Home Blog Page 4863

I cannot be a silent spectator: Bengal Governor speaks up after BJP leader Dilip Ghosh’s convoy was attacked and stoned

OpIndia Staff
-
0
I cannot be a silent spectator: Bengal Governor speaks up after BJP leader Dilip Ghosh’s convoy was attacked and stoned

On Thursday, the 12th of November, the convoy of BJP leader and West Bengal state president Dilip Ghosh was attacked as it passed through Asian Highway 48 and reached Jaigaon. Two cars of the convoy were damaged as stones were mercilessly pelted at the convoy which had Dilip Ghosh.

Sharing a video of the damaged car, BJP leader and co-in charge of Bengal, Arvind Menon said that from a booth-level worker to the state president, each and every BJP worker is being targeted by the TMC goons. The damaged car in the video shared by Menon was that of BJP leader Wilson Champamari.

On Thursday, Dilip Ghosh, who is on a tour of north Bengal, headed for Khoklabusty of Jaigaon for a public meeting. As his convoy headed down AH48, 100s of people with black flags and posters saying “Go Back Dilip Ghosh” assembled at GST More on the way to Jaigaon. At Jharnabusty, another 6km away, another group started pelting stones at the vehicles.

The two vehicles that were severely damaged were that of Kalchini MLA Wilson Champramary the Alipurduar district president of BJP’s ST Morcha.

Mukul Roy too took to Twitter to condemn that attack, vowing to overthrow the tyrannical regime of Mamata Banerjee.

While the BJP says that its convoy was attacked by TMC goons because they are getting scared of losing power in the state, Mridul Goswami, Alipurduar district Trinamul chief, called the protests “a spontaneous reaction” of people.

Reacting to the attack, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has said that he cannot be a silent spectator as the law and order machinery breaks down in the state.

Governor Dhankhar said that an environment of political violence has been created in the state of West Bengal. “We are in a very explosive situation. The threat to democracy is increasing day by day. Rule of law is nose-diving. I cannot be a silent spectator”.

He further said that the people had his assurance that the elections (to be held in 2021) would be peaceful and follow the rule of law. He also said that those who believe that things will continue to happen the way they used to in Bengal are wrong.

After Bihar, it is time for West Bengal for BJP

After winning 125 seats in the state of Bihar, without wasting any time, so to speak, the BJP has turned its attention to West Bengal. While celebrating the win of the NDA alliance in Bihar, Prime Minister Modi delivered a speech tacitly targeting the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee after the recent spate of violence in the state.

He said that those who are unable to compete with BJP in democratic ways, those who are finding it difficult to challenge BJP democratically, such people have adopted the tactic of killing BJP workers. “In some parts of the country, they think that by killing the BJP workers they will succeed in their plans. I try to explain them with the request, I do not need to threaten them, that will be done by the people”, the PM said, inviting cheers and applauds from the crowd present.

“Elections come and go, wins and losses keep happening, sometimes this party rules sometimes that party rules, but this game of murders can not go on in a democracy”, Narendra Modi said. Nobody can win votes by the game of murders, read these writings on the wall, the PM added, without naming any state or party.

Modi’s comment came just a week after home minister Amit Shah had referred to the political murders in West Bengal during his visit to the state. During a rally in the state, Amit Shah had stated that violence and political killings had become the hallmark of the Mamata regime.

Saying that West Bengal tops the chart in political killings, Shah had asked CM Mamata Banerjee to release a white paper on political killings in the state. He also said that the state government has not sent the statistics of crime to the National Crime Record Bureau.

There have been several incident of murders of BJP leaders in the state. Last month, lawyer and BJP councillor from Titagarh Manish Shukla was shot dead by unknown assailants near Titagarh police station in Brackpore area. A week after that, one BJP worker hailing from Ranaghat in TMC ruled West Bengal’s Nadia district was brutally shot dead.

Other than shootings, bodies of BJP workers found hanging from trees in rural areas also happen regularly. BJP leaders have alleged that TMC goons are behind all these murders.

Twitter removes Home Minister Amit Shah’s display photo citing copyright violation and locks account, calls it ‘inadvertent error’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Twitter removes Home Minister Amit Shah’s display photo citing copyright violation and locks account, calls it ‘inadvertent error’

The microblogging site – Twitter on Thursday removed the Twitter display picture of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in response to a “report from the copyright holder” inviting severe criticism from the citizens of the country. On Thursday night, a message was displayed on the display image section of Home Minister Amit Shah’s Twitter profile saying “Media not displayed”. The micro-blogging site stated in the message that the picture has been removed after someone claimed ‘copyright’ on it.

Twitter had locked Home Minister Amit Shah’s account after the copyright claim on his display image, which was a part of his official portrait according to Shah’s website.

Such action is generally taken if an individual claims copyright on the image that is being used by someone in their Twitter profile. However, so far, it was assumed that such action would only be taken after basic verification of such claims.

Image Source: Amit Shah

However, as soon as the netizens began to question Twitter’s unilateral action without apparent verification, the micro-blogging site reinstated Amit Shah’s display picture.

Home Minister Amit Shah is the second most followed leader in the country on Twitter after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has 23.6 million followers. The Home Minister follows only 296 people.

The action by Twitter seems unilateral since if one visits the webpage of Amit Shah, one sees that the picture that was being used as a display picture is a part of his official portrait. Hence, it would seem impossible that anyone else could hold the copyright for it.

Amit Shah’s website – amitshah.co.in

After locking Twitter account of Amit Shah, microblogging website issues clarification – calls it inadvertent error

On Friday morning, Twitter issued a clarification calling this action taken by it against Amit Shah’s Twitter profile an ‘inadvertent error’.

A Twitter spokesperson said, “Due to an inadvertent error, we temporarily locked this account under our global copyright policies. This decision was reversed immediately and the account is fully functional”.

Twitter removes BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s display picture

Just as Twitter removed Amit Shah’s profile picture, the micro-blogging site has also removed BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s Twitter image citing ‘copyright’ issues.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy took to Twitter to allege that his Twitter photo was taken off because some unknown Bangladeshi had claimed that photo was patented by him.

Tweet by Subramanian Swamy

According to Swamy’s supporters, Twitter had removed Swamy’s image without verification. However, it later restored after Swamy’s team brought the issue into their notice.

Interestingly, Twitter’s action against Amit Shah and Subramanian Swamy comes just a day after the Modi government had issued a notice to them for distorting India’s map and infringing on country’s sovereignty.

Twitter gets notice for map distortion

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued a notice to social media giant Twitter for distorting the map of India. The notice has been issued after it was found that Twitter was showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir, instead of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

The micro-blogging site has been asked to explain why legal action should not be initiated against it for disrespecting India’s territorial integrity. The notice was issued on November 9 and gave five days to Twitter to submit its reply.

The Ministry notice says that showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir is a deliberate attempt by Twitter to undermine the will of sovereign Parliament of India, which had declared Ladakh as a Union Territory of India with headquarter in Leh.

The Ministry has also directed Twitter to explain within five working days why legal action should not be initiated against Twitter and its representatives for disrespecting the territorial integrity of India.

The matter came to notice after defence analyst Nitin Gokhale had noticed on October 20 that Twitter was marking his location Leh as being part of Jammu of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the statue of Swami Vivekananda at the JNU campus, here is what he said

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the statue of Swami Vivekananda at the JNU campus, here is what he said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda in the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi via video conferencing. Speaking on the occasion PM Modi said that he wished that the statute would inspire and energise everyone and would still courage and compassion that Swamiji wanted to see in everyone.

The Prime Minister said that the youth of the country were the brand ambassadors of Brand India in the world and that they represented the culture and traditions of India. He said that the youth of India are not just expected to feel proud of thousands of years old identity of India but also to create a new identity of the country in the 21st century.

Talking about the poor in the country, PM Modi said that the poor in the country were given place only in slogans and no effort was made to connect them with the system. He said that the poor have been the most neglected, the most unconnected and financially excluded lot in the country. He pointed out how the poor are now being provided facilities houses, electricity, water supply, LPG connection, digital banking, cheap mobile connectivity and internet connection.

PM said to the students in JNU that the statue of Swami Vivekandanda could be a hang-out place for them like Sabarmati Dhaba where they could exchange ideas and have debates and discussions

Taking a veiled dig at the left ideology, PM Modi said that placing one’s ideology above national interest has severely harmed our democratic setup. He said that it was wrong to be restricted within the limits of one’s ideology even when national interest is concerned.

The Prime Minister said that it was natural to feel proud of one’s ideology but one’s ideology should be in line with national interests and not against it.

Citing the example of freedom struggle led Mahatma Gandhi, PM Modi recalled how people from different ideologies came together during difficult times of the country.

He remembered how during the Emergency unity was manifested despite different ideologies. He told that during the movement against the Emergency several former leaders and workers of Congress party had also participated along with people from the RSS and the Jan Sangh.

Citing the example of the movement against the Emergency, PM Modi explained that standing in unity for the national interest did not mean compromising one’s ideology as everyone had a common interest- national interest.

Prime Minister Modi said that India has been a place where diverse ideas have flourished and that it was important to maintain the flow of new ideas. He urged the youth of the country to preserve this tradition which makes India the most vibrant democracy in the world.

The statue of Swami Vivekananda was approved by the Executive Council of the JNU in June 2017. In 2019, a complaint was filed by the JNU administration with the police alleging that the statue was defaced and derogatory messages were written on it during the violent protests in the JNU against the hostel fee hike.

Jharkhand: Police officer thrashes farmer to death after the farmer’s cow ate vegetables planted in the farm of the cop

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Jharkhand: Police officer thrashes farmer to death after the farmer’s cow ate vegetables planted in the farm of the cop

In a bizarre incident coming to light from Ramgarh in Jharkhand, a police officer thrashed a farmer to death as punishment after latter’s cow strayed into the cop’s farm and ate up a few vegetables planted there. The farmer who was admitted to Sadar hospital after being beaten up severely by the police official succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

Sub-inspector Jeetendra Kumar Mahto alias Mantu Kumar, has been absconding after the incident. The district police have launched a manhunt to arrest the accused policeman.

In what transpired, Jeetendra Kumar Mahto, who is posted in Ranchi, had visited his village at Chhotkipona village under Chitarpur block in Ramgarh district in Jharkhand. There, he learnt that a cow belonging to one Khemlal Mahto (45), a resident of Sauradih village, had entered his farm and destroyed a few cauliflower plants in the farm. This angered Jeetendra, who then proceeded to thrash up Khemlal Mahto to teach him a lesson. He was accompanied by his family members and two others.

Meanwhile, DSP (headquarters) Prakash Soy informed that an FIR has been registered with the Rajrappa police station under various IPC sections including Section 302 against Mahto, his parents and two others on the basis of the complaint filed by the deceased’s wife Savitri Devi and a manhunt has been launched to nab the accused officer.

After losing Bihar elections, MGB CM candidate Tejashwi Yadav raises doubt on the election process, demands recounting of votes

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After losing Bihar elections, MGB CM candidate Tejashwi Yadav raises doubt on the election process, demands recounting of votes

Tejashwi Yadav, son of Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu who was convicted in the fodder scam, held a press conference for the first time after the Bihar Assembly election results. Unhappy with the election results, he raised questions over the counting of votes, saying that the mandate of the people of Bihar was in favour of the Mahagathbandhan but the Election Commission of India declared the results in favour of the NDA. Tejashwai Yadav recalled the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections and said that back then also the people of Bihar had voted the Mahagathbandhan to power but the BJP made a backdoor entry and “hijacked” the mandate.

Describing the election results as a ‘mandate for change’, the RJD leader accused the BJP of using money, power and deception in the elections. He asked NDA’s CM face and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to step down in the name of “morality”. He said that his party would take out a gratitude rally because they believed Mahagathbandhan was the real winner. Giving an ultimatum to the NDA government which is yet to be sworn in, Yadav said that if the government failed to fulfill their demands like creating 19 lakh, ensuring equal pay for equal work, and improving healthcare and education till January 2021, the Mahagathbandhan would launch a mass movement.

Tejashwi Yadav cast doubts on election process

Yadav said that a video was released by the RJD showing a vehicle transporting the boxes of postal ballots late in the light in Arrah before the elections. He questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) whether transporting postal ballot boxes in the night was allowed. He further said that there was a difference of 0.1 per cent in the vote percentage of the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan which amounted to 12,270 votes. Raising doubts over election results, he questioned how it was possible that the NDA won 15 seats more than Mahagathbandhan with a difference of 12, 270 votes only.

Yadav alleged that as many 900 postal ballots were rejected by the ECI during the counting process. “By whose permission did the Election Commission count the postal ballots in the end and reject many postal ballots?”, Yadav questioned the ECI. On behalf of Mahagathbandhan, he demanded the recounting of postal ballots both valid and rejected. He alleged foul play saying that the Mahagathbandhan lost on many seats by a thin margin of votes which according to him should not have been possible.

No evidence to support allegations

He said that he had no evidence to support his allegations as neither mobile phones nor people are allowed to enter while counting of votes is underway. He demanded the CCTV footage of the counting process to be released. While on one hand Yadav questioned losing seats by a low margin of votes, on the other hand he raised doubts on rejection of invalid postal ballots saying that elections could be lost even by a single vote.

Yadav who has been unanimously elected as their leader by all the members of the Grand Alliance, did not deny the possibility of attempting to form a Mahagathbandhan government in the state.

Central government to provide Rs 900 crore to registered Gaushalas for their upkeep

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Central government to provide Rs 900 crore to registered Gaushalas for their upkeep

The Central government has come with a scheme to support gaushalas by providing them financial assistance. Under the new scheme of Modi government, an amount of Rs 900 crore will be allotted for registered gaushalas. The information was shared by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Sri Vishwaprasanna Tirtha Swamiji of Pejavar Mutt yesterday when Swamiji called on her in the national capital yesterday.

According to reports, Sri Vishwaprasanna Tirtha Swamiji had written to the finance minister in the month of August urging her to allot an amount of Rs 200 crore for the maintenance of gaushalas that were facing shortage of money. During their meeting yesterday, Swamiji reminded Sitharaman about his request. She informed Swamiji that an amount of Rs 900 crore had already been transferred to the concerned ministry.

The finance minister said that the said amount would be distributed among registered gaushalas through state governments and the finance ministry would provide the details of the scheme to all the state governments thus ensuring that the financial assistance reached the gaushalas. She assured that the government had sure that the system of distribution of funds was transparent.

Pleased with the scheme of the government, Swamiji gifted Sitharaman two handloom sarees woven by Udupi Weavers Cooperative Society as a Diwali gift. He also offered her prasad of Lord Krishna, the presiding deity Sri Krishna, and fruits on a silver plate. The finance minister sat on the ground while Swamiji sat on a chair during the whole interaction.

Yogi government promised stern action against those indulged in cow slaughter

Last month Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that strict action would be taken against those involved in cow slaughter. “Those involved in such an act will go to jail. We will save cow at any cost”, he said expressing commitment for cow protection. CM Yogi said that cow protection was everyone’s responsibility and informed that cow shelters were being constructed in every district for the protection of bovines with the aide of the state government.

No impact of Hathras case on BJP’s fortunes, wins all three seats around Hathras in Western UP in the by-polls

OpIndia Staff
-
0
No impact of Hathras case on BJP’s fortunes, wins all three seats around Hathras in Western UP in the by-polls

Bharatiya Janata Party has comfortably won by-poll elections on six out of seven seats in Uttar Pradesh. The by-poll elections were held at Naugawan Sadat, Bulandshahr, Tundla, Bangermau, Ghatampur, Deoria and Malhani on 3rd November. Three seats that BJP won in western UP (Tundla, Amroha, and Bulandshahr) were under the shadow of the infamous Hathras Case. The opposition parties, including Congress, Left, and Bhim Army, used the 14th September incident to create voters’ mindset against BJP.

BJP grabbed six out of seven seats in Uttar Pradesh in by-poll elections

A comfortable win at all three seats in western UP

Prempal Singh Dhangar of BJP won the Tundla (SC) seat with a margin of 17,683 votes. Prempal got 72,844 votes compared to SP’s Maharaj Singh Dhangar, who got 55,209 votes. The remaining 40,967 votes went to BSP. Almost one-third of the total registered voters (3.6 lakh) in the constituency were Dalits. Prempal, who was contesting the election for the first time, said that BJP workers worked day and night to retain the seat. “I will try my best to fulfill the expectations of the people of my constituency. Making suitable arrangements for the supply of drinking water to each household will be my top priority,” he added.

BJP’s Sangeeta Chauhan, wife of former UP Cabinet minister late Chetan Chauhan, won Amroha’s Naugawan Sadat seat won by over 15,000 votes. She secured 86,692 votes while SP candidate Abdi got 71,615 votes, and BSP got 38,192 votes. On this seat, Congress candidate Dr. Kamlesh Singh secured merely 4,500 votes. She said, “My husband now is not in this world but he is with me. People of this constituency paid a true tribute to him. That is why our party won the seat again. I will not let the people down, and will fulfill the remaining promises of my husband.”

BJP’s Usha Sirohi won Bulandshahr Sadar seat comfortably with a margin of over 21,000 votes. She got 88,645 votes while BSP’s Mohammad Yunus secured polled 66,943 votes. Azad Samaj Party (Bhim Army’s political party) got 13,000 votes, and Congress’ Sushil Chaudhary secured 10,319 votes. RLD’s Praveen Kumar Singh (backed by SP) got only 7,312 votes. There were over 52,000 Dalit Jatav and over 1.2 lakh Muslim voters in the constituency. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar got a good response in his political rallies, but the turnout at the rally failed to affect the election’s outcome.

The Hathras case and how opposition tried to create mindset against BJP

On 15th September, the media started to report the Hathras case. According to the reports, on 14th September, a 19-year-old from the Bulgadhi village in Hathras was gang-raped by four men belonging to the ‘upper caste’. The girl passed away on 29th September at the hospital. In the report, there, the police mentioned that there was no rape. IPC Section 302 (murder) was added in the case.

The case became a political battleground for the political parties to score brownie points. The justice for the victim took a backseat, and the leaders from every opposition party started to find ways to take advantage of the situation. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter with numerous facets emerging to the story. From Gandhi family to BSP, Bhim Army, Left, SP, and other party leaders started to visit Hathras.

Media played a vital role in making the case about caste. From the very first day, it was projected that the incident took place because to girl was from the Dalit community. However, later details emerged that two families had old family disputes and some reports suggested that the girl and one of the men who were accused were in an affair.

Four Bhim Army workers were allegedly feeding fake stories to the media, and a doctor posing as victim’s bhabhi was allegedly part of the propaganda against the UP government. Four PFI workers were arrested, who were planning to cause communal tension in the area. During the by-poll election campaigns, the opposition parties tried their best to use the case against the Yogi-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. A timeline of the case can be explored here.

Hathras case failed to dent BJP in the region

There was a time when fake narratives set by political parties and media worked perfectly. Things are a little different now. It seems that voters do not concentrate on one incident that has happened in a region but look at the collective work the government has done. BJP focuses on working at the booth level with the help of party workers. Bihar elections and by-poll elections in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and other states showed how ground-level work done for the region’s benefit matters more than propaganda politics.

Govt of India issues show-cause notice to Twitter for disrespecting territorial integrity of the country, gives 5 days to reply

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Govt of India issues show-cause notice to Twitter for disrespecting territorial integrity of the country, gives 5 days to reply

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has issued a notice to social media giant Twitter for distorting the map of India. The notice has been issued after it was found that Twitter was showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir, instead of the Union Territory of Ladakh.

The micro-blogging site has been asked to explain why legal action should not be initiated against it for disrespecting India’s territorial integrity. The notice issued on 9th November had given 5 days to Twitter to submit its reply.

According to sources, the Ministry had issued a notice to the Global Vice President of Twitter. The Ministry notice says that showing Leh as part of Jammu and Kashmir is a deliberate attempt by Twitter to undermine the will of sovereign Parliament of India, which had declared Ladakh as a Union Territory of India with headquarter in Leh.

The Ministry has directed Twitter to explain within five working days why legal action should not be initiated against Twitter and its representatives for disrespecting the territorial integrity of India. If the govt of India is not satisfied with the reply submitted by Twitter, it may face actions, including possible ban under the section 69 of the IT Act.

The matter came to notice after defence analyst Nitin Gokhale had noticed on October 20 that Twitter was marking his location Leh as being part of Jammu of Kashmir. It was after Twitter had presumably corrected an error in its location data, where Jammu and Kashmir was shown as inside People’s Republic of China.

On October 18, Nitin Gokhale has posted a live video on Twitter from Leh, he was surprised to see that his location was marked as Jammu and Kashmir, People’s Republic of China. Therefore, Twitter had got both the country and the union territory wrong.

Following the outrage on social media over this serious error, Twitter had issued a statement saying that it was a technical issue, and said that they had investigated and resolved the geotag problem. At that time, the govt of India had issued a warning to Twitter, objecting to distortion of India’s territorial integrity.

Bhima Koregaon case accused Varavara Rao’s bail plea rejected by Bombay High Court, next hearing on November 17

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Bhima Koregaon case accused Varavara Rao’s bail plea rejected by Bombay High Court, next hearing on November 17

The Bombay High Court today rejected the bail plea of ‘Urban Naxal’ Varavara Rao who had sought bail from the court citing health condition. Rao’s wife Pendyala Hemlatha had filed the bail plea under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking his immediate release citing medical grounds, as reported by Bar and Bench. The plea was filed after the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter and directed the Bombay High Court to his pending bail plea at the earliest. The court has adjourned the next hearing of the matter till November 17.

In the bail plea, Hemlatha had alleged that Rao was not being provided appropriate medical treatment by the government and this amounted to violation of his fundamental right to health, dignity and life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Requesting for compensation, she contended in the plea that Rao’s detention in Taloja jail, given his medical condition, amounted to cruelty. The petition filed through Advocate R Satyanarayan, stated that there was apprehension that Rao might lose his life in custody due to medical negligence of the state.

During the hearing today, a Bench of Justices AK Menon and SP Tavade allowed immediate medical examination of Rao by doctors via video call.

The Court further said that if the medical panel felt that his assessment was not possible on video call, then they could be allowed to visit the Taloja jail in consultation with the jail authorities.

The court ordered for the submission of report of medical examination before November 16.

Rao taking undue advantage of pandemic: NIA

In July this year, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) had accused Rao of attempting to take undue advantage of the Coronavirus outbreak after he applied for bail on grounds of health. In the reply filed in response to Rao’s bail plea before the Supreme Court, the NIA said, “The appellant accused Varavara Rao under the garb of the current situation on account of global pandemic Covid-19 and his old age, is trying to take an undue benefit in the aforesaid situation in seeking bail on the grounds mentioned in his application.”

In November 2018, Rao, and nine others were arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, which was initially probed by the Pune police and later transferred to the National Investigation Agency. He was arrested by Karnataka police in July 2019 in connection with a 2005 Maoist attack case registered at Tirumani and was later sent to Mumbai prison.

Here are the 12 measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 stimulus package

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Here are the 12 measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 stimulus package

The Modi government on Thursday announced another financial stimulus package, as a part of Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamana announced 12 new measures under the new Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 stimulus package to boost the Indian economy amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The measures announced by the centre are expected to be aimed at sectors worst hit by the pandemic and lockdown.

Before announcing the package, the Finance Minister spoke about the current state of the economy, in which she highlighted the growth in energy consumption in October and added that bank credit growth is up 5.1 per cent and stock markets are at a record high.

“RBI is predicting a strong likelihood of economy returning to positive growth in Q3”, the Finance Minister said. She also added that global rating agency Moody’s has reassessed the country’s growth numbers.

Speaking about Aatmanirbhar Bharat 1.0, the Finance Minister also said that 28 states/union territories (UTs) have been brought under the national portability of ration cards with effect from September 1. The minister added that at least 26.2 lakh loan applications were received under the PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.

The minister said that credit boost has been given to 2.5 crore farmers through Kisan Credit Cards and Rs 1.4 lakh crore has been distributed to farmers. She also pointed out hat proposals from 21 states for Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana worth Rs 1,700 crore has been sanctioned.

The announcement comes shortly after the Union Cabinet approved the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for 10 sectors on November 11.

Here are the 12 measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday under Atmanirbhar Bharat package 3.0:

1. Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana to incentivise the creation of new employment opportunities. The new scheme will be in addition to Prime Minister Rozgar Protsahan Yojana.

The beneficiaries will include any new employee joining the EPFO registered establishment, who draws a monthly wage of less than Rs 15,000 who lost jobs during the pandemic and regained employment after October 1.

The scheme is being launched to incentivise the creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid-19 recovery phase. This will be effective from October 1, 2020, for the next two years.

2. Existing Credit Guarantee Scheme extended till March 2021

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced that Rs 3 lakh crore existing emergency credit line guarantee scheme is extended till March 31, 2021. The guaranteed credit for supporting stressed sectors to be utilised for 100 per cent guaranteed collateral-free additional credit at capped interest rates.

The Finance Minister said that the tenure of additional credit to be 5 years, including one year moratorium on principal repayment.

3. More sectors to be covered under Manufacturing PLI Scheme

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced a Rs 1.46 lakh crore boost for Atmanirbhar Manufacturing Production-linked incentive for 10 champion sectors. A total amount of nearly 1.5 lakh crore has been earmarked across sectors, for the next five years, she added.

The government has already approved a PLI scheme for 3 sectors at a cost of Rs 51,355 crore. The scheme is expected to give significant boost to economic growth and employment.

4. Additional spending on PM Awas Yojana (Urban)

The Modi government announced an additional outlay of Rs 18,000 crore for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), which will be provided over and above the budget estimate which was mentioned in the Budget 2020-21.

The decision will help ground 12 lakh houses and complete 18 lakh houses, said the Finance Minister announcing new measures under stimulus package.

“A number of measures have been taken in the past several months for the revival of the Housing and Real Estate Sector. These measures have contributed to the fair recovery in this sector,” said Sitharaman.

5. Support for construction and infrastructure

To provide ease of doing business and relief to contractors whose money otherwise remains locked up, performance security on contracts will be reduced to 3%, the Modi government announced.

The Finance Minister said that the EMD for tenders will be replaced by bid security self-declaration for which the relaxations will be applicable till December 31, 2021.

6. Income Tax relief for developers and home buyers

The Union government has announced tax relief for developers and home buyers for houses up to Rs 2 crore.

Under this, the Income-tax relief will be provided to 20% of the differential between circle rate and agreement value increased from the existing 10%. FM Sitharaman said that this would be applicable on primary sale of residential units of value up to Rs 2 crore.

7. Infusion of equity in National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government would make a Rs 6,000 crore equity infusion into the debt platform of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), which will help the NIIF in raising Rs 1.1 lakh crore by 2025 for infrastructure projects financing.

She also announced that private equity participation to also come in the NIIF. NIIF has itself invested Rs 2,000 crore debt platform has a loan book of Rs 8,000 crore and deal pipeline of Rs 10,000 crore, the Finance Minister said in the press conference.

8. Support of Rs 65,000 crore for subsidised fertilisers

The Modi government also announced that Rs 65,000 crore fertiliser subsidy will be provided to farmers. This will help 140 million farmers, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Fertiliser consumption is going up significantly and increased supply of fertilisers at subsidised rates will ensure that forthcoming crop seasons will not be affected, the Finance Minister said.

9. Additional outlay on PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana

An additional outlay of Rs 10,000 crore is being provided for PM Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana, announced Finance Minister Nirmala Sithataman.

The Modi government has allowed these funds to be used for MGNREGA or for Gram Sadak Yojana aiming at helping accelerate rural economy.

10. Boost for project exports

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced an additional Rs 3,000 crore that will be released to EXIM Bank for the project exports through IDEAS scheme.

About 811 export contracts amounting to $10.50 billion being financed under LoCs, the Finance Minister added.

11. Capital and Industrial stimulus

The Modi government has also allocated Rs 10,200 crore additionally to give impetus to capital and industrial expenditure.

The Finance Minister said that the amount will be spent towards domestic defence equipment, industrial incentives, industrial infrastructure, and green energy.

12. R&D grant for Covid vaccine development

Finally, to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the centre has announced Rs 900 crore fund for Covid Suraksha Mission for Research and Development to the Department of Biotechnology.

The provision being made only towards research activity said FM Sitharaman. The actual cost of vaccine and logistics required for distributing the vaccine is different and will be provided., she clarified.

The five stimulus package announced by the Modi government have together provided a total fiscal stimulus of Rs 17.16 lakh crore since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In addition to this, the RBI has announced various measures worth Rs 12.71 lakh crore taking the total stimulus package close to Rs 30 lakh crore, amounting to 15 per cent of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). 

Under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0, the fiscal stimulus is Rs 2.65 lakh crore, which includes the PLI scheme announced on November 11. 

Image Source: News18

Atmanirbhar Package – the economic stimulus announced by Modi government

Earlier in May, in a series of announcements, the Modi government had announced economic stimulus to battle the economic downturn induced by the coronavirus outbreak.

The relief package announced by the government includes a host of measures such as free food grains for distraught migrant workers, hike in foreign direct investment in defence, liquidity measures for the MSMEs, changes in Essential Commodities Act, increase in public expenditure in health, among others.

1...4,8624,8634,864...7,649Page 4,863 of 7,649