POLITICAL PARTIES’ ACCOUNTING: ICAI GIVES MORE TIME FOR
STAKEHOLDER RESPONSE
The CA Institute has
extended the last date for sending in stakeholders comments on the exposure
draft for its proposed revised Guidance Note on ‘Accounting for Political
Parties’ In view of the preoccupation of stakeholders in the on-going elections
to the 17th Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituencies across the Country and
legislative assembly elections in a few States, the last date for comments on
aforesaid Exposure Draft i.e. April 6 now stands rescheduled and extended till
June 10, the CA Institute said in an announcement. For the first time,
political parties will now be required to disclose the nature and type of
services-in-kind received by them. However, they may not be required to measure
the same.
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RBI HINTS AT COMMUNICATION AS A POLICY TOOL: SBI REPORT
The RBI governor's
suggestion of the need to challenge the conventional practice of small rate
changes in multiples of 25 bps and instead the size of the rate change could
vary to indicate the policy stance signifies RBI's intent to use communication
as a policy tool instead of a vehicle of communication, according to a State
Bank of India report. The intent of the governor looks quite positive, but
futuristic as well. However, sometimes a rate cut of 25 bps or even a 50 bps
rate cut does not help transmission of a rate action So a token rate cut of 10
bps or 15 bps may not work, argues the SBI report. We believe that such thinking
signifies the RBI intent to use communication as a policy in itself rather than
the policy statement being a vehicle of communication said. These are akin to
second generation policy signals that the US Fed provides to the market now
Such ‘second generation’ signals help reduce disconnect with the market as the
Fed had done during the global financial crisis in 2008, but does not
necessarily help all the times. China has been experimenting with rate cuts
that are not multiples of 25 basis points, but it was abandoned in October
2010. Even the European Central Bank changed rates in lower multiples than 25
bps. It is believed that the advantage of a 25 basis point rate cut is the
simplicity of connecting with the market.
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NEW RS 50 NOTE WITH RBI GOVERNOR SHAKTIKANTA DAS’ SIGNATURE
SOON
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) on Tuesday said that it will soon issue new Rs 50 denomination currency
notes bearing the signature of Governor Shaktikanta Das. The old banknotes
issued by the central bank will remain legal tender, it also said in a
statement. The design of these notes is similar in all respects to ₹
50 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series, RBI said in a statement.
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CVC AWAITS SANCTION TO PROSECUTE 79 CORRUPT EMPLOYEES; 13 FROM
BANKS
The Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC) is awaiting sanction to prosecute 79 corrupt central
government employees, including an IAS officer, for over four months from
different oganisations. A total of 41 cases involving these officers, are
pending sanction of prosecution from government departments, according to a
latest data by the CVC. Of the total cases, the highest of nine are pending
with the Ministry of Personnel, that acts as a nodal department for
anti-corruption matters and eight with the government of Uttar Pradesh. A total
of four cases, involving 13 of its staff, are pending with the State Bank of
India, Canara Bank, Corporation Bank and IDBI, the data said. Three such cases
involving corrupt employees are pending with Union territories, two each with
the Defence Ministry, Food and Supply Ministry, Health and Family Welfare
Minister and the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, among
others, it said. As per norms, sanction for prosecution has to be decided
within four-month time. These cases are pending sanction of prosecution for
more than four months. We have reminded the government departments and the
banks concerned to act fast on these requests, a senior CVC official said.
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SC NOTICE TO CENTRE, EC TO BRING PARTIES UNDER RTI
The Supreme Court on
Monday issued a notice to the centre and the Election Commission (EC) on an
application seeking political parties to be declared public authorities in
order to make them transparent and accountable to the public. The public
interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) leader, wants political parties to be declared as ‘public
authority’ under the Right to Information Act, 2005, (RTI). The main objective
of the petitioner is to eliminate the unchecked use of black money by political
parties. The petitioner submits that transparency and accountability are key to
the adequate functioning of the RTI and narrow interpretations of the words
used in the statute would frustrate the objective of the Act. Explaining the
term ‘indirect financing’ and its association with political parties, the petitioner
said there were precedents which have held that the principal of indirect
financing directly brings the political party under the ambit of the RTI.
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CRIMINAL RECORD
PUBLICITY EXPENSES: NO RELIEF FOR CANDIDATES
The
Election Commission has turned down a fresh proposal from political parties to
exclude expenses incurred for advertising criminal records from a candidate’s
poll expenditure. Parties across the political spectrum raised the issue at a
meeting with EC held days before the first phase of Lok Sabha polls last
Thursday. Currently, each Lok Sabha candidate has a poll expenditure limit of
Rs 70 lakh. The parties also proposed that candidates’ expenses be added to
party expenditure account, which has no limit specified. Party units across
several states too took up the matter with chief electoral officers and their
concerns were referred to the EC. It is learnt that the poll panel declined the
proposals. The EC is expected to soon ask all state CEOs to assess whether
candidates have borne the expenses incurred for making criminal records public
through media platforms, officials told. The question of candidate spending on
negative publicity followed a Supreme Court order, in September 2018, that
every person who contests assembly or parliamentary elections declare criminal
records through advertisements in newspaper and television. The SC order said
that candidates should do so in bold letters and at least thrice after filing
of nominations. EC implemented the apex court order for the first time in the
assembly elections to five states held last yearend, bringing out standard
formats for each candidate to make a public declaration of the criminal record.
Following this, BJP and Congress asked EC this January why candidates should
foot the bill to publicise criminal records, especially if it is added to
candidates’ election expenditure which has a spending limit. The SC order did
not clarify on who should foot the advertisement bills and under which precise
electoral account it should fall, but EC added it to candidates’ election
account. The expenditure limit for an assembly candidate is Rs 28 lakh and Rs
70 lakh for a Lok Sabha candidate at present. All expenditure incurred for
newspaper and electronic media advertisements/publicity material are included
in the limit. Officially, many candidates do not exhaust the limit though flow
of cash and freebies have increased election after election over the years.
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PLEA IN SUPREME COURT
FOR ENSURING SAFETY OF EVMS AFTER LOK SABHA POLLS
A
plea in the Supreme Court Tuesday sought direction to the Election Commission
to ensure safety and security of electronic voting machines (EVMs) after Lok
Sabha polls. The petition, which may come up for hearing next week, said that
the Chief Election Commissioner be directed to ensure that EVMs are not
tampered with during the post polls period. The only statutory and
administrative check available to protect and preserve the confidence in the
EVMs was in the hands of Election Commission of India but what is the ground
reality is the very impartial functioning of Election Commission of India is at
stake, it said. The plea said that as alleged it was possible to tamper with
the EVMs in broad daylight during post poll situations since it was a dark
period in which the machines have very little access to outer world except to
an limited administrative functionaries. What aggravates this petitioner's apprehension
was the availability of long gap between the polling date and counting date.
The number of days gap between first phase polling and counting dates is around
40 days and the days gap between second phase polling date to counting date is
around 35 days. The long gap between polling and counting date if goes
unchecked, given the weak knee and partial conduct of Election Commission of
India is posing a great threat to the possibility of tampering the EVM'S after
polling, it said. The plea also referred to news reports related to a letter
written by 66 former bureaucrats and ambassadors to the President of India
questioning the impartial functioning of the poll panel and had expressed their
deepest anguish on the all time low weak knee conduct of the EC.
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LENDERS TO JET AIRWAYS WORKING ON REVIVAL, NO FINAL DECISION
YET: PNB MD
Lenders to the
cash-strapped Jet Airways are committed to reviving the air carrier but nothing
has been finalised yet Sunil Mehta said on Tuesday. PNB is part of a consortium
of 26 lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), which have exposure to Jet
Airways' debt of over Rs 8,000 crore. Discussions for reviving the airline are
underway and nothing has been finalised as of now. SBI Capital Markets is
working on the revival package for Jet Airways, Mehta told. SBI spokesperson
Monday also said, The bid process for the orderly sale of equity in Jet Airways
is currently being run by SBI Caps and is being vetted by the legal team. The
prospective bidders will be shortlisted by SBI Caps shortly.
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CRISIS-HIT JET AIRWAYS'
ULTIMATUM: INFUSE RS 400 CRORE TO STOP GROUNDING
Jet
Airways founder Naresh Goyal, who was forced to step down as chairman recently,
has pulled out of the race to regain control of the airline. His consortium
partner Future Trends Capital has also withdrawn from the process, it is
learnt. Goyal was among the five entities to have submitted an expression of
interest (EoI) to buy up to a 75 per cent stake in Jet as part of a lenders-led
resolution plan to rescue the airline from going under. While the cash-starved
airline hasn’t shut down operations yet, CEO Vinay Dube on Tuesday sought Rs
400 crore from the lenders immediately, warning that any delay in funding would
ground the airline. Initially, the lenders’ consortium, led by State Bank of
India, had committed Rs 1,500-crore in emergency funding to Jet, and then the
figure was lowered to Rs 1,000 crore. Due to lack of consensus among the
lenders, emergency funding has been negligible so far and it has come in very
small tranches. The lenders, sources said, were watching the developments on
the bidders’ side before deciding whether they were throwing good money after
bad or not. Also, in a chicken and egg situation, potential bidders were
believed to be tracking whether the lenders were willing to infuse funds into
Jet or not, before submitting their binding bids. For instance, Delaware-based
Future Trends Capital Chairman Lalit Kumar informed SBI Caps, the banker for
the bidding process, that the situation had changed over the last three days as
the company had been unable to receive funds from the banks, sources in the
know said. Kumar also said the time was too short to submit all necessary
documents to qualify as a bidder. Without a partner, Naresh Goyal will not be
eligible to participate in the bidding process as he doesn’t qualify the net
worth criteria, said a senior banking executive aware of the development.
Future Trend Capital had tied up with Naresh Goyal-owned JetAir to bid for the
airline. Sources said Delaware was ready to invest $500 million and hence
partnered Goyal, who was allowed to bid by the lenders. There are only four
bidders qualified to submit the bid. Etihad Airways, TPG Capital,
government-owned sovereign fund NIIF, and Indigo Partners have qualified to
participate in the bidding process. The bid documents will be out by tomorrow,
the executive said.
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BSE SEEKS JET'S CLARIFICATION ON SHUTDOWN REPORTS
The BSE on Tuesday sought
clarification from the debt-ridden Jet Airways over reports of temporary
closure of its operations. The exchange sought the information hours after Civil
Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu directed his officials to review the issues
related to the airline.
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RISING AIRFARES: DGCA MEETS AIRLINES; TO ENGAGE WITH THEM FOR
APPROPRIATE ACTION
Aviation regulator DGCA
will continue to monitor airfare movements on a daily basis and also engage
with airline for appropriate action, a senior official said on Tuesday amid
concerns over rising ticket prices. With crisis-hit Jet Airways drastically
curtailing its operations, there has been an adverse impact on the number of
flights being operated on various routes. Airlines were advised to continue to
monitor at their level and provide information to the DGCA to keep fares low as
far as possible, he noted. Airline representatives also intimated DGCA that
they have removed the few higher fare buckets from sale and are offering
tickets to passengers in lower fare buckets.
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CURTAINS DOWN FOR JET? BOARD TO TAKE CALL ON TEMPORARY
SHUTDOWN SOON
It could be curtains,
temporary in best case scenario, for Jet Airways by Tuesday evening. The
airline’s board met in Mumbai in the morning and empowered CEO Vinay Dube to
take a final call on shutting operations anytime now after making a final
effort with lenders to release emergency funds. Accordingly, Dube wrote to
lenders after the meeting to seek at least Rs 400 crore as interim funding. The
management said there is no money to continue operations It was told to make
one last and final effort for getting the promised Rs 1,500-crore emergency
funding from lenders. If even after that no funds come, Dube has been
authorized to decide to decide on shutting down operations anytime this
evening, said a person in the know.
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JET AIRWAYS CRISIS DEEPENS AS US EXIM BANK TO START
REPOSSESSING 10 BOEING 777
The US Exim Bank has
recalled all loans extended to Jet Airways for buying Boeing aircraft and is
likely to take the possession of these aircraft, thus, taking away all the
long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft that the airline owns. Sources said that the
amount of loan is about Rs 2,000 crore and the Bank is soon going to initiate
the process of possessing the aircraft.
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MADRAS HIGH COURT REFUSES STAY ON TIKTOK DOWNLOAD BAN,
APPOINTS INDEPENDENT COUNSEL TO EXAMINE CASE
The Madurai Bench of the
Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to lift the ban against Chinese social
media app, Tik Tok and directed to appoint senior advocate Arvind Datar as an
independent counsel in the case to examine the implications of the app. The
next hearing in the case has been posted for April 24.
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GOOGLE BLOCKS CHINESE
APP TIKTOK IN INDIA AFTER COURT ORDER
Google
has blocked access to the hugely popular video app TikTok in India to comply
with a state court's directive to prohibit its downloads a person with direct
knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The move comes hours after a
court in southern Tamil Nadu state refused a request by China's Bytedance
Technology to suspend a ban on its TikTok app, putting its future in one of its
key markets in doubt. Google said in a statement it does not comment on
individual apps but adheres to local laws. The state court has requested
written submissions from Bytedance in the case and has scheduled its next
hearing for April 24.
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SSC PAPER LEAK CASE: SC ASKS CBI TO FILE FRESH STATUS REPORT
ON PROBE
The Supreme Court Tuesday
directed the CBI to file a fresh status report on investigation into the 2017
Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exam paper leak. A bench of Justices S A Bobde
and S A Nazeer asked the probe agency to file the status report by April 23 and
posted the matter for hearing on April 24. The apex court is hearing a plea
which has sought probe into alleged paper leak of 2017 SSC Combined Graduate Level
(CGL) exam and scrapping of the paper which was purportedly leaked. During the
brief hearing on Tuesday, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the
petitioner, told the bench that the court had last time asked CBI to apprise it
on the status of probe in the case. To this, the CBI’s counsel said they had
earlier filed status report in the matter thrice.
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UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT BRINGS CHEER FOR MODI IN ELECTION MONTH;
JOBLESSNESS FALLS IN MARCH
The latest data shows that
unemployment fell in March. The rate of unemployment in India fell to 6.7 per
cent in March 2019, after having remained at over 7 per cent in three preceding
months, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), said. CMIE report also
adds a caveat — it has been primarily on the back of reduction in labour force,
which fell from 42.7 per cent in February to 42.6 per cent in March 2019. The
labour force, which refers to the total number of persons able and willing to
work, shrunk from 435 million in January 2019 to 431 million in February and
then to 430 million in March, said Mahesh Vyas. While the labour force shrunk
by a million, the number of employed increased by a million to 401 million in
March 2019 from 400 million in February, said Mahesh Vyas. Employment in rural
India shot up to 275 million in March after having fallen to 271 million in
February, said the report. However, it fell sharply in urban India in March
2019 to 127 million in March from 129 million in February 2019, the report
added.
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5 MILLION MEN LOST JOBS
SINCE 2016: REPORT
The
State of Working India (SWI) 2019 report, released on Tuesday by the
Bengaluru-based Azim Premji University has said that five million men lost
their jobs between 2016 and 2018. The beginning of the decline in jobs
coincides with demonetisation in November 2016, although no direct causal
relationship can be established based only on these trends, adds the report.
The report has also found that in addition to rising unemployment among the
higher educated, less educated workers have also seen job losses and reduced
work opportunities since 2016. The report on India’s labour market is based on
the Consumer Pyramids Survey of the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy
(CMIE-CPDX). CMIE is a Mumbai-based business information company with an
independent think tank. This survey is an ongoing nationally representative
panel survey of around 1.6 lakh households and 5.22 lakh individuals, conducted
every four months. In the absence of official numbers from the Periodic Labour
Force Survey (PLFS), the only other household survey available for us to take
stock of the employment situation is the Consumer Pyramids Survey of the Centre
for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE-CPDX), said Amit Basole, associate
professor at Azim Premji University. The report says that unemployment has
risen steadily post 2011. The overall unemployment rate to be around 6% in
2018, double of what it was in the decade from 2000 to 2011. In addition to
rising open unemployment among the higher educated, the less educated (and
likely, informal) workers have also seen job losses and reduced work
opportunities since 2016. Among urban women, graduates are 10% of the working
age population but 34% of the unemployed. The age group 20-24 years is
over-represented among the unemployed. Among urban men, this age group accounts
for 13.5% of the working age population but 60% of the unemployed. In general,
women are much worse affected than men. They have higher unemployment rates as
well as lower labour force participation rates.
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TELECOM TARIFFS TO RISE IN FY20 SECOND HALF: REPORT
Prices of telecom services
are likely to rise in the second half of the current financial year (2019-20),
an Edelweiss report said on Tuesday. The probability of price hike can be
attributed to the fact that the penetration in mobile broadband services has
increased significantly and is nearing a saturation point. We estimate telecom
operators to raise prices in H2FY20 as mobile broadband subscriber penetration
reaches 65%, said the report titled Telecom-Daylight Again. Typically, in a
market characterised by low penetration of services, providers' quest for
market share to gain economies of scale drives down prices, fuelling price
wars. However, as investment requirements mount and relative attractiveness of
balance market wanes, weaker players consolidate and participants start
favouring pricing over incremental market share. On Reliance Jio, the Edelweiss
report said that after 10 quarters since its launch and achieving 30% of the
revenue market share (RMS), it is important to pause and take stock where the
company stands now versus its objectives. We believe that after achieving one
of its key goals — 400 million subscribers in H2FY20 — Reliance Jio (RJIO) will
hike prices to improve return ratios, it said, adding that, JIO's management,
during its launch, had stated that one of its target is to achieve 400 million
subscribers. Regarding Bharti Airtel, the report observed that, with a strong
balance sheet and adequate network investments, it is well placed to capitalise
on industry recovery. On the merged entity of Vodafone Idea, it said: Although
Vodafone Idea has higher operating and financial leverage from India's telecom
industry revival, we maintain our cautious stance considering underwhelming
capacity expansion plans and weak data volume traction. We continue to believe
that RJIO will become India's largest telecom operator led by the network's
high data capacity driving mobile broadband subscriber market share. Another
report by UBS said that customer engagement and willingness to pay for the
mobile apps is selectively increasing. Survey results also shows that about
55-60% of Jio's smartphone users engage with Jio's app versus 35% for Airtel
and 25-30% for Vodafone and Idea, it said.
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INDIA TOPS IN RETIREMENT READINESS, SAYS SURVEY
India has topped 14 other
countries in a survey that measures retirement readiness, by scoring more than
7.3 on the retirement index India is the only country that scored more than 7.3
on the Aegon Retirement Readiness Index (ARRI). The survey is not indicative of
the general population and is conducted among middle and high income-earning
organised workers in the cities. The report evaluates the retirement readiness
of workers. It explores the growing importance of health in financial planning
and for the first time examines issues of financial literacy and aging with
dignity. Indians are the most positive about their country's economy over the
next 12 months. The survey finds that people in India are self-funding their
retirement more than all the other countries included. This year, 40% of
workers in India achieved a high score, down from 44% in 2017. Meanwhile, the
proportion of workers with a low retirement readiness score (24%) has risen
from last year (19%). It should also be noted that the role of the individual
is far more substantial in India compared to that of the state as seen
globally, and this onus is leading to ownership of responsibility. Almost half
(46%) of Indians feel retirement income is expected to come from their own
savings and investments (compared to 30% globally). People in India expect 30%
to come from their employer (against 24% globally) and expect 24% to come from
the government (against 46% globally).
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UP GOVERNMENT TO MANDATE 25% PROCUREMENT FROM LOCAL SMALL
BUSINESSES
Taking a cue from the
Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government is mulling mandating 25% procurement by
state government departments and public sector undertakings (PSU) from the
local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). UP is home to about 4
million MSMEs and the sector is the second largest employer after agriculture.
The proposed procurement policy is expected to provide a major boost to the
beleaguered sector, which has been weathering tough competition and a general
slowdown over the past several years. A former UP chief secretary said the
state government procurement was to the tune of more than 20% of its annual
budget. Considering the annual budget 2019-20 size of Rs 4.79 trillion, the
state procurement kitty would touch almost Rs 1 trillion. Thus, the proposed
quota of 25% procurement from the local MSMEs would peg the total market at Rs
25,000 crore, thus giving a major thrust to the sector going forward. Although,
the UP MSME Procurement Policy 2014 had mandated 20% procurement from the state
MSMEs by the government departments and agencies, the target was never achieved
because to various factors, including tough eligibility criteria, D S Verma
noted.
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IN CHHATTISGARH, MAHASAMUND, RAJNANDGAON & KANKER TO GO TO
POLLS ON 18TH APRIL
In the State of
Chhattisgarh, three parliamentary constituencies (PCs) namely Mahasamund,
Rajnandgaon and Kanker will go to polls on Thursday, 18th April, 2019 during
the Second Phase of the Seven-Phase Lok Sabha Elections. The total electorates
in all the three PCs are forty nine lakh seven thousand four hundred eighty
nine out of which twenty four lakh thirty eight thousand three hundred twenty are
males, twenty four lakh sixty nine thousand one hundred ten are female and
fifety nine others. A total of six thousand four hundred eighty four polling
booths have been set up for phase 2 elections in the state.
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INDIA’S STEEL SECTOR TO SEE FASTER GROWTH IN 2019, SAYS
WORLDSTEEL
Having overcome the shocks
of demonetisation and the Goods & Services Tax (GST) implementation, the
Indian economy is now expected to achieve faster growth starting in the second
half of 2019 after the election. While the fiscal deficit might weigh on public
investment to an extent, the wide range of continuing infrastructure projects
is likely to support growth in steel demand above 7% in both 2019 and 2020,
according to the World Steel Association’s (worldsteel) Short Range Outlook
(SRO), released on Tuesday. It forecast that the global steel demand will reach
1,735 million tonnes (mt) in 2019, an increase of 1.3% over 2018. In 2020,
demand is projected to grow by 1% to reach 1,752 mt. Al Remeithi, said, In 2019
and 2020, global steel demand is expected to continue to grow, but growth rates
will moderate in tandem with a slowing global economy. According to the SRO, in
2018, global steel demand increased by 2.1% (after adjusting for China
induction furnace closures), growing slightly slower than in 2017. Steel demand
in the developed economies grew by 1.8% in 2018 following a resilient 3.1%
growth in 2017. We expect demand to further decelerate to 0.3% in 2019 and 0.7%
in 2020, reflecting a deteriorating trade environment, the SRO of worldsteel
said.
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INDIA’S COTTON OUTPUT TO DECLINE TO 343 LAKH BALES IN FY19:
REPORT
India’s cotton crop
production may fall 7.87 per cent to 343 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) in the
2018-19 season, mainly due to drought in many cotton-growing regions, as per
estimates released Monday by CITI. Confederation of Indian Textile Industry
(CITI) Chairman Sanjay Jain told PTI the cotton crop output for the previous
season ended September 2018 was 370 lakh bales, adding that the worst output in
the past 12 years stood at 348 lakh bales, higher than the current season’s
projection of 343 lakh bales. CITI has revised the cotton crop estimates for
2018-19 based on the actual data collected from the cotton-growing areas in the
country to 343 lakh bales of 170 kg, the body said. The CITI chairman also said
the International Cotton Advisory Committee in their report for April 2019 have
projected a 6 per cent rise in global production for 2019-20 at 27.6 million
tonne and a higher ending stock for 2019-20.
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MONSOON WILL BE NORMAL, ONSET MAY BE DELAYED: IMD
India is likely to receive
a near normal South-West monsoon this year but its onset over Kerala could be
delayed owing to the prevailing El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean, the
India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its first forecast issued on
Monday. The quantum of rainfall that the country as a whole would receive will
be around 96 per cent of the long-period average (LPA) of 89 centimetres, with
an error margin of 5 per cent, said M Rajeevan, who briefed the media. The IMD
considers rainfall between 96-104 per cent of the LPA as normal. The national
weather forecaster has, however, not been getting its forecasts completely
right of late. The forecast of a normal monsoon will bring some relief across
the country particularly in those areas currently reeling under drought conditions.
With 60 per cent of the country’s fields being rainfed, the monsoon, which
accounts for more than 70 per cent of annual rainfall, is critically important
for farming and economic growth. According to the Water and Climate lab of the
Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, which has been tracking drought
conditions in India regularly, drought has been persisting over more than 40
per cent of the Indian landmass, with 17 per cent of the area under severe
drought, as on April 9.
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79.74 % POLLING IN ANDHRA PRADESH IN FIRST GENERAL ELECTIONS
SINCE REORGANISATION OF THE STATE
The state of Andhra
Pradesh recorded 79.74% voting in its first General Election since the
reorganisation of the State. As per the data sourced from Chief Electoral
Officer (Andhra Pradesh), the highest voter turnout was recorded in
Narasaraopet Lok Sabha constituency which saw 85.53 % voting. In previous
General Elections – 2014, the undivided Andhra Pradesh had witnessed 74.64%
polling with Bapatla Lok Sabha constituency recording the highest voter turnout
at 85.16 percent. A total of 3,13,33,163 voters cast their votes in the State
which has3,93,45,717 electors and a total of 319 candidates are in fray for the
25 Lok Sabha seats of the State in this General Election.
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85 CANDIDATES IN FRAY FOR EIGHT LOK SABHA SEATS IN UTTAR
PRADESH IN PHASE –II
As many as 85 candidates
are contesting for eight Lok Sabha seats in UP in phase –II of the General
Elections- 2019. In this General Election the number of independent candidates
has come down on these eight seats. While 40 independent candidates had
contested in previous General Election -2014, this year only 26 Independent
candidates are in the fray for these seats.
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1.4 CRORE ELECTORS IN EIGHT LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCIES OF UTTAR
PRADESH IN PHASE -II
As many as 1,40,76,635
electors are on the Final Electoral Roll of eight constituencies in Uttar
Pradesh which will go to polls in second phase of the General Election- 2019. As
per the data sourced from CEO (Uttar Pradesh) website, there are a total of
1,40,76,635 electors in second phase including 75,83,431 men and 64,92,326
women electors. Of these eight seats, Agra is the largest parliamentary
constituency with 19,04,706 electors and Nagina is the smallest one with
15,74,994 electors. The State of Uttar Pradesh has a total of 14,40,61,892
electors (Overseas Indian electors and service electors are in addition to
these) in its all 80 Lok Sabha constituencies. The State is going through seven
phase polling in the current General Elections -2019. In the first phase,
voting for the eight Lok Sabha seats has already taken place on April 11th,
2019 and voting for phase-II is scheduled for 18th April, 2019.
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MENTAL ILLNESS NOT A GROUND FOR DIVORCE: HC REJECTS PLEA
OBSERVING THAT the wife’s
mental illness is not sufficient to prove that she is incapable of having a
healthy domestic relationship, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has rejected a
divorce petition filed by a Gurgaon man alleging that his wife was incapable of
continuing the relationship due to her illness. Stating that the medical
examination of the woman reveals that psychotic illness and Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD) were treatable with proper medication and regular
follow-up treatment, the division bench of Justices Rakesh Kumar Jain and
Harnaresh Singh Gill said the illnesses may not be curable but can be managed. The
court further said that there is no record showing any suicidal action or other
violent behaviour by the woman, adding the allegations of cruelty are vague and
the assertions made by the husband are not corroborated by any oral, medical or
documentary evidence.
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INDIA 3RD LARGEST SOLAR MARKET AFTER CHINA, US: REPORT
India emerged as the third
largest solar market in the world after China and the US. India’s solar
installations reached 8.3 GW, including large-scale and rooftop solar units,
according to a report. The country’s cumulative solar capacity is 28 GW as of
2018. Mergers and acquisitions globally were steady in the space with 18 solar
transactions in the first quarter of this calendar year (Q1 2019) compared to
19 Q1 2018. Much has changed in the Indian solar industry over the last year.
There was some re-shuffling when it came to suppliers after the imposition of
the safeguard duty, while others have consolidated their positions, Raj Prabhu,
said in a statement.
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VEGETABLE OIL IMPORTS UP 26% IN MARCH
India’s vegetable oil
imports rose 26% to 14.46 lakh tonne during March because of a sharp increase
in inward shipments of refined palm oil from Malaysia, industry body SEA stated
on Monday. Expressing concern over rising imports of refined palm oil, the
Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) has demanded that the duty
difference between crude and refined oil should be increased to protect farmers
as well as edible oil processors. According to the data released by the
association, edible oil imports rose to 13,93,255 tonne in March 2019 from
11,22,685 tonne in the year-ago period. Imports of non-edible oil jumped more
than twofold to 53,302 tonne from 23,366 tonne. The ministry of finance, with
effect from January 1, 2019, reduced import duty on palm oil and also reduced
the duty difference between crude and palm oil from 10% to 5% on palmolein to
be imported from Malaysia. There is an urgent need to create duty difference of
10% between CPO and RBD Palmolein as was prevailing before January 1, 2019, to
survive in this situation, it added.
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FOUR RAILWAY OFFICIALS SUSPENDED AFTER TICKETS WITH MODI'S
PHOTO ISSUED TO PASSENGERS
Four railway officials
were suspended Tuesday after tickets carrying photographs of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi were issued to passengers at Barabanki railway station in Uttar
Pradesh. The Lucknow divisional railway manager suspended a chief reservation
supervisor, a commercial inspector and two reservation clerks, officials said. The
model code of conduct, besides other things, bars a party in power to use the
official machinery to help it in elections.
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'ONE VOTE' MADE SURGICAL STRIKE, AIR STRIKE POSSIBLE: PM MODI
Amid claims of misusing
the armed forces for electoral gain, Narendra Modi Tuesday said the strength of
one vote had enabled the surgical strike and air strike in Pakistan. Modi said
the India of today carries out surgical and air strikes across the border and
shoots down satellite in space due to the strength of one vote of the people.
The Election Commission last week sought a report from poll officials in
Maharashtra after Modi's remarks at a rally in Latur, where he asked first-time
voters to dedicate their vote to those who carried out the Balakot air strike.
Modi also stepped up attack on Rahul Gandhi, saying it was the mindset of the
sultanate of the 'Naamdar' to abuse the deprived and treat them as slaves.
Modi's barb came a day after Gandhi made the how come all Modis are thieves remark.
These people are crossing limits daily. According to them, anyone whose name is
Modi is a thief. What kind of politics is this? They have labelled a whole
community as thieves only to get some applause, just to insult your
'chowkidar', Modi said. The Congress labelled honest tax-payers as selfish,
Modi said. The naamdars are faced with cases of income tax theft of crores of
rupees, he added.
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PM NARENDRA MODI SLAMS RAHUL GANDHI OVER 'ALL MODIS ARE
THIEVES' REMARK
Narendra Modi Tuesday
slammed Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his why are all Modis thieves barb,
adding using derogatory language has become synonymous with the naamdar
(dynast). Modi said it has become a fashion for the naamdar to speak in
derogatory terms. Is this the language to speak? We have to throw out such
people. Abusive language is the norm. The Sahu community here would have been
called Modi in Gujarat. Are they all thieves, Modi said. Modi said naxal
influence in the area where BJP MLA Bhima Mandavi was killed by them, had been
considerably reduced. Why did this happen now, he said, referring to the naxal
attack which claimed Mandavi's life. Mandavi and four security personnel were
killed last Tuesday when their convoy was attacked by naxals in Chhattisgarh's
Dantewada district. Modi claimed that the Congress was hand in glove with
naxals. Will you allow Congress to compromise on your national security, he
said. The Congress is encouraging naxals in Chhatisgarh, Modi said. Encouragement
to naxalism is seen in Congress manifesto which calls for scrapping of sedition
law, he said.bModi accused the Congress of doing a PhD in betraying people. Its
neeyat and niti (intention and policy) are not clean. Ek parivar ki gulami (slavery
of one family) is the Congress party's identity, he said.
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AMIT SHAH SAYS COUNTRY WILL BE SAFE FROM TERROR ATTACKS ONLY
IF MODI IS ONCE AGAIN INSTALLED AS PM
Amit Shah Tuesday wondered
how they expected to run the country without a leader if they came to power and
said the nation would be safe from terror attacks only if Narendra Modi was
once again installed in the post. Can Mahamilavat- Congress and JD(S) keep the
country safe? Can they give a befitting reply to terrorism and Pakistan? They
cannot keep this country safe. To keep the country safe BJP has to come to
power with Narendra Modi as Prime minister once again, Shah said.
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POLITICS OF DIVISION IN CONGRESS’ DNA, SAYS RAVI SHANKAR
PRASAD
Accusing Congress leader
Navjot Singh Sidhu of inciting Muslims against BJP in Bihar, Ravi Shankar
Prasad said, Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) ji was giving her mandate on nationalism,
I think she has forgotten her party’s legacy. Navjot Singh Sidhu talks about 64
per cent minority, what kind of a mandate is this and how is it making the
nation strong. He further said that the politics of division is in the DNA of
the Congress. This is not a new tradition. When sloganeering over the country’s
division was going on in JNU, Rahul Gandhi went there to support them. Today a
voice is rising from Kashmir saying that whenever we wish we can divide India.
What is the mentality of this tukde tukde gang, Priyanka ji needs to understand
this legacy, Prasad said. Narendra Modi Tuesday said the Congress calls the
honest taxpayers of the country greedy and selfish, but its own ‘naamdars’ have
cases running against them for tax fraud worth crores. PM Modi said, The
naamdars are enjoying today by doing corruption over the land which was given
to them for printing newspaper after independence. Not only this, they also
take commission in the country security and protection.
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TO HELL WITH MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT, SAYS SHIV SENA'S SANJAY
RAUT
Sanjay Raut openly
challenged the Election Commission's Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in place. To
hell with it, we will speak whatever comes to our mind, said the Shiv Sena
leader. Raut, said they were constantly being reminded of issues like the law
and the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections. For one, we do not
abide by the law. We are such people that bhad me gaya kanoon (let the law go
to hell). We will also see what is to be done with the model code of conduct.
If what is in our minds, in our hearts, is not expressed, we fell very stifled,
added Raut. He went on to say that his blood boils when someone tries to
intimidate him with the model code of conduct. When someone repeatedly tries to
intimidate us with the law and the MCC, then our blood boils. This is how we
are and we cannot do anything about it, said Raut. He went to the extent of
saying, Plus, we do not care much about laws.
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NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU DOES A MAYAWATI IN BIHAR, ASKS MUSLIMS TO
UNITE TO ENSURE CONGRESS VICTORY
Navjot Singh Sidhu has
called upon Muslims to stay united in the face of a divisive campaign being run
by the Bharatiya Janata Party to ensure victory for the grand old party l Sidhu
referred to Muslims as the majority community in the region and said they must
stay united and vote to ensure victory for the Congress.
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SUSHIL MODI THREATENS TO SUE RAHUL GANDHI FOR DEFAMATION OVER
SURNAME JIBE
Sushil Kumar Modi on
Tuesday threatened to file a defamation case against Rahul Gandhi over his
comment that all thieves shared the Modi surname. Sushil Modi’s strong reaction
came in the backdrop of Gandhis jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi that all
thieves had the same surname. I was deeply hurt by Rahul Gandhi’s statement
wherein he remarked that all those who are chor (thieves) shared the Modi
surname. Besides insulting the Prime Minister, he has hurt me personally as I
share the same surname. Hence, I would be suing him for defamation, the senior
BJP leader told. Tejashwi Yadav whose party is an ally of the Congress in Bihar
reacted to the deputy chief ministers defamation threat saying I openly say
Sushil Kumar Modi is a thief. Let him sue me for defamation as well.
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BRING KASHMIR AT PAR WITH OTHER STATES, SANTOSH HEGDE CALLS
FOR SCRAPPING OF ARTICLES 370 AND 35A
Retired Supreme Court
judge and former Solicitor General of India N Santosh Hegde has said the
controversial Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution that provide special
status to Jammu and Kashmir need to be scrapped as they run counter to the idea
of Kashmir being an integral part of India. Justice Hegde told that the
Articles were introduced at a point of time when Kashmir was not a part of
India. Today, that is not the political situation nor is there a sovereignty
situation in the country. Kashmir is an integral part of India. If it is an
integral part of India, it should be equal to all other states, Justice Hegde
told. Justice Hegde says that they cannot survive several decades after India’s
independence. Article 370 as we know speaks of a different political status,
which according to me, after 70 years of independence and the merger of Kashmir
with India, cannot survive there because the situation today is entirely
different. We are committed to annulling Article 35A of the Constitution of India
as the provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women of
Jammu and Kashmir, the party said in its Sankalp Patra. The party’s manifesto
added that it believes that Article 35A is acting as a hurdle in the state’s
development. The BJP, which was in government in Jammu and Kashmir with
Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP, also reiterated its stand to abrogate Article 370. Hegde
said, Anybody can say tomorrow even Khalistan people will say that we are a
separate part of India. We will have to deal with them in the same coin. There
are secessionist forces even in the mainland who would like to have an
independent part of India. But we cannot accept it.
#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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