by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
Mehul Choksi
New Delhi : After fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was reportely located in the small Carribean island nation of Antigua, the Congress on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government of “hurriedly” bringing the Economic Offender Fugitive Bill in Parliament as a “face-saving exercise.”
“Three months after PM Modi meets Antigua’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Mehul Choksi gets Antigua’s passport,” said Congress leader Rajeev Gowda at a press conference.
Modi had met his Antiguan counterpart in London in April this year on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
“Nirav Modi (another fugitive jeweller in the PNB fraud) i.e. Chhota Modi is globetrotting and Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Mehul Bhai’ i.e Choksi gets an Antigua passport after Nirav visited China, Belgium, UK, US, UAE and Hong Kong.
“Investigation agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have failed to get a ‘red corner notice (RCN)’ issued against him (Choksi) till today,” Gowda said.
Gowda also said: “Modi government is hurriedly trying to hide behind the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill as it has failed in its fight against black money.”
“After four years, deposits in Swiss banks have gone up by 50 per cent. When cornered on these hard facts, a rattled Finance Minister Piyush Goyal is flashing new statistics, new methodology and newer lies to mislead the people,” he said.
He also asked what happened to Modi’s promise of bringing back Rs 80 lakh crore of black money stashed aboard.
“There are wide legal loopholes in the hurriedly brought Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill. If the constitutionally problematic sections are struck down, nothing worthwhile shall remain in the bill,” said Gowda.
Noting that if black money moves out of India, “it doesn’t move in a direct manner from India to Switzerland, but via various tax havens like Cayman Islands, Hong Kong etc”, he said that Nirav Modi and Choksi also went to Hong Kong and UAE, but the Modi government was not revealing this.
To a question on increase in FDI inflow and money coming from Cayman Island, Congress leader Gourav Vallabh said: “You will be surprised that majority of money comes from all the tax havens.”
“The money in Swiss accounts is reduced to a drastic level and the money goes to some other tax havens and from that tax havens it enters the country and that precisely is called a ‘round tripping’.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Employment, Government Jobs, News, Politics
Prakash Javadekar
New Delhi : Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday said the Modi government was committed to reservation in the faculty positions of universities and that it does not agree with a court order quashing the 50 per cent reservation.
“The University Grants Commission (UGC) was forced to issue a 13-point roster after an Allahabad High Court ruling last year. But we do not agree with the court order,” Javadekar said.
“We have filed two SLPs (special leave petitions). The hearing is scheduled on August 13,” Javadekar told the Rajya Sabha after some members raised the issue during Zero Hour.
He said that the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry had already put on hold all interviews for recruitment for teaching positions in universities and colleges which were to be held under the roster pending a decision on the SLPs.
“We are hopeful we will be able to save reservation for Scheduled Castes, Sscheduled Tribes and OBCs. We will neither let it go, nor let others abolish it,” he said.
The issue was raised by Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav. He termed the March 5 UGC roster that kept nine out of every 13 teaching positions as unreserved, giving three to OBCs and one to Scheduled Castes, as a “conspiracy” to deprive the SC, ST and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) of their due as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Yadav was seconded by senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and P.L Punia besides a number of other members siding with the cause.
The Allahabad high Court had in April last year struck down a UGC circular prescribing institution-wise reservation to fill vacant faculty positions. The Supreme Court too upheld the High Court’s order, prompting the UGC to issue a circular for reserving seats for SC, ST and OBCs department-wise.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News, Politics
Shillong : Stressing India’s northeastern states suffered from lack of adequate private investment, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said that the Narendra Modi government is committed to ensure socio-economic development of this region as per its potential and to also ensure peace and prosperity to the citizens.
“Our Government is taking keen interest to act as a link with the South East Asian countries so as to push economic development in the region. ‘The Look East Policy’ has been changed to ‘The Act East Policy’. We are trying to ensure in all eight States, sectors such as infrastructure strengthening, manufacturing, trade, tourism, skill development, urban renewal, smart cities, and ‘Make in India’ get emphasized,” he said in his address at the 67th Plenary meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here.
He also suggested the NITI Forum for the North East to meet on a regular basis and decide on the action to be taken on recommendations by October and for this, he even advocated calling a special Session of the NEC.
The NEC, a regional planning body of the eight northeastern states, has recently been brought under the direct control of the Union Home Ministry. The Home Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the council while Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister is the vice chairman.
The meeting was attended by Governors and Chief Ministers of all the eight north-eastern states, including Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh.
Rajnath Singh, underlining that cooperation between India and ASEAN is essential for the region’s prosperity, he said with this objective, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj chaired an interactive session with Chief Ministers of northeastern states on the ‘Act East Policy’ and discussed the issues in detail.
This forum should prepare a broad roadmap towards realizing the objectives of the “Act East Policy” and for its preparation and its speedy implementation, NEC can be a right forum,” he added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodity Market, Corporate, Corporate Governance, Economy, Investing, News, Politics
Bhubaneswar : The Odisha government on Tuesday targeted the Centre over the delay in announcement of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and other crops for the Kharif season 2018.
Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of shedding crocodile tears for the farmers.
“The Centre generally fixes the MSP by mid-June. But, it is unfortunate that government is yet to announce the MSP of major crops till date. The farmers in Odisha are worried over the delay in MSP announcement,” said the Minister.
He said the state government, in a letter, has already recommended the Centre to fix the MSP at Rs 2,930 per quintal.
Odisha had suggested the Centre to fix the MSP of Common Grade paddy at Rs 2,930 per quintal and Grade ‘A’ paddy at Rs 2,970 per quintal. However, the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended Rs 1,745 and Rs 1,770 MSP for Common Grade and Grade A paddy respectively, he added.
Maharathy said Amit Shah, who recently visited Odisha, did not speak on MSP revision though over 60 per cent people in Odisha depend on agriculture.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Niranjan Patnaik said even though July has already begun, the Centre has not been able to announce the MSP for farmers.
He said the Centre should immediately announce one and half times of the production cost as promised by the Prime minister for the benefit of the farmers.
BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said the centre is in the process of declaring the MSP price of major crops.
“Centre has started evaluating the MSP issue, some states have sent their reports but few others are delaying it. The committee will commence its meeting soon and the MSP will be hiked as per the promise of the Prime Minister,” he added.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of using the 2016 surgical strike carried out in Pakistan as “political fodder” to gain votes and listed many similar strikes done in the last two decades to assert this was not the first action of its kind.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala’s comments came a day after the release of the video footage of the Indian Army’s surgical strikes in September 2016 when troops crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to attack terror hubs in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Surjewala told reporters that BJP President Amit Shah had “dishonoured” the 70-year-long history of bravery and sacrifice of the armed forces by making a “disgraceful statement” on October 7, 2016 that the “Indian Army had crossed the LoC for the first time in 68 years”.
Stressing that Congress President Rahul Gandhi and her predecessor Sonia Gandhi supported the armed forces and the government in the 2016 action, Surjewala said the Army had conducted strategic surgical strikes “with utmost precision and effective penetration” at different times in the last two decades.
He listed eight “surgical strikes” conducted prior to 2016.
“We are proud that our forces successfully conducted multiple surgical strikes over the last two decades, particularly post 2000 — January 21, 2000 (Nadala Enclave, across Neelam river); September 18, 2003 (Baroh Sector, Poonch); June 19, 2008 (Bhattal Sector, Poonch); August 30 to September 1, 2011 (Sharda Sector, across Neelam river Valley in Kel); January 6, 2013 (Sawan Patra Checkpost); July 27 to 28, 2013 (Nazapir Sector); August 6, 2013 (Neelam Valley); January 14, 2014; September 28 to 29, 2016.”
He said the Modi government sought credit for the sacrifices of the soldiers but had “utterly failed” to provide the direction, vision and policy for dealing with Pakistan and checkmating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
“No wonder the apathy and incapacity of the Modi government has resulted in the sacrifice of 146 soldiers, more than 1,600 ceasefire violations by Pakistan and 79 terrorist attacks post September 2016,” Surjewala said.
“Doublespeak of the Modi government and the BJP’s stand is reflected in the stepmotherly treatment of our armed forces, both in terms of providing for security apparatus as also in slashing their budgetary allocation.”
Surjewala alleged that Army Vice Chief Sarath Chand was “forced” to say that 68 per cent of all equipment was vintage.
“On account of budgetary cuts, procurement from ordinance factory is being reduced from 94 per cent to 50 per cent, which will force our soldiers to buy uniforms, combat dress, belts and shoes on their own.”
Surjewala said the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence highlighted lack of money for emergency purchases by Armed Forces after the Uri terror attack, the surgical strike and the Doklam standoff with China.
—IANS
