Archives for 2018

Almost one-and-half months after Anupam Kher stepped down as the chief of the Film Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, the government on Thursday appointed B.P. Singh as the new Chairman.

In an official release, the government said: “Government nominates B.P. Singh as the President of the FTII Society and Chairman of its Governing Council, in pursuance of Rule 3 and 22 of the Rules of the FTII.”

It said that the “tenure of B.P. Singh will be for the remaining period of block of three years starting from March 4, 2O17 as per the provisions of Rule 6(1) of the Rules of FTII, Pune, and the explanation given thereunder or until further orders whichever is earlier”.

On October 31, Kher stepped down from the position of Chairman, a year after his appointment, citing his international assignments as the reason.

IANS

New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a two-day national council meeting — the largest body of the party — on January 11-12 here to chalk out its strategy for 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP General Secretary Bhupendra Yadav announced the party’s programme here at a press conference after a meeting of BJP office-bearers and state party chiefs with party President Amit Shah.

The meeting, to be held at the Indira Gandhi National Indoor Stadium here, is likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah, party veteran L.K. Advani, several union ministers and members of the party’s national council.

The meeting will take stock of the current political situation and would finalise its programmes for reaching out to the electorate ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“As part of preparation for 2019, seven wings of the BJP are active to take party’s agenda to different sections of the society,” Yadav said. 

Besidees, a series of other meetings are also scheduled to start with a workshop of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Delhi on December 15-16, followed by the convention of party’s Mahila Morcha in Ahmedabad on December 21-22, which will be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“On January 19-20, a convention of Scheduled Castes Morcha of the party will be held in Nagpur, in which BJP President Amit Shah, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Thawarchand Gehlot would be the main speakers,” Yadav said.

The BJP Minority Cell will also hold a two-day national convention in New delhi on January 31-February 1. 

On February 2-3, a national convention of the Scheduled Tribes arm of the party would be held in Bhubaneswar and that of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) would be organised in Patna on February 15-16.

Besides, Modi will address a rally of party’s Kisan Morcha that will be held in Uttar Pradesh on February 21-22. The city for the rally is, however, yet to be decided.

IANS

 Attacking the Narendra Modi government over its differences with RBI Governor Urjit Patel who resigned on Monday midway through his term, former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said the Modi government thinks it owns the RBI.

He also hoped that the new Governor, Shaktikanta Das, although a vocal supporter of the much-debated demonetisation, would stand up for the central bank’s autonomy.

“This government thinks it owns the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This government thinks the RBI is another department of the government. This government thinks if CBI is listening to them, why is RBI not listening?” Chidambaram said at an event here. 

“This government simply does not understand what a central bank’s independence is,” he added. 

The former Finance Minister slammed the government for its eagerness to get hold of the central bank’s reserves, which apparently became the bone of contention between the government and Urjit Patel and ultimately led to his resignation.

“This government is like ‘I have one hoard of cash, so much cash lying there. I can’t meet my fiscal deficit this year, my GST revenues are less than expected, I have not provided for the food subsidy, I have not provided for Ayushman Bharat programme, and I need money in my election year. What do I do? There is this pot of gold. Now I want to reach that pot of gold’. That’s the only aim of this government,” he said.

Stressing that RBI’s independence is crucial, he said it “worries” him that the government has appointed a perceived “yes man” as the central bank’s boss.

“It worries me that they (government) have appointed two persons to two key posts, both of whom were vocal supporters of demonetisation. It worries me,” he said.

However, he “hopes” that the new RBI Governor would not buckle under pressure from the government and would keep the central bank’s autonomy intact.

“I sincerely hope, and I would appeal to Mr. Shaktikanta Das, that you (Das) are now the RBI Governor. You are no longer ex-Secretary Economic Affairs, you are the Governor of central bank of India. Therefore, you must stand up for the autonomy and rights of India’s central bank,” he added. 

Asked about his differences as then Finance Minister with then RBI Governor D. Subba Rao, Chidmabaram said those were the “usual differences” that Finance Ministers across the world have with their central bank Governors. 

He pointed out that Rao never resigned over these differences unlike the case of Urjit Patel who put in his papers on December 10, around 10 months before his three-year tenure could end. 

He also said that the RBI suffered a blow to its reputation among the world’s central banks due to demonetisation and has not recovered its image to this day.

“Urjit Patel should have walked out on November 19 itself. He delayed his resignation. Perhaps he gave benefit of doubt to the government and thought perhaps the government would retrace its step. But everything that happened after November 19 proved the government was pressing ahead its agenda,” the senior Congress leader said.

Asked if Patel erred in endorsing demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016, Chidambaram said: “Of course, he (Patel) was wrong. He should not have called a Board meeting in Delhi, a hurriedly called truncated Board meeting to pass a resolution endorsing demonetisation. He should have stood his ground. He was wrong.”

“He suffered a huge reputational slide by endorsing demonetisation and the RBI suffered reputational damage in the world. I don’t think RBI has recovered its reputation among the central banks of the world after demonetisation,” he added.

IANS

 After holding consultations on Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met party leaders from Chhattisgarh to decide on the Chief Minister in the state.

The Congress central observer for Chhattisgarh, Mallikarjuna Kharge, and state in-charge P.L. Punia met Gandhi at his residence soon after he finished discussing Madhya Pradesh.

Kharge, who went to Raipur on Wednesday, ascertained views of party MLAs individually and apprised Gandhi. 

State Congress unit President Bhupesh Baghel is considered the front runner for the top post while party leaders T.S. Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu and Charandas Mahant are also among the contenders.

The Congress won 68 of the 90 seats in the Assembly elections, ousting BJP from power after 15 years.

Earlier, Gandhi met Madhya Pradesh Congress President Kamal Nath and party MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who are both contenders for the post of Chief Minister in the state. Likewise he also met Rajasthan party chief Sachin Pilot and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

IANS

 The Congress on Thursday announced that his party will boycott the Silver Jubilee celebration of the Delhi Legislative Assembly on December 15.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Congress Chief Ajay Maken told reporters: “Congress has decided to boycott the Silver Jubilee — the 25th year of the first sitting of the Delhi Legislative Assembly — as unfortunately, as always in the last four years in Delhi, politics has prevailed over institution building and decency.”

Maken said that winning thrice in a row before moving to Parliament, he was one its youngest MLAs in 1993. “I also became its Cabinet Minister and Speaker (youngest in the country then),” Maken said. 

He said that such historic and democratic celebrations are always “apolitical”.

The former Union Minister said that a Celebration Committee, constituting representatives of all political parties, which have been a part of its 25-year history, should have been constituted.

According to Congress sources, Maken did not get invitation for the event.

“Sheila Dikshitji, who was Chief Minister of Delhi for 15 out of 25 years in the same Assembly, should have been called respectfully by the present Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) or by Speaker Ram Niwas Goel at least over phone, if not personally. The same should have been followed for all former Speakers and CMs,” he said. 

He said that the decision to boycott the celebration was taken after discussing with senior leaders, including Dikshit and former Speakers from the Congress.

On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L.K. Advani, who was invited by the Delhi Assembly Speaker as the chief guest to the function, had declined the request due to personal reasons. 

IANS

 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister-designate Kamal Nath will be sworn-in at a ceremony here on December 17, said the 72-year-old veteran Congress leader, himself, outside the Raj Bhavan here as he came out after meeting Governor Anandiben Patel.

The ceremony will be held at the Lal Parade Ground here

The party won 114 seats in the 230-member House. It fell short by two seats off the halfway-mark, but secured support of a total of 121 MLAs, including Samajwadi Party – one, Bahujan Samaj Party – two, and also of four Independents, to cross the majority mark of 116 seats.

IANS