NO 5-DAY A WEEK IN COMMERCIAL BANKS: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) said on Saturday it has not issued any direction with regard to a
five-day a week working for commercial banks. It has been reported in certain
sections of the media that commercial banks would have a 5-day week in terms of
RBI instructions. It is clarified that this information is not factually
correct, the RBI said in a release.
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DEPOSITS IN JAN DHAN BANK ACCOUNTS SET TO CROSS RS 1 LAKH
CRORE
The total deposits in bank
accounts opened under the Jan Dhan scheme are set to cross Rs 1 lakh crore soon
Government data claimed that the cumulative balance in 35.29 crore accounts
under the flagship programme of the Modi government reached Rs 97,665.66 crore
as on April 3. The total deposits in Jan Dhan accounts stood at Rs 96,107.35
crore on March 27 and Rs 95,382.14 crore in the week before, government data
showed. Rupay debit cards have been issued to a total of 27.89 crore Jan Dhan
account holders, as per government records.
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JOB CREATION TREBLES IN FEB AT 8.61 LAKH, SHOW EPFO PAYROLL
DATA
Net employment generation
in the formal sector almost trebled to 8.61 lakh in February compared to 2.87
lakh in the same month of last year, according to the latest EPFO payroll data.
According to the latest data, the highest job creation was recorded in January
2019 at 8.94 lakh against the provisional estimate of 8.96 lakh released last
month. During February 2019, the highest number of 2.36 lakh jobs were created
in the 22-25 years age group, followed by 2.09 lakh in the 18-21 years age
bracket. The data showed that 80.86 lakh new jobs were created in the 18 months
period from September 2017 to February 2019. However, the EPFO has revised
downward the number of net subscribers added or new jobs created from September
2017 to January 2019 to 72.24 lakh from 76.48 lakh released last month. The
sharpest revision was for March 2018 in the latest report which showed
contraction or exit of 55,934 members from the EPFO subscriptions. In February
2019, the EPFO data had showed that as many as 5,498 members joined EPFO
schemes in March 2018.
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TRAI AIMS TO FIX ‘REGULATORY IMBALANCE’ THROUGH OTT
CONSULTATION
The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) intends to tackle the regulatory imbalance between
mobile phone companies and over-the-top (OTT) applications which provide
communication services similar to telecom operators such as Facebook, WhatsApp
and Google, riding carriers’ networks, through an ongoing consultation process.
In the OTT consultation, our focus is on the regulatory imbalance from the
perspective of telecom operators, Trai chairman RS Sharma told. The consultation
has a limited scope Sharma said, since the issues surrounding discriminatory
pricing and net neutrality have already been sorted out. Trai is currently
focusing only on the regulatory issues and economic concerns that can be
associated with apps which provide same or similar services as the telecom
service providers, he said. The regulator is holding an open house discussion
in Bengaluru on April 24, followed by one in Delhi next month. The Trai
chairman said telcos say that they are licensees and have restrictions and
comply with law enforcement agencies as well unlike communication OTT players,
which leads to a regulatory imbalance. Such apps, he said, are considered free
riders on telecom networks. It may not be true to call OTT apps merely free
riders. Customers ultimately end up paying the data charges for the services
they use, he said. App companies reject the claim that they are unregulated,
saying they are regulated under the IT Act and that any move to regulate them
like the telcos will stifle innovation. Trai is expected to come out with a new
OTT framework by the middle of this year.
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INDIA INC’S TOP LINES SEE 18.4% GROWTH, PROFITS REMAIN MUTED
The initial trend in the
March 2019 quarter results show that revenue continued to grow in double-digits
though at a slower rate, while net profit growth fell to single digits. For a
sample, of the 42 companies that declared results so far, net sales grew by
18.4 per cent year-on-year after 36-42 per cent growth in the previous three
quarters. Growth in net profit was 9.4 per cent in the March 2019 quarter after
trending above 10 per cent in the previous five quarters. Reliance Industries
(RIL) influenced the sample aggregates with 60 per cent and 42 per cent
contributions in sales and net profit, respectively. Excluding RIL, the
sample’s net sales remained more or less same at 18 per cent but net profit
growth improved to 15.9 per cent.
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GOVERNMENT'S NEW REGULATION TO MAKE HELMETS SAFER
While mixers, grinders and
juicers are mandated to carry a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification
two wheeler helmets are not. Now, a new regulation under consideration could
soon mandate that quality of these ‘protective headgear’ be finally brought
under the BIS Act. The objective is to make sure that helmets being used are of
required quality, considering unorganised players account for 70% of 20 million
units-ayear helmet market, say manufacturers. Already the government has
notified new BIS norms for two wheeler helmets for those in the organized
sector who do not conform to BIS certification. The government is planning to announce
a rule to make ISI helmets mandatory and has introduced new BIS standards for
two wheeler helmets, which were to be implemented from January 15 this year. It
received an extension first up to April 15 and then till July 15. Currently
there are 219 companies in India, out of which only nine have taken the
required certification so far, said Rajeev Kapur. At present, Royal Enfield and
Vespa are among the only handful of brands to comply with this rule.
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UNEMPLOYMENT LOOMS LARGE IN HYDERABAD KARNATAKA, BUT IT IS NOT
A POLL ISSUE
In the excruciating summer
heat of Northern Karnataka, Hanumanthaiah Shankarappa, a man in his 20s, is
engaged in highway repair work in a village 40 km from Raichur town. He would
have preferred to toil on his 7-acre field than on the road, had there been
sufficient water to irrigate. Of the five siblings in his family, three have
moved to Bengaluru in search of livelihood. Hanumanthaiah points at two
concrete structures. They are factories, meant to manufacture rail coaches and
cool drink. We have been hearing that the factories will open and will help
people of 10 villages to get employment. It has been six years, but these
factories never functioned, he said. Blame it on the failed monsoon and the
consecutive drought, unemployment is the biggest issue in this part of the
State. The five Lok Sabha constituencies - Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Raichur,
Koppal, Bidar and Ballari - carved out of six districts bordering Andhra
Pradesh, go to polls on April 23. The vicious cycle of severe drought,
unemployment and poverty has rendered Hyderabad Karnataka the most
underdeveloped region in Karnataka. The special status granted to it through
Article 371(J) – for reservation in education and recruitment -- is yet to show
any visible result. No conversation in this arid region with a literacy rate of
54% -- much lower than the state average of 75.36%, -- is complete without
references to rain deficit, crop loss and unemployment. It has the highest
concentration of seasonal unemployment, which translates to large-scale
migration to cities. Yet, this is not an election issue. No candidate or party
gives us job assurance, rued Nadubaiyappa from Gulsaran in Gulbarga. Half of
his paddy field which he cultivated post monsoon is destroyed due to water
scarcity. Though he did a short stint in Bengaluru like his peers, he returned
unhappy with the work and life in a big city. Voters in this region hope that
the next government, whichever, will build more factories on barren land to
give jobs to the youth and provides irrigation. But when it comes to their
voting choices, caste factor, influence of local leaders, party affiliation,
identity consideration and to an extent money, become considerations. A Kuruba
voter said that he would vote for the Congress irrespective of what other
parties promise. While employment is an issue, we will vote for someone who has
done good for the community, Rachaiah said.
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TOTAL COST OVERRUN OF 205 DELAYED RAILWAY PROJECTS IS RS 2.21
TRILLION
National transporter
Indian Railways account for nearly three-fifths of 344 central sector projects
that are facing huge cost overrun due to delay in implementation for various
reasons. Total cost overrun of 205 delayed railway projects is whopping Rs 2.21
trillion, the latest flash report of the Statistics and Programme
Implementation Ministry (MOSPI) for December 2018 showed. The MOSPI monitors
central sector projects involving an expenditure of Rs 150 crore and above.
According to the report, the total original cost of these 205 projects was Rs
1,68,116.34 crore up to December 2018. The total anticipated cost of these
projects is estimated at Rs 3,89,745.97 crore, which indicates overall cost
escalation by 131.83 per cent. The ministry monitored 367 projects of Indian
Railways in December 2018. The report stated that 94 of these projects reported
time overrun or delay of one month to 324 months. After the railways, the power
sector reported the second highest incidence of overall cost overrun Of the 95
projects monitored by the ministry in the power sector, 40 reported cost
overrun of Rs 63,334.88 crore. The total original cost of these 40 projects was
Rs 1,72,830.59 crore, which escalated to an anticipated cost of Rs 2,36,165.47
crore. The report stated that of the 95 power sector projects, 56 reported time
overrun (delay) of two months to 147 months. The third largest cost escalation
was recorded in the road transport and highways sector where out of the 605
monitored projects, as many as 49 reported cost overrun. These 49 projects in
the road transport and highway sector reported a cost overrun of Rs 15,000.56
crore. The total original cost of these 49 projects was Rs 29,654.32 crore,
which escalated to Rs 44,654.88 crore. As many as 112 projects in the sector
reported a delay of one month to 131 months.
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DELHI HIGH COURT ORDER CAN ACT AS PRECEDENT IN TIKTOK CASE
After the Madras High
Court ban on the TikTok app and concerns around objectionable content made
accessible to children, the matter will be heard in the Supreme Court on
Monday, but there is a precedent in a Delhi High Court order that laid down
some guidelines for social media platforms and children six years ago. The
Delhi High Court order of 2013 was in response to a petition by RSS ideologue
and social activist KN Govindacharya versus Google, Facebook and the Union of
India. The court laid down guidelines for users and social media platforms
including filing complaints against minor accounts following which sites were
expected to take appropriate action, after verification, for deleting the
account. The order also cited rules from Intermediary Guidelines 2011 and the
IT Act 2000, and said the intermediaries after getting complaints from people,
shall act within 36 hours and where applicable, work with users to disable such
information and preserve information for at least 90 days for investigation
purposes. This is relevant in the context of usage by minor growups, the court
order had said. With regard to the issue of whether children can open accounts
with social networking sites such as Facebook and Orkut, there is no dispute
that children below the age of 13 years are not permitted to open such
accounts, stated the order, passed by then acting Chief Justice Badar Durrez
Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru, adding, It is not in dispute that if it comes
in the knowledge of any person that a child below the age of 13 years has
opened such an account, he may make a complaint to the social networking site
who shall then take appropriate action, after verification, for deletion of
that account. The order was based on a petition which sought an appropriate
writ to be issued directing the government to impose penalties on social media
companies for non-verification of users and directing the respondents to
maintain a national register of sexual offenders and other heinous crimes to
refrain them from joining social networking websites. In its order on April 3,
the Madras High Court, besides directing the government to prohibit downloads
of the TikTok app, had said the government has to answer whether it will enact
a statute like Children's Online Privacy Protection Act enacted by the United
States to prevent the children from becoming online/cyber victims. TikTok has
said about 85% of its users are adults, but what about the rest of the 15%
users? The government has asked Google and Apple to stop future TikTok
downloads but why has the government not issued any advisory to companies like
TikTok to protect the children? asked lawyer Virag Gupta, who was the advocate
for the petitioner in the 2013 case. The Delhi High Court order was never
challenged by the then UPA government and the current NDA government, Gupta
said.
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JUDICIARY UNDER ATTACK, SAYS SC BENCH ON ALLEGATIONS AGAINST
CHIEF JUSTICE RANJAN GOGOI
A three-judge bench of the
Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed allegations leveled by a former staffer of
the court against Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi as wild and baseless, designed to
attack and erode the independence of the judiciary The CJI who was presiding
over the bench, however, did not pass any gag order against the media on
reporting this. Instead the bench urged the media to exercise restraint in the
matter. Reputation is the only thing we have. Why will any person want to be
judge? The CJI observed. This is pathetic. The independence of the judiciary is
under a threat Judges have judicial duties and have to discharge them without
fear or favour, he said. I have Rs 6 lakh odd in my accounts. My peon has more
money than I have. These reports are published with less than 12 hours notice
to me, he observed. The judiciary is under attack. We will not allow this. We
will discharge our duties. The bench said all this in presence of Attorney
General KK Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who backed the court
and sought a gag order on reporting the allegations. The CJI said suitable
orders will be passed later by other senior judges sans him.
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BAR BODIES CONDEMN ‘COOKED UP’ ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CJI
The Bar Council of India
on Saturday condemned the false and cooked-up sexual harassment allegations
against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and said the entire bar was
standing with the CJI, and against this attempt to malign the institution.
These are all false and cooked-up allegations and we condemn these kinds of
acts. These kind of allegations and actions should not be encouraged. This is
an attempt to malign the institution. Entire bar is standing in solidarity with
the Chief Justice of India, Manan Kumar Mishra, told PTI. He said an emergency
meeting of the top bar body would be convened on Sunday and a resolution be
passed in this regard. We will pass the resolution and then try to meet the CJI
to make him aware of the (BCI’s) decision, Mishra said. The Supreme Court Bar
Association (SCBA) president and senior advocate Rakesh Khanna, who was present
during the extraordinary hearing in the matter on Saturday, however, refused to
comment. We are not part of the case. There is no lis (litigation) before the
court. I am not giving any interview (on the controversy). Thank you, he said.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Bar Association also condemned the allegations
on the CJI and said it was an attempt to target top Indian judiciary and the
entire bar stood in support of the CJI. We condemn this attempt of targeting
Indian judiciary. There is an urgent need to find a better way of dealing with
these kind of accusations. Such baseless allegations are enough to ruin the
reputation of a judge this way anyone can make any accusations against anyone,
the NGT Bar Association’s office-bearer Gaurav Kumar Bansal told.
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INDIA'S GROWTH TRAJECTORY HOLDS IMMENSE POTENTIAL FOR GLOBAL STAKEHOLDERS:
ASHISH SINHA
India's growth trajectory
holds immense potential for global stakeholders to establish energy,
infrastructure and technology collaboration with the country, a UN forum has been
told. Ashish Sinha stressed on Wednesday at the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for
Development Follow Up that India wanted to use growth as a mechanism to pull
the maximum number of people out of poverty and improve quality of life in an
inclusive manner. India has retained its position as the world's fastest
growing major economy. Indian economy has been growing over 7 per cent for
several years and the forecast for the future is equally robust, he said. Sinha
noted that India improved its ranking by 23 positions in the World Bank's Ease
of Doing Business rankings last year. India's growth trajectory holds immense
potential for our global stakeholders to establish energy, natural resource,
and infrastructure and technology collaboration with us, Sinha said. Noting
that India has taken strong initiatives for financial inclusion, he said in the
the past three years, the government has opened over 320 million bank accounts
for those who never had an account. We have leveraged these bank accounts with
the power of a biometric identity system and mobile phones, to deliver
subsidies and services to the deserving poor, he said, adding that 1.6 million
people have benefited from the recently launched cashless health insurance
scheme called 'Ayushman Bharat' in the first four months of its launch. India
is also the sixth largest producer of renewable energy in the world and Indian
solar power capacity will grow robustly at an annual average rate of 15.3 per
cent to reach 105.9 GW by 2028, up from 26 GW in 2018, he said. However, we
fully acknowledge the role of international cooperation on tax matters in a
globalised and digital economy. In this regard, to further strengthen the work
of the UN Tax Committee, India continued its contribution to its Voluntary
Trust Fund for the Tax Committee for the second consecutive year in 2018, Sinha
said. Stepping up our cooperation with the fellow developing countries here at
the United Nations, India established the India-UN Development Partnership Fund
that supports Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational
sustainable development projects. A sum of USD 150 million has been committed
for the next decade focusing on developmental projects in Least Developed
Countries and Small Island Developing States. The Fund already has projects in
39 countries.
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INDIA CAN CUT COSTS BY SWITCHING KEROSENE SUBSIDIES TO SOLAR
ENERGY: STUDY
Switching subsidies from
kerosene to off-grid solar energy can help India cut its ballooning subsidy
bills improve electricity access for households and mitigate indoor pollution.
Despite the success of Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or Saubhagya
scheme, millions of households are still leaning on kerosene for domestic
lighting. However, kerosene being an unclean fuel causes indoor air pollution
and runs the risk of triggering a fire. The report says that off-grid solar
energy could be made directly to households, through manufacturers or as
subsidised credit through financial institutions. Balasubramanian Viswanathan,
said, Over the lifetime of the products, solar lanterns, home systems and
micro-grids are all cheaper than the combined household and government
expenditure on kerosene. The government could actually save money by switching
support to solar energy. Martand Shardul, Fellow at TERI and co-author, added,
From the state and central level consultations it is clear that the government
wants to provision access to energy for lighting to everyone. Communities also
aspire to transition to solar-based solutions for lighting. The study advocates
that making the switch to solar would significantly reduce fiscal and household
expenditure. A range of off-grid solar products is now cheaper than kerosene
over the lifespan of the technology. A cost comparison establishes that the
government could save Rs 129 per month on each household if kerosene as a
lighting source is swapped with a solar lantern. The savings are estimated at
Rs 41 per month and Rs 37 per month on every household should the government
supplant the unclean energy source with solar home system and micro grid
respectively. Having said that, it’s not easy for low-income households to opt
for off-grid solar technologies due to their high upfront costs. The hurdle is
not insuperable - the study suggests it could be overcome via three-pronged
strategy- subsidy programmes for households to buy solar products, subsidy
programmes for manufacturers to reduce the final price of products for eligible
consumers and subsidy programmes for banks and microfinance institutions to
make borrowing for solar products more affordable. The Government of India
spent over Rs 46,000 crore in FY19 on subsidies for cooking gas and kerosene-
this exceeded the initial Budget Estimates for 2018-19 by 84 per cent. The
continuation of the kerosene subsidy risks high and unpredictable costs in
periods when oil prices escalate. The report by TERI and IISD though, points to
the dip in kerosene consumption. Over the last decade, PDS (public distribution
system) kerosene consumption has more than halved, from 9.4 million tonnes in
FY 2007-08 to 3.8 million metric tonnes in FY 2017-18. This has contributed to
the falling expenditure by the central government towards kerosene subsidies-
it has slumped to a sixth of the pre-2014 level, creating savings worth Rs
86,560 crore in the past four years though the savings are also reflective of
the dip in international crude oil prices and changes in government policies.
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COAL MINISTRY MAY FINE GMR, ESSAR ₹900 CR FOR ‘NON-PERFORMANCE’
The Coal Ministry will rake
in approximately ₹900 crore from Essar and GMR for non-performance after bagging
coal blocks in the first auction round held in 2015. This follows the Delhi
High Court’s dismissal of petitions filed by Essar and GMR seeking a refund of
the bank guarantees deposited by them, as they were not being allowed to pass
through higher bid amounts to the consumers. GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd (GCEL)
had won the Ganeshpur and Talabira coal mines while Essar Power Madhya Pradesh
had won the Tokisud North coal block. The companies had argued that they were
unable to monetise the blocks due to changes in the bid terms after the award
of contracts. They wanted to surrender the blocks to the Coal Ministry and seek
a return of the bank guarantees. However, the court dismissed their petition.
As far as Ganeshpur is concerned, it (GMR) did not remit the second or third
instalments of the upfront payment, or apply for the mining lease or forest clearance,
within the stipulated time frame we are of the view that it would not be
appropriate for the writ court to afford relief to the petitioners in such
circumstances. According to a Coal Ministry letter, bank guarantees of ₹294.9
crore and ₹261 crore respectively were to be parked by GCEL and Essar as
performance security for the Ganeshpur mine and Tokisud North coal block. GMR
Infra’s audit report for FY18 said: During the period ended September 30, 2017,
GCEL has filed a writ petition with the Delhi High Court for surrendering both
the coal blocks allotted during the year ended March 31, 2015.
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AWARE OF SANCTIONS, BOUGHT VENEZUELAN OIL WITH FULL APPROVAL
OF US: RELIANCE
Reliance Industries
Saturday said it is not in violation of the US sanctions on Venezuela and had
purchased crude originating from the Latin American nation from companies such
as Russia's Rosneft in full knowledge of US authorities. In a statement, Reliance
said reports suggesting that it was involved in an arrangement that leads to
cash payment for oil supplies to Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA via
third parties are false and reckless. Reliance has purchased Venezuelan crude
oil from companies such as (Russia's) Rosneft long before the imposition of the
US sanctions, as they do get title to Venezuelan oil in return for reduction in
their prior debt. Since sanctions were imposed, Reliance has made such
purchases with the full knowledge and approval of the US Department of State
(USDOS), and Reliance has informed USDOS of specific volumes and transactions.
Such transactions do not lead to any consequent payment to PDVSA and do not
violate US sanctions or policies, it said. Reliance said its price agreement
with such sellers is at market price and payments are settled in cash or by
product supply bilaterally between it and such sellers. It is false to suggest
that Reliance would be settling such shipments via Rosneft to PDVSA. In these
transactions, PDVSA is only the original physical supplier, as the crude oil
originates in its export facilities, the statement said. Reliance had last
month stated that it had stopped all oil exports to US sanctions-hit Venezuela
and will not resume sales until sanctions are lifted. Reliance, whose twin
refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat were major importers of Venezuelan crude oil,
has reduced purchases by about a third. US oil sanctions on Venezuela do not
ban importing crude oil from the Latin American nation but bar imports from the
US of the diluents that must be blended with the extra-heavy oil from
Venezuela's Orinoco Belt so it can flow through pipelines. Industry sources
said Reliance had a contract to buy some 3 million barrels of crude oil from
Venezuela a month, which has been reduced to about 2 million barrels already.
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NO JET AIRWAYS, BUT TULIPS STILL BLOOM FOR INDIANS FLYING OUT
ON GROUP TOURS
Tulips are in full bloom
in Holland’s Keukenhof Gardens, a 45-minute drive from Amsterdam’s Schiphol
airport where a Jet Airways flight used to land daily at 8.15am with tourists
from Mumbai and the rest of India. A large number of these tourists were on
group tours organized by Indian travel companies. While Middle Eastern airlines
are the most popular for group tours to Europe, Jet was preferred for UK and
South East Asia, from where groups transit to Australia on foreign carriers.
Which is why, when Jet suspended its international operations a few weeks ago,
travel companies that book air tickets en masse went into a tizzy and jumped in
first to book their clients on alternate flights. About 60 lakh Indians travel
in group tours—chaperoned tourists with packed itineraries, who find safety in
numbers and comfort in having Indian food abroad—organized by about a hundred
Indian travel companies annually. Most of these tours are in summer, with
Europe being the top favourite, followed by South-East Asia and then the US. We
have two-three group tours leaving for Europe from Mumbai daily in summer.
Thankfully, our Jet exposure is limited to only 1,000 of the 12,000
Europe-bound tourists, said Veena Patil, managing director, Veena World, whose
first ‘Tulip Garden Special’ tour with 40 tourists departs on April 22. The
tours were on Jet flights to Amsterdam. But we’ve managed to rebook them; it
wasn’t easy.
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ARBITRARY BAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS WILL IMPEDE FDI: IAMAI
Any arbitrary ban on
social media platforms and intermediaries could impede foreign direct
investment and affect expansion of the digital India initiative, an industry
body of Internet and mobile device companies said Saturday. Without naming
Chinese video sharing app TikTok, the Internet and Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) said its statement was in response to the recent ban by the MeiTY on
the order of a High Court of a social media platform. The IAMAI said it would
be a major roadblock to the growth of digital India and impede FDI in digital
if intermediaries were to be banned quite arbitrarily by the courts in the
country. The association was of the view that such bans dilutes nay negate the
safe harbour provisions currently contained in the IT Act and its Rules and
make it impossible for them to operate in the country. Especially affected
would be the so-called social media platforms which allow citizens to express
themselves, it added. The association is of the view that in this particular
instance, the complainant should have approached the government for redressal
first before approaching the courts and the court should have ideally asked the
platform to remove the 'offending content' than ban the entire app. It is a
classic case of throwing the baby with the bathwater, the IAMAI said.
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SOFTENING RURAL DEMAND TO SLOW DOWN FMCG INDUSTRY GROWTH
Consumption of fast moving
consumer goods (FMCG) in rural areas appear to be softening, though it is
healthy at the moment. Monsoon is expected to play the spoilsport this year,
according to market estimates, with forecasts of a below normal monsoon at 93
per cent as against a normal range of 96-104 per cent. The FMCG industry is
likely to grow at a slower pace at 11-12 per cent in 2019 — almost two per cent
lower than that in 2018, according to a Nielsen report. The report said the
industry is also expected to grow at 12-13 per cent during the April to June
quarter of the calender year 2019. Though at a slightly lower note than the
last quarter of 2018 calendar year, the report notes inflationary pressures are
mounting and has moved from 2 per cent in January to 2.9 per cent in March. Khiani
said the sector contributes 69 per cent to the overall value growth.
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EC ISSUES NOTICE TO SADHVI PRAGYA FOR HER REMARKS AGAINST
HEMANT KARKARE
The Election Commission
(EC) issued notice to Malegaon blast accused and BJP candidate from Bhopal
Pragya Singh Thakur for her remarks against police officer Hemant Karkare, who
was killed in the 26/11 terror attack, an officer said Saturday. Thakur had
claimed that Karkare died during the attacks as she cursed him for torturing
her. However, after her remarks kicked up a row, she tendered an apology on
Friday. Before a notice was issued to Sadhvi Pragya, District Election Officer
and Bhopal Collector Sudam Khade had said, We took suo motu cognisance of the
statement and sought a report from the assistant returning officer (ARO) on the
matter. We got the report this morning and we are going to issue notices, which
are returnable within 24 hours, to the organiser of the programme and the
person who made the statement. We are going to send the ARO report to the EC,
he said. Khade said that the organiser of the event had been given permission
on certain conditions as the model code of conduct was in force.
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STOP STREAMING OF WEB SERIES ON PM MODI TILL FURTHER ORDERS:
EC TO EROS NOW
The Election Commission
Saturday asked Eros Now to stop till further orders online streaming of a web
series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In its direction, the poll panel has
cited its April 10 order, banning a biopic on Modi, to place a similar bar on
the web series titled Modi - Journey of a Common Man. In view of the admitted
facts and material available on record, this web series being an original web
series on Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister and a political leader and a
prospective candidate in the current general elections to the Lok Sabha, cannot
be exhibited, said the poll panel.
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ALLAHABAD HC SEEKS EC REPLY ON A PIL AGAINST RELEASE OF BIOPIC
ON NARENDRA MODI
The Allahabad High Court
Friday asked the Election Commission to file its reply on a PIL seeking a stay
on the release of a biopic on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The court has asked
the poll panel to file the reply by the next date of hearing on April 26. A
bench comprising justices Sudhir Agarwal and Rajendra Kumar also asked the EC
that how the makers of the film will be compensated for losses due to delay in
the release of the movie. The bench passed the order after hearing the PIL
filed by Sana Ullah Khan, president of Bhim Sena. The petitioner contented that
the release of the movie during election time will influence voters, and hence,
violate the Model Code of Conduct.
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CASH IN CIRCULATION ROSE SINCE NOTE BAN: KAPIL SIBAL
Kapil Sibal on Friday said
that contrary to claims that demonetization had helped make a cashless economy
the cash in circulation has increased since the 'ill-founded' move was
implemented. Sibal said that the cash in circulation had, in fact, gone up from
Rs 17.97 trillion on November 4, 2016 to Rs 21.41 trillion on March 15, 2019.
He said that contrary to claims that it was a war on black money,
demonetization was a move by the Modi government to help those with black
money. The only cashlessness that happened was for the common man who was left
with no cash in hand while those who had black money managed to get it
converted even after the deadline for Rs 500 and Rs 1000 old currency notes as
acceptable legal currency ended, said Sibal. Calling it the biggest scam in the
history of the country, Sibal said, This is the biggest scam in the history of
the country There can be some bankers, officials etc behind this. He also said
that opposition was getting stronger while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
popularity is going down. I can see the graph of Modi is going down whereas the
opposition's graph is going up including Congress and others. Response for the
second phase is worrisome for BJP, Sibal said talking to reporters here. Sibal
also played a video sourced from tnn.world which showed a person allegedly
associated with BJP converting old currency notes worth Rs 5 crore for new
currency notes worth Rs 3 crore.
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VIOLENCE ERUPTS IN TAMIL NADU’S PUDUKOTTAI OVER CONTROVERSIAL
WHATSAPP VIDEO, SEC 144 IMPOSED
Prohibitory orders were
clamped in parts of the district that witnessed violence after an audio clip
containing alleged derogatory remarks about a community went viral, police said
Saturday. Nearly 1,500 police personnel have been deployed in Ponamaravathy
area, where violence was reported and regulatory orders under CrPc section 144
had been promulgated to restore normalcy, they said adding situation in the
area was being closely monitored. Meanwhile, District Collector Uma Maheswari
Saturday ordered closure of liquor shops in the district. In the audio clip,
two men are purportedly heard making derogatory comments against the community.
Several vehicles, including government buses and shops were damaged in violent
incidents over the past two days, they said. Thirteen people, including three
policemen were injured when a group of villagers belonging to the community
indulged in stone-pelting in Ponamaravathi on Friday.
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PRESENT GENERATION OF DYNAST HAS BECOME LIABILITY FOR
CONGRESS: ARUN JAITLEY
Arun Jaitley Saturday said
the present generation of dynast has become a liability for the Congress party
and expressed hope that aspirational India would reject caste-based and
dynastic parties during the ongoing general elections. Jaitley added that with
the socio-economic profile of the country moving up on account of growth, it
would be difficult for people to accept dynasties If the Congress’s dynast has
only an ability to deliver 44 seats or 60 seats in Parliament, what then is the
incentive for conventional Congressmen to bear humiliation of subjecting
themselves to a dynast? Ultimately, in dynastic parties one has to accept
political slavery, Jaitley said. The grand old party is led by Rahul Gandhi,
grandson of Indira Gandhi and son of Rajiv Gandhi, and is assisted by his
sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Jaitley said the two Prime Ministers that BJP
gave to the nation — Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi — were by a mile
the tallest politicians of their generation, adding that this could happen only
in merit-based parties and not dynastic ones. A relevant question with this
changing socio-economic profile of India is – Are dynasties an asset for a
party or are they a liability? Unquestionably, the present generation of dynast
has become a liability rather than an asset for the Congress Party, he said. Jaitley
further said: Is history going to witness something wholly unprecedented? Are
we going to witness the rejection of caste based and dynastic parties? And will
aspirational India make a harsh judgement on electing a merit based leadership?
This may well be the case. Referring to other dynastic parties, Jaitley said
the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has splintered, while the Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) got zero in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 19 seats in the assembly
elections. The Samajwadi Party could only retain seats for its family members
in the 2014 elections, while the RJD was down to two seats, he noted. Commenting
on the first two phases of polling for the general elections, Jaitley said the momentum
was clearly with the BJP and Prime Minister Modi. In terms of national
leadership contest for a Prime Ministerial election, it is almost becoming a
one horse race. There is nobody else measuring up to Prime Minister Modi’s
level of capacity and acceptability, he added.
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SWEEPING ELECTORAL REFORMS NEEDED TO END MALPRACTICES: ANNA
HAZARE
Anti-corruption crusader
Anna Hazare has called for large-scale electoral reforms in the country to
remove poll-related malpractices and to cleanse the system. The 81-year-old
activist lamented that lack of awareness among voters and focus of political
parties on winning the elections by hook or crook has led to degeneration of
politics, and he saw no bright future for the country if the situation
continued. Hazare said voters were one of the pillars of the democracy. But
looking at the reports of cash seizure from various places during the
electioneering, one wonders why voters take money to vote. Is this the value of
our freedom fighters, who gave us independence? he asked. Hazare felt that the
parties' approach of coming to power by hook or crook has resulted in
criminalisation of politics The sanctity of Parliament and state assemblies
have come under threat, he said. The octogenarian said he believed in the
Constitution of India, in which there was no mention of election symbols and
political parties. Any individual who is above the age of 25 can contest
elections. For the last six years, I am in correspondence with the Election
Commission of India (ECI) seeking removal of election symbols. The Constitution
of India recognises only individuals, he said. The veteran Gandhian said using
the sacrifices of martyrs for seeking votes was saddening. When the trend is to
do anything to come to power, such misuse is seen and voters are sleeping, he
said. He expressed sadness over not getting any response from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to his 32 letters written on a range of issues. He said the
appointment of Lokpal recently done by the Centre was not up to his
expectations. But, I am confident that it will put a break on corrupt
practices, Hazare added. I will vote for the correct candidate or exercise the
NOTA (none of the above) option, he said. Hazare said instead of the election
symbols, names of candidates and their photos should be enough for voting.
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NYAY WILL ACT LIKE PETROL, KICKSTART ENGINE OF ECONOMY: RAHUL
Rahul Gandhi said here
Saturday that the 'Nyay' minimum income scheme promised by his party will act
like petrol and revive the economy With the Nyay scheme, people will be able to
buy things they need which will revive manufacturing units and thereby generate
employment opportunities, he said. In 2014, Narendra Modi made tall promises of
providing two crore jobs, fair prices to farmers and depositing Rs 15 lakh in
everyone's bank account, the Congress chief said. Instead, Modi snatched money
from the poor and put it in the pockets of a few businessmen, he said. I spoke
with world's renowned economists and senior leaders of Congress about how much
money can be put into the accounts of the poor so that it would not affect the
economy. I spoke to (former finance minister) P C Chidambaram and others and
asked them to come up with a figure. Chidambaram came to me and said we can
give Rs 72,000 to five crore poor families per year, he said. When we promised
to waive farm loans in Chhattisgarh, Modi had asked where the money will come
from. But we showed where the money comes from after waiving farm loans in
Chhattigsrh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (after winning Assembly polls in the
three states), Gandhi said. As soon as we are elected to power, we will deposit
Rs 72,000 in bank accounts of poorest families, he said. In the 21st century,
India will surely eliminate poverty. We will show it by carrying out a surgical
strike on poverty in the next 10-15 years, the Congress chief said. Promising a
separate farmers' budget, Gandhi said wherever farmers seek loan waiver, the
demand will be met.
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WILL END POVERTY WITHOUT NEW TAXES: MANMOHAN SINGH SPEAKS UP
FOR NYAY
Manmohan Singh endorsed
the Congress' NYAY scheme, claiming that its promise of providing annual income
support of Rs. 72,000 to each of India's poorest families will not only restart
the nation's growth engine but also stimulate demand in a manner leading to
increased economic activity and job creation. The statement released by Dr
Singh also dismissed claims that the proposed scheme will strain the country's
monetary reserves, saying that it will only cost anywhere between 1.2%-1.5% of
the Gross Domestic Product -- an expenditure that can be easily absorbed by
India's $3 trillion economy. He clarified that the scheme, which was
conceptualised after extensive consultations with experts, will not lead to
imposition of new taxes on the middle class. Dr Singh said that the scheme will
ensure a basic level of dignity and respect for every Indian family. By
providing direct income support, NYAY will empower our poor with economic
freedom and choice. With NYAY, India will usher in an era of minimum income
guarantee and help create a new social contract for a new welfare state, his
statement read. Dr Singh, however, rejected the argument that the country saw
minimal growth in its initial decades under Congress governance. Nearly 70% of
Indians were poor when India attained Independence from the British in 1947.
With sound policies adopted over the last seven decades, poverty levels have
been brought down to 20%. It is now time to renew our pledge to wipe out the
last remains of poverty, his statement read.
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SIDHU CALLS PM MODI ‘ANTI-NATIONAL’, ACCUSES HIM OF FAVOURING
PRIVATE COMPANIES
Navjot Singh Sidhu
Saturday alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi ruined government companies and
favoured private firms in his five years of rule and accused him of being
anti-national for selling the interest of the nation. Sidhu also described PM
Modi as nikamma (useless) and said he should stop harping on the issue of
nationalism to garner votes and talk about the matters of national interest. Punjab
minister alleged, Modi is the business development manager of Ambani and Adani,
as he has favoured them at the cost of state-run firms. The Congress has been
attacking the prime minister for promoting crony capitalism and favouring his
industrialist friends. The government has, however, denied the charges. Sidhu
also alleged that while SBI and MTNL are accruing losses, PM Modi is endorsing
private companies like Paytm and Reliance Jio. The Congress leader alleged that
the chowkidar took care only of the rich and ignored the rest 99 per cent of
the population. And the prime minister says he’s the chowkidar of the nation.
He’s the chowkidar of the top 1 per cent of the population. He never took
chairmen of government companies along with him on his foreign tours. Are
government firms not good enough? Sidhu asked. The cricketer-turned-politician
alleged that under the chowkidar’s watch, PSUs like Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited turned
into loss-making enterprises. While BSNL is grappling with a loss of Rs 8,000
cr, the prime minister is endorsing Reliance Jio, which has posted a huge
profit. While SBI is reeling under NPAs, Modi can be seen in advertisements of
Paytm, he alleged.
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MODI PROMISES ₹50-LAKH LOAN WITHOUT COLLATERAL, WELFARE
BOARD FOR TRADERS
Modi on Friday promised
traders ₹50-lakh loan without any collateral, credit card facility and
a pension scheme for small shopkeepers as he made a strong re-election pitch to
the business community. Modi said while his government has stood by traders in
thick and thin, the opposition Congress has abused businessmen by calling all
of them ‘chor’ (thieves). He said the BJP-led NDA government worked to simplify
lives and businesses of traders by scraping 1,500 archaic laws, simplifying
processes and providing easy credit. Traders are backbone of the Indian economy
but had in past never got the respect they deserved, Modi said, adding that
doubling the size of the economy to $5 trillion is not possible without their
contribution. After being re-elected, he said, his government will set up a
National Traders’ Welfare Board, bring trader credit cards and a pension scheme
for small shopkeepers. Modi said the Goods and Services Taxhas made doing
business transparent, ended state check-posts and resulted in doubling of
registered traders. I do not say there may have not been mistakes (in
implementing GST) but we have quickly addressed any anomalies based on
suggestions from traders, he said. Based on suggestions of traders, most daily
use items are taxed at zero rate while 98 per cent of the commodities are taxed
at less than 18 per cent, he said.
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YOU ARE THE BIGGEST STAKEHOLDERS IN THE ECONOMY, PM MODI TELLS
TRADERS
Five years ago, then
Gujarat chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi wooed traders from all across the country with the promise of
trust, ease of doing business and a better tomorrow. On Friday, Modi returned
to the party’s key vote bank, seeking another term while setting the target to
take India to 50th rank in Ease of Doing Business in five years and committing
a policy for small traders. You are the biggest stakeholders in the economy,
the PM said. PM listed the achievements of the past five years while lambasting
the Congress for its failures of 70 years, in a style that had election written
all over. While counting the many positives of the goods and services tax, he
left out any mention of demonetisation, the biggest disruption for small and
medium traders during the current rule of the BJP-led NDA government. There was
no talk on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail either. In its
campaign for the 2014 election, the BJP had told traders that FDI in
multi-brand retail wouldn’t be allowed if it was voted to power In the past
five years, no FDI proposal has been entertained by this government. Even as he
put forward a to-do list, including a national policy for small traders, the
creation of a national trader welfare board, fixed pensions and accident
insurance, Modi’s thrust was on giving respect to traders. According to the PM,
during the Congress rule, there was dearth of respect for traders. Modi said
the Congress had labelled traders inherently criminal. Gandhiji used to take
pride in saying he belonged to the trader community, but his party has over the
past 70 years thrived on calling traders thieves, Modi said. Praveen
Khandelwal, national secretary general of the CAIT, who uses ‘Chowkidar’ as a
prefix in his Twitter account (following the PM), told, it’s clear that the trading
community will be a priority for Modi when he forms the next government. On
Saturday, traders will take an official call on who to vote for after analysing
the manifestos. Traders claim they would be united in that decision. What about
the Congress? Hasn’t it reached out to this community? It seems the core
committees of traders had sent across their wishlist to all political parties,
but only the BJP responded. Not that traders have not been angry with the Modi
government in the past. Both after demonetisation and introduction of the GST,
their businesses were hurt, but things are coming back on track, most of those
who attended Modi’s address said. Once the new government takes over, the
traders’ bodies want to take up issues such as subsidy for computerisaton,
funds for infrastructure development and further easing of norms. However, on
Friday, there was no second opinion on who will form the next government. Undoubtedly,
it will be Modi government again, said Rajesh Dave. Sporting a main bhi
chowkidar tee, Nayan Jhaveri, who’s into chemical business, listed out reasons
why Modi’s the best PM and the vote is for him. A textile businessman Pankaj
Seth refused to get drawn into any conversation about demonetization, saying,
there’s been no problem at all in the last five years. It’s surprising how he
comes out with so many novel ideas. Wearing a NaMo shirt, Pradeep Gehlot, owner
of a construction business, told that the promises made by the PM will be
incremental to the benefits BJP has already provided. This includes the way it
has become easier to purchase commodities like sand and stones, which earlier
faced problems such as items getting stolen in transit and low quality, as well
as counterfeit goods reaching the market. For the 70-million traders across the
country, Modi managed to hit all the right notes on Friday, reiterating the
promises made in the election manifesto of the BJP — a party traditionally
known as being close to the trading community. He added to the manifesto list
by announcing that loans worth Rs 1 trillion would be disbursed to micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by 2024, which currently stands at Rs 19,000
crore. He also had something to offer to start-ups, a sector that was part of
many signature schemes of the NDA government. Ideal conditions will be created
for 50,000 new start-ups to flourish, the PM said. On GST, Modi said the number
of registered traders had nearly doubled since the implementation of the new
tax regime. Regarding easing of rules, he said: I had promised you in 2014
before I became PM that I will abolish one regulation a day as against a policy
formed a day by the Congress.’’ Pointing out that he had kept his word, he added,
In five years, I have abolished 1,500 regulations. PM presented his daily’’
report card: Around 11,000 new homes were handed over to homeless citizens
every day; 50,000 homes got power; 9,000 benefitted from Ayushman Bharat;
70,000 women received cooking gas connections; 200,000 new bank accounts were
opened under Jan Dhan Yojana. Just like traders calculate their daily earnings
at the end of every business day, I have to keep account of the country's
development every single day, Modi said.
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INDIA MUST COMPLETE ITS REFORM PROCESS IN NEXT FIVE YEARS,
FOCUS ON GROWTH OF LABOUR-INTENSIVE SECTORS: ARVIND PANAGARIYA
India must focus on the
growth of labour-intensive sectors to create decent jobs for the masses as well
as give serious thought to privatising the public sector banks (PSBs), eminent
economist Arvind Panagariya has said, emphasising that the reform process must
be completed in the coming five years. Panagariya, who had served as the first
Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog from January 2015 to August 2017, was
responding to a question on what the priorities should be of the government
that comes into power when India's mammoth and crucial general elections end
next month. My personal view is that India must complete its reform process in
the coming five years, Panagariya, told. The Deepak and Neera Raj Centre in The
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University
provides research and expertise necessary to inform policy decisions, deliver
increased prosperity, and define India's future role in the global economy.
Highlighting the priority areas, Panagariya said that India needs a clear focus
on the growth of labour-intensive sectors such as apparel, footwear, furniture,
kitchenware and other light manufactures to create decent jobs for the masses.
We need firms in these sectors that are globally competitive and capture the
space in export markets that China has been quitting due to its high wages.
This requires flexible labour and land laws and an ecosystem that is yet
friendlier to large firms, he said. Panagariya elaborated that one way to
achieve this is to create Shenzhen-style Coastal Employment Zones (in China)
that create zones of 500 square kilometers or more along the coast that are
characterized by highly entrepreneur-friendly regime with respect to land,
labour and international trade. Eventually, we must extend this regime to other
parts of the country as well, he said. He stressed that it is also time that we
gave a serious thought to privatising public sector banks (PSBs). Further,
public ownership has also resulted in dual regulation of PSBs (by the Reserve
Bank of India and the government) and two different RBI regulatory regimes for
PSBs and private banks. The simultaneous role of the government as a provider
of banking services through PSBs, policymaker and regulator create obvious
conflicts. There needs to a separation of policymaking, regulatory and service
provision functions, he said, adding that it is possible to promote social
goals without ownership of the banks as the experience with priority sector
lending illustrates. As a last resort, if the government feels that it must
have control, keeping the State Bank of India in the public sector (with due
governance reforms) may be a reasonable compromise, Panagariya said. Panagariya
also emphasised on the need for major reforms in the area of education, saying
the Right to Education Act has wholly neglected quality. This law has to be
amended such that it rewards schools and teachers for superior outcomes while
also sanctions them for poor delivery. It cannot be that government uses
taxpayers' money to give public school teachers salaries that are four or five
times what their counterparts receive in private schools and they still deliver
poorer outcomes than the latter, he said. Opining that higher education
requires an overhaul too, he said there is need to replace the University Grant
Commission Act by a Higher Education Commission Act that paves the way for full
autonomy for high-quality colleges and universities; provides for such colleges
to acquire the right to confer their own degrees and covert into universities;
and opens the door to the entry of foreign universities in a transparent
manner. Colleges and universities should come to be governed by their boards
with minimum interference by the government. Independent public and private
accreditation agencies should be appointed to evaluate colleges and
universities in an objective manner, he said.
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SPEEDTEST PARENT OOKLA BULLISH ON INDIAN MARKET WITH RISING
USER BASE
As Internet speeds are
becoming faster than ever and a higher number of people using data-intensive
applications, consumers are more curious to know the speed of their connections
— mobile or fixed. With over 800,000 tests a day in India, Ookla — parent
company of the popular speed checking app Speedtest — thinks India is a big
market. Speedtest is a popular web service that provides free analysis of Internet
access performance metrics, such as connection data rate and latency. In 2018,
it had over 40 million active users in India. Our business has two sides. One
is the consumer side, as our applications are used by consumers to access the
speed of their broadband and mobile connections. The second is the enterprise
side that works with traders, ISPs and provides them insights to help them
improve the networks. India became a strong growth market for us on the
consumer side even before (Reliance) Jio entered the scene; once Jio really
changed the landscape, India became a top market for us in terms of users, said
Doug Suttles, co-founder and general manager of Seattle-based Ookla. When asked
about the fastest network in India at present, Suttles said it was still Airtel
on mobile network. On engaging with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India,
he said: We keep an open dialogue with them. We work with regulators around the
world. I can’t say we have had a recent conversation but that doesn’t mean the
partnership is not there. Ookla recently acquired three companies — Mosaic,
which creates maps for telecom service providers globally on the basis of data
provided by the carriers themselves; Downdetector, which tracks real-time
outages for different websites/web services; Ekahau, which helps in the
planning of Wi-Fi networks. The company plans to monetise all these services,
in addition to its current monetisation strategy. India’s mobile data speeds
ranked 120th among 178 countries it tracked in March, and 69th on the fixed
line connection side. In the first quarter of this calendar year, over 76
million speed tests happened in India alone.
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MODI BIOPIC: EC SUBMITS DETAILED REPORT IN SC; NEXT HEARING ON
APRIL 26
The Election Commission on
Monday submitted its detailed report to the Supreme Court on the biopic of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took
the EC's report on Modi's biopic and asked the poll panel to supply a copy of
the report to the producer of the movie. The bench, which also comprised
Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, has now fixed the plea of producers
challenging the EC's ban on the movie for hearing on Friday 26.
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RAHUL GANDHI FILES AFFIDAVIT IN SC, EXPRESSES REGRET OVER HIS
REMARKS ON RAFALE VERDICT
Rahul Gandhi filed an
affidavit in the Supreme Court, expressing regret over his remarks related to
its Rafale verdict which the apex court had said was incorrectly attributed to
it. The apex court on April 15 had directed Gandhi to give his explanation by
April 22. In the affidavit, Gandhi said he had made the statements in the heat
of political campaigning which have been misused by his opponents. A bench
headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had made it clear that Gandhi's remarks,
made in the media, on the Rafale verdict were incorrectly attributed to the
apex court. The top court had sought Gandhi's explanation on a petition filed
by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi, who has sought criminal contempt against the
Congress president. The apex court is scheduled to hear the matter on Tuesday.
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ARUN JAITLEY BACKS CJI RANJAN GOGOI, SLAMS COMPLAINT AND
‘INSTITUTION DISRUPTORS’
In a surprising
intervention by the ruling establishment, a day after Chief Justice of India
Ranjan Gogoi convened an extraordinary sitting of the Supreme Court following
reports in four online portals about a former woman staffer’s sexual harassment
complaint against him, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley posted a blog
defending the CJI under the title: It is time to stand with the judiciary. A
Judge is continuously judged every day by the Bar and the stakeholders in the
course of his personal and judicial conduct. Every time he makes a comment or
writes a judgement, every word is scrutinised. In terms of personal decency,
values, ethics and integrity, the present Chief Justice of India is extremely
well regarded. Even when critics disagree with his judicial view, his value
system has never been questioned, Jaitley wrote. Jaitley’s post Sunday came in
contrast to the silence of the government last year, when four senior judges of
the Supreme Court including Justice Gogoi, held an unprecedented press conference
on January 12, 2018, questioning the selective allocation of sensitive cases by
the then CJI Dipak Misra. Jaitley said the allegations against the CJI has acquired
a disproportionate magnitude Such complaints, when they are made in the
ordinary course of any administrative functioning, are referred to the
appropriate Committee. However, when the complainant distributes copies of her
representation to other Judges of the Supreme Court and the media in order to
sensationalise her allegations, it ceases to be routine, he wrote. Lending
shoulder to completely unverified allegations coming from a disgruntled person
with a not- so-glorious track record is aiding the process of destabilisation
of the institution of the Chief Justice of India, he wrote. The Finance
Minister wrote that the CJI’s integrity, ethics, scholarship and fairness
reflect the image of India’s judiciary. He lives by example. For both the Chief
Justice and the judicial institutions, credibility and respect are essential.
Once the ‘Iqbal’ of judiciary is destroyed, the institution itself will
crumble, he posted. Jaitley wrote: The last few years have witnessed the
consolidation of ‘institution destabilizers’ in a major way. Many of these
destabilizers represent Left or ultra-Left views. They have no electoral base
or popular support. However, they still have a disproportionate presence in the
media and the academia. When ousted for mainstream media, they have taken
refuge in the digital and social media. He further wrote: let it be remembered
that this is not the first case of the ‘institutional destabilizers’ nor will
it be the last. If those who peddle falsehood to destroy the institution are
not dealt with in an exemplary manner, this trend will only accelerate. Jaitley
claimed that the country has witnessed a series of attacks by the ‘institution
disruptors’ against judges who are unwilling to agree with them and that a
mass-intimidation of Judges is on. Some lawyers have used intimidatory
behaviour as a tactic to expand their practise. Intimidation and discrediting
are important weapons in the hands of these people. Reputation is an integral
part of a person’s fundamental right to live with dignity. An intimidated judge
can fear consequences of a possible view that he is taking. It is, therefore,
essential that all well-meaning persons stand with the judicial institution
when destabilizers get ready for an assault, he wrote. Independent judiciary
and free media are both essential for a vibrant democracy One cannot take upon
itself the task of destroying the other Mainstream print media conventionally
had greater editorial control. The ability to dissect facts and take a balanced
view was much higher. But of late, the rat race for grabbing eyeballs or
viewership has begun. For the ‘institutional disruptors’ there are no red
lines, he said.
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ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS DEMANDS GOVERNMENT JOBS FOR JET
AIRWAYS EMPLOYEES
The All India Trade Union
Congress has urged government to absorb the employees of Jet Airways holding
the latter entirely responsible for the job losses following the end of
operation of Jet Airways. Jet Airways had staff strength of over 16,000.
Government, banks and various other airlines are talking about anything and
everything except continuing employment of these employees. This is ease of
doing business – nobody considers the liability of the employees, least of all
the central government under Modi, AITUC said in a statement on Monday. AITUC
demands that the concerned employees be absorbed suitably in government jobs,
it said. According to AITUC statement, it is a known fact that many of the
airlines are struggling to remain afloat because of the high fuel prices, for
which the central government is entirely responsible. AITUC has expressed its
solidarity with the Jet Airways employees, who are made to pay the heavy price
for the central government’s policies, it said. However, the trade union has
warned that government should not pressure the public sector banks to bail out
private entities like the Jet Airways, ILF&S.
#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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