was almost double the 7% increase forecast by the agency. However, ICRA
said that the sharp increase is unlikely to translate into any meaningful
profit growth or improved margins during the year owing to the inability of the
industry to secure any significant price increases and because producers have
been subjected to cost pressures for much of the year. We expect volume growth
at 8% for FY2020 driven largely by rural and affordable housing demand and
improved focus on infrastructure segments—mainly road, metro and irrigation
projects, said Sabyasachi Majumdar. On the capacity side, we expect around
17-18 MTPA to get added in 2019-20. With the incremental demand of around 24-28
million MT being greater than the incremental supply, this is likely to
translate to improved capacity utilisation although past capacity overhang is
likely to keep the utilisation at moderate levels – at 69% in FY2019 and 71% in
FY2020, he said. At the pan-India level, prices in most markets were 3-8% lower
between April 2018 and February 2019 than a year ago, according to ICRA. This,
along with higher input costs, put pressure on the profitability of cement
companies, it said.
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NEW DELHI AIRPORT NAMED INDIA'S BEST, FOLLOWED BY MUMBAI,
HYDERABAD, BENGALURU
Singapore's Changi Airport
has been crowned the world's best aviation hub for the seventh time in a row, while
New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport featured at number 59,
according to the Skytrax World Airport Awards. The list has been compiled by
the UK-based Skytrax, a consultancy firm which runs an airline and airport
review and ranking site, featuring 100 airports. The prestigious accolade was
awarded at the Passenger Terminal Expo 2019 in London on Wednesday. The Skytrax
World Airport Awards are voted for by customers in a global airport customer
satisfaction survey. To be voted the World's Best Airport for the seventh
consecutive year is a truly fabulous achievement for Changi Airport, and this
award continues to underline the airport's popularity with international air
travellers, Edward Plaisted, said. Singapore Changi Airport is known for its
rooftop swimming pool, two 24-hour movie theaters and shopping spots. The award
came ahead of the much awaited Jewel Changi terminal, in April which will
feature the world's tallest indoor waterfall. The airport also nabbed the award
for best airport hotel, thanks to its Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and its
leisure facilitates also got recognised. At number two on the list is Tokyo
International Airport (Haneda), up one place from 2018. This hub also won
World's Best Domestic Airport and World's Cleanest Airport. Breaching the top
three is Incheon International Airport, down one place from its second-place
spot in 2018. Incheon remains a stalwart of the airport rankings, also nabbing
an award for World's Best Transit Airport. New Delhi's IGI Airport was eight
points up this year after featuring at the 66th spot in 2018. The other Indian
airports in the list were Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International
Airport at 64, down one point from the previous year, the Rajiv Gandhi
Hyderabad International Airport at 66, up 10 points and Bengaluru's Kempegowda
International Airport at 69, down five points.
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IPL VIEWERSHIP UP 31% IN FIRST WEEKEND, SET FOR A RECORD: STAR
Indian Premier League 2019
has seen a massive jump in reach as well as average viewership in the first
weekend, media rights holder Star India said, citing BARC PreView data. The
network reached 219 million TV viewers across India (urban+rural, TV and out of
home) for the first three matches, registering a 31% jump over previous year.
We are very excited with the initial numbers of the opening weekend, which
shows that this is going to be the biggest IPL ever, as promised by Star, said
Gautam Thakar. Reach in Hindi speaking markets (HSM) grew by 30% to 79 million
on the opening day, compared to 60 million year ago, while in South, reach was
up by 20% for the match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers
Bangalore. On a per match basis, average impressions were 105 million, showing
a 29% increase, Thakar said. Star India is airing IPL live across 24 channels
in the country this season, up from 10 channels last year, in a bid to reach
out to a wider audience, including families.
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MODI GOVT ORDERS BSNL, DOT TO VACATE CTO MUMBAI TO MAKE SPACE
FOR BOMBAY HIGH COURT; DOT RELUCTANT
The Ministry of IT and
Communications has asked the state-run telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited (BSNL) and the local DoT unit to vacate the premises of the Central
Telegraph Office (CTO) in Mumbai by March 29, despite repeated reservations by
high-level officials within the Department of Telecom. According to BSNL
officials with direct knowledge of the matter, BSNL and the Comptroller
Communication Accounts (CCA), which operate from the first and second floors of
the building, have been asked to move out owing to political pressure from the
ministry. They have told us that the renting of the floors is part of the
revival plan to generate additional revenues (for the struggling PSU), said
officials.Officials told that BSNL operates from one-half of the first floor,
while the other half and the second floor is being used by the CCA. The ground
floor of the CTO building was rented to the Bombay High Court by BSNL for five
years at a cost of Rs 3.24 crore on Jan 1, 2016. However, the political
decision to agree to rent the first and second floors of the CTO building
hasn’t gone down well with officials, it has been learnt. In a communication
earlier this month, officials are learnt to have conveyed their unwillingness
to vacate the premises, as desired by the ministry.
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GOVT HAS TAKEN MEASURES TO SET UP ‘CHOWKIDAR’ IN SPACE: MODI
IN ODISHA
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday said his government had taken measures to set up a ‘chowkidar’
in space and asked people to vote for a government that can take concrete
decisions and not just raise slogans. Launching his campaign in eastern India
with a rally in Jeypore area of Odisha’s Koraput district, the Prime Minister
said the NDA government wouldn’t have been able to do any development work in
the country without the support of the people. He sought blessings from his
supporters for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and asserted that the NDA
government has left no stone unturned to bring about development in the state.
The NDA government has been working hard to develop road and rail
infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of funds when it comes to
development work in the country. In the last five years, the government has
been able to build homes for eight lakh families, light up 3,000 houses and
provide gas connections to 40 lakh homes, Modi stated. Referring to ‘Mission
Shakti’, when India demonstrated anti-satellite (ASAT) missile capability by
shooting down a live satellite, he said the government has taken measures to
set up a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) in space. He came down heavily on opposition
parties who he said belittled the space achievement. Those that are criticising
the anti-satellite technology will be given a befitting reply in the elections,
he claimed, urging people to vote for a government that can take concrete
decisions, not the one that only raises slogans.
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MUMBAI AIRPORT RUNWAY REPAIRS TO BE COMPLETED BY 30 MARCH
Runway repairs at Mumbai’s
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will be completed by 30 March
an official said, likely easing congestion and tamping down soaring airfares.
The congestion due to the maintenance work at India’s second busiest airport
resulted in a 30-50% rise in airfares on late bookings in March, for both
inbound and outbound flights. According to online travel portal Yatra, airfares
are expected to stabilize in the coming months. A combination of factors is
leading to moderation of fares. With expectations of aircraft coming in (at Jet
Airways), and completion of runway work at Mumbai, prices are expected to stabilize
by April-end and early-May, said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer, (B2C),
Yatra Online. Jet Airways, which had to ground a major part of its fleet due to
non-payment of lease rentals plans to restart 50 flights by March-end, and get
back 40 of its grounded planes on the skies by April-end. Dhall, however,
expects airfares to be 5-10% higher in May compared with the year-ago period.
The fares will not come back to the 2018 levels. We expect 5-10% growth, which
is healthy and normal for the industry. Mumbai airport has seen a partial
shutdown since 7 February, following repair works at the intersection of the
two runways, leading to closures during peak hours. On a normal day, the CSIA
handles as many as 940 flights. The airport, however, can operate only one
runway considering that simultaneous operation of its cross runways is too
complicated. In comparison, New Delhi airport has three near-parallel runways.
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MUMBAI: RS 100 CR FINE YET TO BE COLLECTED FROM MOTORISTS
Traffic police which had
received flak for its inability to recover pending fines for traffic violations
for the last two years have seen great improvement in collection of fines this
year. As per the department's claims, this year the recovery rate has increased
to 125 per cent per day as compared to last year. Still, the pending fine
amount is around Rs 100 crore. Amitesh Kumar said, The e-challan system was
fully operational in 2017 and 2018. Before that, we used to collect fines
manually. Since the CCTVs are linked with the e-challan system, we saw an
increase in the number of cases registered. However, there has been pendency of
recovery of fines from the offenders due to the implementation of the e-challan
system. He added, the manual fine collecting system used to result in
police-public conflict and raised allegations of corruption among traffic
police. It also led to less manpower in regulating traffic with policemen being
put on fine collecting duty. The e-challan system was introduced to overcome
all these issues. Last year we used to collect Rs 8 lakh fines per day, which
has now increased to Rs 18 lakh per day. Till February this year, Rs 141 crore
fine was unpaid, the number has now come down to Rs 100 crore. Due to awareness
created by traffic police, citizens are now paying fine amount online, said
Kumar.
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PRIVATE PRODUCERS SEEK TREDS MECHANISM TO CLEAR RS 41,240
CRORE DUES
Private power producers
have urged the government to consider extending the trade receivables
discounting system (TReDS) applicable for MSMEs to them to help resolve their
payment woes, which are to the tune Rs 41,240 crore. In a letter to power
secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Association of Power Producers Friday said
delay in recovery of receivables, especially regulatory receivables, has
created stress on their finances as it impacts their ability to service debt
and severely restricts working capital liquidity. According to the letter, as
of end January 2019, the amount of receivables due from discoms is to the tune
of Rs 41,240 crore, of which dues from sale of power are around Rs 17,246
crore, while dues stuck in litigation are worth Rs 17,128 crore and nearly Rs
6,865 crore of receivables are pending despite adjudication We urge the Union
power ministry to take expeditious action on this issue to help avoid create
more NPAs and to ensure the availability of adequate power during the summer
which is also the election season, APP director-general Ashok Khurana said in
the letter. He further said since the government has taken measures to address
the receivables situation for MSMEs through the TReDS, extending the same to
them will be of immense help. Moreover, the RBI has also issued guidelines for
implementing the system. We believe a similar system would greatly ease current
stress on private power producers and we request the ministry to consider
implementing the same for us as well, Khurana said. It may be recalled that the
power ministry had suggested a similar system to the empowered committee, which
had proposed formulation of a proposal for tri-partite agreement for
discounting bills of power producers. A senior official at a private producer
said if the discoms are unable to make timely payments, it will severely impact
the sector in the long-run. Nearly 25,000-mw capacity has receivables of over
Rs 41,000 crore. Also, nearly Rs 3 lakh crore of bank funds are stuck in these
projects. On top of it, discoms, due to mostly political reasons, have not been
able to raise tariffs or improve recoveries. Unless the government takes prompt
steps, there will be a situation when there will be no power as generators will
not be able to produce due to liquidity crisis, he said. He said IPPs have to
make advance payments for to Coal India for fuel as well as to the Railways for
shipment. The Reserve Bank has identified as many as 34 financially stressed
power projects with loans of over Rs 1.8 lakh crore at risk of becoming NPAs.
The matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
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PENETRATION OF MSMES IN INDIA IS LOW: EXPERT
Penetration of Micro Small
and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India on availing schemes and getting finance
is on the lower side and large portion of these units depend on informal sector
for finance, said Regional Director of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Jammu. Thomas
Mathew urged the participants to step up their awareness initiatives so that
both prospective and established entrepreneurs are aware about the policies and
schemes targeting the MSME sector. He stressed on the importance of the MSME
sector in the Indian economy, especially their contribution to GDP and
employment generation. Comparing it with other economies, he said that the
sector has tremendous scope and potential
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DEBTORS NEED TO HONOUR CONTRACTS, SAYS CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
If the country has to be
disruptor to occupy its place among other developed countries, it has to follow
a culture of ensuring debtors honour contracts with banks and financial
institutions, Krishnamurthy Subramanian said Friday. It is extremely important
to respect the moral dimensions of the debt contract, he said. The debt
contract in itself has moral essence with the equity holder and the businessman
keeps all the goods and repays the obligations to the banks. But if things go
bad, it is beholden to that contractual obligation, he said. So far, the
country has been having a situation in which private profits and losses were
getting socialised through banks, he said. This was because what appears in the
deposits are the tax payers' money, he said. So this important change in
culture is absolutely paramount if the nation has to be a disruptor, he said.
He said the country has taken an unprecedented step by introducing bankruptcy
thereby ensuring smaller and larger borrowers were brought under it. By
ensuring rather than looking at who is that man on whom the rule is being
applied, the bankruptcy rule is applied equally well. But, there is still some
progress we have to make here, he said. Subramanian, who assumed office three
months ago, said though the 7.5 per cent average GDP growth recorded in the
last five years, it happened primarily because of the increase in consumption
in domestic economy. Our growth has happened based on domestic consumption and
it makes us more immune to sort of some of the shocks that we may experience
and that is a good aspect we must definitely keep in mind, he said. Pointing to
the inflation rates which were in excess of 10 per cent between 2014-15,
Subramanian said, Over the last five years, the average rate of inflation has
been about 4.5 per cent which is a significant change compared to 10 per cent-
plus inflations that prevailed. He said the change in inflation can be
attributed to the structural change by making the Reserve Bank of India an
inflation targeter and ensuring that the rate of inflation is in the band of
four per cent plus-minus two per cent. As we continue to debate about inflation
etc, to my mind, at least monetary framework has been an important framework in
lowering the inflation, he said. On the implementation of Goods and Services
Tax which came into effect in July 2017, he said based on research no path-
breaking change achieves perfection immediately. In a country like ours, which
is large and diverse, it is more important for us to be tolerant to the fact
that we will not be able to hit perfection with policy changes immediately.
But, let's recognise that GST is an important change which at least creates
India as one market and not 30- odd markets, he said.
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RESCUE DEAL IS NO PANACEA FOR STRUGGLING JET AIRWAYS
Jet Airways' investors are
cheering this week's government-led rescue deal, but the cash-strapped Indian
airline's future looks mired in uncertainty as convincing a new investor to
come on board may not be easy. The airline, which was on the brink of bankruptcy,
was bailed out on Monday by state-run banks, which have temporarily taken a
majority stake in the company, given it a new loan of $218 million and forced
its chairman, Naresh Goyal, to step down from the board of the airline he
founded 25 years ago. Its future is far from certain though, as a consortium of
banks led by State Bank of India now rushes to find a new investor and sell its
stake in the airline. This may not be easy especially with Goyal still holding
a 25.5 percent share in Jet, which gives him the legal right to block key
decisions including raising capital, issuing new shares and diluting equity. If
a deep-pocketed investor is not found soon, Jet may struggle for funds again as
the interim loan given by the banks will not last for very long, say lessors
and analysts. Right now Jet is in survival mode, there is no strategy, said an
executive at one of Jet's lessors. Jet has been in talks with the lessor since
securing the deal but it has given few details on settling pending lease payments
and on its turnaround plans, he said. The important thing for us to know is if
the airline has somebody who is patient, capable and has the financial muscle
to revive it, he said, adding his company is yet to decide whether to keep the
aircraft they grounded tied to Jet. Once India's leading full service carrier,
Jet has struggled to compete with low-cost carriers in recent years. The
airline's market share has nearly halved to 11.4 percent from 21.2 percent in
2016 and it has been forced to ground about two-thirds of its fleet leading to
hundreds of flight cancellations. Indian conglomerate Tata Sons had been in
talks to invest in Jet on the condition that Goyal would step down, or take a
less prominent role, sources told Reuters in November. While the rescue deal
could put Tata back in the race, Goyal's trimmed stake may still be a problem. Are
you not creating a huge hurdle for the potential investors? said a senior
government official, reacting to the bank-led bailout in which Goyal still has
a stake. India also wants a domestic investor to replace the banks, which rules
out potential deep-pocketed suitors like Qatar Airways but the
government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, whose
shareholders also include Abu Dhabi Investment Fund, is still in the fray,
sources have said.
In a fresh sign of its
weak financial situation, just days after the bailout, Jet told the Indian
stock exchange on Thursday that it had defaulted on an overseas loan due to
temporary liquidity constraints Local media reported that it was a loan of $140
million. Saving the airline is crucial for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he
looks to avoid thousands of job losses ahead of a general election. This is
just a band-aid until the elections, said a source close to Jet. We don't know
if this bailout will work, he said, adding that Jet is like a hot piece of coal
for the banks which they want to drop as soon as possible. Several Jet pilots,
who have not been paid for months, have switched airlines, and rival carriers like
SpiceJet have been in talks with Jet's lessors to take some of its grounded
planes on lease, a source has told Reuters. Jet has assured Indian authorities
that no more planes will be grounded and that it is in talks with lessors to
have a total of 75 planes back in the air by end-April from about 35 today. The
current funding measures are short term and will not bring much confidence till
a new investor is on board, said Kapil Kaul. Process of returning (Jet's) fleet
back to the system might not be easy especially since the aircraft can be
deployed easily to other airlines or markets, said Kaul.
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WOMEN PAID 34% LESS THAN MEN FOR SAME TASKS
Women get nearly one third
less wages than men a report by Oxfam India revealed on Thursday. It also said
there is an over-representation of women in unpaid care work. The report, Mind
The Gap-State of Employment in India, said that women on an average are paid 34
per cent less than similarly qualified male workers for performing same tasks. Based
on the National Sample Survey Office (2011-12) estimates, in nominal terms,
women earning a regular salary were paid, on an average, ₹105
and ₹123 less than male workers daily in urban and rural settings,
respectively; the corresponding figures for casual workers were ₹72
and ₹47 for urban and rural workers. Amitabh Behar, felt that
despite the rhetoric of job creation and ensuring gender justice, the reality
is sobering on the ground. The report draws particular attention to women being
left out of the economic growth narrative. It shows that women’s participation
is low due to decline in rural jobs, transforming urban areas, unequal pay, the
burden of unpaid care work, and the continuing prevalence of regressive social
norms. This is a consequence of poor policy choices and lack of investment in
social security and infrastructure, he said. According to the report, in 2015,
92 per cent of women and 82 per cent of men were earning a monthly wage less
than ₹10,000, far below the 7th Central Pay Commission’s
recommendation of minimum salary of ₹18,000 a month. If unpaid
care and household activities are included in the NSSO’s definition of work,
the Female Labour Force Participation Rate (FLFPR) in 2011-12 rises from 20.5
per cent to 81.7 per cent, more than that of men, it said. There is no major
divergence in urban FLFPR in terms of religion; it is similar in terms of caste
but occupational segregation exists with Muslim women concentrated in household
manufacturing, Schedule Caste (SCs) in construction and services such as waste
collection while non-SCs more likely to work in education and health services.
Urban women’s work is sectorally concentrated — 10 industries make up over half
of female employment; education sector accounts for over 1 in 7 urban women
workers.
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TECHNOLOGY CAN KILL 45 MILLION JOBS GLOBALLY IN THE NEXT 6
YEARS: REPORT
Advent of digital
technologies will have an impact on jobs and up to 45 million jobs can get
displaced or transformed by 2025, a report has warned. Productivity gains
through digital technologies will help create up to 65 million new jobs during
the same timeframe, a McKinsey Global Institute report said Friday. Retraining
and redeployment will be essential to help some 10-45 million workers whose
jobs could be displaced or transformed, the report said. It can be noted that
the report comes amid tech industry leaders raising question marks over the
skillsets of Indian techies and wondering whether they will be helpful in the
future. According to the report, core digital sectors like IT/software and
business process management, digital communication and electronics
manufacturing can double their GDP contributions to up to USD 435 billion by
2025. All stakeholders will need to respond effectively if India is to achieve
its digital potential, it added. Companies will have to invest in building
capabilities, including through partnering with universities, governments will
have to invest in digital infrastructure and public data that can be used by
organisations, it said. To capture the gains, we will require more ease in
creating, scaling and exiting startups as well as policies to facilitate
retraining, it said. Individuals will have to keep abreast of the changes and
keep themselves informed on how the digital economy can impact their work, it
recommended. The study said up to USD 150 billion each of benefits can be
accrued in sectors, including agriculture, education, energy, financial
services, healthcare, logistics and retail if they embrace digital
technologies. It, however, added while domestic businesses are digitising
rapidly, it is not an even growth as there are laggards everywhere.
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CORRUPT PUBLIC SERVANTS MUST BE DECLARED ANTI-NATIONALS: HIGH
COURT
Likening non-corrupt
judges and public servants to the minority group of Pandavas in the epic
Mahabaratha and the corrupt to Kauravas, the Madras High Court on Thursday
wished the battle against corruption wins and the corrupt get declared
anti-nationals because they obstruct the development of the country. Justice
S.M. Subramaniam, in one of his judgments, said: When it is realised that
corruption is the obstacle for developmental activities of our great nation,
what kind of designation one can offer. Certainly such persons are
anti-nationals. When terrorists are declared anti-social elements, corrupt
should also be declared as anti-nationals. These anti nationals do not care
about the development of our great nation. They are interested in their
self-development alone. Nothing wrong in wanting to become rich, he said. However,
the process adopted for achieving one’s ambition or goal must not affect the interests
of the nation and infringe the rights of co-citizens, Justice Subramaniam
added. Thus, corruption in judiciary is the greatest enemy to the Constitution
and judiciary must also initiate drastic measures in order to control
corruption in various forms, Justice Subramaniam added. His general
observations on all pervasive corruption were made while dismissing the plea of
a suspended Village Administrative Officer (VAO) charged of corruption. The
judge said, almost every person feels the pinch of corruption right from the
day his mother walks into a government hospital with him in her womb and it
continues till his death. The worst form of corruption is that different
amounts of bribe is demanded depending upon the sex of the child. After birth,
parents have to bribe educational authorities in schools and colleges... It is
unfortunate and painful to state that sexual favours are demanded in lieu of
bribe in educational institutions and public offices. Large scale corruption,
though noticed, are not prosecuted. For that also, bribes are offered, the
judge lamented.
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CARE RATINGS: POWER GENERATION TO GROW AT 7% IN FY19
Care Ratings believe
electricity generation in FY19 will grow between 6% and 7%. Successful
implementation of electrification led by power for all is expected to drive
demand for electricity. Care also expects demand for imported thermal coal to
normalize going forward as supply constraints of domestic coal improve over the
next 12 months. However, overall demand for thermal coal would continue to
remain between 135 million tonnes and 145 million tonnes. Nevertheless,
bringing down AT&C losses would be key to stabilising power sector in
India. Achieving 15% AT&C on an all-India basis as stipulated under UDAY
scheme would require improvement in revenue collection especially from domestic
power consumers who have been electrified under the SAUBHAGYA Scheme. Additionally,
completion of measures like smart-metering should be expedited and implemented
in a time-bound manner. However, total electricity generated in the country
clocked 1156.8 BU (billion unit) during April-Jan 19, reporting growth of 5.7%
vs 5.3% in previous year. Renewable energy sources contributed 107.2 BU, and
recorded a 25.2% growth over production in corresponding period of FY18. PLF of
thermal power plants monitored by CEA stood at 61.1% during 10- month period of
FY19, an improvement over 59.3% for the corresponding period in FY18. Solar and
wind power accounted for 95% of capacity addition and remaining were hydro
power projects. Wind energy capacity addition at 1.2 GW, has slowed down
considerably post FY17 when it recorded 6 GW of capacity addition. Care says:
AT&T losses (March 2019) at 19.8% vs a targeted 15% as envisaged under the
UDAY scheme for Match 2019 is a concern. Few major SAUBHAGYA beneficiary
states, including J&K, UP, MP, Bihar and Rajasthan continue to have
AT&C losses over 25% and their discoms would have to expedite corrective
measures.
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GI CERTIFICATION FOR FIVE VARIETIES OF INDIAN COFFEE
The Department for
Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
Government of India has recently awarded Geographical Indication (GI) to five
varieties of Indian coffee. They are:
·
Coorg Arabica coffee is
grown specifically in the region of Kodagu district in Karnataka.
·
Wayanaad Robusta coffee is
grown specifically in the region of Wayanad district which is situated on the eastern
portion of Kerala.
·
Chikmagalur Arabica coffee
is grown specifically in the region of Chikmagalur district and it is situated
in the Deccan plateau, belongs to the Malnad region of Karnataka.
·
Araku Valley Arabica
coffee can be described as coffee from the hilly tracks of Visakhapatnam
district of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha region at an elevation of 900-1100 Mt
MSL.
The coffee produce of
Araku, by the tribals, follows an organic approach in which they emphasise
management practices involving substantial use of organic manures, green
manuring and organic pest management practices. Bababudangiris Arabica coffee
is grown specifically in the birthplace of coffee in India and the region is
situated in the central portion of Chikmagalur district. Selectively
hand-picked and processed by natural fermentation, the cup exhibits full body,
acidity, mild flavour and striking aroma with a note of chocolate. This coffee
is also called high grown coffee which slowly ripens in the mild climate and
thereby the bean acquires a special taste and aroma. The Monsooned Malabar
Robusta Coffee, a unique specialty coffee from India, was given GI
certification earlier. In India, coffee is cultivated in about 4.54 lakh
hectares by 3.66 lakh coffee farmers of which 98% are small farmers. Coffee
cultivation is mainly done in the Southern States of India:
·
Karnataka – 54%
·
Kerala – 19%
·
Tamil Nadu – 8%
·
Coffee is also grown in
non-traditional areas like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (17.2%) and North East
States (1.8%).
India is the only country
in the world where the entire coffee cultivation is grown under shade,
hand-picked and sun dried. India produces some of the best coffee in the world,
grown by tribal farmers in the Western and Eastern Ghats, which are the two
major bio-diversity hotspots in the world. Indian coffee is highly valued in
the world market and sold as premium coffee in Europe.
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BJP ACCOUNTS FOR 53% OF OVERALL POLITICAL AD BLITZ
The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) is leveraging advertising to connect with voters in the run-up to the
General Elections scheduled to kick start from 11 April. BJP’s share of
advertising was 53% of the overall ad insertions across print, radio and
television, while the Rahul Gandhi-led Indian National Congress' (INC's) ad
insertions stood at 14%, according to data from AdEx India, a division of TAM
Media Research. N Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with 6%, Tamil
Nadu-based Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) and All India Anna Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) featured among the top five with a 3% share each. The
data is based on ad insertions across the three media platforms between 1
January and 16 March. Radio remained the go-to choice of parties, with
consolidated ad insertions growing by 14% compared to the same period in the
previous election year. However, political advertising on television and print
fell 83% and 9%, respectively, during the period under review, compared to the
same period before the 2014 election. In 2014, BJP mounted massive campaigns
'Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar' and 'Janta Maaf Nahi Karegi’ with popular taglines
like 'Ab Ki Baar, Modi Sarkar', and a musical titled 'Ache Din Aane Wale Hai,
Hum Modi Ji Ko Laane Wale Hai'. Currently, it is running multiple election
campaigns such as ‘Youth with Modi’ and ‘Abhki Baar Phir Modi Sarkar’. While
radio was one of the least preferred medium for the first six weeks, there was
a sudden rush from 10 February, for the following three weeks, according to the
findings. For the print media, ad insertions were highest in the first four
weeks of the year. Radio and local cable are the most preferred mediums when
you want to reach out to local areas. It offers huge scope of localisation. The
most important factor is the cost where radio is cheaper than print and
television. We need to understand that this is just the start of election
campaigns. As we get closer to election dates, there will be a definite spike
across mediums, according to a senior media buyer.
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INDIA SOLAR PANEL PRICES CONTINUE TO FALL ON 25% Y-O-Y DIP IN
GLOBAL RATES
Despite the safeguard duty
imposed on imports from China, Malaysia and the West, effective July 2018,
solar panel prices continued to fall in the domestic market, as a 25%
year-on-year fall in global prices has more than offset the duty impact Though
demand for the panels could look up in 2019, with a sharp cut in China’s
installation target (down 60%), supplies might still continue to outweigh
demand keeping prices low through the year, analysts feel. Panels constitute
60% of the solar project cost; a precipitous fall in prices over the last five
years has facilitated installation of 28,000 MW of solar capacity in India as
of December 2018. Between 2013 and 2019, solar panel prices have fallen 71%. Kunal
Chandra, the Indian arm of the UK-based solar solutions provider, said going
ahead, some of the important events that will drive demand in the solar market
would be a procurement drive in Europe, new solar policies in Latin American
countries and new markets in Africa. Also, the safeguard duty in India will
come down from 25% to 20% from August. All these factors will have a positive
impact on demand, but the panel prices will fall by another 5-6% in FY20 as
supplies will exceed the demand. In India, the prices were also impacted by
estimated 55% y-o-y drop in solar installations in FY19 to 4,569 MW which was
only a quarter of planned target of 16,000 MW. Though the ministry of new and
renewable energy was on a tender issuance spree, the actual progress was much
slower owing to multiple instances of tender under subscription and
cancellations. Private sector response has dimmed owing to poor tender design,
low tariff expectations and transmission sector bottlenecks. Renewable energy
consultancy firm Bridge To India, in its report on the solar sector, said, The
capacity addition has been weak in the last quarters, but we expect a
significant pick-up in activity in 2019. Market confidence has been weakened by
falling rupee, increasing interest rates, arbitrary tariff ceilings and
increasing tender cancellations. Rooftop solar market continues to grow faster
than expected. Largely unaffected by policy uncertainty and not reliant on land
or transmission infrastructure.
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CPI RELEASES MANIFESTO, ANNOUNCES ASSURED PENSION OF ₹ 9K PER MONTH
The CPI on Friday
announced that it would give a minimum pension of ₹
9,000 per month grant full statehood to Delhi and Puducherry and a one-time
comprehensive loan waiver for farmers as part of its manifesto for the Lok
Sabha polls. The Communist Party of India (CPI) also proposed a law for
agricultural workers and a separate budget for agriculture. The party said it
would increase the number of guaranteed employment days under the MNREGA scheme
to 200 days per family and ensure wage payment within the period of guaranteed
statute and at par with legal minimum wages for unskilled farm labour. CPI
leader D Raja, who released the manifesto, came down hard on the RSS-BJP and
said that they, along with its other allied right-wing extremist organisations,
had become aggressive in pushing their ideology and agenda which are divisive,
secretarian, communal and fascist. The use of armed forces for political
mileage is condemnable and detrimental to morale of the forces, he said.
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PM LYING MUDRA GAVE BOOST TO EMPLOYMENT; HE CONDUCTED SURGICAL
STRIKE ON JOBS IN 2018: CONGRESS
The Congress on Friday
termed as a lie Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks that the government's
mudra scheme gave a boost to employment and alleged that he had conducted a
surgical strike on jobs last year. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh, cited
data by the Centre For Monitoring Indian Economy to claim that in 2018, 1 crore
jobs were destroyed in various sectors due to demonetisation and hasty
implementation of the Goods and Services Tax. It is the first time in history
that under a Prime Minister jobs have not been created but destroyed and
history will remember him as a 'jobs destroyer PM', he said. Modi said: Imagine,
4 crore people, it's a total of 15 to 17 crore - exact number will be here or
there - who have taken money from banks via the mudra scheme. 4 crore people
have taken money for the first time. They must have started some employment,
they must have employed somebody. In 2017-18, close to 90% of the loans had an
average size of Rs 24,840. This is completely inadequate for even one job, let
alone 2-5 as claimed by the Prime Minister, he said. Only two per cent of Mudra
loans were greater than Rs 5 lakh under which employment conceivably could be
generated from the returns of the loan, Ramesh said. You do different kinds of
surgical strikes, at the border, in space, anytime, that is different. But the
reality of unemployment that is there on the ground, you did not do a surgical
strike on that.
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THANKS TO CONGRESS, OUR PROBLEM IN NOW YOURS: ARUN JAITLEY ON
SHATRUGHAN SINHA
Taking a veiled dig on
Shatrughan Sinha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley thanked Congress for accepting
BJP's problem. Jaitley said that the political winds are not friendly to the
Congress as the party led by Rahul Gandhi has failed to form any meaningful
alliance in any state. Some eminent former BJP men have been accepted by the
Congress as a gift. We thank Congress. Our problem in now yours. Good luck,
Jaitley said in a Facebook blog. He also attacked grand alliance. Calling
Mahagathbandhan a circus, Jaitley said that the grand alliance has already
failed as even as third phase of nomination deadline is getting over, there is
no ‘gathbandhan’ let alone ‘mahagathbandhan’. Giving a state-wise analysis of
grand alliance, Jaitley said the alliance has no leader, no programme, no
meeting of minds and the stability is a major casualty. The only thing in
common is negative agenda remove one man. It is a recipe for chaos, Jaitley
said.
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OUR MANIFESTO WILL REFLECT PEOPLE'S VOICE, NOT ONE MAN'S VIEW:
RAHUL GANDHI
The Congress' soon-to-be
released manifesto will lay major thrust on jobs creation, addressing agrarian
distress and strengthening the education and health sectors besides charting a
roadmap to boost economic growth says Rahul Gandhi. He said the manifesto,
being prepared after extensive nationwide consultations with key stakeholders,
will reflect the people's voice and not just one man's views, an apparent
reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. UPA is storming back to power as
people have rejected Modi's politics of false promises. We want India's voice
and aspirations to prosper. We don't believe in one man's voice. We believe in
everyone's voice and choices. It requires tremendous discipline and hard work
to do, but it works, he said. Congress is set to release its manifesto next
week, ahead of the first phase of polling on April 11. Gandhi said it will have
a well-thought out strategic plan for creation of jobs on a huge scale and a
roadmap for transformation of the agriculture sector, besides ways to boost small
businesses and the economy at large. Besides promoting entrepreneurship and
industry, Congress will also free businesses from the onslaught of tax
terrorism besides ensuring fairness to small and medium traders, he said. The
Congress chief also said his party intends to significantly increase public
investment in the education and health sectors which will help provide better
facilities for the common person. All this is ground breaking stuff. So yes,
while the BJP's failures and Modiji's false promises and incompetence are
certainly election issues, we have more than enough to share when it comes to
our plans and our vision for India, he said. He said the Congress party after
2014 had got down to brass tacks - to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organisation
as a whole and it was initiated by decentralising power.
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INCOME SUPPORT SCHEME CAN BE REALISED BY CUTTING OTHER DOLES:
REDDY
Rahul Gandhi’s minimum
income support scheme for the poor can be implemented by curtailing other doles
and allowing the fiscal deficit to widen, former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy has
said. However, it would be difficult for state governments to implement a
similar scheme as they largely depend on the Centre for finance and borrowing
limit, he told. I talk only in terms of central-state fiscal relations. The
state governments have budget constraints that means state governments can’t
spend more money because borrowing requires the permission of the Government of
India. So, there is a limit (for state borrowing). If they implement some
schemes like this (minimum income support scheme) that has to be within their
own budget limit, he said. However, he said, the Centre has some liberty to
increase the fiscal deficit and there are no such hard fiscal constraints. So,
such programmes are implemented better if the Centre takes over If the Centre
is able to accommodate it within the Budget, FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility And
Budget Management Act) target, then you can’t object if Government of India
says they will cut other expenditures based on their relative priorities, it
can do it, he said. In a big bang election promise, the Congress earlier this
week announced that 20 per cent families belonging to the poorest category will
be given Rs 72,000 each annually as minimum income if the party comes to power.
The final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the
country, Gandhi had said, adding the Congress has studied the fiscal
implications of the scheme and consulted renowned economists and experts before
finalising the scheme. Asked if there can be sharing of the Centre and states
for implementation of such scheme, Reddy said it could lead to complications.
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SC APPOINTED RAM TEMPLE MEDIATION COMMITTEE INVITED ME TO
SUGGEST A MEDIATED SOLUTION, SAYS SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday stated that the Supreme Court
appointed Ram Temple Mediation Committee invited him to suggest a mediated
solution to help resolve the decades long-pending Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid
land dispute case.
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MISSION SHAKTI: GOVT HAS TAKEN MEASURES TO SET UP 'CHOWKIDAR'
IN SPACE, SAYS PM MODI IN ODISHA
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday said his government had taken measures to keep watch in space
referring to Wednesday's Mission Shakti when India successfully tested an
anti-satellite weapon. Modi asked people to vote for a government that can take
concrete decisions and not just raise slogans. According to the DRDO, a
Ballistic Missile Defence Interceptor Missile successfully engaged an Indian
orbiting target satellite in Low Earth Orbit in a 'Hit to Kill' mode. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi announced success of the test in a nation-wide broadcast. Launching
his campaign in eastern India with a rally in Jeypore area of Odisha's Koraput
district on Friday, the prime minister said the NDA government wouldn't have
been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the
people. He sought blessings from his supporters for the 2019 Lok Sabha
elections and asserted that the NDA government has left no stone unturned to
bring about development in the state. The NDA government has been working hard
to develop road and rail infrastructure in the state. There is no dearth of
funds when it comes to development work in the country. In the last five years,
the government has been able to build homes for eight lakh families light up
3,000 houses and provide gas connections to 40 lakh homes, Modi stated. Referring
to Mission Shakti, when India demonstrated anti-satellite (ASAT) missile
capability by shooting down a live satellite, he said the government has taken
measures to set up a 'chowkidar' (watchman ) in space. Odisha became a witness
of a historic moment that showed the world India's capability. India can now do
'chowkidaari' in the space too, he said. He also attacked the opposition
parties for raising questions on Balakot airstrikes and said that Pakistan was
still counting bodies. It has been a month (since airstrike) and Pakistan is
still counting bodies. When India takes action against terrorists, enters their
home and kills them then some here ask for proof, he said.
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‘MAIN BHI CHOWKIDAR’ PAPER CUPS WITHDRAWN: IRCTC
Responding to media
reports about paper cups labelled ‘Main bhi chowkidar’ being used on board
trains, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Friday said
no prior permission was taken by the licensee concerned. The space in cups and
other such materials is used for paid publicity by the licensees as per the
agreement. The licensees are supposed to take prior permission for printing
advertisements from IRCTC. However in this case no such approval has been
taken, said IRCTC in a statement. Accordingly, a fine of ₹1
lakh has been imposed on the licensee and it has also been served a show-cause
notice.
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MADHYA PRADESH ROLLS OUT BHAVANTAR SCHEME FOR KHARIF 2018, TO
SPEND RS 1,000 CRORE
While procurement of
kharif 2018 crops under PM-AASHA — the
reinforced price support scheme for pulses and oilseeds — continues to be quite
low, Madhya Pradesh is the only state keen on implementing a price deficiency
support scheme for the kharif 2018 crop. It has announced a plan to ensure the
minimum support price (MSP) benefit for about 48 lakh tonnes of soyabean and
maize sans procurement. Though not a single rupee has been paid yet to farmers
under even MP’s Bhavantar scheme (the crop arrivals started five months ago),
the price support for such crop volume
would entail a payout of over Rs 1,000 crore. While the state has approved
payment of over Rs 560 crore for maize farmers, a panel has been asked to work
out the payment to be made to soyabean farmers. The state is waiting for the
release of the Central share of about Rs 320 crore before disbursing the
payment to soyabean farmers, while maize growers are likely to get the
differential amount by month-end, according to sources. The state government
has decided to pay at Rs 250 per quintal to 2.85 lakh farmers who sold 22.6
lakh tonne of maize in different mandis since October 1, 2018, an official
said, referring to a notification on March 5. Before the state Assembly
election last year, then chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced a
flat amount of up to Rs 500 for each quintal of soyabean and maize sold by
farmers to compensate them for selling their crops below MSPs. The MSP of
soyabean was increased 11% to Rs 3,399 per quintal and that of maize 19% to Rs 1,700
per quintal for the 2018 kharif season to meet an electoral commitment of the
BJP for fixing the benchmark prices at 50% over the cost of production. According
to the guidelines under the scheme, the state can cover 25% of production of a
crop either under PSS or under the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS). The
PDPS does not entail physical procurement and farmers are paid the differential
amount between MSP and ‘mandi price’. Since the estimated production of
soyabean in the state during the kharif 2018 was about 67 lakh tonne, the
Centre had allowed it to implement the PDPS for 16.82 lakh tonne of the crop.
However, over 8.5 lakh farmers have sold more than 25 lakh tonne of soyabean
and want to be covered under PDPS.
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HARDIK PATEL CAN’T FIGHT LOK SABHA ELECTIONS AS HC REFUSES TO
STAY HIS CONVICTION IN 2015 MEHSANA RIOTS CASE
In a major setback to the
Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel, who recently joined the Congress party and
was keen to contest Lok Sabha polls, the Gujarat High Court rejected his plea
seeking a stay on his conviction in the 2015 Mehsana riots case. As per the
Representation of the People Act, 1951, Patel won’t be able to contest the
upcoming general elections due to his conviction. Justice Uraizee of Gujarat
High Court in his order observed that the Congress leader had several criminal
cases and 17 FIRs registered against him in various places despite an
undertaking. The court also took into account the number of pending cases
against the applicant across various courts before rejecting his plea, seeking
suspension of his conviction to enable him to enter the electoral fray. The
State government had vehemently opposed his plea contending that a law breaker
cannot become a law maker because Patel had consistently broken the laws during
and after the Patidar quota agitation in 2015 and afterwards.
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PLEA IN HC AGAINST STAY ON CENTRE'S CIRCULAR BANNING
MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF E-CIGARETTES
A consumer rights activist
Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking removal of the stay on the Centre's
circular banning sale and manufacture of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
like e-cigarettes and e-hookah. The high court had on March 18 put on hold the
central government's November 27, 2018 circular, saying as the products were
not a drug authorities did not have the jurisdiction to issue such a direction.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru had said prima facie the products do not fall within the
definition of a 'drug' under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. In the application
seeking vacation of the stay order, consumer rights activist Bejon Kumar Misra
has claimed that allowing manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes in the absence
of any regulation could lead to innocent citizens getting addicted to nicotine.
In the application, filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, Misra has
stressed on the need for a comprehensive policy to regulate sale of toxic
products and material in the open market as well as on the internet. He has
also sought to intervene in the matter to assist the court. The application,
however, was not taken up as Justice Bakhru was not holding the court and the
matter was listed for hearing on May 1.
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BUDGAM: INDIAN MISSILE FIRED BEFORE MI17 V5 CHOPPER CRASH
Investigators have found
that an Indian air defence missile was fired shortly before the crash of a Mi17
V5 helicopter at Budgam, near Srinagar on February 27, which resulted in the
deaths of six air force personnel and a citizen on ground. The investigators
are examining the sequence of events which preceded the crash. The final
moments preceding the crash, including if the IFF (Identity, Friend or Foe)
systems were switched on or not, are being carefully looked at to determine
what went wrong. The air force brass, highly placed sources told, has made it
clear that it would not shy away from initiating court martial proceedings
against personnel if they are found blameworthy in the inquiry. Sources said
that the missile – believed to be of Israeli origin – was activated after an
air defence alert was sounded over Jammu and Kashmir, besides other parts of
the border, after a over 25 Pakistani air force jets were detected along the
border on the morning of February 27. The alert, sources said, indicated that
Pakistani jets may be trying to breach the border for a strike on Indian
military targets and there were concerns that armed UAVs available with that
country may also have been deployed. A slow moving target like the Mi 17 V 5
helicopter could potentially be mistaken for a low flying armed UAV homing into
an air base, according to these sources. When an air defence alert is sounded,
several things take place. There are a set of rules that transport aircraft and
helicopters need to follow and there are set entry and egress routes demarcated
for aircraft flying. Also, aircraft are to switch on their IFF (Identify,
Friend or Foe) systems, sources told. The Indian side officially acknowledged
the crash but has not mentioned it in official statements on the aerial battle
and the current conflict with Pakistan. In its official statement, the
Pakistani military acknowledged the aerial battle over Nowshera but said its fighters
were not involved in the chopper incident.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE ANTI-STALL SYSTEM ACTIVATED IN ETHIOPHIA
CRASH: REPORT
Investigators probing the
fatal crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia have reached a preliminary
conclusion that a suspect anti-stall system activated shortly before it
nose-dived to the ground, the WSJ reported on Friday citing people familiar
with the matter. The findings were based on flight recorder data and represented
the strongest indication yet that the system, known as MCAS, malfunctioned in
both the Ethiopian Airlines crash on March 10 and the Lion Air crash in
Indonesia last year, the Wall Street Journal said. The two crashes killed a
total of 346 people. US government experts have been analysing details gathered
by their Ethiopian counterparts for the past few days, the newspaper added, and
the emerging consensus was relayed at a high-level briefing of the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) on Thursday. It added that the preliminary
findings are subject to revision, and Ethiopian authorities are expected to
issue their own first report within days.
#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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