PM Narendra Modi to address 3rd Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum today

 

PM Narendra Modi will convey a location at the third Annual Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Tuesday at 6

Set up in 2018 by Michael Bloomberg, the Bloomberg New Economy Forum looks to manufacture a network of pioneers to take part in conversations prompting significant arrangements about the basic difficulties confronting a world economy.

This year, the gathering will observer discussions fixated on refueling the economy and graphing a course for the future, in the wake of the Covid pandemic, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

The debut gathering was held in Singapore, trailed by a second version in Beijing, covering issues, for example, worldwide monetary administration, exchange and speculation, innovation, urbanization, capital business sectors, environmental change and consideration.

Chief general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, previous UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, previous US President Bill Clinton, Microsoft author Bill Gates, and Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres are a portion of different speakers planned to address the discussion.

Centre holds consultations with states for formulating new STIP policy

 

Association serve Harsh Vardhan on Thursday held nitty gritty interviews with the states for the plan of Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020, the Department of Science and Technology said.

Tending to a virtual gathering with the state pastors and senior authorities of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Vardhan said the approach means to re-empower the nation's logical environment and rethink the needs and sectoral concentrate in order to straightforwardly decipher endeavors in S&T to help the general public and economy.

He said through broad thoughts, the STIP 2020 proposes organization of Center-State STI commitment and production of pathways to effectively permeate the arrangement instrument to the grassroots level.

There is a need to distinguish public needs that are driven by the necessities of the states. Through improvement of formal linkages, we plan to complete ceaseless most significant level of commitment, broad limit building works out, innovation advancement uphold programs, and other related exercises, the Union Science and innovation Minister said.

Vardhan said this would likewise help in smoothing out asset activation to keep away from guile of endeavors inside the environment, subsequently prompting exponential development.

This commitment is basic at both the strategy making and usage measures and is feasible through more noteworthy correspondence and joint effort between the Center and states, Vardhan called attention to.

We might want to make this genuinely a comprehensive arrangement in all perspectives every single state should turn into an equivalent accomplice and should share possession and obligation in plan of this strategy as well as in actualizing them with full meticulousness, he said.

K Vijay Raghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the administration, said proactive investment of states would make the whole STIP-2020 plan measure really comprehensive and decentralized.

Goyal gets additional charge of Consumer Affairs Min after Paswan's death

 

Railroad Minister Piyush Goyal was on Friday given extra charge of the Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution service, a portfolio held by the late Lok Janshakti Party pioneer Ram Vilas Paswan.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan dispatch on Friday said President Ram Nath Kovind, on the counsel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, coordinated that Goyal be appointed the service notwithstanding his current portfolios.

Paswan, one of India's most noticeable Dalit pioneers and eight-time Lok Sabha MP passed on Thursday at 74 years old. He was essential for a few BJP-drove NDA and Congress-drove UPA governments.

Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad will speak to the focal government and the association gathering of clergymen at the memorial service of the veteran chief in Patna on Saturday.

TMC gives notice in RS for 'immediate' discussion on Delhi violence

Current Affairs
The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday gave a notification in Rajya Sabha for sure fire conversation under Rule 267 on "Delhi gore and the recuperating procedure".
The Opposition has been requesting a conversation in the two Houses of Parliament on Delhi's mutual brutality that shook pieces of the national capital between February 23 and 26 wherein in any event 53 individuals were executed while in excess of 200 individuals continued genuine wounds while property worth crores was demolished.
The administration has consented to have the conversation after Holi, when the "commonality" returns.
Delhi Police have enlisted 254 FIRs including 41 cases under the Arms Act regarding the viciousness. Upwards of 903 individuals have been either captured or confined by police.

Two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been comprised under the Delhi Police's Crime Branch to explore the savagery....Read More

In UP, income tax for CM and ministers is paid by the treasury, since 1981

International News
The Uttar Pradesh state government exchequer has been paying the income tax of all the chief ministers and ministers since 1981, reports Times of India. A law, Uttar Pradesh Ministers' Salaries, Allowances and Miscellaneous Act 1981, passed by then Chief Minister VP Singh, stated that since the ministers were poor and had meagre salaries and could not afford to pay the tax. It should be noted that UP is one of the poorest states in India.
Since then UP had 19 Chief Ministers and over 1,000 minsters.
A section of the Act says, “Every minister and minister of state shall be entitled, throughout term of his office, to a salary of one thousand rupees per month. Every deputy minister shall be entitled, throughout the term of his office, to a salary of six hundred and fifty rupees per month. "The salary referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be exclusive of the tax payable in respect of such salary (including perquisites) under any law relating to income tax for the time being in force, and such tax shall be borne by the state government.”
The list of chief ministers who have had the UP treasury pay their tax includes Kalyan Singh and Rajnath Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party, and the incumbent Yogi Adityanath.

 In the current financial year, the income tax bill of Adityanath and his council of ministers was around Rs 86 lakh and was paid from the state treasury. UP principal secretary (finance) Sanjiv Mittal, confirmed as much to Times of India.

Govt likely to go for $10-billion overseas bond sale in October: Report

Current Affairs

The Centre is considering an option to raise $10 billion in one go from its first overseas bond sale as early as October, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The government would prefer to sell yen or euro-denominated debt so as to offer lower yields, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plan is still under discussion. A dollar bond isn’t ruled out given there would be more liquidity, while it could also decide to sell the debt in multiple sales over a longer period, they said.
India is banking on the novelty of a debut offering at a time when investors are desperate for returns as the world’s pile of negative-yielding debt grows to a record $13.4 trillion. While Saudi Arabia and Argentina have raised more money in recent years from international bond sales as emerging markets return in popularity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government will be working to a tight timeline.
“Market technicals are very strong, and the country is on a positive political trajectory, so why not strike while the iron is hot,” said Todd Schubert, the head of fixed-income research at Bank of Singapore. The surprise would be if there’s no dollar tranche as “one would think that building an Indian sovereign curve would also be a strategic goal, and that can only be done in dollars.” Finance ministry spokesman D S Malik didn’t immediately respond to calls.

 The maturity of the bonds could be 10 years or more, the people said. The current thinking among officials is that a larger sale would be more attractive to investors than breaking the fundraising task into smaller parts, because costs would be lower.The government doesn’t plan to hedge the proceeds as that would increase costs, the people said. The central bank is in agreement with the plan to raise debt overseas...

Railways can't be privatised, govt will corporatise some arms: Piyush Goyal

International News

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said there was "no question" of privatisation of the railways, but said the ministry will invite investments for new lines and projects in national interest.
Addressing the Lok Sabha on the issue of Demands for Grants of the railways, Goyal said track kilometre grew from 77,609 km to 89,919 km from 1950-2014 and rose to 1,23,236 km in the past five years.
"There is no question of privatisation of railways. Railways cannot be privatised. However, if we have to increase the facilities in railways then obviously we need investments for it. We have taken a decision to encourage public private partnerships and we will also corporatise some units," the minister said.
"There is no question of privatisation of the railways, but we should invite investment in national interest if there are new projects and lines," the minister told the House.
He also said railway budgets which were earlier presented in Parliament were designed to mislead the public and show them dreams about new trains for political gains.
"A tea vendor selling tea in front of trains during his childhood saw this country and understood the significance of the railways," said Goyal.
During Congress rule, not one coach was manufactured in Rae Bareli's Modern Coach Factory, one of the production units of which will be corporatised, he said. But the first coach was made in August 2014 shortly after the BJP came to power, he added.

 "There is only one difference between winners and losers, losers see difficulties while winners look at goals," Goyal said...Read More

Fastest growing economy? India to grow at 7.5% in FY20, says World Bank

Current Affairs

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman prepares her budget, the World Bank reports Indias economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2018-19 in contrast to the recent Indian Central Statistical Office (CSO) estimate of only 6.8 per cent growth during the period.
The Bank's Economic Prospects Report released on Tuesday forecast India's economy to grow by 7.5 per cent during this and the next two fiscal years, retaining its top spot as the fastest growing major economy. It would be helped by a "more accommodative monetary policy" and low inflation, it said.
The report retained the forecasts it made in January for India.
India's growth forecast is the brightest spot in a grim forecast for the world economy. The report said that the global growth rate was estimated at 3 per cent last year and is forecast to dip steeply to 2.6 per cent this year, before edging up to 2.7 per cent next year and 2.8 per cent in 2021.
India "is estimated to have grown 7.2 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19, which ended March 31", the report said. "A slowdown in government consumption was offset by solid investment, which benefited from public infrastructure spending".
The Bank said that the cut-off dates for data used in the report was May 23.
On May 31, the CSO said that India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth during the 2018-19 fiscal stood at 6.8 per cent, lower than the previous year's 7.2 per cent.The CSO said the Indian economy grew by only 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter. That dragged down the fiscal year's growth rate.

 Finance Secretary Subash Garg attributed the slowdown to "temporary factors like stress in non-banking financial company (NBFC) sector affecting consumption finance".

Clean air: One of the biggest challenges for PM Modi in second term

Economy News

One of the biggest challenges facing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he begins his second term is ensuring clean air in a country that’s home to some of the most polluted cities in the world.
The country is burning up more coal to supply cheap electricity to its 1.3 billion people, resulting in polluted air across vast stretches. That’s costing lives and denting the nation’s economic productivity, prompting a policy rethink. Air pollution and how political parties plan to tackle it figured in their manifestos for the first time in national elections that ended May 23.
Efforts in the past to clean up the environment have struggled to clear the test of affordability. India’s fleet of coal-burning power plants, among the biggest sources of air pollution and a dominant provider of cheap energy, have dragged their feet over implementing emission standards, citing cost. A campaign to replace firewood with clean cooking fuel in rural homes needs to be affordable to have greater adoption.A look at what the Modi administration needs to do:
Strengthen the electricity distribution companies. Rejuvenating the power retailers will be crucial for transitioning to cleaner, although costlier electricity. Their losses rose from April to December, reversing a declining trend. Efforts to revive them during Modi’s first term have met with some progress but haven’t been completely successful.
Ensure timely implementation of emissions norms for thermal power plants. One of the reasons this process has moved slowly is a possible reluctance by lenders to finance retrofits in a sector already stressed with a mountain of bad debt. Fixing the money-losing power retailers would be key to resolving the bad loan mess.

Bring fuels, such as natural gas, under the national sales tax regime, helping them compete with dirtier options, such as coal and petcoke. Boosting local production of gas will make it more affordable and help raise its share in the mix to 15%, more than double from now.Accelerate capacity addition in renewable energy, while enabling the grid to deal with the rising flow of intermittent power.Increase use of biomass for energy to help reduce the dependence on crude oil imports and prevent burning of crop residue, a leading air polluter in northern India

India's weak electricity demand signals more slowdown pain ahead

Economy policy

India is witnessing a listless growth in electricity demand, possibly signaling more slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Electricity requirement from distribution utilities in February rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier and barely changed from January’s 1.1 percent, the weakest growth in two years, according to the power ministry’s Central Electricity Authority. Data for power generation, a proxy for demand, showed the weakness continued into March.

The trend points to a lack of appetite among factories and commercial firms -- who consume about half the country’s electricity -- ahead of government data on industrial production for February that’s due Friday. Uncertainty about the outcome of a national election beginning Thursday, weak domestic demand and a global slowdown have clouded India’s economy.

Economic growth slowed to 6.6 percent in the three months to December, the weakest pace in six quarters. The International Monetary Fund Tuesday cut the nation’s growth outlook for this year to 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent seen in January.

“The industry is not growing at a fast pace,” said Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist, at India Ratings and Research, the local unit of Fitch Group. “All leading indicators suggest sluggishness in industrial activities will continue for some time.”

India’s core infrastructure sector, which constitutes 40 percent of total industrial production, grew 2.1 percent in February, marginally improving from January’s 19-month low of 1.8 percent when electricity generation and production of refinery products contracted.


 While factory output data for March, which is published with a one-month lag, is due in May, early indicators point to a steepening slowdown.

BJP manifesto rooted in reality, prepared with nationalist vision: Jaitley

Election News

BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Monday said the BJP's manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections beginning this week has not been prepared with a 'tukde tukde' mindset but with a strong nationalist vision.
The document, 'Sankalp Patra' (document of resolve), is rooted in reality, Jaitley said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the manifesto.

"Our new policy, new doctrine of striking terror in its origin has received global recognition," Jaitley told the gathering.

The Union finance minister said the party was committed to annulling Article 35 A of the Constitution, which provides special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
When India is at the cusp of history making most of all its lost opportunities, does it require a fragile government or a decisive one, he asked.

Jaitley added that previous governments only gave slogans, but the Modi-led administration gave resources to the poor.

He said the essence of the BJP manifesto is to deplete poverty over the next five years to single digit and then gradually eliminate it.

"Our fiscal prudence since 1947 has been best ever for any government," the finance minister said.

 (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Explained: Impact of Donald Trump's attack on preferential trade with India

Current Affairs

United States president Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a plan to end preferential trade treatment for India, withdrawing benefits under a nearly 50-year-old programme for up to $5.6 billion worth of New Delhi’s exports to America.

The move comes after over a year of back-and-forth between the two countries, and pressure exerted upon the Trump administration by the American dairy export and medical devices lobbies.

“I am taking this step because, after intensive engagement between the United States and the government of India, I have determined that India has not assured the United States that it will provide equitable and reasonable access to the markets of India,” Trump said in a letter to Congress representatives on Tuesday early morning.

According to World Bank data, India is currently the largest beneficiary of the ‘generalised system of preferences’ (GSP) programme, a trade initiative that was first started back in the 1970s.

India’s commerce ministry, however, has downplayed the impact of the move, saying that withdrawal of GSP benefits will have a “minimal and moderate impact”.

“The total GSP benefits amount to about $190 million on overall exports of $5.6 billion between the two countries,” commerce secretary Anup Wadhawan said at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

 “We had worked out a meaningful package that covered the US’ concerns but they made additional requests which were not acceptable at this time,” he added. “The GSP system is envisaged as a non-reciprocal benefit to developing countries.”..Read More

Bank credit up 14.5% to Rs 94.29 trn, deposits rise 9.63%: RBI data

Economy & Policy:

The pace of growth in bank credit, as well as deposits, has moderated on a fortnightly basis. While credit grew 14.5 per cent to Rs 94.29 trillion, deposits rose a tepid 9.63 per cent to Rs 121.22 trillion for the fortnight ending February 1, according to the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. In the fortnight ended January 18, deposits had increased by 9.69 per cent to Rs 119.86 trillion and credit grew 14.61 per cent to Rs 93.32 trillion, the RBI data showed.

The gap between pace of credit disbursal and deposits mobilisation is widening. This would maintain the pressure on deposits rates. According to bankers, these may not soften, even though the RBI reduced policy repo rate by 25 basis points, bankers said.
3
The RBI in its sixth monetary policy review said the aggregate bank credit and overall financial flows to the commercial sector continue to be strong but are yet to be broad-based
According to the RBI’s monthly bulletin released in February, the sectoral deployment of bank credit saw a qualitative shift with aggressive lending to the retail segment and in the form of personal loans.

 Credit to industry has gradually gained momentum in 2018-19 so far after a prolonged contraction.

 The pick-up in economic activity has boosted credit demand. However, their lending rates have remained in the shadow of the large pool of bad loans, the bulletin added.

Impossible job: India's pollsters face the uphill battle to call election

Economy & Policy:

Thousands of candidates, hundreds of parties, endless combinations of possible coalitions – spare a thought for India’s pollsters, tasked with making sense of the country’s fiendishly complicated politics ahead of a general election due by May.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a surprise majority in 2014. Until last year, many predicted a similar result. But amid rising anger over unemployment and a fall in rural incomes, the BJP lost key state elections in December, making this contest more closely fought than first expected.

That means surveys conducted on behalf of newspapers and TV channels will be closely scrutinized. Some of India’s top pollsters however, told Reuters current surveys could be wide of the mark until the parties finalize alliances, which could be as late as April – and even then, there are challenges.
“In India there are certain relationships between caste, religion and allegiance,” said VK Bajaj, chief executive of Today’s Chanakya, the only polling firm to predict the BJP would win an outright majority in 2014. “We have to do checks and counter-checks when collecting our samples.”

CHECKERED PAST


 Opinion polls grew in popularity in India in the 1990s, after economic liberalization saw a boom in privately-owned newspapers and TV channels, all demanding their own surveys.

Modi govt's minimum income guarantee scheme was for landless farmers too

Economy & Policy:
The Narendra Modi government had intended the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) — its latest flagship scheme — as a minimum income guarantee programme for all farm sector workers, whether they hold land or not. The plan was scrapped as the Centre realised it will be difficult to identify landless farmers.

Officials involved with 2019-20 interim Budget told Business Standard that discussions on an income or price support scheme for an ailing agricultural sector started around August 2018. Initially, the discussion was held among central government departments, including the Prime Minister’s Office, finance ministry and Niti Aayog. Then, discussions widened to include agricultural experts, economists and other stakeholders.

The decision to scrap the plan for landless workers and focus only on small and marginal farmers was made as there was no proper method to find out who qualify as landless labourers, an official said.
“The discussions centred around whether it will be for all and if everyone will be included to make it a sector-specific minimum income guarantee programme, or will it be for small and marginal farmers,” the official said.


 As reported earlier, various models were discussed, including income support scheme and price support scheme. The official said a price support scheme, on the lines of Bhawantar of the Madhya Pradesh government, gained backers in the government. The Centre was even considering a “retrospective price support scheme”, wherein farmers would be paid the difference between the minimum support price and the market price for a produce, not only for the current season, but also for a few past seasons. This plan was also deemed unworkable.

Modi slams Opposition, calls it adulterated alliance, club of rich people

Current Affairs:

Hitting out at the opposition alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said why they were coming together to fight him even as they claim his government was a failure.

Modi, addressing a rally after inaugurating a slew of projects, called the opposition alliance an "adulterated alliance" and a "club of rich people" to promote a dynasty.

Slamming the 'mahagathbandhan', Modi alleged nobody knows the agenda of the opposition alliance and they don't have worthwhile answers to any question. "The only answer they have for all the questions is 'ask Modi'," he said.

Alleging that the opposition was good at spreading panic and misleading the youth, farmers and other sections of society, the Prime Minister said for a long time the opposition parties had created discord in society on the issue of social justice.

"For us, social justice is an article of faith and not a mathematical formula, the way it is for the opposition parties," he said, adding it was the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee that restored reservation in promotions for SC/STs, a privilege that was scrapped by the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre earlier.


 On his government's decision to provide 10 per cent reservation to the economically backward sections, Modi said the move was aimed at equality of opportunities to all and would not affect the existing reservation for SC/STs and Other Backward Classes.

Govt begins hunt for Lokpal chief and other members, issues advertisement

Current Affairs:

The government has sought applications for chairman and members of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal, nearly five years after the Lokpal Act came into force, officials said Wednesday.
An advertisement seeking applications from desired and eligible candidates has been issued by the Personnel Ministry.

For the appointment as the chairman, a person who is or has been Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge is eligible to apply.

Besides, individuals with "impeccable integrity and outstanding ability" having special knowledge and expertise of not less than 25 years in matters related to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, and law and management are eligible to apply.

Those with less than 45 years of age are not eligible to apply.
According to rules, there is a provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal. Of these, four need to be judicial members.

"Not less than 50 per cent of the members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women," the advertisement seeking the applications reads.


 Upon selection, the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till they attain 70 years of age.

No support for govt employees, taxpayers under PM-KISAN scheme for farmers

Interim Budget 2019:

Families of farmers who have one or more members paying taxes or are a government employee will be ineligible for benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme.


Families with at least one member drawing a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 will be ineligible, according to the guidelines issued to the states by the Centre on Wednesday. Families who have professionals such as doctors, engineers, lawyers, chartered accountants or architects will be left out too.

Announced in the Interim Budget, the scheme is supposed to provide an additional Rs 6,000 per annum income support to small and marginal farmers.A small or marginal farmer family is defined as "a family comprising husband, wife, and minor children, who collectively own cultivable land up to 2 hectare according to the land records of the state or Union Territory".


Families of former members of Parliament or Legislative Assemblies or even chairpersons of district panchayats would also be ineligible for benefit.


Some government employees, however, have been exempted from exclusion, such as those among the multitasking staff or classified in Class IV or Group "D" categories.

 The guidelines also said state governments can allow self-declaration of the beneficiary for exclusion, but the entire income-support transferred to him could be recovered and penal action initiated if the declaration is incorrect...Read More

BJP trying to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments: Congress

Current Affairs:

The Congress Sunday said the BJP was "unsuccessfully" trying to build a laboratory in West Bengal for its experiments, on a day the Bengal government denied permission to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to land his chopper in the eastern state.

"What would have happened had he (UP CM) gone? He had also gone to Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. What did he do? He revealed the caste of Hanuman and you know the results," Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said at a news conference here.

"People voted for the party it wanted. They (BJP) want to make West Bengal a laboratory for its experiments and they are not achieving any success in it," he said.

The tussle between the TMC and BJP got uglier Sunday, with the West Bengal government denying permission to Adityanath's chopper to land in the state and let him address two scheduled rallies.
Adityanath had to address the rallies via telephone. He later lashed out at the "anti-people" Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in the state, saying the days of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's rule were "numbered".


 Responding to a question on the Centre's decision to accord sanction to prosecute former Union home minister...Read More

Anna Hazare's fast enters Day 2; Ralegan Siddhi locals observe bandh

Current Affairs:

Social activist Anna Hazare's hunger strike entered the second day on Thursday as he remained defiant on his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues.

A bandh was also observed by locals in Hazare's native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district in support of his demands.

Hazare is sitting on a hunger strike in his village since Wednesday against "non-fulfilment" of assurances by the Centre and the Maharashtra government on the appointment of Lokpal and passage of the Lokayukta Act in the state.

The 81-year-old Army man-turned-activist has also been demanding appointment of Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist.


 He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides some electoral reforms...Read More