GENERAL UPDATES 16.04.2019

EXPORTS GROW 11% IN MARCH; TRADE DEFICIT NARROWS

India's exports grew by 11 per cent to USD 32.55 billion in March on account of higher growth in sectors including pharma, chemicals and engineering, government data showed Monday. Imports rose by 1.44 per cent to USD 43.44 billion during the month. However, trade deficit narrows to USD 10.89 billion as compared to USD 13.51 billion in the same month last year. Gold imports rose by 31.22 per cent to USD 3.27 billion in March 2019. Oil imports rose by 5.55 per cent in March to USD 11.75 billion. For the full fiscal (2018-19), exports grew by 9 per cent to USD 331 billion and imports rose by 8.99 per cent to USD 507.44 billion. In result, the country's trade deficit widened to USD 176.42 billion for the entire fiscal, compared to USD 162 billion in 2017-18, data showed.

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IBA SUGGESTS CASE-BY-CASE METHOD FOR STRESSED LOANS

Banks have sought freedom to restructure loan accounts on a case-to-case basis without going through a uniform restructuring framework, two people aware of the matter said. This is part of suggestions presented to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after the Supreme Court quashed the central bank’s 12 February, 2018, circular prescribing a one-day default rule and mandatory insolvency filing for large loan accounts. The February 12 circular replaced all the earlier schemes like the strategic debt restructuring (SDR) scheme for sustainable structuring of stressed assets (S4A) and the 5/25 refinance. Abolishing all other schemes it gave banks full freedom to the banks to restructure accounts. We would like the RBI to maintain status quo on that front, said a senior banker, one of the two quoted above? The suggestions, presented to RBI through the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), come after RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said after the first bi-monthly monetary policy of FY20 that the central bank will issue a revised circular for quick and effective resolution of stressed assets. The RBI stands committed to maintain and enhance the momentum of resolution of stressed assets and adherence to credit discipline, he said. The IBA requested the central bank to change the requisite majority required to approve any resolution plan from 100% to 90%, and increase the default period from one day to 30 days before the resolution plan kicks in. In its now-quashed circular, RBI had said a resolution plan involving restructuring or change in ownership must be implemented within 180-day period, and the account should not be in default during the specified period, failing which the account will be referred for insolvency proceedings. This specified period was for the period from the date of implementation of the plan up to the date by which at least 20% of the outstanding principal debt as per the plan and interest capitalisation sanctioned as part of the restructuring, if any, is repaid. According to the people cited above, bankers have recommended that this 20% repayment requirement threshold be lowered to 10% of the sustainable debt. Lenders have also said that refinance of good quality term loans should not be classified as restructured accounts and be considered as standard loans.

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RBI HAS TOO MANY COINS

Indian economy is experiencing a new phenomenon described as ‘reverse flow’ of coins which has left the Reserve Bank of India with a glut of as many as 900 crore coins that might be on the verge of collapsing due to weight. The reverse flow is the flow of coins from the public back to the central bank. This happened mainly on the back of higher production of coins following demonetisation and general preference of currency notes over coins in the public. These coins have come on the verge of collapsing due to weight due to problems with storage and buildings holding. The issue of coin glut raised by the central bank in various meetings with the government has prompted the government to look for the possibility of privatising the distribution of coins, which will require legal amendments and exports of coins countries such as Brazil, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. RBI has now storing approximately 9 billion coins, while the projected indent given by the RBI to the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) for the year 2019-20 is 3,400 million coins, wrote The Indian Express on Sunday. This, incidentally is only a third of SPMCIL’s production capacity, it added. The current indents for coins given by the RBI is a staggering 8,700 million pieces for the year 2020-21, and an even higher 9,800 million pieces for 2021-22. The indents for coins should be reduced for a longer period and that the SPMCIL can plan for either export of coins and/or a reduction of capacity.

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LOK SABHA ELECTIONS 2019: 427 CROREPATI CANDIDATES IN THE SECOND PHASE

In the second phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 27% or 427 candidates are crorepatis with assets worth Rs 1 crore and above. 11% of the candidates have declared assets above Rs.5 crore while 41% have declared assets below Rs 10 lakh, according to an analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The average asset per candidate contesting in the Lok Sabha Phase II election is Rs. 3.9 crore. Out of all 1,590 candidates analysed, 209 are from national parties, 107 are from state parties, 386 are from registered unrecognized parties and 888 candidates are contesting independently. Among the major parties 46 (87%) out of 53 candidates from INC, 45 (88%) out of 51 candidates from BJP, 23 (96%) out of 24 candidates from DMK, 22 (100%) candidates from AIADMK and 21 (26%) out of 80 candidates from BSP have declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore. Vasanthakumar H, a Congress candidate from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu is the richest among all the candidates contesting in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections. His total assets are more than 417 crore He is followed by Uday Singh of the Congress from Purnia in Bihar at Rs 341 crore and DK Suresh from the same party from Bengaluru South in Karnataka at Rs 338 crore. Shri venkateswar Maha Swamiji (Katakdhond. D. G.) of Hindustan Janata Party contesting from Solapur in Maharashtra holds the lowest assets at just Rs 9. He is followed by Rajesh P and Raja N, both independents from Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu hold total assets of Rs 100 each. There are 16 candidates who have declared zero assets. There are 41 candidates who have declared their annual total income to be more than Rs. 1 crore. Vasanthakumar H has the highest annual income at Rs 28 crore, followed by Mnaju A of the BJP from Hasan in Karnataka at Rs 12 crore and Arun Motiramji Wankhede of BSP from Amravati in Maharashtra at Rs 4 crore. 58% candidates have not declared their income tax details some of whom may be exempted from filing ITR. There are 52 candidates with assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore who have not declared their ITR details. 13% candidates have not given their PAN details.

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CONSUMER FORUM ASKS BATA TO PAY FINE FOR CHARGING RS 3 FOR A PAPER BAG

In an unusual victory for the consumer, a District Consumer Forum in Chandigarh has awarded complainant Dinesh Parshad Raturi, Rs 3,000 as compensation and Rs 1,000 as litigation expenses as Bata India had wrongly charged for a paper carry bag. Bata India had pleaded in the case that it charges Rs 3 for a paper carry bag for the purpose of environmental safety, to which the Consumer Forum responded if Bata India is an environmental activist, it should have given the same to the complainant free of cost. To this effect, the forum has also directed the company to provide free carry bags to all customers who purchase its articles. The forum has directed Bata India to refund Rs 3 wrongly charged for the paper carry bag from the Chandigarh resident and also deposit Rs 5,000 in the Consumer Legal Aid Account in the name of Secretary.

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SATISFIED OVER EC BAN ORDER AGAINST POLITICIANS GIVING HATE SPEECHES: SC

The Supreme Court Tuesday expressed satisfaction over Election Commission's action against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BSP supremo Mayawati and others for allegedly making hate speeches during poll campaign. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also refused to consider the plea of Mayawati challenging the EC's 48-hr ban on the leader and asked her counsel to file a separate appeal against the poll panel's order. Taking note of the EC action, the court said it seems the EC has woken up and barred various politicians from poll campaigning for varying hours. The bench also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna made it clear that no further order was required for now. Following the SC rap for EC, the poll panel on Monday afternoon took action against Adityanath, Mayawati, Azam Khan and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi.

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EC UNDER PRESSURE NOT TO ACT ON COMPLAINTS ON EVMS: SIDDARAMAIAH

Siddaramaiah has alleged that the Election Commission (EC) is under pressure from the Modi government to not take action on complaints of political parties over alleged EVM tampering and their demand for re-introduction of ballot paper. He said the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are not tamper-proof and Voter Verified Paper Trail (VVPATs) machines are not without their flaws either, he said adding that the Congress will bring back ballot paper if voted to power. Alleging that EVMs were rigged during the 2014 general elections, Siddaramaiah said it could happen this time but not all EVMs can be tampered with and therefore, it would be impossible for the BJP to get a majority at national level in the current elections. His remarks came after the opposition launched a united attack on the EC over the use of EVMs and demanded 50 per cent of the machines be verified against VVPAT slips. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu complained about EVM malfunction during April 11 polling and demanded re-election on 150 assembly seats. All political parties met the Election Commission several times and raised concern about EVMs but it did not act on the complaints. I think the EC is under pressure from the Modi government, Siddaramaiah told. The Supreme Court's order to verify five EVMs with VVPAT slips is nothing but patch work and even the demand to match 50 per cent EVMs with VVPATs will not help, he said, and endorsed that the only solution was to go back to the ballot paper system like other countries, he said. The Congress leader said that he was not scared of rigging of EVMs in the state as he doubted the possibility of hacking all machines. They cannot tamper all EVMs, it is done selectively. I don't think BJP will get the majority, he said, and added, People will definitely teach them a lesson.

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TV SERIALS PEDDLING GOVT SCHEMES? EC WANTS POLITICAL CONTENT VETTED

Election officials in Maharashtra have asked production houses of two Hindi TV serials accused of espousing the BJP-led government's schemes to get 'politically influential' content vetted with them before it is telecast. The content telecast was a clear violation of the model election code an official said. Maharashtra's additional chief electoral officer Dilip Shinde, in an order issued on Monday said, The production houses should get politically influential content checked from election officials before using it in their serials. The Congress had taken objection to characters in the two TV serials praising government schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana. The two production houses had subsequently replied to the notice. Going by the content aired, it is evident that it is a violation of model code of conduct, he said. We have asked the production houses to remove the content from the serials immediately, he added. Shinde said the explanation from producers of the two serials affirms the poll officials' opinion that the content aired intends to influence one political party.

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SC REFUSES TO CONSIDER MAYAWATI'S PLEA AGAINST EC ORDER

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to consider BSP supremo Mayawati's plea challenging the EC's 48-hr campaign ban on her and expressed satisfaction over the poll body's action against leaders making hate speeches. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked Mayawati's counsel to file a separate appeal against the poll panel's order. Taking note of the EC action, the court said it seems the poll body has woken up and barred various politicians from poll campaigning for varying hours. The bench also comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna made it clear that no further order was required for now. The Election Commission on Monday imposed a nationwide campaign ban on Adityanath for 72 hours and on Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and Mayawati for 48 hours from Tuesday for their provocative communal remarks, which it said had the propensity to polarise the elections. The bench had taken the cases of alleged communal speeches of Mayawati and Adityanath and asked the EC about the action taken so far against them while deciding to examine the statutory powers of poll panel to deal with the violation of model code of conduct (MCC). The EC's counsel had said: The power of the EC in this behalf is very limited. We can issue notice and seek reply but we cannot de-recognise a party or disqualify a candidate. we can only issue advisories and in case of a repeat offence, register a complaint. Reacting sharply, the bench had said, So you are basically saying you are toothless and powerless against hate speeches. It had then said that besides sending a notice, an advisory and a criminal case can be filed only against such leader.

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SC ASKS EC TO EXPLAIN INABILITY TO CURB SECTARIAN APPEALS

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Election Commission an earful after the constitutional body expressed helplessness in reining in those seeking votes in the name of religion and castes The court ordered that an EC official appear before it on Tuesday to explain its ‘failure to quickly act’ against errant politicians. What are you doing? What does the law tell you to? You can’t drag matters. Get into action immediately, a three-judge bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi told EC standing counsel Amit Sharma. The court’s adverse observations saw the EC impose ban on BSP leader Mayawati and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning for 48 hours and 72 hours, respectively. Are you saying that you are toothless? You keep all these things away from the court till the last overs, the CJI observed. You are saying you can only issue advisories and have no powers? You are duty-bound to act. Why are you not acting quickly? the CJI demanded to know of the EC counsel. He then demanded that an EC official appear in court to explain the EC’s stand that it lacked teeth in addressing cases involving sectarian appeals to voters during campaigning. The SC move came on a public interest litigation filed by NRI Harpreet Mansukhani demanding that the court set up a committee to keep a watch on the EC.

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ELECTION COMMISSION STUDYING PM MODI’S REMARKS ON BALAKOT

Members of the Election Commission are debating whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent speech in Maharashtra, exhorting first-time voters to dedicate the ballot to CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama and IAF pilots who raided Balakot, violated the model code of conduct. A key question under discussion is alleged violation of EC advisory to political parties to desist from making references to defence-related activities during the political campaign and publicity material. Another issue being discussed is whether the PM’s comments can be interpreted as a campaign pitch for a party or leader. The EC wants to take a studied view before deciding whether a notice should be issued to the PM. It is learnt that the district electoral officer’s report stopped short of terming the PM’s comments as a clear violation. The report said that the PM’s remarks were inconsistent with recent EC advisories. First-time voters, can you dedicate your vote to the brave soldiers who carried out the air strike on Balakot in Pakistan? Can you dedicate your vote to the brave martyrs of Pulwama, Modi had requested at a rally in Latur last week. The remarks sparked a controversy and the Congress and CPM took up the matter with the EC.

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SC NOTICE TO CENTRE ON PLEA SEEKING TO ALLOW MUSLIM WOMEN TO ENTER MOSQUES

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a petition seeking permission for Muslim women to enter mosques to offer prayers. A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde issued notice to the Centre and asked it to respond to the plea filed by a Pune-based couple. The bench told the counsel appearing for the petitioner that it will hear the matter because of the apex court's judgment in the case involving Kerala's Sabarimala temple. The only reason we may hear you is because of our judgment in the Sabarimala temple case, the bench said.

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ECONOMIC GROWTH TO END EXTREME POVERTY IN INDIA BY 2031: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley said on Monday fast economic growth and rapid urbanisation would slash the number of people in extreme poverty by 2021 and end it completely in the decade after that. More than 21 per cent of India's 1.3 billion people lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2011, when the last census was taken, according to the World Bank. The economy is a major issue in a staggered general election that began on Thursday and will end on May 19, with the main opposition Congress party rejecting a rosy picture Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been presenting. Jaitley, who heads the BJP's publicity department in the election, said the number of people who live in poverty would drop to below 15 per cent in the next three years and to a negligible level in the 10 years after that. Urbanisation will increase the size of the middle-class will grow and the economy will expand manifolds, Jaitley said in a Facebook post. These will add to the number of jobs, and as the experience of the past three decades have shown in the liberalised economy, every section of citizens will benefit. Economic growth in recent years had generated enough revenue for states to work more on poverty alleviation, job creation and improving healthcare and education, he said. But the Congress has taken issue with such assertions, in particular, pointing to leaked government data that showed unemployment rose to its highest level in at least 45 years in 2017/18. Jaitley said economic problems could be addressed as India remained the world's fastest growing major economy. But he said restoring peace in the insurgency-hit state of Jammu and Kashmir was the most important issue facing the country. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir and terror continues to remain the biggest challenge before India, he said. It relates to our sovereignty, integrity and security. Modi has won public praise by taking a tough line on Pakistan, which India accuses of backing separatist militants in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Pakistan denies that.

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NEW CONSULTATION PAPER ON NET NEUTRALITY SOON: RS SHARMA

The telecom regulator will soon come out with a new round of consultation on compliance of net neutrality and identification of critical applications that could be exempted from laid principles and policy initiatives to ensure a free and open 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, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman RS Sharma told. The new consultation would be on how to ensure the monitoring of mobile phone companies for net neutrality compliance, with some exceptions, such as applications set aside for emergency purposes where the quality of service (QoS) must be maintained and in other scenarios where latency would be important, Sharma said.

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INDIANS MOST WORRIED ABOUT TERRORISM, JOBS AND CORRUPTION: SURVEY

Indians are most worried about terrorism, unemployment, and financial and political corruption, even as at least 73 per cent of the countrymen are optimistic that the nation is headed in the right direction, according to a survey. The Ipsos' 'What Worries the World Global Survey' observed that worries notwithstanding, India bucks the global trend of pessimism where 22 countries out of the 28 nations covered feel their country is on the wrong track. On the other hand, the global list of issues across the 28 markets surveyed is quite different in order, with financial and political corruption and poverty and social inequality tied at the top spot being the prime concerns, followed by unemployment, crime and violence, and healthcare. Pulwama terror strike has propelled terrorism to the fore. It was way down in the pecking order in the past waves. Terrorism is bothering Indians the most. Likewise, lack of jobs is weighing on the minds of Indians and government needs to take the bull by the horns and actively needs to address job creation and tighten its stranglehold on terrorism, said Parijat Chakraborty. China inspires the most confidence about its national direction with at least nine in 10 Chinese citizens saying that their country is moving in the right direction. Saudi Arabia is in second place, followed by India and Malaysia.

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NARESH GOYAL OPTS OUT FROM BIDDING FOR STAKE ACQUISITION IN JET AIRWAYS

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal has decided not to bid for acquiring stake in the cash-strapped airline, sources said Tuesday. The full service carrier, which is currently operating less than 10 aircraft, is awaiting fresh fund infusion under a debt resolution plan. Airline sources said Goyal, who had stepped down as chairman of the carrier last month, has withdrawn the bid for the airline. On April 12, sources said that Goyal had also put in bid for the carrier.

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JET AIRWAYS CRISIS: MANAGEMENT OF THE DEBT-LADEN AIRLINE PLANS TO HALT OPS

The management of India's Jet Airways has proposed to suspend all operations of the debt-laden airline at its board meeting, reported on Tuesday quoting sources. Former Chairman Naresh Goyal has withdrawn from making a bid for a stake in the company, the television channel reported.

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SURESH PRABHU DIRECTS OFFICIALS TO REVIEW ISSUES RELATED TO JET AIRWAYS

Suresh Prabhu directed the Ministry officials to review issues such as high airfares, passenger rights and safety as the financially challenged Jet Airways struggles to stay afloat. The union minister in a tweet said, Directed Secretary @MoCA_GoI to review issues related to Jet Airways, especially increasing fares, flight cancellations etc. Asked him (Pradeep Singh Kharola) to take necessary steps to protect passenger rights and safety and to work with all stakeholders for their well being. The Mumbai based carrier has been reduced to a fleet of 7 airplanes after lessors decided to take back majority of Jet's fleet after months of defaulting on loans and struggling to pay lessors and staff. Jet Airways Monday said its services on overseas routes will remain grounded until April 18, even as the lenders failed to take a call on extending an emergency funding to the airline.

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JET AIRWAYS EXTENDS CANCELLATION OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS TILL APRIL 19

The crisis in Jet only gets worse with each passing day. The airline has extended the cancellation of international operations till April 19. The current status of engagement with the lenders will be placed before the board tomorrow, said Vinay Dube. This comes a day after the carrier had suspended its operations in SAARC and ASEAN regions indefinitely, besides extending suspension of its services to Toronto and Paris from Chennai and back. The management will seek guidance from the board on immediate measures in next meeting.

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LENDERS FAIL TO REACH CONSENSUS OVER EMERGENCY REFUELLING OF JET AIRWAYS

Some lenders to Jet Airways have demanded more pledged shares of founder Naresh Goyal and planes owned by the airline as collateral for advancing further loans even as the banks’ consortium remains sharply divided on additional debt assistance to Jet. The latest condition was communicated to Jet’s management in a meeting on Monday evening. A meeting in the morning was inconclusive. The delay in releasing funds has left the distressed airline perilously close to total stoppage of operations. The interim funding hasn’t been forthcoming thus far, CEO Vinay Dube said in a communication to Jet’s employees on Monday, while informing them about the scheduled board meeting on Tuesday. The Jet management will inform the board about the current state of finances and operations. It has decided to extend suspension of international operations till Thursday and stick to its current seven-plane operations. A senior banker said that PNB, ICICI and Yes Bank objected to any release of emergency money, although others such as State Bank of India, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank did not have a problem. So there is no funding as of now, he added. He said that it would be near-impossible for Jet to continue operations without urgent cash.

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JET AIRWAYS STARES AT SHUTDOWN, BOARD MEETS TODAY AS LENDERS REFUSE FUNDS

India’s first private airline Jet Airways is headed towards a total grounding and a decision could be taken as early as Tuesday after a meeting of its board of directors. Left with no cash, a seven-plane fleet and fuel to run operations only till Tuesday afternoon, the end is imminent, said sources close to the development. Jet cannot be saved now. It’s on the ground, another source in the know said. This follows Monday’s no-consensus emergency meeting of the lenders’ consortium, led by State Bank of India, to decide on infusion of Rs 1,000 crore immediately. Soon after, the suspension of the international operations was extended till at least April 18. As lenders failed to infuse the required funds, the Jet management will inform the board on Tuesday morning about the critical developments before a call is taken on the future of the airline, according to Vinay Dube. SBI, which has been at the forefront of the resolution plan, said late on Monday evening that the expressions of interest for buying stake in Jet were being vetted by a legal team and prospective bidders would be shortlisted by SBI Caps soon. The proposed equity conversion by banks, if any, will be undertaken as a transitory mechanism to facilitate the bidding cum sale process, the SBI said. The decision not to issue any emergency funding to the airline was taken after an hour-long meeting of the lenders’ consortium with Jet Chief Financial Officer Amit Agarwal. The consortium refused to release any more interim funding before becoming certain about the credibility of potential investors, said a person aware of developments. Airline executives said operations were likely to be temporarily grounded as the cash had been exhausted. First, there is no money left to pay the oil companies for even a day. Second, there is no meaning to continue with skeleton operations as it just adds to the losses, a Jet executive said. Of the seven aircraft the carrier is operating, five are smaller turboprop planes. The interim funding has not been forthcoming thus far. The current status of our engagement with lenders and other related matters shall be placed before the board in the meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday). The management will seek guidance from the board on the next step forward, Dube said.

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JET AIRWAYS FLYERS GRAPPLE WITH LATE REFUNDS, SOARING AIRFARES

Passengers are facing delays in receiving refunds for cancelled flights and are forced to shell out 25-30 per cent more for alternate flights, following the grounding of Jet planes. Jet is operating around 40 flights with seven aircraft for the last few days due a cash crunch. It has cancelled all its international services till Thursday and future operations look uncertain as lenders have not released emergency funds. The sudden massive cancellations have put travel agents and customers in jeopardy. Agents have approached International Air Transport Association or IATA for protection of their commission and refunds while passengers are asking agents to cancel Jet tickets for later dates, given the uncertainty of operations. When an airline cancels a flight, it offers affected passengers an alternate flight on another carrier or a refund. Jet’s commercial partners, Air France and KLM, are operating two additional flights and higher capacity aircraft from Paris and Amsterdam to Mumbai this week to fly stranded passengers. These largely include passengers holding an Air France issued ticket on a Jet operated flight. But the most impacted passengers of Jet are being offered a refund. Travel agents claim full or partial refunds through IATA’s billing and settlement mechanism. Agents are particularly facing delays claiming a refund for partially utilised tickets. Jet, however, said there was no delay in processing refunds. Jet would like to clarify that your observation regarding delay in processing of partially-utilised tickets is speculative and incorrect. Processing of refunds, after initiation is an automated process that is governed by a centralised, global settlement system which includes the issuing bank, airline and IATA, the airline said. Jet said it continued its efforts to minimise guest inconvenience using its contact centre, social media and guest relations teams and refunds continue to be processed. Meanwhile, passengers are also facing the pinch due to reduction in capacity and some are seeking cancellations of future bookings. We are receiving requests from our clients to cancel Jet Airways ticket of later dates because of uncertainty of operations, said Bagaria.

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BANKS, LENDERS WORKING TO RESOLVE JET AIRWAYS CRISIS, AVERS SURESH PRABHU

Suresh Prabhu said banks and the lenders are working on it. We (the ministry of civil aviation) are proactively working with everybody who needs (our) support and help, whether they are employees, customers, or whether they are passengers to ensure safety and convenience of passengers as well as welfare of employees, he said. Prabhu said, Essentially (it) is a financial crisis which is supposed to be dealt with. The present issue is lenders have to work with the shareholders. The loss-making airline is now under management control of SBI-led consortium of lenders under a debt-recast plan approved by its board last month. Jet Airways independent director Rajshree Pathy quit on Saturday, the airline said in an exchange filing.

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GOYAL’S BID FOR JET STAKE MAKES IT COMPLEX; LENDERS TO SEEK LEGAL VIEW

Lenders to Jet Airways will take a legal opinion on Naresh Goyal’s bid to retake the control of the debt-ridden airline. The lenders will seek a view on whether to consider Goyal’s bid as a financial or a strategic investor. There is also the question of allowing an existing promoter to bid for the company after the airline defaulted on payments, said a source close to the bidding process. While the rules under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) clearly bars defaulting promoters from bidding for the assets on sale, ‘the bidding process for Jet Airways is not being done under the IBC code’. However, the lenders want to be sure that Goyal’s bid can be accepted.

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JET AIRWAYS HAS FUEL SUPPLY ONLY TILL TUESDAY AFTERNOON: SOURCES

Financially-stressed Jet Airways has time till Tuesday afternoon to pay fuel vendors failing which it might have to ground its operational fleet, industry sources said on Monday. According to industry insiders, the company is almost out of funds and is relying solely on the scant funds being infused by lenders on an expense-to-expense basis. The fuel supply is expected to run out from Tuesday afternoon as fresh payments would be required for vendors, an industry source told IANS in New Delhi. Corroborating this, a Jet Airways official said in New Delhi: A proposal for a fresh fund infusion has been given to the lenders. At present, Jet is operating only 7 aircraft for domestic operations due to the grounding of over 80 per cent of its fleet by lessors owing to non-payment of dues.

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NARESH GOYAL JOINS HAND WITH US, UK FIRMS TO BID FOR JET AIRWAYS

Naresh Goyal was forced to step down from the board of the beleaguered airline, he has made a play for a re-entry. Shortly after the deadline for the bidding process for Jet Airways' stake sale ended on April 12, Goyal reportedly submit his Expression of Interest as part of a consortium. The lenders to the airline had offered ownership between 32.1% and 75% in the airline, seeking to recover dues worth over Rs 8,400 crore. The initial bid submitted by Goyal's general sales agency (GSA), Jetair Pvt Ltd, is backed by Delaware entity, Future Trend Capital. Jetair, founded in 1974, had represented 17 global airlines before it gave birth to Jet Airways in 1993. Adi Partners, a London-based firm, is reportedly also associated with the consortium. However, the EoI came in at 6:08 pm, eight minutes after the deadline, which might hurt Goyal's chances. Jet Airways reportedly does not come under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which bans promoters from bidding for their defaulting companies. Rajnish Kumar has already made it clear that nobody is barred from bidding or taking over the airline as per the rules. It could be financial investor, it could be airline including Naresh Goyal himself or Etihad, he said last month.

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WILL GIVE A DATE FOR RAFALE REVIEW, SAYS CJI RANJAN GOGOI

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Monday remarked that he will soon be setting a date for hearing the Rafale review petitions. I have said that a date will be given for the Rafale case. I will give a date, the Chief Justice said. There are hardly 14 working days left before the court closes for its long summer vacation in the second week of May. In week itself, there are only two court days — May 15 and May 16. On April 10, the Bench led by Chief Justice Gogoi had declared unanimous support for the freedom of Press in a democracy by refusing the government’s preliminary plea to keep the Rafale jets’ purchase documents a secret. The court said the documents published first by The Hindu in a series of articles since February this year would be considered while examining the merits of the five separate Rafale review petitions against its December 14 judgment upholding the 36 Rafale jets’ deal. The government had claimed that the reviews were based on secret Rafale documents that had been removed without authorisation from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and leaked to the media. Mr. Venugopal had argued that stolen documents came under the protection of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and that they were not admissible as evidence in a court of law. Claiming privilege, the government had wanted the court to ignore the documents, even if they were found to be germane to the Rafale case, and dismiss the review petitions at a preliminary stage. The apex court had, however, rubbished the government’s claim of privilege. It said neither OSA nor any other law empowers the government to stop the media from publishing the documents nor the court from examining them. Besides, Chief Justice Gogoi, in the main opinion, had said claiming privilege over the Rafale documents was an exercise in utter futility. The documents were already within the reach and knowledge of the entire citizenry. This being the scenario, there was no reason for the Supreme Court to stop itself from reading and considering the documents or from shutting out its evidentiary worth and value.

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ONLY 42 MORE WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT SINCE FIRST LOK SABHA

Slogans of various political parties about empowering Indian women in politics seem to have remained just lip service if one goes by the statistics. The case in point is that in the outgoing 16th Lok Sabha, there were only 66 women members out of the total House strength of 543, which makes it just 12 per cent. This is the situation 67 years after the first general elections. Had the long-pending legislative proposal to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha been passed, it could have ensured at least 179 female members in the Lower House of Parliament. In the first Lok Sabha formed in 1952, there were 24 women. The number did not change in the second Lok Sabha formed in 1957. The number increased when the third Lok Sabha (1962-67) was formed with 37 women, according to data available on the Lok Sabha website. There was a decrease in the numbers in the fourth, fifth and sixth Lok Sabha where 33, 28 and 21 women were elected respectively. The number again increased to 32 women in the seventh Lok Sabha (1980-84) and in the eighth (1984-89) with 45 women members being elected. When the Lok Saha was elected in 1989 for the ninth time, the number of women dropped to 28. Since then, there has been a minor but constant increase in the number of females. The 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96) had 42 female members and the 11th was one less. The 12th had 44 female MPs, while the 13th and 14th saw equal numbers at 52 females of the total 543 members. The 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14) saw a major increase: it touched 64 females -- about 12 per cent of the total House strength. The 16th - the outgoing - Lok Sabha had 66 female MPs, two more than the previous term. Since the beginning in 1952, there had been no female Speaker in the House until the 15th Lok Sabha. Congress' Meira Kumar was elected unopposed as the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha in 2009 and served till 2014. Then, Sumitra Mahajan of BJP became the second female to preside over the 16th Lok Sabha. The political parties have been promising 33 per cent reservation to females in legislatures a number of times. The Congress made the pledge in its manifestos in 2019, 2014 and 2009. The BJP too made the promise in 2014 and now. The Communist Party of India-Marxist also promised the reservation in its manifestos in 1999, 2009 and 2019. But none of the political parties could implement the promise and the number of women MPs was not even able to reach one-fourth members in the House.

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'NYAY' MONEY TO COME FROM CHOKSI, NIRAV, MALLYA POCKETS: RAHUL GANDHI

Rahul Gandhi Monday said funds for his party's 'Nyay' minimum income guarantee scheme will come from the pockets of fugitives like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. The Congress, in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, has said Nyay assures up to Rs 72,000 a year or Rs 6,000 a month income to 20 per cent of India's poorest families if the party is voted to power. The three businessmen mentioned by Gandhi, are wanted in India for fraud and money laundering. I was inspired by Narendra Modi's false promise of giving Rs 15 lakh to every Indian, Gandhi said at a poll rally here, while speaking about the scheme, which the Congress has described as a surgical strike on poverty.

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TWO CANDIDATES WITH CRIMINAL CASES FOR EVERY WOMAN SO FAR IN THIS ELECTION

A report from non-governmental organisations the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed that the number of women contesting elections so far in the first two phases numbered 209. The number of candidates who have disclosed criminal cases is 464 This means that around sixteen per cent of candidates have disclosed criminal cases in their affidavits so far. There were 213 candidates with criminal cases in the previous phase. The report looked at a total of 2,856 candidates out of a total of 2923 across the two phases. Some candidates haven’t been included because properly scanned and complete affidavits weren’t available. The second phase features six candidates with murder cases, and 25 with attempted murder. There are also eight candidates with cases related to kidnapping. Fifteen candidates have disclosed cases of hate speech. Ten candidates have declared cases related to crime against women such as rape (IPC Section-376), assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354), husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty (IPC Section-498A) etc, against themselves, it said. In comparison, 120 candidates (eight per cent) are women. This is higher than the 89 women candidates in phase one (seven per cent of total candidates for the phase). There have been proposals to bar those facing criminal cases from elections. Debates have also raged on the fact that people could be falsely implicated in cases to stop them from contesting. Interestingly, there are a number of candidates with assets more than a crore. The average assets per candidate is Rs.3.9 crore in the second phase, lower than the Rs.6.6 crore in the first phase. Around thirteen per cent of candidates have not given their Permanent Account Number (PAN). The income tax department can use the PAN number to track transactions, income and assets of individuals. The tax department reportedly uses this also to track unaccounted for income or assets.

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CENTRE MUST MATCH SUBSCRIBER SHARE IN ATAL PENSION: PFRDA

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has suggested that the government must make a matching contribution to the subscribers’ share for the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), which is meant for the unorganized sector. A similar scheme, the Prime Minister Shram Yogi Maandhan (PM-SYM), was also launched last month for informal sector workers. Hemant Contractor said that the regulator has sought similar incentive, pertaining to co-contribution for APY, since floating ‘competitive schemes’ doesn’t serve the purpose. Contractor said that while both schemes have similar features, the key benefit of the PM-SYM is that the government will deposit an equal matching share in the pension account of a worker every month, which gives this scheme an edge over the APY. The only salient difference is that in the new scheme, the government is going to co-contribute. So the contribution burden on the subscriber will be less by 50%. Fifty percent of the contribution cost will be picked up by the government. That is the major difference, Contractor said. So, when the new government scheme was announced, we took it up with the government that instead of floating a different scheme, the same incentive could be given to Atal Pension Yojana because it is already an established scheme and it has been running successfully for the last three years, he added. Even if the government were to contribute 50% to APY, it will only cost ₹500-600 crore annually to the exchequer, which is not a huge burden, said the PFRDA chairman. The new pension scheme for unorganized sector workers with monthly income of up to ₹15,000 was announced in the interim budget. It assured monthly pension of ₹3,000 to subscribers when they reach 60. The subscribers are required to contribute a small amount every month during their working years. The government will also make an equal monthly contribution in the worker’s pension account. The scheme, which is under the administrative control of the labour ministry, is expected to benefit at least 100 million labourers and workers in the unorganized sector. APY, the government’s scheme promoting social security, is handled by PFRDA and targets a similar customer base and provides fixed pension options of ₹1,000, ₹2,000, ₹3,000, ₹4,000 and ₹5,000 on the basis of the contribution. However, the government will make 50% co-contribution of the total amount or ₹1,000 per annum, or whichever is lower, for a period of five years, for subscribers who opted for the scheme between June and December 2015.

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NAVY WANTS LOCAL INPUTS FOR RS 40,000 CRORE SUBMARINES PROJECT

The navy wants Indian steel, missiles, torpedoes and an indigenously developed air independent propulsion system for its Rs 40,000-crore project to construct six new submarines domestically one of the largest ‘Make in India’ military orders currently being processed by the government. The project, which has been moving faster than another mega plan to build 110 fighter jets in India, has been taken forward with the navy sharing its draft requirements with foreign players who are to share technology with Indian partners to produce the next generation of submarines. The requirements, which will be finalised in the coming months before being formally issued to all competitors, make a strong case for Indian systems to be fitted on the submarines with at least 45% indigenisation content. The new technology that will differentiate these submarines is Air Independent Propulsion (AIP), a technology that enables the boats to stay underwater for weeks, unlike earlier models where they have to surface after a few days to recharge batteries and take in oxygen. As per the draft requirements, foreign players have to certify that they will integrate a ‘proven indigenous AIP’ if required by the navy. This would be a reference to an AIP that is currently under development by DRDO and is being shore tested as of now. The project is currently being undertaken by DRDO that has already supplied such torpedoes for warships and is working on a submarine launched version as well.

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GOVT TO ADD 200,000 SEATS IN 158 VARSITIES FOR 10% EWS QUOTA

Over 200,000 additional seats will be created in 158 Central Educational Institutions (CEIs) across the country to implement 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Section, with the Union Cabinet giving a go ahead on Monday, sources said. With the approval of the Cabinet, a total of 2,14,766 additional seats will be created. While 1,19,983 additional seats will be created during 2019-20 academic session, 95,783 seats will be added in 2020-21, sources said. A sanction of Rs 4315.15 crore has been approved for the 158 CEIs for implementation of reservation in admission to students belonging to EWS.

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TATA MOTORS PLANS TO DRIVE IN MORE ELECTRIC CARS SOON

After outbidding Mahindra & Mahindra in government tenders for electric vehicles, Tata Motors now plans to expand its offering in the passenger vehicle space with the widest portfolio. Tata Motors plans to add Altroz EV, based on its premium hatchback and H2X, small SUV EV, to complement Tiago and Tigor EV. All these will address the different price points and buyer profiles in the sub-Rs 15-lakh bracket. Guenter Butschek had recently told that the company is committed to electric vehicles and wants to lead the evolution in this segment. We have ensured that future architectures Alpha and Omega both are proof-protected for EVs. Apart from working on higher range of Tigor and Tiago EV, our first two offerings on the Alpha architecture will have an EV option, he said. The proof-protected architecture gives the carmaker the flexibility to produce both the conventional fuel-powered engine as well as the battery-operated engine. The Tiago EV will compete against Maruti Suzuki’s upcoming WagonR EV, while the Tigor EV will be pitted as a strong alternative to the fleet segment beyond the requirement of the EESL, which is yet to take off in big numbers. The Altroz EV will be an aspirational premium hatchback with an electric powertrain, but Butschek said since the emphasis from the government is on the fleet segment, it will not shy away from offering Altroz for fleet for premium transportation.

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FLYING OUT OF BENGALURU AIRPORT 120% COSTLIER FROM APRIL 16 TO AUG 15

Flying out from the Bengaluru airport will be costlier by a massive 120 per cent from Tuesday following the airport tariff regulator Aera allowing it to revise upwards the user development fee (UDF) for four month. The nation's third busiest airport after New Delhi and Mumbai, plans to use the additional fee to fund its expansion. With the Aera order coming into effect from April 16, the UDF for domestic departures will be revised to Rs 306 from Rs 139 while for international departures it will be Rs 1,226 from Rs 558 earlier, Bangalore airport said in a statement Monday. The new charges for domestic and international travel translate into an increase of 120 percent and 119 percent, respectively, it added. The revised fee is applicable for tickets procured between April 16 and August 15, it said adding the increased fee will be rolled back from August 16. The Rs 13,000-crore second phase expansion entails construction of a new terminal, a second runway, access roads, and a multi-modal transport hub, company said, adding these work is scheduled to be completed by March 2021. This incremental increase in charges will provide us with the much-needed relief as we are in the midst of a Rs 13,000-crore capacity expansion, said Hari Marar.

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SC STAY ON BAN, GOVERNMENT ASKS APPLE & GOOGLE TO TAKE DOWN TIKTOK APP

Google and Apple have been asked by the government to take down popular Chinese short-video mobile application TikTok from their app stores, two people familiar with the matter said. The move, by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), comes after the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay an earlier order by the Madras High Court to ban the app. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, posted the matter for hearing to April 22, as the Madras High Court is expected to hear the case on April 16. MeitY’s order will help stop further downloads of the application, but people who have already downloaded it will be able to continue using it on their smartphones, said both the people familiar with the development. The High Court asked the government to prohibit download of TikTok application. It (MeitY) is ensuring that by asking Google and Apple to delete it from the app stores. Now it is up to the companies to do it or appeal the order, said one of the people.

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YOGI'S 2019 POLL GAMBLE: RS 250 CR FOR COW SHELTERS, CESS ON FOREIGN LIQUOR

A liberal Budget of more than Rs 600 crore and a special cess on foreign liquor helped the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to speedily tame the ‘stray cattle menace’ in Uttar Pradesh before it magnified the farm distress narrative in the crucial election season. At present, there are about 6,000 public and private cow shelters in the state, housing more than 400,000 cattle heads, while more shelters have been proposed. In the run-up to polls, when the Opposition was targetting the Yogi Adityanath government over farm distress and damage to cash crops by abandoned cattle, the saffron party had started to anticipate a backlash in the rural constituencies. The stray cattle menace had compounded when the Adityanath government, after coming to power in March 2017, banned illegal slaughterhouses. This resulted in large number of non-milching cattle being abandoned by farmers to fend for themselves, thus damaging crops in rural areas and spreading out on roads in cities causing accidents and traffic snarls. Although, UP ministers, including Adityanath, always tried to downplay the phenomenon by blaming the opposition for allegedly raking up the issue disproportionately, the party soon realised the gravity of the situation, when instances of farmers’ protests against stray cattle begin to rise. In many cases, farmers even locked stray cattle in the government offices, schools and post offices, thus causing law and order problems. Soon, the BJP government announced to hike the budgetary allocation towards cow shelters and setting up of temporary sheds by converting a portion of derelict government buildings, schools, sugar mills etc. UP animal husbandry department director Charan Singh Yadav told currently 5,076 temporary cow shelters in UP housed more than 307,000 cattle. Besides, there were 92 ‘kanha gaushalas’ run by local municipal bodies, which housed more than 20,500 cattle.

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SLUGGISH INDUSTRIAL GROWTH IN FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY RAISES CONCERN

Although WPI was seen inching up during March, industrial growth remained subdued raising concerns over the sustainability of growth in India, a country which comes among the fastest growing economies in the world. Wholesale price-based inflation rose for the second consecutive month to 3.18 per cent in March from 2.93 per cent in February 2019 and 2.74 per cent in March 2018. The increase in WPI was primarily on the back of rising food and fuel prices, show government data. The trend is concerning with various reports showing rise in unemployment in the society, whose working age population is expected to grow to over a billion people by 2050, according to the Regional Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Manufactured goods which accounts for nearly 64 per cent while measuring WPI declined to 2.2 per cent in March compared to 2.3 per cent in February and 3.1 per cent in March 2018. Within manufactured industries, 9 out of the 17 industries recorded fall in growth rates during March 2019 vis-à-vis March 2018 and three industries namely vegetable and animal fats, sugar and leather products continued to show deflationary trend, noted CARE Ratings report. A decline in industrial output was also pointed by Index for Inflation (IIP) which recorded a growth of just 0.1 per cent in February compared to 1.7 per cent in January during FY19. According to IIP index, manufacturing output contracted by 0.3 per cent in February 2019 compared to 1.3 per cent expansion witnessed in January 2019 primarily on account of decline in output for machinery, textiles, leather and auto as well as base effect. Industrial growth disappointed sharply in February 2018, printing at a 20-month low 0.1% YoY despite favourable base effect. On a sectoral basis, manufacturing has retracted into negative territory after a gap of two months. The significant contraction in capital and intermediate goods do not bode well for industrial momentum lately. Additionally, consumption impulses have notably moderated in rural and urban areas as is indicated by high frequency indicators as well. This implies that Q4 FY2019 GDP is likely to sequentially lose momentum further, said B Prasanna, Group Head – Global Markets – Sales, Trading and Research.

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ODISHA’S FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR SMALL FARMERS FAILS TO PAY OFF

The Odisha government’s much-publicised KALIA scheme, offering financial aid to distressed farmers struggling under high input costs and low returns, has not yet benefited a large number of share-croppers as poor record-keeping may have led to the exclusion of several names. The Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme promises financial aid of ₹25,000 per farm family over five seasons to small and marginal farmers, including share-croppers, to purchase inputs. It was launched in the rabi season (2018-19). A greater challenge for the cultivators though is the low minimum support price (MSP) for paddy — the main crop grown in Odisha — as the State’s refusal to give an additional bonus is making it difficult for land-less and land-owning farmers to make ends meet. I have received no money under KALIA scheme even though my name is there with the government. Many in my community have not received the money as well. We are already getting paid less for the paddy we are growing, said Babul Tiadi, a share-cropper in Niali village about 30 km from Bhubhaneswar. Share-croppers account for more than 70 per cent of paddy cultivators in Odisha. Many share-croppers in Odisha haven’t benefited from KALIA because no criteria have been fixed to identify their names, said Suresh Panigrahi. An effective way to identify is through law, like in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, he added. Naveen Patnaik, however, recently promised that 25 lakh more identified peasants will get ₹10,000 (two instalments) under KALIA on the day the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) forms the government. Not a single farmer will be left out, he said at a public meeting, adding that 40 lakh farmers have already benefited from the scheme. Both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls are being held simultaneously in the State. We hope the promise will be fulfilled as life is tough with the meagre returns that we get despite all family members toiling in the field every day, said Phule Rani.

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400 OUT OF 470 ARRESTED FOR PETTY OFFENCES ARE EDUCATED: CHANDIGARH POLICE FIGURES

A B.Tech in Computer Science, Aditya Sharma, one civil engineer diploma holder, Deepak Das, and a law graduate, Jhujhar Singh, are among 400 educated people arrested for committing offences such as snatching, vehicle theft, burglaries — all classified as petty offences — in the last 15 months across Chandigarh. The trend, according to Chandigarh Police and legal experts, is alarming. According to the data collected from Chandigarh Police by Chandigarh Newsline, at least 400 people out of 470 arrested for burglaries, snatching, motor vehicle thefts in the last 15 months, were found to be educated, with a few even holding professional degrees. At least 35 out of these 400 educated accused were found graduates who hold professional courses, including engineering and law degrees. A few others were pursuing post-graduation courses. At least 48 had done senior secondary and 76 were matriculate. While 156 were under-matric, 74 accused had studied till primary classes. The rest 70 were illiterate. A total of 470 people were arrested for these offences between January 1, 2018 and March 3, 2019. As many as 138 educated people out of 400 were arrested for the offence of snatching, 126 for vehicle thefts, 102 for miscellaneous thefts and 34 were arrested for house burglaries. The miscellaneous thefts cover the offences of theft of less valuables objects.

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GOVT MAKES IT MANDATORY FOR ALL MEDICAL DEVICES TO GET CDSCO CERTIFICATION

All imported, as well as locally manufactured medical devices sold in India will soon be required to clear specific safety and quality standards The move is aimed at preventing fiascos such as the one involving Johnson and Johnson hip implants. A 2 April meeting of Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), India’s highest advisory body on drugs, decided to notify medical devices as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA), government officials aware of the development said. Once notified, import, manufacture and sale of all medical devices will need to be certified by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Manufacturers will also have to seek licences from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI). The regulation will help ensure safe and tested medical devices reach the end user, the official cited above said on condition of anonymity. Currently, only 23 medical devices are regulated under the Act. The change will be implemented in a phased manner.

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GOVT MAY BAN ABOUT 324 COMBINATION DRUGS

An experts committee, examining the safety of fixed dose combinations (FDCs), has found that 324 FDCs were irrational and should not be manufactured or marketed in India The committee evaluated 418 FDCs, out of which 324 FDCs were found to be irrational, 28 FDCs were rational. The panel also said that more data needs to be evaluated for two FDCs, while it has to further deliberate on four others. Out of the remaining 60, 48 have been prohibited, 11 have been declared rational and one case is sub judice, shows the minutes of the DTAB meeting. A copy of the document was reviewed by Mint. The committee under the chairmanship of C.K. Kokate, former vice chancellor, KLE University, Belgaum, Karnataka, examined the safety and efficacy of unapproved FDCs, which were licensed by state authorities without the approval of the Drug Controller General of India. It submitted its report to the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), the highest decision-making body on technical matters related to drugs, on 2 April. The Kokate panel said the FDCs, which have been declared as irrational, needs to be prohibited under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, as other safer alternatives to those combinations are available.

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BIHAR 2ND PHASE GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019 ON 18TH APRIL

Bihar will go to Second Phase of the 7 phased polls in the state to elect 5 more from Parliament Constituencies of Kishanganj, Katiyar, Purnia, Bhagalpur and Banka. Voters from five Parliamentary Constituencies will cast their ballots on 18th April 2019. There are 8552274 voters with 4492599 male, 4059375 female and 300 voters in Third Gender category. 68 candidates will be contesting for the 5 Lok Sabha seats. Number of polling stations in the state is 8644.

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ASSAM 2ND PHASE GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019 ON 18TH APRIL

Assam will go to Second Phase of the 7 phased polls in the state to elect 5 more from Parliament Constituencies of Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District, Mangaldoi and Nawgong. Voters from five Parliamentary Constituencies will cast their ballots on 18th April 2019. There are 6910592 voters with 3554460 male, 3355952 female and 180 voters in Third Gender category. 50 candidates, including 3 women, 19 Independents and 7 others, will be contesting for 5 Lok Sabha seats. Number of polling stations in the state is 8992.

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MANIPUR INNER SEAT 2ND PHASE GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019 ON 18TH APRIL

Manipur will go to Second Phase of polls for the Parliamentary Constituency of Manipur Inner. Voters will cast their ballots on 18th April. There are 924702 voters with 446329 males, 478358 females and 15 voters in Third Gender category. 10 candidates, including 2 women, will contest for one Lok Sabha seat. Number of polling stations in the state is 1300.

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TRIPURA 2ND PHASE GENERAL ELECTIONS 2019 ON 18TH APRIL

Tripura will go to Second Phase of polls for the Parliamentary Constituency of East Tripura. Voters will cast their ballots on 18th April. There are 1257944 voters with 637649 males, 620291 females and 4 voters in Third Gender category. 10 candidates, including 2 women, will contest for one Lok Sabha seat. Number of polling stations in the union territory is 1645.

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SECOND PHASE OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN ASSAM ON 18TH APRIL

Assam will go to Polls in Second Phase of General Elections on 18th April. Polling will be held in 5 Lok Sabha Seats of Karimganj, Silchar, Autonomous District, Mangaldoi and Nawgong. 50 candidates, including 3 women, 19 Independents and 7 others, will be contesting for these 5 Lok Sabha seats. 6910592 voters comprising of 3554460 males, 3355952 females and 180 voters in Third Gender category will cast their votes in this phase. 8992 Polling stations have been set up for smooth conduct of Polls in the state.

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2ND PHASE OF GENERAL ELECTIONS IN TRIPURA ON 18TH APRIL

Tripura will go to polls in 2nd Phase for the Parliamentary Constituency of ‘East Tripura’ on 18th April. 10 candidates, including 2 women, are in fray for East Tripura Lok Sabha seat. Total 1257944 voters including 637649 males, 620291 females and 4 voters in Third Gender category, will cast their votes in this Phase. 1645 Polling station are in place for facilitating smooth conduct of polls.

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COMMISSION REVIEWS POLL ARRANGEMENTS WITH CENTRAL OBSERVERS

The Election Commission of India team led by Chief Election Commissioner Sh Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Sh Ashok Lavasa and Sh Sushil Chandra reviewed Poll Arrangements in specific constituencies of West Bengal and Tripura going to polls in Phase 2 & 3 of ongoing General Elections for Lok Sabha 2019. The General Observers briefed the Commission on the preparedness in terms of Assured Minimum Facilities (AMF) at the Polling Stations; mapping of PWDs and the arrangements made for their facilitation at the Polling Stations; Awareness amongst the voters that Photo Voter Slips (PVSs) will no longer be treated as the Identification document but that the Voter has to necessarily bring one of the 12 specified Identification Documents to be shown at the Polling Station on the poll day. Commission also reviewed the complaints, if any, from Political Parties, etc as received by Observers and their status. The preventive actions taken against the identified trouble makers and potential intimidators were also reviewed. The Expenditure Observers informed the Commission about Deployment of Flying Squads (FS), Static Surveillance Teams (SST) & Video Surveillance Teams; Complaint Monitoring Cell; Seizures made by FS, SST & Police and Inspection of Candidates Accounts. Commission impressed upon all the Observers to remain on constant vigil and ensure that the polls are conducted in absolutely free, fair and credible manner.

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ELECTION PROMISES DRIVE SURGE IN INDIA PROJECT FINANCING DEALS

Financing deals for Indian infrastructure projects are surging on market expectations that the next government will come through with at least some of the spending that politicians are promising now during a heated election campaign. Local-currency loans for projects came to 520 billion rupees ($7.5 billion) in the quarter to March 31, the highest since 2011, and compared with 144 billion rupees in the previous three months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. As India aims to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024 the government is pushing to eliminate bottlenecks to growth, and is responding to voters’ frustration with problems such as an inadequate number of expressways, crowded commutes and congested airports. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said it will seek capital investments totaling $1.44 trillion by 2024 if voted back to power next month, while the main opposition Congress party is calling for modernizing all outdated rail infrastructure and increasing the length of national highways. India’s focus on infrastructure will support growth in the sector, though the expansion will be hampered by land acquisition issues, according to Fitch Solutions Macro Research. For lenders, an increase in project financing will give them access to relatively low-risk, mainly government-backed deals for long periods, at a time when they are struggling to deal with the worst non-performing loan ratio among the world’s major economies.

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RAJIV GANDHI ASSASSINATION CASE: MADRAS HC NOTICE TO TAMIL NADU GOVT ON CONVICT NALINI’S PLEA

The Madras High Court Monday issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition from Nalini, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, seeking to appear as party in person to argue her plea for six months ordinary leave in view of her daughter’s marriage. When her miscellaneous petition came up for hearing, a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and Nirmal Kumar granted time till June 11 to the additional public prosecutor for filing a counter. It also gave liberty to Nalini to approach the summer vacation court in case of any urgency for early hearing of her miscellaneous petition filed on her habeas corpus plea. A habeas corpus plea is a petition which is filed to ensure a person under arrest is brought before a court which will determine whether the detention is legal. In her plea, Nalini submitted that she has not availed any ordinary leave in the past over 27 years since she was lodged in the prison.

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EXPORT OF OILMEALS ROSE 31% TO RS 6,222 CR IN FY19

Export of oilmeals rose by 31 per cent to Rs 6,222 crore during the last fiscal year on higher volumes as well as price realisation, industry data showed. The country had exported oilmeals worth Rs 4,762 crore during the 2017-18 fiscal, according to the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) data. In volume terms, the exports increased 6 per cent to 3.2 million tonnes in the 2018-19 fiscal year from 3.02 million tonnes in the previous year. Shipment of rapeseed meal rose sharply to 10,51,869 tonnes from 6,63,988 tonnes. South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand were major importers of rapeseed meal. The export of soyabean meal also rose to 13,37,215 tonnes during the last fiscal from 11,87,818 tonnes in the previous year. However, the outward shipment of rice-bran meal dropped to 4,40,927 tonnes from 594,129 tonnes. The export of castorseed meal was down to 3,67,084 tonnes from 5,72,762 tonnes. The major importers of Indian oilmeals were Vietnam (6,15,403 tonnes), South Korea (7,38,795 tonnes), Thailand (3,02,619 tonnes), Taiwan (1,19,794 tonnes) and Iran (5,08,050 tonnes). Iranian market has once again opened up for Indian soybean meal. During the last fiscal, Iran imported over 5 lakh tonnes of soyabean meal as against just 23,000 tonnes in the previous year.

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PAKISTAN, CHINA CANNOT AFFORD MISADVENTURES IN BJP RULE: UP CM YOGI ADITYANATH

Accusing the Congress of adopting a soft approach towards terrorists and naxals, Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that China and Pakistan no longer indulge in adventurism as India now has a strong government led by the BJP. BJP leader also said that infiltration by the Chinese army, a regular affair during the Congress-led UPA government, ended after Narendra Modi became the prime minister. Similarly, Pakistan was chopping off the heads of our soldiers on the border during the UPA rule. Now, with Modi as the prime minister, China and Pakistan cannot afford to indulge in misadventures, he said. Referring to India’s response to the Pulwama terror strike, the senior BJP leader said, Pakistan was given a fitting reply after the killing of 40 CRPF jawans. India’s action was not just confined to destruction of terror camps. It was a strong step towards breaking the backbone of Pakistan, he said, adding that the BJP has zero tolerance towards terrorism. Adityanath alleged that the country has failed to take giants strides on road to development due to the soft approach of the grand old party towards terrorists and naxalites. A strong Modi wave was sweeping across the country, he said, urging the people of Odisha to vote for a double-engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state.

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MHA, MOD LEAVE IT TO CCS TO TAKE FINAL CALL ON DUAL CONTROL OVER ASSAM RIFLES

The Ministry of Home Affairs has conveyed to the Delhi High Court that it, along with the Ministry of Defence, will abide by any decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on the dual control over the Assam Rifles. Assam Riffles, the 184-year-old paramilitary force of the country, is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) while the operational control lies with the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The meeting discussed about a note moved by the MHA for the CCS on March 20 for resolving the issue of dual control over Assam Rifles. The CCS is chaired by the Prime Minister and comprises the Minister of External Affairs, the Home minister, the Finance minister and the Defence minister. It was decided by both MHA and MoD that they will abide by the decision of the CCS, the MHA told the high court in its affidavit. The court is now learnt to have issued a notice to the Cabinet Secretary to inform it as to what decision the CCS had taken on the note forwarded to it by the MHA, an official said. The Assam Rifles came into being in 1835 as a militia called the 'Cachar Levy'. With approximately 750 men, this force was formed to primarily protect British tea estates and their settlements against tribal raids.

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SUB-SONIC CRUISE MISSILE 'NIRBHAY' SUCCESSFULLY TEST-FIRED

India on Monday successfully test-fired its first indigenously designed and developed long-range sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay' from a test range in Odisha. The state-of-the-art missile, which can be deployed from multiple platforms, was test-fired at 11.44 am from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near, sources in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. Describing the trial successful, they said the missile, which is capable of loitering and cruising at 0.7 Mach at altitude as low as 100 metre, covered the designated target range in 42 minutes and 23 seconds.

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MASS PRODUCTION OF IPHONES TO START IN INDIA, A SHIFT FROM CHINA

Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Terry Gou said the iPhone will go into mass production in India this year, a shift for the largest assembler of Apple Inc.’s handsets that has long concentrated production in China. Gou said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited him to India as his Taiwanese company plans its expansion in the country. Apple has had older phones produced at a plant in Bangalore for several years, but now will expand manufacturing to more recent models. In the future we will play a very important role in India’s smartphone industry, Gou said. We have moved our production lines there. For Foxconn, the China market for iPhones is saturated, and labor costs are three times higher compared with India, said Karn Chauhan. India is still an emerging smartphone market, it has a lot of potential domestically and could serve as an export hub for the region. Gou also said on Monday that he plans to step back from daily operations to focus on broader strategy The founder isn’t stepping down or relinquishing his chairmanship, said Louis Woo, special assistant to Gou. Gou said that his company is talking with the government about investment terms. He has a dozen software people in India and he plans to increase that to 600, he said.

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FORMER VOLKSWAGEN CEO CHARGED WITH FRAUD IN GERMANY

German prosecutors have charged former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and four others with fraud and other offenses in connection with the company's massive, multi-year effort to cheat on diesel emissions testing. Prosecutors said Monday that Winterkorn knew about the deceptive practice since at least May 2014, and failed to put a stop to it. That contradicted Winterkorn's claim that he didn't learn of the problem until shortly before U.S. investigators announced it in September 2015. Winterkorn resigned as CEO days later. The prosecutors said in a statement that the defendants, all of them top Volkswagen managers were part of an ongoing deception that started in 2006. In all, some 11 million cars worldwide were equipped with the illegal software, in a case that damaged the reputation of diesel technology and accelerated the shift to electric cars in Europe. The prosecutors added that defendants carried out a software update costing 23 million euros in 2014 in an attempt to cover up the true reason for the elevated pollution emissions during regular driving. The 71-year-old Winterkorn and the others face from six months to 10 years imprisonment if convicted on charges of aggravated fraud involving serious losses. Other charges include unfair competition and breach of trust. Prosecutors said the bonuses in question ranged from around 300,000 euros to 11 million euros ($340,000 to $12.45 million). Winterkorn had already been indicted in March by U.S. authorities on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. He could receive up to 20 years in prison if convicted on those charges, but cannot legally be extradited from Germany to the U.S. Beyond that, Volkswagen has paid more than 27 billion euros (currently $31 billion) in fines and civil settlements with authorities and car owners in the months and years since being caught. The company apologized and pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the United States, where two executives were sentenced to prison and six others charged, although they could not be extradited.

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HOTSTAR REACHES 300 MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS, FOUR YEARS AFTER LAUNCH

Uday Shankar, introduced Hotstar to Disney’s investors at the Investor Day conference held in Burbank recently. This was the first investor day conference organised after Disney’s acquisition of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox — the former parent of Star India — and Hotstar was the focus of Shankar’s presentation, which also spoke about Star India’s scale in the country. Shankar revealed that the video streaming platform, which was launched four years ago, almost coinciding with the 2015 ICC World Cup, has reached peak engagement of 300 million monthly active users, according to latest data. Hence, the service reached 23 per cent of India in its peak engagement month. To put it in perspective, YouTube recently declared that it has 265 million monthly active users in the country. Netflix, on the other hand, has a total of 150 million users globally. However, Hotstar is a predominantly ad-supported service in India, while Netflix is a fully subscription-based service. The focus on scalability included driving advertising on the platform. Today, Hotstar accounts for 40 per cent of all long-form digital content consumed in India, Shankar revealed. Hotstar currently houses more than 100,000 hours of drama, movie, sports, and news content. Sports, especially cricket, has driven a chunk of the engagement. Star, on its part, has tried to make the IPL viewing experience on TV and digital more immersive. This means the network has invested in localising content through languages, and driving engagement through unique features on the app, said Shankar.

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WHATSAPP USERS SPREAD ANTIVACCINE MISINFORMATION IN INDIA: REPORT

Antivaccine misinformation, some of it from social media posts in the West, is spreading in India on WhatsApp, undermining efforts to root out measles and rubella in a country where tens of thousands of people are struck by the diseases each year. Dozens of schools in Mumbai have refused to allow health officials to carry out vaccinations in recent months, largely because of rumors shared on Facebook Inc’s popular messaging app about the supposed dangers. Several thousand children have missed out on treatment so far, according to officials at the United Nations Children’s Fund. In New Delhi, a campaign to vaccinate students at schools has been halted by scared parents. It’s rumors on WhatsApp that are the chief culprit, said Sonia Sarkar, a Unicef official in New Delhi. They’ve traveled faster than the vaccines. The spread of misinformation about vaccination shows the challenge WhatsApp faces handling controversial content on the encrypted service, as Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pivots globally to private messaging platforms. More than 100,000 people die every year globally because of measles, most of them children, according to the World Health Organization. About a third of those deaths are in India, Unicef says. Rubella causes tens of thousands of birth defects in India every year. In the US, measles used to be rare but has spread to 15 states this year as people have avoided inoculation because of religious views and misinformation about vaccine safety.

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FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP AND INSTAGRAM AFFECTED IN EUROPE AND US: REPORTS

Facebook, Messenger and Instagram were inaccessible to some users worldwide users reported on Sunday. Downdetector.com reported the problem was in Europe and the US and it began at around 6:28 am EDT (3.58 pm IST). Facebook users in India were unaffected, according to a map put up by the outage tracking website The website showed that there are more than 9000 incidents of people reporting issues with Facebook. Separately, Downdetector.com also showed that there were issues with WhatsApp and Instagram, but with relatively lower count of outage reports.

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TATA HOUSING'S SANJAY DUTT APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF RICS SOUTH ASIA BOARD

RICS, a global body to promote professionalism and standards in the real estate sector, has appointed Tata Housing MD and CEO Sanjay Dutt as chairman of its South Asia board. In a statement, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said Sanjay Dutt, MD and CEO of Tata Realty & Infrastructure Ltd and Tata Housing Development Company, has been appointed as chairman of the RICS South Asia Board. Dutt, who is a Fellow of RICS, said: I am excited to further RICS' footprint in India and South Asia by supporting its agenda to influence governments, organizations and key stakeholders across real estate, construction and infrastructure domains. Nimish Gupta, said: Sanjay is a highly accomplished professional; one who has been adept at handling a wide array and facets of built environment businesses. RICS is the world's leading self regulatory professional body that promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the valuation, development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

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US FARM CENSUS: MORE WOMEN STEP IN AS GROWERS AGE

As the average US farmer ages, more women are stepping up as decision makers to help feed a booming global population. The number of female producers increased 27 per cent in the five years through 2017, according to the first new federal census of US farms since 2012. More farms are reporting that multiple individuals are involved in decision making, with total producers increasing 6.9 per cent from 2012. The glass ceiling is getting cracked and busted here and there in a lot of ways, said Renee Strickland, who co-owns a cow-calf operation as well as a business exporting live animals in Myakka City, Florida. Farmers are getting older. The average age climbed to 57.5 in 2017, up 1.2 years from five years earlier, according to the census. Producers tend to have a couple of decades of experience under their belt, and about 74 per cent live on their farm. However, the more money a farm makes, the younger the age of the producers, on average. On operations with $1 million or more in sales, the average age is 53.8. The oldest class of farmers at an average 58.8 years old pull in farm revenues of $10,000 to $24,999. Between 2012 and 2017, farms reporting net losses rose 1.2 per cent to 1.15 million. That’s more than the number reporting net profits, which dropped 8.3 percent over the period to 891,329.

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TRUMP ASKS BOEING TO REBRAND 737 MAX IN 'WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW' TWEET

President Donald Trump gave Boeing Co. a little advice Monday morning on Twitter. The company should fix its troubled 737 MAX and choose a new name following the Ethiopian Air Lines and Lion Air Crashes. What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, & REBRAND the plane with a new name, Trump said on Twitter. No product has suffered like this one. But again, what the hell do I know?’ Two crashes of the plane - Lion Air flight 610 in October off the coast of Indonesia and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March outside Addis Ababa -- killed a combined 346 people and led to a global grounding of the jet. Preliminary investigations have pointed to problems with an anti-stall feature.

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FAA MEETS WITH US AIRLINES, PILOTS TO HEAR THEIR OPINION ON BOEING 737 MAX

The Federal Aviation Administration met for three hours on Friday with representatives from the three major US airlines that own now grounded Boeing 737 MAX jets and their pilots' unions to discuss two fatal crashes and the path forward. More than 300 Boeing 737 MAXs have been grounded worldwide after a total of 346 people died in a Lion Air crash in Indonesia in October and in an Ethiopian Airlines crash outside Addis Ababa last month. American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines Co officials attended the meeting, where FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell said he wanted to know operators' and pilots' thoughts before the agency decides to return the 737 MAX to service. Elwell said the meeting participants' operational perspective is critical input as the agency welcomes scrutiny on how it can do better. American said in a statement it was confident in the direction the FAA is heading and would continue to work collaboratively in this process. Pilots from American and Southwest, the two largest US MAX operators, said they welcomed the meeting but noted that many issues still needed to be discussed and debated before the MAX flies again. We have to unground the confidence in this airplane, Dennis Tajer, spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association which represents American's pilots, told reporters outside FAA headquarters. We take off our watches and put the calendars in the drawer, he added, suggesting that rebuilding confidence in the aircraft could take some time. The FAA said the meeting covered a review of the preliminary findings of the two crash investigations and an overview of Boeing's anticipated software enhancements and pilot training.

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US AGENCY CONDUCTS H-1B VISA LOTTERY FOR 2 LAKH APPLICATIONS, OVERALL CHANCE OF SELECTION IS 42%

The number of applications for the H-1B visa has risen slightly over last year, by a little over 10,000 to close at 2.01 lakh for the current season 2019-20 (fiscal year 2020). The date for accepting applications had commenced on April 1. For the fiscal 2020 season, which would permit successful visa beneficiaries to work in the US earliest from October 1, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received 2.01 lakh applications, a slight rise of 5%, as against 1.90 lakh applications last season. This was disclosed by the USCIS in a release issued late night on April 11. This year, at least 42% of cap filings will be selected against the quota of 85,000, though USCIS typically accepts more than the annual quota to account for cases that are ultimately denied or withdrawn. The odds for advanced-degree cases are somewhat higher because these filings get a second chance for selection if they are not chosen in the initial lottery, states Fragomen, a global firm specialising in immigration laws.

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OMAR SLAMS TRUMP VIDEO RETWEET AND SAYS HE ENCOURAGES 'HATE'

Rep. Ilhan Omar says she's faced increased death threats since President Donald Trump spread around a video that purports to show her being dismissive of the 2001 terrorist attacks. This is endangering lives, she said, accusing Trump of fomenting right-wing extremism. It has to stop. Her statement late Sunday followed an announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that she has taken steps to ensure the safety of the Minnesota Democrat and the speaker's call for Trump to take down the video. Soon after Pelosi's statement, the video disappeared as a pinned tweet at the top of Trump's Twitter feed, but it was not deleted. Pelosi was among Democrats who had criticized Trump over the tweet, with some accusing him of trying to incite violence against the Muslim lawmaker. An upstate New York man recently was charged with making death threats against her. But Omar said that since Trump retweeted the video Friday night, she's received many threats on her life that referred or replied to the posted video. Violent crimes and other acts of hate by right-wing extremists and white nationalists are on the rise in this country and around the world, she said. We can no longer ignore that they are being encouraged by the occupant of the highest office in the land. She said: We are all Americans.

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TRUMP PROMOTED STRATEGIC INDIA-US RELATIONS IN SUSTAINED MANNER: REPORT

The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy, a top American think-tank has said in a report, lauding President Donald Trump for promoting strategic ties with India in a sustained manner. Asserting that the Trump administration has maintained the success story of US-India relations initiated by George W Bush, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in its report gives the US President a high B+ grade when it comes to America's ties with India. The CFR in its special report Trump's Foreign Policy are Better Than They Seem said President Trump deserves credit for promoting strategic ties with India in a sustained manner. The Trump administration has worked to make India a more prominent part of its regional strategy. After changing the name of US Pacific Command to US Indo-Pacific Command in May 2018, the United States is now planning its first tri-service exercise with the Indian military, said the report authored by former US Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill. President Trump's inclinations, as conveyed through his South Asia strategy, which accords primacy to India; his release of advanced weapons systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, for sale to New Delhi; and his decision to treat India on par with NATO allies where strategic technology release is concerned are all viewed as favourable toward India, it said. The report said that New Delhi has accordingly responded with bold initiatives of its own. In addition, India has quietly and sometimes not so quietly begun to cooperate militarily with the US in significant ways even in peacetime, said the report, in which Blackwill argues that even though many of Trump's actions have been impetuous and the president oversees a chaotic and often dysfunctional policymaking process, some of his individual foreign policies are better than his critics give him credit for. Blackwill points to what he sees as a much-needed toughening of US policy toward China, a justified US withdrawal from Syria and disengagement from Afghanistan, and closer relations with India, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, said CFR President Richard N Hass in the forward to the report.

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CHINA MAY HAVE FOUND A WAY TO KEEP INDIA IN THE DARK OVER TRADE DEFICIT

China may have found a perfect way to blunt India's charge regarding the ballooning deficit in bilateral trade. Trade numbers for 2018 showed India-China trade deficit falling by a significant $10 billion, mainly because of a sizeable increase in exports by India. Trade watchers cheered, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu even put out a celebratory tweet on the whopping, unprecedented reduction in India's trade deficit with China. It shows that during the same period, there was a sharp rise in Hong Kong's export to India of the same goods that New Delhi buys from Beijing. This has now given rise to serious doubts that China may have begun using Hong Kong to camouflage the real size of its sale to India. A data deep dive According to Commerce ministry data, China saw its trade surplus with India go down from $59.3 billion to $57.4 billion in 2018. During the same year, Hong Kong's trade deficit with India — which stood at $3.9 billion in 2017 — decreased to $2.7 billion on the back of rising exports to India. Combined figures showed India's trade deficit with Hong Kong and China expanded to $60.1 billion in 2018 compared to the year before. Data shows India's exports to China for 2018 stood at $16.5 billion — a rise of 30.4 per cent over the previous year. During the same period, India's exports to Hong Kong fell from $15 billion to $13.3 billion. These two figures combined, it made for a $900 million loss for India. In the analysis, data from calendar year 2018 is being used because complete sectionalised figures for the entire 2018-19 are not yet out. In most cases, full-fiscal data generally follows the same pattern as calendar year data. India's imports of mobile phone spare parts from China fell by 34.1 per cent in 2018, while the import of the same product from Hong Kong jumped by a whopping 728 per cent during the same period. China's export of LAN adaptor cards to India slipped by 32 per cent, but that of Hong Kong shot up by 173 per cent. One of the most significant figures in the story pertains to digital monolithic integrated circuits. Imports by India of the item from China rose too, but the rise in imports from Hong Kong was eye-watering — 6017 per cent. According to Commerce ministry data, the India-China bilateral trade touched $84.44 billion in 2017, in which India's deficit was $52 billion. In FY18, exports to China had risen 31 per cent to $13.33 billion while imports were up just 24.64 per cent at $76.38 billion, which increased the trade deficit to a whopping $63 billion.

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IN A SHOW OF INTENT, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTRY SETS UP INDO-PACIFIC WING

Making a strong strategic statement, India has just set up an Indo-Pacific division in the foreign office. The brainchild of foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale, the new division is intended to give a coherent architecture to the policy which was articulated by PM Narendra Modi at the Shangri-La Dialogue in 2018. The division, which started work this week, will be headed for the moment by joint secretary Vikram Doraiswami, for whom it will be an additional charge apart from Bangladesh and Myanmar. MEA’s territorial divisions are crucial for policy making, so the creation of an Indo-Pacific division is a big step by the government. The division will integrate the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Asean region and the Quad to the Indo-Pacific table. Its not clear whether the different trilateral groupings in the Indo-Pacific theatre, like the India-Japan-US, India-Australia-Indonesia and India-Australia-Japan would be part of this division’s responsibility. The US recently renamed its Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command as it seeks to give teeth to its Indo-Pacific policy. In India, the policy will be run by the MEA, though it is expected that as it moves along, it will work with the defence ministry which runs its own Indo-Pacific policy — for instance, Indian ships are currently touring Vietnam on a goodwill visit en route to China, while others are in Mozambique to provide relief. India is planning to put greater energy to the IORA because the heart of its Indo-Pacific policy is rooted in the Indian Ocean. This integrates the blue economy part of the Indian policy with the security part — a trilateral security mechanism between India, Sri Lanka and Maldives used to be the core of the latter, until Abdulla Yameen’s China outreach drowned that out. With a new government in Male, that might be resurrected.

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KIM JONG UN GIVES US TIME 'TILL END OF THE YEAR' TO BECOME MORE FLEXIBLE

Kim Jong Un said the breakdown in talks with the United States has raised the risks of reviving tensions and he is only interested in meeting President Donald Trump again if the United States comes with the right attitude. Kim said he will wait till the end of this year for the United States to decide to be more flexible, according to KCNA. It is essential for the US to quit its current calculation method and approach us with a new one, Kim said. A third Summit would be good in that we fully understand where we each stand, the US president said in a pair of Saturday morning tweets. I look forward to the day, which could be soon, when Nuclear Weapons and Sanctions can be removed, and then watching North Korea become one of the most successful nations of the World! We will wait for a bold decision from the US with patience till the end of this year but I think it will definitely be difficult to get such a good opportunity as the previous summit, Kim added.

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KIM JONG UN SAID HE IS OPEN TO A THIRD SUMMIT WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is open to a third summit with President Donald Trump, but set the year’s end as a deadline for Washington to offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement to salvage the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy, the state-run media said on Saturday. We of course place importance on resolving problems through dialogue and negotiations. But U.S.-style dialogue of unilaterally pushing its demands doesn’t fit us, and we have no interest in it, Mr. Kim said during the speech. He blamed the collapse of his summit with Mr. Trump in February on what he described as unilateral demands by the United States, which he said raised questions over whether Washington has genuine willingness to improve relations. But Mr. Kim said his personal relationship with the American president remains good and that they could exchange letters at any time. The United States has said the summit in Vietnam broke down because of the North’s excessive demands for sanctions relief in return for limited disarmament measures. In their first summit last June in Singapore, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim issued a vague statement calling for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula without describing when and how it would occur. Mr. Kim said the United States has been refusing to withdraw what the North perceives as hostile policies while sticking to mistaken judgment that we would succumb to maximum pressure. He said the North would not compromise on the fundamental interests of our country and people, even by a speck, and blamed the United States for arriving in Hanoi with completely unrealizable plans. If the United States approaches us with the right manner and offers to hold a third North Korea-U.S. leaders’ summit on the condition of finding solutions we could mutually accept, then we do have a willingness to give it one more try, he added. We will wait with patience until the end of the year for the United States to come up with a courageous decision. But it will clearly be difficult for a good opportunity like last time to come up. The South should not act as an ‘overstepping mediator’ or a ‘facilitator’ and should rather get its mind straight as a member of the (Korean) nation and boldly speak up for the interest of the nation, Mr. Kim said.

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UNDER SCANNER: GOOGLE’S IRELAND TAX ARRANGEMENT TO DRAW MORE EU SCRUTINY

The European Union has taken a closer look at how Google uses operations in Ireland to help reduce its corporate tax obligations within the trade bloc, two people familiar with the matter said. Officials from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, held in-depth talks with Irish authorities late last year about whether the Internet-search unit of Alphabet Inc. complies with rules limiting tax perks provided by individual European governments, according to one person, not to be named. The review was preliminary and might not lead to any formal investigation, the person said. According to another person, an EU investigation isn’t imminent and some Irish authorities are optimistic that initial conversations proved sufficient to avoid a more extensive probe of the company’s tax arrangements. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe discussed a potential tax case with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, one person said. EU officials have been cracking down in recent years on efforts by big global companies to limit their European tax burdens. Vestager, who is now seeking a top EU job, ordered Apple Inc. to pay back billions of euros to Ireland, and she backed a push by France to tax Internet firms more heavily. Apple, Google and Facebook Inc. all base their European operations in Ireland, which has a low basic corporate tax rate. Ireland has successfully resisted efforts by other European states to align tax calculations across the region. Vestager’s probes have provided another way for the EU to put pressure on low-tax states — including Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands — that may lure firms away from other European nations. Vestager has been a key figure in Google’s regulatory woes in Europe, stepping up an antitrust probe when she took office in 2014 that her predecessor had been willing to end. She finished the third and last probe into the company’s behavior with a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) fine in March, a day before she started campaigning to become president of the European Commission or win another senior EU post. Until recently, Google has seen little scrutiny of whether its Irish operations violate the EU’s so-called state-aid arrangements. Apple has been the biggest target so far. The company was ordered to pay as much as 13 billion euros for deals with Ireland that reduced its effective corporate tax rate. Apple and Ireland are appealing the decision. The EU has also taken aim at Amazon.com Inc.’s tax deals with Luxembourg. Ireland is battling a perception that it is a tax haven. President Donald Trump said Ireland is pushing to attract U.S. firms in search of lower taxes. In 2018, the corporate tax rate in Ireland was 12.5 percent, compared with an EU average of about 21.9 percent, European Commission figures show.

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CS Meetesh Shiroya