GOVERNMENT NOTIFIES THRESHOLDS FOR FILING CLASS ACTION
LAWSUITS
Investors can now seek
class action against companies with the government notifying the thresholds for
filing such lawsuits. In a significant move, the corporate affairs ministry has
notified the thresholds for filing class action -- a provision aimed at
providing a redressal mechanism for small and minority investors. Under Section
245 of the Companies Act, investors can file a class action suit in case they
feel that the management or conduct of the affairs of a company are prejudicial
to their interests. An application for class action can be filed by a member or
members representing five per cent of the total members of a company. It can
also be done by 100 members of a company, whichever is less, according to the
ministry. The same criteria will also be applicable for depositors of
deposit-taking companies. In case of an unlisted company, a member or members
holding at least five per cent of the issued share capital can file for class
action. For listed companies, this threshold would be two per cent. The
ministry has made amendments to the National Company Law Tribunal Rules 2016
under the Companies Act, 2013 on Wednesday. With the notification of the
thresholds, investors can now file class action lawsuits, an official said.
This is a huge step in terms of redressal mechanism for small and minority
shareholders, he added. Among others, if statutory auditors have been callous
and negligent, endorsing falsified statements, the investors can certainly
proceed against them with a class action. The ministry is also readying a
scheme to provide financial assistance to minority investors filing class
action lawsuits under the companies law.
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'NEARLY 1,200 IPS OFFICERS UNDER SCANNER FOR NON-PERFORMANCE'
Nearly 1,200 officers of
Indian Police Service (IPS) have come under the scanner of the Home Ministry
for non-performance, an official said Thursday. The ministry has reviewed
service records of a total of 1,181 IPS officers in the past three years to
check deadwood from the government, he said, adding the numbers of officers
under the lens could go up as such a review is a continuous process. The review
of service records was carried out under Rule 16 (3) of All India Services
(Death-cum-Retirement Benefits ) Rules, 1958 during 2016 and 2018 to check
non-performers, the official said. The rule says that the central government in
consultation with the state government concerned may ask an IAS officer to
retire in public interest by giving at least three months previous notice in
writing or three months' pay and allowances in lieu of such notice. Of the
total of 1,181 IPS officers, ten of them were recommended for premature
retirement from the service in public interest, he said, without disclosing the
names of the officers concerned. As many as 3,972 IPS officers are working
across the country against their total sanctioned strength of 4,940, according
to a Home Ministry data. The Modi government has started the policy of reviewing
the service record of the IPS officers to check deadwood from the service, the
official said. However, no review of the officers' service record was
undertaken during 2014 and 2015, he said. The periodical review help the
government in assessing performers and checking non-performers. Based on this
review, performers are encouraged and non-performers are asked either to
improve or face expulsion from the service in public interest, the official
said. The Centre has also reviewed service records of 1,143 IAS officers during
2015 to 2018 and recommended premature retirement to four officers found
lacking, the official said.
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RBI CALLS FOR SETTING UP ‘STATE FINANCE COMMISSIONS’ FOR STATE
GOVERNMENTS
The RBI has called for setting
up ‘State Finance Commissions’ for state governments. It discussed public
sector borrowing requirements and continuity of the Finance Commission in view
of the financial management requirements of the states. According to RBI, one
of the key issues discussed during the meeting was the necessity of setting up
'State Finance Commissions' for state governments. It was felt that this
(continuity of the Finance Commission) was required more in view of the fiscal
management requirements of the states, especially given the absence of mid-term
reviews of awards granted by the Finance Commission, as it used to happen
earlier with the awards granted by the Planning Commission, RBI said in a
statement.
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INDIA EXPECTS IMPROVEMENT IN WORLD BANK'S DOING BUSINESS
RANKING THIS YEAR
India is expecting
improvement in its ranking in the World Bank's doing business report this year
particularly in indicators such as paying taxes and trading across borders, a
top official said Wednesday. An official delegation including secretary in the
Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Ramesh
Abhishek, apprised a World Bank team in Washington of reform measures taken by
the government in easing the business process. Once again, we presented our
doing biz reforms to the World Bank Team in Washington DC for further
improvement of India's rank in World Bank Doing business report. We hope to
further improve our rank in World Bank Doing Business report this year,
especially in indicators of paying taxes, insolvency resolution, trading across
borders, issue of building permits and starting a business, Abhishek said in a
tweet. In its annual Doing Business report, the World Bank ranks nations based
on 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country. These
parameters include ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting
electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing
contracts and resolving insolvency. The next report is expected to be released
in October 2019. India improved its ranking by 23 places to the 77th position
in the 2018 report. The government's initiatives such as relaxed norms for
company incorporation and removing the requirement of a bank account for GST
registration may help India further improve its ranking. Other steps, which the
government has taken, include clubbing of several forms into one; elimination
of fee for incorporation of companies where authorised capital is up to Rs 15
lakh, removal of company seal or rubber stamp and combined registration for
EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) and Employees' State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC). India is aiming to improve its ranking to the top 50th in
the coming years. Improving ranking helps a country to provide a better
investment climate for investors.
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NOTICE TO JET FOR NOT DEPOSITING PF SHARE OF EMPLOYEES
The Regional Provident
Fund Commissioner’s office has issued a notice to the Jet Airways for not
depositing provident fund (PF) of employees since March 2019 and directed the
airline management to pay up immediately The notice, a copy of which is in
possession of Mirror, was issued by assistant provident fund commissioner
(compliance) Dilip Rathod, who said he had sent his inspector to the Jet
Airways office but no payment was done. As per our records, Jet Airways has
13,839 employees, said Rathod, adding, We will give money to employees as
claims come. If anyone needs advance, we can give that as well. Meanwhile, the
PF commissioner has also warned Jet Airways that they will start inquiries
under Section 7 of the Provident Fund and Misc Act, 1952, and also register an
FIR with the police under sections 406 and 409 of the IPC. NCP leader Kiran
Pawaskar who heads trade unions of the Jet Airways said, I had met Police
Commissioner Sanjay Barve expressing a lot of apprehensions and it was
forwarded to the Economic Offences Wing. On Thursday, some staffers were called
for registering the statement. Naresh Goyal and the SBI representative must
also come to the conciliation hearing to the Labour and PF Commissioner’s
office. They must take a quick decision about giving PF share immediately.
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IN BID TO END DATA DEBATE, FINANCE PANEL TO RECONCILE NUMBERS
WITH RBI, CAG
The 15th Finance
Commission will reconcile data from several sources for its report, as a matter
of prudence. This was stated by NK Singh, Chairman of the Commission, after
meetings with representatives of the RBI and banks, apart from eminent
economists, during a two-day visit to Mumbai. Singh’s observation comes in the
wake of recurring debate on India’s key economic data-sets. The RBI, CAG and we
will reconcile data so as to consider what is reliable. It would be within the
bounds of acceptable and appropriate prudence to be able to do so, he told. The
Commission had held a meeting with economists and bankers to understand the
issues facing the sector, and it had sharpened its understanding of key
measures to maintain macroeconomic stability, he added. The States’ overall
debt picture is an important area of concern, with different States being in
different stages of compliance and non-compliance with the desired debt
trajectory. This is an area where we had very useful discussions, he said. The
Commission also discussed the future of Centrally sponsored schemes, on which,
according to Singh, the government spends over ₹3.5 lakh crore a year.
There is a need for the recapitalisation of Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) on
public sector banks, said Singh. Action will be taken following a memorandum
from the Centre, he added.
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INTERNATIONAL BANK FUND TRANSFERS BECOME EASIER
With sending money into
cross-border accounts set to get as efficient as domestic fund transfers,
remittance companies will need to reinvent themselves according to SWIFT — the
global cooperative promoted by banks to facilitate funds transfer through
messaging.
Speaking to TOI, SWIFT’s
head of Asia-Pacific and Europe, Middle East & Africa, Alain Raes, said
that the business model for remittance companies got created because of
inefficiencies. He said that domestic remittances got efficient faster because
they were part of a single-payment ecosystem while the multiple jurisdictions
made it more complex. But now in many jurisdictions banks were plugging in
their domestic transfer platforms to cross-border and the SWIFT messaging
system was getting comprehensive and carrying more details, enabling funds to
move directly. He said that already immediate account-to-account transfers are
possible in several jurisdictions like China and Australia. We are moving into
discussions around Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia that will
be getting into a proof of concept soon We are now in discussion with the
European Central Bank to interconnect their real-time platform with the rest of
the world, he said. According to Raes, remittance companies will have to find
other uses for the large resources they have built up. There are many
blue-collar workers who go to work in the Middle East and because of these
innovations in the banking system, they have started to use other modes of
transfer. The shift to banking is going to bring down remittance costs sharply,
said Kiran Shetty. SWIFT is also helping banks to automate cross-border
remittances by providing them with application programming interfaces (APIs)
for all its products and services. We believe that in the long term, API
technology has more future than distributed ledger technology (blockchain),
said Raes.
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15TH FINANCE COMMISSION CONCLUDES ITS TWO-DAY VISIT TO MUMBAI
The 15th Finance
Commission addressed the media in Mumbai, briefing them about the discussions
that took place in the Commission’s meetings with RBI, banks and eminent
economists during the Commission’s two-day visit to the city during May 8 – 9,
2019. Stating that the visit of the Commission was very productive, the
Chairman said:
·
The meetings have
sharpened the Commission’s understanding on some of the key things that need to
be kept in mind for continued macroeconomic stability. A careful examination
was made into the issues of debt, particularly as stated in the RBI’s Annual
Report on State Debt Figures. The overall debt picture of the states and the
way they have complied with the ingredients of the Macroeconomic Management
Bill is being looked into closely. This is an area we have had very useful
discussion.
·
Some states are
financially well-managed, others financially poorly managed. What are the
mechanisms by which the market makes its voice felt in terms of the cost of
borrowing and differentiate between better-governed states and
not-so-well-governed states, especially given that states are increasingly
resorting to market borrowings? This was explored through possible mechanisms
such as encouraging credit ratings by states. While doing this, we also
explored, particularly in light of the FRBM Report, as to what mechanisms can
be further strengthened so as to enable the Central Government to conform to
the targets it has laid for itself. The last five years has witnessed a
Government which was quite committed to adhering to the fiscal deficit targets.
·
We also looked at more
specific granular problems such as reconciliation of data, improving quality of
statistics and data, and reliability and uniformity of data for enforcing
greater fiscal discipline. Some very interesting ideas have come up, which we
would deliberate upon.
·
What is the future of
Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs)? The Central Government spends 3.5 lakh
crore rupees per annum on these schemes. Past attempts at rationalizing these
schemes have met with modest success. Earlier, the lifecycle of CSSs was
coterminous with that of the Five Year Plans; they were hence subject to the mid-term
appraisal of the Plan. Now, since there are no Five Year Plans, and hence no
mid-term appraisal, the Central Government decided that it will now make the
lifecycle of all CSSs coterminous with that of every Finance Commission. This
year is the last year of the existing CSSs, before which they will move to the
new cycle which will kick in as a result of our recommendations. From the
viewpoint of the Central Government and others, this is an excellent
opportunity for rationalization and simplification of CSSs. This is one area
which is being deliberated upon.
The Finance Commission
receives 30 Memorandums one from the Central Government and 29 from each of the
29 states/UTs. We are awaiting the Memorandum of the Central Government, which
we hope to receive soon, after which we will see what can be the appropriate
vertical distribution of revenues between the Centre and the states. The
Commission has already visited 20 out of the 29 states. Visits to the remaining
states will commence after the Model Code of Conduct period is over. Here are a
few excerpts from the responses given by the Chairman to the questions posed by
the media. The issue of RBI’s reserves dealt by Bimal Jalan Committee report
was not and should not have been discussed in depth by the Finance Commission
and the RBI. This is an in-house matter of the RBI. In passing, it was
mentioned to us that the Bimal Jalan Committee is in a fairly advanced stage of
its deliberations. We will await a Memorandum of the Central Government as
regards the recapitalization of PCA Public Sector Banks, since the obligation
for recapitalization will rest with the Central Government, and it will be for
them to project the likely expenditure for the relevant period, through a
Memorandum to the Finance Commission. We are closely looking at what kind of
disaggregated growth, debt and fiscal deficit trajectory would be practical to
attain the overall objective of the General Government’s debt and fiscal
deficit being consistent with FRBM targets and yet within the bounds of
practicality. We would like to capture the debt figures, the public sector
borrowing requirements and contingent liabilities so that we get a true and
holistic picture of the debt scenario. We have had discussions with RBI
regarding this, and this is one area into which the Commission will be giving
some attention. The projections given to us by the Department of Revenue
suggest very healthy buoyancy in direct taxes. Projections of indirect tax
collections, especially with regard to GST, have not been as healthy. We are
going to have another round of discussions with Department of Revenue based on
the latest figures of the improvements in GST behavior and what changes can be
made to make it more buoyant, stable and predictable. We ourselves are going to
undertake a process of economic data reconciliation among the CAG, the RBI and
the data which we have received from the Ministry of Finance and other sources,
so that we can make conclusions based on what we would consider reliable data
in public domain. This has nothing to do with the methodology or the
computation of the data, but we are seeking reconciliation among the multiple
sources of data. This reconciliation will be within the bounds of acceptable
and appropriate prudence to be able to do so.
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FINANCE COMMISSION MEETS BANKERS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN
MUMBAI
The Chairman, Shri N.K.
Singh, Members and Senior Officials of the 15th Finance Commission met a large
group of Bankers and Heads of Financial Institutions in Mumbai. Salient points
raised by banks during their meeting with 15th Finance Commission on 9th May
2019.
·
In the context of making
the borrowing costs of State Governments aligned to their fiscal and governance
fundamentals, the Automatic Debit Mechanism which is currently in vogue and the
need for introducing rating of all public sector borrowers including States was
discussed by the bankers.
·
The bankers also mentioned
that it is important to take a view on the total public sector borrowing requirements,
as opposed to the narrowly defined Union and State fiscal deficits, to improve
fiscal transparency and to ensure that markets get clear signals of the fund
requirements of the public sector, ex ante.
·
A few of the bankers
mentioned that the maturity profile of outstanding borrowings of the Union and
State Governments indicates that there is likely to be a repayment pressure
during the next 4-5 years.
·
The bankers also discussed
their perspective in the areas of priority sector lending, loan waiver announced
by Governments and its impact on credit culture, recapitalization of banks,
foreign portfolio investment in Government securities, operationalization of
sinking fund by States and raising of market borrowing by local
self-governments.
·
It was also mentioned, in
the context of horizontal devolution of Union taxes among States that fiscal
discipline, transparency, governance improvements and revenue raising efforts
of States be factored in appropriately.
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MEETING OF THE 15TH FINANCE COMMISSION WITH THE RESERVE BANK
OF INDIA
The 15th Finance
Commission headed by Chairman, Shri N.K. Singh held a detailed meeting with the
Governor and Deputy Governors of RBI in Mumbai. Key issues raised by RBI
Governor, Shri Shaktikanta Das and Finance Commission Chairman, Shri N.K. Singh
were discussed in detail at the meeting. These issues included the following:–
· The necessity of setting
up State Finance Commissions for respective State Governments.
· Public Sector Borrowing
Requirements.
· Continuity of the
Finance Commission. It was felt that this was required more in view of the fiscal
management requirements of the States, especially given the absence of mid-term
reviews of Awards granted by the Finance Commission, as it used to happen
earlier with the Awards granted by the Planning Commission.
· Need for Expenditure
Codes, especially given that expenditure norms vary from state to state.
· Role of States in Growth
and Inflation, for instance, role of states in Ease of doing Business.
The RBI made a detailed
presentation to the Finance Commission, on State Government Finances for
2019-20. The key takeaways are:
· The importance of states
in the economy has increased with the shift in composition of government
finances.
· Fiscal deficit of states
is budgeted to be lower in 2019-20 BE, but RE and actuals deviate significantly
(reflecting poor fiscal marksmanship).
· Specific factors drive
fiscal slippages: these factors include UDAY in the past and farm loan waivers
and income support schemes in 2018-19 RE.
· Outstanding debt as
percentage of GDP rising despite moderation in interest payment as percentage
of revenue receipts.
The RBI made another
presentation on the issues and challenges of the market borrowings of state
governments. The main issues raised in this presentation were the following:
· Increasing orientation
of state governments borrowing to markets.
· Improving secondary
market liquidity – re-issuances, non-standard issuances, widening investor
base.
· Risk Asymmetry - Phasing
out of ADM, rating of SDLs, valuation of SDLs, more frequent disclosures.
· Strengthening the corpus
of CSF/GRF – incentive for increasing the corpus, indicative target of 5% of
outstanding liabilities/ guarantees by all states.
· Cash Management – States
to improve their cash forecasting capabilities, states’ request to consider
avenues for short term borrowings.
· Disclosures – Disclosure
of high frequency data; budget presentations and release of financial data may
be in a) common format b) within narrow time frame.
· Contingent liabilities –
lack of reliable data, hence there is a need for standardization in compilation
and reporting under FRBM and to enforce uniform ceiling for issue of
guarantees.
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RBI WARNS FINANCE PANEL OF MORE FISCAL SLIPPAGES BY STATES
The Reserve Bank Wednesday
warned of the rising risks to fiscal consolidation of the states as their
finances are saddled with farm loan waivers, income support schemes and the
Uday bonds for their power distribution companies. In its presentation, the RBI
listed out the specific factors that will drive fiscal slippages in the revised
estimates of FY19, including the Uday scheme in the past and farm loan waivers
and income support schemes in the FY19 revised estimates, a statement from the
central bank said. It can be noted that ahead of the general elections, a slew
of states and also the Centre had doled out sops to the marginalised sections,
including the farmers and the poor. Terming it as poor fiscal marksmanship, the
RBI also went public with its concerns on deviation in revised estimates,
stating that the budget estimates presented during the beginning of FY20 had
indicated a lower fiscal deficit. In a statement that comes after a jump in
devolution of revenues to states, the RBI stressed the importance of states has
increased with the shift in composition of government finances, the statement
said. It also said the outstanding debt as percentage of GDP has been rising
despite moderation in interest payment as percentage of revenue receipts. Other
key issues raised by Das, who was a member of the commission before being
appointed as the governor last December, included necessity of setting up state
finance commissions, public sector borrowings and continuity of finance
commission, the statement said. In a special presentation on issues and
challenges faced by states for market borrowings, the RBI discussed ways of
increasing orientation of state government borrowing to markets, improving
secondary market liquidity, risk asymmetry and increasing the corpus of
Consolidated Sinking Fund and Guarantee Redemption Fund.
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PM KISAN SCHEME: OVER 2.25 CRORE FARMERS GET RS 2,000 SINCE
APRIL 1
A little over 2.25 crore
farmers including 1.08 crore in the electorally important Uttar Pradesh, have
received the second installment of Rs 2,000 each under the PM-Kisan scheme
since April 1. While all these farmers had got the initial installment of Rs
2,000 also, there are another 86 lakh, who received only the first installment
of Rs 2,000. The deployment of the central and state government staff for
election duty has also undermined the Centre’s efforts to transfer the initial
two installments to all people on the beneficiary list firmed up. Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat and Maharashtra, all BJP-ruled states, are the top performers in
transferring the second installment that has covered over 1.41 crore farmers in
these three states.
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GDP ESTIMATES- A CLARIFICATION 8.5.2019
The estimation of GDP in
any economy is a complex exercise where several measures and metrics are
evolved to better measure the performance of the economy. For the purpose of
global standardization and comparability, countries follow the System of
National Accounts evolved in the UN after elaborate consultation. The System of
National Accounts 2008 (2008 SNA) is the latest version of the international
statistical standard for the national accounts, adopted by the United Nations
Statistical Commission (UNSC) in 2009 and is an update of the earlier 1993 SNA.
The Inter-Secretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) was mandated
to develop the 2008 SNA through intense discussions and consultation with
member countries. India also participated in the deliberations of the Advisory
Expert Group. In its adoption of the 2008 SNA the UNSC encouraged Member
States, regional and sub-regional organizations to implement its
recommendations and use it for the national and international reporting of
national accounts statistics. As with any international standard, the data
requirements are immense and developing countries take time to evolve the
various data sources before they can be aligned with the SNA requirements. In
absence of data, alternate proxy sources or statistical surveys are used to
estimate the contribution of various sectors to the GDP/GVA. The SNA also
prescribes that the base year of the estimates may be revised at periodic
intervals so that changes in the economic environment, advances in
methodological research and the needs of users are appropriately captured. With
structural changes taking place in the economy, it is necessary to revise the
base year of macroeconomic indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index
of Industrial Production (IIP), Consumer Price Index (CPI) etc, periodically to
ensure that indicators remain relevant and reflect the structural changes more
realistically. Such revisions not only use latest data from censuses and
surveys, it also incorporates information from administrative data that have
become robust over time. In India, the Base Year of the GDP Series was revised
from 2004-05 to 2011-12 and released on 30 January, 2015 after adaptation of
the sources and methods in line with the SNA 2008. The methodology of compilation
of macro aggregates is discussed in detail by the Advisory Committee on
National Accounts Statistics (ACNAS) comprising experts from academia, National
Statistical Commission, Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), Ministries of Finance, Corporate Affairs, Agriculture, NITIAayog
and selected State Governments. The ACNAS has a mandate to
(i) review the data base
and advise on data collection for implementing the recommendations of the
System of National Accounts-2008 (SNA-2008);
(ii) advise on the
methodology for compilation and presentation of National Accounts Statistics
for purposes of economic analysis and policy and on promotion of research in
the field of National Accounts Statistics;
(iii) advise on
undertaking studies for improvement of National Accounts Statistics in terms of
coverage, adoption of new classifications and development of sequence of
accounts for various institutional sectors.
This is to also reiterate
that the detailed Sources and Methods for compilation of the national accounts
statistics are placed on the website[1] of MOSPI under the heading Changes in
Methodology and Data Sources in the New Series of National Accounts, Base Year
2011-12. Similarly, the detailed methodology for the GDP Back-Series is available
on the website[2] of the Ministry. The 2011-12 series of National Accounts
Statistics incorporates changes in data sources, expansion in coverage of
activities and improvements in procedures that are aligned to the latest
recommendations of UN System of National Accounts 2008, to the extent data is
available. There has been an improved coverage of the financial corporations,
local bodies and autonomous institutions, all of which have an impact on the
estimates of Gross Value Added (GVA). The 2011-12 National Accounts Series also
started using the corporate sector data available from the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs in its estimates. The issue of coverage, quality and
timeliness of the MCA database vis-Ã -vis the Annual Survey of Industries had been
discussed in detail in the various meetings of the Advisory Committee on
National Accounts Statistics and adopted only thereafter. The recent exercise
of the National Sample Survey to bring out a Technical Report on the Services
Sector was commissioned by the Ministry to understand the data gaps and take
remedial steps while undertaking the new base revision exercise for the
proposed 2017-18 series. The results of this NSS Report will be further
examined by the Advisory Committee before finalising the approach and
methodology for the proposed 2017-18 series. It is emphasised that there is no
impact on the existing GDP/GVA estimates for the corporate sector as due care
is taken to appropriately adjust the corporate filings at the aggregate level
based on the paid up capital. In fact, the Ministry is also embarking on the
7th Economic Census for all economic establishments with an aim to not only
assess the nature and distribution of establishments but to also form a
National Business Register which can be periodically updated. This will greatly
facilitate future establishment surveys undertaken by the central and state
governments. The field work for the Economic Census is slated to commence in
June, 2019. India has also subscribed to the Special Data Dissemination
Standards (SDDS) of International Monetary Fund (IMF) which requires that
macro-economic data would be disseminated within the prescribed periodicity and
timeliness conforming to the data standards laid down along with information on
the detailed statistical practices or metadata. Accordingly, the Ministry has
an Advance Release Calendar that gives the specific dates of release for the
estimates. It needs to be appreciated that every revision in the estimates of
GDP/GVA is based on the data available at the time of the respective release. The
coverage and quality of each data source like Revenue expenditure, taxes,
company filings data improves over time. Till the release of Provisional
Estimates in any year, the estimates are based on indicators like the Index of
Industrial production (IIP), wholesale price indices, core sector data on
steel, cement, electricity, Revenue expenditure, GST data, trade data on
imports & exports, consumer prices etc. The estimates based on indicators
are reworked when the corresponding data source becomes available. By the time
of the Third Revised Estimate, the coverage and completeness in the data
sources are almost final and no further revision takes place. Usually no
revisions in the estimates take place beyond the Advance Release Calendar. According
to the World Bank, the accuracy of national accounts estimates and their
comparability across countries depend on timely revisions to data on GDP and
its components. The frequency of revisions to GDP data across countries varies
between monthly, quarterly, annually or even less frequently. It may also be
mentioned that the Ministry had earlier decided to revise the Base Year of the
GDP/GVA and IIP to 2017-18 and steps have been taken to expedite the revision
exercise. As already mentioned, the Ministry adopts procedures that are in
accordance with international standards and the detailed methodology for
compilation of the GDP, including the Back Series is available on the website
of the Ministry. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), through its technical
missions also reviews the implementation of recommendations of SNA and provides
necessary technical support. Further, under Article IV of IMF, a Mission,
interacts annually with officials of Ministry of Statistics and Program
Implementation, Reserve Bank of India and Ministry of Finance on issues
relating to Economic developments and policies. IMF had raised certain concerns
regarding the deflators used in the GDP estimates, especially the use of double
deflation. In this context, it may be appreciated that the data requirements
for using double deflation is immense and that only few countries like
Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico and USA
are presently using this methodology. This Ministry is working in close
coordination with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for developing the
required indices for using double deflator methodology in relevant sectors.
MoSPI has separately taken up this issue with the IMF. It may also be noted
that the National Accounts Division, which compiles these macro aggregates and
other National Accounts Statistics is also ISO (International Organisation for
Standards) 9001:2015 certified for its quality management of procedures and
processes.
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RBI LIKELY TO CUT RATES AGAIN IN JUNE; NONE THEREAFTER ON
RISING INFLATION
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) is likely to cut interest rates one more time in June before rising
inflation pressures and elevated fiscal deficits leave little room for further
accommodation in rest of the year, IHS Markit said Wednesday. RBI had cut
interest rate by 25 basis points each in February and April to boost economic
growth. In a report on the forecast for global monetary policy actions and
resulting economic impact, the London-based global information provider said
RBI is likely to tighten its monetary policy stance in early-to-mid 2020. With
both domestic and global growth slowing and inflation in India remaining below
the RBI's inflation target, it is now increasingly likely the RBI will proceed
with another rate cut in June. Beyond June, intensifying inflation pressures
and elevated fiscal deficits will leave little room for further accommodation,
and we expect no additional rate cuts in 2019 with the monetary policy likely
to switch to tightening in early-to-mid-2020, it said. Monetary policy easing,
coupled with the relaxation of lending rules and greater election-driven fiscal
spending in the first quarter of 2019, will provide some support to growth during
the first half of 2019-20 fiscal, it said. The report noted that food and fuel
prices should accelerate in coming months particularly in the event of a
sub-normal monsoon, and headline inflation would cross 5 per cent mark by the
second half of 2019, and average 4.2 per cent in 2019 and 5.3 per cent in 2020.
With growth still strong in the first half of 2018, this tightening bias
remained in place. However, because of rising trade tensions and the global
slump in manufacturing, growth began to weaken during the second half of the
year. With inflation showing no signs of accelerating, central banks responded
accordingly, it said. The apparent end of the mild tightening cycle - and the
possible beginning of a new mild easing cycle - will have multiple ramifications,
it said. Some central banks have also begun to ease such as the People's Bank
of China and the RBI; others will likely follow or at minimum leave interest
rates on hold for a while. The lack of further tightening - and in some cases,
easing - will help to stabilise growth and limit any further deceleration.
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APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES: CENTRE RETURNS NAMES OF 2 JUDGES
RECOMMENDED FOR SUPREME COURT
The Centre has returned to
the Collegium names of two high court chief justices recommended for elevation
as judges of the Supreme Court, sources aware of the development have said. The
government reportedly disagreed with the Supreme Court Collegium's
recommendation to confirm the elevation of Jharkhand High Court chief justice
Aniruddha Bose and Gauhati High Court chief justice A S Bopanna as judges of
the Supreme Court, sources said. The sources, however, are not clear about the
reason for the decision to return the recommendations. It is learnt that the
principle of seniority was not applied and that regional representation formed
the basis for the decision, sources have said. A source familiar with the
elevation process said Justice Bose stood at serial number 12 and Justice
Bopanna at 36 in the combined seniority of High Court judges on all-India
basis. Justice Bose is from Calcutta High Court and Justice Bopanna from the
Karnataka High Court. As per record, there is only one judge, Justice Indira
Banerjee in the Supreme Court, who has moved from the Calcutta High Court. But
there are two judges from the Karnataka HC, Justices Mohan M Shantanagoudar and
S Abdul Nazeer, in the top court. The five-judge Collegium headed by the CJI
had recommended the elevation of these two judges.
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INTRODUCTION OF NEW PENSION SCHEME IN SBI HAS ‘NO LEGAL
EFFECT’, RULES KERALA HIGH COURT
The High Court of Kerala
has declared that the introduction of Defined Contributory Pension Scheme/New
Pension Scheme (NPS) in State Bank of India ‘has no legal effect’. State Banks’
Staff Union (SBSU), Kerala Circle, had argued in a petition that the
introduction of the scheme for members joining service on or after August 1,
2010, took away the right to get pension based on the pension rule in vogue in
SBI. A Raghavan, General Secretary, SBSU (Kerala circle), said that the ninth
bipartite settlement had made the NPS applicable across the industry, excluding
SBI. Despite provisions to exclude the bank as per the settlement, the
management had unilaterally gone head to implement the NPS from August 1, 2010.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioners, counsel S Vaidyanathan and H Ganapathy
contended that the SBI Act, 1955, does not empower its Central Board to amend
the pension rules without due process of law. Neither could this be done with
retrospective effect, they said. An amendment can be brought in only in terms
of the various provisions under Section 50 of the Act. But Section 50(4)
clearly states that every regulation shall, as soon as it is made by the
Central Board, be forwarded to the Centre, and lay a copy before each House of
Parliament in session for a period of 30 days. Both Houses must agree on making
any modification in the regulation before implementation. Thereafter, it should
be notified in the gazette. Justice CT Ravikumar alluded to similar petitions
filed earlier also contending that the introduction of NPS was ‘bad in law’,
owing to non-compliance with the mandatory provisions under Section 50. Even if
the bank was only implementing the policy of the Centre, it could not overlook
the statutory mandate under Section 50 in respect of service conditions related
to pension. Judgment in that case had observed that the NPS would have to be
introduced as a regulation, as contemplated under Section 50, and will have to
follow the procedure under Section 50(4) to have a legal effect. Justice
Ravikumar observed that going by that judgment, the NPS (has) got no legal
effect. In such circumstances, I am of the view that the NPS is not now
available for consideration.
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92% OF JOBS CREATED OVER 22 YEARS POST-LIBERALISATION WERE
INFORMAL
Of around 61 million jobs
created in India over 22 years post-liberalisation of the economy in 1991, 92%
were informal jobs according to an IndiaSpend analysis of National Sample
Survey Office (NSSO) data for 2011-12, the latest available, released in 2014.
Liberalisation was expected to formalise India’s largely informal agrarian
economy, with labour moving from agriculture--the largest employer--to the
organised industrial sector. Liberalisation aimed to effect a decline in
poverty and a rise in living standards through better wages and working
conditions as labour moved toward formal jobs. Yet, in 2011-12, 51% of all jobs
in the organised sector were informal, data show. The number of informal sector
workers increased from 341.28 million in 1999-2000 to 386.02 million in
2011-12, a 13% increase over 13 years. The number of formal workers increased
by 81.5% from 20.46 million to 37.15 million in the same time period. However,
while formal workers comprised 6% of the total workforce in 1999-2000, this
increased to just 9% in 2011-12, showing that the jobs that were created in the
formal sector were mainly informal, employing workers with low earnings and
with limited or no social protection. ICRIER found that while total employment
in the organised manufacturing sector had increased 78% to 13.7 million in 15
years to 2015-16, the share of contract workers in total employment had
increased from 15.5% to 27.9%, and that of directly hired workers had fallen
10.8 percentage points to 50.4% in the same period, as IndiaSpend reported on
March 28, 2019. At 8.3%, the average growth rate of contract employment was
five percentage points more than that of regular employment. Manufacturing
companies are hiring more informal workers for short durations through
contractors and fewer directly as permanent staff, as IndiaSpend reported on
March 28, 2019, from the site of a labour-management dispute at a multinational
manufacturers’ zone in Alwar, Rajasthan. Such workers get paid less, have
poorer working conditions, and less job security, our investigation had found.
Over half of informal sector workers in 2012 were self-employed, largely with a
poor asset-base, and around 30% were casual labourers seeking daily wages,
according to a University of Calcutta 2018 study of informal sector workers
across India. About 18% of those employed were regular workers, and among them
less than 8% had regular, full-time employment with social protection. That the
phenomenon of increased workers in informal employment is on the rise in both
the unorganised and organised sectors is confirmed by this study published in
the International Organization of Scientific Research Journal of Business and
Management in April 2018. The percentage of informal workers in the formal
sector has increased from 38% in 1999 to 51% in 2011-12, the study said. While
the services sector contributed most of the 61 million jobs created between
1991 and 2012, most of these remained informal in nature. Of 127.3 million
people employed in the services sector in 2011-12, 80% were informal workers.
While agriculture continues to provide the major share of employment, its share
decreased from 58% in 2004-05 to 49% in 2011-12. Most of the employment here is
informal in nature, with the informal workforce increasing. The manufacturing
sector’s share of total employment increased from 12% in 2004-05 to 13% in
2011-12. The services sector also saw an increase from 107.3 million in 2004-05
to 127.3 million (19% increase) in 2011-12, but 80% of the jobs are informal. A
gender-wise breakup of the informal workforce shows 252 million male and 118
million female workers in 1999-2000. This increased to 270 million male workers
in 2009-10, but female workers decreased to 108 million during the same time
period, NSSO data reveal. This is accompanied by a decline in regular salaried
work for female workers and increase in self-employed, casual labour from 1983
to 2011-12. Female informal workers are mainly engaged in agriculture , with
some presence in manufacturing, trade, hotel, restaurants, community, social
personal, services and construction. At the all-India level, for the 68th round
(2011-12) of the National Sample Survey, the proportion of self-employed
workers was higher among females (51.2%, for both urban and rural) than among
males (48%). Regular wage/salaried employees constituted a higher proportion of
the urban workforce (43.6%) compared to rural areas. It is also evident that
the proportion of self-employment together with casual (informal) labour is
higher among the rural female workforce (94.4%), compared to 57.1% among urban
females, 56.1% among urban males and 90% among rural males. Thus, even though
overall employment and female labour force participation has increased since
1983, most jobs are informal, showing increasing casualisation of the
workforce, the University of Calcutta 2018 study said. The overall decline in
casual employment and increase in regular employment of urban females is a
promising development, according to a 2018 study by Charuchandra College,
Kolkata. The share of regular wage/salaried employees was merely 7.8% of the
rural workforce, according to this study, while it was 56.8% in urban areas.
Self-employment together with casual labour had a share of nearly 92.2% of the
total workforce in the rural areas. The State of Working India 2018 study by
Azim Premji University pointed to the lack of formal education and other
barriers to entry in the formal sector as reasons for increase in informal
workers in the organised services and manufacturing sectors. In manufacturing,
the increase in informalisation is due to two reasons, according to a 2018
study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations:
first, because of dispersal of production from larger to smaller units; and
second, because of the creation of an informal workforce subject to fewer
regulations, the fact that employing contract (or informal) workers reduces the
bargaining power of the regular or formal worker, suppressing wages overall.
Increased import competition has also led to informalisation of industrial
labour as manufacturers seeks to improve their competitiveness by paying lower
wages to informal workers and makings savings by forgoing expenditure on worker
benefits, an Oxfam report from 2018 said.
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INDIA TO ADD 11.5 LAKH JOBS IN FIRST HALF OF FY20: REPORT
India will witness an
addition of 11.5 lakh jobs in the first half of 2019-20, led by travel,
hospitality and BPO/ITeS, according to a report. The positive outlook created
by the stock market rally and increased investments seems to be having a
corresponding impact on the employment outlook. It has revived the net
employment outlook which had witnessed a drop of 2 percent in the last half
year to a 3 percent rise in the current half year, Rituparna Chakraborty said.
The buoyancy witnessed will also translate positively on the job creation front
and, in fact, around 11.5 lakh new jobs will be created in the formal sector,
Chakraborty said quoting 'Employment Outlook' report. Retail, logistic,
educational services and fast moving consumer goods and durables alone will add
around 1.66 lakh, 1.49 lakh, 1.17 lakh and 1.10 lakh jobs respectively, she added.
Similarly, from a geography point of view also the net employment outlook
stands positive. The outlook for mid-levels is set to grow by 4 percent and the
entry and junior levels by 3 percent each. Further, the report also estimated a
5 percent jump in hiring across medium sized businesses while large and small
enterprises are expected to witness a growth of 2 percent and 1 percent,
respectively.
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GIRIDIH, DHANBAD, JAMSHEDPUR AND SINGHBUM PARLIAMENTARY
CONSTITUENCIES IN JHARKHAND TO GO TO POLLS IN PHASE VI OF GENERAL ELECTIONS
2019
In the Sixth phase of
General Elections 2019, Giridih, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Singhbum Parliamentary
Constituencies (PC) in Jharkhand would be going to polls on 12th May. Giridih
(PC No. 6), Dhanbad (PC No. 7) and Jamshedpur (PC No. 9) are General seats,
whereas Singhbum (PC No. 10) is an ST seat. As per the data sourced from CEO
(Jharkhand) website, there are a total of 66,64,929 electors in the four PCs,
out of which 35,05,565 are male electors, 31,79,720 female electors and 116
third gender electors. There are 84,338 electors in the age group of 18-19
years in Phase VI in Jharkhand. The data sourced from ECI website shows that in
General Election 2014, there were a total of 61,35,962 electors in these four
PCs. This number has grown to 66,64,929 during General Elections 2019, which is
an increase of 5,28,967 (8.62%) electors since last General Elections.
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INDIAN DATA ISSUES: ECONOMISTS ARE NOW CREATING THEIR OWN
BENCHMARKS
Economists and investors
are increasingly showing that they have little or no confidence in India's
official economic data - presenting whoever is elected as the next prime
minister with an immediate problem. There have been questions for many years
about whether Indian government statistics were telling the full story but two
recent controversies over revisions and delays of crucial numbers have taken
those concerns to new heights. The government itself has admitted there are
deficiencies in its data collection. A study conducted by a division of the
statistics ministry in the 12 months ending June 2017 found that as much as 36
percent of the companies in the database used in India's GDP calculations could
not be traced or were wrongly classified. But the ministry said there was no
impact on GDP estimates as due care was taken to adjust corporate filings at
the aggregate level. Economists and investors are now voting with their feet -
by using alternative sources of data and in some cases creating their own
benchmarks to measure the Indian economy. Ten economists and analysts at banks,
think-tanks and foreign funds interviewed by Reuters said they were moving to
use alternative data sources, or at least official data of a different kind.
Among the numbers they prefer are fast-moving indicators like car sales, air
and rail cargo levels, purchasing managers' index data, and proprietary indices
created by the institutions themselves to track the economy. Many economists
said they were stunned when the government upwardly revised GDP growth for
2016/17 to 8.2 percent from 6.7 percent, although the demonetisation of high
value notes hit businesses and jobs in that financial year. Our response has
been to spend time developing an Indian Activity Index, which takes a range of
time series data that in the past were strongly correlated with real GDP growth
and extract the common signal from them, said Jeremy Lawson, which manages more
than $700 billion in assets. The preliminary evidence from the index, which
includes components like car sales, air cargo and purchasing managers' index
data suggests the government has over-estimated GDP growth, he said. Our index
would suggest that there was stable growth, rather than the rapid acceleration
suggested by the GDP figures, he said, referring to three years of data from
2014. Even those close to the government have said the lack of accuracy in the
official data makes it much more likely that authorities will miss major swings
in activity and be unable to react quickly to head off a crisis. It is also a
problem for investors who may be misled into thinking the economy is more
robust than it really is. The economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayemsewak Sangh,
the fountainhead of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said
the government and the Indian central bank missed anticipating a farm crisis
that has now gripped the countryside, with low crop prices driving down
farmers' incomes. The fact is the government advisers and the monetary policy
committee of the central bank could not diagnose the farm crisis, deflationary
conditions in rural economy, and ignored the need to boost growth, said Ashwani
Mahajan, adding the government was now taking steps to address the problem. The
delayed response has cost Prime Minister Narendra Modi at least some support in
the countryside in the current general election - although most political
strategists still think he can probably hang onto power. The opposition and
other critics have said Modi suppressed jobs data and massaged economic growth
numbers in an attempt to show that his government has done better than the
previous administration. A spokesman at Modi's office said no official was
available for comment as they were busy with the election while a finance
ministry spokesman referred to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's previous
comments. P. C. Mohanan, who resigned to protest government interference over
the release of the jobs figures and back series data on GDP, said the
government hasn't allocated the resources it needs to measure activity given
the growth in the economy. Gita Gopinath, the International Monetary Fund's
chief economist, told an Indian TV channel last month the IMF had raised the
issue of transparency with Indian officials in data collection and, in particular,
measurement of the GDP deflator - the adjusted inflation rate used to estimate
real GDP. In a statement, the statistics ministry said it was working to
address the issue.
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INCOME SUPPORT, UDAY DRIVING FISCAL SLIPPAGES: RBI
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has voiced its concern over government schemes such as income support,
revival package for power distribution companies and farm loan waivers as such
schemes led to fiscal slippages. In a presentation to the 15th Finance
Commission, the RBI said the UDAY scheme, recent income support schemes of the
government and farm loan waivers could drive fiscal slippage in the revised
estimate for 2018-19. Fiscal deficit of States is budgeted to be lower in
2019-20 BE (budgeted estimates), but RE (revised estimates) and actuals deviate
significantly — reflecting poor fiscal marksmanship, a statement issued by the
government after the meeting said. The central bank noted that outstanding debt
as percentage of GDP had been rising despite moderation in interest payment as
percentage of revenue receipts. On the continuity of the Finance Commission,
the government statement said felt that this was required more in view of the
fiscal management requirements of the States, especially given the absence of
mid-term reviews of awards granted by the Finance Commission, as it used to
happen earlier with the awards granted by the Planning Commission.
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DEBIT CARDS IS STILL THE MOST PREFERRED PAYMENT MODE FOR ONLINE
SHOPPERS: REPORT
Debit cards continued to
be the most preferred payment instrument for shoppers on e-commerce websites,
according to a report by payment technology and transaction processing company
Financial Software and Systems (FSS). There were 589 million debit card
transactions reported on the FSS gateway compared with 201.4 million credit
card transactions last year, according to the FSS Payments Trend Report 2018.
In terms of value, credit cards were ahead at more than $10 billion compared with
slightly less than $8 billion for debit cards. For the trend report, we have
only calculated merchant payments done digitally that are being processed by
our platform and not included peer-to-peer payments, said Suresh Rajagopalan.
Overall transactions have also been growing, which is a healthy sign, driven by
strong growth in debit card transactions. While cards dominated the merchant
payment space, Rajagopalan said the company processed more than 900 million
transactions through the Unified Payments Interface last year, mainly
person-to-person payments. For mobile banking and Immediate Payment Service
(IMPS) transactions, another person-to-person payment mode, the number could be
about 700 million, he said. FSS, which conducted the study with 19 of the major
banks, claims to process more than 58% of the total online payments for
merchants. According to the report, Visa had the highest share of transactions
with 47.5% of the card swipes, followed by Mastercard at 35% and RuPay at less
than 16%. In terms of value, Visa cornered a 47.1% share last year. As per the
report, the average amount for debit card transactions was $13.4 compared with
$54.4 for credit cards. Mobile wallets had the highest share in terms of
digital transactions at 291 million, followed by the travel and hotel segment
at about 140 million. FSS claims to have processed $1.85 billion of
transactions in October, mainly driven by higher consumption demand during the
festive season.
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WITH UPI & IMPS SERVICES, NPCI LEADS RETAIL PAYMENTS SPACE
GROWTH IN FY19
The National Payments
Corporation of India (NPCI) is leading the retail payments growth in the
country with its offerings like United Payments Interface (UPI) and Immediate
Payment Service (IMPS). While the central bank manages the largest share of
payments in terms of value, NPCI holds most of the payments volume and
increasingly so. UPI saw a growth of 349 per cent in volume and 452 per cent in
value during FY18-19 reaching a volume of nearly 800 million and value of over
Rs 1.3 lakh crore in March 2019, as per NPCI data. Wallets saw a growth of 43
per cent in volume and 58 per cent in value in March 2019 over the previous
year, according to latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Cards,
excluding ATM transactions, saw a growth of 28 per cent in both volume and
value during the year. While NPCI operated IMPS saw a growth of around 70 per
cent in both value and volume during FY19, RBI operated NEFT saw a growth of 14
per cent in volume and 13 per cent in value in March 2019 over March 2018. The
Real time gross settlement (RTGS), operated by the central bank, saw a growth
of eight per cent in volume and 20 per cent during the same period. However in
absolute numbers, NPCI’s offerings have a long way to catch up with those
managed by RBI. The monthly volumes of NEFT and RTGS are over 20-100 times that
of IMPS and UPI.
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ANDHRA CM, RAHUL GANDHI DISCUSSES PLANS TO CALL OPPN MEET ON
MAY 21
N Chandrababu Naidu
Wednesday met Rahul Gandhi and discussed plans to hold a meeting of Opposition
parties on May 21, two days ahead of Lok Sabha results to chalk out a post-poll
alliance. Naidu met Gandhi before heading out to West Bengal to attend public
rallies in support of the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state, sources said.
In a brief meeting, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief is believed to have
discussed the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) issue, voting percentage
in the recently held five phase polling besides the Andhra Assembly election
developments, the sources said. The sources said Naidu and Gandhi also
discussed the post-poll scenario and more or less agreed to call a meeting of
Opposition parties on May 21.
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CAN YOUR AADHAAR CARD DATA BE MISUSED BY FRAUDSTERS TO OPEN
BANK ACCOUNTS?
Can your Aadhaar Card data
be misused by fraudsters to open bank accounts? Don’t worry! Aadhaar Card
holders often ask what will happen if some fraudster tries to open a bank
account against their names without their knowledge by obtaining a copy of
their Aadhaar. People have raised apprehensions about whether they would be
harmed or not. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal
authority for issuing Aadhaar, claims that Aadhaar Card data is completely safe
and secured. UIDAI has clearly stated that one can not open a bank account
merely by presenting or submitting a physical Aadhaar Card or its photocopy. As
per Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, 2005, and Reserve
Bank of Indian circulars, a bank will go through a certain process of security
checking. The process involves banks to perform verification through either
biometric data or OTP authentication. Apart from this, there are another due
diligence that need to be done by the bank before the Aadhaar Card can be
accepted for banking transactions or KYC, says UIDAI. So as per the rules, no
fraudster can open a bank account against your name using your Aadhaar Card
details without verification through biometric or OTP. However, if someone
manages to open an account in a bank using your Aadhaar Card details without
biometric or OTP authentication and other verification, then the bank will be
held responsible for the loss, says UIDAI. If you are still not sure about the
security of your Aadhaar Card, then UIDAI provides another option for the
verifiable 12-digit identification number. The Masked Aadhaar card is a viable
option if you want to secure your Aadhaar Card details. While downloading
Aadhaar Card details, you can opt for a more safer option of Masked Aadhaar
card. This Masked Aadhaar Card only shows the last 4 digits of the 12-digit
Aadhaar number. So, instead of carrying a phyiscal copy of your Aadhaar Card or
a photocopy, it is advisable to have a Masked Aadhaar card, which in case of
being misplaced or stolen is less likely to be misused. However, the Masked
Aadhaar card does display other key details such as photograph, smart QR Code
and demographic info.
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JET AIRWAYS' BKC OFFICE SPACE UP FOR AUCTION OVER LOAN
DEFAULT’6
Private sector lender HDFC
Ltd has put on the block a prime office space owned by Jet Airways (India) Ltd
at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) post failure by the grounded airline to
repay a loan amount of around ₹415 crore. The office space that spans 52,775 sqft is part of
Jet Airways Godrej BKC, a 12-storey premium commercial building, and will be
auctioned on May 15 at a base price of ₹245 crore, said a public
notice issued by HDFC Bank. The borrower has failed to repay the amounts due to
HDFC Ltd. Accordingly, HDFC Ltd has become entitled to enforce its mortgage
over the immovable property, the notice said. Jet Airways, which was until
recently India’s second-largest airline, was shut down under the weight of high
debt and a severe cash crunch. The airline owes 11 banks, including nine Indian
banks, about ₹11,261 crore. On Tuesday, Naresh Goyal, founder of the
airline, offered to infuse ₹250 crore of his own funds an attempted to revive the carrier.
llllLl kA much sought after office destination in Mumbai's upcoming financial
district, the building made headline four years ago when pharmaceutical major
Abbot India signed a ₹1479-crore deal, the biggest ever commercial office
transaction, to set up its new corporate office within the complex. According
to real estate consultants, the property would attract several investors given
its strategic location and shortage for prime office space in Mumbai. The
reserve price is well positioned as it is approximately at a discount of 10-15%
when compared to similar graded properties and, as a result, should attract
investor interest, said Karan Singh Sodi, managing director( Mumbai), JLL
India, a property consultant firm.
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DELHI HIGH COURT DISMISSES PIL SEEKING DIRECTION AGAINST AAP'S
PROMISE OF FULL STATEHOOD TO DELHI
The Delhi High Court on
Wednesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the court’s
direction to restrain Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal from promising full statehood to Delhi ahead of voting in the national
capital on Sunday. The PIL, filed by one Anil Dutt Sharma, claims Kejriwal has
been misleading people by promising them full statehood. AAP and Arvind
Kejriwal have been advertising main promise to get full statehood for Delhi, as
widely published despite knowing well that respondents even if they win on all
seats, cannot grant full statehood to Delhi. That aforesaid statement has been
made to reap rich political harvest knowing the same to be false It is further
submitted that to make the amendment in the Constitution of India, it requires
the majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the House whereas
the respondent no 1 is electing on seven seats only in Delhi thus the
respondents neither have the power nor the intention to amend the Constitution
of India to make Delhi as full statehood, the plea said.
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CJI HARASSMENT CASE: 17 WOMEN DETAINED FOR STAGING PROTEST AT
CONNAUGHT PLACE
Seventeen women were
detained Wednesday while they were protesting against the procedure adopted to
deal with a sexual harassment case against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.
Gogoi on Monday got a clean chit from the apex court’s In-House Inquiry
Committee which has found no substance in the allegations of sexual harassment
levelled against him by a former woman employee of the Supreme Court. Raising
objection to the clean chit given to Gogoi, several protesters, mainly women,
holding banners were protesting at Gate No. 7 of the Connaught place metro
station. Madhur Verma said, They were asked to protest at Jantar Mantar but
they continued to protest at Connaught place. Seventeen women were detained and
taken to Mandir Marg police station. However, they were released later.
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ROAD ACCIDENTS STILL CAUSE MOST DEATHS: WHO REPORT
Road accidents are the
leading cause of death among people in the 5-29 age-group worldwide with more
than 1.35 million lives lost each year and 50 million sustaining injuries,
according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report released during the
on-going global road safety week. But what makes matters worse for India is the
fact that since 2008 we have maintained our dubious distinction of being world
number one in road crash deaths. In 2015, India became a signatory to the
Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety, where we committed to halving road crash
deaths by 2020. Forget about halving, we may not even have acknowledged the
full scale of the problem in India, said Piyush Tewari. He said that as per the
data released by the Indian government, road crashes kill close to 1,50,000
people each year. However, the WHO global status report on road safety had
challenged the numbers and stated that India might be losing over 2,99,000
people each year. Road crashes have emerged as the single biggest killer of
people in the age group of 15-45. We are in the midst of a major pandemic and
the need of the hour is strong political will and leadership to address the
issue. Simply blaming individual drivers will not help when the existing
systems in which they are forced to operate are outdated and rotten, Mr. Tewari
added. Meanwhile, the reasons listed for this trend include — rapid
urbanisation, poor safety, lack of enforcement, distracted, influence of drugs
or alcohol, speeding and a failure to wear seat-belts or helmets, according to
experts.
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CIL'S COAL ALLOCATION UNDER SPOT E-AUCTION DROPS 38% IN FY19
State-owned Coal India Limited's
coal allocation under spot e-auction scheme declined by 37.7% to 34.34 million
tonnes in the last fiscal (2018-19). The country's top dry-fuel miner had
allocated 55.17 million tonnes (MT) of coal in FY 2018, according to government
data. However, the coal allocated by the PSU under the scheme in March
increased by 10.2% to 4.18 MT, compared to 3.79 MT in the corresponding month
of FY 2018, it said.
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CENTRE TO INVITE BIDS FOR 40GW BATTERY PLANTS
The government is considering
a plan to establish battery making capacity of 40 gigawatts (GW) to give a
boost to its electrical vehicles and renewable energy initiatives, an official
said. It will ask states to compete for the opportunity to set up
internationally competitive facilities that will also service global markets.
Domestic and global battery makers will be asked to bid for setting up plants
in the selected states. The proposal is expected to entail investments of $40
billion in the next two-three years and is likely to garner interest from
global battery manufacturing firms and renewable energy players such as
SoftBank, Tesla and Panasonic, a government official said. The Centre is
working on fiscal and non-fiscal measures to enable states to set up
manufacturing units as competitive as those in China. Bids will be judged on
the basis of land, incentives, power tariff discounts and regulatory and
industrial support. Plants have to be competitive so that exports are
commercially viable.
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IRDAI ASKS INSURERS TO SETTLE CLAIMS FAST IN CYCLONE FANI
AFFECTED AREAS
Insurance sector regulator
Irdai Tuesday directed insurers to take steps for ensuring registration of all
claims and quick settlement of eligible cases in cyclone-hit areas of Odisha
and neighbouring states. Cyclone Fani has resulted in immense loss to property
and to some extent lives in Odisha and the neighbouring states. In order to
extend every possible facilitation in quick and timely settlement of life
insurance claims, you are advised to take actions immediately, Irdai directed
all the life insurers. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of
India (Irdai) has asked them to initiate immediate action to ensure that all
reported claims are registered and eligible claims are settled expeditiously. With
regard to claims involving loss of life, where difficulty is experienced in
obtaining a death certificate due to non-recovery of body etc., the process
followed in the case of Chennai floods in 2015 may be considered, it said. Besides,
the insurers should have a suitably simplified process/procedure including
relaxations in the usual requirements wherever feasible may be considered to
expedite claims settlement. It has also asked them to publicise details of
offices or special camps set up for filing of claims. Details of such publicity
activities may be sent to the authority, immediately, Irdai said.
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POWER AND TELECOMMUNICATION FACILITIES BEGIN TO IMPROVE IN
CYCLONE AFFECTED PURI AND BHUBANESWAR
P. K. Sinha again reviewed
the rescue and relief measures in the cyclone FANI affected areas of Odisha
with the senior officials of State Government and Central Ministries/Agencies
concerned. Odisha Government informed that situation in 8 out of total 9
affected districts has improved and Power and Telecom services are gradually
picking up in the worst affected areas of Puri and Bhubaneswar. About 3500 gang
men are engaged in restoration of power transmission lines, sub-stations etc.
and more workers would also be arriving from West Bengal and Telengana. Land
line telephone services in Puri have started functioning and BSNL and other
Telecom Service Providers have also somewhat improved their mobile services.
The State Government, in coordination with Centre, has prepared a detailed plan
identifying priority areas for restoration of power and telecom facilities in
Puri and Bhubaneswar. Water supply in urban and rural areas has been restored
to a large extent with the help of Diesel Generator sets. While banking
services have also resumed in Puri, non availability of Power and Telecom
connectivity was hampering the functioning of some ATMs. Reviewing the relief
measures, Cabinet Secretary asked concerned officials of the State and Centre
to focus on implementation of the priority plans prepared for restoration of
Power and Telecommunications in Puri and Bhubaneswar and monitor progress on a
day-to-day basis. On the request of Odisha, he further directed that a central
team may visit Odisha soon to assess the extent of damage caused by Cyclone
FANI.
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INDIA CEO FORUM ORGANIZED TO SHARE BEST PRACTICES AND
FACILITATE CROSS-LEARNING ON CLIMATE CHANGE ISSUES
India CEO Forum on Climate
Change organized by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MoEFCC), as the pioneering initiative of the government, inviting industry
representatives, exchanged views on climate change issues and discussed
opportunities to collaborate in regard to fulfilling India’s national as well as
international climate change commitments. Businesses are recognised as crucial
to meeting global climate change goals and forum on Climate Change focused on
driving transition to a low-carbon economy. It delivered powerful messages as
leaders from the private and public sector gathered to showcase their
commitment to tackle climate change. The Forum consisted of high-level
discussions across several sessions covering topics from India’s Nationally
Determined Contributions to discussions on the 2019 United Nations Secretary
General’s Climate Summit, to be held on 23rd September, 2019 in New York, in
which India along with Sweden will be leading the discussions on Industry
Transition. The sessions voiced deliberations from the government on India’s
international commitments to fighting climate change as well as deliberations
from businesses on private sector actions around climate change and future
visions for a low-carbon trajectory. A separate high-level CEO session was also
organized exclusively for industry leaders. The Forum brought together more
than 50 high-profile leaders from the Indian business world. C.K. Mishra
highlighted that the forum was being conducted to create a mechanism for the
government and businesses to formally talk about climate change issues and
develop a common voice at global forums so that there is no disconnect between
the stand of the government and that of the industries. He said that this forum
will help the government move from a language-based narrative on climate change
to an action-based narrative and highlighted the important role that businesses
play in dealing with global warming issues and a platform like this will help
share best practices and facilitate cross-learning. Amitabh Kant complimented
MoEFCC for this initiative and bringing together the government, public sector
and private sector. He said that Government’s policies need to have
cross-sectional coordination and involve all players including the government,
private sector and researchers. Private sector should start technologically
leapfrogging which will be much easier to achieve in India rather than western
nations where the availability of old technology is more widespread said Sh.
Kant.
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INDIA'S DOMESTIC PASSENGER MARKET FALLS TO 3.1% IN MARCH, SAYS
IATA
The growth of India's
domestic passenger market fell to 3.1 per cent in March as compared to 8.3 per
cent in February as there was reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways and
disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to construction, global airlines body IATA
said Wednesday. Year-on-year RPK (revenue passenger kilometre) growth slowed
substantially in the domestic India market this month, from 8.3 per cent in
February, to 3.1 per cent currently, said the International Air Transport
Association (IATA). RPK is a measure of passenger volumes. The monthly
passenger traffic figures are in comparison to traffic figures of the same
month last year. In India, over the past five years, annual growth has averaged
a double-digit pace close to 20 per cent, the association said. The slowdown
largely reflects the reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways -which
stopped flying in April - as well as disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to
construction, the IATA said. Rising airfares in recent months are also likely
to have weighed upon passenger demand, it added. The IATA represents around 290
airlines comprising 82 per cent of global air traffic. The domestic passenger
traffic in countries across the world increased by 4.1 per cent in March, according
to the IATA.
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INDIA'S ALCOHOL INTAKE UP BY 38% IN SEVEN YEARS: REPORT
India's annual alcohol
intake increased by 38% between 2010 and 2017, according to a study published
on Wednesday which found the total volume of alcohol consumed globally per year
has risen by 70% since 1990. The study of 189 countries' alcohol intake between
1990-2017 and estimated intake up to 2030 suggests that the world is not on
track to achieve targets against harmful alcohol use. Between 2010 and 2017,
alcohol consumption in India increased by 38% -- from 4.3 to 5.9 litres per
adult per year, said researchers from TU Dresden in Germany. Over the same
timescale, consumption increased slightly in the US (9.3-9.8 litres) and in
China (7.1-7.4 litres), they said. As a result of increased alcohol consumption
and population growth, the total volume of alcohol consumed globally per year
has increased by 70% -- from 20,999 million litres in 1990 to 35,676 million
litres in 2017. Intake is growing in low- and middle-income countries, while
the total volume of alcohol consumed in high-income countries has remained
stable. The estimates suggest that by 2030 half of all adults will drink
alcohol, and almost a quarter (23%) will binge drink at least once a month,
researchers said. Alcohol is a major risk factor for disease, and is causally
linked to over 200 diseases, in particular non-communicable diseases and
injuries, they said. Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income
countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe, said study. However,
this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern
Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China,
India, and Vietnam. This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030 when Europe
is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use, said Manthey. He
said the World Health Organization (WHO)'s aim of reducing the harmful use of
alcohol by 10% by 2025 will not be reached globally. Instead, alcohol use will
remain one of the leading risk factors for the burden of disease for the
foreseeable future, and its impact will probably increase relative to other
risk factors. Implementation of effective alcohol policies is warranted,
especially in rapidly developing countries with growing rates of alcohol use,
Manthey said. The study measured per capita alcohol consumption using data from
the WHO and the Global Burden of Disease study. Over the same period, it also
measured prevalence of people who did not drink for their whole lives or were
current drinkers (ie, drank alcohol at least once a year) using surveys for 149
countries, and binge drinkers using surveys from 118 countries. Binge drinkers
were those consuming 60 grammes or more pure alcohol in one sitting once or
more within 30 days. Globally, alcohol consumption is set to increase from 5.9
litres pure alcohol a year per adult in 1990 to 7.6 litres in 2030. However,
intake varied regionally. Between 2010-2017, consumption increased by 34 per
cent in southeast Asia (from 3.5 litres to 4.7 litres), with increases in
India, Vietnam and Myanmar. In Europe, consumption reduced by 12 per cent (from
11.2 to 9.8 litres), mainly due to decreases in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan,
Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Intake levels remained similar in African,
American, and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Globally, the prevalence of
lifetime abstinence decreased from 46% in 1990 to 43% in 2017, while the
prevalence of current drinking increased from 45% in 1990 to 47% in 2017. The
prevalence of heavy episodic drinking increased from 18.5% to 20%.
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US COTTON OUTPUT LIKELY TO TOUCH HIGHEST IN 14 YEARS
The 2019-2020 US crop will
expand to 21.8 million bales from 18.4 million the previous season, according
report. The USDA is scheduled to release the report on Friday in Washington. A
bale weighs 480 pounds (218 kilograms). In March, the USDA forecast that cotton
acres would dip to 13.8 million for the 2019-2020 season from 14.1 million a
year earlier. Still, anecdotal evidence in states including Texas and Oklahoma
suggests the fiber will be sown on 14 million acres nationally, according to
John Robinson. Relatively low prices for competing crops and rainy weather
causing planting delays for corn may make the fiber an attractive alternative,
said Robinson, who estimates U.S. cotton production will reach 23 million
bales.
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AYODHYA CASE: SC EXTENDS TIME TILL AUGUST 15 FOR MEDIATION
PROCESS
The Supreme Court Friday
extended till August 15 the time for a panel of mediators headed by former apex
court judge Justice F M I Kalifulla, to explore an amicable solution to the
politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute at Ayodhya. A
five judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said they
have received the report from Justice Kalifulla in which the panel has sought
extension of time till August 15 to complete mediation proceedings. If the
mediators are optimistic about the result and are seeking time till August 15,
what is the harm in granting time? This issue has been pending for years and
years. Why should we not grant time, the bench also comprising Justices S A
Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer told the counsel appearing
for the parties. The counsel appearing for both the Hindu and Muslim parties
expressed confidence over the ongoing mediation proceedings and said they are
fully cooperating with the process.
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DEFENCE MINISTRY TO ADOPT NEW PROCUREMENT POLICY
The defence ministry will
be adopting a new procurement policy that will define the level of indigenous
content for defence equipment and give higher preference to local vendors in
contracts and to start with, it has identified military textiles such as
bulletproof jackets, boots and high altitude clothing for this purpose. The
ministry will also identify other defence equipment where the policy can be
applied. The matter stems from an order issued by the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry in June 2017 on ‘Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India)’. A
meeting was recently held on the policy in Mumbai. Comprising of senior
officers from the army, it focussed on notifying indigenous content in the
supply of technical textiles by Indian vendors. This means that the defence
ministry and the army with other stakeholders will define the quantity of
indigenisation in textile-based items such as bulletproof jackets, bulletproof
patkas (similar to helmets), super high altitude clothing, boots and sleeping
bags. A similar meeting was held by Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra in December.
According to the order, the minimum local content for an item should be 50%.
While officials explained that quantum of indigenous content has not been fixed,
the order adds that a ministry can prescribe a higher or lower percentage of it
for a particular product. The nodal ministry may annually review the local
content requirements with a view to increasing them, subject to availability of
sufficient local competition with adequate quality, the order said. Another
important part of the order is that the purchase preference for a product will
be given to local suppliers. An official explained that in the procurement of
an item where there is an adequate vendor base and if its value is Rs 50 lakh
or less, then only local suppliers are eligible. In cases where the procurement
value is more than Rs 50 lakh, if the L1 (lowest bidder) is a local supplier,
the contract for the full quantity will be awarded to it. However, if the L1is
a foreign vendor, then only 50% of the order quantity will be awarded to it. Thereafter,
the lowest bidder among the local suppliers, will be invited to match the L1
price for the remaining 50%. This will, however, be subject to the local supplier’s
quoted price falling within the margin of the purchase preference, explained an
official. If the lowest eligible local supplier fails to match the L1 price,
then the next higher local supplier within the margin of the purchase
preference will be invited to match the L1price for the remaining quantity.
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TAJ MAHAL PALACE OFFERS JOBS TO EMPLOYEES OF GROUNDED JET
AIRWAYS
An ad inviting employees
of grounded Jet Airways appeared to work at The Taj Mahal Palace Hotels on
social media platforms Wednesday evening. The hotel chain is owned by the Tata
group which had earlier expressed interest to pick a stake in the beleaguered
airline.
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UP SUGAR MILLS RISK RS 500 CR LOSS AS REGULATOR CUTS POWER
TARIFFS
With the Uttar Pradesh
energy watchdog proposing to reduce tariffs by 35% of bagasse-based power
supplied to the state utility by sugar mills, the beleaguered millers are
looking at taking a hit of almost Rs 500 crore annually if the proposal sails
through. Against the prevailing tariffs of Rs 6.19 to Rs 6.75 per unit for the
purchase of cogenerated power supplied by mills to UP Power Corporation Limited
(UPPCL), the UP Electricity Regulatory Commission (UPERC) has proposed paring
the rate by around Rs 2.25 per unit, or by around 35%, for the next five years.
The new tariffs are being determined under the Captive and Non-conventional
Energy Generating Plants (CRE) Regulation, applicable on the generation of
power based on bagasse, biomass, small hydro, small wind, etc, in the state.
Since, annual billing of power supplied by UP sugar mills to UPPCL is to the
tune of Rs 1,500 crore, these entities would book a prospective loss of about
Rs 500 crore if the tariff proposal is notified by UPERC. According to sources,
sugar mills stiffly opposed the proposal of downward revision of power tariffs
claiming it would affect their profitability and result in the closure of
mills, which would ultimately harm farmers’ interests. The mills also opposed
the UPERC proposal to pare bagasse rate from Rs 2,100-2,200 per tonne to Rs
1,000 per tonne although their prices were steeper in the open market. As such,
it would be a loss making proposition for mills to generate power and sell at
such a tariff, they underlined seeking revocation of the tariff proposal. UPPCL
will save Rs 500 crore of public money with the reduction in tariff applicable
to sugar mills and would indirectly benefit consumers, UP Power Consumers
Council president Avadhesh Kumar Verma told.
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MOTHER DAIRY UNDER SCANNER: DEA SEEKS ‘NECESSARY ACTION’ OVER
ALLEGED RS 1,000-CRORE FRAUD
Having received a
complaint from Lucknow-based Dharmendra Pratap Singh, alleging several
instances of fraud at Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Ltd (MDFVPL) and
call for a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office, the Department of
Economic Affairs has directed the complaint to the Secretary, Ministry of
Corporate Affairs for necessary action. The DEA also directed the complaint to
the Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture. According to sources, while the DEA
received a complaint on April 15, it directed the same to the MCA on April 29,
2019. In its April 29 letter, the DEA said, I am directed to enclose herewith a
copy of letter dated 15.04.2019 received from Shri Dharmendra Pratap Singh,
Lucknow addressed to Secretary DEA along with its enclosures on the above
subject (copy enclosed) for necessary action under intimation to the
department. In his letter, the complainant has alleged various instances of
fraud amounting to over Rs 1,000 crore at MDFVPL, a wholly owned subsidiary of
National Dairy Development Board. Incidentally, MDFVPL appointed Sangram
Chaudhary as its new MD on April 30 after its CEO Sanjeev Khanna quit the company
on health grounds. Besides the IL&FS investment issue, the complainant also
alleged that the company diverted over Rs 100 crore (from contributions of over
Rs 450 crore received from NDDB) into over 15 subsidiaries set up illegally and
that later disappeared. He further alleged that in the period between 2004 and
2014, the company paid excess amount of Rs 180 crore for purchasing milk from
sources other than cooperatives, besides alleging frauds on other accounts
including allegation of fraud by using Safari National Exchange that was a
joint venture set up by MDFCPL with Jignesh Shah. While MDFVPL received grants
of about Rs 500 crore from GoI under National Dairy Plan Scheme between 2014
and 2019 to set up milk producer companies, the complainant alleged that it is
not knows as to how much amount was paid to various private dairies for supply
of milk and is fraudulently being shown as milk bought from these milk
producing companies. Responding to the queries, MDFVPL spokesperson said,
MDFVPL has not received any information from either finance ministry or MCA
seeking clarification nor has it received any intimation from SFIO under MCA
regarding any investigation or probe. The allegations in the so called
complaint are unfounded and far from truth. The fact of the matter is that
MDFVPL is a company owned by NDDB, an entity created by an Act of Parliament in
1987. NDDB’s financial contribution to MDFVPL, its 100 per cent subsidiary, was
through equity participation only. Moreover, MDFVPL does not have any subsidiary
and hence we refute any allegation.
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TEMPLE RUN: TIRUPATI TEMPLE SITS ON OVER 9,000 KG GOLD
RESERVES
The worlds richest Hindu
temple at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh is sitting on pure gold reserves of over
9,000 kg officials said. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the
affairs of the famous Sri Venkateswara Temple, has 7,235 kg of yellow metal
deposited with two nationalized banks under different gold deposit schemes. TTD
has 1,934 kg gold in its treasury, including 1,381 kg which it got back from
Punjab National Bank last month following the end of three-year term of gold
deposit scheme. TTD Board, the highest decision making body, is yet to decide
on the bank where 1,381 kg gold will be deposited. According to sources, it was
studying various gold deposit schemes and would opt for the one which offers
the best returns. The remaining 553 kg of gold in TTD treasury comprises small
jewellery and other items offered by the devotees. TTD often avoids revealing
details of gold deposits but the controversy over the seizure of 1,381 kg of
gold by election authorities in Tamil Nadu last month made the body to come out
with the details. Balaji temple, as the hill shrine is also popularly known,
had deposited 1,311 kg gold with PNB in 2016. The bank returned the same with
an interest of 70 kg gold. TTD revealed that 5,387 kg of its gold is with the
State Bank of India and another 1,938 kg is with the Indian Overseas Bank.
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GOVERNMENT OFFERS DRUG FIRMS ₹3,501 CRORE SETTLEMENT FOR
PRICE CAP PENALTIES
The government has offered
a one-time waiver of interest charges if drug makers, including Sun
Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd, Pfizer Ltd and Lupin Ltd, agree to deposit more
than ₹3,501 crore they collected by selling drugs at prices higher
than those notified by the drug pricing regulator. The department of
pharmaceuticals (DoP) has offered to waive interest amounting to more than ₹1,325
crore out of the total outstanding amount of ₹4,827 crore on the
condition that the companies drop lawsuits challenging the department’s order.
There are 666 cases where the department has asked drug makers to disgorge
excess profits because of non-compliance with government orders since 1997. The
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) sends notices to drug makers
specifying recovery of overcharged amounts, penalties, a charge of 15% interest
and prosecution measures, according to the Essential Commodities Act. Many of
these disputes are, however, tied up in litigation. To settle such disputes,
DoP has written letters dated 13 March and 2 April to pharma lobby groups
including Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA) and Indian Drug Manufacturers’
Association (IDMA), offering to waive interest charges. The one-time settlement
offer, however, comes with a rider. Whether IDMA and IPA can ensure after the
payment of outstanding dues that there will be no legal cases, the letter says.
In this regard, a clarity is required whether pharma companies are ready to pay
₹3,501 crore outstanding on account of principal and interest
i.e. there is no dispute on the principal amount in all 666 cases and pharma
companies have no objection to pay the interest after condonation.
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IN-HOUSE PROBE PANEL CLEARS CJI RANJAN GOGOI IN SEXUAL
HARASSMENT CASE
The Supreme
Court-appointed committee conducting an in-house inquiry into sexual harassment
charges against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has cleared him,
finding no substance in the accusations levelled by a former employee in his
office. A notice uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Monday says the
panel’s report dated 5 May has been submitted to the CJI and the next
senior-most judge in accordance with In-House Procedure. The notice clarifies
that the report will not be made public in accordance with the decision of the
2003 case of Indira Jaising vs Supreme Court of India & Anr. The In-House
Committee has found no substance in the allegations contained in the Complaint
dated 19.04.2019 of a former employee of the Supreme Court of India, said the
notice, issued by the secretary general of the Supreme Court. The process of
investigation and the decision came in for strong criticism from civil society.
This raises the question of credibility of the judicial system. It is a unique
case where justice is not delivering justice, said social activist Ranjana
Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research and president of advocacy
body Women Power Connect. This is one of the most unfortunate decisions for
access to justice, for women have now mustered the courage to come forward but
such a response will discourage them to complain. The committee was already
biased and no procedure was followed, no NGO member or external member appointed.
The apex court itself is not following the law it made, then why should
companies, government or other workplaces follow the laws, she said. The
complainant made her strong sense of dejection and injustice plain in a
statement to the press on Monday evening. She said that despite submitting all
the materials the committee has found no substance in the mala fide dismissal
and suspensions, indignities and humiliations suffered by her and her family. I
am on the verge of losing faith in the idea of justice, she said. The woman had
withdrawn from the proceedings on being denied a lawyer, audio/video
recordings, copies of her statement and information with respect to the
procedure being followed by the committee. Supreme Court judge D.Y. Chandrachud
wrote a letter on 2 May to the committee voicing his concern on the contents of
the press release made by the complainant on 30 April while withdrawing her
participation in the proceedings of the committee. Chandrachud requested a full
court sitting to ponder over and discuss the issue. He said there should be an
external member on the committee and suggested the names of Justices Ruma Pal,
Sujata Manohar and Ranjana Desai, according to the report.
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MAMATA INSULTING CONSTITUTION BY NOT ACCEPTING ME AS PM: MODI
Mamata Banerjee is
insulting the Constitution by saying that she is not ready to accept him as the
prime minister of the country. Modi said Didi (Banerjee) is publicly saying
that she is not ready to accept the country's PM as the head of the nation, but
she feels proud in acknowleding Pakistan PM as that country's prime minister.
He said Banerjee was insulting the Constitution out of anxiety of losing the
general elections. The prime minister had tried to contact the chief minister
to discuss cyclone Fani but could not do so as his calls were not returned.
Banerjee had said in a rally that she does not accept Narendra Modi as the
prime minister of the country describing him as the expiry PM and that she will
talk to the new prime minister after the election results. She did not take
calls from me during the cyclone. The Central government wanted to sit with
officers of the state to discuss the situation, but Didi did not allow that
too, Modi said. She is not interested in the betterment of the state, but in
that of her family, nephew and tolabaj (extortionists) of her party, the PM
said. Modi said that how much the TMC supremo is worried can be understood by
the language being used by her. She is now talking about stones and slaps against
me, the PM said. I am used to abuses, I have now got the ability to digest
abuses from dictionaries from around the world, he said.
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RAJIV GANDHI USED INS VIRAAT FOR OFFICIAL VISIT: CONGRESS
The Congress on Thursday
said late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi did not use aircraft carrier INS Viraat
for vacation but for an official purpose. Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused
Rajiv Gandhi of using the aircraft carrier and its personnel for vacations with
his foreigner in-laws. Pawan Khera said Modi was attacking Gandhi as he had no
achievements of his government to present before voters. Vice Admiral (retired)
Vinod Pasricha has told that this is a lie. Rajivji was on an official visit.
It was not a holiday. Facts do not matter to Modi, he said. Khera said Modi was
the first Prime Minister of the country who was seeking votes on his failures.
Issues such as demonetization, unemployment and Rafale aircraft deal were not
the part of the debate for Modi, he said. Modi may hold Rajiv Gandhi
responsible for all this. The government has informed the Supreme Court that
documents related to Rafale were stolen. Modi may hold Rajivji responsible for
it. Or be it fugitive offenders who flew away with Rs 1 lakh crore, Khera said.
Khera said Modi had tried to shift the blame for his foolish acts in the last
five years to late Prime Ministers Gandhi and also Jawaharlal Nehru.
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RAJIV GANDHI USED NAVY WARSHIP INS VIRAAT AS 'PERSONAL TAXI'
ON A FAMILY VACATION: PM NARENDRA MODI
Narendra Modi reopened the
1984 anti-Sikh riots and targeted Rajiv Gandhi and Congress at his maiden
election rally in New Delhi on Wednesday. Congress is talking about Nyay these
days. It will have to tell who would be accountable for the injustice of 1984
anti-Sikh riots. Those who are facing riot charges have been made chief
ministers. What kind of Nyay is this? Modi said. He also accused former Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi of using INS Viraat as his personal taxi on a vacation.
Ever imagined that a premier warship of the Indian armed forces could be used
as a taxi for a personal holiday? This was when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime
minister and he was going for a vacation for 10 days. The biggest family of
Congress used the warship as personal taxi. Rajiv Gandhi was accompanied by his
in-laws who had come from Italy, Modi said. The Navy was made to host the
Gandhi family and Rajiv Gandhi's in-laws, and a helicopter was also deployed in
their service, Modi claimed, adding that when a family becomes supreme, the
country's security is at stake. INS Viraat was insulted by using it as a
personal taxi. This happened when Rajiv Gandhi and his family was out for a
10-day vacation. INS Viraat was deployed for securing our maritime boundary.
But it was diverted to take the Gandhi family which was out for a vacation,
Modi said. He also claimed that after picking up the Gandhi family, INS Viraat
halted at an island for 10 days. Rajiv Gandhi was accompanied by his in-laws
who had come from Italy. Question is whether the security of the country was
not compromised by taking foreigners onboard a warship, he asked. He mentioned
about Congress manifesto in his speech saying that the party wants to remove
army from Kashmir. Pakistan also wants army to be removed from Kashmir.
Congress is speaking Pakistan’s language, he said. Modi also attacked the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) government and said it brought the nakampanthi model of
governance to the national capital. Delhi is the only state of the country
which saw a new model of politics called Nakampanthi. They say no to every
development work in Delhi and have failed in doing what they promised, he said.
He blamed AAP for supporting anti-national forces. They stood with the tukde
tukde gang. In Punjab, they tried to strengthen Khalistan forces and tried to
get in touch with anti-national forces abroad. Elections for seven Lok Sabha
seats in Delhi are going to take place in the sixth phase on May 12.
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ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE CJI: MISUSE OF POWER AND NO PROCEDURAL
FAIRNESS
On the 19th of April this
year, a former employee of the Supreme Court’s registry, forwarded a detailed
affidavit to the Judges of the Court alleging sexual harassment by the Chief
Justice of India. She also pointed out a subsequent pattern of vengeance upon
her and her family. In this unprecedented situation, the Court had many options
before it – order an enquiry under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at
Workplaces Act, follow its own internal sexual harassment complaint procedure
or follow simple common sense. Over the last 20 days, it seems to have
abandoned all of these, and decided to brazen it out. Matter of Great Public
Importance Touching upon the Independence of Judiciary - mentioned by Shri
Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India. It has ended in a secret, internal
report that has exonerated the Chief Justice. The process and its outcome do
not come as a surprise. If anything, they follow a pattern, common to other
cases of such allegations against men in positions of power. All of these are
characterized by victim shaming by the accused and their supporters – often
other men and women holding high office, wild conspiracy theories and scant
regard to the most basic principles of fairness. In the past, the US Supreme
Court, has similarly protected its judges. Thomas' supporters questioned her
credibility, claiming she was delusional or had been spurned. During the senate
hearing, Republican Senator Orrin Hatch went as far as implying that Hill was
working in tandem with 'slick lawyers' and interest groups bent on destroying
Thomas' chances to join the court. Hill agreed to take a polygraph test. The
reports of the test confirmed her claims. Thomas refused a similar test. He
however stated that he was being subjected to high-tech lynching for uppity
blacks by white liberals who were seeking to block a black conservative from
taking a seat on the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the United States Senate
confirmed Thomas to the Supreme Court by a vote of 52–48. Immediately after
reports of the allegations against him came out in the media, the Chief Justice
constituted a bench, which he presided over himself. Three of the most powerful
men in the Court – the Chief Justice, the Attorney General and the Solicitor
General got together to indulge in what can best be called character
assassination of the complainant. The hearing was called without notice to the
complainant herself. Curiously, though the Chief Justice was a member of the
bench, the final order of the day was not signed by him. Soon thereafter, one
Mr. Utsav Bains filed an affidavit alleging that there was a conspiracy to ‘fix
the Chief Justice’. Mr. Bains was not a party to the Court proceedings. How
then was his affidavit accepted by the Court registry? The affidavit itself
alleged a conspiracy involving people of all hues - Dawood Ibrahim, Naresh
Goyal, Supreme Court judges, disgruntled court staff etc. A bench – not
involving the Chief Justice, has taken cognizance of this, and ordered an
enquiry. At the same time, an in-house panel was constituted to conduct an
‘informal enquiry’ into the charges against the Chief Justice. The Complainant
described the proceedings before the panel as hostile. She chose to walk out of
the proceedings after her requests for a lawyer and for recording of the
proceedings etc were denied. The enquiry that went on in her absence cleared
the Chief Justice of all charges. The Court has refused to make the report
public. ‘Fiat justitia ruat caelum’ - Let justice be done though the heavens fall,
the Supreme Court often tells us. The same Supreme Court refused a lawyer to
the Complainant in this case. Sunlight is the best disinfectant – the Court
repeatedly says while stressing on transparency in all matters. The same Court
has refused to make its final report public. In doing so, it has let all of us
– lawyers and citizens who have (had?) faith in the judiciary down. For years
citizens and lawyers looked up to the judiciary as the protector of the
Constitution – the sentinel on the qui vive. It now appears reduced to a man,
proud man, dress'd in a little brief authority, most ignorant of what he's most
assur'd.. It is said that things have to get worse before they get better.
Things do not get much worse than this.
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SC DISMISSES PLEA SEEKING DIRECTION TO DEBAR RAHUL GANDHI FROM
CONTESTING LOK SABHA POLLS
The Supreme Court Thursday
dismissed a plea seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to
debar Rahul Gandhi from contesting Lok Sabha elections till the issue of his
citizenship is decided. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi rejected
the contention of the petitioners, who said that in a form along with the
annual data of a UK-based company in 2005-06, it was allegedly mentioned that Rahul
Gandhi is a British citizen. If some company in some form mentions his
nationality as British, does he become a British citizen, the bench also
comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna told the petitioners.
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RAJIV GANDHI ASSASSINATION CASE: SC DISMISSES PLEAS OPPOSING
TN'S MOVE TO RELEASE CONVICTS
The Supreme Court Thursday
dismissed pleas of families of those killed along with former Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, objecting to the Tamil Nadu government's 2014 decision to
release seven convicts in the case. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan
Gogoi said, All aspects were covered in the earlier constitution bench verdict
in the case and therefore nothing survives in the case. In 2014, the then J
Jayalalithaa-led government had decided to release seven convicts in the case.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Sriperumbudur in Tamil
Nadu on May 21, 1991.
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PRIYANKA GANDHI RESPONDS TO PM NARENDRA MODI'S DARE, TELLS HIM
TO FIGHT LAST 2 PHASES ON GST, DEMO
Gandhi responded to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's challenge to Rahul Gandhi-led party to contest the
remaining two rounds of the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections in the name of the former
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Modi ji came to Delhi five years back but I was
born. I know every corner of the city. Delhi people are bored of your speeches,
Modi ji. A Delhi girl is giving you an open challenge. Fight the last two
phases of seven-phased Lok Sabha polls on issues such as demonetisation, GST,
women's safety, and on those false promises you made to the youngsters of the
country, said Priyanka Gandhi. The Congress leader further took a jibe at PM
Modi, saying that he blames the Nehru-Gandhi family to hide his own incapability.
Their situation is like those children who don't do their homework and come to
school. When the teacher asks them, they say, 'What should we do, Nehru ji took
away my sheet and hid it somewhere. What should I do, Indira ji made a boat out
of my homework sheet and sunk it in some water', she said.
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IT'S A FIGHT BETWEEN 3GS OF CONGRESS AND BJP, SAYS AMIT SHAH
Amit Shah on Wednesday
claimed that this Lok Sabha election is a fight between '3 G of the Congress
represented by the Gandhi family and those of the saffron party exemplified by
gaon, goumata and the Ganga. Claiming that there is a wave in favour of the
prime minister across the country, Shah also sought to compare between a
'workaholic' Narendra Modi and a 'vacation loving' Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
He also alleged that the opposition parties are not interested in the security
of the country for the sake of votebank politics. Both the Congress and the BJP
have three Gs, he said. For the Congress, 3G stands for Sonia (Gandhi), Rahul
(Gandhi) and Priyanka (Gandhi). The BJP's 3G are gaon (villages), goumata (cow)
and the Ganga, Shah said and asked the people to choose the correct 3G. He said
he has visited for poll campaigns almost all the states where people have different
tastes and culture, but what is common everywhere is the chant in favour of
Modi. On the one hand, you have Modi who did not take a single leave in 20
years. On the other, you have Rahul Gandhi who goes on long vacations to
places, leaving his mother worried about his whereabouts, he said. Bullets of
terrorists will be responded with bombs, Shah said. The BJP president said, I
would like to ask them when innocent jawans were killed and their families
suffered, where was their concern? From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kolkata
to Kutch, we will identify infiltrators and throw them out of country, the BJP
president leader said. Article 370 will be scrapped. Modi will definitely come
to power again. but in case the BJP is not in power, every BJP worker will see
to it that Kashmir remains an integral part of the country, Shah said. The
Congress promised abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in its poll
manifesto. The Article grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and limits
Parliament's power to make laws concerning the state.
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NO ONE HAS COPYRIGHT ON SAFFRON: DIGVIJAYA SINGH
Former Madhya Pradesh
Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said that no one has the copyright
on saffron after the sadhus, who took out a roadshow here in support of Singh,
were seen holding saffron flags along with the Congress' flags. A group of
sadhus, who came from across the country, extended their support to Singh who
is contesting from this Lok Sabha constituency. Namdeo Das Tyagi alias Computer
Baba was leading the group.
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MAMATA BANERJEE DRAWS PARALLEL BETWEEN QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT AND
FIGHT AGAINST MODI
Mamata Banerjee on
Wednesday drew a parallel between her campaign against the BJP and the Quit
India Movement of 1942. Someone has to bell the cat. In 1942, Quit India
movement was launched against the British, now we are fighting to oust a
fascist Modi from power, she said. The TMC supremo claimed that Modi, if he
retains power, will destroy the constitutional fabric and no elections will be
held in future. There will be no freedom or democracy in the country if Modi is
voted to power again. It is time we show the door to Modi and the BJP. It’s
time this government is buried during this democratic exercise (elections), she
said. She also claimed that people are scared to express their opinion in
public. There is an emergency-like situation in the country. Nobody can speak
out in public as they are scared of him. Stop this fascism and terror, she
said. Modi had promised achhe din (good times) after coming to power. What
happened, in reality, is that the prices of petrol and diesel have gone up and
minorities and adivasis no longer feel safe in the face of incessant attacks,
the TMC leader said. India is in danger under the Modi-led government, Banerjee
alleged.
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WE WORK FOR ALL BUT FEEL BAD WHEN THEY SAY WON'T VOTE FOR
LOTUS: MANEKA ON HER REMARKS ON MUSLIMS
Maneka Gandhi, who had
stirred a controversy by asking Muslims to vote for her as they will need her
once the Lok Sabha elections are over, on Wednesday said her remarks were taken
out of context. BJP leader said she had only stressed that while working she
never gives any importance to caste and religion but feels bad when people say
that they will not vote for her as they do not want to vote for lotus. Wherever
I've gone, I've thought of all religions and castes. When we work, we work for
all and that time nobody is concerned about lotus, but when it is time to vote
and people tell us that they will not vote for me because they don't want to
vote for the lotus symbol, it feels very bad, she said. Maneka Gandhi was
banned by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours last month for
her remarks. It was totally out of context. You have heard my speeches, she
said. Asked as to why she has swapped constituency with son Varun Gandhi, who
is now contesting from Pilibhit, she said it was the party's decision and she
will continue to take the development works ahead.
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MCC VIOLATIONS: BJP LODGES PROTEST WITH EC OVER ‘DELAY’ IN
ACTION AGAINST AAP LEADERS
The BJP lodged its protest
with the Election Commission on Wednesday over delay in action against the AAP
leaders including its chief Arvind Kejriwal, on complaints of model code of
conduct violations. Vijender Gupta met the EC officials and demanded strict
action against the AAP leaders including gagging them for the alleged
violations. We have lodged complaints with the EC and the Chief Electoral
Officer (Delhi) against the AAP leaders with evidence. But no action has been
taken which hints an unexpected favour to the AAP by the EC, Gupta said. Unless
urgent and immediate action is taken, the complaints will become futile. Delay in
deciding the complaints or representation will only result in denial of our
right to remedies, he said. The Honourable Election Commission of India has a
Constitutional obligation to ensure free and fair elections. It has a duty to
take action against violators of poll rules and regulations for conducting the
elections in a free and fair manner, it said. The BJP leaders have lodged
several complaints of violations of model code of conduct (MCC) against the
AAP, relating to alleged misuse of public funds for appeasement politics, paid
news, spreading lies against BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans, asking voters to take
money from BJP and Congress but vote for the AAP.
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CHOWKIDAR CHOR HAI SLOGAN NOT COINED BY ME OR CONGRESS: RAHUL GANDHI
Rahul Gandhi Wednesday
said neither he nor his party coined the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ slogan, and
attributed the jibe to the youth and farmers. Gandhi attacked Prime Minister
Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, claiming the latter ensured that a thief,
industrialist Anil Ambani, got it. Mediapersons asked me about the genesis of
the chowkidar chor hai slogan. I told them that while addressing a rally in
Chhattisgarh, I said the chowkidar promised two crore jobs to the youth and
assured Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in bank account of each Indian. Around
10-15 young men in the rally said ‘chor hai’. I did not hear it the first time.
So I asked (the young men) what did you say? They said ‘chor hai’. This slogan
was not coined by the Congress, or by Rahul Gandhi but it is a slogan of the
youth, farmers and labourers of India. Gandhi said he would prefer to die
rather than make false promises to the people.
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PEOPLE DON'T TRUST MODI; HE WON'T BECOME PM AGAIN: RAHUL
GANDHI IN MP
Rahul Gandhi Wednesday
said he won't become the PM again as people have lost faith in him. Gandhi said
Modi can't face the truth that he has failed to deliver on his promises. Let
Narendra Modi say anything now, people have lost faith in him. He can no longer
face the truth that the promises he made during the 2014 general elections have
not been fulfilled, Gandhi said. Modi can't face the truth that he has
delivered nothing, and instead taken away jobs of the poor and youth by his
decisions like demonetisation and GST, he said. Demonetisation was widely used
to convert the black money into white by the most corrupt people in the
country, Gandhi said. All the thieves in the country have converted their black
money into white with the help of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. The
government led by Modi waived Rs 5.55 lakh crore debt of 15 people in the
country, but he does not have similar sympathy towards farmers or the youth. If
a farmer turns out to be defaulter, the lenders ensure he ends up in jail. Once
the Congress government comes to power, we will frame laws to ensure that
farmers won't be jailed for defaulting on loan repayments, he said.
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MODI RULE WEAKENED ECONOMY, GOVT MISLEADING PEOPLE WITH HOLLOW
CLAIMS, SAYS CHIDAMBARAM
The Modi government is
misleading the people with hollow claims, even as economy is treading a weak
path P Chidambaram said, adding the next government has enough work to do so as
to repair the damage done by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Several
indicators show that the economy is facing a slowdown, the veteran Congress
party leader also said on Wednesday. The people have begun to raise their
voices as the elections near an end, he added. The report by the economic
division of the Finance Ministry for March is an indictment of the state of the
economy, he noted. Chidambaram said it appears the MCA-21 data, which has not
been made public, is faulty as 35 per cent of companies in the data do not
exist. There is not even a single parameter which shows the economy is in good
shape, he added. According to the March 2019 report, the GDP growth fell from
8.2 per cent to 7 per cent in the last 3 years. The gross fiscal deficit and
capital expenditure remain flat and inflation rose from 3.1 per cent to 4.2 per
cent, the former finance minister also said. The private expenditure,
government expenditure and fixed investment rates have also fallen in the last
five years, Chidambaram noted. Jaiveer Shergill said that it has turned out to
be a failure. It must serve as a warning sign to people that the Modi can’t be
trusted, he added.
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NARENDRA MODI SAYS CONGRESS FAILED TO TACKLE NATIONAL SECURITY
DURING ITS REGIME
Narendra Modi on Wednesday
hit out at the Congress, saying the grand old party has such a history that it
can not boast anything when it comes to nation's defence. The Prime Minister
also launched a veiled attack against Robert Vadra, former Congress president
Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, saying that he presumed himself to be a
''Shahenshah'', who no one could touch but today he was nervous after being
dragged to court. No nation can become a world power without strengthening its
defence policy Have you heard the Congress or any other parties speaking about
about defence in their public gatherings? They can't say anything on defence
because of their history in this field, said Mr. Modi. Targeting the Congress
for what he described as a failure of the party in tackling the national
security during its regime, Mr. Modi said that Congress-led government in the
past limited itself to only giving statements when there were terror attacks,
even when Indian soldiers were subjected to brutal and inhuman treatment on the
borders they kept mum. This chowkidaar has taken the person who looted farmers
to court. He (Mr. Vadra) used to think he is a Shahenshah, now he is nervous.
I’ve already taken him to the jail door. Give blessings and I’ll put him in
jail within the next 5 years, said Mr. Modi.
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NO PARTY WILL GET MAJORITY, CONGRESS WILL FORGE ALLIANCE FOR
‘UPA PLUS PLUS’ GOVT, SAYS JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA
Centenarian voters to be
treated like ‘VVIPs’; get bouquets, selfies on polling day: Delhi CEO
Predicting that no single party will get a majority in Election 2019,
Jyotiraditya Scindia says his party will forge a strong alliance of like-minded
entities to create a UPA plus plus government at the Centre and end five years
of injustice. The days of coalition governments are here to stay, the Congress
general secretary, who is seeking a fresh mandate from the electorate of Madhya
Pradesh’s Guna-Shivpuri seat for a fifth term, told. Asked about the Congress’
chances after five rounds of the seven-phase elections, Scindia said he never
quantifies the number of seats but can see that the mood of the people is
against the present BJP dispensation. My assessment is the Congress party, the
UPA government will form the government at the Centre and I am very confident
of our performance as a coalition, he said. I think the people of India are
waiting for the moment to respond to the injustice that has been meted out to
them by the Narendra Modi government over the last five years, Scindia told. It
goes without saying that no single party, be it the BJP or the Congress or any
other party, is going to get an absolute majority, he said It will be a
coalition government at the Centre as it is now or has been for the past 25-30
years in the country, the 48-year-old said. That being said, I firmly believe
the UPA will be able to stitch together a very strong coalition government, he
added. Asserting that he is not an astrologer, he said he predicted that the
Congress and its allies will put together a very strong performance.
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CENTENARIAN VOTERS TO BE TREATED LIKE ‘VVIPS’; GET BOUQUETS,
SELFIES ON POLLING DAY: DELHI CEO
Special arrangements would
be made for Delhi voters who are aged 100 and above on the polling day,
including pick-up and drop facility, and they will be greeted at booths with
bouquets and selfies to make them feel like VVIPs. Delhi goes to polls on May
12 and Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh said, there are 96 centenarian
voters in the city, and women outnumber men in this category. We have been
trying for the last four months to identify all voters who are aged 100 or
above. This is a first such initiative to cater to such elderly voters who were
born before Independence and have seen the first general elections in 1952. For
us, they are VVIP voters and they will be treated as one, Singh told. According
to data shared by the Delhi CEO Office, there are 42 male centenarian voters
and 54 female. A senior officer will go to the house of each of these
centenarian voters, residing nearest to the polling station in a constituency,
and escort them them to booths. They will also motivate them vote unless they
are bedridden and their health doesn’t permit, the CEO said. But, if such
voters are still eager to vote despite their frailty, we will make all possible
arrangements, to ensure they exercise their franchise. They will also be given
priority in voting, so they don’t have to stand in line, he said. At polling
stations they will be greeted with bouquets and polling staff would take
selfies with them, Singh said. A facility for having a companion is also there,
besides, wheelchair and ramp facilities would be provided for such voters. As
many as 164 candidates are in the fray in Delhi, where the polls is largely
being seen as a triangular contest among the AAP, BJP and the Congress. Of the
over 1.43 crore voters in Delhi, 78,73,022 are male and 64,42,762 female, while
669 belong to the third gender. The number of overseas electors stands at 40
while count of service voters is 11,005.
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GOA GOVT MULLS TAPPING INTO IRON ORE MINES NOT COVERED BY 2018
SC ORDER
The Goa government is
contemplating to exploit iron ore rich mines not covered by a 2018 Supreme
Court ruling that effectively shutdown mining operations in the state, Chief
Minister Pramod Sawant has said. As many as 88 out of the 300-odd mining leases
in Goa have run into legal hurdle, stalling operations in the sector, a key
source of livelihood for local people and also revenue for the state
government. Sawant told PTI that while solution for resuming work on the 88
mining leases mired in legal tangle will be explored in the apex court, the
industry can be revived by tapping mining leases that do not fall under the
ambit of the SC order. He said the state government has already begun working with
experts to find a legal solution for the current impasse on 88 mining leases
arising out of the SC verdict. Sawant said his government would ensure mining
starts through legally-approved waysso that there are no more impediments to
the industry's functioning.
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NO QUOTA FOR MARATHAS IN PG MEDICAL COURSES IN MAHARASHTRA: SC
There will be no
reservation for Maratha community in PG medical and dental courses in
Maharashtra in the current academic session as Supreme Court on Thursday
dismissed the plea of state govt challenging high court verdict for not
allowing reservation. The Bombay high court had ruled that the state
government's notification dated March 8, 2019 regarding socially and
economically backward castes (SEBC) quota in health science courses would not
be applicable to PG dental and medical admissions since the registration
process for NEET began on October 16 and November 2 in 2018. Challenging the
order of the HC, state government moved SC but it refused to grant any relief
and accused the government of creating a mess by allowing reservations in the
middle of the admission process. The court directed the state to revise the
merit list and extend the counselling for admissions by one week.
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91% PREMATURE DEATHS DUE TO AIR POLLUTION IN LOW AND
MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES: UNEP
In the run up to the World
Environment Day with its theme of air pollution, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) on Thursday urged governments across the globe to deal with
this silent killer by adopting 4Rs - reduce, recycle, reuse, recover - in their
respective national policies and flagged how dirty air hurts the poorest most
as 91% of premature deaths occurred in low and middle-income countries. Its latest
report on measuring progress on environmental aspects of the global Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) shows that the mortality rate attributed to air
pollution was highest in ‘Sub-Sahara Africa’ and ‘Central & Southern Asia’
with 187 and 170 deaths per lakh of population, respectively. India figures in
the ‘Central & Souther Asia’ SDGs’ regional grouping along with 13 other
countries of this region including its South Asian neighbours and Iran. This
report makes us conscious of India's unique vulnerability. Disease burden of
air pollution is expected to be high in India because of high incidence of
poverty, high exposure of the majority to pollution sources, use of highly
polluting fuels and technologies especially solid fuels for cooking, and very weak
pollution control in small scale industrial units, said Anumita Roychowdhury,
head of air pollution and clean transportation programme at the Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE). Noting how the exposure to polluted air combined
with malnutrition and poor health status of the population, in fact, increase
public health risk manifold, she said, Even the rich cannot be safe if poor
people cannot breathe clean air. The ‘Sub-Sahara Africa’ regional grouping
consists of all the poor countries of this continent along with developing
nations such as South Africa and Kenya. The report notes that the relatively
richer regions, on the other hand, reported comparatively lesser number of
deaths. The figures show that ‘Australia and New Zealand’ together reported
only 8 deaths per one lakh of population while the Europe reported 13 deaths,
North America reported 89 deaths and ‘East and South-East Asia’ which includes
China reported 106 deaths per one lakh of population. The UNEP in its report
analysed the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data which had put the total
estimated number of deaths globally due to indoor and outdoor (ambient) air
pollution at 7 million in 2016. Though air pollution is one of the triggering
factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases, there are no
conclusive data available in the country to establish direct correlation of
death/disease exclusively due to air pollution, the government told the
Parliament even in last winter session, held during the period when Delhi and
most of the cities in the Indo-Gangetic plain suffered due to severe air
pollution condition.
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CLIMATE CHANGE BRINGS ECONOMICS OF ADANI'S AUSTRALIAN MINE
UNDER QUESTION
A crash in Australian
thermal coal prices is raising fresh questions about the viability of a
controversial $4 billion coal mine just a week ahead of a national election in
which climate change is a key issue. Final approval of the Carmichael coal mine
in Queensland, owned by India's Adani Enterprises, should come in a matter of
weeks, not months following nearly a decade on the drawing board, the company's
mining chief executive, Lucas Dow, told. But a 40 per cent slump in benchmark
Australian thermal coal prices since mid-2018 to a two-year low last month,
points to tight profit margins and questions as to whether the economics will
support the launch of the mine as soon as next year. Adani has said it is
aiming to start producing 10 million tonnes a year of coal from March 2020, but
analysts say the target date is optimistic. I think a lot of people are
doubting as to whether it will see the light of day, said Wood Mackenzie
analyst Victor Tanevski in Sydney. Adani estimated in January that total costs
of bringing the coal to port via rail would be A$54 a tonne ($39). Based on
current market prices, the selling price for the mine's lower-grade thermal
coal would be just over $47, suggesting a profit margin of $8-$12 per tonne.
Adani said the A$54 estimate takes into account royalties, processing fees and
the cost of financing part of a rail line to the export terminal, although
analysts suggest the company's figures are too bullish. As users move away from
so-called dirty fuel sources, coal prices are set to drift lower, consultants
AME Group say. That scenario will impact producers of lower-grade coal first as
they feel the pinch of competition from lower-cost miners like Indonesia and
renewable or cleaner fuels. To be sure, a growing reluctance among lenders to
finance thermal coal projects could crimp supply and rally prices. As an
integrated producer selling to its own plants in India, Adani may also be able
to offset small margins with gains elsewhere, such as giving other parties
access to its planned rail line if authorities allow new mines in the same coal
basin.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
IRELAND DECLARES CLIMATE EMERGENCY
Ireland's parliament has
become the second after Britain's to declare a climate emergency a decision
hailed by Swedish teenage environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg as great
news. An amendment to a parliamentary report declaring a climate emergency and
calling on parliament to examine how (the Irish government) can improve its
response to the issue of biodiversity loss was accepted without a vote late
Thursday. Irish Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, who moved the amendment, called
the decision historic. Thunberg, the 16-year-old activist who has spearheaded
protests across Europe and is becoming one of the most passionate voices of the
green movement, urged more nations to follow suit. Britain's parliament became
the first in the world to declare a climate emergency, passing the largely
symbolic motion on May 1. The step followed 11 days of street protests in
London by the Extinction Rebellion environmental campaign group.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
GUESS WHO IS FB'S BIGGEST POLITICAL ADVERTISER AFTER BJP? IT'S
FLIPKART
Leading e-commerce player
Flipkart emerged as the biggest political Facebook advertiser after the ruling
party. It spent nearly Rs 18 lakh on public service advertisements on the
importance of voting. This makes it the biggest spender after the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). Facebook makes available a weekly list of the biggest
spenders on advertisements on issues of political or national importance as
part of its transparency policies. The latest data is for the week between
April 28 and May 4. Flipkart is one of two entities in the top five list for
public service advertisements. The second is Kanpur-based skincare player Venus
Crème Bar which spent Rs seven lakh on a separate voter awareness campaign. This
marks an interesting departure from previous weeks when political parties
largely dominated the top spenders. The two companies spent on public service
advertisements asking people to vote, than by the majority of campaigning
parties spent on seeking votes for themselves. The Indian National Congress and
the All India Trinamool Congress were third and fourth respectively in the
weekly top five list of Facebook advertisers. This could well be because
spending has slowed down as elections have wound down. Indeed, overall spends
fallen 13 per cent at Rs 2.5 crore compared to the previous week which saw Rs
2.91 crore, itself an 18.4 per cent rise over the previous week. But the BJP
appears to be the biggest spender so far. Four out of the top five pages in
terms of money spent on political advertising endorse the BJP or its
candidates. They together account for over 30 per cent of the overall Facebook
spends. The total amount spent on political advertising is Rs 22.86 crore on
Facebook. The total number of such advertisements is 103,700. There have been
14,328 such advertisements on its platform. The total amount spent is Rs 25.2
crore since February 19, 2019. Its spending rose from Rs 11.6 crore as of May
2, to Rs 14.8 crore as of May 8. Spending was flat for all the other four in
the top-five list.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
PUBG BAN INTRODUCED IN CHINA AFTER INDIA, NEPAL
Chinese tech and games
giant Tencent on Wednesday ceased offering the hugely popular multi-player
combat game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds which has been targeted for bans in
three other countries. Often likened to the blockbuster book and film series
The Hunger Games, PUBG pits marooned characters against one another in a
virtual fight to the death, and has become one of the world’s most popular
mobile games. But authorities in Iraq, Nepal and the Indian state of Gujarat
have moved to ban it over fears that it incited violence. Tencent had been
offering a mobile version of PUBG Mobile — which is published by a subsidiary
of South Korean firm Bluehole — for about a year. But a posting on the game’s
official account on China’s popular Weibo platform said testing for PUBG Mobile
ended Wednesday, an apparent indication that Tencent failed to win approval
from Chinese authorities to offer it permanently. Instead, it directed users to
a newly launched and nearly identical Tencent-licensed title called Game for
Peace. The crackdown shaved around $250 billion off the company’s stock market
value by late last year, though shares have largely recovered as some game
approvals subsequently resumed. The China gaming industry had been watching to
see whether Tencent would gain approval to permanently offer PUBG Mobile due to
its potential to generate big profits for the company. But Tencent’s Hong
Kong-listed shares rose 1.05 percent on Wednesday, with analysts saying Game of
Peace will give the company something to monetise in place of PUBG Mobile.
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
FACEBOOK DELETES MORE ACCOUNTS LINKED TO RUSSIA
Facebook Inc said on
Monday it had removed multiple pages, groups and accounts linked mostly to
Russia that were used to spread misleading information on the social network
and its Instagram service. The company deleted 97 accounts from Russia that
focused on Ukraine and another 21 that focused on Austria, the Baltics,
Germany, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, Facebook said in a blog. The
social media company had in March removed 2,632 pages, groups, and accounts
from Facebook and Instagram linked to Iran, Russia, Macedonia and Kosovo for
similar reasons.
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Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya
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