by admin | May 25, 2021 | Finance, News, Politics
Amit Shah
Ranchi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah said on Saturday central funding to Jharkhand has increased under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
“The central government under leadership of Modi is supporting the Jharkhand government. Jharkhand’s share in the central taxes which was Rs 39,938 crore during the 13th finance commission has increased to Rs 1,24,408 crore under the 14th finance commission while central grants have gone up from Rs 6,087 crore to Rs 9,469 crore,” Shah said in a press conference.
The BJP President said under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, 1.07 crore bank accounts have been opened in Jharkahnd in which Rs 1,992 crore have been deposited.
Shah lauded the work done by the Chief Minister Raghubar Das in the state.
“Jharkhand is gaining momentum of development in the leadership of Raghubar Das. Jharkhand has been stable and it is moving in right direction,” he said.
Asked about the party’s views on Rohingya Muslims staying in India, he said: “We have clarified our stand through affidavit that we are ready to extend all forms of support to Rohingya Muslims living in Myanmar.”
Asked about rising prices of petrol after new system (dynamic pricing) was introduced he said: “This is a new system. The government will take feedback from people.”
Shah also enumerated the work done under leadership of Modi in last three years.
“India is moving in right direction and the health of the economy is good. The inflation has decreased from 9 per cent to 3 per cent.
“BJP has ended the dynasty, caste and appeasement politics in the country,” he said.
Asked about Jharkhand Governor Draupdi Murmu returning the amendment in two land acts, he said: “It was not setback. The government has to take decision considering the sentiment of the people.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Kailash Satyarthi
By Nikhil M. Babu,
New Delhi : With about 7,000 children trafficked in India every year, child rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who set out on Monday on a Kanyakumari-Delhi “Bharat Yatra”, to focus attention on the issue, hopes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will bring in stringent legislation to curb the menace.
Satyarthi said he had spoken to prime ministers in the past but no one took the issue seriously like Modi did, though the Prime Minister had not given him a specific deadline by when Parliament would pass the proposed legislation against child trafficking.
“It is the first time a Prime Minister or any Prime Minister has taken it up,” Satyarthi told IANS in an interview before he left for Kanyakumari, adding that he was hoping that Modi would prioritise the legislation.
The 63-year-old Satyarthi, who heads the Bachpan Bachao Aandolan (Save The Childhood Movement), said the Prime Minister had personally written to him, assuring that “since the government is in power in both the houses (of Parliament)” something can be done about the legislation.
“I can’t recall any other Prime Minister writing anything about trafficking, like Modi had done,” he said referring to the letter, adding, however, that no time-frame had been laid down.
A Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016, drafted by Ministry of Women and Child Development, aims to create a strong legal, economic and social environment against trafficking.
The draft bill envisages creation of a fund for rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. The proposed bill seeks to establish special courts in each district of the country and special prosecutors to fast-track the trials and increase prosecution.
The draft bill is currently awaiting cabinet approval, after which it will be tabled in parliament and referred to a select committee before being taken up for debate and passing. This process could take up to a year, if not more.
Satyarthi said the BBA is hoping for a stringent and comprehensive law that includes severe and time-bound punishment for offenders and detailed rehabilitation measures for survivors.
Asked how the idea for the yatra was born, the he said it was not his first and that it was a “time-tested strategy” — and he went a quarter century down memory lane.
“The first major yatra was organised from Bihar to Delhi in 1993 to raise the issue of child labour. It was not a big issue back then and people thought it was a part of life,” the Nobel laureate said.
In 1995, he organised another yatra for the same cause along the length of India, from Kanyakumari to Delhi, in over two months.
After the yatra, the government amended the law to broaden activities which were considered as child labour and it was a big success, he said.
“But the major yatra was the ‘Siksha Yatra’ in 2001 from Kanyakumari to Delhi to make education a fundamental right which needed an amendment of the constitution. This required two-thirds majority in parliament and we were able to achieve it,” he said.
“I believe in the power of the ordinary citizen more than any political party as he’s not doing it for himself, but for the society and it’s pure,” he said.
Satyarthi was also part of “Global March Against Child Labour” in which the heads of 71 countries took part in different legs of the campaign.
He said the current yatra took a year to plan.
“The core team travelling would be around 150-strong and each day they will walk around 10 to 15 km; at least 10,000 people are expected to join us,” he said.
Satyarthi said that he will address three mass meetings a day, and there will also be smaller meetings.
He said that groups would be formed in schools and colleges during the course of the yatra and they would then fight against child trafficking and sexual abuse.
Asked about the problems he faced to organise the yatra across 22 state, traversing 11,000 km, he said with a smile: “The problem is positive. People are actually competing among themselves to host us and the response is overwhelming.”
(Nikhil Babu can be contacted at nikhil.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
K.J. Alphons
Kochi : The Narendra Modi government-led central government’s policy is to have very good Centre-state relations, newly sworn-in Minister of State (Independent) for Tourism, IT and Electronics K.J. Alphons said here on Sunday.
The 64-year-old forme bureaucrat and former Left supported legislator (2006-11) is just the second Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Kerala to get a berth in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. O. Rajagopal was the first in 1999, in the A.B. Vajpayee-led government.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Sunday, former Chief Minister and veteran CPI-M leader V.S. Achuthanandan came down heavily on Alphons for his change of political affiliation.
“This change of position should have never happened to a fellow traveller of the Left. A fellow traveller of the Left should have never become a tool in the hands of fascists. The love of the country should have stood first and not a post. This should be a lesson when the Left selects candidates,” said Achuthanandan.
Incidentally, it was during the tenure of Achuthanandan as Chief Minister (2006-11) that Alphons became a state legislator supported by the Left grouping.
“The policy of the Modi government is to have excellent Centre-state relations and I am confident that I will be able to do it as I have an excellent relation with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” said Alphons at Kochi airport, on his first visit to the state, a week after being sworn-in.
Alphons was received at the Kochi airport by BJP’s Kerala unit President Kummanem Rajasekheran and two former state chiefs and other leaders.
Last Sunday, the day Alphons was sworn-in as a central minister, the state BJP headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram wore a deserted look.
The only celebration in the state was seen at his home, where local BJP workers watched the swearing-in ceremony with his mother.
Alphons, however, brushed aside questions of the Kerala BJP not celebrating his elevation. “The day I was sworn-in, people here were busy with Onam celebrations,” said Alphons.
Another significant absentee at the airport was Tushar Vellapally, chief of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BJDS), the second biggest ally of the BJP-led NDA.
The BDJS, formed in 2015 by the Hindu Ezhava strongman Vellapally Natesan, father of Tushar, had secured 3.9 per cent of the votes at the 2016 assembly polls, He was hoping the national BJP leadership would give the party some significant posts in the central cabinet.
But so far, it has not got any and like the Kerala BJP leadership, the BDJS also has been cut up over the rather unexpected elevation of the former bureaucrat, who joined the BJP in 2011 and given an independent charge as the MoS.
Starting Sunday, the Kerala BJP leadership is organising a series of receptions for the new minister,the first one later in the day at Moovattupuzha. From there, when Alphons reaches his home town in Kanjirapally in Kottayam, nine road shows are planned.
On Monday, there would be a reception at Kannur when Alphons arrives for a private visit.
The next day, he will take part in a temple function at Kottayam. On September 15, a civic reception at his home town has been planned, followed by a meeting with various bishops.
On September 16, there will also be a reception in the state capital and he is scheduled to leave for Delhi later in the day.
Dismissing speculations that Alphons was given the post as he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, Kanjirapally diocesan bishop Mar Mathew Arackal told the media on Sunday that Alphons got the post on account of his merit and need not be seen as a policy of the BJP to attract the minority communities.
“Our Church does not have any untouchability to any party and the Church always had good relations with the NDA government in the past also,” said the bishop, who is based at Alphons’ home town Kanjirapally.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries that good governance should be a priority for the welfare of citizens.
“The Prime Minister on Wednesday met and interacted with a group of over 70 Additional Secretaries and Joint Secretaries serving in the government. This was the first of five such interactions,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement on Thursday.
The officers shared their experiences on issues such as digital and smart governance; administrative procedures and accountability; transparency; doubling of farmers’ income; skill development; Swachh Bharat; consumer rights; environment protection; and building of a New India by 2022, the statement said.
“The combination of development and good governance is essential for the welfare and satisfaction of citizens,” Modi said.
He emphasised on the need for all government wings to work in harmony and synchronisation to achieve the best possible results.
“All officers must keep the poor and the ordinary citizens in their minds while taking decisions,” he said.
The Prime Minister also said that the world was looking to India with positive expectations.
Modi said there was also a strong undercurrent for excellence from the common citizens of India.
“Youth from humble backgrounds, with very limited resources are achieving best positions in competitive exams and sports.”
The Prime Minister asked the officers to work to promote this spontaneous upsurge of talent, recalling the spirit and energy that they themselves would have possessed in the first three years of their service.
He said: “This was a unique opportunity for officers to deliver their utmost for the benefit of the nation.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, C S R, Corporate, News
New Delhi, (IANS) Taking a dig at the Centre, former finance minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday wondered whether the Narendra Modi-led BJP government “deserves” RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and described him as “one of the most outstanding economists” in the world.
“I am beginning to think whether this government deserves Dr Rajan?” Chidambaram replied when asked whether the RBI governor should be given a second term.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor’s three-year term ends in the first week of September. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has been consistently urging that Rajan should not be given an extension.
“UPA government appointed one of the most outstanding economists of the world as the governor of RBI. We placed full confidence in him at that time, we continue to place full confidence in him today,” Chidambaram added.
The former finance minister chose not to comment on Swamy’s letter to the prime minister asking him to sack Rajan.
“If the finance minister or PM make similar comments I will comment. In the absence of the FM and the finance minister making a similar comment, there is no need for Congress party to respond,” Chidambaram told mediapersons.
To a question on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley having differences with Rajan on the issue of interest rates, Chidambaram said: “World over finance ministers and central bank governors engage in a dialogue. That doesn’t mean finance minister is questioning the competence of the RBI governor. Each one approaches the economy in his or her perspective. Government’s perspective is growth and central bank governor’s perspective is monetary stability.”
“Two out of 10 times the finance minister may have some reservations with regard to some decisions. This is true of all finance ministers and central bank governors all over the world,” he added.
He further said: “As far as we are concerned, we had the best of relationship with all central bank governors and as long as we were in government, we had the best relationship with Dr Raghuram Rajan.”
He also took a dig at Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman when asked about her criticism of Rajan.
“If I can put the question by a straw vote by this audience, between Dr. Rahguram Rajan on one hand and the commerce minister on the other, you know how the vote will take place?” said Chidambaram.
Indicating that the RBI and the government were not on the same page on various issues, Chidambaram said: “CPI (consumer price index) inflation has risen from 3.7 percent in July 2015 to 5.4 percent in April 2016.
“It is not clear whether the government and the RBI are agreed on the strategy for inflation management. In absence of an agreed strategy, inflation is bound to increase,” he said.
