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Farmers lathicharged as severe mismanagement of urea supply rocks Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

OpIndia Staff
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Farmers lathicharged as severe mismanagement of urea supply rocks Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

Within days of the Congress governments taking charge, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are now facing severe outrage from the farmers in the state after the respective governments created a crisis by mismanaging the supply of urea.

According to reports, Rajasthan farmers are unable to procure urea which has led them to stand in long queues outside distribution centres. The farmers have started to protest against Congress-ruled state government which has resulted in clashes with the police in various districts of the state.

The newly elected state governments’ inability to distribute urea has a created a situation of shortage of urea during the crucial rabi season in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which is further delaying their agricultural activities.

Ashok Gehlot, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan has been facing severe flak over the state for the crisis, but the Chief Minister had put the blame on the Centre claiming that the Urea crisis has been artificially created by the Centre after BJP’s electoral losses in these states. However, rejecting the claims of urea shortage, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has provided details of monthly supply and stocks available at the state level and asserted that enough stock has been provided and the local distribution of urea is the responsibility of state governments.

Rahul Gandhi who claims to be the messiah of the poor has been totally silent on the issue of severe mismanagement in the state. Interestingly, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has appointed Ashok Gehlot as the chief minister of the state whose family members themselves have involved in alleged anti-farmer scams. Agrasen Gehlot, the brother of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, is himself accused in a fertilizer scam, where he had allegedly diverted a crucial ingredient used for making fertilizers.

Meanwhile, as the urea crisis looms large, large queues of farmers to get the fertilizer are being reported from the states. In Madhya Pradesh, videos of farmers being lathicharged for have also surfaced.


Rahul Gandhi led Congress which came to power in various states promising several sops of loan waivers, high MSP to the farmers seems to have started on a very bad note. The Congress-JDS government in Karnataka has completely failed in waiving off farm loans which have resulted in two deaths of the farmers, while many farmers have also received repayment notices from the banks.

Meanwhile, two farmers have also lost their lives in the state of Madhya Pradesh after failing to repay the farm loans, as the Congress party brought in new conditions for waiving off loans contrary to Rahul Gandhi’s claim of unconditional loan waivers.

In a year when markets have sunk across the world, Modi’s India shines, tops China in corporate deals

Abhishek Banerjee
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In a year when markets have sunk across the world, Modi’s India shines, tops China in corporate deals

The Wall Street Journal has found that India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with $92 billion in corporate deals has moved ahead of China as a favoured target.

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This is even more impressive when you think in terms of the fraction of GDP. Remember that China’s GDP is almost five times that of India’s. Despite such a huge gap, if India is able to beat the Chinese in terms of absolute numbers, it tells a story of the strength of the Indian economy under Modi.

The Wall Street Journal goes on to mention that:

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Don’t miss the part about the “better bankruptcy system”, a reference to Modi’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), that has made defaulters address Rs 3 lakh crore of stressed assets out of fear of losing control over their companies.

Also, do not miss the part about how India was once seen as “bureaucratically sclerotic”. Wonder who pioneered the system that made India seem that way? Hint: some of our “visionary” Prime Ministers who awarded themselves Bharat Ratnas might be to blame.

The numbers in the Wall Street Journal also tell a story that is quite opposite to the narrative that some people with an agenda have been feeding the public for a while now. This applies in particular to JNU type economists, some “public intellectuals” who were expecting favours from the Modi government but didn’t get any and of course one very handsome ex-RBI governor.

The distinction of India being the “fastest growing (major) economy in the world” is Modi’s crown jewel which India has held for four straight years under Modi.

In comparison, India achieved the “fastest growing economy” status just twice in the 10 years of Dr Manmohan Singh. The first was in 2007-08, right before the crash. The second time was in 2009-10, just after the crash, when Dr Singh gave a massive stimulus package that boosted the economy for exactly one year before sending it spiralling downwards. Let’s just hope this is not the kind of “economics” they teach at Cambridge.

In contrast, Modi’s India has been unshakable at the top of the global GDP growth table. This achievement is even more remarkable when you consider the fact that this was achieved despite implementing a complete overhaul of the tax system with GST.

A lot of noise has been made over “faulty GST implementation”. Of course, there are going to be glitches when a $2.8 trillion economy of 125 crore people switch to a new tax system. But “faulty” compared to what? Which country has ever done a better job of GST implementation?

A quick comparison with GST implementation around the world shows just how spectacularly well GST was pulled off. Here is the chart that shows the effect of GST implementation in Australia.

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See that giant drop of 2% in GDP growth rate as Australia adjusted to GST? Now think of a developed country like Australia implementing GST with a population of just 2 crore people and a fully formalized economy. Imagine the challenges before India with its 125 crore people and massive informal sector.

And here is how Canada fared when they implemented GST:

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Watch! Canada went hurtling into an actual recession… with the economy shrinking by 2.1%.

And yet, India remained the world’s fastest growing economy as it implemented GST. Modi’s India did a better job of implementing GST with 125 crore people than developed Western countries like Australia or Canada could do with their 2-3 crore people!

The world over it is understood that GST is a near-term growth depressant that is an investment in the country’s future. Modi made this investment and he kept India secure from the worst that could have happened.

At the time when GST was implemented, anyone with sense would have given Modi a break as the whole of India adjusted to a radically new tax system, slowing down growth. But not those with an agenda. They wanted to make the most of the interim, blaming Modi for the near term slowing of growth.

But the world didn’t fail to notice that India remained the fastest growing economy. That it implemented GST and reined in defaulters with a new Bankruptcy Code. We have all heard how India jumped to No. 77 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings, up from Rank 142 of the Manmohan Singh years.

Now take a look at this

Look at the depressing picture of global markets for the year 2018:

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Sigh!

Wishing there were some bright spots somewhere in the world? Modi’s India is one and really the only one!

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The Indian market has gained 4.1% since the beginning of the year, making it #1 in the Asia Pacific Region. In fact, the last column shows that India is one of just 2 countries to give a positive return for the year 2018, the other being New Zealand, whose economy is tiny compared to ours.

Just look at Europe! Everything down in the deep red for the year 2018:

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The “best” performer seems to be a small Hungarian market that is up by a mild 0.5%. Everything else in Europe seems to be down by almost double digits!

This is the story that they will not tell you. In a year when markets have sunk across the world, Modi’s India shines.

Why? Because we are the fastest growing economy in the world. Let’s not forget that. Don’t let “mahaul” win over “data”.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asks the Supreme Court to fast-track hearing in the Ayodhya title suit

OpIndia Staff
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Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asks the Supreme Court to fast-track hearing in the Ayodhya title suit

Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that the Supreme Court should fast-track the hearing in the Ayodhya title suit. Speaking at the Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad in Lucknow on December 24, he said that if the apex court can hear the Sabarimala petitions on an urgent matter, same can be done with the Ayodhya case also which is pending for a very long time.

Clarifying that he was making this comment in his personal capacity and not as a minister in the central government, he said, “I appeal to the Supreme Court in my personal capacity to hear the Ram Janmabhoomi issue like fast-track court for a prompt disposal of the case.”

“When the Supreme Court can give its verdict on the Sabarimala Temple case promptly, why is the Ram Janmabhoomi issue pending for the past 70 years,” the minister asked. He also said why we must Babar. He said that the Constitution mentions Ram, Krishna, even Akbar, but Babar is not mentioned. He added that a different kind of controversy is created when people talk about such topics.

The Union Law Minister also made a significant announcement that an all India judicial services system may be formed for the appointment of judges in future. Recently, the Niti Ayog also had suggested an All-India judicial services examination on a ranking basis to maintain high standards in the judiciary, as a part of judicial and legal reforms. A report prepared by the Ayog said that UPSC may be entrusted with the responsibility to select judges for lower judiciary, Indian Legal Service, public prosecutors, legal advisors and legal draftsmen.

The union government is trying to form a consensus to bring an all-India service to recruit judges for the lower judiciary, but it has met with opposition from judges at several high courts. The proposal to set up an All-India Judicial Service (AIJS) was first mooted in 1961, but it has not materialised so far.

The impact on India’s economy of demonetised currency returning to banks

Shashank Goyal
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The impact on India’s economy of demonetised currency returning to banks

In November 2016, Prime Minister Modi announced the withdrawal of two high-value currency denominations from circulation with immediate effect. Some social media economists and mainstream journalists had speculated that a large chunk of unaccounted cash may not return to the banks, thus resulting in a windfall for the government.

When most demonetised currency returned to the banks, questions were raised on the success of demonetisation itself. However, evaluating demonetisation’s success on this basis alone would be jumping the gun.

In December 2016, Tim Worstall in his article in Forbes had argued that  –

The only practicable method of retaining the value of those old notes was to deposit them into the banking system.

However, we should also note that those same amounts of cash which have been deposited are now inside the reporting system for tax. And undoubtedly there will be some decent portion of those deposits which were formerly black money and which now will be righteously taxed.

In other words, a chunk of currency not returning to banks would have ensured a large but one-time dividend to the government. On the other hand, most money returning to banks would ensure sustained benefits in tax revenue spread over the long term.

Two years later now in December 2018, data on tax revenue has confirmed this hypothesis, as detailed below.

Expansion of Taxpayers base

  • Per published data, the number of Income Tax returns have zoomed by 57% since demonetisation
    • IT returns filed in FY14 were 3.79 crore
    • IT returns filed in FY16 was 4.36 crore, implying that growth over 2 years period before demonetisation was 15%
    • IT returns filed in FY18 was 6.84 crores, implying that growth over 2 years period after demonetisation was significantly higher at 57%
  • Number of High Net Worth individuals, declaring income above Rs 1 crore, has surged by 68% since demonetisation
    • Filers with 1 crore+ declared income in AY15 were 48,416
    • Filers with 1 crore+ declared income in AY18 were 81,344 (up by 68%)
    • Filers with 1 crore+ income, added in 69 years before demonetisation were 48,416
    • New filers with 1 crore+ income, added in just 2 years after demonetisation were 32,928

A surge in Direct Tax collections

  • The direct tax growth rate has soared to a 7 year high of 17%
    • FY15 – 8.9%
    • FY16 – 6.9%
    • FY17 – 14.6% (noticeable jump in growth rate after demonetisation)
    • FY18 – 17.1%
  • Direct tax buoyancy has more than tripled after demonetisation and touched 1.9
    • FY16 – 0.6
    • FY17 – 1.3
    • FY18 – 1.9
    • from FY08 to FY16, direct tax buoyancy had hovered between 0.5 and 1.1
Source: Financial Express
  • Higher tax buoyancy after FY16 indicates increasing tax compliance
    • At Tax buoyancy of 0.5, an 8% increase in GDP results in (0.5 * 8) only 4% increase in tax revenue for government
    • At Tax buoyancy of 2.0, an 8% increase in GDP results in (2.0 * 8) 16% increase in tax revenue for government
    • Hence, with the same economic growth, the government can now expect a much higher tax collection year after year to spend on healthcare, education and infrastructure development

Exponential growth in Digital Payments:

Lack of cash during demonetisation provided the necessary impetus to bring behaviour change in consumers adopting digital payments. As per the data published by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):

  • UPI (India’s homegrown payment system) based digital payments in India have grown exponentially since 2016
    • the number of transactions:
      Aug 2016 – 93,000
      Nov 2018 – 52.5 crore (up by 5,645 times)
    • value of transactions:
      Aug 2016 – 3.1 crore
      Nov 2018 – 82,000 crore (up by 26,451 times)
Source: India Brand Equity Foundation
  • Morgan Stanley has reported that digital payments are up almost three times, from 2.5% of GDP to 7% of GDP
  • The proportion of cash transactions in total consumer spending has reduced by 10% (from 78% in 2015 to 68% in 2017) as reported by the head of payments practice for the Asia Pacific at Boston Consulting Group
  • The exponential rise of digital payments in India received global attention and was covered extensively in Forbes, International Business Times, livemint, Entrepreneur, Financial Express, Bloomberg and other business publications

Deposited amounts are traceable to source and are under scrutiny

  • During demonetisation, deposits were made in about 1 crore bank accounts
  • Just 1.5% of these accounts (about 1.5 lakh accounts) hold more than two-thirds (Rs. 10 lakh crore) value of deposits with an average deposit of Rs. 3.31 crore in each account
Data Source: Time of India
  • So far, 18 lakh accounts where deposits do not match known sources of income have been discovered. Tax notices have been sent to them and recoveries are expected from many
  • The outcome and status of government scrutiny are accessible on the government portal for Operation Clean Money. Few prominent Success Stories of such tax recoveries and detailed reports are accessible on the portal
  • Many companies who deposited large cash amounts were later found to exist only on paper. Many such companies have not come forward to claim those deposits due to fear of legal action. Per MoneyControl, such unclaimed deposits amount to Rs. 37,500 crore as of now

It must be understood that since demonetisation in November 2016, only one tax cycle has been completed so far.

  • Demonetisation – November 2016
  • End of Fin Year – March 2017
  • Next End of Fin year – March 2018
  • Tax filing deadline – August 2018

Individuals who deposited large amounts during demonetisation would be cross-checked for their tax filing in AY18 and subsequent future years. Hence, the benefits of demonetisation need to be evaluated over a long-term into future.

The pre-mature clamour based on single dimensional criteria of “all the money came back to banks” is meaningless by itself.

Andhra Pradesh: Pregnant cow brutally raped and assaulted, locals demand arrest of culprits

OpIndia Staff
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Andhra Pradesh: Pregnant cow brutally raped and assaulted, locals demand arrest of culprits

In a barbaric incident, a three-month pregnant cow in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district was brutally assaulted and raped by unidentified men.

The police received a complaint from a dairy farmer named, Nama Buchicharaju, who alleged that his cow had been missing since Sunday in the district’s Pithapuram Mandalam area. After a search operation conducted, the animal was found tied to a nearby tree with bleeding genitals, a police officer said.

A local veterinarian confirmed that the cow was sexually assaulted. The Pithapuram rural PS police registered a case under section 2(1) (a) of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and a probe has been initiated to ascertain more details.

As soon as the news spread, locals gathered in the police station staging protest, demanding the arrest of the accused.

Many incidents of bestiality and barbarism towards animals have been reported in recent months.

In a shocking incident earlier this month, two men named Nafees and Tauseef were arrested for raping a stray dog in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and dragging her to death after tying her behind a scooter.

In Baghpat of Uttar Pradesh, a youth named Arif was also arrested for allegedly raping and killing a four-month-old calf. Prior to that, it was reported from Mewat, Haryana, that eight men had raped and killed a pregnant goat.

Uttarakhand becomes the first state to launch universal health insurance scheme

OpIndia Staff
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Uttarakhand becomes the first state to launch universal health insurance scheme

The Cheif Minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s footsteps, launched India’s first Universal Health scheme in Dehradun today. With this, Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country to initiate such a health scheme covering the entire state population.


The Uttarakhand government launched this first of its kind initiative on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.


Being an extension of PM Modi’s flagship, Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the ‘Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana’, is a state-run scheme benefitting all 22.5 lac families of the state. Under this scheme, all the families can get free medical facilities up to five lakh rupees per family.

All state-run hospitals and listed private hospitals will be covered under the scheme for providing free health care to all the families in the state. Moreover, 1350 various types of illnesses will be covered under the scheme and it will also result in starting of new hospitals in remote locations.

The State is augmenting its fleet 108 ambulances with brand new vehicles. Besides, the state has also launched Telemedicine in 40 Primary Healthcare’s (PHCs) of remote districts of Uttarakhand under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The state is also set to provide teleradiology services.

Uttarakhand government has been steadfast in recruiting new doctors to improve its health services and deal with the shortage of doctors in the hilly and remote districts of Uttarakhand. The government further plans to launch Air Ambulance services from 26th Jan 2019.

To avail the benefits of the Atal Ayushman scheme, the person concerned should have a photo identity card. Health friends will be deployed in the medical clinics listed, to assist patients. Health friend’s mobile number will be available at the medical help desk.

the Uttarakhand Cheif Minister applauded PM Modi’s vision for a New India-2022 and hailed his initiative of providing health insurance to 10 crore families in India through the Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Who served the Middle class: In a match between BJP and Congress, BJP wins the set 30-0

Dhairya Roy
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Who served the Middle class: In a match between BJP and Congress, BJP wins the set 30-0

With the recent loss of BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh much has been said about BJP and how it might not be doing much to benefit the ever-ignored middle-class. Over the decades, the middle-class voter has mostly been treated as a stepchild whose fair share is often denied. While the Congress chose to ignore this segment, the BJP has always focussed greatly on the middle-class.

When it was realised that this extremely crucial segment was firmly voting for the Modi government, Congress fanned a crafty narrative that aimed to disenchant the middle-class voter against BJP. While this narrative was fanned incessantly, Congress proceeded to oppose crucial GST rate cuts that would benefit the middle-class.

The middle-class voters are like weather updates of London. Accurate and predictive. While the vote share loss that accrued to BJP because of this faulty narrative cannot be ignored completely, the middle-class largely stuck to the BJP despite the negative campaign. However, with 2019 looming large, it becomes imperative to impartially understand what is it that the BJP, in the last 4 and a half years, has done for this ever important segment of voters, vs what Congress did for the middle class in its 10-year reign preceding 2014.

Voter’s behaviour can be studied in four ways.

1) Vote share patterns (mathematical analyses).

2) Fundamental analyses (major events).

3) Actual performance catering to the sample (example: middle class).

4) Perception analyses.

This article aims to study point number 3 (actual performance catering to the sample – middle class).

We have designed a methodology in which we will consider 30 different categories divided into 11 different parameters to compare what both Governments, Congress and BJP, have done for the middle class.

Finance, Investment and Taxation

The first parameter that we will be reviewing is finance, investment and taxation where we study IT exemptions, Goods and Service Tax (GST), stock market performance, Forex (Foreign Exchange) reserves and 80C and 80D deductions.

Component of tax is one of most crucial elements in the salary structure for middle-class employees. An appropriate taxing policy helps improve savings and ultimately enhances the lifestyle of people.

Section 80C allows a tax filer to make deductions by declaring his/her investments in the taxable income. Whereas section 80D allows deductions for the premium paid in the form of medical insurance. These different modules of investments contribute back to the budget and help to improve the overall economy of the country. Here we observe that in every parameter the current Government surpasses the achievements of the previous Congress Government.

Insurance

If we compare the Global Insurance industry within 2016, China leads the top 5 emerging nations with market revenue of $466 Billion in 2016, which is nearly 6 times more than that of India. The insurance market is an open space for growth for countries like India when compared with fully developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

The next parameter we cover is insurance where we compare the insurance premiums written and growth in the renewal of insurance premiums.

A robust Insurance system in the country will lead to a great deal of savings in the economy.

Healthcare Facilities

India currently spends cumulatively 4.2 percent of its GDP on healthcare. At only 1% in 2013, the contribution by the public sector on Healthcare was amongst the lowest globally. The Government recognized the need and invested heavily in the healthcare sector. Owing to this the healthcare market now is growing at the CAGR of 16% and is expected to reach US $280 billion by 2020 if the current surge in healthcare spending continues

Modi Government has taken crucial efforts to improve healthcare facilities in the nation. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana has provided benefits like hospitalization coverage, healthcare for non-communicable diseases and childcare facilities to crores of Indian citizens.

In healthcare facilities, we compare infant mortality (number of deaths per thousand births) and maternity benefits. IMR dropped by 13.97% during BJP rule and by 13.68% during Congress rule.

 Railway Electrification

Railway electrification, total broad gauge railway tracks laid and rate of laying new railway tracks are compared in the next parameter. The modernization of railways under Suresh Prabhu and quick implementation of projects under Piyush Goyal has helped in considerable progress of railways. Metro Transit system, Bullet Trains, Hyperloop and other high-speed rail projects are also in the pipeline of implementation.

At this rate Indian Railway market will the third largest accounting to 10% of the global market and Metro Rail will be 70% of the railway market in India.

The BJP Government has identified these prospects and invested heavily in railways. Owing to this the difference between the two governments is gigantic in spite of Congress having big leaders like Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mamta Banerjee as their Railways ministers.

Transport

“To enhance growth, we will need to promise that India will open more to trade and FDI (foreign direct investment)” quotes top economist Jagdish Bhagwati. To improve the trade we need to have modern and sustainable infrastructure facilities in the nation. India has a requirement of Investment worth Rs 50 Trillion (US $ 777.73 Billion) by 2022. There is an immense scope of improvement as only 24 percent of national highways are four-lane roads. Nitin Gadkari has said that the transport sector has the potential to create 15 lakh jobs and his ministry will contribute to 2 percent in India’s GDP if all the projects are completed soon. His Ministry has also given the topmost priority to waterways to reduce transport costs.

It is pretty evident by the table that the growth spurt in highway construction led by Minister Nitin Gadkari beats the Congress regimes construction by a mile and a half. The Ganga Rejuvenation project and road accessibility in Northeast India have also achieved cognizable heights in the Transport sector.

 Inflation and Petroleum Prices

Next, we compare inflation, gross revenue – gross expenditure and petroleum prices. BJP inherited a dwindling economy and it has done well to recover it. The CPI inflation in 2013 and 2014 was 10.21% and 9.49% respectively. Currently, the average for 2018 is 3.58% coming down from a high of 5.97% in 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have helped to build a strong relationship with countries like Saudi Arabia. This step was very important as Oil and the Gas Industry is amongst the six core industries of India. This industry contributes around 15percent to India’s GDP. (Figures include refining, transportation and marketing cost)

This is evident from fact that the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia has considered revision of oil prices to India. Also, the fiscal deficit of the nation has been kept under substantial control improving the economy of the nation

 

Crime and Corruption

In Crime and corruption parameter we can see that the corruption index has gone down so have the violent crimes. Cases registered for crimes against women have also reduced. There hasn’t been a single case of corruption or impropriety in the central government since Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister. No major terror attack has been reported across nation owing to effective communication of all the Intelligence agencies and a strong NSA.

 Performance Parameters

The country has successfully registered a 77th place in the list of Ease of Doing Business by improving its policy procedures. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign visits have also helped to improve the relationship with multiple nations with aid of MOUs signed across multiple sectors. The Government has signed more than 150 MOUs in 2018 alone and is giving top priority to the execution of these MOUs.

Technology Adoption

India Tech Opportunity a report tabled by McKinsey Global Institute says that the Indian Economy has a potential to add $ 1 Trillion in the GDP by 2025.

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) further elaborates that India’s digital Index rose by 56 percent during 2014-2017 from 18 to 29 on the scale of 100. This has placed the country second in terms of growth among 17 emerging and mature digital economies. This has only been possible because the Government is implementing schemes like digital India.

Technology adoption is a key factor for any new age government. We now compare technology adoption by each government. The current BJP led government has made strides in this sector with 66% TV penetration and 83.5 crore viewers across the country.

Education

The education sector in India is estimated to reach US$ 101.1 Billion by 2019. With the largest population in the world from the age bracket of 5-24 years and a huge English speaking population (India was ranked 27 out of 80 countries in English proficiency index in 2017). There is a high demand-supply gap in education in India.

The Government has initiated a series of reforms like 100% FDI in the educational sector(better implementation), National Accreditation Regulatory authority bill, Foreign education bill and many more,

Modi Government has also improved the primary education system by the adoption of digital platforms in schools. Primary education has been made more affordable by this government which remains the major factor for the rise in enrollment. Also, the advent of digital schools promises to make the carrying of heavy bags redundant. The Modi government also made private school education more affordable

Utilities

We have just stated 2 out of 1200 plus items which were taxed 31 percent or more during the Congress government.

Today only 27 items come under the 28% tax slab in the GST.

Conclusion

We designed a methodology where we considered 30 different categories divided into 11 different parameters to compare what both Governments had done for the middle class.

Our Analyses showed that BJP was better than Congress on all parameters; the score was 30-0 in BJP’s favour.

Our methodology is effective as we have only used mathematical data (Technical analyses) and not depended on opinions (Fundamental analysis).

This is the comparison of only those parameters which hold relevance to the middle class. We have not included welfare schemes and prices of commodities as they pertain to a larger set of audience which is not limited to the middle class.

The middle class is a section that believes in what they see. There has been a decrease in taxation (GST via á vis VAT and service tax) for most basic amenities.

The insurance sector has been able to pick up because of the savings on tax. Tax deduction has been increased by 50%.

Competitiveness index ranking improved enabling a better business environment for new entrants.

Corruption is lower, so are the violent crimes. Crimes against women have dropped. People, women, in particular, can feel safe now. Inspire of media nitpicking each and every case against women and dissecting it on national television, the stats show otherwise.

There hasn’t been a single terrorist attack since this government took over. This speaks volumes for the steps taken for national security by this government.

The primary education is now accessible and private schooling has been made more affordable.

In spite of the critique of the current government, it is pretty evident that the middle class has been a big beneficiary of the steps taken by this Government. Despite what Bollywood has to say the country is a safer place.

The stats speak for themselves.

Christian Michel domino effect: After Mallya, Mehul Choksi says he is in touch with banks to settle dues

OpIndia Staff
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Christian Michel domino effect: After Mallya, Mehul Choksi says he is in touch with banks to settle dues

Fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi has appealed to Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, to dismiss Enforcement Directorate’s plea to declare him fugitive, and cited his personal health for absence in during proceedings. Choksi also claimed that he is constantly cooperating with banks to sort out the issues.


In a 34 page application submitted through his lawyers, Choksi informed the court that his health doesn’t allow him to take a 41-hour flight to India. He said that he is willing to volunteer via Video Conferencing. Choksi has also accused that that ED is misleading people by hiding his health condition.

Choksi was represented by advocates Sanjay Abbot and Rahul Agarwal, who said that ED had deliberately obscured facts to incriminate client Choksi. They also alleged that ED had deliberately undervalued the attached assets of Mehul Choksi, in order to confiscate more.

This settlement offer by Choksi comes days after AgustaWestland chopper middleman Christian Michel’s extradition to India from UAE. Following which fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya had also offered to repay the loans to banks he had defaulted. Later, Indian agencies also successfully convinced the London’s Magistrate Court that Vijay Mallya is a fugitive and should be extradited to India, for further proceedings.

The proposal by Choksi also seems to be coming out of the feared process of extradition and action by agencies. This month, on request of CBI the International Police Organisation (Interpol), had issued a Red Corner Notice (RCN) against the diamond merchant.

Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the Indian financial sector was rocked by a startling revelation of fraud this year following a complaint by the Punjab National Bank (PNB). He had since been living in a self-imposed exile in Antigua and Barbuda. Currently, India doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the country.

According to the bank, the fugitives had allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of over Rs 13,000 crore, with the purported involvement of a few employees of the bank.

No Namaz in park, Noida police clarify they are upholding the DM’s orders

OpIndia Staff
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No Namaz in park, Noida police clarify they are upholding the DM’s orders

In a recent development, the Noida police have issued an advisory notice to companies in sector 58, asking their administrations to dissuade their employees from visiting nearby parks for offering namaz. The police asserted that the companies must ensure that their officials use office premises or mosques for Namaz but not public places.


Sector 58 to sector 62 in Noida house multinational and national IT companies. According to a report by Times Now, Muslim employees of these companies located in sector 58 used to assemble together and offer namaz in the nearby park. Earlier, the group had 20-25 regular members but then the number soared to more than 300. As the congregation of such a large group in a public place created concern for the officials, as per the report, a gruop of employees had apprached the District Magistrate for permission but the DM did not grant them the permission to offer namaz in the park. Despite this, on December 14, the Muslim employees had again gathered to offer namaz in the park.


While speaking to OpIndia, Noida police representative said, ” The group of people who were employees of multinational IT companies used to offer namaz in nearby parks in sector 58, they approached the district magistrate to seek the permission to offer their prayers in the park but the magistrate didn’t grant them the approval for the congregation in public.”

He further added that despite district magistrate’s denial, the employees of these companies continued to offer namaz in the park. It is then that the Noida police intervened to uphold district magistrate order and issued an advisory to the companies to ask their employees to refrain from offering namaz in the parks. “The advisory pertains to this case alone and the companies in the sector 58. This shouldn’t be misconstrued as a blanket ban on offering namaz in public places across UP or Noida. We were simply upholding district magistrate orders,” he added.

The order issued by the Noida police to the companies cites the district magistrate’s order that ‘No religious activities’ including namaz can be offered in the authority parks. The police also added that namaz should be offered in Mosques and Idgahs.

Earlier, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar had evoked critical reactions from people when he said that namaz should be offered in their designated places such as mosques and idgahs and not in public.

Mayawati dampens Rahul Gandhi’s Mahagathbandhan plans, to contest all Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh in 2019

OpIndia Staff
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Mayawati dampens Rahul Gandhi’s Mahagathbandhan plans, to contest all Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh in 2019

Bahujan Samaj Party Supremo Mayawati has yet again given a blow to the Congress-led Mahagatbandhan. BSP Vice-President Ramji Gautam has declared party’s stand to contest all Lok Sabha seats of Madhya Pradesh in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

In the recent assembly elections of MP also BSP had fought alone after negotiations with Congress on an alliance failed. BSP managed to win 2 seats in the elections and later extended support to Congress party to form the government as it was short of the majority. Mayawati had said that she is extending support only to keep BJP out of power. In Chhatisgarh assembly elections too, BSP had forged an alliance with expelled Congress leader Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC). By partnering with JCC, Mayawati had given an open indication of unwillingness to form an alliance with Congress in future.

In Uttar Pradesh, BSP and Samajwadi Party (SP) are in talks to cobble up an alliance for Lok Sabha elections. However, reports suggest that SP-BSP is mutually trying to keep Congress at bay. During seat-sharing, it came to fore that Congress has been given only two seats, Rae Bareli (Sonia Gandhi bastion) and Amethi (Rahul Gandhi’s bastion), to fight from the alliance.

According to reports, Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Dal of Haryana, SP and JCC of Ajit Jogi have decided to project Mayawati as PM candidate in 2019. Along with these developments, Mayawati is also in talks with Telangana CM KC Rao, regarding the ‘Third Front’ or the ‘Federal Front’, which will consist neither BJP nor Congress.

The speculations around forming a Federal Front gained momentum after KC Rao’s TRS retained their Telangana throne in recent assembly elections. KC Rao on 24 December held a meeting with Biju Janta Dal (BJD) supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed the probabilities of forming the Front. Later, KC Rao also met with TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee.

Congress and its friendly regional satraps are already expressing scepticism over the formation of the Third Front. Recently, at India Today conclave Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu criticised KC Rao for forming Federal Front and said that it will only help BJP in elections by splitting the votes.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also alleged KC Rao of doing politics of division, by putting efforts to materialise the Third Front and expressed a veiled concern that this front will only help BJP.

Even during the announcement of the extension of support to Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Mayawati had said that previous Congress dispensation has proved detrimental to marginalised sections of the state and she is extending support with a heavy heart.

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