LEAKED DATA PART II: WHERE INDIA'S JOBS MESS IS MOST ACUTE
After the NSSO data leak
episode which revealed a 45-year jobs low for India that the government had a hard
time countering here comes another significant set of findings from the
employment area. More than a third of India's states — 11 states to be precise
— had unemployment rates higher than the national average in 2017-18, reveals a
story quoting the annual periodic labour force survey of the NSSO. Seven of the
11 states — Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam, Haryana —
were among the most jobless in 2011-12 too, the year when the last such survey
was carried out. Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab and Tamil Nadu freshly
entered the charts in 2017-18. India had a joblessness rate of 6.1 per cent in
2017-18, a huge jump over the 2.2 per cent registered in 2011-12, showed the
report that has been kept under wraps by the government. Data for 2017-18 shows
Kerala has the most number of jobless people at 11.4 per cent. It is followed
by Haryana (8.6 per cent), Assam (8.1 per cent) and Punjab (7.8 per cent). At
3.3 per cent, Chhattisgarh had the least unemployment in 2017-18. Madhya
Pradesh (4.5 per cent) and West Bengal (4.6 per cent) were at second and third
places, the data showed. The joblessness rate rose the quickest in Gujarat —
from 0.5 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.8 per cent in 2017-18 — a pretty sharp jump
even after taking low base effect into account. Data showed that the number of
jobless youth rose exponentially both in rural (14.9 percent in 2017018 from a
mere 0.8 per cent in 2011-12) and urban Gujarat (to 10.7 per cent from 2.1 per
cent). After Gujarat, the second, third and fourth sharpest spike in
joblessness were seen by Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. In Madhya
Pradesh unemployment rose from 1 per cent in 2011-12 to 4.5 per cent in 2017-18
and in Uttar Pradesh it went up from 1.5 per cent to 6.4 per cent. Unemployment
numbers climbed from 1.2 per cent to 5 per cent in Rajasthan. West Bengal was a
prominent case at the other end of the spectrum. From having the fifth most
jobless people in 2011-12, the state turned things around significantly to get
counted among the bottom five in 2017-18. The release of the NSSO data has been
kept on hold by the government even as a storm rages over the real state of
jobs in India. An assessment by the NSSO carried out between July 2017-June
2018 showed that the unemployment rate in India stood at 6.1 per cent, the
highest since 1972-73.
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NEW RS 20, OTHER COINS TO COME INTO CIRCULATION BY MAY
The new series of coins
will come into circulation starting April 30 The finance ministry had last
month announced the rollout of the new series of coins, including that of Rs 20
for the first time in the country. The coins will be issued in denominations of
Re 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20. The new series of Rs 2 and Rs 5 will be the
first to be launched by April 30. It will be followed by Re 1 coins which will
come in circulation by May 15. The coins of Rs 10 and Rs 20 will be rolled out
by May 31.
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PMO SAYS IT DOESN'T KEEP RECORDS OF EXPENSES INCURRED ON PM'S
DOMESTIC VISITS
The Prime Minister's
Office (PMO) has said that it does not keep records of the expenses incurred on
the domestic visits of the prime minister. Mumbai-based activist Anil Galgali
had filed an RTI query with the PMO requesting the nature and details of the
expenses incurred on the foreign as well as domestic visits of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and union council of ministers since May 2014. Replying to his
query, Praveen Kumar stated that the documentation of the expenses incurred on
domestic visits of the prime minister is not part of the maintaining records
and info related to the expenditure on domestic visits does not come in the
purview of a single authority because such domestic visits are organised by the
different public authorities. Kumar also replied that the prime minister's
tours related to the poll campaigns are not official ones and the PMO does not
have to incur any expenditure on these visits and therefore, details cannot be
provided. On the prime minister's foreign visits and expenses incurred on
these, the PMO advised Galgali to go through the PMO's website to get the
details. For information related to union council of ministers' expenses on
their foreign tours, the PMO transferred Galgali's query to M&G as well as
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) citing that the information sought more closely
to them. Galgali said, Following PMO's advice, I went through PMO's portal, but
did not find any records of the prime minister's unofficial domestic visits and
the expenses. Modi has recently visited several states. According to the PMO
website, the expenses on domestic visits of the prime minister are met out of
the budget of Ministry of Defence, while the expenses on foreign tours of the
prime minister are met out of the budget head Cabinet Ministers Maintenance of
PM's aircraft Other charges. According to the PMO website, Modi had made 49 foreign
trips since May 2014 till February 22, 2019. It also lists the expenses
incurred on chartered flights on these 49 foreign trips.
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TATA TELE MERGER: DOT SEEKS ₹ 7,200 CR BANK GUARANTEE
FROM AIRTEL
The Department of Telecom
has given approval for the merger of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) with Bharti
Airtel, subject to the condition that the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led firm furnishes
₹ 7,200 crore worth bank guarantee a government official said.
On April 9, telecom minister Manoj Sinha gave a conditional nod for the merger,
the official said. Subsequent to the minister’s approval, the official told
PTI, that DoT has asked Airtel to furnish bank guarantee totalling ₹
7,200 crore. Both companies also need to submit undertaking on matter related
to court cases before merger is taken on record, the official said. The merger
will be taken on record after Airtel submits bank guarantee of about ₹
6,000 crore for one-time spectrum charges and another ₹
1,200 crore for the spectrum that would be acquired from TTSL. There is also a
very small amount of dues that has to be cleared by TTSL before consummation of
the deal, another official said.
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PFRDA SET TO FRAME FDI NORMS IN PENSION FUND SECTOR
The Pension Fund
Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is set to issue guidelines on
foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector, Hemant Contractor said. PFRDA
may also allow higher commission for financial institutions and permit post
offices to sign up subscribers for pension products. The proposed guidelines
are expected to be finalized in a week, before they are cleared by the
government, Contractor said. These will also put to rest confusion on whether
indirect foreign investments in a pension fund by an entity in which a foreign
firm has investments should be counted as part of the 49% FDI cap applicable
for the sector. The FDI policy for the pension sector is linked to the FDI
policy for the insurance sector. For insurance and pension, FDI up to 49% is
allowed. So we are also allowed 49%. The issue was about how to compute this
49%. Whether you take only direct investment, or you take direct and indirect
investment, or you take only indirect, said Contractor, adding the new guidelines
with clarifications will be announced shortly.
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RERA APPLIES ONLY IF WORK IS ONGOING: GAUTAM CHATERJEE
In an interesting case
regarding registration of a project, MahaRERA held that not having an
occupation certificate does not mean that the building has to be registered
with Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority. All projects that are
undergoing and not completed and where the developer is selling homes to home buyers
needs to be registered with MahaRERA. Sultana Dalal, had approached MahaRERA,
stating that, Miracle Mall, situated at Bhiwandi, was already occupied but the
developers had failed to get the occupation certificate till date. Thus the
complainant sought directions from the authority that the developers be asked
to register the project. The counsel for the developer submitted that the
building was completed and occupied in the year 2012-13 and also stated that
units were sold before the commencement of the RERA act and construction took
place as granted by the concerned planning authority. While passing an order,
Gautam Chaterjee, noted, that there are two requisites for the applicability of
the Section 3 (registration), it applies to only those projects where
construction work is ongoing and for which completion certificate has not been
issued. In the present case, the project work has been completed and the
building occupied by the allottees since 2012-13 and thereafter the building is
under a status quo. Thus it cannot be treated as an ongoing project under the
provision of section of the Act, read Chaterjee's order. Finally Chaterjee
while disposing of the complaint for registration in the order mentioned that
merely since the occupation certificate has not been produced doesn't itself
construe as the only requirement for a building to be registered under
MahaRERA. Moreover the building has been occupied before the commencement of
the RERA act, therefor no directions can be passed for registration under
provisions of Section 3 of the RERA act.
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MAHARERA'S BENCH BEGINS HEARING PLAINTS VIA VIDEO CONFERENCING
In a first, the
Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority's, (MahaRERA) one of the bench has
started hearing complaints and resolving them via video conferencing. The trial
was on for a quite some time now, and finally, it was brought into effect and
on Wednesday close to a dozen of such cases were heard by MahaRERA member,
Vijay Satbir Singh via video conferencing. The facility right now is for Pune.
This is being done so as to provide relief to the home buyers. All projects
that are under construction in the state of Maharashtra, have to be registered
with MahaRERA without which a developer cannot sell the flats to a home buyer.
Till now more than 20,000 projects have been registered with MahaRERA and many
projects are from Pune and other areas. Satbir Singh, who is Member 1 of
MahaRERA for few days was taking a trial run of how he can hold hearing via
video conferencing and finally started using in full force. When contacted
Satbir Singh he confirmed the use of video conferencing for hearing cases in
Pune but didn't speak further. On inquiring how the system works, a senior
official stated that all the complainants and respondents at Pune are informed
a few days in advance that their hearing is scheduled. They all are sent an SMS
and even email that the hearing will be held via video conferencing. Earlier
the home buyer would have to come all the way to Mumbai from Pune, for a
hearing. Most home buyers were any way in trouble and then further they have to
bear the burnt of travelling and hence the system of video conferencing is to
ease their hearing process, said the official.
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RAGHURAM RAJAN SAYS THIS WILL BE THE KEY ISSUE FOR MODI’S
GOVERNMENT AS INDIA GOES TO POLL
As India goes to polls for
the Lok Sabha election 2019 beginning, the biggest issue facing the Modi
government on the economic front would be of ‘jobs’ said Raghuram Rajan. Are
there enough good jobs for millions of people coming into the workforce every
year?, Raghuram Rajan said. Narendra Modi government has a mixed record on the
economic front, Raghuram Rajan, said. While there have been some big reforms
such as GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and Real Estate Regulation Act, the
government has not done much on issues like labour flexibility, land
acquisitions and others which are now becoming critical for India to grow
faster, he added.
HOW TO CREATE MORE JOBS?
Unemployment has become a
major issue in India with various reports showing rise in unemployment despite.
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has recorded job loss of 11 million people
in 2018. Moreover, a leaked report of NSSO revealed that unemployment in India
had hit a 45-year-high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18. The trend raises concern for
an economy which will be in dire need of jobs, whose working age population is
expected to grow to over a 100 crore people by 2050, as estimated by the
Regional Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP). Raghuram Rajan suggested India to have a much bigger construction
sector, adding that there are tonnes of houses, ports, airports and railway
line to be built. However, for that the government needs to fix the problem of
land acquisition by making it fair and easier, he said. Further, in order to
reap the benefits of demographic dividend, Raghuram Rajan suggested to get more
people out of agriculture sector into jobs in manufacturing and service sector.
For the people who are already out of it, there is a need for better jobs, he
added.
WHERE ARE REFORMS IN PARTIES’ POLL PROMISES?
Raghuram Rajan said that
one would need to see how the new government pursues reforms after coming to
power, since the major political parties have not offered very strong reform
agenda in their poll promises. BJP is emphasising on their greater strength on
the issues of national security relative to the opposition. This means that
they have shifted from the economic reform agenda, which were their really
strong points in the previous election, Raghuram Rajan said. He advised people
to look out for the policies pursued by the government post election, which
will be reflective of their underlying philosophy.
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CASH IS KING WITH MILLENNIALS, BUT DELAYS BUILDING CREDIT
HISTORY
Cash is king with young
people, but it is not helping them build a credit history or boost their credit
scores Among millennials aged 18 to 29, those with a college degree are the
savviest about using credit cards, according to a survey released Wednesday
conducted by Sallie Mae and Ipsos. As a result, more than 70 percent had decent
credit scores above 650, with 40 percent in the excellent range of 750 to 800. By
contrast, college students and those who never finished a degree used credit
cards much less frequently and had lower credit scores. Among students, just 20
percent boasted excellent credit while the non-completers had just 8 percent,
according to the survey. Overall, they more frequently use a debit card. They
are more comfortable, said Marie O'Malley. Although debit cards can have credit
card functions, they do not get reported to the credit bureaus and, therefore,
have no impact on your credit score, said Amy Thomann.
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BBB FOR AUTONOMY TO PSU BANKS TO DECIDE ORGANISATIONAL
STRUCTURE
The Banks Board Bureau
(BBB), the apex body for selection of whole-time directors of state-owned
lenders, has made a case for giving a complete autonomy to banks to decide
organisational structure for better efficiency. The BBB headed by former DoPT
secretary B P Sharma also suggested revamping credit governance architecture in
nationalised banks to reinforce efforts to minimise credit costs and enhance
efficiency of credit allocation. In its activity report for October 2018 to
March 2019, the board also recommended incentivisation scheme linked to
performance. Incentivise maximisation of risk adjusted income and
disincentivise operational inefficiencies by aligning compensation with right
performance metrics through the introduction of performance based compensation
through Employee Stock Option Scheme (ESOS), which is different from Employee
Share Purchase Scheme (ESPS), and Performance Linked Incentives (PLIs), the
report said. Highlighting the work undertaken by the board during the period,
it said the recommendations for filling up the posts of whole-time directors in
public sector banks (PSBs) were made on time and as a result, the vacancies
which came up during this six months' period were filled up without delay. However,
it said, the only vacancy which could not be filled up on time was that of MD
and CEO in Canara Bank for which candidates outside the PSB universe are also
eligible. The vacancy was advertised twice. However, it was met with less than
enthusiastic response on both occasions. The bureau made the recommendation for
filling up of the vacancy on January 31, 2019. The bureau has separately
recommended to the government the measures which may improve the pool of talent
for filling up such vacancies, it said. It further said the bureau was assigned
with the task of recommending personnel for appointment as director in PSU
insurance company. In this regard, on January 4, 2019, it made its
recommendations for appointment of chairman and MDs of LIC.
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NARESH GOYAL PLEDGES 26% STAKE IN JET AIRWAYS FOR LOANS
Jet Airways founder Naresh
Goyal has pledged 26 per cent stake in the ailing airline as security for loans
from Punjab National Bank, according to a regulatory filing. Jet Airways
Thursday informed the stock exchanges that Goyal has pledged over 2.95 crore
shares or 26.01 per cent stake with Punjab National Bank. The pledge was
created on April 4 as security for existing/ new borrowings taken by Jet
Airways (India) Ltd, the filing to the BSE said. On the same day, over 5.79
crore shares held by him were released. Those were kept under non disposal
undertaking as security for borrowings taken by the airline, as per the filing.
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BANKER WHO MERGED 10 LENDERS SEES MORE ON THE CARDS
India will probably see more
bank mergers as digital technology transforms the industry and non-bank
financing companies seek to avoid a cash crunch, according to a senior official
at the nation’s largest lender. Finance firms that don’t take deposits need a
stable source of capital and banks can help with that, said Dinesh Kumar Khara.
Banks also want to expand their liabilities and NBFCs can help with that, he
said. Khara’s remarks reflect rising speculation for more mergers after a spurt
of deals between NBFCs and banks, including one struck last week between
private lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank Ltd. and mortgage financier Indiabulls
Housing Finance Ltd. NBFCs need to find ways to survive, Khara said, after many
began facing a liquidity shortage following shock defaults at shadow lender
IL&FS last year. He said many lenders are operating at a sub-optimal level,
reflecting how India has the lowest concentration of bank assets among BRICS
nations; increased digitization also means fewer branches are required, giving
opportunities for combined entities to save costs, according to Khara.
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DIRECTED AVIATION SECRETARY TO REVIEW JET AIRWAYS' ISSUES:
SURESH PRABHU
Aviation Minister Suresh
Prabhu on Friday directed civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola to review
issues concerning Jet Airways, which has been operating with less than 10
planes Directed Secretary MoCA to review issues related to Jet Airways. Asked
him to take necessary steps to minimise passenger inconvenience and ensure
their safety, Prabhu tweeted in the morning. According to industry sources, Jet
Airways will operate only nine planes -- two Boeing 737s and seven regional Jet
ATRs -- on Friday.Jet is operating only nine planes on Friday, a source said.
Cash-strapped Jet Airways on Thursday grounded its services to and from the
East and Northeast regions. It also suspended its international operations for
a day. Consequently, many passengers were left stranded at the airports. The
sources said the airline now owes more than Rs 3,500 crore to passengers on
account of flight cancellations alone. As of Thursday noon, the airline
operated just 14 planes-- way down from 123 planes in operations at the peak.
Bracing for a possible shuttering, Jet Airways Thursday grounded services
across the Eastern and Northeastern markers and also suspended its
international operations for a day, while 10 more planes were forced out of the
fleet In related developments, its board met in Mumbai and discussed
operational issues, while airlines' strategic partner Etihad Airways submitted
initial bids for higher stake in the crippled carrier.
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ETIHAD SUBMITS EOI FOR CRISIS-HIT JET AIRWAYS, NARESH GOYAL
MAY FOLLOW SUIT
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad
Airways has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to buy a stake in Jet
Airways within weeks of wanting to exit the venture completely. Etihad holds a
24 per cent stake in the Naresh Goyal-founded airline, which is left with just
14 planes and minuscule flights. Struggling with a mounting debt of more than
Rs 8,500 crore, Jet on Thursday cancelled all international operations along
with several domestic flights. While the airline said the cancellations were
for a day, indications are that the flights may remain grounded unless there’s
an emergency fund infusion.
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SPICEJET STEPS IN TO BRIDGE AIRLINE CAPACITY GAP WITH 16 NEW
PLANES
Budget carrier SpiceJet
said on Friday it will induct 16 new aircraft on lease which could be deployed
in ten days, subject to regulatory approvals. The move comes at a time when
airlines capacity has reduced in recent weeks due to a host of events including
the grounding of controversial Boeing 737 Max aircraft and Jet Airways (India)
Ltd's capacity reduction due to liquidity crunch. Airlines adding new planes
quickly to the fleet could help bridge the capacity gap in the industry and
keep ticket prices stable. SpiceJet said it is inducting Boeing 737-800 NG
aircraft on dry lease and has applied to the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) for clearance to import the aircraft. This is the first lot of
Boeing 737s that we are inducting in our fleet. The sudden reduction of
aviation capacity has created a challenging environment in the sector. SpiceJet
is committed to working closely with the government authorities to augment
capacity and minimize passenger inconvenience, a company statement said quoting
chairman and managing director of SpiceJet Ajay Singh. Struggling carrier Jet
Airways had on Thursday grounded ten more planes due to non-payment of dues to
aircraft lessors, bringing down operations to about 70 flights a day from more
than 600 it used to operate before the liquidity crisis hit the company,
according to a person familiar with the company's operations. SpiceJet's new
inductions will also help it's international and domestic expansion plans, the
statement said. The airline now operates about 516 daily flights on average to
60 destinations, including 51 domestic and 9 international ones, with a fleet
of 78 aircraft that includes Boeing 737 and 27 Bombardier Q-400s.
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TATA SONS, SINGAPORE AIRLINES PUMP IN ₹900 CRORE INTO VISTARA
India’s Tata Sons Ltd and
Singapore Airlines Ltd have infused a combined ₹900 crore in Vistara,
their joint venture airline in India, bolstering efforts by the carrier to improve
its financial health and take delivery of new planes from Airbus SE and Boeing
Co. Of the total, Tata Sons pumped in ₹459 crore of fresh equity
by subscribing to two rights issues—one in December, the other
in March. Singapore Airlines added ₹441 crore, according to
documents filed by Tata SIA Airlines Ltd with the corporate affairs ministry.
Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines own stakes of 51% and 49%, respectively, in
Tata SIA Airlines, which runs the full-service airline, Vistara.
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GOVT AWAITS DGCA REPORT TO TAKE A CALL ON JET ELIGIBILITY FOR
INTERNATIONAL OPS AS FLEET SIZE SHRINKS TO 14
The government is likely
to review Jet Airways' eligibility to continue its international operations
after it gets a report from the regulator DGCA on the issue, a top ministry
official said Thursday. On the verge of going belly up amid acute cash crunch,
the airline has reduced its fleet to just 14 planes as of Thursday--way down
from 123 planes in operations at the peak. We have sought for all the details
from Jet. The DGCA has asked for the details. After we get those details, we
will see to it, aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola told, when asked
whether the ministry is planning to review Jet's eligibility to continue its
international operations in view of the almost negligible fleet. The government
rules stipulate an airline must have at least 20 planes for operating
international operations. Of the 14 aircraft that it is operating as of
Thursday, eight are wide-body B777s (seven) and an A330-- generally used for
long-haul international operations. The remaining six planes are three B737s,
which are largely used for flying on domestic routes besides on short-haul
international routes and the rest three are regional ATRs.
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STRESSED POWER ASSETS SET TO AMPLIFY UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS:
STUDY
A report by Canada-based
think-tank International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) forecasts
that if a significant volume of India's coal-fired capacity turns stranded the
phenomenon could affect labour directly or indirectly linked to the coal value
chain. The large absolute numbers of workers in India’s coal sector workforce
would require this to be managed in a socially just way, particularly in the
most affected regions. Given the ongoing decline of employment in the coal
sector, driven by mechanization and shifting relative costs of capital and
labour, this should be a natural extension of existing strategic thinking on
how to manage labour loss among sector workers, the IISD report said. New
employments arising out of renewable energy installs might do some natural
rebalancing, still there is no reason to suppose that job losses and creation
will necessarily cluster in the same geographic areas. Most of India's coal is
concentrated Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and
Andhra Pradesh. By contrast, fresh renewable energy capacities are planned in
western and southern states equipped with better wind resources and solar
radiation. The growth of renewable energy will create a great deal of new jobs.
But if there is a risk of coal power stranding in future, policy makers should
start thinking now about the dialogue and complementary policies that will be
needed to ensure a fair outcome for affected workers, said Leo Roberts,
operations & partnership manager at UK-based Overseas Development Institute
and co-author of the study. Tim Buckley, director of energy finance studies,
Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said, The
stressed power sector has definitely deepened the difficulties of high
unemployment, both directly and through the massive drain it has inflicted on
the banking sector, particularly the public sector financial institutions like
SBI, PFC and REC. This has squandered financial capital that in turn has
reduced the government’s ability to expand and fund new investments,
particularly in productive infrastructure. So the ongoing inability of
government to have the courage to allow the RBI to enforce non-performing loan
resolutions and hold promoters accountable is undermining India’s otherwise
excellent longer term growth prospects. Buckley feels the stranded assets in
thermal power sector are holding back sustainable economic growth in India. I
see the investment boom in renewables coupled with ongoing reforms of the
discoms as providing a more sustainable growth platform for the Indian economy,
providing a strong positive for the expanding workforce. India’s progress is
held back by a banking system that is being restrained from holding bankrupt
promoters accountable. Yet more bailouts of promoters who have made bad
business decisions will undermine domestic and international confidence in the
overall economic framework and that is the real risk to the workforce of India,
he added. Though power production is not labour intensive coal accounts for
approximately 30 per cent of India’s rail network revenue and the rail sector
formally employs 1.3 million individuals. There is also likely to be a large
shadow informal workforce, as informal labour is thought to make up 81 per cent
of India’s wider industrial workforce. Much of this is likely to be clustered
in specific states that possess the majority of India’s coal reserves-
Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra
Pradesh, the IISD report noted. The report pegs India's unemployed population
at 31 million. Despite a host of macroeconomic policies centred on job
creation, there are few schemes that could target assistance to regions where
coal workers are at risk of redundancy.
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MUMBAI AIRPORT STAKE SALE: GVK, BIDVEST FAIL TO REACH
SETTLEMENT
GVK group and its equity
partner Bidvest in Mumbai airport on Thursday failed to arrive at a settlement
on the stake sale dispute between them. On April 8, lawyers of GVK Airports
Holdings (GVKAHL) and Bid Services Division (Mauritius) had sought time from
the Delhi High Court to explore an agreement. However, both parties have not
been able to end the stalemate. Justice Sanjeev Narula will now hear the case
on merit from April 29.
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TWO SCHEMES OF WEST BENGAL GOVERNMENT WIN UN AWARDS
Two schemes of the West
Bengal government for skill development and distribution of bi-cycles to
students have won the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) awards of the United Nations, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said
Thursday. The schemes are Utkarsh Bangla and Sabooj Sathi. I am very happy to
share with you that our Utkarsh Bangla and Sabooj Sathi projects have won the
prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) awards under the
aegis of the United Nations, the chief minister said in a Facebook post. The
Utkarsh Bangla project aims at creating a pool of skilled candidates who are
industry ready, while under the Sabooj Sathi scheme, bi-cycles are distributed
to students between class IX and XII studying in government run and government
aided schools and madrashas of the state. Out of 1062 nominations in 18
categories, Utkarsh Bangla got the topmost award and emerged a winner in
Capacity Building category. Sabooj Sathi ranked in the first five as a champion
project under ICT application: E-Government category, she said in the post. The
West Bengal government had received another UN award in 2017 for its
‘Kanyashree’ project, a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at
promoting education among girls. The chief minister extended her heartiest
greetings and best wishes to all for winning the WSIS prizes. WSIS Prizes is an
international contest to create an effective mechanism to evaluate and recognise
individuals, governments and private bodies for outstanding success in
implementing development oriented strategies that leverage the power of ICTs as
an enabler of the development. The contest, organised by the WSIS in Geneva,
was first held in 2012.
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INDIA DEVELOPS PAN NATION ELECTRICITY MOBILE APP FOR ENSURING
24X7 SUPPLY
In what will help ensure
round-the-clock electricity across India, the union government has developed a crowd
sourcing mobile app for accessing real time consumer feedback on quality and
availability of power from across the country. This comes in the backdrop of a
need for data integrity, with many a states claiming to have achieved 24X7
power for all, despite outages. Electricity availability has been a contentious
issue as India goes to polls for the 17th Lok Sabha. The app named Jagruk or
‘aware’ developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) will also have an
automatic mode wherein electricity supply data will be collected during the
charging of the phone. The pilot project for the app will shortly be launched
in all the union territories and the states such as Odisha, Uttarakhand, Assam
and Bihar. This is a huge step. A meeting was held on 5 April wherein it was
decided to work towards the roll-out of the pilot project. Some states did
express some reservations but finally came around to the idea, said a
government official requesting anonymity. Through the app the consumers will be
able to report power outages and its location, with the information being
shared with the state electricity utilities, state and union governments and
the even the district magistrate for follow-up action. The plan also involves
incentivising Common Service Centres (CSCs), Asha workers, Bank Mitra’s and
Gram Panchayats for providing feedback from the rural areas. Given that there
may be a problem of crowd sourcing in the rural areas, the plan may also
involve CSCs, Asha workers, Bank Mitra’s and Gram Panchayats by incentivising
them for providing feedback, said the government official quoted above.With
electricity being on the concurrent list, it is for states to ensure quality,
reliable and affordable electricity to consumers. All states and union
territories had inked memorandum of understandings providing details of the
‘Power for All’ road map. Interestingly, of India’s installed capacity of 349
gigawatts (GW), the peak demand is only 177GW. Many states/UTs have now claimed
to have achieved Power for All 24X7 to all consumers. In the absence of any
specified monitoring mechanism for 24X7 power supply to all consumers, it is
felt that the general public being the ultimate consumers of electricity, their
feedback through crowd sourcing mobile app for getting real time feedback from
the consumers for improving availability and quality of 24X7 power supply, said
a document reviewed by Mint.
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7 IN 10 INDIANS SHARING PERSONAL INFO WITH BANKS
Seven in 10 consumers in
India are willing to share personal information like location data and
lifestyle information with their bank and insurer in exchange for lower pricing
on products and services, a new report from Accenture said on Thursday. At the
same time, nearly four out of five consumers (81%) said they are very cautious
about the privacy of their personal data. Data security breaches were the
second-biggest concern for consumers in India, behind only feeling like their
complaints were not dealt with in an acceptable manner, the findings showed.
The large number of people willing to share more of their personal data for
more efficient services at better prices underscore the role of digital
technologies in the distribution of financial services in India, said Rishi
Aurora. If consumers don't see the level of personalization, offers and
products they want from their banks or insurers, they will certainly look for
it elsewhere, he added. While 29% of Indian consumers surveyed go to the
physical location of their bank at least once a week, 76% use their smartphones
or tablets to check their bank accounts at least once a week. Nearly 66% use
their devices to connect with banks/insurers to learn about products and
services. About 67% of Indian consumers said they like their bank, slightly
above the 62% global average, said the report. There's strong evidence that
consumers in India are willing to share significant personal data to improve
their lives and get very targeted services and offers, said Piyush Singh, a
managing director at Accenture who leads its Financial Services practice in
Asia-Pacific and Africa.
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OWNERSHIP OF LIFE, TERM INSURANCE LOWER AMONG WOMEN COMPARED
TO MEN: SURVEY
The number of women with life
and term insurance policies is lower as compared to men in urban India,
according to a survey. While about 59 per cent of women as against 68 per cent
men in urban India own life insurance policies, only 19 per cent women are term
insurance owners in comparison to 22 per cent men. Only about 44 per cent of
the youth are aware of term insurance and just 17 per cent own it, added the
survey. Among the cities surveyed, nearly 43 per cent people in Ludhiana,
Punjab, own life insurance, it said. As per the survey, the industrial city of
Punjab stood at the bottom with a protection quotient of 21, far lower than the
national average of 35 for urban India. The Protection Quotient of 21 of
Ludhiana ranks the city lowest on the scale in comparison to other cities such
as Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal, Jaipur, he said. Additionally, with a low knowledge
index score of only 8, majority of the citizens of Ludhiana were unaware of
insurance as a category than the country as a whole (knowledge index score of
39), as per the survey.
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INDIAN SUGAR MILLS OWE RECORD $4.38 BILLION TO CANE GROWERS
India's money-losing sugar
mills have run up a record $4.38 billion in arrears to 50 million cane farmers
who have gone unpaid for their produce for more than a year, industry and
government sources said on Thursday. Years of bumper cane harvests and record
sugar production have hammered domestic prices, hitting mills' financial health
to such an extent that monies owed to farmers, who form an influential voting
bloc, have ballooned to an all-time high. Farm leaders say Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's government has not done enough to help them get the cash owed
them. The prime minister publicly promised farmers - in 2014 and 2017 - to help
them get their payments within 15 days of selling their produce to sugar mills,
said M.V. Singh, convener of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sang, or National
Forum of Farmers and Labourers. Despite the promise, Modi's government has done
little to ensure timely payments, Singh said. The unpaid dues affect growers in
the key cane-producing states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Punjab,
Haryana and Karnataka. Of the $4.38 billion in unpaid dues, mills in Uttar
Pradesh, India's top cane-producing state, owe 108 billion rupees ($1.56
billion), the industry and government sources said, citing their calculations
based on cane prices and the volumes bought by sugar mills.
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MAHARASHTRA SUGAR MILLS SEEK CLARITY FROM RBI ON SOFT LOAN
NORMS
The Maharashtra State
Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation (MSCFF) has sought clarity in guidelines
from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development (Nabard) for the utilisation of the Centre’s scheme for a
soft loan of Rs 10,540 crore. The Centre had recently announced a soft loan of
Rs 10,540 crore for payment of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) in the sugar
season of 2019-2020. In a representation to the government, the federation
pointed out that bottlenecks continue to be hindrance for implementing the
scheme thus depriving the sugar mills from utilising the facility and coming
out from the present financial crisis. The blockage of liquidity in the form of
huge unsold stock of sugar both under Buffer Stock Scheme as well as under the
Monthly Release Mechanism Quota System has led to financial distress, he said.
The ministry of finance should urge RBI to analyse the situation in perspective
and undertake some remedial measures so as to ensure that the scheme declared
by the government gets effectively implemented, he said. This should include
measures such as relaxing sectoral exposure and unit exposure limit for a
period of one year by at least 15%, permit 100% finance for Buffer Stock Scheme
quantity instead of the present 85-90% and to equate valuation of white sugar
and raw sugar with difference limited to Rs 100 per quintal towards difference
in production cost, Khatal said.
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RS 5 PACKS A PUNCH IN FAST-MOVING SNACKS
In what is a clear
indication of a rise in on-the-go consumption, the affordable Rs 5-price point
has emerged as the largest driver of sales for the snacks market. More than
half (around 55%) of the sales in the Rs 28,000-crore snacks market falls under
this price point, even though players follow a differentiated strategy for
growing their other larger packs as well. Growing at a healthy double-digit
rate, snacks has emerged as one of the fastest growing FMCG categories with
more than 7 million shops. As the market continues to attract new players, who
are experimenting with fresh flavours to drive consumption, the magic price
point of Rs 5 would stand them in good stead. The ease of availability, coupled
with increase in choice and shift in consumption pattern from
unbranded/commodity snacks to packaged, is the largest contributor for the
category buoyancy. The price point purchased by consumers is greatly influenced
by consumption occasions and disposable incomes, said Malik. Mayank Shah said
Rs 5 and Rs 10 together comprise 75% of the overall biscuits market, which
includes unorganised as well. Parle popularised the Rs-5 price point in
biscuits and now other players have also entered this price segment. We see the
Rs-10 price point also picking up pace now, said Shah. PepsiCo India senior
director (foods category) Dilen Gandhi also said that, while the Rs-5 pack —
which is the lowest entry price point — accounts for a majority of sales for
its wider accessibility among consumers and retailers, over the last two-three
years Rs 10 is catching up on growth, specially in urban market due to
increased spending by the consumer on snacking. This trend is true for PepsiCo
India as well and with the growing Indian economy and more disposable income,
we see Rs 10 becoming even more salient, said Gandhi.
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SAMSUNG WILL REMAIN NUMBER ONE SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURER FOR
ANOTHER 10 YEARS: CEO
Samsung may be facing
severe competition from rival Huawei, but that is no stopping the South Korean
giant from retaining its hold on the global market. DJ Koh said that the
company has led the smartphone market for the past 10 years and will continue
to do so for the next 10 years, Digital Trends reports. Koh also stressed that
the company will continue to hold the top position by innovating and creating
new mobile experiences. His comments arrive after the president of Huawei
Business Group, Richard Yu, laid out goals of making Huawei as the world's
number one smartphone manufacturer. Samsung accounted for 18% global market
share followed by Apple at 17% and Huawei at 15%, according to Counterpoint
Research data at the end of 2018.
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WHY INDIA INC SHOULD DISCLOSE GENDER PAY GAP
Indian legislators may
want to take a leaf out of what their British counterparts have mandated to
improve gender representation in companies. The UK is the biggest and the
latest country to make it mandatory for its businesses employing 250 or more
workers to publicly disclose the average gap in the pay drawn by men and women
in the previous year. This is the second year that businesses are making these
disclosures. Analysis of 10,455 filings by Bloomberg shows the overall figure
was little changed in two years –with a mean pay gap of 14.23 per cent on April
5, 2018, compared with 14.21 per cent a year earlier, based on all types of
organisations. The median difference stood at 9.6 per cent, compared with 9.2
per cent. Men in aggregate were paid more at 88 per cent of companies and
public-sector bodies. If the findings from the UK raise eyebrows, one can
wonder about the kind of disparity in pay that will be revealed in case of
Indian companies. The UK data reveals that pay gap is a manifestation of lower
representation of women in workplaces – especially in higher positions. Though
disclosing the gap will not bring immediate change, it will draw the attention
of the management towards gaps that are unfair. Pay disparity is not a
‘concern’ for companies till it becomes mandatory for them to disclose. It is
pertinent for India, with its poor female participation of 24 per cent in the
overall labour force, to have such a disclosure. It will create awareness about
the extent of wage disparity in public as well as about the C-suite executives
of companies, leading to more women being hired in formal economy and paid
fairly. It is already compulsory for listed companies to disclose the
difference between the top management remuneration and the median remuneration.
The added disclosure will reveal the gender aspect of wage disparity in India
Inc. Countries such as Iceland, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and
Australia already have laws in varied forms to encourage pay equity. According
to research by professors from universities in Denmark and the US published
last November on a 2006 Denmark legislation that required firms to provide
gender-wise wage statistics, mandatory pay transparency closes the gender gap
and affects firm outcomes. It increases the number of women being hired and the
number of female employees being promoted to senior level positions, along with
decreasing the companies’ overall wage bill, largely by slowing down the growth
of male wages.
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SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS COME UNDER UP POLICE SCANNER DURING LS
ELECTIONS
Police have floated a
special wing to deal with cases of objectionable content on social media during
the polling process. The wing is mandated with scanning posts over popular
social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
etc to curb objectionable posts, having propensity to spread communal hatred or
create law and order disturbance in the state during election season. UP
Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh had already directed senior police
officials to take up these cases with alacrity. The state cyber crime
department has been designated as the nodal vertical of the special social
media complaint cell with a dedicated Whatsapp number 9792101616 issued to
enable people lodge complaints against objectionable social media posts. So
far, more than 170 complaints with regards to inflammatory social media posts
have been received by the cell and have been dealt with, according to UP DGP
(law and order) Anand Kumar. UP Police had also circulated a specialised mobile
phone app for faster communication with people at the ground level during
elections. Under this plan, 10 prominent people under every polling centre had
been connected. This way more than 1.1 million people were networked across the
75 districts in the state. Through this app, these people can directly
communicate with senior police officials and seek prompt action in cases of
rumour mongering and for maintaining law and order.
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RAILWAYS MISSES REVISED EARNINGS TARGET DESPITE RECORD FREIGHT
HAULAGE
For the fourth successive
year, Indian Railways (IR) has fallen short of its gross earnings target for
2018-19. This target was set during the revised estimates (RE) when the Interim
Budget 2019-20 was presented last month. The RE of the earnings target of
passengers, goods and other heads had anyway been lowered versus the Budget
Estimates (BE). Latest data shows that even the lower gross earnings in RE have
not been achieved. The 'Gross Earnings on Originating Basis' figures by the
railways show gross earnings were at Rs 192,561.5 crore, almost 11% more than
in 2017-18 but almost 2.5% lower than RE. During 2018-19, the railways earned
almost Rs 140 crore a day by transporting passengers, Rs 8 crore a day more
than in 2017-18 but about Rs 2 crore a day less than the BE. In freight
earnings, the gap between BE and actual earnings is wide; BE was Rs 550 crore
per day while actual was a mere Rs 362 crore a day. In 2017-18, the transporter
had earned Rs 320 crore a day. The consistent shortfall in earnings versus
target is happening as growth in passengers and freight has been sub-optimal in
the last five years. Growth in passengers in 2018-19 was only 1.83%, with
reserved category up by about 7% but non-reserved (which accounts for bulk of
passengers) declining by 0.52%. Suburban passenger growth grew at under 3%,
while freight haulage was up by about 5%. Worsening operating ratio and
dwindling earnings mean the railways have to depend more on borrowings to
undertake capex. Interim Budget figures show railways will need Rs 83,571 crore
as extra budgetary support (EBS) versus Rs 79,297.52 crore in FY19 and Rs
55,498.14 crore in 2017-18, respectively. So in two years, the EBS has jumped
by over Rs 28,000 crore.
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MUMBAI: HEALTH COMPLAINTS ON RISE, 88% RESOLVED
Unlike 2017, where
municipal councillors focused more on the renaming of health centres and
hospitals, their focus was more on increasing health issues in the city last
year. In the background of the rising number of seasonal diseases cases in the
city, the municipal councillors have been questioning the ward committee of the
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation about the epidemic disease in the city and
infrastructure related to health. As per data received by Praja Foundation,
around 29 questions related to health were raised in various ward committee
meetings in 2018, as compared to 19 questions raised in 2017. Milind Mhaske,
said, Due to public activism and increased awareness about councillors' roles,
councillors are putting in more efforts. The number of questions raised has
also increased. The details in the report also revealed that the number of
complaints by citizens related to health issues in 24 wards has increased by 9
per cent. In 2017, the Medical Officer of Health received 1,595 complaints,
while the number increased to 1,743 in 2018. Out of 1,743 complaints received
in 2018, around 1,530 (88 per cent) of the complaints were resolved. While in
2017, 82% of the complaints were resolved.
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PM MODI, WITH 13.7 MN LIKES, DECLARED FACEBOOK'S MOST POPULAR
WORLD LEADER
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, with over 43.5 million likes on his personal Page and 13.7 million likes
on his official Page on Facebook, is the most popular world leader on the
social network as more world leaders are now paying to promote their posts, a
new report said on Thursday. US President Donald Trump is at the second place
with more than 23 million likes on his personal Facebook Page and Jordan's
Queen Rania is third with 16.9 million likes, said the 2019 World Leaders on
Facebook report -- part of the annual Twiplomacy study -- prepared by the leading
global communications agency BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe). Brazil's new
President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office on January 1, is the most engaged
world leader on Facebook. His Facebook page has registered more than 145
million interactions, almost twice as many as Trump who has 84 million total
interactions. To counter the recent changes in Facebook algorithms, several
world leaders are now promoting their posts and Pages with Facebook ads. In
early March 2019, 50 pages had been running ads according to Facebook's Ads
Library. Our latest 'Twiplomacy' study confirms that even among political
figures who easily attract the attention of the public in social media, a paid
strategy is still essential to secure reach and make a serious impact, said
Chad Latz, Chief Innovation Officer, BCW. Additionally, we see how some leaders
are very successful by being personal and approachable on the platform using
all the tools at their disposal, from Facebook Live to Facebook Stories, to
engage their audiences, Latz added. Trump's Facebook Page has posted more than
50,000 ads since its inception, while UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Page
posted 74 paid ads in December 2018 to promote her 'Brexit' plan.
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TWITTER RECORDS 45.6 MN TWEETS AS INDIA POLLS BEGIN
Twitter recorded 45.6
million tweets on its platform during a one-month period in the run-up to the
polls, registering 1.2 million tweets on the first day of voting on Thursday.
Prime Minister Modi (@narendramodi) emerged as the most mentioned figure during
the first phase of the #LokSabhaElections2019 conversations on Twitter.
Campaigns, manifestos and announcements around policies and key social issues
have accounted for some of the top-Tweeted moments as voters get ready to go to
the polls, the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.
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MODI BIOPIC: SC TO HEAR ON APRIL 15 PLEA CHALLENGING EC’S BAN
ON RELEASE OF VIVEK OBEROI STARRER FILM
The Supreme Court on
Friday agreed to hear on April 15 a plea challenging the Election Commission’s
ban on the release of biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench headed by
Chief Justice said it will hear the plea filed by producers of the biopic. The
poll panel had on Wednesday banned the screening of the biopic during poll
period, saying any such film that subserves purpose of any political entity or
individual should not be displayed in the electronic media.
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PRIOR NOD MUST FOR POLITICAL CONTENT ON NAMO TV: ELECTION
COMMISSION
The Election Commission
has ruled that the NaMo TV channel cannot screen any political content without
the prior approval of its Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC).
The commission also said that any political publicity content running without
the requisite certification from the relevant authority (MCMC in this case)
should be removed immediately. Any political content can only be permitted on
Na-Mo TV in accordance with EC instructions, it said. NaMo TV channel (also
known as Content TV) was launched on March 31 and features PM Narendra Modi and
his speeches besides content related to the BJP. BJP social media handles have
been asking viewers to tune into NaMo TV and the NaMo App for the PM’s rallies
and speeches via Twitter. The ministry had informed the EC that it was an
advertising portal of direct-to-home (DTH) service providers and therefore not
a full-fledged and independent television channel. The commission was of the
view that the channel should be subjected to the pre-certification regime like
all other political advertisements while the model code of conduct was in
force.
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COMMITTED TO CITIZENSHIP BILL: PM NARENDRA MODI
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi said on Thursday the BJP was committed to amending the Citizenship Act and
would do so by taking everyone into confidence. Modi accused the Congress of
ill-treating religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to
India due to religious persecution in their countries, while also encouraging
infiltration to expand its vote bank. The Congress has a history of creating
problems. India was divided on the basis of faith in 1947. However, it was not
thought what would happen to minorities in Pakistan that was created in the
name of Islam. What would happen to the brothers and sisters there, the
Congress did not think, the Prime Minister said. A large number of people who
went to temples and Gurdwaras in Pakistan and Bangladesh came to India. The
Congress made them stateless in their own country. Created doubt on their
identity. Daughters were harassed in the name of religion, he said, adding:
Should the Congress not be punished for playing with the present and future of
lakhs of people? He said the BJP would bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill
back in Parliament. However, this work we will do after talking to everyone in
society. We will amend the Citizenship Bill securing the identity of Assamese
brothers and sisters. We will ensure no injustice is done, he said. Modi said
the government would ensure that no genuine Indian citizen was left out and no
infiltrator’s name was there on the list. Modi said the government was taking
concrete steps for the implementation of the Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. We
are working to give the scheduled tribe status to six communities. A Bill was
brought in the Rajya Sabha for this by our government. But we will also ensure
that the rights and privileges of the existing tribes are protected. This is my
promise.
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IN PHASE 1 OF 2019 LOK SABHA POLLS, TURNOUT TREND SAME AS IN
2014: EC
The first phase of polling
for Lok Sabha elections saw long lines of voters in several places but
concluded on Thursday with turnouts across 20 states more or less matching the
voting percentages recorded in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, according to the
Election Commission. While a preliminary look seems to indicate a drop in
polling figures compared with 2014, EC said the number are likely to be revised
upwards since the initial estimates were only up to 5pm. Tripura and West
Bengal topped the charts at 81.8% and 80% respectively. Polling was still on
till late at night in Andhra Pradesh. Jammu and Kashmir recorded brisk polling
— 72% in Jammu and a creditable 35% in terrorism-affected Baramulla, which was
not much lower than 38.5% clocked in 2014. Given that this is the first Lok
Sabha election where VVPATs were used on a 100% basis, the EC reported a
minimal replacement of 0.7% of EVM ballot units, 0.6% of EVM control units and
1.7% VVPATs. Cash seizures so far are double those of the entire 2014 election
at Rs 607 crore. There were a few incidents of violence in Chhattisgarh, and a
polling party came under attack in Maoist-hit Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. An IED
blast occurred at Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh. No casualties were reported
though. Clashes between party workers and supporters were reported in Andhra
Pradesh. Interestingly, there were around 15 cases of EVMs being damaged,
including six in Andhra Pradesh, five in Arunachal Pradesh, two in Manipur and
one each in Bihar and West Bengal. Seizures by the EC till Thursday touched Rs
2,426 crore, more than double the overall figure for the 2014 Lok Sabha
elections. The seizures included Rs 607 crore in cash (as against Rs 303 crore
seized in 2014), liquor worth Rs 198 crore, drugs totalling Rs 1,091 crore,
gold worth Rs 486 crore and other freebies worth Rs 48 crore.
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POLITICAL PARTIES MUST DISCLOSE DETAILS OF DONATIONS RECEIVED
THROUGH ELECTORAL BONDS TO EC: SUPREME COURT
The Supreme court on
Friday issued an interim order directing all political parties to disclose to
the Election Commission details of donations received through electoral bonds
till 15 May. Names and details of donors also need to be disclosed. All the
information has to be provided to the Election Commission by 31 May. Supreme
court also directed the finance ministry to make amendments with respect to the
extra five days provided in the months of April and May for issuance of
electoral bonds by the State Bank of India. The law allows only a 50-day spread
in the months of January, April, July and October during which the bonds can be
bought. Electoral bonds have tremendous baring to the electoral sanctity of
India, Chief Justice Rajan Gogoi said. Critics of the electoral bond scheme
have contended that since the donor’s name is not known, any shell company can
make a donation. Attorney General K K Venugopal had submitted before the court
that a know-your-customer or KYC procedure is carried before issuance of these
bonds. The Supreme Court bench had made an observation that the KYC just
verified the donor, not the source of money from which donations are made. The
Election Commission has stated it will support the electoral bond scheme if the
donor's name is revealed. The petition against the electoral bonds was filed by
the NGO, Association of Democratic Reforms, through lawyer Prashant Bhushan. He
has suggested amendments to various laws in order to pave a smooth path for the
implementation of the scheme.
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CHECK ON BLACK MONEY IN POLLS FUTILE IF IDENTITY OF DONORS IS
NOT KNOWN: SC
If the identity of the
purchasers of electoral bonds meant for transparent political funding is not
known, then the efforts of the government to curtail black money in elections
would be ‘futile’ the Supreme Court said Thursday. The Supreme Court made the
remark as Attorney General (AG) K K Venugopal, appearing for the central government
argued before it that the voters do not need to know the source of funding as
political parties also have a right to privacy. The source of the funding
should not be in question as long as it was legitimate, Venugopal said. The
Bench, comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and
Sanjiv Khanna, reserved its verdict on the plea for Friday. Defending electoral
bonds, Venugopal told the Bench that the launch of the instrument was a policy
decision for which no government could be faulted. The Bench asked Venugopal as
to whether banks know the identity of purchasers at the time of issuing
electoral bonds. He answered in affirmative and then said banks issue bonds
after ascertaining KYC which is applicable for opening the bank accounts. When
the bank issues the electoral bond, does the bank have details on which bond
was issued to ‘X’ and which bond was issued to ‘Y’? the Bench said. On getting
the response in negative, the Bench said, If the identity of purchasers of
bonds is not known then there will be greater ramification on the Income Tax
law and all your (government's) efforts to curtail black money will be futile
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BJP GOT RS 210 CRORE IN POLL BONDS, ALL OTHERS RS 11 CRORE IN
2017-18: EC
BJP received Rs 997 crore
and Rs 990 crore through donations in 2016-17 and 2017-18 respectively, five
times more than what Congress received in the same period, the Election
Commission told the Supreme Court on Thursday. Rakesh Dwivedi gave the information
to a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv
Khanna while hearing a petition by Association for Democratic Reforms which
sought transparency in anonymous donations through electoral bonds, alleging
that at present they encouraged corruption and generated black money. When
petitioner’s counsel Prashant Bhushan argued that electoral bonds were designed
to benefit corporate houses and industrialists who contributed handsomely yet
anonymously to the ruling party to receive a quid pro quo and claimed that BJP
received 95% of such donations, attorney general K K Venugopal said Bhushan was
kite flying and questioned the basis of the information. However, Dwivedi
handed over to the bench a two-page note, which proved Bhushan right as far as
BJP getting maximum donations was concerned as it showed that in the 2017-18
financial year, 520 bonds worth Rs 222 crore were issued by State Bank of
India, of which 511 bonds worth Rs 221 crore were redeemed. BJP has shown a
receipt of Rs 210 crore through electoral bonds (which is exactly 95% of the
total amount redeemed by political parties), the EC said. This means all other
parties put together received a paltry Rs 11 crore as donation through
electoral bonds as compared to Rs 210 crore by BJP during 2017-18, Dwivedi
said. The EC, however, added, A large portion of the funding of political
parties in earlier years (90% in 2015-16 and 62% in 2016-17) was in cash
donations of less than Rs 20,000. If a part of the cash donations is now received
through electoral bonds, it would mean that clean, tax-paid money is being used
for political funding. Total donations received by BJP in 2016-17 was Rs 997
crore Of the total, the party declared Rs 529 crore before the EC which showed
that it received Rs 468 crore in cash donations each below Rs 20,000, from
anonymous persons. In the same period, Congress received Rs 180 crore in
donations of which Rs 138 crore was through small donations from anonymous
persons. In 2017-18, BJP received Rs 990 crore in donations of which Rs 342
crore was through small cash donations by anonymous persons and Rs 210 crore by
way of electoral bonds. Congress, in the same period, received Rs 168 crore of
which Rs 141.50 crore was through small donations from anonymous persons and Rs
5 crore through electoral bonds.
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ENSURE CONVICTS ON PAROLE DO NOT INDULGE IN ELECTION-RELATED
ACTIVITIES, EC DIRECTS STATES
The Election Commission
(EC) has directed states that parole should be granted to imprisoned convicts
during the ongoing poll season only in cases of extreme emergency but it should
be ensured that they do not participate in election-related affairs. The
commission has also made a special reference for the grant of parole to drug
offenders, saying this should be strictly prohibited, and in case they are
granted this leave from jail under special circumstances, police and
anti-narcotics sleuths should be informed in advance. The model code of conduct
shall apply in cases of release of convicts on parole. If state government
considers that release of any convict on parole is absolutely essential for
certain compelling reasons, in that case, state government shall consult the
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) concerned before granting parole, the EC said in
the latest communication sent to chief secretaries of all states and Union
Territories. It added that parole should be given in cases of extreme emergency
and it should be ensured that they do not indulge in any election related
activities. However, if grant of parole to such (drug crime accused) offenders
becomes necessary for certain reasons, then advance intimation shall be given
to police and drug law enforcement agencies, including the NCB (narcotics
control bureau) zonal units, so that a watch on their activities may be kept,
the EC said. If such a person is found indulging in any objectionable activity,
his parole should be cancelled forthwith, the EC communication said. The
district election officers (DEOs) shall also apprise the observers of the
constituencies concerned about the release of convicts on parole, if any, it
said.
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OVER 150 MILITARY VETERANS WRITE TO PRESIDENT OVER
POLITICISATION OF FORCES
Eight former service
chiefs and 148 other military veterans have written to President Ram Nath
Kovind, expressing outrage over what they termed using the armed forces for
political purposes. We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable
practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like
cross-border strikes and even going so far as to claim the armed forces to be
'Modi ji ki sena', the veterans wrote. The military veterans said it was a
matter of considerable concern and disquiet among both the serving and the
retired personnel that the armed forces are being used to pursue political
agenda. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently referred to the
armed forces as Modiji ki Sena at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh,
triggering strong reactions from the opposition parties. The Election
Commission too also took strong objection to the comments.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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