GENERAL UPDATES 08.04.2019

METHOD OF CALCULATING JOBS MUST REFLECT REALITY: GOYAL

   

Every one has a livelihood, though everyone may not have a job. So, the method of calculating jobs should be changed to reflect reality. This was Railway Minister Piyush Goyal’s response to CII's Vinayak Chatterjee’s question on industry's concern over the authenticity of data put out by the government. According to Goyal, a domestic help makes a living by working in multiple places, none of which is captured. For every one permanent job created, three contract jobs are being created, and data should capture that, he said. The nature of jobs is changing as more people are working on contractual basis and one should benchmark them more on ‘livelihood creation’ compared to conventional jobs. He warned that doles will lead to under reporting of income and capturing authentic data on jobs would become a challenge and hinder formalisation of economy. He called on CII members to make sure that their contractors register with their employees on formal platforms like EPFO and ESIC.

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SC RULING ON HIGHER PENSION FROM EPFO MAY PAVE WAY FOR YOU TO BECOME EPS MEMBER

The recent Supreme Court (SC) order relating to EPS may open the doors for employees who were till now excluded from EPS to join the scheme. Also, the pension calculation formula may change resulting in increase in pension for employees who have already contributed to pension on full pay in the past. Going forward, the pension may be calculated on the basis of average salary of last 12 months and not 60 months which was the basis till now. Apart from these, the ruling has also opened doors to all existing members of EPFO to avail option of contributing on higher salary for a higher pension in the future. However, the above is in the realm of 'possible' because EPFO is yet to come out with its view on the impact of the SC ruling. All the above possibilities stem from the fact that the SC has upheld an earlier order of the Kerala High Court striking down a government notification which was the basis of rules relating to the above. The SC has dismissed EPFO's appeal against an order of the Kerala High Court. The Kerala High Court had ruled that the Employee's Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014 brought in force via notification No. GSR 609(E) dated 22nd August 2014 is to be set aside. Further the HC had also concluded that employees can choose to contribute to pension on higher pay at any point in time and the timeline to exercise such option and restricting the pension contribution to Rs 15000 is arbitrary. The notification that has been struck down had amended the then existing EPS and brought into force certain changes effective 1st September 2014.

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INDIA TO BE THIRD LARGEST ECONOMY BY 2030: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley on Saturday said India is expected to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030 with GDP touching USD 10 trillion helped by consumption and investment growth. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is about USD 2.9 trillion, he said. We keep oscillating between fifth and the sixth largest economy, depending on the dollar rate. As we look at the years ahead, we would be USD 5 trillion by 2024 and USD 10 trillion by 2030 or 2031. That's when we will be amongst first three - US, China and India and then of course, we would in the rat race of the big three wanting to catch up with much mightier competitors. So the sheer size and opportunities is going to expand, he said. Talking about avenues of growth for the next 20 years, the finance minister listed infrastructure creation, rural expansion and gender parity, among others. Jaitley, himself an alumnus of the college, said the 2011 Census showed that 21.9 per cent of India's population lived below the poverty line (BPL) and with the present rate of growth, this might have further reduced to 17 per cent today. It should shrink to 15 per cent by 2021 and further down to single digits by 2024-25, he said. At the same time, the middle class population would increase to 44 per cent from 29 per cent in 2015, he said citing a study. Going by the data, the size of India middle class would be four times the size of BPL when 2024 general elections takes place and therefore we have to see (whether) public discourse is still behind the curve or it takes the curve further, he said.

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EXPANSIONARY POLICIES WILL MAKE INDIA MORE GROWTH-ORIENTED IN FY20

The last six to twelve months have seen some challenging times for India. Markets have shown a lot of volatility and moved sideways Growth momentum has, to some extent, started subsiding as teething troubles with new reforms have impacted the normal business flow partially. Asset quality challenges have continued to exacerbate. Flows from foreign investors have dried up and overall liquidity has also been tight. All in all, it has been a tough year for India. As we enter FY20, key questions remain on our ability to accelerate and broad-base the growth momentum going forward and also to re-establish India as a premier investment destination for overseas investors. It might be, at this point, helpful to look at some of these challenges to see where we are headed. We have seen the enactment of several seminal reforms in the last few years including significant structural changes like GST, IBC and RERA. Each of these reforms have seen a fair amount of success but also thrown up some challenges which need some work. After some initial hiccups, GST is now firmly entrenched as the single tax law of the country. In the process, it has helped significantly enhance productivity and efficiency by removing barriers to goods movement across state lines and creating a seamless national market. At the same time, GST has also helped bring a larger section of the society under the tax bracket. As per reports, GST managed to bring in nearly 50 lakh new taxpayers into the tax net. As the process gets more streamlined and structured, this number is expected to rise even further. At the same time, challenges persist around the complex compliance requirements that GST entails even today This is something which must be actively targeted. Also, despite the recent rationalisation, there is further scope to reduce the number of slabs in GST. Despite these shortcomings, GST has initiated a widely-needed structural change in the economy and continues to be one of the most important reforms we have taken in some time. IBC has also plugged a gaping loophole in the economy The absence of a strong bankruptcy law was a glaring miss for our corporate legal framework. While attempts had been made in the past to build a workable solution, they have not led to fruition. IBC has solved most of the shortcomings of the previous laws. The very fact that banks are seeing promoters come up and repay loans to avoid going to NCLT shows the kind of strict regime that IBC has brought in. Besides, the higher than expected valuations of assets passing through NCLT is also indicative of the effectiveness of the law. There are still some changes needed but that is primarily dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s. RERA was another significant reform undertaken over the last two years. While its impact has been seen to a lesser extent than GST and IBC, the compliance levels among developers have seen a tangible shift. As the industry goes into some consolidation, we can expect the RERA compliant, customer-centric developers to do well. All in all, the reforms from the last few years are now taking concrete shape. They are now past the initial stage where a lot of stakeholders struggle adjusting to the changes and resources are wasted in transitioning. Incrementally, these reforms will only add on to the economic push and should be a key driver of the FY20 growth trajectory. Any incremental large chunk recognition will be very limited going forward. With IBC in action and banks actively providing for the assets recognised, the incremental provision will be limited. As a result, bank credit is expected to start gaining traction once again as the capital can be used for growth purposes. This will help drive money to the productive sections of the economy and drive growth. A study of FII flows over the last 20 years clearly shows that weak FII inflows/FII outflows are usually followed by bumper FII inflows as the attractive valuations become an ideal investment opportunity. Equity FII inflows of $0.7 billion in 2002 was followed by strong flows of ~$8 billion the following year, one of the biggest ever. Similarly, outflows of ~$10 billion in 2008 were immediately followed by inflows of ~$19 billion in 2009. More recently, outflows of ~$4 billion in 2016 were followed by inflows of ~$31 billion in 2017. Clearly, FII outflows are counter-cyclical in nature. With net outflows in 2018 to the tune of more than 1 trillion, it is expected that we will see strong inflows from FIIs this year. However, these are expected to gain traction only once the election process concludes in May and the uncertainty regarding the outcome settles down. Post-May, we expect a strong boost to foreign flows, particularly if a stable government takes power. With inflation holding steady, the recent rate cut will push the stalled growth momentum. The change in stance is a big positive and is expected to continue over the next few quarters. The mildly expansionary nature of the fiscal policy coupled with the expansionary monetary policy stance is a situation which we have not seen in India in the recent past. They have mostly been at odds with each other, dictated by fiscal and inflationary compulsions. To that effect, both the government and the regulator have done well to address current concerns and drive the economy towards an expansionary economic policy. With several factors at play, all converging towards a growth booster, it is highly likely that we see a much stronger and much more growth-oriented India this year. While not all of the above factors may play out, there are enough vectors to drive forward the economy. If all of them do eventually play out, we could actually see a bumper year for the Indian economy.

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ENFORCEMENT ACTION BY GOVT AGENCIES MUST BE NEUTRAL: EC

Hours after early morning raids by the income tax department on the residences and offices of Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath’s close aides, the EC wrote to the revenue secretary with the strong advice that all enforcement action by agencies under its jurisdiction be absolutely neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory The income tax nodal officer later informed the CEO that even the local office of the I-T department had no prior information of the raids and the entire team for the raids, including CRPF personnel, had come from Delhi. In fact, the MP CEO is said to have conveyed to the EC that he had not received a report from the I-T nodal officer till 7 pm on Sunday evening. This is probably why the EC wrote to the revenue secretary on Sunday evening saying that where use of illicit money was suspected for electoral purposes, the chief electoral officer of the state concerned be kept suitably informed during the period of the model code of conduct. The EC said use of money power with the intention of influencing voter behaviour had emerged as one of the biggest challenges for the conduct of free, fair, ethical and credible elections, in the process undermining the very fabric of Indian democracy.

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EC BANS ALL POLITICAL ADS IN NEWSPAPERS ON ELECTION DAY, DAY BEFORE

The Election Commission has banned all political advertisements in newspapers on poll day and preceding day of the polling unless it is pre-certified from the concerned authorities at the state or district level. According to a press release from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam on Sunday, no political party or candidate shall publish any advertisement in print media on poll day or one day prior to the poll day in all the phases. However, the advertisements can be published if these are pre-certified from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) at the state or district level, it added. In the context of Assam, the restricted days of advertisement are 10th and 11th April for Phase-I, 17th and 18th April for Phase-II, 22nd and 23rd April for Phase-III, the release said. The ECI has directed that in order to facilitate publication of the newspaper advertisements, MCMC at state and district level must examine and pre-certify all such advertisements received from the political parties, candidates and others, it added.

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ELECTORAL BONDS MEANT TO PROMOTE WHITE MONEY IN POLITICS: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley on Sunday slammed critics of electoral bonds, including NGOs, and said the new instrument for political donations was meant to increase the contribution of white money as opposed to the earlier system, where black money was used for funding political parties and elections. If the bonds don’t exist, the consequence will be that donors will have no option but to donate only by cash after siphoning monies from their businesses. The recent Election Commission and I-T raids have shown that it is taxpayers/government’s money, which, through PWD and other departments of the government, is being siphoned out and round-tripped into politics. Is that a better option or the reformed system of all white money and improved, if not a perfect transparency? NGOs and commentators must look beyond their nose, he wrote in a blog. Pointing to cash seizures by the EC and tax authorities in states, Jaitley highlighted such actions, particularly in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, north-east and Madhya Pradesh. The income tax department on Sunday searched at least 50 locations in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Goa belonging to people linked to MP chief minister Kamal Nath and last month the tax department had searched the premises of aides of a JD(S) minister in Karnataka. Similarly, searches were conducted at the premises of senior DMK leader Duraimurugan in Vellore in Tamil Nadu over suspected use of unaccounted money for electioneering and Rs 10 lakh of alleged excess cash was seized. Lashing out at NGOs dealing with elections and electoral reforms, Jaitley said they had a tendency to either exaggerate or misrepresent and display a lack of understanding of how parties functioned. He said all parties needed, on a pro-rata basis, the same amount of money depending on the number of seats they were contesting. The only question is ‘what is their fund collection culture?’ Do they still prefer the old obsolete style of only black money being collected or do they prefer to collect it by legitimate methods like crowd sourcing, cheque and electoral bonds? Obviously, the BJP prefers the latter. It declares larger income and gullible friends in the NGOs believe that they get more, the FM wrote. He also asked whether NGOs believed the balance sheets of BSP, SP, TDP and other political parties. They obviously don’t disclose the income that they get because most of these donations are in cash. This has significantly reduced the credibility of the reports of these NGOs, he wrote.

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NEED TO DEVELOP PROPER MATRIX TO UNDERSTAND CHANGES IN ECONOMY: SURESH PRABHU

Suresh Prabhu has underlined a need to develop a proper matrix to understand changes in the Indian economy and job creation that is happening at a rapid pace. The minister's comments have come against the backdrop of former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently raising doubts over the Indian economy growing at 7 per cent when not enough jobs were being created. In response, Prabhu said, We have to have proper matrix to be developed to understand this changing profile of India's economy and in which job creation is happening at rapid rate. He said that the relation between employment generation to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) will always undergo a change depending upon the profile of the economy. Despite the fact that only 16 per cent of the GDP comes from agriculture, the sector engages over 60 per cent of the country's population, he said, adding that so, what is the relation between GDP and job creation?  Further, Prabhu said that in 1960s and 1970s, the government used to provide bulk of the jobs and then came the private sector. He added that now start-ups too are providing huge job opportunities but the challenge is to capture that data. Rajan had said that the current cloud over the GDP data must be cleared by appointing an impartial body to look at it. Questions have been raised about the government not making public the NSSO labour survey that reportedly put the unemployment rate in 2017 at a 45-year high.

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TELECOM FIRMS SHOULD BACK ROLLOUT OF PUBLIC WI-FI HOTSPOTS: NITI AAYOG SECY

Telecom operators need to support the rollout of public wi-fi hotspots to gain edge in the technology space, Niti Aayog special secretary Yaduvendra Mathur said on Friday. TSPs (telecom service providers) also need to support this move (rollout of public wi-fi). If you do not allow for hotspots to roll out, we will be again behind the curve, Mathur said. To push proliferation of wi-fi hotspots, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended that a new set of players, to be called pubic data office aggregator (PDOA), should be allowed to resell Internet services through yesteryear PCO type of set-up. These will be called public data offices. The recommendation of Trai was based on existing rules for cyber cafes. T.V. Ramachandran said just as mobile transformed India, OTT was the next dimension of change. VoLTE has made voice calls free. OTT services have added to the GDP of the country as well as to the productivity of people. This is in addition to the other benefits that they deliver to the TSPs at a time when their revenue from voice is zero. OTT is a very powerful and necessary lever for TSPs and ISPs as revenue generators. TSPs must be provided relief from excessive levies and taxes to ensure they stayed healthy, he added. TSPs create a value for the whole of economy and hence their financial health is important for the Indian economy to grow and prosper. Thus, there is a need to create an ecosystem that is a win-win for them and all other stakeholders in their ecosystem. Also, OTTs do not fall under the Telegraph Act.

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LESSORS WANT TO DEREGISTER JET PLANES; IOC BRIEFLY CUTS FUEL

A solution to its financing crisis continues to evade Jet Airways, with its lenders yet to infuse any significant capital On Friday, Indian Oil cut fuel supplies for a few hours over unpaid bills. Some lessors have also sought deregistering of grounded planes in order to fly them out of the country. IOC did not give details of the airline's dues. India's biggest oil marketing company cut off supply round noon, and resumed only around 6pm after it was assured of payment. Jet fuel supply has been restored, an airline spokesman said. Etihad Airlines, Jet’s partner and a potential buyer, held talks with SBI on Friday, but no deal was announced. According to a bank official, Etihad had earlier placed several conditionalities for acquiring Jet, most of which were beyond the powers of lenders. It is not clear where the restructuring plan has got stuck, but banks have invited bids for expressions of interest from potential buyers up to April 9.

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JET’S TROUBLES MOUNT AS LESSORS MC AVIATION, AVOLON MOVE DGCA TO DE-REGISTER 7 PLANES

Even as Jet Airways’ lenders are gearing up to invite expressions of interest from prospective investors for the beleaguered airline, its troubles have intensified with lessors asking the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to de-register some of its already grounded aircraft De-registration will allow the lessors to take the aircraft out of the country and lease them to other airlines. MC Aviation Partners and Avolon have applied to the DGCA to de-register about seven planes between the two. More applications could be made in the coming days if adequate funding is not pumped into the company soon, said a source close to the development.

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DOT SEEKS LEGAL OPINION ON EXTENSION OF MTNL LICENCE

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is seeking legal opinion regarding extension of MTNL’s licence for two years In the interim, services will continue without any disruption. The 20-year licence of state-run MTNL is expiring on April 6 and if the company wants to renew it, it has to pay a renewal charge of around Rs 11,000 crore. On its part, MTNL has held that the expiry of the licence does not fall in April 2019 but in January 2021. Sources told that although MTNL has taken legal opinion from Vikramjit Banerjee, additional solicitor general, government of India, who has supported its stand that the licence expires in 2021 and not in 2019, DoT will also ask for opinion from Attorney General KK Venugopal to rule out any further litigation on the issue. Based on the legal opinion, we will decide on the further course of action Even if the opinion is against extension, DoT will ensure that MTNL’s services continue. Capital will be arranged either through borrowings or government infusion, a source in DoT said. MTNL has also written that in the event of DoT does not agreeing with MTNL’s request, it should issue specific and unambiguous instructions to it to close down its services after April 5. In case the DoT does not give any such instruction, it will continue to operate the services based on the legal opinion it has received from the ASG. It has even said that if the government does not accede to its request, it may seek legal remedies.

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SBI INVITES BIDS FOR STAKE SALE IN CASH-STRAPPED JET AIRWAYS

State Bank of India (SBI) Monday invited bids for stake sale in ailing Jet Airways. SBI, which is the lead lender of a consortium of domestic lenders that has extended loans to Jet Airways, is looking for change in control and management of the carrier, according to a public notice. SBI Capital Markets would be assisting and advising the lenders on the bid process. The bids have to be submitted by April 10. The lenders' consortium has taken control of the airline under a debt recast plan. Under the debt resolution plan approved by the Jet Airways' board on March 25, lenders have taken a majority stake in the airline and are set to infuse Rs 1,500 crore.

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JET LENDERS PLAN TO SELL 75% STAKE, BIDDER'S NET WORTH SHOULD BE RS 1000 CR

Jet Airways India Ltd.’s lenders invited initial bids to buy as much as 75 percent of the debt-laden carrier, starting a process that will determine the future of India’s oldest surviving private airline. Potential buyers must submit their interest by April 10, State Bank of India Ltd., the lead creditor, said in a document Monday. A strategic bidder should have a net worth of at least Rs 1,000 crore ($144 million) in the preceding financial year, or at least three years of experience in the airline business. The airline is credited with successfully breaking the monopoly of state-run Air India Ltd. and was once India’s second-biggest carrier, but its fleet has dwindled to 26 planes from 124 as recently as January. Accumulated losses in nine of the past 11 years have caused Jet Airways to delay payments to banks, lessors and employees, while its founder Naresh Goyal was forced to cede control of the carrier. Jet Airways, part-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways PJSC, needs Rs 8500 crore to get back on its feet after a fare war by budget airlines wiped out profits and it racked up debt of more than $1 billion. The fate of Jet Airways is crucial to the legacy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he faces an election that begins April 11 after holding power for the last five years. While he remains the favorite in the polls, his party has faced setbacks of late and he has been criticized for not living up to a key election promise to create 10 million new jobs a year. A collapse of Jet Airways, with 23,000 employees, could further dent his credentials. Consortiums submitting bids should have no more than three members, with each holding a share of no less than 15 percent, according to Monday’s document. After qualified bidders are selected, they will be provided access to the company’s data and the bid document.

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PUBLIC SECTOR UNITS, WEALTH FUNDS CAN BID FOR JET AIRWAYS TOO

Airlines, private equity firms, public sector units, and sovereign wealth funds will be eligible to bid for ownership and control of Jet Airways and will have to take a minimum 31.2 per cent stake in the airline. The expression of interest for stake sale opened on Monday and is a part of the bank-led resolution plan. While banks were to receive 114 million shares as a part of the resolution plan, that has been stuck in light of a Supreme Court judgment. The  31.2 per cent threshold for acquiring control in Jet Airways has been calculated as per the existing shareholding structure with no issue of equity to banks. Financial and strategic investors can bid individually or as a consortium and have to fulfill qualification criteria regarding net worth, capital available for deployment and so on. Government entities and sovereign wealth funds will be able to place a bid straight away and are exempt from the expression of interest stage. The EOIs for the Jet Airways stake sale will close on Wednesday.

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JET’S LENDERS CAN ONLY PUT 32% PLEDGED SHARES ON BLOCK

Lenders to Jet Airways, can as on date, only sell about 32 per cent of the airline’s shares that are pledged to them by founder Naresh Goyal, even as they have hastily put out a document inviting expressions of interest to sell up to as much as 75 per cent of the airline to a new investor to save the near-bankrupt airline. The call for EOIs has opened today and closes at 6pm on April 10. As on date, banks only have control about 32 per cent of shares that are pledged with them. That is what they can sell, said a senior SBI group official. The bid document says lenders have initiated the bidding process because Jet failed to honour its debt obligations. The winning bidder will get ownership of the company and will settle the obligations of Company in relation to the Existing Facilities,

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BSNL CAN MANAGE ITS EXPENSES TILL JUNE: CMD

Ailing state-run telecom player BSNL expects Rs 5,000 crore revenues annually from the planned asset monetisation of its land and buildings and does not see any problem in managing the expenditure till June. The asset sale is part of the revival plan being considered by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Under BSNL's revival plan, the government is considering allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL and offering a lucrative VRS which will be given to the willing employees. Laying off employees is not at all under consideration, BSNL chairman and managing director Anupam Shrivastava told. The asset monetisation is also being considered actively by the government, he said. According to BSNL's own estimates, once real estate monetisation plan is given a green signal, it will bring in a minimum of Rs 5,000 crore revenues, he said. BSNL, which has a huge employee base of 1.76 lakh, was unable to pay salaries for February on time. Its private-sector rivals, on the other hand, have around 20,000-25,000 people on each of their payrolls. The worst is behind us. The silver lining is that the decline in revenues has stopped; it has started looking towards North. Only Reliance Jio and BSNL have been adding users and increasing their market share. We are seeing positive signs. The focus is back on the revival of BSNL through various measures, Shrivastava said.

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TDP'S MANIFESTO PROMISES DOLES OF RS 2 LAKH TO EACH FAMILY EVERY YEAR

The ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh Saturday released its manifesto for the general elections promising doles to the tune of Rs 2 lakh to each family every year with the monetary benefits starting from womb to tomb. The TDP promised to continue the Centre's PM Kisan Samman scheme with a matching grant from the state, giving a benefit of up to Rs 15,000 to each farmer per annum. Officials estimated that the cash-starved state government will require at least Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore to fulfill the promises of either party. With the two parties promising 30-45 lakh free houses for different sections, besides waiver of existing loans on old houses, that bill alone is expected to cross over Rs 40,000 crore. The YSRC also announced a stipend of Rs 60,000 to junior lawyers, a first-of-its-kind incentive. Besides, a Rs 100 crore Lawyer Welfare Fund would also be created. While the YSRC chief promised to fill all 2.3 lakh existing vacant jobs in the state government, the Chief Minister merely said all vacancies would be filled, without specifying the number. The YSRC promised Rs 50,000 per annum to SHG women and also interest-free loans. The TDP promised free higher education and a Rs 25 lakh grant for overseas education while the YSRC promised total fee reimbursement and also an annual Rs 20,000 per student to cover food and accommodation expenses. Every woman would be given Rs 15,000 a year for sending her children to school.

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VIKRAM KIRLOSKAR TAKES CHARGE AS CII PRESIDENT

Vikram Kirloskar on Friday took charge as the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the chamber said. Kirloskar is the Chairman and Managing Director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd, and Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. He takes over from Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises. Uday Kotak, is the President-Designate and TV Narendran, the CEO & MD of Tata Steel, is the Vice President for 2019-20, CII said. Kirloskar has been associated with CII for three decades and has been chairman of Global Innovation and Technology Alliance Board since its inception in 2012-13, the chamber said.

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U.S. TREASURY OFFICIAL DAVID MALPASS NAMED WORLD BANK PRESIDENT

David Malpass, a top U.S. Treasury official in Trump administration, was on April 5 unanimously selected as the new President of the World Bank The World Bank’s 25-member executive board unanimously approved 63-year-old Malpass, who is currently Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs, as the development lender’s 13th President for a five-year term beginning April 9, according to a statement. Mr. Malpass, a loyalist of President Donald Trump, succeeds Jim Yong-kim, who stepped down on February 1 to join an investment firm. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the bank, has been acting as the interim President. The World Bank President is Chair of Boards of Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA).

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FREE WIFI AT 500 RAIL STATIONS IN 7 DAYS! INDIAN RAILWAYS CREATES RECORD

New record by Indian Railways! Giving a boost to Modi government’s Digital India initiative, RailTel, which is a mini ratna CPSU under the Ministry of Railways has provided free high-speed WiFi service to as many as 500 stations in a short period of seven days with ‘RailWire’. The PSU, which provides one of the largest and fastest public WiFi networks of the world, is ceaselessly working in order to set up free WiFi at all railway stations across the country within a year, except halt stations. Moreover, RailTel has also tied up with Tata Trust for providing free WiFi at 4,791 B, C, D and E category railway stations. Recently, Northern Railways’ Sahibabad station has become the 1500th railway station in India to get the free WiFi facility. Puneet Chawla, the free WiFi project was initiated from Mumbai Central railway station, Sahibabad gets the distinction of becoming the 1500th railway station to get the facility. The PSU is now targeting the smaller stations to implement the project. He said that as there is a visible digital divide between the rural and urban parts of the country, thus, people in the rural areas are often deprived of the latest telecom infrastructure, which is mainly provided by the private operators. Therefore, to provide free WiFi at the stations, Indian Railways has taken the initiative so that not only railway users but also the local population can benefit from the service, he added.

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ASAT TEST POSES NO THREAT TO ISS: DRDO CHIEF

G. Satheesh Reddy said on Saturday that there was no possibility of debris from the anti-satellite (ASAT) test conducted by India on March 27 hitting the International Space Station (ISS). He said there were chances of some debris going up but since 10 days have passed since the launch, there was no possibility of it posing any threat to the ISS. The risk analysis simulation based on an internationally accepted software also showed that there was no threat to the space station The DRDO chief said that all the debris should be dissolved within 45 days. Responding to the observations made by NASA Administrstor Jim Bridenstine about the possible threat to the International Space Station, Reddy said when India conducted the test, the space station was over French Guyana.

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LABOUR UNION SOON TO BE A REALITY OF THE DIAMOND INDUSTRY

Diamantaires in the world’s largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the city are apprehensive because they know a labour union is going to become a reality in the industry soon Diamond Workers’ Union (DWU), registered with labour department in Gujarat, has begun to enroll diamond workers as members in a five-month long drive that began here on Friday. Ranmal Jilariya told, Since its inception, diamond industry in Gujarat does not have a labour union to address the issues of workers. Though our union was registered in 2013, it became active in the last one year following the multi-crore bank loan scam and job losses in the industry. The union will be the voice of diamond workers facing problems related to their jobs in the industry. In the last one-and-a-half year, the industry has witnessed job losses, heavy reduction in diamond production, issues of labour laws, wage cuts etc. There are more than 5,000 diamond units in the city employing 5.5 lakh diamond workers.

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PRAFUL PATEL ELECTED AS FIFA COUNCIL MEMBER

All India Football Federation president Praful Patel was on Saturday elected as a FIFA Council member becoming the first Indian to enter the prestigious panel in a landmark development. Patel got 38 out of 46 votes. The AIFF chief was one of the eight candidates vying for the spot in the election which was held during the 29th AFC (Asian Football Confederations) Congress in the Malaysian capital. A total of five candidates, including Patel, was elected in addition to the AFC president, and one female member for the term 2019-2013. I am extremely humbled. I express my gratitude to all the members of the AFC who felt me suitable for the post. The responsibility as a FIFA Council member is huge. I would not only be representing my own country but the entire continent. Thank you all for your confidence for rapid progress of football in Asia, Patel stated. This is a major development for India’s football fraternity. Best wishes on his new endeavour.

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INDIA TRAILING BEHIND LAST YEAR IN TEA PRODUCTION

Despite its improved performance in February, the cumulative production of the Indian tea industry in the first two months of the current calendar is trailing behind the corresponding period of 2018 due to the nil production in January in North India. Tea Board has just released the data for February which shows that the country’s production that month rose to 14.69 million kg (mkg) from 13.48 mkg in February 2018. This increase of 1.21 mkg marked a gain of 8.98 per cent, Rajesh Gupta, compiler of annual Global Tea Digest, told. The production increased despite a fall in the South because of a significant rise in the North. The South Indian production dipped to 10.08 mkg from 11.63 mkg, marking a loss of 1.55 mkg or 13.33 per cent due to drought conditions. Following the Tea Board’s order to stop production since December 10, there was no production in January in North India. So, the combined production of January and February there was the same as February production given above. This was 2.53 mkg or 35.43 per cent less than the production of January-February 2018. As of now, Tamil Nadu tops the production table at 16.25 mkg (up 0.18 mkg) followed by Kerala at 7.20 mkg (down 0.21 mkg).

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VODAFONE IDEA, AIRTEL BET BIG ON MACHINE LEARNING; READYING NETWORKS FOR 5G

Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL) and Bharti Airtel are embracing technologies such as machine learning to automate their networks and transform them into self-healing networks to offer better customer experience Both telecom operators are also cloudifying their respective core networks to be ready for 5G technology Bharti Airtel is investing heavily in the area of automation and orchestration, and is also working with a lot of partners, said Randeep Sekhon. 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 customer experience, he told. 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, he said. Vora said that VIL is cloudifying its entire core network, which is now very much similar to a 5G core network and gives the telco flexibility to offer new services. We can offer many 5G capabilities now on our 4G network because we have modernised our core network, he said. We are evolving the entire network knowing that there will a 5G network and there will huge data volumes, he said. Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, is building coverage and capacity to improve its 4G services. Sekhon said the company is adding more spectrum for 4G in metro circles and will soon finish its 900Mhz 4G project in 10 circles.

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INDIA NEEDS INNOVATION IN AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION THAN DRIVERLESS CARS: NITI AAYOG

India needs to find solutions to increase agricultural productivity and water conservation instead of focusing on driverless cars or war machines, Amitabh Kant, said. Our country does not require innovation for driverless cars, war machines etc, it needs innovations like which right seed and fertilizer can be provided to the farmers so that our agriculture productivity can go up. India needs innovation in the areas of transportation, recycling of water, NITI Aayog CEO said. The country is facing challenges related to quality of education and health and these challenges can be only confronted with major technological breakthroughs, he added. We are here to support start-up movement and I am delighted that IIT alumni have take this initiative, said Kant. SMC--which came in to existence in 2014, has also signed up an MoU with NITI Aayog to further build momentum and deeper penetrations in the startup catchment area.

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DEFENCE PRODUCTION LIKELY TO OPEN UP FOR KERALA STARTUPS

A high-level team of officials from the defence production will soon visit Maker Village, India’s largest electronic hardware incubator, which may pave the way for startups from Kerala to enter the defence ecosystem. Ajay Kumar, during his discussions with Prasad Balakrishnan Nair, CEO, Maker Village. Assuring that he will open the doors for startups to defence production, Dr Kumar said the visiting team will comprise officials from Army, Navy and Air Force. Startups are going to be an important part of our defence ecosystem. Users like Army and Air Force want them to identify problems and seek ways to resolve them, he said. He recalled that a defence India Startup challenge the government launched last August received 520 outstanding proposals from new companies, much to the encouragement of the plan to leverage defence startups and connect them with the armed forces.

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ELECTRICITY SHOULD BE A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT: ENGINEERS TELL POLITICAL PARTIES

Political parties' manifestos should declare electricity as a fundamental right said an association representing almost 1.5 million public sector power employees Sunday. The All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) has written to leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress and other parties suggesting a charter of suggestions to improve the power sector. AIPEF said in Lucknow electricity drives economic development, and should therefore be affordable and available to the poor. AIPEF chairman Shailendra Dubey claimed the domestic power sector was in deep crisis, especially due to the indiscriminate change in policy. Almost 65% of investment in the private thermal power plants has resulted in stressed assets. There is serious danger of Rs 3 (trillion)-4 trillion of public funds in the form of bank loans turning non-performing assets (NPA). Interestingly, this comes at a time when private security guards or watchmen have become talk of the nation as the term chowkidar has been popularised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through 'Main Bhi Chowkidar' campaign ahead of elections.

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SC REFUSES LISTING OF PLEA CHALLENGING HC ORDER ON TIKTOK APP DOWNLOAD

The Supreme Court Monday refused urgent listing of a plea challenging the recent Madras High Court order banning downloading of the 'TikTok' app over concerns of pornographic content. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the plea will come up for hearing in due course of time. The Madras High Court had on April 3 directed the Centre to ban mobile application 'TikTok' as it voiced concern that pornographic and inappropriate content were made available through such apps. It had passed the interim order on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition which sought to ban Tik Tok on the grounds that it allegedly contained content that degraded culture and encouraged pornography.

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INDIAN ARMY GETS FIRST BATCH OF DHANUSH ARTILLERY GUNS

The Indian Army on Monday received its first batch of artillery guns 'desi Bofors' in Jabalpur. It will be deployed along India’s borders with Pakistan and China. The Dhanush, which has a calibre of 155x45mm, is the first ever indigenous artillery gun of this calibre. In army parlance, it is classified as 'medium artillery'. The army’s artillery arm has 'medium regiments' that consist of guns of this calibre and of 130mm calibre. The Bofors, which had played a crucial role in targeting Pakistani military positions during the 1999 Kargil War, and similarly has a 155mm calibre is part of such regiments.  Dhanush gun has emerged as a reliable and robust gun system at par with the latest in the world and will increase the fire power of the Indian artillery manifold. It is truly Make in India marvel, said officials.

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ABOUT 85% OF UJJWALA BENEFICIARIES IN FOUR STATES STILL USE EARTHEN STOVES

The hidden truth of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna (PMUY), being touted in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election campaigning as one of the big successes of the incumbent government, is that most rural households with LPG (liquiefied petroleum gas) connections still use chulhas with firewood or dung cakes, to the detriment of rural health. A new study from the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (r.i.c.e) shows that 85% of Ujjwala beneficiaries in rural Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan still use solid fuels for cooking due to financial reasons as well as gender inequalities. The resultant indoor air pollution can lead to infant deaths and harm child development, as well as contribute to heart and lung disease among adults, especially the women, cooking on these chulhas. Central government data shows that more than six crore households have received a connection through the scheme. The r.i.c.e study shows that in the four States surveyed, there has indeed been a substantial increase in LPG ownership due to the scheme, with 76% of households now owning an LPG connection. However, more than 98% of these households also own a chulha. Surveyors asked if food items — roti, rice, sabzi, dal, chai and milk — had been cooked on the chulha or the gas stove on the previous day. They found that only 27% of households exclusively used the gas stove. Another 37% reported using both the chulha and the gas stove, while 36% made everything on the chulha. The trend is more acute among those who received an LPG connection from the government; almost 53% exclusively used the chulha, while 32% used both. Ujjwala beneficiaries are poorer, on average, than households who got LPG on their own. Refilling the cylinder is a greater fraction of their monthly consumption, and they may be less likely to get a refill immediately after a cylinder becomes empty, says the report, suggesting that higher refill subsidies and monitoring may help to change behaviour. Gender inequalities also play a role. Surveyors found that almost 70% of households do not spend anything on solid fuels, meaning that the relative cost of an LPG cylinder refill, even if subsidised, is far higher. Women are more likely to make dung cakes, and while men are more likely to cut wood, women are often the ones collecting and carrying it. The study argues that these women, who do the unpaid labour needed for free solid fuels, are not typically economic decision-makers in the household, hindering a shift to LPG usage.

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SOURAV GANGULY REPLIES TO OMBUDSMAN, CLARIFIES STAND ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president and Delhi Capitals advisor Sourav Ganguly has replied to BCCI ombudsman and ethics officer DK Jain clarifying that there is no conflict of interest in his dual role as alleged by three cricket fans. The Ombudsman had asked Ganguly to clear his stand on allegations of conflict of interest in his role as IPL franchise Delhi Capitals advisor while serving as the president of CAB. Ganguly told PTI that he had sent his reply to Justice Jain on the April 6th, making his position clear. In my respectful submission there is no direct or indirect interest, compromising roles, commercial conflict, prior relationship or position of influence within the meaning of the BCCI Constitution which may deter my involvement with the Delhi Capitals, wrote Ganguly as per excerpts of the letter available with PTI. The former India captain said he was not a part of any committee that was overseeing the organisation of the ongoing Indian Premiere League. At present, I do not hold any post whatsoever or howsoever in the BCCI. I am neither a member of the Apex Council of the BCCI nor an office bearer nor a member of any of the Cricket Committees constituted by the BCCI under its Constitution, Ganguly wrote. I am also not connected with the administration, management or running of the IPL by being a member of any of the committees or other organisational units set up by the BCCI in connection with the IPL.

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‘NUH FARMERS FACE STEP-MOTHERLY TREATMENT FROM GOVT’

Haryana Congress vice-president Aftab Ahmed has accused the State government of step-motherly treatment towards the farmers in Nuh district for not opening enough centres to procure mustard at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for the crop. As of now, the mustard is being procured at only two centres in Tauru and Punhana, said Mr. Ahmed. Nuh is one of the leading mustard producing districts in Haryana. Mr. Ahmed visited the grain markets across the district over the past one week and found that most of the farmers were forced to sell their produce at a rate which is around ₹1,000 less than the MSP announced by the Haryana government for mustard. Though the farmers start reaching the grain markets in mid-February with the mustard, the government initiates the procurement process weeks later. By the time the government starts the procurement, most of the farmers have already sold their produce to the commission agents, said Mr. Ahmed. He also demanded that a host of formalities imposed on the farmers, such as online registration and the maximum limit of procurement for six quintals per acre must also be done away with. Mr. Ahmed said the BJP government had promised 50% profit to the farmers for their produce over and above the input cost, but later gave an affidavit to the Supreme Court, saying that it was not possible. He said that it was for the first time that a government had imposed tax on equipment and pesticides used in the farming sector. The government has imposed 12% Goods and Services Tax on tractors and all farming equipment, 18% GST on pesticides and 5% on fertilisers. It even imposed 12% GST on the cold stores where farmers keep potatoes stored, said Mr. Ahmed. He said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana launched by the BJP government also turned out to be a big scam and helped the big corporates make huge money at the cost of the poor farmers.

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‘UNHEALTHY DIET BIGGER KILLER THAN TOBACCO’

Unhealthy diet is responsible for more premature deaths than tobacco, high blood pressure or any other health risk, a new study published in Lancet has indicated. Dietary risks were the second biggest factor behind deaths and disabilities in 2017 in India, following on the heels of malnutrition. Dietary risk in India has also increased by 35% in a decade since 2007 when it ranked fourth after malnutrition, air pollution and the risk of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Though malnutrition continues to top the list of risk factors driving most deaths and disabilities in India, its overall impact has declined by 35.3%. While sugar and transfats are harmful, the study highlights the impact of the low consumption of healthy diet constituting of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and legumes.

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WITH MOUNTING LEGAL COMPLAINTS, BOEING'S CRISIS GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE

Boeing Co.’s 737 Max crisis has been largely self-inflicted, but now it’s passing some of the consequences onto its suppliers. A crash of an Ethiopian Airlines-manned Max in March – just five months after a Lion Air jet of the same type went down – has put the planemaker at the center of a political, legal and increasingly financial firestorm where its reputation for safety is being openly questioned. A fix for a flight-control system that’s believed to have been a factor in both accidents is taking longer than expected amid the scrutiny, and Boeing can’t deliver the planes without it. And so, the company announced late Friday that it will curtail production of the Max to 42 planes per month, down from a current rate of 52. Before all this, Boeing had planned to ramp up production of the Max to 57 a month, an aggressive goal that suppliers had been preparing for by hiring more employees and expanding capacity. Boeing plans to work with suppliers to blunt the financial impact from this shift. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. and CFM International, the joint engine venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA, both said they intend to maintain their current pace of production. But it's unclear what Boeing will do with that inventory. The longer the grounding lasts, the more unlikely it is that suppliers will emerge from this debacle unscathed. They risk losing revenue from lower demand and cash-flow hits should their investments go unneeded. Ralph Nader urging a recall of the Max on behalf of his grand-niece who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash. That may not go far, but meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines said Friday that it was rethinking plans to purchase an additional 25 Max jets because of the stigma associated with the plane. PT Garuda Indonesia had already initiated steps to cancel a $4.8 billion order because its customers don’t trust the plane. Investigators said this week that pilots on the Ethiopian Airlines flight attempted to follow procedures to disable the flight-control system that Boeing had laid out after the Lion Air crash. The pilots were unable to regain control, suggesting the procedure wasn’t as simple as Boeing made it seem and undercutting its previous attempts to deflect blame away from itself as it insisted the plane was airworthy. The investigators’ report appears to have been a rude awakening for Boeing, which has at times come off as tone-deaf in its response to the crashes and seeming resistance to the implication that its design or processes were flawed. Dennis Muilenburg made a halfway attempt at accountability in a video released on Thursday, apologizing for the pain the accidents have caused, while at the same time characterizing the crashes as the result of a chain of events. He stopped short of saying Boeing’s initial recommendations were insufficient, acknowledging only that erroneous activation of the software can add to what is already a high workload environment. It’s on Boeing to fix the software and that’s proving to be complicated.

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PRIMARY CARE SYSTEM CENTRAL TO UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE: WHO

Affordable quality healthcare at the community level across age groups is the key to advancing universal health coverage, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. A well-functioning primary care system that meets most of a person’s health needs, throughout the life, is central to universal health coverage (UHC), said Poonam Khetrapal Singh.

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CHANDIGARH: 792 FIRS UNDER ANTI-COW SLAUGHTER ACT; 13 CASES DECIDED, NO CONVICTIONS, POLICE TELLS COURT

The Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday said the situation was quite alarming in Nuh district of Haryana where state police has registered 792 FIRs under the law against cow slaughter since 2015, but only 13 cases have been decided till date and all the accused have been acquitted. The law against cow slaughter, The Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, was enacted in 2015. Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu on Friday directed the DGP and Advocate General, Haryana, to study the 13 acquittal cases and apprise it about the reasons behind the prosecution failure. Till date, the court was told, 856 accused are yet to be arrested in 386 cases. A total of 13 cases have been decided by the courts in the district and not even a single person has been convicted, the court was told.

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SHIV SENA USES ADVANI’S BLOG TO TAKE VEILED DIG AT BJP, MODI GOVT

L K Advani said in a blog post that his party never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as anti-national the Shiv Sena Saturday sought to know the intention behind his remarks. Quoting Advani’s statement that elections are the celebration of the democracy and should be conducted in an impartial and fair manner, Sena sought to know at whom his remarks were aimed. Lal Krishna Advani has finally broken his silence. This time he has expressed himself through writing. He wrote a blog, but it took five long years for him to do so, the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana. Sena added that in election rallies, statements like ‘opposition is speaking the language of Pakistan and enemies’ are being made. During the campaign, issues of development, progress, inflation have taken a backseat, while issues like Pakistan, national security have gained importance. It appeared that the issues of sacrifice of 40 jawans in Pulwama terror attack and subsequent airstrikes left all other issues behind. But it was temporary, the Sena said. The opposition is saying that Modi is not the country. Although what they are saying may not be wrong, nothing different was happening in the case of former PM Indira Gandhi after 1975. ‘Indira is India’ slogans were being raised at that time, and their next generation is now saying ‘Modi is not India’. The slogan ‘Indira is India’ did not go well with the people. This is the beauty of our democracy and Advani has expressed the same thing, the Sena said.

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KALYAN SINGH, RAJIV KUMAR MUST RESIGN AFTER EC INDICTMENT: CHIDAMBARAM

P Chidambaram Saturday said Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh and Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar have no right to remain in office after their indictment by the Election Commission for poll code violation. The former finance minister's tweet demanding the resignations of Singh and Kumar came after the EC pointed to model code of conduct violations by the two. On Friday, the EC expressed displeasure over the NITI Aayog vice chairman's remarks against the Congress' proposed minimum income scheme 'NYAY'. Before that, the poll panel had on Monday concluded that Singh's remarks supporting the return of Narendra Modi as prime minister were violative of the model code.

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MAMATA WRITES TO ECI AFTER IPS TRANSFER, CALLS THE ACTION AS ARBITRARY, MOTIVATED AND BIASED

Hitting back at the Election Commission of India for transferring and barring four senior IPS officers including Commissioner of Kolkata police from election duty, Mamata Banerjee lodged a strong protest and sought a review of the decision. Questioning ECI’s neutrality, CM said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a TV channel made a statement saying, law and order situation is bad in Bengal and that is why 7-phase election has been ordered. The decision of the Commission is highly arbitrary, motivated and biased. We have every reason to believe that the decision of the Commission is at the behest of the ruling party at the centre, i.e. the BJP. She further alleged that following PM’s statement on Friday in the channel, the order of the Commission on removal of officers was received. This flow of events gives rise to strong doubts whether the Commission is functioning as per its Constitutional mandate of conducting free and fair elections or working in a manner to appease the ruling BJP at the Centre, the chief minister wrote. The decision of the ECI to remove these officers leaves a big question mark whether this step is to give a shield to the vested interested parties and their political masters. Claiming that the ECI did not consult the state before issuing such transfer order, she wrote, Law and order is a state subject. Yet, no consultation has been made with the state government. The practice of seeking a panel of names of officers has not been followed. Such a step could have given the State Government an opportunity to send a panel of officers who have desired experience over the area that could have helped them to discharge their functions effectively. By not following the established practice and not seeking a panel of officers from the State Government, the action of the ECI is prima facie undemocratic, biased and suffers from principles of natural justice.

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MODI LYING WHEN HE SAYS CONGRESS WILL REMOVE IMMUNITY OF ARMED FORCES: CHIDAMBARAM

P Chidambaram on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was lying by commenting that the opposition party will remove immunity of the armed forces under AFSPA if voted to power. He asserted the Congress manifesto only states that there would be no immunity for armed forces only in cases of enforced disappearance, sexual violence or torture. Chidambaram sought to know whether Modi supports enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture, the allegations which are common in areas where AFSPA is in force. Mr Modi is lying when he says that Congress will remove the immunity to Armed Forces. Congress Manifesto says there will be no immunity only in cases of enforced disappearance, sexual violence or torture, he said in a tweet. In another tweet, he said, Mr Modi must also answer this question: why did he totally withdraw AFSPA from Tripura, Meghalaya and three districts of Arunachal Pradesh? The Congress and the BJP have been engaged in a war of words over the former’s pledge in its manifesto to review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Jammu and Kashmir. The prime minister had Friday accused the Congress of hurting the morale of the armed forces by seeking a review of the AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir. What will happen to the country (if they do so)? You are committing the sin of removing the protective cover from the security personnel for votes? Shame on you for your politics. Any terrorist can file any kind of FIR against the Army and security personnel if the AFSPA is withdrawn, Modi had said. The controversial AFSPA gives a degree of immunity from prosecution to the security forces deployed in disturbed areas.

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BJP'S 'SANKALP PATRA' MAKES 75 RESOLUTIONS FOR INDIA

PM Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, and other senior party leaders today launched 'sankalp patr', BJP's manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Apart from making India the third largest economy of the world by 2030, Ram Mandir, doubling farmers' income abrogation of Article 35A, also found mention in the ruling party's poll manifesto. Here's a look at the 75 resolutions that define BJP's vision for India.

AGRICULTURE

·       Achieve the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2022.

·       Enable the creation of 10,000 new Farmer Producer Organizations.

·       Ensure adequate market avenues for the realisation of MSP through e-NAM, GrAMs and Pradhan Mantri AASHA Yojana. Work towards ensuring that maximum farmers get income suppo.. under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana.

·       Launch a pension scheme for small and marginal farmers to ensure social security after 60 years of age.

·       Work towards completing all irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana.

·       Provide short-term new agriculture loans up to Rs 1 lakh at 0% interest rate for 1-5 years on the condition of prompt repayment of the principal amount.

·       Increase the cropped area under irrigation.

·       Strive to ensure all-weather connectivity for every village.

·       Work towards assisting the maximum number of fishermen by ensuring the availability of storage and other infrastructure under a new ‘Matsya Sampada Yojana’.

·       Ensure 100% disposal of liquid waste and reuse of waste water.

·       Work towards digitising land records.

YOUTH AND EDUCATION

·       Aim to cover all the secondary schools under Operation Digital Board.

·       Enable investment of . 1 lakh crore in higher education through Revitalising of Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE).

·       Work towards increasing the number of seats in premier management institutes.

·       Work towards increasing the number of seats in premier engineering institutes.

·       Work towards increasing the number of seats in premier law institutes.

·       Establish at least one Atal Tinkering Lab in every block.

·       Under a new 'Entrepreneurial Northeast' scheme, provide financial support to MSMEs and for employment generation in northeastern states.

INFRASTRUCTURE

·       Ensure a pucca house to every family.

·       Ensure the LPG gas cylinder connection to all poor rural households.

·       Ensure 100% electrification of all households.

·       Ensure every citizen has access to a bank account.

·       Ensure a toilet in every household.

·       Ensure access to safe and potable drinking water for all households.

·       Complete Phase-1 of Bharatmala Project expeditiously.

·       Double the length of national highways.

·       Ensure 100% waste collection under Swachh Bharat Mission to achieve ODF+ and ODF in cities and villages.

·       Ensure ODF status for all villages and cities.

·       Achieve 175 GW of renewable energy capacity.

·       Strive to achieve 10% blending of ethanol in petrol.

·       Connect every Gram Panchayat with high speed optical fibre network.

·       Ensure the supply of piped cooking gas in major Tier 1 and 2 cities.

·       Form a new Ministry of Water unifying the water management functions. This will help approach the issue of water management holistically and ensure better co-ordination of efforts.

·       Aim to increase the number of operational airpo..s to 150 for better air connectivity

·       Increase port capacity to 2,500 MTPA.

RAILWAYS

·       Ensure conversion of all viable rail tracks to broad gauge by 2022.

·       Make all efforts to ensure electrification of all railway tracks by 2022.

·       Start developing smart railway stations across India.

·       Work towards equipping all main railway stations with Wi-Fi facility.

·       Complete the dedicated freight corridor project by 2022.

HEALTH

·       Establish 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres under Ayushman Bharat.

·       Start setting up 75 new medical colleges/postgraduate medical colleges.

·       Target provisioning of telemedicine and diagnostic laboratory facilities at all health and wellness centres to ensure quality primary medical care to the poor at their doorstep.

·       Work towards increasing the number of childcare facilities threefold.

·       Ensure a drastic reduction in cases of tuberculosis.

·       Increase the doctor-population ratio to 1:1400.

·       Under the POSHAN Abhiyaan, aim to reduce the malnutrition level as well as accelerate the rate of reduction of malnourishment.

ECONOMY

·       Further improve India’s rank in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking.

·       Work towards improving GDP share from manufacturing sector.

·       Work towards doubling the total exports.

·       Establish National Traders’ Welfare Board and create a National Policy for Retail Trade for the growth of retail business.

·       Work towards creating a single-window compliance and dispute resolution mechanism for MSMEs.

·       Strive to ensure reduced tax rates, higher tax collection and greater compliance. Work towards ensuring a stable taxation regime.

·       In order to incentivise compliance of law and ease of doing business.

·       Amend the Companies Act to impose civil liability for technical and procedural defaults of a minor nature, thus unclogging the majority of cases from courts.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

·       Ensure the availability of banking services within 5 kms of every individual.

·       Achieve complete digitisation and modernisation of courts.

·       Promote and increase digital transactions.

·       Ensure end-to-end digitisation of government processes.

·       Enable digital delivery of government services.

·       Work towards substantially reducing the current levels of air pollution.

·       Work towards completely eliminating crop residue burning to reduce air pollution.

·       Put an Indian in space in an Indian spacecraft as part of ‘Gaganyaan’ mission.

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

·       Ensure full immunisation coverage of children.

·       Strive to make all government buildings accessible.

·       Ensure the completion of six Tribal Freedom Fighters Museums.

·       Work towards completing the development of ‘Panchteerth’ circuit.

·       Expand the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan scheme to cover all small shopkeepers.

·       Ensure comprehensive social security coverage for all unorganised labourers including insurance, pension etc.

WOMEN

·       Work towards increasing female workforce participation rate.

·       Ensure justice for Muslim women by enacting the law against triple talaq.

·       CULTURAL HERITAGE

·       Achieve the goal of Clean Ganga by 2022.

·       Complete the development of all projects under Swadesh Darshan, PRASAD and HRIDAY schemes.

·       Work towards digitisation of collections in all national museums.

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BJP MANIFESTO NOT PREPARED BY 'TUKDE TUKDE' MINDSET BUT WITH NATIONALIST VISION: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley on Monday said the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections beginning this week has not been prepared with a 'tukde tukde' mindset but with a strong nationalist vision. The document, 'Sankalp Patra' (document of resolve), is rooted in reality, Jaitley said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the manifesto. Our new policy, new doctrine of striking terror in its origin has received global recognition, Jaitley told the gathering. The Union finance minister said the party was committed to annulling Article 35 A of the Constitution, which provides special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, he said. When India is at the cusp of history making most of all its lost opportunities, does it require a fragile government or a decisive one, he asked. Jaitley added that previous governments only gave slogans, but the Modi-led administration gave resources to the poor. He said the essence of the BJP manifesto is to deplete poverty over the next five years to single digit and then gradually eliminate it. Our fiscal prudence since 1947 has been best ever for any government, the finance minister said.

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SMRITI IRANI ATTACKS RAHUL GANDHI FOR LACK OF DEVELOPMENT IN AMETHI

Smriti Irani attacked the Congress on Saturday, saying the party had cheated the people of Amethi for 55 years. Ram’s ‘vanvas’ (exile) ended in 14 years, but Amethi’s vanvas is going to end after 15 years. The people of Amethi are going to bid farewell to the ‘naamdar’ (dynast) on May 6 (polling day). The congress cheated the people for 55 years, Irani told. Naamdars took the vote of Amethi for fruits of power, but did not think of the development here, she said. Irani lashed out at the Congress leader for his recent comments on the BJP’s top leadership. Only those who do not have values throw muck on others, she said, referring to Gandhi’s comments on BJP patriarch L K Advani, saying the senior leader had been unceremoniously sidelined. Lamenting that the people of Amethi lack basic amenities even after 70 years of Independence, Irani said farmers still do not get water for irrigation.

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KASHMIR DOESN’T BELONG TO MEHBOOBA MUFTI, SHE IS LETTING THEM DOWN: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley has slammed Mehbooba Mufti over her recent remark that India’s relation with the region would become that of ‘occupation’ if Article 370 is removed. Jaitley described Mehbooba’s suggestion as ‘preposterous’ and added that the BJP-led NDA government’s priority for Kashmir is peace and security along with development. I think Kashmir doesn’t belong to Mehbooba Mufti. The two mainstream parties of the state are letting both the state and people, the Kashmiris, down. They are also letting India down. They can’t run with the horse and hunt with the hounds, Jaitley said. Clarifying on the special status awarded to Jammu and Kashmir in Constitution, Jaitley underlined that neither Article 371 nor 35A, Article 370 was not a part of the instrument of accession which was finalised in October 1947. The senior BJP leader said that Article 35A was added secretively in 1954. There’s no provision for secession of any territory from India. Some constitutions have it, India doesn’t. No Indian or any government can do it. This is as absurd an argument, Jaitley said.

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AS HE WISHED: SOON AFTER SHATRUGHAN SINHA JOINED CONGRESS, PARTY ANNOUNCES HIS CANDIDATURE FROM PATNA SAHIB

Shatrughan Sinha, who left the party and joined Congress Saturday, will contest upcoming Lok Sabha election 20191 from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar. In another candidate list, releaded by the Congress party, mentions Shatrughan Sinha's name as its candidate from the Patna Sahib seat. Shatrughan Sinha, who has been a critique of the BJP government, had on several occasions spoke against the NDA government policies. The BJP ahead of 2019 elections had decided to field Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib seat instead of Shatrughan Sinha. Shatrughan Sinha alleged that BJP is a one-man show and two-man army. Everything happens from Prime Minister's office. He also alleged that ministers cannot work in the party freely anyway. Further slamming the party, Shatrughan Sinha said they have seen how democracy was turned into autocracy.

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RAHUL GANDHI'S CLAIM OF FARMERS DEBT WAIVER IN MP BRAZEN LIE: SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN

Shivraj Singh Chauhan Friday termed a lie Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's claim that farm loans were waived within days of his party assuming power in Madhya Pradesh and alleged that under the Kamal Nath government farmers were being driven to suicide. The brazenness of his lie is evident from the fact that despite his party being in power for more than 100 days, farmers applying for loan waiver are being told that their requests cannot be processed because the Model Code of Conduct is in force. The Congress is using the MCC to hoodwink people. The election law clearly states that there is no bar on providing the people with benefits of an existing scheme, Chouhan said. Gandhi, he said, had also promised that if the chief minister failed to waive farmers' loans, he would be replaced on the 11th day by someone who could fulfil the promise. The benefits of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samriddhi Yojana have not been withheld by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre on account of the Model Code of Conduct, he said. The Congress has cheated the people of Madhya Pradesh and is now coming up with excuses, Chouhan alleged, adding the the situation is similar in other Congress-ruled states. The party had also promised to ban liquor in Chhattisgarh but did nothing on it, he said. Its promise of job creation has fallen flat on its face. And the farmers, whose cause the party claims to champion, are still reeling under debt and are being subjected to coercive recoveries by banks which are labelling them defaulters, Chouhan, who ruled the state for three terms, claimed. Those declared defaulters run the risk of being denied fresh loans that they would need to buy seeds and other materials. The Congress has worsened the plight of farmers who are being driven to suicide, he alleged. Rahul Gandhi is the biggest liar among Indian politicians and people should be wary of his promises made in the Congress manifesto, the BJP leader claimed.

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PEOPLE HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN HONEST AND CORRUPT GOVTS: PM MODI ATTACKS BJD IN ODISHA

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said people have to decide whether they want to choose an honest and principled government committed to development of all, or a corrupt and unprincipled one. This time lotus will bloom in Odisha. The BJP will taste victory. I can say with certainty that maximum number of lotuses will bloom in the state, Modi said. Similarly, the BJP will again come to power at the Centre as the country needs a strong and decisive government to ensure national security as well as speedy development, the prime minister said. Hitting out at the BJD government in Odisha, the Prime Minister said its intentions are not good and the 2019 polls are significant for the future of Odisha as well as country. Modi said, The party was born out of sweat of its workers, not dynasty or money. It came into being and grew manifold with the sweat and labour of its workers. Asserting that the BJP all along fought to safeguard democracy, he said lakhs of party workers and leaders were jailed while protesting the Emergency. Now the BJP has emerged as the world's largest democratic organisations. It fought to protect democracy during Emergency, he said.

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PM MODI A LIAR, TMC WILL LEAD FORMATION OF NEW GOVERNMENT AT THE CENTRE: MAMATA

Mamata Banerjee Saturday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a liar and accused the BJP of trying to turn legal citizens of the country into foreigners in the name of NRC and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. She claimed that her party TMC will lead the formation of the new government at the centre. In an apparent dig at Modi, Banerjee wondered how a person who didn't look after his wife would look after the citizens of the country. The BJP has to be defeated in order to save the people of this country. The TMC will lead the formation of the new government at the centre, she said. Prime Minister Modi is a liar. He has been blabbering lies in the last five years. He has not fulfilled a single promises he made in 2014, she said.

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PM MODI'S FOREIGN VISITS LED TO PAK'S ISOLATION IN ISLAMIC NATIONS: SWARAJ

India has achieved success in getting Pakistan isolated even among Islamic countries in the aftermath of the terror attacks, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said Friday. We achieved success in isolating Pakistan even among Islamic countries in the world, she said in Hindi. Swaraj recalled how India was invited to the inaugural conference of the OIC countries in 1969 but could not attend the proceedings due to pressure put by Pakistan. She added that India attended the OIC's 50th anniversary meet in March even though Pakistan tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited'.

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RAHUL GANDHI LEVELLING CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS ON MODI FOR POLITICAL GAINS: NITIN GADKARI

Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari has hit out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, saying he is levelling corruption allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for political gains and asserted that Modi should be respected for the position he holds. He also slammed Gandhi's proposed minimum income scheme to give Rs 72,000 per year to 20 per cent of the poor in the country, dubbing it a populist slogan and a political strategy to seek votes from the poor. Dismissing the opposition's charge that the BJP sidelined veteran leaders like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, he said the party held them in high regard and drew guidance and inspiration from them.  He said any views of Advani were the words of the BJP and that misquoting him, by saying the saffron party terms the opposition as anti-national, was not correct. Then the 40-point programme, the 20-point programme, the 5-point programme, but nothing worked. This is only a political strategy and a political declaration to take votes from the poor, the road, transport and highways minister said. Asked about the opposition's criticism that the BJP was sidelining its senior leaders like Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, the minister they were the party's motivation. Advani in a blog post last week said his party has never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as anti-nationals or enemies but only as adversaries. Gadkari said the party holds the same view about anything spoken or written by him. We are all with Advaniji over the blog written by him. Even Modiji is with him. However, using some statement and misquoting him that we term the opposition parties as anti-national is totally wrong, he said.

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BJP VETERAN LK ADVANI DIDN’T HOLD ETHICS PANEL MEET AFTER RAHUL GANDHI'S ISSUE IN 2015

The Lok Sabha ethics committee headed by senior BJP leader LK Advani mysteriously became dormant and failed to meet even once in four years after a controversial complaint on Congress party president Rahul Gandhi’s alleged UK citizenship was referred to it. The other politically sensitive issue referred to it was a CPM complaint against five Trinamool Congress MPs caught in the Narada sting. Members of the committee, across party lines, told that neither of the matters was ever discussed at the committee nor was any meeting called by Advani ever since the issues were referred.  The panel last met only on December 3, 2015, when it successfully framed rules and procedures for the Lok Sabha’s Committee on Ethics, according to data from the Lok Sabha website. However, with majority of the members of the panel from the BJP, there were concerns that the pressure to pursue the politically contentious case, would be high. With no committee meeting called after December 2015, such a situation has been successfully averted. Amid this awkward situation, the Speaker sent yet another politically charged case of Trinamool MPs to it in March 2016. A similar demand had incidentally been rejected in Rajya Sabha. Some committee members confirmed the panel never discussed the issues. The chairman in his wisdom may have sent a notice to Rahul Gandhi then, said Bhartruhari Mahtab, an MP from Biju Janata Dal. However, it was not taken up at all with the committee, hence we are not aware of what happened further. Rahul Gandhi matter was never discussed, said Kariya Munda, a BJP member of the panel. Why no meeting was held is something only our chairperson and senior BJP leader Advaniji can tell. Sher Singh Ghubaya, the MP from Ferozepur said. Congress MP from Arunachal East, Ninong Ering, said the committee probably never took it up because there was no merit in the claim.

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THE MAN WHO WAS TASKED WITH RIGGING INDIA'S FIRST NATIONAL ELECTIONS

In the pre-EVM days, election rigging in India used to be as common as the elections themselves. Few, however, know about the man whose job it was to try and rig post-Independence India's first elections. As India was preparing for its first general elections, a great game of deceit was unfolding in Saurashtra (also known as the United State of Kathiawar), then a separate state within the Union of India. At its centre was a dreaded bandit, hated and hero-worshipped in equal measure, reviled for his brazen loots, admired for his people's bandit image. Bhupat Singh, the man in question, was among the very last of the region's infamous outlaws known for robbery, murder, dacoity and other such crimes. Bhupat plied his trade in one of the most unsettled periods of modern Indian history. India was in a flux in the immediate aftermath of independence and partition. Among the biggest political events of the times was the merger — some consensual, some coerced — of the country's myriad princely states. It made for a smorgasboard of constantly moving pieces that contributed significantly to Bhupat's rise. According to various reports, Bhupat was in the service of a petty ruler of a princely state in Baroda. He is remoured to have begun as an ace marksman and expert driver. Bhupat struck out on his own after his king lost his kingdom, and soon refashioned himself into a feared outlaw. Leader of a ruthless gang, his name spelled terror in the regions he operated in. Scores of murders — some reports say close to 100 — and loot of vast sums of money were attributed to the man known in his time for many unusual methods. The Congress Party was India's primary political dispensation in those times. At that time, the party was preparing to bring in land reforms and cut down on royal entitlements. The princes were stripped of their royal powers, although they were permitted to retain many of their personal assets. Some of these princes would fall in line, but some of them would long nurse deep grievances over what their lot became. Various chronicles tell the tale of how the deeply riled princes of Saurashtra outfitted Bhupat's army with arms and ammunition and gave him the brief of spreading panic. Help from these disgruntled princes played a huge hand in the rise to infamy of Bhupat. Many tales speak of the considerable backing he got from many of the princely states of Saurashtra. An Indian journalist was reported to have met Bhupat in Pakistan at a later date. At some point he was arrested and jailed for illegal border crossing. After his release, a blog post reveals, he went on to run a flourishing milk business at a Karachi market. This is where Bhupat's trail goes cold. India did try to get its hands on the dacoit on several subsequent occasions, but despite intense diplomatic efforts his extradition never happened.

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WAVE OF CHANGE ACROSS INDIA; CONGRESS, ALLIES TO DO WELL IN LOK SABHA POLLS: SACHIN PILOT

The Congress would do extremely well in the coming Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where the party came to power after the Assembly elections last year, Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said Monday. He claimed that people tend to back the party they voted during Assembly polls, at least in northern states. I think there is a wave of change all across the country, Pilot told a press conference here, exuding confidence that the Congress and its allies would do extremely well across the country and UPA-III will form the government. The Rajasthan Congress chief said the party is going ahead with 'Mission-25' in to win all 25 Lok Sabha seats in his state.

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PAKISTAN PARTIALLY OPENS AIRSPACE FOR WEST-BOUND FLIGHTS FROM INDIA

Pakistan has opened one of its 11 air routes for west-bound flights from India and airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it, said a senior government official Saturday. Pakistan has been opening its airspace in tranches. On Thursday, it opened one of the 11 routes for west-bound flights. Therefore, airlines such as Air India and Turkish Airlines have started using it, he said. Even though the route P518 was opened on Thursday evening, American airline company United Airlines announced on Friday said its flight connecting Newark airport and Delhi airport has been suspended for two weeks. Pakistan had kept its airspace fully closed after an Indian Air Force strike on a terror camp in Balakot on February 26. However, Pakistan on March 27, opened its airspace for all flights except for Bangkok, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. Since the route P518 that has been opened passes over south Pakistan, the air travel time for west-bound flights from Delhi will not decrease substantially, the official clarified. The operating cost for Air India, which flies to destinations in Europe and the US, has increased significantly as it had to take longer routes due to closure of Pakistan airspace. The Delhi-Washington and Delhi-Chicago flights of the national carrier had been making a stop at Mumbai and Vienna for refuelling and change of crew. Air India had on March 15 requested its inactive crew members to immediately join work as the airline had been forced to cancel and reroute a number of the US and Europe-bound flights due to closure of Pakistan airspace. The airline had on March 14 announced that it would combine the Mumbai-New York flight with its Mumbai-Newark flight from March 16 to May 31.

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CHINA’S MARRIAGE RATE DROPS FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

China’s marriage rate has been declining for five years in a row as the younger generation delays or has given up on marriage, according to official data. The marriage rate dropped from 9.9 per 1,000 people in 2013 to a five-year low of 7.2 per 1,000 people in 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Saturday. The figures vary in different regions. The more developed regions have lower rates of marriage. Tying the knot is no longer a necessity for today’s young adults, with many preferring the single life. People between the ages of 20 and 24 had the highest record of marriage registrations before 2012, while people between the ages of 25 and 29 became the mainstay in 2017, accounting for 36.9 per cent of all registered couples, according to MCA statistics.

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ARREST OF INDIANS TRYING TO SNEAK INTO US DROPS BY 56% DUE TO BORDER WALL

The arrest of Indians trying to sneak into America has dropped by a whopping 56 per cent due to the construction of a concrete wall along the US-Mexico border in California, a top official has told President Donald Trump. The Trump administration is building a wall along the southern Mexico border to prevent the influx of illegal immigrants into the country. Chavez said illegal entries decreased by 75 per cent. As soon as it was completed, we started measuring and we started monitoring its effectiveness. So for the first quarter of FY19, we have had many, many efficiencies noted. The use of force incidents -- which are more important to me than anything because it's assaults and incidents that directly affect our border patrol agents doing the job on the border -- they dropped by 65 per cent in those two miles of 30-foot border wall. So the border wall works for us. We need the border barrier. We need to provide the requirements that meet our need. In this case, for us, it's 30 feet high. That's what we ask for and that's what was provided, the top US official said.

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'US IS FULL': TRUMP ANNOUNCES AT MEXICO BORDER

President Donald Trump went Friday to the Mexican border to deliver a message to would be illegal immigrants: the United States has no room left to take them. Trump sees his campaign against a crisis on the border as key to his 2020 reelection bid, and his trip to Calexico in California was meant to keep that message in the headlines. Numbers of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America have risen sharply, although there are enormous political divides on whether this constitutes the national emergency that Trump has declared. He said it's overwhelming our immigration system and we can't let that happen. Then in a message to those heading for the United States, he said: The system is full and we can't take you anymore Our country is full. So turn around, that's the way it is, he said. Waving US and Mexican flags, the protesters carried signs with messages such as Stop separating families and If you build the wall, my generation will tear it down. On the US side, dozens of people lined the road that Trump's motorcade took from the airport, demonstrating support for his policies. Build the wall, said one placard. On Friday, he tweeted that tariffs would be slapped on Mexican-built cars if for any reason Mexico stops apprehending and bringing the illegals back to where they came from. It was unclear how such tariffs would fit into the countries' deeply intertwined trading relationship, which is governed by NAFTA, a free trade accord also including Canada that is due to be replaced by an updated version called the USMCA.

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US REACHES H-1B VISA CAP OF 65,000 FOR 2020

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it has reached Congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa cap for the fiscal year 2020, after it started receiving the applications for the most sought-after work visa among foreign, including Indian, professionals. The USCIS, the federal agency mandated with task of approving such applications, on Friday said it has received a sufficient number of petitions projected as needed to reach the congressionally-mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap for fiscal year 2020. The fiscal year begins October 1, 2019 and it the USCIS started receiving the visa petitions from April 1. However, the agency did not reveal the number of petitions received by it in the first five days. The USCIS, said, it will next determine if it has received a sufficient number of petitions to meet the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap. The agency said it will reject and return visa fees for all unselected cap-subject petitions that are not prohibited multiple filings. It will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.

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H1-B VISA RESTRICTIONS COMPEL INDIAN TECH FIRMS TO HIRE MORE LOCALS: REPORT

Restrictions on the H1-B visas by the US have compelled Indian tech companies to hire more locally and led to an escalation in employee costs, a rating agency said Friday. Second largest exporter Infosys led with 2,122 visa denials in fiscal year 2017-18, followed by its larger rival TCS with 1,896 rejections, the report by Care Ratings said. The increasing protectionist measures imposed by US administration to safeguard US workers are directly having an adverse impact on the Indian IT majors, it said. Out of the top three companies with highest H-1B visa denials in FY18, Cognizant was leading with 32 per cent denials followed by two Indian IT majors namely Infosys and TCS with 26 per cent and 18 per cent, it said. It can be noted that the US-headquartered Cognizant has a large pool of employees working out of India comparable with any Indian tech major. The report said in the last five years, the number of H-1B approvals reduced by 21 per cent. The approvals declined by a sharp 50 per cent in FY18 to 22,429 from the 43,957 in the year ago period, it said.

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EC EXPRESSES DISPLEASURE OVER NITI AAYOG VICE-CHAIRMAN RAJIV KUMAR’S REMARKS AGAINST CONGRESS’ NYAY

The Election Commission Friday expressed displeasure over NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar’s remarks against the Congress’ proposed NYAY scheme. In a communication sent to Kumar, the EC asked him to be cautious in future while making statements On March 27, the poll panel had sought Kumar’s response on his remarks in which he had attacked the Congress over its minimum income guarantee promise. The EC had felt that since Kumar is a bureaucrat, his remarks were prima facie violative of the model code.

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ELECTION COMMISSION REPLACES ANDHRA PRADESH CHIEF SECRETARY

The Election Commission Friday removed Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Anil Chandra Punetha from the post and appointed senior-most IAS officer L V Subrahmanyam of the 1983 batch in the place of the former. Earlier, the EC had removed two top bureaucrats from their positions during election time. Also, the EC directed that Punetha, scheduled to retire from service May-end, be posted to a ‘non-election’ position.’ Punetha had filed a writ petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court on March 27 challenging the EC order transferring the Director General of Intelligence A B Venkateswara Rao. In the petition, he contended that the EC did not have any ‘untrammelled powers’ to interfere with the course of administration that is unconnected to polling. The EC cannot engage in unchecked, arbitrary and uncanalised exercise of power The EC order suffers from the vice of lack of jurisdiction, suffers from being a colourable exercise of power and is based on alien purposes or oblique motives which have nothing to do with the conduct of polling duties, state Political Secretary (General Administration Department) N Srikant had said in the petition filed on behalf of the Chief Secretary.

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CONGRESS TRYING TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO SHELTER TERRORISTS, MAOISTS: PM MODI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said that while the chowkidar has demonstrated courage to hit terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan the Congress wants to dilute the powers of the armed forces. The prime minister has on several occasion said he's the chowkidar (watchman) of the country and serves to protect its best interests. The chowkidar is fighting terrorists, while the Congress is working to dilute the powers of the armed forces, he said. There were governments in the past too, but they could never think of undertaking surgical strikes. They did not have the courage to cross the border by aircraft and kill terrorists, the prime minister said. The Congress is trying to protect people who shelter terrorists and Maoists, he alleged. The prime minister said people have to decide whether they want to choose an honest and principled government committed to the development of all, or a corrupt and unprincipled one.

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Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya