HC ASKS KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK PROMOTERS TO FILE AFFIDAVIT ON RBI
DIRECTIVE ON EQUITY DILUTION
The Bombay High Court
Monday sought an affidavit from the promoters of Kotak Mahindra Bank stating
that they have complied with the RBI's directive to dilute the promoter's
shareholding. A division bench of Justices A S Oka and M S Sanklecha was
hearing a petition filed by the bank challenging an RBI directive of August 13,
2018. The RBI had directed the bank to dilute the promoter's shareholding from
around 30 per cent to a maximum of 20 per cent of its paid-up voting equity
capital by December 31, 2018 and to 15 per cent by March 31, 2020. The bench on
Monday sought to know as to why the bank had approached the court and why the
promoters have not challenged the RBI orders. The bank cannot be the aggrieved
party The RBI is not going to take any action against the bank. The aggrieved
party is the promoters. Why have they (promoters) not come to court in
challenge against the RBI directive? Justice Oka said. The bank's counsel
Darius Khambata on Monday told the court that the promoter share holding of the
paid-up capital has been reduced to 19.7 per cent. The bench, however, noted
that such a statement should come from the promoters and not the bank. The
promoters shall file an affidavit stating this, the court directed and posted
the petition for hearing on April 22. The high court had in the past on two
hearings refused to grant any interim relief to the bank. According to the bank's
plea, the RBI had initially asked it to only dilute promoter shareholding of
its paid-up capital. However, the impugned letter sought dilution of paid-up
voting equity capital. As per the plea, after receiving the letter from RBI,
the bank wrote two letters -- one on September 4, 2018 to the RBI and the other
on September 24, 2018 to the RBI governor -- seeking clarification, but did not
get any reply. The bank has requested the court to quash and set aside the RBI
directions on equity dilution. It has also pleaded with the court to declare
that the reduction of promoter shareholding should be considered complied with,
if it is achieved as a percentage of the paid-up capital and not the paid-up
voting equity capital of the bank.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RBI TO INJECT USD 5 BN MORE LIQUIDITY THROUGH 2ND DOLLAR-RUPEE
SWAP AUCTION
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Monday said it will inject long-term liquidity worth USD 5 billion
into the banking system through dollar-rupee buy-sell swap for a tenure of
three years on April 23, the second such auction within a month. In order to
meet the durable liquidity needs of the system, the RBI has decided to inject
Rupee liquidity for longer duration through long-term foreign exchange Buy/Sell
swap in terms of its extant Liquidity Management Framework, the RBI said in a
statement. The USD/INR Buy/Sell swap auction of USD 5 billion for tenor of
three years will be held on April 23, 2019, it said. It further said the market
participants would be required to place their bids in terms of the premium that
they are willing to pay to the RBI for the tenor of the swap, expressed in
paisa terms up to two decimal places. The auction would be a multiple-price
based auction -- successful bids will get accepted at their respective quoted
premium.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RBI TO UNVEIL THIS FISCAL’S FIRST BI-MONTHLY POLICY DECISION
ON THURSDAY
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) will unveil on Thursday its first bi-monthly monetary policy decision of
this new fiscal. The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet from April
2 to 4 for the first bi-monthly policy statement for 2019-20, the central bank
said in a release Monday. The resolution of the MPC will be placed on the
website at 11.45 AM on April 4, 2019, it said. Industry and experts are
expecting that the banking sector regulator may cut the key lending rate — at
which it lends to commercial banks — by 0.25 per cent so as to boost the
economic activities as fears loom large about global economic slowdown
impacting India’s growth prospects. The RBI had cut the repo rate by 25 basis
points (bps) or 0.25 per cent in February after a gap of one-and-a-half years.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RBI CANNOT IGNORE UNEMPLOYMENT, MUST CUT INTEREST RATES AT
MONETARY POLICY REVIEW
The RBI’s Monetary Policy
Committee will soon roll out its bi-monthly monetary policy which will
determine the economic outlook of the country for the next two months. In its
last decision, they reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points owing to
unfavorable growth, low inflation, and other broader economic factors. So what
has changed since January? India’s headline CPI inflation has been at 2.6% in
February 2019 and is well below the target of 4%, which indicates that there
exists room for a further rate cut. India’s farm sector has a significant
dependency on monsoon rainfall, and IMD will soon release its annual rainfall
forecast in the first week of April. A lot will depend on rainfall volume and
the distribution of the precipitation. A good monsoon will mean good crop
production, which is likely to depress the food prices and drive down inflation
levels even further. Although the RBI has given itself the mandate of targeting
inflation, it cannot afford to ignore one of the most significant issues facing
the country, that of rising unemployment The employment rate remains high at
six+ percentage and at an even higher rate amongst people with graduate and
above education. This needs to be tackled urgently, and we believe that a rate
cut will help companies to borrow cheaper, invest and consequently create jobs.
A rate cut will also give a boost to the GDP growth rate, which has been
disappointing in recent times. A GDP growth rate of 7.5% is achievable and a
repo rate cut at this stage should help to nudge the growth rate towards that
figure. Industrial production logged a lowly annual growth rate of 1.7% in
January 2019. Credit growth, however, was robust at nearly 14%. Most of this
growth can be attributed to durable consumer loans and personal loan growth,
which shows that domestic demand, at least, remains strong. This bodes well for
companies, as a rate cut to boost investment without adequate and sustained
demand to back it up will be meaningless. India being an importer of oil, crude
prices majorly affect the outlook of our economy, and they have been at a
relatively stable level for some time now. This means that fuel price driven
inflation is unlikely to be a significant effect, at least in the short term,
and gives the RBI the opportunity to loosen the policy rate and drive economic
growth. Even the cycle of currency depreciation has seemingly come to an end
and thereby frees up the Central bank from having to consider defending the
Rupee by having higher interest rates in place.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
PM-KISAN: ONLY 40 PER CENT OF PLANNED RS 20,000 CRORE SPENT
With many states
apparently not in a hurry to complete the formalities to ensure the income
support announced by the government reach the farmers, the Centre has managed
to spent just 8,000 crore or 40% of the planned 20,000 crore under the PM Kisan
scheme in FY19. Savings of 12,000 crore in the scheme could come in handy for
the government struggling to meet its tax collection target. It must have still
resorted to spending cuts to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.4% of the GDP.
As many as 2.97 crore farmers have received the PM-Kisan benefit of 2000 until
March 28. The Centre is trying to ensure that all 4 crore farmers whose data
have been validated receive 4,000 each (the first two instalments) by
April-end.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GROWTH OF EIGHT CORE SECTORS SLOWS DOWN TO 2.1% IN FEB VS 5.4%
Y-O-Y
The growth of eight core
sectors slowed down to 2.1 per cent in February due to fall in output of crude
oil and refinery products, official data showed Monday. Eight infrastructure
sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel,
cement and electricity -- had expanded by 5.4 per cent in February 2018. Production
of crude oil and refinery products contracted by 6.1 per cent, and 0.8 per
cent, respectively, in February. The growth rate of production of fertiliser,
steel, cement and electricity slowed to 2.5 per cent, 4.9 per cent, 8 per cent
and 0.7 per cent in February as against 5.2 per cent, 5 per cent, 23 per cent
and 4.6 per cent in the same month of 2018, respectively. However, coal and
natural gas output grew by 7.3 per cent, and 3.8 per cent, respectively, in the
month under review. Sluggish infrastructure sector growth will also have an
impact on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) as these segments account
for about 41 per cent of the total factory output. According to the Commerce
and Industry Ministry data, during April-February 2018-19, the eight sectors
recorded a flat growth rate of 4.3 per cent over the same period previous the
financial year.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ONE-TIME PAYMENT FROM VEHICLE BUYERS TO FUND HIGHER
COMPENSATION TO HIT & RUN VICTIMS
You may have to make a one-time
payment of up to Rs 500 while buying a new vehicle as the government would need
around Rs 800 crore annually to pay compensation in hit and run cases. The new
funding mechanism to pay the compensation would commence once the Supreme Court
gives its go ahead. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case on Wednesday
where the framework for paying Rs 2 lakh compensation to kin of dead and Rs
50,000 for injured persons is likely to be submitted. The apex court in
February had accepted the recommendation of the court-appointed committee on
road safety to increase the minimum compensation for death in a hit and run
case from Rs 25,000 to Rs 2 lakh. It had also asked all stakeholders, including
the Centre, to hold consultations to frame a scheme of payment. The court is
scheduled to take up the case on Tuesday. Currently, the compensation for
injured persons is Rs 12,500. In 2017, nearly 26,000 people were killed in hit
and run cases and another 60,000 were left injured.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NEARLY 100% MIGRATION TO TRAI’S NEW CABLE TV AND DTH REGIME;
TARIFFS GO UP IN CERTAIN AREAS
Telecom regulator Trai’s new
broadcasting tariff regime has seen migration of nearly 19 crore pay TV
subscribers – almost the entire spectrum of cable and DTH customers – though
tariffs in the new addressable system have gone up in certain pockets,
especially in rural and far-flung areas. As the deadline for shifting to the
new regime ended on March 31, officials at Trai said that the migration has
been more or less completed with many subscribers making an active choice in
channel selection while some opted for packages that near-mirrored their
previous bouquets. The overall migration has been satisfactory, though there
have been teething problems that we are trying to sort out now, said Arvind
Kumar – advisor with Trai. The new regime was rolled out by Trai to provide
greater freedom and choice to consumers to opt -- and pay for -- only those
channels that he or she watches rather than being tied down to bulky bouquets
that had been in prevalence. Trai had quoted studies that showed that on ordinary
household did not watch more than 50 channels in a month even though they were
being made to subscribe to over 200-250 channels on an average through packaged
bouquets. By introducing a low-priced MRP regime, we want people to make an
informed choice about the channels that they want to watch – either from the
free channel's portfolio or from the paid stack, Trai chairman RS Sharma had
said while justifying the measure. We expect monthly bills to come down if
consumers make a studied choice and pay for only those channels that they
generally watch. However, the assessments made at the end of March shows that monthly
bills may have gone up for certain subscribers in certain pockets in the rural
belt, and some semi-urban areas. There were issues related to the migration in
many areas, especially as DTH and cable companies did not have easier
change-over software and other paraphernalia. We will sort that out now, a
senior Trai official said. The regulator will meet officials from the cable
industry and broadcast players later this week to take stock of the situation.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
SINHA TAKES ON DLF AGAIN; ACCUSES IT OF INADEQUATE DISCLOSURE
IN QIP DOCS
Kimsuk Krishna Sinha,
whose complaint led SEBI to impose a fine on DLF and bar its promoters from the
market for inadequate disclosures during its IPO in 2007, has again written to
the regulator. This time, he has alleged that material information is missing
from the company’s prospectus for its ₹3,000-crore QIP offer. DLF’s
QIP closed last week but primary investigations into the matter are on, sources
close to SEBI told. Sinha said in his letter that DLF had failed to mention
certain cases related to the violation of the Haryana Land Ceiling Act, 1972,
where adverse orders were passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the
matter is pending with the Supreme Court. An adverse decision by the apex court
could have huge ramifications for DLF investors, Sinha added. The high court
had ordered an inquiry against DLF and a few other companies including Jesen
Builders and Developers, and directed that the matter be clubbed with another writ
petition, related to Aaliyah Real Estate vs State of Haryana, the letter said.
Both Aaliyah and Jesen are related to DLF, which has challenged the high court
orders against them in the Supreme Court. Sinha said DLF’s QIP prospectus did
not disclose anything about its subsidiaries or DLF itself challenging the high
court order. A DLF spokesperson said Sinha’s complaint is nothing more than a
fresh attempt to besmirch our name and create unnecessary nuisance by propping
up baseless allegations at a time when the QIP process was under way SEBI will
find no merit in the said complaint. Saurabh S, Sinha’s advocate, said: Joint
operations, under the placement documents, are subject to direct right to
assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses but without any equity participation.
To my mind, it is an interesting concept of deep control but seemingly at arm’s
length. Investigation can reveal more as DLF had even claimed earlier, during
its IPO, that companies against whom there were criminal complaints did not belong
to them.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NPCI CUTS UPI USAGE CHARGES TO PROMOTE WIDER ADOPTION
The National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
network, has slashed usage fees for small transactions to expand the system’s
adoption among banks and payment service providers (PSPs). For UPI transactions
up to Rs 1,000, the charge has been cut to 10 paise from 25 paise. The charge
for transactions above Rs 1,000 has been retained at 50 paise. NPCI chief
executive officer Dilip Asbe said the move was aimed at helping to promote UPI.
Incentive payments that were charged by NPCI at the same rate as normal
transactions have been brought under a fixed price regime of 10 paise to
encourage such promotions by banks and PSPs. Incentive payments are charges
banks or PSPs pay NPCI when they credit the user’s bank account with cashbacks.
Charges on merchant transactions through UPI have been cut as well. In place of
a tiered transaction charge of 25 paise for transactions up to Rs 1,000 and 50
paise beyond that, NPCI has introduced a flat charge of 10 paise along with an
ad-valorem levy of 0.04% split between the acquiring bank and the issuing bank,
said the note that the retail payments body sent to service providers. The move
from NPCI will not only help service providers like banks and third-party
applications to aggressively push UPI, it will also help consumers in the long
run as more cashbacks and incentives can get offered, said a top executive at
one of the largest payment service providers in the country. However, this will
be between payment entities and NPCI. How the benefits get passed on to
consumers will depend on market strategies of various companies. In this
market, where the major players are super-funded, benefits will get passed on
to consumers very easily, said Vivek Belgavi. The move will remove further
barriers for the overall ecosystem to grow. Overall, UPI has been on an upward
trajectory, clocking close to 800 million transactions in March with Rs 1.3
lakh crore being settled through the platform, as per the latest NPCI data. UPI
is predominantly a person to person (P2P) payment mechanism as of now with less
than 15% accounted for by merchant payments. There are more than 100 million UPI
handles that have been created but the number of unique users of UPI will be in
the range of 70 million, said the person cited above.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RBI TO INTRODUCE NEW SEVEN-YEAR AND 20-YEAR BONDS ON APRIL 5
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) will introduce a new seven-year and a new 20-year bonds in the first
auction of the fiscal to be held on Friday, April 5. The total auction would be
of Rs 17,000 crore in which five bonds of different tenure will be issued. The
government will borrow Rs 3,000 crore through the seven-year bond, Rs 3,000
crore through a two-year bond, Rs 5,000 crore through a floating rate bond
maturing in 2031, Rs 2,000 crore through the 20-year bond and Rs 4,000 crore
through a bond maturing in 2055, the RBI said in a notification on its website.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIA'S FACTORY GROWTH HITS SIX-MONTH LOW IN MARCH ON WEAK
DEMAND: PMI DATA
Growth in India's
manufacturing industry slowed to a six-month low in March as orders and output expanded
at a weaker rate but overall factory activity ran at a solid pace in the first
quarter, a private survey showed on Tuesday. The Nikkei Manufacturing
Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by HIS Markit, fell to a six-month low of
52.6 in March from February's 54.3, below a Reuters poll forecast of 53.9 but
above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the 20th straight
month. Underscoring that long stretch of growth in the sector, factory activity
in the first three months of 2019 increased at its quickest quarterly average
rate in more than six years. Manufacturing sector expansion in India took a
step back in March, with metrics for factory orders, production, exports, input
buying and employment all moving lower. Still, growth was sustained on all
fronts, noted Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at HIS Markit. Although
global headwinds and a general slowdown in trade present some concerns for the
future health of Indian manufacturers' order books, so far companies have been
able to weather the storm and secure healthy inflows of new work from abroad.
But as new orders and output grew at their slowest pace since September -
despite inflationary pressures easing - firms increased headcount at the
weakest rate in eight months. Below-target inflation would give the central
bank room to cut its benchmark repo rate for a second consecutive meeting, as
is widely expected. It is due to announce its decision on April 4.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ARUN JAITLEY TO ATTEND ANNUAL IMF-WORLD BANK MEETING IN APRIL
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley will attend the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings
in Washington DC later this month. The meeting will be held from April 12-14
and will be Jaitley’s first official overseas trip since his kidney transplant
in mid-May last year. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das and
Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg are also expected to attend the
meetings, sources said. Jaitley is expected to leave for Washington DC next
week, a day or two before the start of the Spring Meetings. Officials said his
schedule was still being finalised and hence it still wasn’t clear which events
he will address and whether he will have bilateral meetings with any of his
counterparts from other nations. The minister may leave by April 10. The RBI
Governor and the Finance Secretary are also likely to go, an official said.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
RBI TO CUT RATES AGAIN BEFORE POLLS; BJP WIN BEST FOR ECONOMY:
REUTERS POLL
The Reserve Bank of India
will cut rates for a second consecutive time when its three-day policy meeting
ends on Thursday, shortly before the first phase of the national election
begins, a Reuters poll found. Those expectations for another rate cut have
strengthened over the past month after Shaktikanta Das was appointed as the new
RBI Governor in December. Lending rates were lowered and the policy stance
shifted at his first meeting in February. While the central bank justified that
move by highlighting a lower inflation outlook and a slowdown in growth, not
everyone was convinced those were the only reasons behind the policy easing. We
already know that the central bank is under pressure from the government to
ease policy. We have two meetings in Q2 - April and June - with this pressure
if they cut rates they would rather do it in April than in June, said Prakash
Sakpal, Asia economist at ING. No matter how effective this will be in time for
the election - it is hard to imagine that just one week before the elections
you cut the rate and that does magic and boosts growth. It will be a token from
which the government takes credit. Sakpal, like many other contributors in the
poll, wasn't convinced the economy needs more easing at a time when the outlook
for core inflation remains elevated and the government's latest populist
measures ahead of the general election would weigh on prices. More than 85
percent of nearly 70 economists polled over the past week forecast the RBI
would cut its benchmark lending rate, the repo rate, to 6.00 percent on April
4. The consensus showed the central bank would then keep rates on hold through
to the middle of next year at least.
__ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _
VODAFONE IDEA, AIRTEL BET BIG ON AUTOMATION TO IMPROVE 4G;
TRANSFORMING NETWORKS FOR 5G
Vodafone Idea Limited
(VIL) and Bharti Airtel are betting big on technologies like machine learning
to automate their networks and transform it into ‘self-healing networks’ to
offer better customer experience. Both telcos are also cloudifying their
respective core networks to be ready for 5G technology. Airtel is making a lot
of investment in the area of automation and orchestration and is also working
with a lot of partners, it’s newly appointed chief technology officer, Randeep
Sekhon told. Our real journey is to make a self-healing network, which means it
should be able to predict a fault and should be able to fix it before it starts
to impact the customer experience, he added. VIL’s chief technology officer
Vishant Vora separately told that the telco is building additional capabilities
through the integration of network and IT that is also transforming billing and
provisioning. All of that comes through putting in things like Machine
learning, which I call machine intelligence, based on lots of analytics and
data, and making sure network itself has the intelligence to act on its own but
always assisted by a human being, Vora added. We are making massive investments
in networks. It is a great opportunity for us to put in future proof
technologies we are going to have a very large scale deployment of massive
mimo. It's a 5G technology being put in the 4G network and will give a lot of
capacity. That actually helps create better throughout and user experience for
all our data clients in 4G, Vora said. Airtel has liberalized spectrum which is
being converted into 4G. It has also started work on the 2100 MHz band where at
least one carrier can be refarmed for 4G, Sekhon said.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
LENDERS EXPLORING PLAN B IF NO SINGLE INVESTOR TAKES CONTROL
OF JET
Lenders to Jet Airways are
exploring the option of readying a blueprint aimed at garnering returns of ₹2,636
crore in three years if they do not find a single investor to buy a majority
stake in the airline. Under this plan, the lenders are hoping to raise ₹5,135
crore through a rights issue at ₹150 per share. Two new
financial investors may be roped in as minority shareholders to bolster the
rights issue. Post this exercise, the lenders will hold about 30 per cent stake
in Jet Airways. The two new investors will hold 19.9 per cent and 24.6 per
cent, respectively, according to a source close to the development. Both Naresh
Goyal and Etihad will completely exit the company. An independent trust managed
by lender-appointed trustees will hold 14.9 per cent, and the balance 10.7 per
cent will be with the public. This will be done in three stages. First, the
lenders will take 50.1 per cent stake in the airline through an issue of fresh
shares. Then, shares owned by Goyal and Etihad will be transferred to the independent
trust. In the third stage, new investors will be brought in as minority
shareholders. Of the ₹5,135-crore rights issue being thought of, one investor is to
pump in ₹2,700 crore and the other ₹1,700 crore. The lenders
will put in ₹850 crore. Banks will underwrite the public subscription
amount of ₹485 crore. Indian lenders may write down debt of ₹2,600
crore. Meanwhile, the pilots body of Jet Airways, the National Aviators Guild
(NAG), on Sunday postponed to April 15 its decision to stop flying after
promises from the management.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
JET AIRWAYS MISSES $109 MILLION LOAN REPAYMENT TO HSBC BANK:
REPORT
Troubled Jet Airways India
Ltd. missed a $109 million loan repayment due to HSBC Bank this week, people
with knowledge of the matter said. The money was due on March 28, and was part
of a two-tranche facility totaling $140 million that the company took from HSBC
in 2014, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the
details are private. Jet had also missed payment on the other $31 million
tranche that was due on March 11, and hasn’t repaid any of the loan, the people
said. That adds to a string of missed deadlines at the Indian carrier, which
has grounded about two-thirds of its fleet. The company’s credit rating was cut
to default in January after it failed to honor obligations to India lenders. The
fate of the debt-laden airline, which has struggled to keep up with a slew of
budget carriers, is crucial for India’s government. Its collapse could put
about 23,000 jobs at risk and dent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image ahead
of his re-election bid. Lenders committed this month to infuse as much as 15
billion rupees ($217 million) in emergency debt funding, conditional on the
resignation of Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal. The former ticketing agent who went
on to build one of India’s biggest airlines stepped down under pressure this
week. As the airline misses more debt repayments, lenders are staring down more
pain. Rajnish Kumar, chairman of State Bank of India, which is leading the
lenders’ plan, has said he expects to get a new investor in Jet by May 31.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
SBI CHARTS A NEW COURSE FOR JET WITHOUT NARESH GOYAL, ETIHAD
State Bank of India (SBI),
the biggest lender to Jet Airways (India) Ltd, has proposed a new plan to
revive the ailing carrier that involves a total fund infusion of ₹9,535
crore, and the exit of founder Naresh Goyal and Etihad Airways PJSC. The plan
includes an equity infusion of ₹3,800 crore by two unidentified investors and a ₹850
crore equity infusion by state-run lenders led by SBI, ₹485
crore on behalf of public shareholders that will be achieved through banks
underwriting a rights issue, additional debt of ₹2,400 crore and non-fund
based facilities of ₹2,000 crore. The resolution plan also proposes a complete exit
of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, as well as large haircuts for lenders,
including a write-off of debt by the domestic lenders to Jet Airways. After the
shares of Jet are placed in a trust, an issuance of new capital in the form of
an equity infusion of ₹5,135 crore through a rights issue at ₹150
per share will take place, which will see participation from two unidentified
investors that will invest ₹1,700 crore and ₹2,100 crore, respectively,
according to the details of the plan. Following this, the domestic lenders will
write off debt worth ₹2,600 crore while foreign lenders led by Dubai-based Mashreq
Bank and HSBC will take a total haircut of ₹1,170 crore. The
resolution plan believes that Jet’s lenders will still make a gain of ₹2,636
crore on the assumption that Jet’s share price will rise to
₹300 by March 2022. There will not be any write-down by any of
the airline’s lessors and creditors. The resolution plan estimates an
overall need of ₹10,645 crore to sustain Jet’s operations, including ₹4,094
crore overdue to creditors, an estimated loss of ₹2,700 crore, settlement of
unsecured dues worth ₹1,170 crore to HSBC, Mashreq, etc., cash balance requirement
of ₹1,248 crore and paying ₹1,433 crore to the US Exim
Bank. To be sure, the estimated loss could be more as the airline has grounded
dozens of planes, which has affected its operations.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
DGCA APPROVES JET AIRWAYS' SUMMER SCHEDULE ONLY TILL APRIL 25
Indian aviation watchdog
DGCA has approved the summer schedule of flights of Jet Airways from March 31
to April 25 only, according to an official document. The summer schedule of
flights of all other domestic airlines such as Vistara, IndiGo, Air India and
GoAir have been approved till October 26, according to the document. The summer
schedule begins on March 31, 2019 for all the airlines. The NAG, which claims
to represent around 1,100 of the 1,600 Jet Airways pilots, had announced earlier
that its members will not fly from April 1, unless their salary dues were
cleared and clarity was provided on future payments by March 31.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
LPG CYLINDERS PRICE HIKED BY ₹5. LATEST RATES IN TOP
CITIES
In the second consecutive
hike, state-run fuel retailers increased the price' of non-subsidised cooking
gas (LPG) cylinders by ₹5 per 14.2-kg cylinder. After the price hike, a 14.2-kg
cylinder now costs ₹706.50 in New Delhi. In Mumbai, a non-subsidised LPG cylinder
costs ₹678.50, Chennai ₹722 and Kolkata ₹732.50.
This is the second straight increase in LPG rate after price was hiked by ₹42.5
per cylinder on March 1. Non-subsidised LPG is the gas that consumer buys after
exhausting their quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg at sub-market or subsidised
rates. Also, the price of kerosene sold through the public distribution system
(PDS) was increased to ₹32.54 per litre from ₹32.24. This is in
accordance with the 2016 decision to raise rates by 25 paise a litre every month
till subsidy on the fuel is eliminated. Non-subsidised kerosene costs ₹64,460.83
per kl ( ₹64.46 per litre) in the national capital. Jet fuel price was
hiked by over 1%, the second straight monthly increase in rate coming on the
back of firming global prices.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
TRAI ISSUES SHOWCAUSE NOTICE TO BARC INDIA FOR NOT RELEASING
TV VIEWERSHIP DATA
Broadcast regulator TRAI
has issued a showcause notice to Broadcast Audience Research Council India
(BARC India) for not complying with its direction on release of TV viewership
data on website during the sector's migration to the new tariff regime,
according to a source. The regulator has asked BARC India to explain, by April
5, why action should not be taken against it for contravention of sections of
the TRAI Act, the source privy to the development said. Reached for comments, a
BARC India spokesperson said it had temporarily suspended making public limited
set of data given the significant volatility in data due to distribution
disruptions in the NTO (new tariff order) transition period. It said making
public such misleading data would be against public interest and could be open
to misuse by vested interests. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
in its showcause notice dated March 29 noted that BARC India did not comply
with its past direction given on February 22, 2019, seeking immediate release
of viewership data (for the week ending February 8 and subsequent weeks) on its
website. TRAI had rued that BARC India did not comply with its past
instructions despite being repeatedly asked by the authority to publish rating
and data of the viewership of different TV channels. BARC, on the other hand,
had argued that disruption caused by transition to the new regime could prevent
consumers from accessing the channels of their choice, thus not giving fair and
true picture of TV consumption in India. But TRAI has maintained it would not
be appropriate to stop rating of channels as these changes were an outcome of
consumer choice and real reflection of market dynamics. It said there has been
no stoppage of data to its subscribers. Every week, our clients have been
receiving weekly data without any disruption, the BARC India spokesperson
added.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
UPI TRANSACTIONS REACH 800M MARK IN MARCH
Unified Payments Interface
clocked close to 800 million transactions with Rs 1.3 lakh crore being settled
in March, according to data shared by the National Payments Corporation of
India. While the number of transactions jumped 18.6% as against February, the
amount of money transferred went up 25% compared to last month, the highest in
the last six months. Offline merchant transactions which could be the major use
case for UPI are still at less than 15% of the total volume on the platform.
Industry sources have pointed out that more than 100 million handles have been
created on UPI. However, out of them the total number of unique users of UPI
could stand at somewhere around 70 million, these sources said. NPCI does not
publish unique user numbers on UPI. Besides UPI another instant payment
mechanism Immediate Payment System (IMPS) showed a strong jump in March. As per
data put out by NPCI, IMPS recorded 190 million transactions in March, a 14%
increase with the total amount transferred in the month being at Rs 1.7 lakh
crore, up 13%. In February the corresponding figures stood at 166 million
transactions with total amount settled being at Rs 1.5 lakh crore. As per
latest data shared in March NETC transactions stood at 26 million up from 23.8
million in February. While the total amount of money settled through NETC stood
at Rs 595 crore against Rs 527 crore in the previous month, the total number of
Fastags issued stood at 45.5 lakh.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GUESS WHAT? SALE OF ELECTORAL BONDS SURGES 62% IN ELECTION
YEAR
The sale of electoral
bonds has skyrocketed ahead of Lok Sabha election by 62 per cent as compared to
last year, with the SBI selling bonds of over Rs 1,700 crore an RTI reply
shows. In an RTI response to Pune-based Vihar Durve, SBI has said that in 2018,
it had sold bonds worth Rs 1,056.73 crore in March, April, May, July, October
and November. This year in January and March, the bank has sold Electoral Bonds
worth Rs 1,716.05 crore, the reply said. The country will go to polls this
month, with first phase of voting due on April 11. The sale shows an increase
of 62 per cent from those sold during 2018. The sale of electoral bonds opens
in SBI branches when the finance ministry issues notification of the sale for a
given period. The data provided by the SBI show that highest purchase of
electoral bonds for 2019 was reported from Mumbai where the bonds worth Rs
495.60 crore were sold. It was followed by Kolkata with the sale of Rs 370.07
crore, Hyderabad (over Rs 290.50 crore), Delhi (Rs 205.92 crore) and
Bhubaneswar (Rs 194 crore). The scheme of electoral bonds notified by the
central government in 2018 has been challenged in the Supreme Court. Referring
to research and data compiled on the issue, the NGO has said that close to 97
per cent of all the bonds purchased so far were in denomination of Rs 10 lakh
and Rs 1 crore with no demand for bonds of smaller denominations. BJP earned
more than Rs 1,000 crore in 2017-18 and is all set to be the maximum gainer of
political funding in the last financial year, according to its annual returns
submitted to the Election Commission, the application has alleged, referring to
media reports.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
JOBS BIGGEST POLL ISSUE FOR 62% MP VOTERS: ADR SURVEY
Employment would be the
biggest issue with the 5.14 crore voters in the Lok Sabha polls in Madhya
Pradesh, a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has revealed.
The survey shows that for 61.91 per cent voters in MP, including rural areas,
better employment opportunities matter more than issues related to agriculture,
corruption or terrorism. A total of 61.91 per cent voters in rural and urban MP
consider better employment opportunities as the biggest election issue, ADR
state coordinator Rolly Shivhare said, adding that the corresponding figure
nationwide was 46.80 per cent.Giving a break-up, she said better employment
avenues was the primary concern for 70 per cent of MP's urban population and 59
per cent of rural voters. The second priority for 39.19 per cent MP voters was
remunerative prices for farm produce, while the third concern for 32.69 per
cent electors was better health care by way of more hospitals and primary
health centres, the ADR functionary said. In the rural areas, 56 per cent
voters wanted higher prices for farm produce while 40 per cent spoke of the
need for electricity for agricultural purposes, the survey showed. However, in
MP's urban areas, 45 per cent of the electorate's second priority was better
hospitals and primary health care centres, while 41 per cent put their third
priority as better law and order, Shivhare added. The survey was conducted
between October 2018 and December 2018, covering 534 Lok Sabha constituencies
with 2,73,487 voters from several age groups participating, she said.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
26.02 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS GET ELECTRICITY CONNECTIONS UNDER
SAUBHAGYA SCHEME
Almost all Indian homes
targeted under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s marque
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or Saubhagya have got electricity
connections, according to the data available on the scheme’ website. Of 26.04
million households targeted under the scheme, 99.93% or 26.02 million
households have got electricity connections as on 31 March. The remaining 0.07%
or 18,820 households yet to receive last-mile electricity connectivity are in
Chattisgarh. The ₹16,320 crore Saubhagya scheme funds the cost of last-mile
connectivity to ‘willing households’ and was launched by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. It was to provide electricity connections to 40
million Indian homes by March 2019. The target was reduced to 30 million rural
and urban households after it was found that some households did not exist, or
had already been electrified. The government’s plan to provide 24X7 clean and
affordable power for all by March 2019 has been a mixed bag. While all states
claim to be providing round-the-clock electricity to urban consumers, the same
is not the case for rural consumers. Almost all states claim that they have
done 24X7 power in urban areas, said an union government official requesting
anonymity. Government data showed in the first half of FY19, losses rose to ₹15,080
crore from ₹11,071 crore a year earlier. As on September 2015, the total
debt of all state owned discoms was estimated to be around ₹2.45
trillion, with ₹0.8 lakh crore serviced by the states. Also, the annual discom
losses in FY16, FY17 and FY18 were funded through borrowings.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
97 FIRS, DAILY DIARY ENTRIES AGAINST POLITICAL PARTIES, OTHERS
FOR POLL CODE VIOLATION: DELHI CEO
As many as 97 FIRs and
daily diary (DD) entries have been registered till date against various
political parties and others for violation of the model code of conduct in the
run up to the Lok Sabha polls, Delhi's chief electoral officer (CEO) said
Monday. Ranbir Singh also told reporters that a statistics surveillance team,
constituted to keep an eye on the expenses of political parties, has seized Rs
51.97 lakh cash from outer Delhi and Dwarka. Out of these, 10 is against the
Aam Aadmi Party (six FIRs and four DD entries), 10 against the Bhartiya Janata
Party (seven FIRs and three DD entries), two against the Congress (both DD
entries), one against the Bahujan Samaj Party (one DD entry), and 74 against
others or non-political (entities), the CEO office said in a statement. Singh
also said social media is being aggressively monitored to check any violation
of the poll code and experts are also assisting the election team. The office
of the Delhi CEO said more than 2.44 lakh posters, banners and hoardings have
been removed since the poll code came into force. As many as 30,533 posters,
banners and hoardings were removed from areas under the New Delhi Municipal
Council, 43,075 from East Delhi Municipal Corporation areas, 2,411 from Delhi
Cantonment Board, 81,967 from South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and 86,623
from North Delhi Municipal Corporation areas, the CEO Office said in a
statement. Police have registered 564 FIRs and arrested 560 people under the
Excise Act, it said, adding, 191 FIRs have been registered under the Arms Act
in which 229 people were arrested. They have also seized 298 unlicensed arms
and weapons, and 2,323 cartridges and explosives. As many as 40,965 people have
been booked till date under various sections of the CrPC and the Delhi Police
Act. I-T department officials will analyse if the cash was meant for polling
purposes or not, he told reporters. The Delhi CEO office also said, as on date,
14 cases have been recorded for other category of violations, such as misuse of
vehicles, violation of loudspeaker norms, illegal meetings and gratification of
electors. Till date, 738 bottles, 67 half-sized bottles, 81,915 quarter-sized
ones of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 475 bottles, 762 half-sized and
155458 quarter-sized ones of country liquor and 4,861 bottles of beer have been
seized, it said.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
AAP COMPLAINTS TO EC AGAINST NAMO TV
The Election Commission on
Monday received a letter from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) pertaining to the
recently-launched NAMO TV. The party has asked if the BJP had sought an
approval for launch of the channel The AAP letter asked: Can permission be
granted to a party to have their own TV channel even after the model code of
conduct is enforced? If no permission was sought by ECI then what action has
been taken? Did BJP approach the Media Certification committee established to
certify the contents of the telecast and cost of the telecast? If not, why show
cause not issued for the violation of MCC? said the letter. The channel has Mr.
Modi’s photograph as its logo and it’s runs all his speeches. The Election
Commission is currently examining the letter, said the poll panel’s
spokesperson.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
PUNJAB: RELIEF FOR PROPERTY BUYERS AS STATE GOVERNMENT WON’T
CHARGE SOCIAL SECURITY FUND FROM APRIL 1
IN A move that could spell
much relief for property-buyers, the Punjab government has decided not to
charge 3 per cent extra stamp duty known as ‘Social Security Fund’, on the
property registration. The stamp duty was initially supposed to be charged from
April 1 onwards. The state government had also written to the Election
Commission (EC) for approval and letters were also sent to all deputy
commissioners (DCs) in Punjab in this regard on Saturday. The letters state
that as per a December 19, 2017 notification, the then government had exempted
people from the Social Security Fund for two years and stamp duty would be
charged from April 1 this year. The model code of conduct is in place so the
government decided not to charge the 3 per cent stamp duty which was charged in
urban areas. The decision was taken by a committee headed by chief secretary
and it was now under the consideration of the Election Commission, it further
said, adding that stamp duty shall not be charged until new orders are issued. The
Mohali Property Consultants Association (MPCA) welcomed the government’s
decision. MPCA secretary Harpreet Singh Dadwal said the 3 per cent stamp duty
was an extra burden on property buyers. Every month, on an average, 25 to 30
registrations are done in the district every day. With the imposition of the
new tax, there could be a decrease in the number of property registrations,
which shall eventually decrease the revenue of the state government, Harpreet Dadwal
told.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
GROWING GDP, TAX COLLECTIONS WILL HELP IMPLEMENT NYAY SCHEME:
CHIDAMBARAM
P Chidambaram on Wednesday
said the proposed Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) or the minimum income guarantee
scheme will be rolled out in phases after a pilot project if the party is voted
to power. The party has done enough homework for the scheme and has consulted
enough economists on the subject. All of them had broadly agreed that India
could do it. With the growing GDP and improving tax collection, it would be possible
to implement the scheme now he said. The size of India’s economy is ₹200
lakh crore and in nominal term, this size will increase by 12 per cent every
year. Therefore, after five years from now, the GDP would have grown to about ₹400
lakh crore. The expenditure of the government and all the States put together
is ₹60 lakh crore. Revenues are growing at 18 per cent. Therefore,
the amount available to the Central and State governments will double in five
years. We believe, India has the capacity to implement this programme, he
added. After considering all the factors and crunching the numbers, the party
has come to the conclusion that the Centre and the States should provide income
support of ₹6,000 per month to each of the five crore families. Our
calculation shows that the funds required for NYAY scheme will not cross 2 per
cent of the country’s GDP, he said. An expert committee will be set up for its
implementation and it will design the scheme at every stage and we will consult
the experts’ committee before we move to the next stage, he added.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIA SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES EMISAT SATELLITE
India scripted history by
successfully launching EMISAT a military satellite, and 28 foreign nano
satellites on-board its polar rocket Monday, in a complex mission which marked
many a first for ISRO. The rocket, PSLV-C45, in its 47th mission, injected the
436 kg EMISAT, aimed at electromagnetic measurement, and 28 co-passenger
satellites belonging to Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and the US, into their
designated orbits, ISRO said. The rocket lifted off majestically in clear skies
bursting orange flames at 9.27 am from the second launch pad at this spaceport
at the end of the 27-hour countdown. The mission marked several firsts to the
credit of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as it manoeuvred satellites
in various orbits and orbital experiments including on maritime satellite
applications. EMISAT is meant for electromagnetic measurement, ISRO said while declining
to reveal any further information about the satellite. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi congratulated ISRO scientists on the successful launch of EMISAT satellite
on board polar rocket PSLV-C45 from Sriharikota. Today, PSLV C45 has
successfuly injected ISRO made EMISAT in 748 kms orbit as well as 28 customer
satellites in 504 kms orbit, ISRO chief K Sivan said at the Mission Control
Centre. After completing its main function, the PS4 (fourth stage) is now
marching towards the 485 km orbit to do its function as orbital platform for
experiments, he said. He said this particular mission was very special for ISRO
as there were many firsts in it. First time a PSLV was flown in a new
configuration of four strap on motors first time a PSLV is carrying out three
orbital missions in a single flight, the first time PS4 (fourth stage) is
powered for carrying out experimental platforms and of course a new PSLV team
did this function, he said. On the future missions lined up for ISRO, he said
after completing all these wonderful missons, ISRO was scheduled to launch 30
missions by the year end. There is a lot of work for my team. Immediately, by
mid May we are going to have PSLV C46 that is going to launch RISAT 2B,
followed by PSLV C47 which is going to launch CARTOSAT-3 satellite, then we are
going to have Chandrayaan II and so on, he said. Again, the fourth stage was
reignited and further lowered to 485 kms orbit to serve as an orbital platform
for carrying out space borne experimentations for the first time in ISRO’s
history. This is the first time it has been envisaged to provide a
micro-gravity environment for research organisations and academic institutes to
perform experiments, ISRO said. The experiment payloads are automatic
identification system from ISRO for Maritime satellite applications capturing
messages transmitted from ships.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIA DOES HAVE HUGE POTENTIAL, REAL QUESTION IS SPEED OF
GROWTH: INDRA NOOYI
India has a huge potential
and the real question is the speed of growth and how many roadblocks it is
willing to remove Indra Nooyi has said. The country does have huge potential,
talent wise, population, everything, the country has huge potential. The real
question is the speed of growth and how many roadblocks are we willing to
remove, Nooyi said. India has got to do what is right for India. I am not the
person to opine on that. India has got to do what is right for India, just as
Europe should do what is right for Europe, she said. On the various
geo-political uncertainties around the world and their impact on the global
economic and social sphere, she said there have been many times in the past
where there has been geopolitical uncertainty. It’s been in different forms but
it’s always been there. Big companies just learn to power through. During the
fireside interaction, Nooyi said growing up in India, she was surrounded by a
tight-knit and multi-generational family and every member of the family stepped
into parenting and disciplining the young children. That confidence that we all
got, growing up, and that incredible sense of responsibility that education was
important, listening to the elders was very important and striving to do better
and better all the time and being held accountable for that made a profound
difference to my life. She added that in many ways I would say that my success
today is the result of my childhood, my upbringing and India. All of that has
had a profound impact on me.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
POST-POLL ALLIANCE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ POSSIBLE, JOB NO.1 IS TO
DEFEAT PM MODI: RAHUL GANDHI
Exuding confidence that
the Opposition is united in defeating the Narendra Modi-led government,
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that a post-poll alliance is
absolutely possible after the parliamentary elections. A post-poll alliance is
absolutely possible after the Lok Sabha elections as all the opposition parties
are united in defeating the BJP, the Congress leader told news agency PTI. Stating
that the job no.1 is to defeat Prime Minister Modi, Gandhi said, For the entire
opposition, the job number one is to defeat Mr Narendra Modi and save Democracy
and the Constitution. To stop the BJP from destroying India’s institutions and
its social fabric. To stimulate growth, propel economy, create jobs, ensure
harmony, and address injustice and inequality. In this, we are all united. Asked
about the possibility of a post-poll alliance of opposition parties, the
Congress leader said, Yes, absolutely. It is the people of India who are
standing up to counter Mr Modi, he added. On the differences within the
opposition ranks and allegations that the party was not putting up a united
fight, Gandhi said, Secular formations are in place in various states and the
BJP will face ‘strong’ opposition candidates all over India. There is an
understanding among all opposition parties that the BJP has to be defeated in
the interest of the country. The BJP is attacking and destroying our
institutions. It has played havoc with our economy. It has hurt India. It has
to be fought in nation’s interest, he added.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
CONGRESS QUESTIONS ASSETS INFORMATION IN AMIT SHAH'S POLL AFFIDAVIT,
DEMANDS ACTION AGAINST HIM
The Congress on Monday
accused BJP President Amit Shah of providing false information related to his
property in the affidavit filed by him for Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat and
demanded that the Election Commission direct the Returning Officer to initiate
action against him. Manish Tewari alleged that Shah in his affidavit has
undervalued his assets which is very serious as it is against the provisions of
the Representation of the People Act. Referring to a plot in Gandhinagar, the
Congress leader claimed that as per the government guidelines the market value
of the plot comes to Rs 66.5 lakh, but Shah had declared its value at Rs 25
lakh. We would like the Election Commission to take cognizance of this matter
and direct the Returning Officer of Gandhinagar to take appropriate action
under the law. Because this is no ordinary candidate, this is the president of
the BJP and an alleged false declaration on an affidavit is a serious issue, he
told reporters. Tewari alleged that when there is a laid down process, by which
a clear market value of the property can be declared, the president of BJP for
some reason has decided to declare only less than half its market value. He
also claimed that Shah's assets have seen a jump of 300 per cent from 2012 to
2019, growing from Rs 11.79 crore to Rs 38.81 crore.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
CONGRESS TRYING TO DEFAME HINDUS BY GIVING THEM TERROR TAG:
AMIT SHAH
Amit Shah Monday lashed
out at the Congress, accusing the grand old party of trying to defame Hindus by
giving them a terror tag. Rahul (Gandhi) Baba's party attempted to link Hindu
community with terrorism It was a bid to defame Hindus across the world, Shah
said, addressing a rally in Paralakhemundi under the Berhampur Lok Sabha
constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase on April 11. Hitting
out at the Congress, the BJP chief said thousands, including Swami
Aseemanandji, were recently acquitted in the Samjhauta Express blast case. Unfortunately,
the then Congress government compromised with national security by allowing the
real culprits in the case to go scot-free. These people have no concern for
national security, Shah said. He called upon people to oust the Naveen Patnaik
government in Odisha to ensure a corruption-free administration.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
TRS & BJP IN PARTNERSHIP, ONLY CONGRESS CAN FIGHT MODI:
RAHUL GANDHI
Rahul Gandhi asserted on
Monday that only his party can fight the BJP and accused the ruling TRS of
having a partnership with the Amit Shah-led outfit. On his first visit to
Telangana after the announcement of the election schedule, he attacked the
Prime Minister saying that while China generates 50,000 jobs every 24 hours,
Narendra Modi snatches away 27,000 during the same time. He promised two crore
jobs (every year). Has anyone of you got jobs?, he asked and alleged that in
the last 45 years, the unemployment rate was highest under Modi's five-year
regime Gandhi said if it comes to power, UPA would spend six per cent of the
GDP on education, building new colleges, universities and institutions and
providing scholarships. He said Rao never criticised the BJP-led government and
supported it on issues like the GST and demonetisation. Modi gets help from
Telangana. Remote control is in the hands of Modi, Gandhi alleged.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
NOT A CONTENDER FOR PM'S POST, SAYS MULAYAM
Samajwadi Party (SP)
founder Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday said after filing his nomination papers
for the Lok Sabha elections that he was not a contender for the post of Prime
Minister The former Defence Minister told the media that such issues would be
best discussed after the Lok Sabha election results are known on May 23.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
ASSAM FACES SC IRE OVER SMALL NO. OF ‘FOREIGNERS’
The Assam government came
in for flak from the Supreme Court on Monday after it justified the small
number of foreigners housed in detention centres in the state by saying that
most of the 70,000 identified outsiders have blended in with the local
populace. The Central government shot down a suggestion of the court that it
release detained foreigners and grant them refugee or stateless status to allow
them to stay on and work without political rights. The top court is dealing
with a petition filed by activist Harsh Mander who demanded better living
conditions in detention centres. He asked for a cut-off period beyond which they
cannot be held in detention and instead be allowed to stay on as refugees or
stateless persons so that they can lead a dignified life. Some 900 foreigners
are being held in a handful of detention centres in Assam. Mander claims they
live in abysmal conditions for an indefinite period, which is against the
fundamental right to life and dignity guaranteed to all under the Indian
Constitution. At the previous hearing, the court had frowned on indefinite
detention and made its suggestion to the Central government. However, the
Centre said it was not possible to detain them only for short periods because
deportation takes time, given that it involves reaching out through diplomatic
channels to ascertain the nationality of a foreigner, the Centre said in an affidavit.
Releasing them before completing the deportation process would increase the
possibility of foreigners becoming harder to trace, it said. The state,
explaining why the number of foreigners held in detention centres was small
compared to the magnitude of the problem, contended that most of them had gone
missing after blending in with the local populace.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
CAPEX AT 14-YEAR LOW AMID POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY AHEAD OF LOK
SABHA POLLS
Capital expenditure
(capex) on new projects halved in the March quarter of FY2018-19, compared to
the same period last year even as a new government is set to be elected at the
Centre The total value of new projects for the last quarter was Rs 1.99
trillion, a decline of 54.4 per cent from the Rs 4.36 trillion spent during the
corresponding period in the previous financial year, shows data from Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Experts suggest that companies may have put
their investment plans on hold ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2019. In the
first half of 2019, we expect political uncertainty to compound negative
effects and arrest private investment as businesses seek certainty before
committing to new projects. The elections in April-May 2019 would be an
important determinant of future growth and investment, said an Asia Economic
Outlook report from global financial services firm Nomura Securities on 10
December 2018. The total number of new projects started during 2018-19 is Rs
9.47 trillion. This is lower than previous years, according to an earlier note
from CMIE. New investment proposals are expected to decline sharply during the
year ended March 2019. We expect the year to end with new investment worth less
than Rs 10 trillion. This would be much lower than the Rs 11.3 trillion worth
of new investment proposals seen in 2017-18. It would also be the lowest since
2004-05, i.e. the lowest in 14 years, said the 8th March note authored by CMIE
managing director Mahesh Vyas. The number of completed projects was up 11.3 per
cent, at Rs 1.87 trillion, compared to the quarter ended March last year. The
number of revived projects was down 59.3 per cent at Rs 0.11 trillion. Stalled
projects saw a decline of 33.2 per cent to Rs 2.67 trillion. At the aggregate
level, capacity utilisation (CU) rose to 74.8 per cent in Q2 of 2018-19,
co-moving with the de-trended index of industrial production (IIP). Seasonally
adjusted CU also increased by 0.4 percentage points to 75.3 per cent in Q2 of
2018-19, the survey said.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
MODI WAS UNLIKE ‘MAUNI BABA’ MANMOHAN SINGH AFTER PULWAMA
ATTACK, SAYS AMIT SHAH
BJP believes in the policy
to answer goli (bullet) of terrorists with gola (bomb), said party president
Amit Shah. He said, martyrs of Pulwama terror attack had been avenged, Mr. Shah
cited recent retaliatory air strike on terror bases in PoK with satiric remark
that Prime Minister Modi was unlike ‘mauni baba’ Manmohan Singh. He was also
too critical of Congress think tank Sam Pitroda’s desire to have talks with
Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi’s guru Mr Pitroda may be wanting talks as it is policy
of their party but policy of our party is to give fitting reply in the form of
gola (bomb) in return of goli (bullet) fired by terrorists, he said. He alleged
that for vote bank politics Congress had floated concept of ‘Hindu terror’ to
tarnish image of Hindus. He called upon voters to elect Modi government at the
Centre again and also throw away BJD’s Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha. He
paid homage to stalwarts, who were catalyst in formation of Odisha on April 1,
1936, the first State formed on linguistic basis. He lamented that even after
19 years rule, Mr. Patnaik was unable to speak in Odia. This time choose a
Chief Minister who can speak and understand your issues and problem in your own
language, he said. He called upon voters in Odisha to elect BJP-led Central
government and a BJP government in the State. Without naming anyone of his
party he said, Odisha needs a young Chief Minister. He alleged that BJD government
in Odisha had failed to provide basic necessities like proper road
communication, electricity supply, safe drinking water and irrigation facility
to the citizens.
__ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
INDIAN ARMY IS ‘MODI JI KI SENA’, CONGRESS FEEDS BIRYANI TO
TERRORISTS: YOGI ADITYANATH
Yogi Adityanath said that
the Indian Army is Modi ji ki sena (Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Army).
Adityanath, campaigning for sitting MP and Union minister V K Singh, in
Ghaziabad also blasted Congress for using ‘ji’ for Masood Azhar. Congress ke
log aatankwadiyon ko biryani khilate the aur Modi ji ki sena aatankwadiyon ko
goli aur gola deti hai (Congress people would feed biryani to terrorists, while
Modi’s army gives them bullet or bomb). This is the difference. The Congress
people use ‘ji’ in Masood Azhar’s name to encourage terrorism, PTI quoted Yogi
as saying. Hitting out at Opposition parties over a host of governance issues
on Sunday, Adityanath said what was impossible for the Congress, Samajwadi
Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party has been made possible by the BJP. Under
Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, terror camps are being destroyed which is
breaking the back of terrorists and Pakistan. This is the work being done by
the BJP government and this is the difference, the UP chief minister added.
What was namumkin (impossible) for the Congress is mumkin (possible) for PM
Modi. Because when Modi is there, the impossible becomes possible, he said.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
No comments:
Post a Comment