The Madhya Pradesh government led by Kamal Nath has allegedly spent a whopping amount of over Rs 38 crore on refurbishing the houses of Congress ministers in the state. This comes at a time when Kamal Nath government is facing backlash for failing to waive off farms loans.
According to Economic Times, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to renovate residence of ministers including the chief minister’s residence in Bhopal. It is notable here that the CM’s residence in Bhopal has been kept vacant since December 2018 and Kamal Nath is yet to move in.
BJP MLA Narottam Mishra has cited a written reply given to him in the state assembly by the government on Thursday, saying Rs 38.47 crore has been spent by the state public works department (PWD) to renovate and refurbish the official bungalows of 28 new ministers.
“The chief minister, since the last seven months, has still not reached the CM’s house. Our CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan stayed in the same residence for the last 15 years but I am unable to understand what is lacking in that house that Kamal Nath has not moved in there for seven months now and constant repair and renovation is being carried out there. This is wastage of the state’s resources,” Mishra said.
Mishra further alleged that Congress government of failing to grant money for cremations under the former government’s Sambhal scheme while accusing them of wasting so much money on renovating official bungalows. In fact, new houses from scratch could have been built with Rs 39 crore, said Mishra.
Meanwhile, Sajjan Singh Verma, State PWD Minister claimed the figures were not correct and said a very small amount of money had been spent.
“Such was the desperation and frustration of the BJP ministers when they lost power that they even uprooted taps and pipes from the government bungalows before vacating them. We had to hence carry out some repairs to make them livable,” Verma told ET.
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal alleged that Kamal Nath was still to move into the CM’s residence as it was very simple as per the lifestyle of the former BJP CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan and not up to the extravagant way of living of Nath”.
Madhya Pradesh government has been facing a lot of criticism since it came to power after its marginal victory in the assembly elections. Recently, in a controversial decision, the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government had decided to withdraw nearly 50,000 cases filed against Congress workers and leaders in the state in the last 15 years.
Fugitive economic offender Mehul Choski has come up with a new excuse. He has claimed that he was unable to send legal documents to his lawyer in India because of an “untimely typhoon” in Antigua and Barbuda, reports The Indian Express. He was sending documents to challenge a special court order in the Bombay High Court.
On January 31, a special court had dismissed Choksi’s plea seeking examination of witnesses on the basis which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) wanted to declare him a fugitive economic offender under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018.
The fugitive businessman wanted to challenge this order in the Bombay High Court but took well over the stipulated time period to file a plea. Mehul Choksi moved the High Court on July 4 and requested it to admit his plea. Under the limitation laws, an appeal has to be filed in the High Court within 30 days of the date of the order passed by a lower court.
“The counsel (of Choksi in India) failed to get the vakalatnamas within the limitation period due to untimely typhoon at Antigua which created chaos and also interrupted the courier service and the shipment through which the signed vakalatnamas were shipped by the applicant (Choksi) to the counsel on June 18 by FedEx courier and the same was received by the advocate of the applicant on June 24,” said Choksi’s application filed by his counsel Rahul Agarwal.
As per reports, PNB Scam accused Mehul Choksi had submitted to the court through his lawyer that he is too ill to travel and he is willing to be questioned in Antigua, where he had taken citizenship last year.
Choksi is presently residing in the Caribbean nation of Antigua. India has sought his extradition from that country and an Interpol arrest warrant has also been issued against him.
In a major shot in the arm for the Modi government, the Antiguan government has now decided to revoke Choksi’s citizenship. Antiguan PM Gaston Browne himself had declared that Choksi’s Antiguan citizenship will be rescinded. He had assured that he will be repatriated back to India.
This is not the first time fugitive offender Choski has been providing such excuses to delay his extradition process. Earlier, Mehul Choksi had submitted to the court through his lawyer that he is too ill to travel and he is willing to be questioned in Antigua, where he had taken citizenship last year.
In 2018, Mehul Choski had given a bizarre explanation claiming that there are numerous mob lynching incidents in India lately and had said that he feared the same if he came back to the country.
In January 2018, Mehul Choksi fled after the Rs 14,000-crore PNB fraud surfaced, in which diamantaires Nirav Modi and Choksi were the main accused. After fleeing the country, he surrendered his Indian passport and took up Antiguan citizenship.
Anshula Kant, the managing director of State Bank of India, has been appointed the MD and CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of the World Bank. World Bank president David Malpass has announced on Friday.
Pleased to appoint Anshula Kant as the new @WorldBank Group Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer. Anshula brings over 35 yrs of expertise in finance, banking, & innovative use of tech. Look forward to working together to support good dev’t outcomes: https://t.co/8bIbDk9hUx
In a statement, the president David Malpass said, “Anshula brings more than 35 years of expertise in finance, banking, and innovative use of technology through her work as CFO of the State Bank of India”.
“She’s excelled at a diverse array of leadership challenges including risk, treasury, funding, regulatory compliance and operations. I look forward to welcoming her to our management team as we work to increase our effectiveness in supporting good development outcomes”, he added.
As MD and CFO, Kant would be responsible for financial and risk management of the World Bank Group, reporting to the President. She would also be working with the CEO to mobilize financial resources.
Kant holds an Honours degree in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College. She also did her post-graduate degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics.
During her tenure as CFO of SBI, Kant managed $38 billion of revenues and total assets of $500 billion. She greatly improved the capital base and focused on the long-term sustainability of SBI within her mandate. Since September 2018 she had been Managing Director and member of the Board of SBI.
Anshula Kant will be the first woman to hold the position.
Pramod Sharma, who had complained against actress Sonakshi Sinha for allegedly cheating him by not turning up for performance despite taking money, has now hit back at Sonakshi Sinha.
Speaking to ANI, Sharma said that he has all the proof of Sonakshi Sinha receiving money. He also alleged that Sonakshi Sinha is trying to use the political influence and money power of her father, actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha to suppress the case.
Pramod Sharma, complainant in alleged cheating case against actress Sonakshi Sinha: Sonakshi is calling me a liar & saying that I didn’t pay her but I’ve proof that she received money.She is trying to suppress the case using her money power&her father’s political influence.(12.7) pic.twitter.com/EuFK5rAnW1
A case of cheating under section 420 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) was registered against actor Sonakshi Sinha by Katghar Police. Sonakshi Sinha, the daughter of actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha is accused of taking Rs 24 lakh for a show performance in 2018 and not turning up.
The police had reached the actor’s Mumbai residence on Thursday to record her statement but she was not home. Muradabad based Pramod Sharma has registered a case against Sinha. According to Sharma, Sinha was to attend an award show in Delhi in December last year. However, she did not turn up for the event.
Reacting to the complaint, Sonakshi Sinha had accused the event organiser of maligning her crystal clear image in the press. She claimed that event organiser wanted to “make a fast buck” by accusing her of cheating.
Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi Marlena passed off a foreign country’s sewer treatment plant image as that of Delhi’s Okhla. Earlier this week, Marlena had posted an image on photo-sharing website Instagram juxtaposing the Statue of Unity next to a sewer treatment plant. She had titled the post, “Vision and priority matters.”
Image shared by AAP’s Atishi Marlena on Instagram
Marlena posted how World’s largest statue, the Statue of Unity in Gujarat cost Rs 3,500 crore while India’s largest sewer treatment plant in Okhla, Delhi came up in Rs 1,161 crore. She even preached that when 50% of the country is facing water crisis, water related issued need to be addressed before statues.
However, according to the fact-checking website fact-hunt, the image Marlena has shared is most probably from California.
Sewer treatment plant in California (image: facthunt.in)
Passing off foreign location’s sewer treatment plant image as Okhla in Delhi is not the misleading part about the post.
The statue of Unity was constructed at an approximate cost of Rs 2,989 crore and not Rs 3,500 crore as claimed by Marlena. Secondly and more importantly, as fact hunt points out, the sewer treatment plant in Okhla is yet to be constructed. Its foundation stone was laid on 8th July 2019 by Union Minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Marlena did not think it was a good idea to put up a disclaimer that the image of ‘sewer treatment plant in Okhla, Delhi’ is a representational image. And that construction is yet to begin. Also that the project is expected to be operational by 2022. Marlena also did not mention the fact that the Okhla sewage treatment plant is 85% funded by the central government.
This is not the first time Aam Aadmi Party leaders have shared images of foreign locations and tried to pass them off as Delhi. In November 2018, Aam Aadmi Party tried to pass off an image of the illuminated Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam as the yet-to-be inaugurated Signature Bridge in Delhi.
Update: Facthunt has updated that the above image may not necessarily be from California as it is extensively used as a representational image of sewage water treatment plant. California is known for its water conservation technologies. However, it cannot be conclusively proven that the representational image is also from California. The article has been updated to reflect this information.
Having said that, it is definitely not from Okhla, New Delhi as depicted in Atishi Marlena’s Instagram post.
So I read very carefully the interview that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave to the Hindustan Times.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s interview with Hindustan Times
It is never a good sign when government ministers sound subtly apologetic about their own policies. By that I am not referring to the headline that Hindustan Times chose, which clearly refers to the $5 trillion target.
Indeed, the $5 trillion target is quite achievable, with 8% growth and 3% inflation. Sure, growth could slip a bit … say to 7% at which point the RBI and the govt will let inflation go up to say 4%, keeping the nominal GDP growth the same. From what I have read, the arithmetic says that this way we get to $5 trillion in FY 2024-25, which isn’t exactly the same as 2024. But it is close enough for the Modi government to claim victory on this front during the 2024 General Election.
By subtly apologetic, I am referring to this terse response from the Finance Minister at the end of her interview.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on higher income tax.
Wow! That response is “not ideal” at all. It sounds like something that Nehruvian era babus would say with a sigh, sitting behind a stack of dusty files, holding a dirty teacup in one hand, even as they contemplate ways to send their kids to America.
Assuming that HT transcribed her words perfectly, the very fact that the Finance Minister used “ideally” twice while starting two successive sentences, reveals a sort of helplessness.
There is always a proper time to cut taxes. The best time is the budget. The second best time is right NOW.
This response likely reveals that the top tax rate of 42.7% has become an embarrassing headline for the government. More than an embarrassment, it truly and deeply affects investor sentiment and business confidence. Now is the time to roll it back. By even the government’s own estimate, the money that would be mopped up is a pittance.
I found the same attitude of Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech, where she presented this absolutely wonderful piece of wisdom from Tamil Sangam literature.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoting Tamil literature during her maiden budget speech.
Advice to the king that the government is like an elephant that can survive on few mounds of rice harvested from the field. But when the elephant enters the paddy field, everything is destroyed.
What a beautiful metaphor explaining that the economy flourishes when government intervention is kept to an absolute minimum. That’s Milton Friedman and ideas of the so called “Austrian school” of Economics almost 2000 years before there was an Austrian school of Economics. Or an Austria, for that matter.
But, sadly, the rest of the taxation proposals hardly kept up with the spirit of these 2000 year old words of wisdom. The corporate tax rate cut was good, but drowned in the negativity surrounding the new 42.7% top tax rate.
A similar sort of apologetic sounding theme appears in the words of Finance Secretary Subhash Garg.
Finance Secretary Subhash Garg on Dividend Distribution Tax
As a bureaucrat, Garg does not make policy, he merely implements it. But you can see how he suggests alternatives to people who are looking to get out of the tax on buybacks. And points out that grandfathering some of the gains can be “discussed” with the Revenue Department.
It is worth noting that these words were said at a CII meeting on Budget discussion. Why do I get the feeling that the Finance Secretary is unable to look industry captains in the eye?
This is the time to rollback all those new taxes introduced in the budget. To get those favorable global headlines back.
Now, to be fair, the Finance Minister is mostly right when she says that negative sentiments over the Indian economy are mostly a domestic feature. India does remain the world’s fastest growing economy. Especially with Chinese growth down to historic lows. So we in India can bask in the glory of being the only game in town. Where would the global investors go, if not to India?
But the problem with that is the US economy is doing magnificently well. The global investors can just go home!
It is easy to see where the government is caught in a trap. On the one end, it has a very classic right wing approach to fiscal prudence. It insists on keeping the fiscal deficit to an absolute minimum. It is good that Nirmala Sitharaman brought up the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management) Act. The FRBM was one of the many great economic legacies of the Vajpayee government, which required the Government of India to bring fiscal deficit under 3% of GDP. In fact, India’s economic problems in the UPA era began the day the UPA government decided to throw this law to the winds.
Since money is finite, there are only two ways to keep the fiscal deficit down. Either raise more money in taxes or cut government spending. In India, cutting welfare spending can hurt people who are the most vulnerable. So the focus should be on eliminating inefficiencies, leakage and corruption in the delivery of those schemes. The government has gone as far as it could on this: linking everything to Aadhaar and Direct Benefits Transfer proved to be the answer.
The government now feels that in order to maintain/reduce the fiscal deficit, there is nowhere to go except raise taxes. The problem with such thinking is that it is heavily counterproductive. Because high taxes lead to lesser investment, shrinking the pie and ultimately lower revenues at the end of the day. And in the Indian context, tax evasion as well. Now the government may feel they have the will to curb high level corruption and stop tax evasion. But what do you do about the much deeper problem of high taxation dissuading investors, becoming a crushing weight for private business?
It is time for Nirmala Sitharaman to listen to the 2000 year old words of wisdom she herself quoted from ancient Tamil Sangam literature.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today booked Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nabam Tuki for allegedly indulging in corruption in awarding contracts worth Rs 3.20 crore for a government project in the year 2003. Tuki was the CM of the State during 2011-16.
CBI books Nabam Tuki, former CM of Arunachal Pradesh on charges of corruption, cheating & forgery. Case registered against him & his brother Nabam Tagam on allegations that Nabam Tuki awarded a govt project worth ₹3.20 Cr to his brother in 2003. pic.twitter.com/0KZ1qYr6De
The CBI alleged that the former CM who was the then Minister of Consumer Affairs and Civil Supplies had, in collusion with his brother Nabam Tagam, siphoned off illegal money received in lieu of contracts granted worth Rs 61.43 lakh and 2.60 crores for developing a couple of parking places in Nirjulee and Naharlagun in the State.
Nabam Tuki’s brother Nabam Tagam, N N Osik, the then director civil supplies, and Sohrab Ali Hazarika, the then chief manager of the United Commercial Bank have also been booked by the CBI. Osik had allegedly paid an amount of Rs 30 lakh which was credited in his account in Itanagar branch of the United Commercial Bank. It is alleged by the CBI that the cheque was initially issued in the name of Tuki and was later changed to ‘yourself’. The CBI has booked all the accused for criminal conspiracy, forgery and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Hazarika had allegedly helped in getting the amount credited in Tuki’s account without obtaining any authorisation for altercations made in beneficiary detail in the cheque. The name of the account holder in the bank was also tampered with. The name was replaced with T Nabam in the specimen signature card and a picture of Nabam Tagam was placed on it.
It was revealed during the inquiry conducted by the CBI that the account was in the name of Nabam Tuki and his signatures were found on the account opening form.
Yet another news of Muslims forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and beaten for not doing so has turned out to be fake. The Imam of the Jama Masjid in Unnao had warned of ‘unprecedented action’ if the Hindu boys who were involved in the fight over cricket match were not arrested.
He had even claimed that the madarsa boys were beaten up by the Hindu boys after they were asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. But now police had found that there was no religious angle to the incident.
According to the enquiry conducted by UP police, it has been found that a fight had broken out between two groups while playing cricket. In a press conference where ADG (LO) P V Ramaswamy and IG (LO) Praveen Kumar were present, they denied that anybody was forced to chant any religious slogan, and said that it was a fight between two groups on the playground that had turned violent.
The police also informed that earlier also such misleading news was spread in Kanpur, Aligarh and other places to create communal tension. But police with cooperation of local administration had foiled such intentions.
Police also informed that anti-social elements had tried to create violence in Meerut and Agra over such incidents, and such people were arrested by police. In Unnao also some people were arrested who were trying to instigate people over the allegation that Madrassa students were forced to chant Jai Shri Ram.
Three students were injured in the incident that had happened on Thursday when the students of Darul Uloom Faiz-E-Aam in Unnao were playing cricket at the GIC ground. It was alleged in the media reports that 3-4 youths associated with a right-wing group had arrived at the spot and harassed the boys. It was reported that the students had alleged that they were compelled to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and they were beaten with a cricket bat. It was also alleged that Kurtas of the students were torn and stones were thrown at them.
But now police have denied those allegations, saying the fight took place over arguments related to the cricket match they were playing. Local Police have started probing the incident and registered a case under sections 323, 352, 504 and 506 of the IPC.
Recently in various cities, there have been incidents of violence after Friday prayers by Muslim mobs protesting against “mob lynchings” and alleged incidents of Muslims being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram”, though many of such claims have been found to be either false or unverified.
A 30-year-old taxi-driver named Saddam Shaikh was arrested by the police in suburban Oshiwara in Mumbai for allegedly recording the video of his neighbour’s wife in the bathroom. Shaikh was arrested on Wednesday from his residence after the couple filed a complaint against him.
According to reports, Shaikh lived in a rented room adjacent to the room in which the couple was living in Behram Baug area of Oshiwara. In their complaint, the couple alleged the woman had spotted a mobile phone thrust in the gap between the bathroom’s roof and the common wall that separated Shaikh’s room from that of the couple. She informed her husband about the phone. The couple then reported the matter to the police.
The police have booked the accused under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). His mobile phone has been sent to a forensic laboratory for examination.
A similar incident was reported from the ongoing Amarnath Yatra where a constable named Tariq Ahmed was arrested for filming the female devotees taking bath at the camps there. The accused constable was serving in the 19th Battalion of the Indian Reserve Police. The accused was arrested by the police after female devotees raised an alarm and seized his phone.
SFI district committee member and college unit secretary Naseem has been named as the prime suspect in the stabbing of a student today in Kerala. This morning, a third-year student of University College in Thiruvananthapuram was stabbed during a scuffle on the campus.
The police have registered FIRs against five members of the SFI including Naseem. The FIR has been registered for stabbing Akhil, a student of BA Politics. Akhil has been admitted to the Medical College Hospital with injuries to the chest and is currently in a stable condition.
Reportedly, Akhil was also an SFI member. He and his friends used to sing in the college canteen making percussive sounds on the desks and benches. The canteen was situated next to the SFI unit room. A female SFI student leader disapproved of the noise. She lodged a complaint with the SFI unit seeking a ban on singing inside the canteen.
This led to a verbal fight between Akhil and other members of SFI for several days. There was a minor scuffle on the 10th. A reconciliation meeting was arranged on Friday. It was then when the fight escalated. One of Akhil’s friend was attacked, following which a large group of people rushed into the college and took on Akhil’s group. In the ensuing chaos, Akhil was stabbed.
After the incident took place, students had arranged a large protest against SFI. Several SFI members also took part in the protest. Students slammed the SFI for being fascist. One of the protesters said, “We are all supporters of the SFI, but today the 13 unit members in the college are acting like fascists. None can freely move around the college and if we sit around a tree or sing songs, we are abused beaten and chased away”.
The all India president of SFI, VP Sanu, announced today that the SFI unit of the University College in Thiruvananthapuram would be dismissed. As per reports, college authorities haven’t responded to the incident. The media have also been forcefully removed from the campus.
21-year-old Naseem has several criminal cases against him. In December 2018, he was wanted for beating up two traffic policemen after they had questioned him for violating a traffic signal. The police haven’t been able to nab him for over a month. He had surrendered in January after he was spotted in full public view at a function that was attended by two state ministers.
The Student Federation of India (SFI) is the student body of the ruling CPM party. The SFI had previously put up a derogatory poster of Sabarimala’s Lord Ayyappa at the Kerelaverma College in Thrissur
