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Sting operation claims Mamata govt used fake intelligence reports of possible communal violence to deny BJP Rath Yatras in Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Sting operation claims Mamata govt used fake intelligence reports of possible communal violence to deny BJP Rath Yatras in Bengal

In a startling revelation by a sting operation conducted by India Today, it has been claimed that the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee has been deliberately blocking BJP’s Rath Yatra citing false intelligence reports which had claimed of serious law and order issues if the ‘Rath Yatras’ were to be held.

The sting operation conducted by India Today reveals that Mamata Banerjee led TMC government had pressurised the state intelligence officers to submit favorable intelligence reports, claiming fake communal violence threats to deny permission for the BJP to conduct its political rally.


 

Initially, the BJP was supposed to organise 3 Rath Yatras from different locations crisscrossing in the state before finally culminating in Kolkata. Amit Shah was supposed to flag them off and PM Modi was meant to end the campaign by addressing a rally in Kolkata. The state police and administration had then denied permission citing threats of ‘communal disharmony’ in the state.

However, India Today’s Special Investigation Team in a secret operation has now found that there was hardly any specific intelligence of any law and order issues at the time of Rath Yatra to justify the ban.

In the news report shared last night, the India Today team reportedly confronted an intelligence officer in West Bengal’s Bankura district, J.P. Singh, who confessed that he sent reports as ordered by the senior officials stating that BJP’s Rath Yatras could pose serious law and order issues.

JP Singh, replying to a question asked by India Today’s undercover reporter regarding the nature of the information they had regarding the Rath Yatras, said “There was nothing of the sort. If they had permissions, we would have given our protection. But they didn’t have any permission.”

“But Sir, you must have prepared your report,” the reporter probed.

“Yes, that was prepared. Every district prepared it. It’s the same all over,” he answered. “What I am saying is that the master is only one person, not ten people. The report is based on their instructions and sent out accordingly.”

JP Singh further admitted that their report on the proposed Yatra was based on vague inputs. “The instructions came from the top”, he claimed, adding that the intelligence officials in all districts had prepeared similar reports based as per the ‘instructions’ they had recieved.

Another officer, Bappaditya Ghosh, ACP with the special branch in West Bengal’s Paschim Bardhaman district, accused both the Trinamool Congress and the BJP of instigating religious passions. However, he claimed that they had no accurate intelligence about law and order issues that the BJP’s Yatra might have caused in the state.

He further said that they were under some political pressure. “Political pressure, the law, and order situation, the festivals around the time.” He said that he had reported about “a communal problem” in Paschim Bardhaman district in March 2018. He also said that there was no fresh input on the possible law and order issues in the state during BJP Rath Yatras.

The news report also claimed that Madhup Chandra Das, a deputy superintendent of police at the Purba Bardhaman Intelligence Bureau also denied receiving any negative inputs about the BJP’s planned Yatra. Confirming that there would have been no riots if yatra would have taken place in the state, he said they did not have any such information.

In Howrah Rural, intelligence authorities admitted their report to the state government was based on past records and not on the present situation. The local intelligence officers acknowledged there was no information about the fresh disturbance in the current circumstances.

Following the revelation, the BJP has targetted the Mamata Banerjee government and demanded an investigation pertaining to the issue.

“This is an issue of purgery committed by the TMC. And we demand an investigation into this,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told India Today. “Mamata Banerjee is dictatorial didi. They harbour love and concern for Rohingyas. But for them, PM Modi, Yogi Adityanath, and Amit Shah are characters that should not be allowed to enter Bengal. And you say you love democracy. No, ma’am, you hate democracy. This is India, this is my India, this is your India. Every Indian has every right to travel across the country,” he added.

Rejecting the allegations, the TMC termed the investigation as a conspiracy. Senior party leader Madan Mitra said that the state government had credible information that the BJP plotted to trigger communal unrest in West Bengal. Mitra also rejected suggestions the state’s intelligence network was under pressure to prepare fake reports against the BJP’s Rath Yatra.

“I totally disagree. This is a conspiracy hatched by the leadership of the BJP,” he said. “You know, unnecessarily, the BJP has not spent Rs 4,000 crore on publicity. So, they have purchased almost all media. We were getting several reports from districts, even from the block level, that the BJP is trying to organize communal riots everywhere. So, it is not forged. It is not fake. The reports that have gone from the district level are absolutely true,” the TMC leader insisted.

In recent times the Mamata Banerjee led WB government has also attempted to hold BJP leaders from addressing rallies in the state. Yogi Adityanath had to land in Bokaro and travel to Purulia by road to address a rally there recently because the WB government had denied permission to land his chopper and also attempted to stop the rally. BJP leaders Shivraj Chouhan and Shahnawaz Hussein were also not permitted to address rallies in the state. UP CM Yogi Adityanath had to address a rally via telephone last week because the TMC government had denied him permission to land his chopper for the Balurghat rally.

I-T dept disputes claim of Travel Khana over angel tax recovery, says only unexplained cash receipts penalised

OpIndia Staff
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I-T dept disputes claim of Travel Khana over angel tax recovery, says only unexplained cash receipts penalised

Yesterday, a shocking news had emerged that the bank account of a start-up was emptied by the Income Tax department due to the recovery of angel tax. It was reported that four bank accounts of Travel Khana was frozen, and around ₹33 lakh was withdrawn from the accounts towards due of angel tax. Travel Khana is a start-up company that delivers food for passengers of Indian Railways. The Angel Tax has raised lots of concern for start-up businesses, and the action on Travel Khana was seen as an example of Tax Terrorism.

But now the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a clarification saying that no Angel Tax was recovered from the bank accounts of the company. In a statement issued last night issued by CBDT spokesperson Surabhi Ahluwalia, CBDT says that tax was recovered from Travel Khana on account of unexplained cash credits and not on the premium of shares, as has been alleged.

The statement says that during the assessment of the company, the assessing officer had requested for confirmation of the persons from whom deposits had been received. Wherever confirmations were submitted, the same were accepted by the assessing officer. But for some cash deposits no confirmation about the depositors was received from the company, therefore proper show-cause notice was issued in such cases. CBDT says that due to the failure of Travel Khana in furnishing detail of depositors, a demand of around ₹2.22 crore was raised by the department.

The statement clarifies that action against the company was taken under section 68 of the Income Tax department, not under section 56(2)(viib). The section 68 deals with unexplained cash credits, while the section 56(2)(viib) deals with premiums received on shares issued.

The CBDT also says that the company did not obtain a stay against the demand raised by the I-T department. Had they obtained a stay, recovery proceedings would not have been undertaken by the department, it says.

Due to the concerns about the Angel Tax among the start-ups, the government had issued an instruction prohibiting coercive measures for enforcing recovery of outstanding demand in Angel Tax cases. But CBDT says that Travel Khan is not eligible for this relaxation as the tax demand was for unexplained cash credit, not Angel Tax. Moreover, the company did not submit any certificate from DIPP indicating its status as start-up, which mandatory to obtain the relaxations. Had the company or its directors had furnished such a certificate, the situation would not have arisen.

The statement says that “the benefit of doubt should and must be given to our entrepreneurs. However when after repeated reminders, records of funds received are not provided, the department is unfortunately left with no choice.”

The full statement of CBDT can be seen below:

CBDT

Press Release – 08.02.2019

CBDT clarification

New Delhi: It has come to the notice of CBDT, through some media reports that Rs 36 lakh have been recovered from a start-up, namely, Travel Khana as part of recovery of outstanding demand on account of Angel Tax. It has been alleged that this was in violation of the CBDT instructions dt 24th December, 2018 pertaining to recovery of dues in Angel Tax cases.

On ascertaining the facts it is seen that the additions in the case were made u/s 68 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 on account of unexplained cash credits and not u/s 56(2)(viib) on account of premium on shares, as has been alleged.

During the assessment proceedings, the assessing officer requested for confirmation of the persons from whom deposits had been received. Wherever confirmations were submitted, the same were accepted by the assessing officer and no addition was made. However, where no confirmations were furnished by the assessee, the assessing officer made the addition after issuing proper show-cause notice and obtaining reply in the matter. Thus, the addition was made only when the taxpayer failed to substantiate the source of the deposit resulting in demand of Rs. 2.22 crore approximately.

The assessee did not obtain any stay in respect of the demand raised. Had the stay been obtained, recovery proceedings would not have been instituted by the department. Since there was no stay against recovery and the demand had become due, the department recovered Rs. 36 lakh after attaching the bank accounts of the assesse. Thereafter, all the bank accounts were released.

It may also be noted that neither the assessee nor its Director submitted any certificate from DIPP to indicate its status of being a startup, either during the assessment proceedings or thereafter, which is a mandatory requirement as per extant instructions in the matter. Had such a certificate been furnished, this situation would not have arisen.

Thus, it is clear that the case of Travel Khana is not covered by the instruction issued by CBDT dated 24th December, 2018  prohibiting coercive measures for enforcing recovery of outstanding demand in Angel Tax cases as the addition was made under section 68 of the IT Act and not under section 56(2)(viib). Therefore, the action of the assessing officer of enforcing recovery of demand is not in violation of CBDT’s instructions.

The benefit of doubt should and must be given to our entrepreneurs. However when after repeated reminders, records of funds received are not provided, the department is unfortunately left with no choice. Our agencies also have a duty to prevent and expose suspected evasion.

 

Rajasthan: Swine Flu claims 100th life, 2793 cases reported in 39 days of 2019

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Swine Flu claims 100th life, 2793 cases reported in 39 days of 2019

The death toll from Swine Flu has reached 100 in Rajasthan this year. As per reports, from 1 January 2019 to 8 February 2019, 100 people have succumbed to the disease.

Four people died yesterday from Swine Flu, one each in Kota, Hanumangarh, Dausa, and Jodhpur districts. 87 new cases have also been reported, taking the total tally of patients affected to 2793 in the 39 days of 2019.


Among the new cases reported, Jaipur district has the highest share of 43 cases while 9 cases were reported from Barmer, 4 each from Dausa and Udaipur, 3 each from Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, 2 each from Kota, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur, Churu, Hanumangarh, Alwar and Bikaner and 1 case each from Ajmer, Bhilwara, Bharatpur, Ganganagar, Jhunjhunu, Baran and Rajasamund.

Swine Flu has claimed over 250 lives this year alone. However, Rajasthan has been the worst hit in terms of deaths and the number of cases reported. Gujarat has seen 54 deaths and 1,187 cases reported.

National capital Delhi has also seen 6 deaths and 1409 cases reported. Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharastra have also seen many cases of deaths and patients reported with the disease.

While Punjab has registered 30 deaths and 301 cases, Madhya Pradesh has seen 16 deaths and 81 cases. Maharashtra has reported 13 deaths and 197 cases of Swine Flu.

The union health ministry has issued directives for the state health departments to ensure effective screening and preparedness to detect cases early to minimise the number of deaths. District administrations have also been informed to increase activities of awareness and outbreak response.

As per reports, advisory for preparedness to seasonal influenza A (H1N1) has been issued and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and its state units have also reinforced their screening for Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (SARI).

BJYM office bearer opens the first Modi-themed cafe in Tamil Nadu

SG Suryah
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BJYM office bearer opens the first Modi-themed cafe in Tamil Nadu

Although some say that there is no presence of Modi wave in Tamil Nadu, the world’s first Modi themed cafe was started in Kovilpatti, Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu by two youths, Dhinesh Rodi and Sowmya Sarathy. They have been producing Tamil Nadu’s indigenous candy named “Namo Candy” since 2013 and even export the candies to many countries now. Now they have designed their cafe Rodi Resto, the showroom of Namo candy as world’s first Modi themed cafe and thus displaying their love towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The special attribute of this cafe is that it was designed with the names of Modi Government’s schemes in the last five years along with the images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Arrangements are also made to explain the common people about the way to avail the schemes of Narendra Modi government. The images of the cafe that they shared have received tremendous praises from social media users.


“Modi government has done a lot of good things to Tamilnadu but still some oppose him because these people are not aware of the Government’s plans and schemes. We wanted to explain these to our customers. Apart from politics, we have been attracted to Modi for his love towards the nation and he had made every Indian proud in the global arena. The customers of our exports in many countries are also aware of PM Modi’s governance and schemes. Then, we realized that Modi is not only our Prime Minister but a very big brand in the global stage”, Dhinesh said.

“Prime Minister Modi wants to create more entrepreneurs than workers. He has taken numerous steps to promote domestic production. He is very supportive of female entrepreneurs and implemented many plans to encourage them. We will take his schemes to the new budding entrepreneurs.” says Dhinesh who’s also the Vice President of BJP’s Yuva Morcha of Thoothukudi District in Tamil Nadu.

Former CBI Interim Director Nageswara Rao says he has no link with the company raided by Kolkata police in revenge against CBI

OpIndia Staff
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Former CBI Interim Director Nageswara Rao says he has no link with the company raided by Kolkata police in revenge against CBI

A 15 member team of Kolkata police conducted raids at two different locations alleged to be connected with former Interim CBI Director M Nageswara Rao. The police conducted raids at two offices of M/s Angelina Mercantile Pvt Ltd, one at Kolkata and the other at Salt Lake. It is alleged that the company is linked to Nageswara Rao’s wife.


The raids were clearly done as a revenge on the CBI officer for trying to question Kolkata police commissioner for his role in the chit fund scam. But now Nageswara Rao has issued a press statement saying his wife does not have any connection with M/s Angelina Mercantile Pvt Ltd.


In the statement, Rao says that his wife had taken a loan from M/s Angelina Mercantile Pvt Ltd. for purchase of an immovable property. Later, she sold two plots of ancestral property and sent the proceeds to the company, as a repayment for the loan with interest, and the balance amount was kept as an investment by the company. 3 years later, the investment amount was returned to Rao’s wife along with interest, and after that, there was no link between her and the company, Nageshwar Rao clarifies.

The former interim director of CBI further added that details of all the transactions were submitted with the competent authority. He also said that all the details of properties of him and his family have been submitted in his annual property returns for all the years and the same can be downloaded from the Ministry of Home Affairs website,

He called the raids being conducted by the Kolkata police as propaganda.


The allegations of improper dealings with the company were raised in October last year also, after he was appointed as interim director of CBI. He had dismissed the allegations as incorrect and untrue and had issued a statement on October 30 saying that the transactions and investments made by him or his wife have been submitted before the competent authorities. He had given the same details that he has issued today.

On February 5, the Supreme Court had directed Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to make him available for investigation by CBI, in a massive setback to Mamata Banerjee who was preventing CBI from questioning the IPS officer. A CBI team will question Rajeev Kumar on 9th February in Shillong. The Supreme Court had selected Shillong as a neutral venue for the quiestioning.

Female students groped while protesting against Head of Department of Applied Arts in Jamia Millia Islamia

OpIndia Staff
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Female students groped while protesting against Head of Department of Applied Arts in Jamia Millia Islamia

Some students of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), New Delhi who were protesting against the Head of Department of Applied Arts were reportedly thrashed by a group of students today. The students were protesting against HoD Hafiz Ahmed for his alleged favouritism, unfair means of assessment, and sexist comments. The protesting students alleged that the group of students that attacked them did so on the instructions of the Ahmed. One female student who got injured during the violence had to be admitted to the nearby Holy Family Hospital.

“We were on a peaceful protest against the unfair means of assessment when a group of students on instructions of the HoD had started beating us up. They pulled the dupattas (scarves) of female students and groped them. We were pulled by our hair. These are favourite students of our HoD who is the only permanent faculty in the department and is re-appointed each time after his tenure,” said a second-year Arts student.

Vijay Mallya had no intention of repaying the loans taken by Kingfisher Airlines: ED investigation

OpIndia Staff
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Vijay Mallya had no intention of repaying the loans taken by Kingfisher Airlines: ED investigation

The Enforcement Directorate has concluded in its investigations that the fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya had no intention to repay the loans taken by his company Kingfisher Airlines (KAL). An investigation conducted by the ED into the finances of KAL revealed that unsecured debt was provided to the loss-making KAL through various dummy companies through a circuitous route which added to the non-viability of the company.

An amount of Rs 3,516 crore was reportedly channelised to KAL by United Breweries Holdings (UBHL) after which the restructured principal loan amount reached Rs 5,575.72 crore. Unsecured loans worth over crores were also arranged by UBHL from entities like Wave Group, SICCL (a Sahara Group Company). According to officials, a criminal conspiracy was devised to obtain and restructure loan for KAL and Mallya and the UBHL had no intention to repay the loans.

It was found on tracking the money trail of loans during the investigation that a major portion of loans given to KAL was remitted outside the country and has been falsely shown as expenses on account of operational expenses or lease rentals. The loans given by the SBI, Axis Bank and Punjab National Bank worth Rs 3,200 crore to KAL were remitted outside the country in the name of aircraft rental leasing and maintenance, spare parts etc. But the investigation reveals that there were huge variations in the payments, especially towards lease rentals even for the same kind of aircraft for the same period of time.

Also due to the failure on the part of KAL to produce supporting documents for lease rentals despite repeated reminders of the ED, the agency has concluded that the bank loans obtained were embezzled abroad in the guise of lease rentals in a calculated and pre-planned manner.

Earlier ED had also alleged that Mallya had over-invoiced aircraft lease. The Airlines had taken a loan of ₹900 crore from IDBI bank for paying lease rentals, and the money was remitted to foreign countries. It is alleged that Mallya had deliberately selected companies that charged higher amounts compared to other companies.

Kingfisher Airlines had taken two aircraft from two Mauritius based companies, and directors of the companies were former Kingfisher employees. The lease paid to these companies were significantly higher than what is charged by other companies for the same aircraft, which shows that the lease rental payment route was being used to remit fund abroad illegally by Mallya.

The chargesheet filed by ED had said that KAL was the entity fully controlled by Vijay Mallya, which was used as a vehicle for money laundering.

Inspired by Indian Railways, Japan set to engrave ‘Madhubani’ art on its trains

OpIndia Staff
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Inspired by Indian Railways, Japan set to engrave ‘Madhubani’ art on its trains

In a moment of pride for India, Japan is set to introduce magnificent ‘Mithila’ art designs on its trains after it became inspired by Indian Railways decision to engrave the art form on its rolling stocks.

According to the reports, Japan authorities have requested the Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry to send a team of Mithila artists so that Japan can emulate the art form on its trains. A railway ministry official has said that a team of Madhubani artists may be sent to Japan.

Recently, in an attempt to promote local art and culture, express trains such as Rajdhani Express and Sampark Kranti Express originating from Bihar were decorated with Madhubani paintings by the Indian Railways. Around 22 coaches of the Patna Rajdhani express were the first to showcase the traditional paintings inside and outside the coaches.

Additionally, Railway divisions are encouraged to depict their zonal art forms in trains and railway stations. Previously, the Madhubani Railway station had grabbed national attention when the station was beautifully decorated with Madhubani paintings by local artists.

India and Japan, one of the successful democracies in the world, shares an immense cultural, spiritual and religious relationship between each other translating into other political, economic and security areas of co-operation. The cultural similarities between the two countries and the influence that India has on Japan have been manifested throughout history as several Indian languages have influenced Japanese culture.

Goddess Saraswati, who is associated with knowledge, music, speech and wisdom has a close resemblance to goddess Benzaiten, while Hindu god Ganesha is also an inspiration for Japanese god Kangi-ten, of the Shingon and Tendai schools of Japanese Buddhism. Many books are written on the worship of Hindu gods in Japan and even today, it is claimed that Japan encourages a deeper study of Hindu gods. In fact, a town named Kichioji near Tokyo was named after Goddess Lakhsmi. Kichioji means Lakshmi temple in Japanese.

According to another report, Canada is also considering introducing the art on its trains. The Canada government has requested the Railway ministry send the artists for painting on its trains.

Ladakh finally gets its demand fulfilled, gets separate division status

OpIndia Staff
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Ladakh finally gets its demand fulfilled, gets separate division status

The Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir is set to become the third division within the state and will be granted it its own administrative and revenue rights, which hitherto were under the Kashmir division. The government order states that the decision has been taken keeping in mind the regional challenges of the region, especially during the span of severe winter, which landlocks the region from the rest of the state.


The order government order of the state, which is currently under the President’s rule, states that the new administrative and revenue division of Ladakh will comprise of the districts of Leh and Kargil.

A divisional commissioner and an Inspector General of police are soon to be appointed for the division. The administrative/Revenue headquarters of Leh and Kargil will be situated at Leh.

The statement shared by the government spokesperson today states that Ladakh faces extreme geographical challenges and the demand for a separate division has been a persistent demand of the people. It adds that the decision goes a long way in fulfilling the governance and development aspirations of the people of the region.

The people of Ladakh have been demanding separate division for a long time, citing its varied religious and cultural difference from the rest of the state. It also has accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of neglecting its interest and not taking note of the region’s peculiar geo-climatic and topographical challenges.

Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil were set up in 1995 and 2003, respectively, after in 1993 government decided to grant each of the districts of Ladakh the status of Autonomous Hill Council.

“In order to strengthen the respective Hill Development Councils Leh and Kargil, the LAHDC Act, 1997 has been amended further in 2018 to give them more powers.” The order remarks.

In December, LAHDC Leh and LAHDC Kargil had both passed a resolution demanding a separate division. Member of both councils had also met Governor Satya Pal Malik, demanding same. The order by the government of J&K can be seen as compliance with the passing of resolutions, as the order acknowledges the “persistent demands” of both the councils.

The Committee under Principal Secretary (Planning) will soon be finalizing posts, staffing, roles, responsibilities and location of offices.

“The Hindu report is an effort to malign the Rafale Deal”, says Air Marshal SBP Sinha, head of Indian Negotiation Team

OpIndia Staff
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“The Hindu report is an effort to malign the Rafale Deal”, says Air Marshal SBP Sinha, head of Indian Negotiation Team

Air Marshal SBP Sinha, who had headed the Indian Negotiation Team (INT) for the Rafale deal has expressed his surprise over The Hindu’s story on Rafale and termed it as an effort to malign this procurement by concealing facts.


Air Marshal SBP Sinha also said that SK Sharma, Deputy Secretary (Air-II), who wrote the dissent note, was not part of the Indian negotiation team. ‘On whose behest he initiated this note?’, the head of IMT asked.

The Indian Negotiating Team (INT) was headed by Deputy Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force, and it included Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager (Air), Joint Secretary (Defence Offset Management Wing), Joint Secretary and Additional Financial Advisor, Finance Manager (Air), Advisor (Cost) and Assistance Chief of Air Staff (Plans) as members. Therefore, it is surprising why the Deputy Secretary (Air-II) would get involved in the process when the officer was not part of the team negotiating the deal.

“This is an internal noting. It was written by Deputy Secretary SK Sharma from Air II who was not a part of the Indian Negotiation Team. The note has nothing to do with the Indian Negotiation Team. The Joint Secretary and Aquisition Manager Air forwarded it despite being part of the Indian Negotiation Team and did not notify the team. This note was killed in MoD,” said Retd. Air Marshal SBP Sinha.

Referring to the Hindu’s Rafale story, he said that the article was an attempt to malign the negotiation that happened for the procurement of the 36 Rafale jets by concealing facts. He said that the note was an internal matter and had nothing to do with the Indian negotiation team that he headed.

“It was about sovereign guarantees and general terms and conditions. The context is there in the newspaper. Whatever has been brought out (in the newspaper), it has nothing to do with pricing. Negotiations are not just for pricing but other things also. It was about sovereign guarantees and general terms and conditions,” Kumar told the media when asked if he remembered the context of the note.

In a hurry to target the Narendra Modi government, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had used the half-truth reported by the Hindu and had claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was running ‘parallel negotiations’ based on an internal report of the Ministry of Defense. He then went on to claim that it was ‘evidence’ of the fact that Modi stole Rs. 30,000 crores and gave it to Anil Ambani.

However, that report had failed to mention anywhere that the supposed negotiations carried out by the PMO had nothing to do with money or offset deal with Reliance. Following this, G Mohan Kumar, Defence Secretary at the time of the Rafale negotiations, has come out and said that the ‘dissent note’ had “nothing to do with the price”. Kumar further clarified that whatever is mentioned in The Hindu report has nothing to do with pricing at all.

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