Archives for June 2022

JAIPUR: In the latest twist in the Rajya Sabha saga in Rajasthan, the ruling Congress has now complained to the Election Commission of horse trading efforts allegedly being made to ensure  win for media baron and BJP-backed Independent candidate Subhash Chandra.

Meanwhile, Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), a former ally of the BJP, announced that its three MLAs will support Subhash Chandra — a decision that has led the AAP to allege that a Rs 40 crore deal was struck to swing these three votes.

In the tussle to win the fourth Rajya Sabha seat in the state, allegations and counter-allegations about horse-trading have intensified. Government Chief Whip and Water Resources Minister Dr Mahesh Joshi on Tuesday complained to the Chief Electoral Officer on the possibility of horse-trading of MLAs.

Joshi said the BJP is promoting horse-trading on the pretext of supporting Subhash Chandra. He remarked: “The BJP is playing a dirty game in Rajasthan from behind the scenes. Money and other inducements are being given to MLAs in Rajya Sabha elections. Due to this, there is a possibility of democracy getting weakened.” Joshi asserted that “The Gehlot government has failed horse-trading conspiracies in the past and will fail them now.”

Politics has also intensified after RLP announced that its three MLAs will vote for Subhash Chandra. This has drawn a sharp reaction from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its state in-charge Vinay Mishra. He termed Hanuman Beniwal as “the seat seller.”  Mishra made these charges against Beniwal on Twitter though the AAP has no MLA in Rajasthan and has nothing to lose or gain in these elections. After the Punjab victory, the party is trying to expand its presence in Rajasthan.

Mishra has accused Beniwal of supporting Chandra by taking Rs 40 crore. He tweeted, “If you give me blood, I will give you freedom – Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. You vote for me, I will sell your vote for 40 crores – Netaji Beniwal (Rajya Sabha seat seller)”

This row also led to Congress MLA Divya Maderna hitting out at Beniwal’s party. Terming it an “anti-farmer decision”, Maderna taunted Beniwal’s party by tweeting – “RLP is BJP’s B team.  This is an anti-farmer decision.  One of the three Congress candidates, Randeep Surjewala, is from the farmers’ class.  If they were farmer friendly, they would have decided to vote in their favour.”

Maderna said Beniwal had broken his alliance with the BJP on the pretext of farmer agitation. The BJP has backed the candidature of Subhash Chandra whose channel had termed the agitating farmers “terrorists and Khalistanis”, she further said, adding that extending support to Chandra by his party is “sheer hypocrisy”.

Sensing displeasure of some Congress and Independent MLAs, the BJP had extended its support to Chandra which has made the contest for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat a close one.

NEW DELHI: Daily coronavirus infections in India were recorded above 5,000 after 93 days taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,31,90,282, while the active cases rose to 28,857, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

A total of 5,233 infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll climbed to 5,24,715 with seven fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was 98.72 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 1,881 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.67 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.12 per cent, according to the ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,26,36,710, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 194.43 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has risen the benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point to 4.90 per cent on Wednesday. The top bank has decided unanimously to keep the policy stance of ‘withdrawal of accommodation.’

“The MPC unanimously decided to raise the rates on the back of inflationary pressures and higher supply shocks,” said RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Inflation is likely to remain above 6 per cent in the first three-quarters of the current fiscal. “Our steps will be calibrated, focussed on bringing down inflation to the target level,” he said.

RBI revises inflation projection for FY23 to 6.7 per cent from 5.7 per cent earlier

Period	From	To
April-June	6.3%	7.5%
July-September	5.8%	7.4%
October-December	5.4%	6.2%
January-March 2023	5.1%	5.8%

RBI retains GDP growth forecast for FY23 at 7.2 per cent

Period	Forecast
April-June	16.2%
July-September	6.2%
October-December	4.1%
January-March 2023	4.0%

Last month, in its off-cycle monetary policy review the central bank hiked the policy repo rate by 40 basis points or 0.40 per cent to 4.4 per cent. This was the first increase in the policy repo rate in nearly two years. The repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to banks.

Inflation has been above the RBI’s 2-6 per cent target band since the beginning of this year. As per the latest available data, India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation surged to an eight-year high of 7.79 per cent in April. It has been above 6 per cent since January 2022.

In April, the RBI revised upward the inflation forecast for the current financial year to 5.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 4.5 per cent announced in February.

NEW DELHI: India added 3,714 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,31,85,049, while the active cases increased to 26,976, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The death toll climbed to 5,24,708 with seven fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.06 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.72 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 1,194 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23 last year.

BENGALURU: With the efforts of former PM HD Deve Gowda to convince the Congress party high command, especially party national president Sonia Gandhi, to support the JDS candidate going in vain, it is now left to party senior leader HD Kumarswamy to get its candidate elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Party nominee Kupendra Reddy, too, is going all out as none of the parties have the required number of votes to win the fourth seat. Reddy met some of the disgruntled MLAs, including SR Srinivas of Gubbi, expecting their backing in the June 10 elections. The party leadership has also spoken to former minister and Chamundeshwari MLA GT Deve Gowda and Arsikere MLA Shivalinge Gowda, but it is to be seen whether they will back Reddy, as they have already decided to quit JDS, sources told TNIE.

At the same time, JDS is wary of cross-voting, while some party MLAs are also said to be thinking of abstaining from voting. Interestingly, Tumakuru Rural MLA DC Gowrishankar left on a long trip abroad on Monday. But he claimed that he will return on June 9, on the eve of the polls.  

If MLAs decide not to vote, it will help BJP’s third candidate Lehar Singh Siroya. “Siroya has the backing of MLAs across parties and his victory is certain as he will get at least 3-4 votes from the rival parties,” a leader predicted.

Congress, which has fielded Mansur Ali Khan as its second candidate, will appeal to the conscience of MLAs and seek votes. If there is no understanding between Congress and JDS, BJP is most likely to win the three seats and Congress one comfortably. JDS is unlikely to get support of rival party MLAs, but party workers hope Kumaraswamy has his own strategy and pulls off a miracle. Kumaraswamy on Sunday said his priority will be the 2023 Assembly polls with the target of winning 123 seats.

WILL TALK TO SIDDU FOR SUPPORT: REVANNA
Hassan: Exuding confidence of getting Congress’ support in the Rajya Sabha polls, JDS leader HD Revanna said on Monday that he will talk to the  Opposition leader Siddaramaiah soon. During a press conference, he said Siddaramaiah is one of his good friends and he thought there was nothing wrong in seeking support of another secular party. The need of the hour is to unite secular forces, setting political differences aside to keep BJP away from power, he said.  Revanna also urged KPCC president DK Shivakumar and BK Hariprasad to support JDS candidate for RS polls Kupendra Reddy.  Lashing out at BJP leaders, Revanna said the BJP leaders have no moral right to seek votes in Hassan district as the BJP government has neglected the district.

NEW EDLHI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said his target is to construct 60 kilometres of highway per day.

India’s national highway construction slowed to 28.64 km a day in 2021-22 due to Covid-19 pandemic related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country.

“My ministry and my team are working hard, and even during Covid-19 pandemic time, our (highway) construction rate was 38 km per day and my ambition is to take it up to 60 km per day, it is a target,” Gadkari said at an event.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways across the country. The minister also said that logistics cost is a problem in India.

NEW DELHI:  India is likely to face power shortages in the short and medium terms on rising demand in the peak season and supply-demand mismatch, according to a study by Bank of America Securities. 

The report also pointed out that the slower thermal capacity addition in the past few years is one of the reasons for the power shortage. It said the power demand grew steadily at 4% annually between FY10 and FY19 as against thermal capacity addition, which rose only 9% during this period. The capacity addition declined to just about 2% between FY19 and FY22 when demand jumped 5 %.

“This demand-supply mismatch has been due to multiple stressed projects, focused on renewable energy. Besides, harsh seasons and higher economic activity have increased the peak power deficit to 1.3% as against 0.4% in FY20-21,” said the report.  

The report further mentioned that the new capacity expansion will take at least two-three years and renewables generation will be limited to 10-11% on lower plant load factors, which means the power shortages are likely to continue, going forward.

To tackle the ongoing power crisis due to the coal shortage, the government is trying to import coal. According to another study by Nomura, India imported nearly $32 billion (1% of GDP) worth of coal in FY22, nearly double the import bill from FY21.

With both prices and volumes of coal imports set to rise this year, the report expects an additional burden of 0.3% of GDP from higher coal imports. “Imported coal costs are likely to exert pressure on state government-run discoms and they may pass on the costs to consumers, the report stated. 

The actress had filed the complaint against her husband, father in law and a bank manager for allegedly forging her signature and using her bank account without her knowledge.

Senior advocate M S Shyam Sundar, who appeared for Pothraj and his father submitted that Chythra is the estranged wife of the businessman and had filed a false complaint.

The court was told that the false complaint was filed after Balaji Pothraj instituted a divorce case against his wife.

A single judge bench of the HC issued the interim order staying the proceedings.

Chythra had alleged in her complaint that her husband and father-in-law were managing an account in South India Bank in her name but without her knowledge.

Loans and other financial transactions were allegedly transacted in her name.

MANDYA: Security has been heightened in Srirangapatna, the erstwhile capital of 18th-century ruler Tipu Sultan in the district, following Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) call to perform puja at the Jamia mosque, claiming that it was built after razing a Hanuman temple.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in the temple town under section 144 of the CrPC to prevent any protest or procession from taking place.

Besides the district police force, contingents of Karnataka State Reserved Police have also been deployed.

The roads have been barricaded and security pickets have been erected in the town.

Wearing saffron scarves and holding saffron flags, the Bajrang Dal and VHP activists on motorcycles raised ‘Jai Sriram’ slogans.

Fearing backlash, many shopkeepers around the shrine downed shutters for the day.

Members of fringe Hindu outfits have called for a protest march to the mosque.

However, authorities have denied permission for it.

State Home Minister Araga Jnanendra has given directions to the police to take all the measures to ensure peace and public order in view of VHP’s ‘Srirangapatna Chalo’ campaign.

Meanwhile, the Sriram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik condemned the restrictions saying they should be imposed on ‘them’.

“There is a Ganapati temple, a temple tank and a well inside the mosque. Despite all these, mosques running Madrassas and offering Namaz there is wrong. It is ‘they’ who should be stopped. They should be thrown out. I condemn the BJP government which is trying to stop our protest,” Muthalik told reporters.

The right-wing organisations have been claiming that the Jamia mosque was an Anjaneya Temple, which Tipu Sultan had destroyed to build a mosque over it.

The outfits have submitted a memorandum to the district authorities seeking a survey of the mosque and taking steps to return the ‘Anjaneya Temple’ to Hindus if their claim is found to be true.

Goyal said that the police are, however, introducing some measures to prevent overcrowding and to provide emergency medical aid if there is need for it.

“Overcrowding might e there to some extent, but there was no situation where people were short of space or sweating or having issues with (other) people,” he said.

He said KK arrived at Nazrul Manch, the venue of his last soiree, at 6.22 pm and went on stage at 7.05 pm.

“At no point of time was he mobbed, we had sufficient police presence at the place,” he said.

Goyal said that a police arrangement under an assistant commissioner was in place well before the singer’s arrival.

He said that though controversy has arisen on how many people were there at the venue, the police have “clear video where you can see people are standing comfortably and dancing.”

Goyal categorically said that there was no stampede-like situation at any point of time and that when viewed from different angles of video shoots of the programme, there was ample space for the crowd to comfortably watch the performance.

He said that at no point of time the organisers, artistes, musicians on stage or the crowd told the police that there was anything amiss.

He said that the exact number of people present could not be ascertained as at various points of time the numbers would have been different.

He said that there are around 2,500 seats at Nazrul Manch and most of the crowd were standing in front of their own seats.

“We request that henceforth a medical ambulance be kept with a doctor and hospital should be identified where people can be taken to in case of emergency,” he said.

Goyal said that it should be ensured that tickets should not be distributed more than the seating capacity of a venue.

“We are putting a mechanism in place to ensure this process,” he said, adding that organisers would be requested to put up screens outside the base where excess crowd can view the programme.

Goyal said that an incident of use of a fire extinguisher happened outside the hall and about 150 metres.

It has been alleged that a fire extinguisher was used to disperse surging crowds trying to force their entry into the hall to attend KK’s performance.

“There was a small argument between some people who were trying to get to the stage and that is when I think someone used this fire extinguisher,” he said.

Goyal said that the police intervened and nothing serious took place.

“They separated the people and the situation was brought under control almost immediately,” he said.

The police commissioner said that the air-conditioning of the hall was functioning as per information from the authorities running the hall, negating allegations from certain sections that it was not working properly.