ELECTORAL BONDS OF RS 10 LAKH, RS 1 CR DOMINATE DONATIONS: RTI
APPLICATION
Almost 99 per cent of
donations received by political parties between March 2018 and January 24, 2019
were as electoral bonds of Rs 10 lakh and Rs one crore a social worker has
reportedly found through a right to information (RTI) application. Donors purchased
bonds worth Rs 1,407.09 crore of which Rs 1,403.90 crore were in the highest
denominations of Rs 10 lakh and Rs one crore during the period, said
Chandrashekhar Goud, who get the data from the State Bank of India (SBI)
through an RTI query. The donors bought 1,459 electoral bonds of denomination
of Rs 10 lakh and 1,258 bonds of Rs one crore denomination. They purchased 318
bonds of Rs one lakh, 12 bonds of Rs 10,000 and 24 bonds of Rs 1000
denomination. Parties redeemed electoral bonds worth Rs 1,395.89 crore. Gaud
had also asked for information on how many parties redeemed the bonds and worth
how much money, but the SBI did not disclose it, citing rules in the RTI Act.
SBI sold electoral bonds in seven tranches. They were sold in five denominations
of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore. The Association
for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGI working for political reforms, had
approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay order on the sale of electoral
bonds.
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TRAI TO SEEK VIEWS ON NET NEUTRALITY COMPLIANCE SOON
The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) will soon come out with a new round of consultation
on the compliance of net neutrality and identification of critical applications
that could be exempted under the laid principles around a free Internet. Consultation
paper on how to monitor net neutrality is almost ready, and we are coming up
with it soon on issues which the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has
flagged, including applications that can be exempted, Trai chairman RS Sharma
told. The new consultation, according to Sharma, would be on how to ensure the
monitoring of mobile phone companies for net neutrality compliance, with some
exceptions such as some applications set aside for emergency purposes where the
quality of service (QoS) must be maintained and in other scenarios where
latency would be important. Trai had in its recommendations set some limited
exceptions out of the ambit of net neutrality – a concept which guarantees free
and fair access to the Internet for all - services that of of critical nature
and those requiring real-time data transfer, in addition to identification of
situations when such applications are suspended in abnormal circumstances.
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DELAY IN OVER 340 INFRA PROJECTS SHOWS COST OVERRUNS OF RS
3.16 LAKH CRORE
As many as 344
infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have shown cost
overruns to the tune of over Rs 3.16 lakh crore owing to delays and other
reasons, a report said. Total original cost of implementation of the 1424
projects was Rs 18,17,469.76 crore and their anticipated completion cost is
likely to be Rs 21,33,649.81 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs
3,16,180.05 crore (17.40% of original cost), the Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation's latest report for December 2018 said. The ministry
monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above. Of these 1,424
projects, 344 reported cost overruns and 384 time escalation According to the
report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2018 was Rs
8,06,997.78 crore, which is 37.82 per cent of the anticipated cost of the
projects. However, it said the number of delayed projects decreases to 326 if
delay is calculated on the basis of latest schedule of completion. For 686
projects, neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period
has been reported. Out of 384 delayed projects, 113 projects have overall delay
in the range of 1 to 12 months, 61 are delayed by 13 to 24 months, 101 reflect
delay of 25 to 60 months and 109 projects show 61 months and above delay. The
average time overrun in these 384 delayed projects is 44.78 months. The brief
reasons for time overruns, as reported by various project implementing
agencies, are delays in land acquisition, forest clearance and supply of
equipment.
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OUTSTANDING LOANS OF INDIAN LENDERS TO MSMES EXPANDS 2.5 TIMES
IN FIVE YEARS: REPORT
The outstanding loans of
lenders to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) expanded
two-and-a-half times in five years through 2018, Credit Information Company
TransUnion CIBIL said. Information Company also warned about debt build-ups
leading to possible stress in the quality of assets. While the outstanding
credit to MSMEs grew to Rs 25.2 lakh crore at the end of 2018 from Rs 10.4 lakh
crore in 2013 at a compound growth rate of 19.6%, the consolidated
non-performing assets (NPAs) in the sector increased to 9% from 7.3%, CIBIL
said in a report. We have observed significant acceleration in lending in the
past couple of years, but growth of this magnitude needs to be monitored
carefully as rapid acceleration in debt build-up may indicate prospective
stress in the system, TransUnion CIBIL Managing Director Satish Pillai said
earlier this week. While lenders should monitor their portfolios constantly for
loan stacking, leverage and debt build-up, the regulators must keep systemic
risks under check, it said. Relaxation on the use of trade credit data from
regulated bill discounting platform TReDS for credit scoring could help improve
underwriting standards for banks, while also helping MSME businesses and
individuals get better-priced loans, CIBIL report said. It added, India’s
commercial credit growth remained strong at 14.4% year-on-year in the December
quarter, taking the overall outstanding credit to Rs 111 lakh crore, driven by
loan growth of 14.9% to large companies.
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WPI INFLATION SPIKES TO 3.18% IN MARCH ON COSTLIER FOOD, FUEL
Wholesale price-based inflation
rose for the second consecutive month to 3.18 per cent in March on costlier
food and fuel, government data released Monday showed. The Wholesale Price
Index (WPI) based inflation was at 2.93 per cent in February. It was 2.74 per
cent in March 2018. Inflation in food articles hardened with steep rise in
prices of vegetables during March 2019. Vegetables inflation was at 28.13 per
cent in March, up from 6.82 per cent in the previous month. However, inflation
in potato cooled substantially to 1.30 per cent, from 23.40 per cent in February.
Inflation in food articles basket was 5.68 per cent during March. Inflation in
'Fuel and power' category also spiked to 5.41 per cent, from 2.23 per cent in
February.
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UNSECURED LENDING CATEGORIES GREW AT 31.3% IN 2018, SAYS CIBIL
REPORT
Unsecured lending
categories like credit card loans, personal loans and consumer durable loans grew
at 31.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2018 (Q4CY18), while
secured lending — loan against property, auto loans and home loans —
experienced a moderation in growth in the same period, according to a
TransUnion CIBIL report on credit trends. In Q4CY18, loan against property,
auto loans, and home loans grew 21.8 per cent, 17.4 per cent and 17.1 per cent,
respectively. According to industry experts, the smaller base of unsecured
lending helps it post a better growth rate, in percentage terms, than other
loan segments. On the demand side, the link between income and expenditure is
becoming weaker with rising aspirations especially among the younger working
population, say experts. Hence, consumption spending is giving rise to
unsecured shorter-term credit. To add to that, because of competition, banks
and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are catering to segments like
credit card loans, personal loans and consumer durable loans because they can
charge higher interest rates in such segments. As a proportion, unsecured
credit makes up for a small portion of the overall balance sheet. But it can be
said that lenders are engaged in unsecured credit delivery to shore up their
profit margins as the interest rates charged on such advances is much higher
than other loans, said Karthik Srinivasan of credit rating agency ICRA. According
to the CIBIL report, all major consumer lending products experienced
double-digit percentage growth in the number of accounts in the fourth quarter.
Also, the credit card segment saw one of the highest rates of growth, both in
total balances and in the number of accounts. Overall income levels and
employment, especially in traditional services businesses, has grown annually
in single digits in the past 2-3 years but retail unsecured credit has grown by
over 25 per cent. Over the next few years, this divergence could manifest in
higher delinquencies if growth doesn’t slow, Haria added.
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BAD LOAN RECOVERIES, BANK RECAP TO BOOST INDIA'S GDP GROWTH:
GOLDMAN SACHS
A decline in credit costs
of Indian banks is likely to boost the capacity of lenders to extend loans and,
in turn, boost growth in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Analysts at
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said India’s measures to improve the recovery of bad
loans and a recapitalisation plan equivalent to 1.1 per cent of gross domestic
product will lower costs for lenders. We estimate that credit costs -- how much
banks set aside each year to deal with bad loans -- could fall from a peak of
230 basis points of banking system assets, or around Rs 3.3 trillion ($48
billion), in FY18 to 120 basis points, or Rs 1.9 trillion, in FY20, the
analysts said in a note. This decline in credit costs would boost bank
profitability, reduce headwinds to bank capital growth and enhance the capacity
of the banking system to extend credit, analysts led by Jonathan Sequeira,
wrote. The analysts estimate the decline in costs will raise loan growth by 140
basis points, which in turn should bolster investment growth by 200 basis
points. All in all, that should translate into a 60 basis points boost to
economic growth in the financial year ending March 2020. India has the highest
stressed-asset ratio among the world’s major economies. While bank loans have
been growing at a steady pace of 14 per cent year-on-year, investments in
Asia’s third-largest economy have lagged. The latest data from the Center for
Monitoring Indian Economy show that the total value of new projects in the
quarter that ended in March fell to 1.99 trillion rupees from Rs 3.12 trillion
in the three months through June.
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CENTRAL KYC REGISTRY HITS 10 CRORE MARK
The centralised know your
customer registry — which is accepted by all the financial sector regulators
like RBI, Sebi, IRDAI, PFRDA and others — crossed a major milestone last month
by registering 10 crore customers. Christened Central KYC (CKYC), it is managed
by the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction & Security
Interest of India (CERSAI), a central government undertaking, while NSE Data
& Analytics is the managed service provider. As of now, over 3,000 entities
have registered with CKYC Of the 10 crore customer registrations, over 80% came
from entities regulated by the RBI, while nearly 14% was from entities under
Sebi and 2.7% from those regulated by IRDAI, industry data showed. Under CKYC,
once a customer registers himself, that will be the valid KYC across all
financial services like banking, mutual fund, demat account, insurance,
provident fund, national pension scheme and other services, which come under
the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. Each customer is
given a unique central KYC identifier that is used across the BFSI segment.
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DELHI HC SEEKS GOVT’S REPLY ON PLEA CHALLENGING AADHAAR ORDER
The Delhi high court on
Friday asked the Centre to respond to a plea challenging constitutional
validity of the Aadhaar ordinance. The petition alleged the ordinance was
brought only to overturn the Supreme Court decision regarding use of Aadhaar by
the private sector. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice AJ
Bhambhani asked the law ministry to indicate its stand by July 9. According to
the petitioner lawyers the ordinance allows private sector to use the Aadhaar
infrastructure through the back door by amending the Indian Telegraph Act and
bypassing the law laid down by SC. The petitioners has also contended that
there was no extraordinary situation which required passing of such an
ordinance. President Ram Nath Kovind had, last month, given his assent to the
ordinance that allowed voluntary use of Aadhaar as ID proof for obtaining
mobile SIM cards and opening bank accounts. The ordinance became necessary
after the Rajya Sabha could not approve a Bill after its passage by Lok Sabha.
The Cabinet had approved the promulgation of the ordinance to give effect to
changes proposed in Aadhaar and two others legislations. The amendments provide
for stiff penalties for violation of norms set for the use of Aadhaar and
violation of privacy.
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CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND BOLIVIA ON COOPERATION
IN THE FIELD OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES
The Union Cabinet chaired
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bolivia on Cooperation in the field of
Geology and Mineral Resources. The MoU was signed in Bolivia in March, 2019.
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CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND CAMBODIA ON COOPERATION
IN THE FIELD OF COMMUNICATIONS
The Union Cabinet chaired
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex post-facto approval to the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cambodia on Cooperation in
the field of Communications The MoU was signed in Cambodia in March, 2019.
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CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND BOLIVIA ON COOPERATION
IN THE FIELD OF TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS OF MEDICINE AND HOMOEOPATHY
The Union Cabinet chaired
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bolivia in the Field of
Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy The MoU was signed in Bolivia
in March, 2019.
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CABINET APPROVES CREATION OF ONE POST OF DEPUTY COMPTROLLER
AND AUDITOR GENERAL IN THE OFFICE OF COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF INDIA
The Union Cabinet, chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval to create one
post of Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (Coordination, Communication
and Information System) in Pay Level-17 (by abolishing one STS level post) in
the Office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India. The Deputy
Comptroller & Auditor General shall oversee the coordination among State
Audits, audit of telecommunication and to coordinate the various Information
Systems (IS) initiatives within the Indian Audit & Accounts Department
(IA&AD). Expenditure on account of creation of this post will be Rs.21 Lakh
(approx.).
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CABINET APPROVES CONTINUATION OF PHASE 4 OF GEOSYNCHRONOUS
SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE (GSLV)
The Union Cabinet, chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved ongoing GSLV
continuation programme Phase-4 consisting of five GSLV flights during the
period 2021-2024. The GSLV Programme - Phase 4 will enable the launch of 2
tonne class of satellites for Geo-imaging, Navigation, Data Relay Communication
and Space Sciences. The total fund requirement is Rs. 2729.13 Crores and
includes the cost of five GSLV vehicles, essential facility augmentation,
Programme Management, and Launch Campaign along with the additional funds
required for meeting the scope of the ongoing GSLV Continuation Programme.
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CABINET APPRISED ABOUT MOU BETWEEN INDIA AND BRAZILIN THE AREA
OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
The Union Cabinet, chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, was apprised about an MoU signed in
May, 2018 between India and Brazil. The MoU has been signed to strengthen the
ties between India and Brazil to work out the future agenda for the collaboration
for innovation in Science & Technology diplomacy to evolve a concrete
strategic plan in the area of biotechnology education, training and research. The
broad areas of collaboration are:
·
Biomedicine and health,
especially biotech based products
·
Agriculture breeding
practices
·
Biofuel and bio-energy
·
Nanotechnology and
Bioinstrumentation
·
Biodiversity and Taxonomy
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CABINET APPROVES EXTENSION OF DURATION OF NEW UREA POLICY-2015
FOR EXISTING GAS BASED UREA UNIT
The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs, chaired by Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved
the proposal of the Department of fertilizers to extend the duration of New
Urea Policy-2015 from April 1, 2019 till further orders, except for the
provisions which stand already amended vide notification dated March 28, 2018. It
will facilitate to continue operations and regular supply of urea to the
farmers.
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GOVERNMENT E MARKETPLACE (GEM) CLOSES FY 2018-19 ON A HIGH
NOTE
Government e Marketplace
(GeM), the national public procurement portal offering end to end solution for all
procurement needs of Central and State govt. departments and PSUs has closed
the FY 2018-19 on a high note. The year witnessed a four-fold increase in total
value of transactions on the portal and doubling of number of sellers in the
marketplace. There has also been an overall growth in other dimensions like
number of categories, products and buyers. Despite such phenomenal growth in
transactions, average rejection rate of supplies remained below one percent,
which is proof of high quality of products/services offered on the portal. Significant
Milestones achieved in FY 2018-19:
·
Grossed over Rs. 23,000
crores in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) through more than 17 lakh transactions
on the platform.
·
Made over 8.8 lakh
products available on its platform through a network of over 2 lakh sellers and
service providers.
·
These products and
services are being bought by over 34,000 government organisations
·
(Central, State
Governments and PSUs) registered on the platform.
·
42% of transactions by
volume are done with MSMEs registered on the platform.
·
Buyers from across 36
States and Union Territories (UTs) are buying on the platform. 24 States and
UTs have signed a formal MoU with GeM to adopt it as the core procurement
portal in their respective territories.
·
Average savings of more
than 25% achieved across transactions on the platform.
·
Integration with Aadhaar,
UdyogAadhaar, Ministry of Corporate Affairs21 (MCA21), Public Financial
Management System (PFMS), PAN, GSTN, Controller General of Defence Accounts
(CGDA), Railways, and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) empanelled
rating agencies for robust registration process.
·
Training of over 1.3 lakh
buyers and sellers has been conducted across 28 States and UTs to enable them
to seamlessly operate the platform.
·
MoUs have been signed with
12 banks for payment integration (State GeM Pool Account-SGPA, Electronic
Performance Bank Guarantee-ePBG, Electronic Earnest Money Deposit-eEMD) to
facilitate a cashless, contactless and paperless paymentsystem on the platform.
·
MoU signed with MSME
Ministry, Common Service Centers (CSC) and industrial associations (CII, FICCI,
AIMA, MAIT, FICCI, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, IIA and ASSOCHAM.
for facilitating training, capacity building and on boarding of manufactures
and vendors across the country.
·
Integration with Quality
Council of India (QCI) for ensuring quality compliances of the products and
services offered through GeM.
·
Traffic on GeM website has
increased by 50% in FY 2018-19 Vs. 2017-18
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VOTER TURNOUT PERCENTAGE OF 69.43% RECORDED AS YET IN PHASE I
GE TO LOK SABHA 2019
As per available data till
now, the Voter Turnout Percentage from eighteen States and two Union
Territories that went to Polls on 11th April 2019, in the First phase of General
Elections to Lok Sabha 2019, has recorded a figure of 69.43%. This percentage
is still likely to go up as at the time of compilation, data from some remaining
polling parties from remote locations was yet to be consolidated. It may be
recalled that in Phase I, 91 Parliamentary Constituencies from States of Andhra
Pradesh (25/25 PCs), Arunachal Pradesh (2/2 PCs), Assam (5/14PCs), Bihar (4/40
PCS), Chhattisgarh (1/11 PCs), Jammu & Kashmir (2/6 PCs), Maharashtra
(7/48PCs), Manipur (1/2 PCs), Meghalaya (2/2PCs), Mizoram (1/1 PC), Nagaland (1/1
PC), Odisha (4/21 PCs), Sikkim (1/1 PC), Telangana (17/17 PCs), Tripura (1/2
PCs) Uttar Pradesh (8/80PCs), Uttarakhand (5/5 PCs), West Bengal (2/42 PCs) as
also Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1/1 PC) and Lakshadweep (1/1 PC) went to
Polls. Out of a total of 13,16,22,586 General Electors from these
Constituencies, 9,13,79,409 electors (comprising 4,64,30,614 Male Electors,
4,49,20,571 Female electors and 1395 electors from Third Gender) cast their
votes. Thus as on date a total of 69.43% voter turnout percentage was recorded
across these 18 States and 2 UTs. The top five voter turnout percentage has
been - 84.96 % from Lakshadweep; 83.79% from West Bengal PCs of Alipurduar and
Coochbehar; 83.26% from Tripura West PC; 83.12% from Nagaland; 82.82% from II
Outer Manipur (ST) PC of Manipur though some polling parties were yet to
contribute their figures to the data. Simultaneously polling was also conducted
on 11th April 2019 for 175 Assembly constituencies of Andhra Pradesh; 60 ACs of
Arunachal Pradesh; 28 of the 147 Assembly Constituencies of Odisha and 32 ACs
of Sikkim. Across 295 ACs, a voter turnout percentage of 77.38% has been
recorded as yet though there could be slight variation in this figure by the
time of final computing.
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STEEL MINISTER BIRENDRA SINGH RESIGNS
Union Steel Minister
Chaudhry Birendra Singh on Sunday resigned from the Union Cabinet as well as
from the membership of Rajya Sabha. However, he will continue to be a member of
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This announcement came on a day when BJP announced
to field Birendra Singh’s son Brijendra Singh from Hisar Lok Sabha seat in
Haryana. The Minister made it clear that he did not want people to raise finger
on his family. Also, he does not want to face allegation of nepotism and
accordingly he is resigning from the key posts. However, he will continue to
serve the party as a loyal worker, he claimed. His wife, Prem Lata Singh is
sitting MLA in Haryana.
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OPPOSITION TO APPEAL SC TO VERIFY 50% VVPATS WITH EVMS IN
EVERY ASSEMBLY
Opposition parties Sunday
held a meeting to discuss the issue of EVM malfunctioning and said they will approach
the Supreme Court again to demand that at least 50 per cent of paper trails be
verified with EVMs. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who
Saturday met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to raise the issue of EVM
malfunctioning said 21 political parties have demanded verification of VVPAT
paper trails of 50 per cent of the EVMs. Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said
opposition parties will approach the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the
EC for counting of at least 50 per cent of the VVPAT slips with the EVMs in
every assembly segment. He said the opposition parties will carry out a
nationwide campaign on the issue of discrepancies in EVMs.
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WHO SAYS RATE MOVES NEED TO BE 25BPS? NOT RBI GUV SHAKTIKANTA
DAS
Reserve Bank of India
Governor Shaktikanta Das has an out of the box suggestion: central banks need
to be more flexible on the size of their interest-rate moves. Instead of a
conventional 25 basis point cut and announcement of a dovish, hawkish or
neutral stance to give guidance on future actions, policy makers could just change
the rate to the dynamics of the situation, Das said. If easing of monetary
policy is required but the central bank prefers to be cautious in its
accommodation, a 10 basis points reduction in the policy rate would perhaps
communicate the intent of authorities more clearly than two separate moves –-
one on the policy rate, wasting 15 basis points of valuable rate action to
rounding off, and the other on the stance, which in a sense, binds future
policy action to a pre-committed direction, he said. In a situation in which
the central bank prefers to be accommodative but not overly so, it could
announce a cut in the policy rate by 35 basis points if it has judged that the
standard 25 basis points is too little, but its multiple -- that is, 50 basis
points -- is too much, Das said.
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RBI TO REMAIN WATCHFUL ON GROWTH, FINANCIAL STABILITY:
SHAKTIKANTA DAS
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI)will remain vigilant and strive to revive growth in Asia’s third-largest
economy, as well as pushing to maintain macroeconomic, financial and price
stability, its governor said in a speech on Friday. India lost momentum in the
final quarter of 2018, reducing its annual rate of economic growth to 6.6 percent,
the slowest pace in five quarters and much less than expected. But RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das said the country’s real gross domestic product (GDP) growth was
expected to reach 7.2 percent in the fiscal year to March 2020, which he
described as the strongest among the world’s large economies. India’s annual
retail inflation rate rose in March to 2.86 percent, from 2.57 percent in the
previous month, but remained below the central bank’s target for an eighth
straight month, increasing the chances for a key interest rate cut in June. Inflation
has remained below target, averaging 3.6 per cent for the period under the
inflation targeting framework so far, Das said. The RBI has lowered its retail
inflation forecast to 3.8 percent by January-March 2020, but warned it could be
higher if food and fuel prices climb abruptly, or if fiscal deficits overshot
targets. India’s current account deficit is expected to be around 2.5 per cent
of GDP in 2018-19 and the gross fiscal deficit has kept to budgetary targets, he
added. Das underscored the risks facing emerging market economies such as a
India as global growth and trade weaken. There is considerable uncertainty as
to whether this weakness is temporary or the beginning of a recession in
advanced economies, Das said, adding that central banks around the world were
not tightening monetary policy, with some even promoting easier lending
conditions. The RBI cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points earlier
this month, in a widely expected move to boost the economy at a time Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a second term in a national election. Emerging
market economies also remain exposed to financial market volatility, Das said,
and financial conditions could heighten existing stress on the balance sheets
of lending institutions in some countries.
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5G FOR BANKING! RBI PREPARING TO ADOPT FIFTH GENERATION
TECHNOLOGY
The Institute for
Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), an arm of the Reserve
Bank of India, has set up 5G use cases lab for the banking and financial
segment. The use of 5G will change a range of technologies and applications
including point of sale (PoS) machines in the banking sector, which are
currently using 2G and are in the process of being phased out. The Department
of Telecommunication is collaborating with other departments for better
preparedness and adoption of 5G technology. This is a soft launch. We have all
ideas and plans in place.bActual work will begin very soon once we have
equipment and other modalities ready, AS Ramasastri, said, adding that banks
need to adopt 5G-enabled network. The 5G technology, along with blockchain,
will be progressively adopted by banks. The broad objectives of the lab include
developing and demonstrate 5G use cases for banking and financial services;
setting up 5G research and development experience platform for banking and
financial services; collaborating with stakeholders such as banks, government,
service providers, financial institutions, OEM, academicians, R&D bodies,
standards setting bodies and others for 5G promotion and absorption of best
practices; providing state-of-the-art experimental test bed solutions for
mobile, wireless technologies, IoT and security services for the BFSI segment. According
to RK Pathak, deputy director general, DoT, the Ministry of Communications, the
5G use case lab would contribute to new standards in the country. IDRBT has
brought together multiple bodies like the DoT, Department of Financial Services
and Telecommunications Standards Development Society to work on the 5G
initiative. One of the things that the banking sector uses is the PoS, which
right now is 2G-enabled. In a couple of years, there will be no 2G in this
country. There will only be 3G, 4G and beyond, Amit Yadav, said. 5G has arrived
in the world and the department has already launched test beds for 5G use in
the academia in Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore to develop 5G for Indian use.
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JET PILOTS APPEAL TO SBI TO RELEASE RS 1500 CR, ASK PM TO SAVE
20,000 JOBS
Jet Airways pilots body,
the National Aviator's Guild, Monday appealed the State Bank of India (SBI) to release
Rs 1,500 crore which was proposed to be infused in the ailing carrier as part
of a debt-restructuring plan last month. We would like to appeal SBI to release
Rs 1,500 crore funds for the airline to help it continue operations. We also
appeal Prime Minister Narendra Modi to save 20,000 odd jobs at the airline,
Adim Valiani told.
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JET AIRWAYS UNIONS DEFER STRIKE PLAN
Jet Airways pilots,
engineers and cabin crew unions are set to jointly meet the airline management
on Monday in what they term as another attempt to get the airline flying. On
Sunday, as the midnight deadline set by the pilots union for clearing pending
dues and sharing details of the revival plan drew closer, the pilots body, the
National Aviators Guild (NAG) said it had ‘reviewed’ the earlier ‘unanimous
decision’ of pilots to stop flying from April 15, if demands remained
unachieved. The NAG said the members requested that the strike be put off in
view of the ‘critical meeting’ planned on Monday with the airline management
and the State Bank of India (SBI). Therefore the call of No Pay No Work stands
deferred for the time being to give the airline a chance of survival, it said. NAG
requested all pilots to gather at Siroya Centre at 10 a.m. on April 15 in full
uniform.
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IMF PREDICTS 'DELICATE YEAR' FOR WORLD ECONOMY, WARNS INDIA
ABOUT INFLATION
Calling it a delicate year
for the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its ‘World
Economic Outlook’, has warned against three key risks — growing inequality,
weak investment, and rising protectionism in trade. A look at a group of
countries across key macroeconomic indicators such as debt, savings and
investments, inflation, income and trade shows India falls almost in the middle
of this mix in nearly all parameters in the IMF estimates for 2019. While the
US and Brazil lead in debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP),
China continues to reign in terms of savings and investment rates among the
mix. Brazil falls to the bottom in this respect. For developing countries,
though investment rates are rising, capital stocks per capita are still low,
and are a cause of concern, the report notes. In terms of trade growth, China
has seen a relative slowdown in recent years, taking it nearer to the developed
countries’ indicators. Vietnam and Bangladesh are seen clearly maintaining a
stronger focus on exports vis-a-vis India.
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INDIA FACING SHORTAGE OF 600,000 DOCTORS, 2 MILLION NURSES:
STUDY
Two million nurses, say
scientists who found that lack of staff who are properly trained in
administering antibiotics is preventing patients from accessing live-saving
drugs. Even when antibiotics are available, patients are often unable to afford
them. High out-of-pocket medical costs to the patient are compounded by limited
government spending for health services, according to the report by the Center
for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) in the US In India, 65 per
cent of health expenditure is out-of-pocket and such expenditures push some 57
million people into poverty each year. The majority of the world’s annual 5.7
million antibiotic-treatable deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries
where the mortality burden from treatable bacterial infections far exceeds the
estimated annual 700,000 deaths from antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers
at CDDEP in the US conducted stakeholder interviews in Uganda, India, and
Germany, and literature reviews to identify key access barriers to antibiotics
in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Health facilities in many low- and
middle-income countries are substandard and lack staff who are properly trained
in administering antibiotics. In India, there is one government doctor for
every 10,189 people (the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a ratio of
1:1,000), or a deficit of 600,000 doctors, and the nurse:patient ratio is 1:483
implying a shortage of two million nurses. Lack of access to antibiotics kills
more people currently than does antibiotic resistance, but we have not had a
good handle on why these barriers are created, said Ramanan Laxminarayan. The
findings of the report show that even after the discovery of a new antibiotic,
regulatory hurdles and substandard health facilities delay or altogether
prevent widespread market entry and drug availability, Laxminarayan said in a
statement. Our research shows that of 21 new antibiotics entering markets
between 1999 and 2014, less than five were registered in most countries in
sub-Saharan Africa. Just the mere existence of an effective antibiotic does not
mean that they are available in countries where they are most needed, said
Laxminarayan. Worldwide, the irrational use of antibiotics and poor
antimicrobial stewardship lead to treatment failure and propagate the spread of
drug resistance which, in turn, further narrows the available array of
effective antibiotics.
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JET AIRWAYS TO SEEK INTERIM FUNDING FROM LENDERS ON MONDAY
Jet Airways (India) Ltd, struggling
to stay afloat and avoid being taken to the bankruptcy court, will on Monday
meet with lenders—led by the State Bank of India (SBI)—with a fresh demand for
interim funding. Pradeep Singh Kharola said in Delhi that Jet Airways
executives had a meeting with bankers on Friday where they put forth their
funding requirements. Discussions on interim funding are on. They have been
asked to rework their requirement. They will again approach their banks on
Monday. The future course of action will be decided depending on what the banks
decide, said Kharola. The secretary said that Jet Airways was operating only 11
flights as of Friday, and the number could come down further.
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SALARY DUES: JET AIRWAYS PILOTS TO MEET MANAGEMENT ON APRIL 15
Anxious over
uncertainties, pilots of Jet Airways have decided to gather at the headquarters
of Jet Airways on April 15 to seek clarity from the management. The pilot body
, National Aviators Guild (NAG) late on Thursday night sent a message to all
the 1,000 pilots associated with the body to gather outside Siroya Centre, the
headquarters of Jet Airways to seek some answers. The pilots have also decided
to call for an open house on the same day. In the midst of this mayhem, 1,600
ground staff of Jet Airways have decided to protest outside the headquarters
today. It is time to seek some answers, to humbly ask those who have the power
to help us what the future may hold. Hence, we request all pilots to gather at
Siroya Centre on the 15th at 1000 hrs in full uniform, a communication sent to
the pilots stated. We would also like to inform all that the collective
decision taken by all pilots in the Mumbai and Delhi Open Houses shall prevail.
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SPICEJET MOVES TO FILL IN GAP LEFT BY JET AIRWAYS IN INDIAN
AVIATION
Budget carrier SpiceJet
Ltd said on Friday it will take on lease 16 new aircraft that could be deployed
in 10 days, subject to regulatory approvals. The move comes at a time airline
capacity has seen a reduction because of a host of events, including the
grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft and Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s liquidity
crunch. The addition of aircraft to SpiceJet's fleet could help bridge the
capacity gap and keep ticket prices from shooting up. The airline said it is
inducting the Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft on dry lease and has applied to
Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for clearance to import them. 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, said
SpiceJet chairman Ajay Singh. SpiceJet’s inductions will also help in its
international and domestic expansion plans. The airline at present operates
about 516 daily flights to 60 destinations, including 51 domestic and nine
international ones, with a fleet of 78 aircraft that includes 50 Boeing 737, 27
Bombardier Q-400s and one B737 freighter.
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GLOBAL ECONOMY LIKELY TO PICK UP GROWTH IN SECOND HALF OF
2019, SAY G20 LEADERS
The global economy is
likely to pull out of a brief growth slump later this year — with a little help
from the world’s central banks and from U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators. Global
finance leaders gathered from the spring meetings of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank agree that the global economy has lost momentum this
year. But they expect growth to pick up in the second half of 2019, as central
bankers ease up on interest rates. Still, a trade standoff between the United
States and China threatens to dim the economic outlook. We must be mindful of
an escalation of trade tensions, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told. The
G-20 on Friday said that world economic growth sputtered late last year and
early this year because of heightened trade tensions, turbulent financial
markets and rising interest rates. The IMF cut its forecast for global growth
from 3.6% last year to 3.3% in 2019, the slowest since the recession year 2009,
but it predicts growth will return to 3.6% in 2020. Haruhiko Kuroda, told
reporters on Friday that the G-20 officials saw the IMF’s revised forecast as
highly likely but said all the countries would need to do their part to boost
growth. Forecasters are worried about the U.S.-China trade conflict. The
world’s two biggest economies have slapped tariffs on $350 billion worth of
each other’s goods. They are battling over U.S. allegations that China deploys
predatory tactics — including cybertheft and forcing foreign firms to hand over
trade secrets — in a sharp-elbowed effort to challenge American technological
dominance. Even a U.S.-China trade deal could create new problems, Rhee said. If
the Chinese agree to take in more imports from the United States, as widely
expected, those purchases could come at the expense other countries that have
been doing business with China. Rhee also expressed concern that China would
give American companies preferential access, undercutting other countries and
leading to broader worries about the future of free trade. Rhee also said a
U.S.-China trade peace could prove short-lived if the two countries can’t reach
a long-term deal that requires Beijing to improve protection of
intellectual-property and make other economic reforms.
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INCOME TRANSFERS NOT ENOUGH; INDIA NEEDS JOBS, SAYS EX-SONIA
GANDHI ADVISOR
With an eye on Lok Sabha
polls 2019, political parties have come up offering various sops to the public,
especially poor. Amid this, income transfers have become a major deal being
offered to help the distressed families in the country. However, income support
may not be enough to tackle the burden of poverty in India unless there are
enough decent jobs, wrote Harsh Mander. Mander suggested to create respectable,
well-protected and decently-paid work such as an urban employment guarantee
programme to assure employment in extending basic public services for
low-income urban settlements and massive expansion of the care economy, in
terms of services for children, persons with disabilities and the aged, for
whom it’s hard to work. The suggestion hold importance in the light of rising
unemployment in the country despite it being among the fastest economies.
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) 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. Firstly there are no
objective and verifiable criteria to identify the beneficiary accurately. All
poverty lists of governments so far have been ridden with fatal flaws. Even
Planning Commission studies have demonstrated that if you are poor, the chances
are more that you will not be included in an official list of the poor, than
included, he wrote. The other point of concern raised by him is regarding the
funds. While taxing the rich or cutting their tax holidays and subsidies to
fund the programme would be a welcome move, any rationalisation of existing
subsidies to poor such as PDS could be disastrous, Mander wrote.
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ADR SURVEY REVEALS GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE ON WATER, HEALTHCARE
AND JOBS BELOW AVERAGE IN KARNATAKA
A state-wide survey by the
Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha
polls show government's performance in the areas of drinking water, jobs and
healthcare facilities is below average. The Karnataka Survey 2018 shows that
Drinking Water (50.42%), Better Employment Opportunities (39.75%), and Better
Hospitals/Primary Healthcare Centres (32.86%) are the top three voters’
priorities in overall Karnataka. The performance of the government on all top
three voters’ priorities of Drinking Water (2.11 on a scale of 5), Better
Employment Opportunities (2.53), and Better Hospitals/Primary Healthcare
Centres (2.45) was rated as Below Average, the ADR said in a press release. The
ADR commissioned, according to its press release, perhaps the largest ever
Voter Survey in any country. The survey was conducted between October 2018 and
December 2018, prior to the General Elections to the Lok Sabha 2019. It covered
534 Lok Sabha constituencies with 2,73,487 voters participating in this
exercise spread among various demographics. The three main objectives of this
survey were to identify the following:
(i) voters’ priorities on
specific governance issues,
(ii) voters’ ratings of
the government's performance on those issues, and
(iii) factors affecting
voting behaviour.
Focusing on Karnataka,
this report provides an analysis of 10 most important governance issues as
rated by the voters of Karnataka (out of the 31 listed in the questionnaire).
These voters’ priorities are further examined in relation to the performance of
the Government on those issues as perceived by the respondents. A three-level
scale of GOOD, AVERAGE and BAD was used, where GOOD was given weightage equal
to 5, Average was weighted 3 and BAD was weighted as 1. The survey covered
approximately 14,000 respondents across all 28 parliamentary constituencies of
Karnataka.
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NEED TO FIX GDP DATA ISSUES, SAYS IMF CHIEF ECONOMIST GITA
GOPINATH
Gita Gopinath has said
that the Union government might need to fix some issues linked to the revised
GDP methodology, which had been flagged by the multilateral agency. The former
Kerala government adviser joins former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram
Rajan in raising fresh concerns over the methodology to arrive at the GDP
numbers. But unlike Rajan, Gopinath did not question the numbers that have been
released over the last four years or so. There are still some issues that need
to be fixed and this we have flagged before with respect to the deflator that
is being used for estimating real GDP, she told. The GDP deflator is a measure
of general price inflation and is calculated by dividing the nominal GDP by
real GDP (net of inflation) and then multiplying by 100. Gopinath, who along
with Rajan and other economists, had recently released an economic agenda for
political parties too called for a need to better communicate the GDP numbers.
India is projected to be growing over 7% in 2019 and 2020, which makes it one
of the fastest growing major economy in the world, which is why it’s even more
that that the statistics coming out of India are transparently communicated
because everyone is watching India at this point, she said.
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BJP TO NOT AIR CONTENT ON NAMO TV WITHOUT CERTIFICATION :
DELHI CHIEF ELECTION COMMISION
Two days after the
Election Commission (EC) directed that all recorded programmes displayed on
NaMo TV be pre-certified, the poll body has directed the BJP not to air any
content on the platform without its certification, officials said. The poll
body had on Thursday said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded
programmes displayed on the platform should be pre-certified by media
certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity
contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately. Following
the EC’s directive, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi wrote to the
saffron party to ensure that all political content not approved be removed. As
a precautionary measure, two officials have been deployed to watch NaMo TV and
monitor its content, officials said. An official said political parties usually
submit audiovisual content for pre-certification, without specifying on which
platform it will be aired. The content may be aired during a rally or on the
party’s website, he said.
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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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A STEEL SLUMP GIVES INDIA A WHOLE NEW AREA TO WORRY ABOUT
Bang in the middle of an
election season, is one more big cause for worry for Modi government. Reports
have just revealed that India's finished steel exports slipped markedly - by
more than a third in the 2018-19 fiscal. The precipitous fall came as a
consequence of US and Europe, the two biggest buyers of the alloy globally,
bringing in safeguard duties on the product during the last one year. Between
April 2018 and March 2019, exports of finished steel went down by 34 per cent
from the previous financial year to 6.36 million tonnes. On the other hand,
imports by India of the product climbed 4.7 per cent to 7.84 million tonnes,
leading to India becoming a net importer. India is the world's fastest growing
market for the product. India's economic growth in recent years has been driven
too much by domestic consumption and the country's exports were at just at
one-third of its potential, the World Bank said in a recent statement. India
needs to focus on export-led growth, it advised. In the last couple of years
the current account deficit has widened — an indication that growth has
increasingly come from the non-tradable sector — from the domestic sector, and
that makes it difficult to export more, said Hans Timmer
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379 INDEPENDENTS IN FRAY FROM MAHARASHTRA, 21 IN MUMBAI
On Friday, the last day of
withdrawal of nomination for the last phase of elections, it emerged that at
least 379 independent candidates will be contesting from the state’s 48 Lok
Sabha seats. The number will likely be higher as data has been compiled for 44
constituencies. The final lists for the remaining four constituencies,
including two from Mumbai, haven’t yet been made available. According to the
available data, 21 of the contestants in Mumbai are independents. The highest
number of independent candidates from any one seat is in the Beed constituency,
where, of 36 candidates, 26 are independents. In 2014, the seat was won by BJP
leader Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pritam, who contested following his death, by
a margin of 6.96 lakh votes. Following Beed are Madha (20 independents in a
field of 31), Hingoli (17 of 28) Pune (15 of 31) and Amravati (15 of 24).
Political analysts say that independent candidates s can be broadly categorized
into party rebels and rejects, and also truly independent individuals with no
party affiliations. There are also dummy candidates, who are propped up by
political parties to eat into rivals’ vote banks. Political expert Surendra
Jondhale said that independents contesting from the state in such large numbers
is a healthy sign of democracy. He said it reflects that there is scope for any
common man who genuinely wishes to change the system to at least make an
attempt towards such a goal. These candidates still think they have a chance to
win and change the system, which is a very positive thing, said Jondhale. In
1962, 15 independents became part of a 264-member assembly, with a combined
vote share of 16.74% (there were 437 independents in the fray). Five years
later, when the strength of the assembly increased to 270, independents’ tally
increased by one, with a combined vote share of 14.57% (in all, there were 463 independent
candidates).
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OVER 80% OF POLL SPENDING BY BJP, BSP, CONG CANDIDATES IN
NOIDA: REPORT
Over 80 per cent of the
poll spending by the candidates in Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency was by the
nominees of the BJP, BSP and Congress with Union Minister Mahesh Sharma
accounting for a third of the total Rs 1.24 crore, official data showed. BJP's
Sharma, who is seeking re-election, spent Rs 42.68 lakh, Congress' Arvind Kumar
Singh spent Rs 35.68 lakh and Bahujan Samaj Party's Satveer Nagar spent Rs
24.73 lakh till April 9, the poll expenditure details from the district
election office stated. The candidates of the top three parties together spent
Rs 103.09 crore in fighting the election, 82.73 per cent of the entire spending
by all nominees, it stated. Altogether 13 candidates contested with Dayaram of
the Aapki Apni Party (Peoples) being the most frugal in the Uttar Pradesh
constituency that borders the national capital. He spent just Rs 31,000, the
data showed. Of the 13 candidates in the fray, six spent less than Rs one lakh
and four above Rs 10 lakh during campaigns, it said. Sher Singh Upadhyaye of
the Rashtriya Janata Party spent Rs 33,000, Ram Pal of Rashtriya Samaj Paksh Rs
35,135, Raghuvendra Kumar of Subhashwadi Bhartiya Samajwadi Party Rs 54,811 and
Vinod Kumar Nagar of the Rashtriya Bhartiya Jan Jan Party Rs 80,900, it stated.
Independent nominees Rodash Gupta spent Rs 32,571, while Ashok Kumar Adhana poll-related
expenses were registered at Rs 2.33 lakh, the details showed. According to the
Election Commission, a Lok Sabha candidate in Uttar Pradesh can spend a maximum
of Rs 70 lakh in election expenses.
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GOVT DEFERS AWARD OF AIRPORT GROUND HANDLING CONTRACTS
The government has deferred
awarding ground handling contracts at over 90 airports across the country as
the model code of conduct for 2019 Lok Sabha elections is in effect and also
because it had received complaints from some bidders. The bids, which were
opened in January, are under examination and the awarding will happen after a
new government is formed, officials said. This means successful bidders have
less than a month to get security clearance and start operations, for which 30
June has been set as the deadline. Financial bids were opened in January. We
are evaluating the bids. Concessions will be awarded after the polls. We have
also received certain complaints, which are being looked into, said a
government official on condition of anonymity. The Airports Authority of India
(AAI) held the e-auction after introducing new ground handling regulations in
October 2018. Complaints are common in such tenders from losing participants,
an executive of a company that was the highest bidder for one of the airports,
said on condition of anonymity. The ground handling rules specify that besides
AAI units and an Air India joint venture or a subsidiary—Air India Air
Transport Services Ltd—airports should hire a third ground handling agency
through competitive bidding. Ground handling firms are chosen on the basis of
the revenue they offer to share with AAI. The Air India arm or joint venture
will have to match the lowest of the royalty the other two pays the AAI as long
as government remains the major shareholder. The rules were amended in 2018 to
allow Air India’s ground handling agency employed in airports to continue to
retain the contract for 36 months after any divestment of government share in
the company. Ground handling has emerged as a big opportunity for specialized
firms with the airline industry recording explosive growth. Passenger traffic
has grown more than 15% in the last three years. Domestic airlines carried 23.8
million passengers in the January-February period of 2019, which was 7.2% more
than the traffic a year ago. India has ambitious plans to boost air travel
fourfold to 1 billion individual trips a year over 15 years, which calls for
major investments in airport infrastructure as well as allied services.
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BJP NEXUS WITH THE MONEYED WILL BE EXPOSED: CONGRESS
The Congress on Friday welcomed
the Supreme Court order on electoral bonds and took a dig at the ruling BJP by
alleging that it will ‘expose their nexus with the suited booted friends.’ The
principal Opposition party said the order will bring in transparency. The crux
of this design of [Prime Minister] Modi was to facilitate anonymity, to keep
names secret and to receive monies without names being known. What benefit
those names get also remains anonymous, alleged Congress spokesperson Abhishek
Singhvi. He said 95% of the electoral bonds went to the BJP in the past one
year and has seen a growth of over 62%. Financial dominance of a single party
decimates the concept of a level playing field that is at the heart of a free
and fair election, Mr. Singhvi said and added that the government had changed
as many as five financial acts to bring in electoral bonds. The Supreme Court
has said that whatever has been given until now must be given in a sealed
cover. It has also said that whatever donations are made from now until May end
must be given in a sealed envelope. Let me predict that these donations to one
party will dry up, he added. Priyanka Chaturvedi, convenor of the Congress
communication department, asked the BJP to explain their source of funds.
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ARUN JAITLEY COMES TO SMRITI IRANI’S DEFENCE, SAYS RAHUL
GANDHI GOT M.PHIL WITHOUT MASTERS DEGREE
Smriti Irani was accused
of falsifying her educational records, Arun Jaitley on Saturday took a swipe at
Rahul Gandhi and asserted that the Congress chief attained an M.Phil without a
Masters degree. Launching a fresh salvo at the Opposition in his latest
Facebook blog, Jaitley said a public audit of Gandhi’s educational
qualifications would leave several questions unanswered. One day the focus
would be on the BJP candidate’s educational qualification, fully forgetting
that a public audit of Rahul Gandhi’s academic credentials may leave a lot to
be answered. After all, he got an M.Phil without a Masters degree he said. In 2009,
amid a row over Gandhi’s foreign degrees, the University of Cambridge had said
the Congress leader was a student of Trinity College and was awarded an M.Phil
in Development Studies in 1995. Jaitley also took on the Congress over a
purported letter by Army veterans to President Ram Nath Kovind against the use
of military operations by political parties during the polls. Terming it
Signature Campaign Propaganda, the minister said, The Signature Campaign
Propaganda proved to be terrible for the Congress party as many of academics,
economists, artistes, ex-civil servants & even some former soldiers, whose
signatures been put, publicly stated that they never consented for putting
their signatures. The senior BJP leader also said owing to the Prime Minister’s
popularity, the Opposition will not be able to oust the government over
fictional issues. To oust a popular govt. an extremely popular Prime Minister,
you need real issues not fictional ones. The Opposition wasted the past two
years in the run-up to the poll manufacturing issues which didn’t exist. The
Rafale or the EVM proved to be fake issues only, he wrote.
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NOTICE ISSUED TO MANEKA GANDHI FOLLOWING HER CONTROVERSIAL
SPEECH AT SULTANPUR
The District Election Officer
of Sultanpur on Friday served a notice Maneka Gandhi for her remarks at a
political rally in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly threatening Muslims not to get
their work done if they did not vote for her. She has been given three days to
respond.
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NARENDRA MODI BIGGEST VICTIM OF POLITICAL INTOLERANCE: MUKHTAR
ABBAS NAQVI
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on
Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the biggest victim of political
intolerance The remarks of the Union minister for minority affairs came amid
statements issued by certain groups of people, including artistes, appealing to
the voters to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the ongoing
Lok Sabha polls. The saffron party has also rallied artistes and intellectuals
in its support. Naqvi said about five years ago also, some so-called
intellectuals had written to the US and the European Union (EU) against Modi.
He further claimed that some Congress leaders had gone to Pakistan and sought
help from the neighbouring country to remove Modi. Naqvi said even after Modi
led the BJP to power, some activists had written to the president, saying the
Constitution was in danger and claiming that there was an atmosphere of
intolerance in the country under the Modi government. Despite these
conspiracies, people's faith in Modi has increased day by day. Despite this
negative propaganda, Modi has carried forward the country's progress and
prosperity through his hard work and performance, he added.
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MAHARASHTRA CM DEVENDRA FADNAVIS GETS CLEAN CHIT IN MODEL CODE
VIOLATION COMPLAINT
Devendra Fadnavis has been
given a clean chit in a case of violation of the model code of conduct that was
reported to the district election office. An oral complaint was made by a
Congress spokesperson to the district election officer stating that Fadnavis
was using his official residence Varsha to conduct political meetings after the
code of conduct came into force (on March 10). The model code of conduct lays
down that government residences cannot be used for political purposes. We
conducted an investigation into the complaint, but we did not find any
substantial proof. We were informed that the CM meets a lot of visitors at this
residence everyday, but that does not amount to any violation, Shivaji
Jondhale, said. An official from the election department said that even if such
a meeting took place, it is very difficult to prove the same as there are no
records. Meanwhile, the election office has lodged an FIR against NCP leader
Dhananjay Munde after his official bungalow was used to release the party
manifesto by party leader Nawab Malik. Munde is the leader of opposition in the
Maharashtra Legislative Council. We found that the event was pre-planned and
also a message circulated to the media persons mentioned the venue as Munde’s
bungalow–B4, said Jondhale. He also said that the police will decide with
sections to apply in the case after investigating it. Jondhale said they were
also probing a complaint against Congress’ Mumbai South candidate Milind Deora.
A few days ago, while campaigning, he made some statement seeking votes on the
basis of religion. We are verifying the facts, said Jondhale.
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PIYUSH GOYAL: VOTERS WILL DO A SURGICAL STRIKE ON DMK-CONG
COMBINE IN TN
People will do a ‘surgical
strike’ on the DMK and the Congress because they are the fountain-head of
corruption in this country, said Piyush Goyal. Gandhi should first answer as to
why his family and his party had allowed poverty in India for so many years
while they were in power. Three generations of Gandhi family rule had cheated
the poor of India. Now, the poor of India don’t trust the Gandhi family, the
Congress or the DMK because they make only false promises, Goyal told
newspersons here. Various corruption cases, including Coalgate, Aircel-Maxis;
2G and telecom (BSNL-Maran case), happened during the Congress rule in which
the DMK was an alliance partner. The nation wants to know whether they are
going to do only corruption or will they ever think for the poor of India.
Nobody believes their false promises, he said. I am confident that people here
want Modi to once again become Prime Minister and serve the people of India,
Goyal 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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