RBI GOVERNOR SAYS INDIA'S ECONOMY NEEDS TO GROW EVEN FASTER
India’s central bank chief
said the expansion of the world’s fastest-growing major economy needs to pick
up to around 8 percent to deal with poverty and other challenges. While the
past few years’ average growth of around 7.5 percent was impressive, the
expectation is India can be better, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta
Das said. He also said more structural reforms were needed in areas such as
land and labor. India is expected to post real economic growth of 7.2 percent
in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, and is seeing below-target inflation even as rising
oil prices add an upside risk, the governor said. Still, he added that the
inflationary impact from spikes in crude -- India’s biggest import -- can be
exaggerated. If there is a temporary spike of oil prices and again it comes
down, then obviously the impact gets moderated, Das said. Any sustained
increase in crude prices will definitely have an impact on inflation, but we
have to see how sustained it is. Higher oil prices over the longer term may
hurt India’s growth as well as its current account deficit, factors which would
drag the rupee down. The recent oil spike is occurring against a backdrop of
consumption suffering from a crisis in the shadow banking sector and exports
stagnating amid a global slowdown -- all of which has seen India’s growth prospects
dim. Our priority is to remain watchful and take coordinated action to revive
growth, and maintain macroeconomic, financial and price stability, he said.
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UDAY KOTAK FLAGS WIDENING TRUST DEFICIT BETWEEN GOVT &
INDUSTRY
Banker Uday Kotak Friday
frowned upon the increasing trust deficit between the regulators and the
regulated entities as the latter is increasingly becoming more rule-based. He
said time has come to bridge the gap by breaking the ground consistently so to
have a situation where everyone gets a better balance between the principles
and the rules. I believe that in many sectors the rule-based approach of the
regulator and the government has gone to the extreme, to a level where there is
a lack of trust between policymakers and regulators versus the practitioners,
Kotak said at an event organised by the Council for Fair Business Practices.
Noting that the society, regulations and governments have moved away from the
trust-based model, which is principle-based, into the area of a rule-based
model, he said this tendency has been increasing and there is an urgent need to
bring the mutual trust back. Drawing an analogy from tennis, Kotak said in the
game there is a line and one hits the ball and if the ball hits on the line or
inside the line it is right and if it is outside the line it is wrong.
Similarly, the time has come, in this area of fairness, to constantly hit the
ball inside the line, he said. Calling for urgently bridging the chasm between
the regulators and the regulated entities, he said this means that the
government, regulators and policymakers need to find a breaking ground
consistently to have a situation where we get a better balance between
principles and rules. And he called up on industry associations to act as that
bridge that can build trust among the various actors in the society. Calling
for the need to treating minority shareholders better he said since businesses
have grown in this country over the long period of time, it is extremely
important that the concept of fairness is looked at from the eyes of the public
who are putting in their money and trust as minority shareholders into these
businesses. It has been assumed for long that the minority shareholders can be
taken for granted but I think this is changing, he said, adding traditionally,
the our listed companies have been following a 'raja-praja' model,which means
promoters can do whatever s/he wants to do with the profit. I think time has
changed and promoters and directors are trustees for all the stakeholders
including shareholders, he warned.
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BANK EMPLOYEES ARE NOT GOVERNMENT SERVANTS, RULES MADRAS HIGH
COURT
The Madras high court has
made it clear that employees of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and any other
similarly-placed institutions cannot claim themselves as ‘government servants’
It is true that RBI is a state within the meaning of Article 12 of the
Constitution. Even then it cannot be said its employees are all regular
government employees, a division bench of Justice KK Sasidharan and Justice PD
Audikesavalu said. The bench made the observation on an appeal moved by E Manoj
Kumar, who was selected for the post of DSP by the Tamil Nadu Public Service
Commission (TNPSC) but subsequently his selection was withheld on the ground
that he suppressed the fact that he is a government employee in the
application. Manoj was employed with the RBI. Challenging the decision he moved
the high court. However, a single judge of the court dismissed his plea on the
ground that the instruction to the candidates contain not only the government
service but also all other services and as such, the non-disclosure of the bank
service would amount to suppression of material information attracting
disqualification. Aggrieved, the petitioner had preferred the present appeal.
Allowing the appeal, the bench said, The appellant very correctly indicated
that he is not a government employee. However, his candidature was rejected.
The other local body employees and bank employees who have recorded as if they
belong to government service were not subjected to any such disqualification.
If we go by the tenor of the question — Are you a government employee? — bank
employees, who are claiming that they are government employees, would suffer
disqualification, as they have given a wrong statement. This apart, the appellant
has many first on his credit. Even the entry in question was correctly filled
by the appellant. He was not responsible for the preparation of an incorrect
questionnaire by the TNPSC. We are, therefore, of the view that the appellant
must succeed, the bench said. The court then set aside the order passed by the
single judge dated March 26 and directed the TNPSC to forward the name of the
appellant to the government for taking further action to give him order of
appointment. Such exercise shall be completed within one week, the court said.
In a first, nine private sector specialists selected as joint secretaries in
govt departments. In a first, nine private sector specialists have been
selected for appointment as joint secretaries in central government departments.
Usually, the posts of joint secretaries are manned by the officers of Indian
Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Forest
Service (IFoS)) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS) among others who are selected
through a three-phased rigorous selection process undertaken by the Union
Public Service Commission (UPSC). The Personnel Ministry had in June last year
invited applications for the joint secretary-rank posts through lateral entry
mode. The lateral entry mode, which relates to the appointment of specialists
from private sector in government organisations, is considered as an ambitious
step of the Modi government to bring in fresh talent in bureaucracy. These
posts are in revenue, financial services, economic affairs, agriculture and
farmers welfare, road transport and highways, shipping, environment, forest and
climate change, new and renewable energy, civil aviation and commerce
departments. The deadline to apply for the posts was July 30, 2018. A total of
6,077 applications were received in response to the government's advertisement.
However, the ministry had in December decided to entrust the task of selecting
the candidates for these posts to the UPSC, that conducts civil services
examination to select the country's bureaucrat, diplomats and police officers.
Nine private sector specialists have been recommended for joint secretary posts
by the UPSC, that announced the result on Friday. The recruitment process for
selection of candidate for joint secretary level post on contract basis
(lateral entry) for the department of revenue, ministry of finance has become
infructuous at the interview stage, it said without citing further details. Of
the total 6,077 applications received by the government, only 89 were
short-listed for the interview. They were then asked to fill up a Detailed
Application Form (DAF) for further processing. Of these 89 candidates, 14 each
are for the posts of joint secretary in agriculture cooperation and farmers
welfare, and shipping, 13 for aviation, 10 for the department of financial
services, nine each for the departments of revenue and new and renewable
energy, eight for road transport and highways, seven for environment, forest
and climate change, three for department of economic affairs and two for the
commerce department. Government think tank Niti Aayog had in a report
highlighted that it was essential that specialists be inducted into the system
through lateral entry on fixed-term contract.
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PMO CALLS URGENT MEETING TO DISCUSS SITUATION IN JET AIRWAYS
The Prime Minister's
Office (PMO) has called an urgent meeting to discuss the crisis in private
airline Jet Airways, which is facing acute financial woes. According to
sources, the meeting has been called after Civil Aviation Minister Suresh
Prabhu asked the secretary of the department to review issues concerning Jet
Airways. Crisis-hit Jet Airways is facing acute financial crunch and has
grounded several of its flights and stopped international operations. The
drastic measure was announced after the airline informed the exchanges that it
was forced to ground 10 more planes due to non-payment of rentals to the
lessors.
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AYUSHMAN BHARAT PACKAGE RATES REVISION ON RADAR
The contentious issue of
package rates of Central government's Ayushman Bharat scheme may be resolved
after the Lok Sabha election, a senior official of a private hospital chain
said here on Friday. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded a
reasonable and fair package rate in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which seeks to provide a cover of Rs 5 lakh per
family per year and is likely to benefit more than 10 crore poor families
across the country. Government is seriously considering on package rates. We
are expecting something after the election, Medica Group of Hospitals chairman
Alok Roy said.
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NOT EVERY APPLICANT GETTING LOAN IN 59MINUTES!
The much-hyped loan in
59minutes scheme announced by prime minister Narendra Modi past Diwali has been
found providing loans for less than 50% of applicants reveals replies received
under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. In fact, Indian Bank has rejected as
many as 77% of application that had received in-principle approval from the
psbloansin59minutes.com portal. Even State Bank of India (SBI), the largest
state-run lender, has rejected as many as 48% applications it received from the
portal specifically set up for fast processing of applications and giving
in-principle approvals. According to information received from Allahabad Bank,
Andhra Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Corporation
Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDBI Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce,
Punjab and Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, SBI, Syndicate Bank, UCO Bank, and
United Bank of India, these lenders received 45,161 applications from the
59minute loan portal. Out of these, banks granted loans to 21,584 borrowers or
48% borrowers Total loans sanctioned by these banks so far under the scheme is
Rs 6,606.34 crore. Considering the total number of borrowers, which were
granted the loan, the average ticket size of the loan comes to Rs30.6 lakh. From
the borrowers perspective Canara Bank seems to be a good bet to get the loan.
Canara Bank received 2134 applications out of which it sanctioned loan to 1,518
borrowers or 71% of the applicants. On the other hand, Indian Bank turned out
to be more cautious and had rejected 77% of applications. As per the RTI reply,
Indian Bank received 1429 applications, out of which it granted loan to just
23% or 335 borrowers. As expected State Bank of India (SBI) with its huge
spread across the country, has provided loans of Rs 2,198.77 crore as on 15
March 2019 to 5,993 borrowers. This number however is much lower than the total
number of applicants, which stands at 13,984. In other words, SBI has
sanctioned loans to only 43% applicants. Bank of Baroda (BoB) with sanctioned
loans worth Rs 1,012.1 crore stands at the second spot after SBI, in terms of amount
of loan granted under the scheme. BoB had received 6,351 applications from the
portal and had sanctioned loans to 3,666 borrowers. This means only 58% of
applicants have received loan from the Bank. Dena Bank, in its reply to the RTI
application stated, (The) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed credit
embargo on 8 May 2018 on the Bank. (Dena) Bank has not done any fresh lending
since then and has not participated in the 59minutes online portal. In other
words, while less than 50% of the applicants did not get any loan from the
bank, CapitaWorld, received Rs 1,000 from each applicant. As per the replies
received under RTI, so far 45,161 applications were sent by the portal to banks
for loans and the company had collected Rs 4.51 crore as fees. The most
depressing aspect of the scheme, of course, is that public money from the
public sector banks are being used again by politicians to dole out money under
the garb of helping MSMEs.
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‘INDIA NEEDS TO BOLSTER PSBS’ CAPITALISATION LEVEL’
Noting that the level of
non-performing loans in India remains high, the International Monetary Fund has
favoured bolstering the level of capitalisation of some banks, particularly
government-owned banks. Anna Ilyina, said Wednesday that bolstering the level
of capitalisation was one of the recommendations of the Financial Sector
Assessment Programme (FSAP) for India. The level of nonperforming loans (NPLs) in
India remains high. And the level of the capitalization of some banks,
particularly government-owned banks, should be bolstered, said Ilyina. There
were some steps that were taken by the authorities to boost capital buffers in
banks and also to improve governance in state-owned banks that have had some
positive impact, Ilyina said. The institutional mechanisms for resolution and
the recognition of NPLs are, of course, an extremely important part of the
process of cleaning up the banking system of non-performing loans, she said.
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OUSTED BY LENDERS, NARESH GOYAL TRIES TO RE-ENTER JET AIRWAYS'
COCKPIT
Jet Airways founder Naresh
Goyal filed an expression of interest (EoI) for a stake in the ailing carrier
just as the deadline for submissions was coming to an end on Friday, said two
people with knowledge of the matter. The move is said to have flummoxed
lenders, who have put the equity on sale as part of a rescue plan for the
airline. They have asked for legal advice on how to respond to the move by
Goyal, who recently quit as chairman and director and had previously said he
was ready to sacrifice control of the carrier to ensure its survival. A senior
executive of State Bank of India said all EoIs are being examined by the legal
department for their authenticity and that this is part of the normal
procedure. Two people in the know said Goyal is being treated as an errant
promoter. According to the rules, such a promoter can’t participate in debt
resolution once a company has entered the bankruptcy process, but Jet hasn’t
got to that stage yet, bankers said. Staff Surround Jet Office
Goyal has pledged a little
over 31% of the company’s shares and has agreed to pledge more, totalling 41.1%
of the company, people in the know have said. His current total shareholding is
51%. The public owns 25% of Jet.
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OVER 400 JET STAFF MARCH TO MUMBAI OFFICE, SEEK CLARITY ON
THEIR FUTURE
More than 400 members of
the Jet Airways ground staff on Friday marched to the head office while anxious
customers queued outside the airline’s ticket counter at Mumbai airport,
seeking refunds for cancelled flights. Jet extended its international flight
cancellations till Monday and operated only nine planes on domestic routes on
Friday. In Mumbai the airline used to have more than 140 daily departures and
on Friday there were only two take-offs because the airline is left with little
money for operations. There is no clarity on what is going on in the airline.
Should we stay longer or look for another job, asked Vikas Vishwakarma, a
ground staff member as he marched with his colleagues. While the airline has
defaulted on salaries to pilots, engineers and the senior management for three
months, it failed to pay its ground staff salaries for March. How long can we
sustain like this? Employees have to pay their EMIs and take care of their
families, said another employee. While rival airlines were offering
opportunities, salaries there were lower. The march was led by trade union
leader and Nationalist Congress Party leader Kiran Pawaskar, who used the
opportunity to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the airline's former
chairman, Naresh Goyal. The Prime Minister promised two crore (20 million)
jobs, which he did not deliver. What is the government doing to save 16,000
jobs in Jet Airways, Pawaskar remarked in a microphone address to employees at
airline headquarters. We do not want to shut down the airline. All we are
seeking are salaries for the staff. The airline's slots and route need to be
protected. What will be left if there are no routes to operate? he said. The
All India Jet Airways Officers & Staff Association, led by Pawaskar, filed
a police complaint against Goyal; the airline's chief executive officer, Vinay
Dube; and State Bank of India officials for alleged cheating and criminal
breach of trust.
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ELECTION COMMISSION DIRECTS OMCS TO HALT ALLOCATION OF PETROL
PUMPS
The Election Commission
(EC) has asked the three oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil
Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation —
to stop allotment of petrol pumps for now. We were directed by the EC not to go
ahead with further allotment of fuel outlets, said a senior OMC official. The OMCs
had planned to allot about 41 per cent of the planned 78,493 new fuel retail
outlets. They approached the poll panel around mid-March, saying they wanted to
give letters of intent to at least 31,800 successful bidders in April and May.
The firms were of the view that since the bidding started in November and the
allotment process kicked off before the elections, it should not be stopped
because of the model code of conduct. The opening of over 78,000 outlets was
expected to see investment of about ~80,000-90,000 crore in the sector. On
February 21, the firms issued LoIs to bidders for 2,579 locations. The three
firms together got over 400,000 applications for the 74,608 locations, or 95
per cent of the areas that were on offer. Based on the Petroleum Planning and
Analysis Cell’s latest data, India has 64,376 fuel outlets. Of this, 27,556 are
under IOC, followed are by 14,721 under BPC and 15,440 by HPCL. Shine Jacob
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PM NARENDRA MODI BIOPIC PRODUCERS MOVE SC AGAINST STAY ON
RELEASE
The makers of the PM
biopic on Friday moved the Supreme Court against a stay imposed by the Election
Commission on April 10 on the release of the movie. The EC had stayed the
release on the grounds that it would disturb the level playing field between
political parties during elections. The movie release was to coincide with the
Lok Sabha polling process which got underway from April 11. The EC has since
placed a blanket ban on the release of all biopics while the model code of
conduct was in place. The plea by the producers was mentioned before a
three-judge bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi. Gogoi was sitting alongside Justices
Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, said that the bench would hear the plea on
Monday. Technically the EC seems to be on a firm footing as the court had
refused to deal with a plea by a Congressman to stay the release of the movie
and instead asked the poll panel to address it. Moreover, the EC has since then
imposed a blanket stay on release of all biopics. These include one on NTR. Any
biopic material in the nature of biography, hagiography sub-serving the
purposes of any political entity or individual connected to it, which is
intended to or has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the
elections, should not be displayed in the electronic media including
cinematograph during the operation of the model code of conduct, the commission
said. The stay will last as long as the election process is on and hence is in
the nature of a temporary ban. The poll body also said any complaints regarding
this would be examined by a panel headed by a retired top court judge. The
makers, the Congressman had alleged, were affiliated to the ruling party and
sought a stay on its release.
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LOK SABHA 1ST PHASE CANDIDATES: 32% CROREPATIS, 17% FACING
CRIMINAL CHARGES
Women voters show their fingers
marked with indelible ink after casting vote during the first phase of the
general elections, at Umpher in Ri-Bhoi district
Of the candidates
contesting the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, 213 (17%) have declared they
are facing criminal cases of which 146 (12%) face serious criminal charges, as
per an analysis of candidates’ affidavits by the Association for Democratic
Reforms (ADR). About a third (32%) or 401 of 1,266 candidates whose affidavits
were studied have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more Among the major
parties, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) are
notable for having all (25 from TDP and 17 from TRS) ‘crorepati’ candidates. Nearly
half of all candidates have declared they have a graduate degree or above,
while 1.5% have declared they are just literate, and 5.2% that they are
illiterate. About a third of candidates are aged between 25 and 40 years, while
more than half are between 41 and 60 years. The first phase of polling began on
April 11, 2019. ADR studied the affidavits of 1,266 of the 1,279 candidates who
are contesting during this phase. Affidavits of 13 candidates were not analysed
as they were not properly scanned or were incomplete. Of the 146 candidates
facing serious criminal charges, 12 have declared they have been convicted in
the past. Persons convicted are debarred from contesting elections for six
years from the date of conviction, but only if they have been sentenced to
imprisonment of two years or more. Of the Congress’s candidates, 27% (22 of 83)
face serious criminal charges, 19% (16 of 83) of the BJP’s, 13% (4 of 32) of
the Bahujan Samaj Party, 40% (10 of 25) of the YSR Congress Party, 8% (2 of 25)
of the TDP and 18% (3 of 17) of the TRS. Ten have declared they are facing
cases related to murder, 25 have declared cases related to attempt to murder,
four related to kidnapping, 16 related to crime against women and 12 related to
hate speech, the ADR analysis shows. Among the major parties, 42% (35 of 83)
candidates contesting on Indian National Congress (Congress) tickets have
declared criminal cases against themselves, compared with 36% (30 of 83)
candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and 25% (8 of 32) candidates
from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Among the members of parliament (MPs) of
the 16th Lok Sabha, 55% who faced criminal charges were from the BJP,
IndiaSpend had reported on March 30, 2019. The highest proportion of candidates
facing criminal charges are from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) which is contesting
from Andhra Pradesh, 52% (13 of 25) of whose candidates face criminal charges. Among
other parties based in south India, 16% (4 of 25) of the TDP’s candidates and
29% (5 of 17) of TRS’ candidates have declared criminal charges. As many as 37
of the 91 constituencies where polling is taking place during the first phase
have three or more candidates facing criminal charges. Eight candidates facing
criminal cases are contesting from the Nandyal constituency of Andhra Pradesh,
seven from the Nizamabad constituency of Telangana, and six each from
Narsapuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh and Khammam constituency of
Telangana. A third of candidates have declared assets worth Rs 1 crore or more,
as we have said before. Among the major parties, 69 (83%) out of 83 candidates
from the Congress, 65 (78%) out of 83 candidates from BJP, 15 (47%) out of 32
candidates from BSP, 22 (88%) out of 25 candidates from YSR Congress have
declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore. The top three states with the
highest number of crorepati candidates are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttar
Pradesh: 132 (42%) candidates from Andhra Pradesh, 77 (18%) candidates from
Telangana and 39 (41%) candidates from Uttar Pradesh have assets worth more
than Rs 1 crore. While a third of all first-phase candidates have declared they
owned assets worth Rs 1 crore or more during the last financial year, the three
richest candidates in terms of assets are Konda Vishweshwar Reddy of the
Congress from Chevella constituency of Telangana with total assets worth more than
Rs 895 crore; Prasad Veera Potluri of YSR Congress Party from the Vijayawada
constituency of Andhra Pradesh whose total assets are worth more than Rs 347
crore; and Kanumuru Raju from the Narasapuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh
who joined YSR Congress Party in March after leaving the TDP, who has total
assets worth more than Rs 325 crore. The top three candidates with the highest
declared income during the past financial year are from Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana, too. Jayadev Galla and Beeda Masthan Rao from TDP have income of
more than Rs 40 crore and Rs 33 crore, respectively. Galla has mentioned
business, agriculture, salary from parliament, income from investment and rents
as his sources of income, while Rao has stated that his income is sourced from
business, rentals, remuneration from a business group (BMS Group), shrimp
farming and export, bank interest and pension from the state government. Gaddam
Ranjith Reddy of the TRS has an income of more than Rs 16 crore, which he said
are sourced from salary, rentals, business and agriculture. The party-wise
average asset ownership is highest for the 25 candidates of YSR Congress Party
at Rs 62.94 crore ($9.1 million), followed by the 25 TDP candidates with
average assets worth Rs 57.77 crore ($8.3 million). The 17 candidates of the
TRS have average assets of Rs 45.87 crore ($6.6 million). For the 83 candidates
each of the Congress and BJP, the average assets’ worth is Rs 21.93 crore ($3.1
million) and Rs 14.56 crore ($2.1 million), respectively. There are 23
candidates who have declared no assets. The candidate who has declared the
least assets (excluding the zero assets candidates) is Nalla Prem Kumar of Prem
Janata Dal (unregistered) from the Chevella constituency of Telangana, who has
declared a bank balance of Rs 500. Rajendra Kendruka of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist-Leninist) from the Koraput constituency of Odisha has declared
Rs 565, and Alakunta Rajanna, an independent candidate from Nizamabad
constituency of Telangana, has declared Rs 1,000. Of 1,266 candidates, 526
(42%) have declared their educational qualification to be between 5th and 12th
standard, while 619 (49%) candidates have a graduate degree or above. Five
candidates fielded by the BJP have a doctorate degree while the Congress has
three such candidates. On the other hand, 19 (1.5%) candidates have declared
they are just literate and 66 (5.2%) that they are illiterate. About a third
(32%) or 411 of 1,266 candidates are in the 25-40 years age group, while more
than half (53%) or 671 candidates in the 41-60 years age group, as per the
affidavits analysed by ADR. At the same time, 172 (14%) candidates have
declared their age in the group 61-80 years while two candidates are aged above
80 years.
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AS JET WOES WORSEN, EMPLOYEES START MARCHES TO SAVE THE
AIRLINE
Jet Airways on Friday is
down to operating less than 10 aircraft. While sources say it was flying nine
operational planes Boeing 737s and ATRs, the airline and aviation authorities
did not give any figure for the same. The sudden cancellation of all
international flights on Thursday night left passengers stranded across
airports. P S Kharola said: We are concerned about Jet’s stranded passengers
and will do something shortly. We have called Jet (management) for a meeting
and know their plans. The deadline for submitting expressions of interest (EoI)
for Jet ends at 6 pm Friday. If some serious players submit EoI, lenders could
give the promised — and hugely delayed — Rs 1,500-crore emergency funding that
the airline needs desperately to stay alive. The airline has debt of over Rs
8,500 crore and total payables — salary dues, aircraft lessor and repair
payment, refunds that need to be given to passengers whose flights have been
cancelled and amounts owed to suppliers — of over Rs 20,000 crore (including
the debt). The Jet board reviewed the situation on Thursday and asked the
management to ‘impress’ on the lenders to make good their promise. The stake
sale process is on and even if the right bidder is found offering the right
price, the process will take at least 3 to 4 months to reach its logical
conclusion. There is no way the airline can run for that long and wait for the
new owner to pump in funds, said a person in the know.
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JET EXTENDS SUSPENSION OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS TILL MONDAY
Jet Airways, facing its
worst existential crisis in its over 25-year-old history, Friday extended
suspension of its international operations till next Monday due to severe
liquidity issues. Incidentally, the stake sale bid invited by the SBI- led
consortium of bankers, which manages the day-to-operations of the airline, also
closes by the end of the day Friday, after being extended by two days. Airline
founder Naresh Goyal, the UAE carrier Etihad Airways, Air Canada and the
country's national investment fund among others are reported to have submitted
bids, according to media reports.
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RETAIL INFLATION INCHES UP TO 2.86% IN MARCH
India's retail inflation saw
a marginal rise of 2.86 per cent in March on account of increase in prices of
food articles and fuel, according to government data released Friday. On yearly
basis, it was 4.28 per cent in March 2018. The data released by the Central
Statistics Office (CSO) showed that inflation in food basket rose to 0.3 per
cent in March from (-) 0.66 per cent in the previous month. The rate of price
rise was also higher in 'fuel and light' category. The inflation in the segment
rose to 2.42 per cent as against 1.24 per cent in February.
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AT 0.1%, INDIA'S INDUSTRIAL GROWTH FALLS TO 20-MONTH LOW IN
FEBRUARY
A contraction in
manufacturing output, especially in the sensitive capital and consumer goods
segment, pulled down industrial growth to a 20-month low of just 0.1 per cent
in February. In the April-February period of the current financial year,
industrial output grew at 4 per cent, as against 4.3 per cent in the same
period of the previous financial year. The manufacturing segment, which
constitutes the bulk of the index of industrial production (IIP) at 77.6 per
cent, contracted by 0.3 per cent in February against an equally small rise of
0.93 per cent in January. Before, this, the December 2018 manufacturing number
of 2.95 per cent. The numbers show continued volatility in the IIP, despite
change in the index last year. Most of all, the capital goods segment, which
connotes investments, saw output growth turning to negative with an 8.8 per
cent contraction, as compared to a 3.42 per cent contraction in the previous
month. On the other hand, consumer non-durables commanded a growth rate of 4.3
per cent in February, up from 3.3 per cent in January. All other user-based
segments either showed a negative growth or low-single digit growth. Electricity
generation rose 1.2 per cent in the latest month, slightly more than the 0.93
per cent rise in January. On the other hand, mining output grew by 2 per cent
in February, against a 3.92 per cent rise in January.
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EMS RISK BREAKING OUT OF THE HEGEMONY OF DOMINANT CURRENCIES:
RBI GOVERNOR
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday cautioned that global spillovers of
lose monetary policy measures, in the absence of a global financial safety net
could be unintentionally forcing emerging markets economies (EME) to break out
and challenge the hegemony of the dominant reserve currencies. According to
Governor Das, managing the spillovers is a formidable challenge for EMEs. We
live in a world of mobile capital flows where consequences of their arrivals,
sudden stops and reversals are to be borne nationally, Das said, adding that
while a safety net remains elusive, the strengthening of resources of the IMF
gets pushed out into time whenever EMEs come together for Spring or Annual
meetings. Under these conditions, EMEs which are typically at the receiving end
when global spillovers flare up, have no recourse but to build their own forex
reserve buffers. Paradoxically, the accumulation of reserves has become
stigmatised, including with labels such as currency manipulation. As I see it,
we may be unintentionally setting the stage for several EME currencies to break
out and challenge the hegemony of the dominant reserve currencies. There is a
need for greater understanding on both sides, Das said, while assuring that the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not contemplating leading the pack of break out
nations. In the meantime, so far as the Reserve Bank of India is concerned, we
will continue to play by the extant rules of the game, Das said. Das’ comments
come at a time when the IMF warned that 70 per cent of global economy is
slowing down, while the rest, lead mainly by emerging markets economies are
expected to grow. According to estimates by Bank of England, EMEs contribute 60
per cent of the global growth, while it was 45 per cent when the US Fed last
raised rates in 2006. At over 7 per cent, India continues to remain the fastest
growing large economy in the world, according to IMF. As the growth slows down
and fiscal space gets squeezed, monetary policy is going to be the focus of
both EMEs and advanced economies as first line of defence, therefore, Central
banks may once again be expected to assume the mantle of guardians of the world
economy, the RBI governor said. However, after the global financial crisis
exposed several limitations of conventional and unconventional monetary policy
tools. This has led to a ‘modern monetary theory’, which is basically a
heterodox evolution of ideas, including the thought that a nation can increase
its debt as long as interest rates are low leading to low interest servicing
cost. While the jury is still out on this idea, I have my own strong
reservations on this due to its serious downside risks. In the end, monetary
policy must touch the real economy, spur investments, and maintain monetary and
financial stability, Das said. The RBI governor said after the global financial
crisis, several EMEs embarked upon structural reforms to reorient their
economies, but these reforms inevitably involve sacrifices, including in terms
of losses of growth momentum. Conventionally, these reforms are best undertaken
in the expansionary phase of the economic cycle. With growth slowing down in a
synchronised manner across borders, the space for undertaking and/or pushing
ahead with structural reforms is likely to become severely constricted or even
deterred. But the fact remains that we need more structural reforms precisely
when the economy is slowing down to ensure durable momentum to growth, the RBI
governor said. In this high flux and uncertain environment, EMEs could perhaps
be better off by stepping up cooperation on all fronts, while recognising
multi-polarity, he said, adding, one area of cooperation could be to put in
place an institutional mechanism which balances the concerns of both oil
exporting and importing countries to ensure stability in energy prices. Das
suggested that the central banks should think in terms of tweaking with
interest rate change. Governor Das emphasized the importance of interacting
closely with financial markets for transmission of monetary policy impulses,
which required a sound and efficient payment and settlement system. In order to
ensure an orderly development of FinTechs and streamline their influence into
the financial system, we are now working on guidelines to introduce a
'regulatory sandbox/innovation hub' within a well-defined space and duration to
experiment with FinTech solutions, Das said.
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UP POLL SOP FOR FARMERS: 5.5 MN SEAMLESS WHEAT OFFTAKE WORTH
RS 10,000 CR
With the opposition
targetting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over alleged farm crisis and
mounting sugarcane arrears in the ongoing Lok Sabha electioneering, the Yogi
Adityanath government has promised seamless procurement of 5.5 million tonnes
(MT) of wheat. Pegged against the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,840 per
quintal, the state farmers are expected to fetch total wheat payments worth
more than Rs 10,000 crore in the rabi marketing season 2019. According to the
state food and civil supplies department, the government has made an elaborate
plan to ensure elections do not affect procurement process with district
magistrates directed to conduct regular reviews and take corrective measures. Recently,
the department had sought the permission of the Election Commission (EC) for
buying 55,000 additional silos/sacks for storing wheat, which has now been
received. Considering that in the last season, UP had logged record wheat
procurement of 5.3 MT against the seasonal target of 5 MT, there is high
possibility that the current target of 5.5 MT would be within reach of the
state procurement agencies. The procurement season, which commenced on April 1
would continue for two and half months till June 15, 2019.
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FIRE CRACKERS MANUFACTURING MSME UNITS IN SIVAKASI TO GET A
SIGH OF RELIEF
The Micro Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSME) units in Sivakasi involved in manufacturing of fire crackers
to get a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court has recently directed the Centre
to approve chemical composition of green crackers by May 15 The top court
directed the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), a statutory
body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries to approve the green cracker
formulation and submit its report to the Centre to grant approval by May 15. It
noted that the manufacturing of green crackers in the country must begin as soon
as possible. Giving a set deadline of May 15 for the Centre to finalize the
chemical composition for green crackers, the move would give the closed MSME
units which had shut shop following the ban on polluting crackers, leaving
lakhs of people unemployed to manufacture green crackers whose definition was
not clear earlier.
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NEED ‘SYSTEMIC REFORMS’ IN BANKING SECTOR, SAYS VENKAIAH NAIDU
Banks have to focus on
providing new and improved services to their clients and upgrading their
technology infrastructure in order to enhance customers overall experience and
gain competitive advantage, Venkaiah Naidu, said. They have to harness digital
growth to scale up to the level of world class businesses, Naidu said. Time is
now ripe for systemic reforms in banking sector and there has to be checks and
balances so that loopholes in the system are not taken advantage of, he added. Naidu
asked banks to maintain strict vigilance during pre and post sanction
procedures of loans and never compromise on due diligence process. They (banks)
must constantly strengthen their internal processes to effectively monitor
funds and maintain strict discipline in lending, he said. Naidu’s remarks are
significant as it comes at a time when PNB has just come out of Nirav Modi
perpetrated scam that blew a Rs 14,000 crore hole in the bank’s balance sheet. While
advising banks to up their game on due diligence and loan monitoring Naidu also
acknowledged that there has been societal decay in values and many have moved
away from ethical behaviour. In many instances, there are situation of the
units turning sick, but the owners are doing well, he said. Naidu also came
down on poll time promises of ‘farm loan waivers’, noting that it was not going
to help farmers in the long run. Politicians are taking to populism. Loan
waivers are not going to help farmers in the long term. Farm loan waiver will
at best bring temporary relief but these are not permanent solutions.
Policymakers should think of bringing permanent solutions, he said. Efforts
must be taken to supplement infrastructure, provide market linkages and take
care of providing timely, affordable and cheaper credit to farmers, he said.
Both the leading political parties — BJP and Congress — have promised much for
farmers in their election manifestoes. Naidu said that banks have to take a
relook at the practice of financing of big ticket projects which have long
gestation period and hence face cash flow issues. Banks can make use of data
analytics and technology to identify early warning signals of loan defaults and
evolve robust mechanism to identify the hidden NPAs. They must focus on
nurturing internal skills for credit assessment and undertake forensic audits
to understand the intent of the borrower, Naidu said.
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TATA GROUP SIGNS FORMAL AGREEMENT WITH NDMC FOR OPERATING TAJ
MANSINGH FOR 33 YEARS
After the much delayed
public e-auction of the iconic Taj Mansingh hotel in September last year, the
Tata group has signed a formal agreement with the New Delhi Municipal Council
(NDMC). After years of litigation and a bitter battle with the NDMC which had
reached the Supreme Court, the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) retained
the lease on the iconic property for another 33 years in a fiercely fought
auction with rival ITC Hotels in September last year. The revised agreement was
signed on Thursday. From April 11, NDMC will get 32.5 per cent more revenue as
against about 17.25 per cent. This is an achievement for us that we could
finally plan the public auction, settle the legal litigation, auction the
property and finally implement it on the ground, a senior NDMC official said.
The Tata group had retained the property at a license fees of ₹7.03
crore per month including GST. Earlier, they were paying ₹3.94
crore per month as license fees.
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INDIA SHIFTS TO NET STEEL IMPORTER IN 2018/19, FIRST TIME IN
THREE YEARS
India was a net importer
of steel during the 2018/19 fiscal year, the first time in three years, as the
country lost market share among its traditional steel buyers and imports jumped
on demand for higher-quality steel domestically. The country's finished steel
exports fell by 34 percent in the fiscal year that ended in March to 6.36
million tonnes, according to preliminary government data given to Reuters on
Friday. During the same period, finished steel imports rose 4.7 percent to 7.84
million tonnes. India's exports during the fiscal year declined after rival
steelmakers in China, Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, blocked from markets in
the United States and Europe by tariffs and other protectionist measures, ate
away at the country's markets in the Middle East and Africa, according to an
Indian government official with close knowledge of the matter. Imports from the
four Asian countries also climbed as they diverted supply into India, the
source said. Imports of value-added steel, primarily for the auto sector and
high-end electrical steel were the biggest source of imports, the source said.
The imports for producing value-added steel for the auto sector is mainly by
foreign steelmakers like POSCO, the source said, declining to be identified as
he was not authorised to speak to the media. India's Ministry of Steel has
urged local automakers to cut Japanese and South Korean imports to support
domestic producers but the automakers say they cannot get the quality of steel
they need locally. Indian steel companies have also sought imposition of higher
duties on imports.
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RUSSIA AWARDS PM NARENDRA MODI WITH HIGHEST STATE HONOUR
Russia on Friday awarded
its highest state honour 'Order of St Andrew the Apostle' to PM Narendra Modi
for promoting bilateral special and privileged strategic partnership. On April
12, 2019, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi was decorated with the Order of
St Andrew the Apostle - the highest state decoration of Russia - for
exceptional services in promoting special and privileged strategic partnership
between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India and friendly relations
between the Russian and Indian peoples, announced a Russian government
statement. The award was extended on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin
with whom Modi shares a strong chemistry. The two leaders met on numerous
occasions including an informal summit over past five years promoting defence
and economic partnership. Putin was the only P-5 leader who telephoned Modi
after the Pulwama terror attack as he defended India's right to self-defence.
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SOMETHING SERIOUS GOING ON IN WEST BENGAL, SAYS SC; SEEKS
STATE'S REPLY ON HARASSMENT OF CUSTOMS OFFICIALS
Something very very
serious seems to be going on in West Bengal, the Supreme Court said Friday as
it agreed to hear a plea alleging harassment of customs officials at Kolkata
Airport for checking the luggage of a Trinamool Congress leader's wife. The top
court asked the West Bengal government to file its reply on the plea within
four weeks A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna
said: Someone has drawn our attention to something very very serious. We don't
know yet whose claim is bona fide but we would like to go into the root of the
matter. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the customs department
and assisted by advocate Ravi Prakash, told the bench that the plea pertains to
the incident of March 15-16 when customs officials were obstructed from
carrying out their duty. The obstruction was caused to the officials, when two
women including one Rujira Naroola Banerjee, wife of Abhishek Banerjee who is
TMC MP and nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, was intercepted at the
airport for checking. Senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi objected to the
issuance of notice and said that the petition is not maintainable as the
petitioner Rajkumar Barthwal is a member of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and
Customs and has no locus standi to file the plea. To this, the bench observed
that it does not know the bona fide of the petitioner but We cannot ignore what
is going on in West Bengal. If required we can ourselves take suo motu
cognizance of the events and get to the bottom of the issue.
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ELECTRICITY COMMISSION APPROVES HIGHER TARIFF FOR ADANI'S
MUNDRA PLANT
The Central Electricity Regulatory
Commission (CERC) on Friday approved higher tariff for Adani Power's 2,000
megawatt (MW) capacities at its power plant in Mundra, Gujarat. The power plant
was facing hardships after compensatory tariff was disallowed by the apex court
in April 2017. Adani Power had sought to pass through higher cost of imported
coal to run this plant. The cost of fuel rose after Indonesia changed its
regulations. The Mundra plant in Gujarat is an imported coal-based plant. The
Commission in exercise its powers under Section 79 (1) (b) of the Act read with
Article 18.1 of the PPAs (power purchase agreements) approves the Supplemental
PPAs to Bid-01 PPA and Bid-02 PPA, the CERC said in an order. In its plea to
the CERC last year, GUVNL had proposed amendments to the two PPAs signed on
February 6, 2007, and February 2, 2007, with Adani Power (Mundra) Ltd, for
supply of contracted capacity of 1,000 MW each from units 1 to 4 and units 5
and 6 of Mundra power plant, respectively. Disposing of the petition, the power
regulator said said these projects (Adani and Tata's Mundra plants) are
efficient, on super-critical technology and are base-load plants and therefore,
it makes economic sense to keep them operationalised. In sum, the supplemental
PPAs entered into by the Petitioner and Respondent No.1 (GUVNL) in the light of
the HPC (high-powered committee) recommendations and the Government of Gujarat
order are in public interest designed to meet the long-term energy requirement
of the consumers of Gujarat at a competitive price, it added. The Gujarat
government took a policy decision in December last year to give a package to
rehabilitate the imported coal-based stressed power projects located in the
state.
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GOVT DRAFTING SEPARATE POLICIES FOR GENERAL AND
SUPER-SPECIALITY HOSPITALS: GUJARAT CM RUPANI
Vijay Rupani Thursday said
the state government is making separate healthcare policies for general and
super-speciality hospitals. Rupani said, We (Gujarat) have moved ahead in the
field of medical tourism. The government is making separate healthcare policies
for hospitals in general and super-speciality hospitals. The government is
further trying to establish super-speciality hospitals across Gujarat.
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RAHUL GANDHI MOCKS PM NARENDRA MODI'S MAKE IN INDIA, SAYS MADE
IN CHINA RULES
Rahul Gandhi Friday mocked
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India slogan, saying the country's
market was now flooded with Chinese products He referred to unemployed youth of
Tamil Nadu, saying Modi had hurt them in the last five years, giving huge
amounts of money from the banks to the richest people but not to them. He gave
you an empty slogan called Make in India but wherever we look we see Made in
China products, he said. Be it phone, shoes or shirt you see made in China, he
added. Now we want real made in India and real made in Tamil Nadu, Gandhi said.
Under Modi, Make in India if a young Tamil entrepreneur wanted to start a
business he had to knock on the doors of different government offices where he
had to pay bribes, the Congress chief alleged. By the time he got his
permissions the business is already failed, he said. Hence, the Congress came
up with a new idea in its manifesto for entrepreneurs, he said adding when you
want to start a new business you will not have to take permission from any
government department for three years. They could take the permission once the
business was established and till such time the focus could be on making the
business work and consolidating it, Gandhi said. Once your business is
established take permission. Terming the GST as Gabbar Singh Tax again, he said
it comprised five different taxes and a tax rate of 28 per cent wherein even
weavers had to pay tax if they had to buy thread or material. The moment his
party was voted to power it will be removed and we will give you a real GST,
(envisaging) one tax, minimum tax and a simple tax. Alleging that Modi takes
thousands and thousands of crores and gives it to people like Anil Ambani and
Adani, the Congress chief accused the Prime Minister of giving away Rs 3,50,000
crore to 15 of the richest persons in the country. But when Tamil farmers are
protesting in Jantar Mantar, he has not got even one word to say. They have to
take off their clothes and still he does not pay any attention. He does not
have decency to call them and ask them why they were upset. However, Modi
hugged every single corrupt businessman, and you can see pictures of him
hugging Anil Ambani, Gandhi said. The Prime Minister could also be seen sitting
with Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya, but not with any poor person,
he alleged. There is not a single picture of the Prime Minister with a poor
farmer, or owner of a small business, the Congress chief charged.
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CONGRESS' 'NYAY' IS 'ANYAY' AGAINST PEOPLE OF COUNTRY, SAYS
UNION MINISTER H S PURI
Rahul Gandhi's poll
assurance of NYAY is designed for bankruptcy Hardeep Singh Puri has said,
claiming it will prove to be an ANYAY (injustice) against people of the
country. Puri, said Congress forgot to tell people that if it comes to power,
the party is not going to implement it alone and needs state governments to
chip in. Minister said states will have to implement Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY)
in coordination with the Centre, seeking to know whether the Congress asked
states, which will spend huge money, if they are ready for it or not. Puri said
the Congress policy is to always create debt as the UPA government had done by
waiving farm loan worth Rs 70,000 lakh crores while the BJP's policy is totally
different and its government at the Centre is depositing money into bank
accounts of farmers, in reference to recent launch of Pradhan Mantri Kisan
Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). As per our policy, if you are GST-registered trader,
you will get pension after age of 60 years. If you are a farmer, you will get
money into your bank account. All our schemes are in the nature of growth
without taxes. Congress's NYAY is ANAY, Puri said. The NDA government has
raised the income tax exemption from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, and also, GST
rates are coming down. We are providing relief to middle class, but they
(Congress) are saying different thing, the UD minister said.
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VIRTUAL REALITY CENTRE A REALITY - SHALL BOOST INDIGENOUS
WARSHIP DESIGN CAPABILITIES
Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM,
AVSM, ADC the Chief of the Naval Staff, inaugurated the maiden
‘state-of-the-art’ Virtual Reality Centre (VRC) at the Directorate of Naval
Design (Surface Ship Group), today. This centre would provide major boost to
the Indigenous warship design capabilities of Indian Navy, providing impetus to
self-reliance and greater fillip to warship construction under Make in India
initiative of the Indian government. Admiral Lanba complimented the Directorate
for their untiring efforts, foresight and initiatives to conceptualise design
and execute the project. This project will facilitate collaborative design
reviews for continuous interaction between the designers and the end users to
improve design and ergonomics onboard warships.
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J&J TO PROVIDE 10,000 MORE COURSES OF TB DRUG TO INDIA
Johnson and Johnson has
committed to provide an additional 10,000 courses of tuberculosis drug
bedaquiline to India through the US Agency for International Development
(USAID). This takes the number of free courses of the drug given to India to
20,000. The earlier global donation programme ended in March. Bedaquiline is
the first medicine for drug-resistant TB in nearly 50 years. It is said to be
less toxic and more effective than the traditional ones. The Indian government
has set itself a target of ending TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of 2030. There are an estimated
1,35,000 cases of drug-resistant TB in India every year, and currently less
than 30 per cent of these patients are diagnosed and put on appropriate
treatment regimen, the note said.
#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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