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On Feb 1, will it be an interim budget or vote-on-account?

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Nasheman News : Will there be an interim budget or a vote-on-account on February 1. While the suspense on who will present it has ended with Piyush Goyal again being given additional charge of the Finance Ministry, with general elections round the corner, intense speculation continues about the final shape of the document he will unveil.

This speculation is about the nature of the upcoming budget — on whether it would be a simple vote-on-account to be passed by Parliament to permit government expenditure in the transition period or whether Goyal will go beyond that by presenting full estimates of both revenue and expenditure as well as policy measures.

While an incoming government has the freedom to change the estimates in the interim budget when it presents the final budget after taking office, outgoing governments in India have generally followed the convention of avoiding major policy announcements or taxation proposals in the interim budget.

Going by recent history, however, interim budgets have been passed thrice since 2000, and according to a market research firm, the upcoming one might be the last opportunity for the BJP-led NDA government to “woo a larger section of the society” by altering both taxes and outlays on schemes.

“After the failed budget promise of enhanced procurement of crops through a revised Minimum Support Price (MSP) formula in 2018-19, announcements made on February 1, 2019 will be the last opportunity for the government to woo a larger section of society through an interim budget, as against a vote-on-account, by altering both taxes and outlays on schemes,” said a report last week by JM Financial Institutional Securities.

With the general elections due in April-May, the government is looking at making available cheap loans and free accidental insurance to small businesses, a segment that bore the brunt of the demonetisation of November 2016, an official source here said, requesting anonymity.

The GST Council doubled the exemption threshold for small businesses from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh. Besides, the threshold limit for eligibility under the GST Composition Scheme, which has been raised to Rs 1.5 crore from Rs 1 crore, is due to apply from the 2019-20 fiscal beginning April 1.

Such sops would follow major relief measures taken earlier this month to benefit the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, currently plagued by liquidity and other issues.

According to former Jawaharlal Nehru University economics professor Arun Kumar, though it would be unethical to present an interim budget with major policy proposals, there is also the matter of the Presidential address to the Budget Session whereby the government makes its vision statement.

“If the budget proposes populist schemes, it will become difficult for the new government if it is led by another political party to withdraw these,” he explained.

According to noted economist Ashok Desai, who was Chief Consultant to the Finance Ministry (1991-93), the outgoing government cannot make any tax proposals or policy changes.

“With the elections around the corner, what the government can do is make incremental outlays for existing schemes, but cannot announce new schemes,” Desai said.

“In this situation, it is the states which have more liberty in announcing populist schemes through their state budgets,” he added.

Economist Nagesh Kumar felt there is a likelihood of higher outlays being proposed on schemes for the rural sector and small businesses, which “is not necessarily a bad thing” because it would boost consumption demand, especially at a time of slowdown in private investment.

Modi urges first time voters to register for LS polls

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[Nasheman news] New DelhiPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged first time voters to register and cast their ballots in the coming Lok Sabha polls.

Delivering his first “Mann Ki Baat” address of 2019, Modi said: “This year, the Lok Sabha elections will be held in our country and this will be the first time that youth born after 2000 will vote.

“An opportunity has come for them to take the responsibility of the nation on their shoulders. They are now going to become a partner in the decision-making process of the country. I urge the youth to register themselves as voters.”

Modi also hailed the Election Commission (EC) for holding elections across the length and breadth of the country and said that the people of the country were proud of it. 

“The EC was formed on January 25, 1950 and the day is celebrated annually as National Voters Day. Seeing the scale on which the elections are held in India, it is natural for people across the world to be surprised. “

He said the EC was an institution that every citizen must be proud of. 

“In our country, no stone is left unturned to ensure that every citizen of India, who is a registered voter, gets an opportunity to vote.”

He said when we hear that a polling station is set up 15,000 feet above sea level in Himachal Pradesh, voting arrangements are made in far-flung islands of Andaman and Nicobar, or even in a remote forest area of Gujarat, where there is only one voter, “it is very natural to be proud of the Commission”.

“I commend the EC for contiinuous efforts to strengthen our democracy. I also commend the election in all the states, all security personnel. other employees, who participate in the voting process and ensure free and fair elections,” he added.

Modi to dedicate Rs 16,504 cr single largest investment in Kerala

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[Nasheman news] KochiPrime Minister Narendra Modi, who will arrive here later Sunday, is slated to dedicate the Rs 16,504 crore single largest investment in Kerala when he unveils an integrated Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) refinery expansion complex.

He will lay the foundation stone of the complex which is a complete “Make in India” initiative aimed at reducing dependence on imports.

The Prime Minister is also scheduled to dedicate the Mounded Storage Vessel of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited and will then move on to Ettumannor in Kottayam district to lay the foundation stone of a Skill Development Institute, promoted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Later in the evening, Modi will address a state meeting of the Yuva Morcha in Thrissur after which he will return to Delhi.

This will be Modi’s second visit to Kerala this month. 

2nd ODI: India hammer NZ by 90 runs, go 2-0 up (Lead)

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[Nasheman news] Mount Maunganui (New Zealand) Maintaining their winning streak, a dominant India outclassed New Zealand by 90 runs in the second match of the five-game rubber at the Bay Oval here on Saturday to go 2-0 up in the series.

After the Indian openers — Rohit Sharma (87) and Shikhar Dhawan (66) handed a solid start to the visiting side, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (4/45) starred with the leather to help India register a thumping win.

Chasing a challenging 325 for victory, the hosts suffered another batting collapse as most of their batsmen succumbed before a clinical Indian attack. The Indian bowlers struck at regular intervals, denying the Kiwi batsmen to build any big partnership.

Bowling all-rounder Doug Bracewell chipped in valuable 57 runs down the order however, it wasn’t enough to help the Kiwis cross the line.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar came with an early breakthrough, dismissing Kiwi opener Martin Guptill (15) cheaply before Mohammed Shami packed back hosts’ skipper Kane Williamson (20) with New Zealand’s scorecard reading 51/2 in the eighth over.

With the addition of 33 runs in the Kiwi scorecard, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also joined the party, sending back a good looking Colin Munro (31). Just when the hosts touched the three-digit mark, Kedhar Jadav worsened New Zealand’s situation after dismissing Ross Taylor (22), who was stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Tom Latham (34) then tried to rescue his side but became Kuldeep’s victim in the 25th over. The chinaman then struck thrice in quick succession, sending back Colin de Grandhomme (3), Henry Nicholls (28) and Ish Sodhi, who failed to open his account, with New Zealand at 166/8.

Bracewell restored some respectablity for the hosts, smashing a 46-ball 57 to take New Zealand past the 200-run mark. The all-rounder’s firework was decoarted with five boundaries and three hits into the stands.

Bhuvneshwar finally applied brakes on Bracewell’s innings as the batsman, while trying to clear the fence, handed an easy catch to Dhawan at long-on.

Chahal put the final nail in the coffin, dismissing Lockie Ferguson (12) as India registered a thumping 90-run win. 

Earlier, a brilliant batting display helped India put a challenging 324/4 against the Kiwis. Opener Rohit and Dhawan were the top contributors with individual scores of 87 and 66 respectively.

Opting to bat, India were off to a perfect start, thanks to the openers, who forged a crucial 154 runs for the first wicket before Kiwi pacer Trent Boult gave some relief to his side, dismissing Dhawan in the 26th over. 

Ferguson struck soon, packing back a well-settled Rohit with India’s scorecard reading 172/2.

Skipper Virat Kohli (43) and Ambati Rayudu (47) were then involved in a 64-run partnership for the third wicket. Boult gave the visitors a major blow as a thick edge off Kohli was caught at fine-led by Sodhi.

Rayudu was then joined by Dhoni (48 not out) as the two steadily lifted India near the 300-run mark before the former fell to Ferguson in the 46th over.

Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav’s (22 not out off 10 balls) fireworks then accelerated the run-rate, taking India to a good total of 324/4 in the allotted 50 overs.

For New Zealand, Boult and Ferguson picked two wickets each, conceding 61 and 81 runs respectively.

Brief score: India 324/4 (Rohit Sharma 87, Shikhar Dhawan 66; Trent Boult 2/61) beat New Zealand 234 all out (Doug Bracewell 57, Tom Latham 34; Kuldeep Yadav 4/45) by 90 runs.

Pranab expresses gratitude to people for Bharat Ratna

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[Nasheman news] New Delhi Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday expressed his “deep sense of humility and gratitude” to the people of India for being awarded Bharat Ratna, saying that he had received much more from the people than what he had given in return.

“It is with a deep sense of humility and gratitude to the people of India that I accept this great honour, the Bharat Ratna, bestowed upon me. I have always said and I repeat that I have got more from the people of our great country than I have given to them,” the former President said in a statement.

Mukherjee urged the people strengthen their resolve to live up to the ideals of the Constitution.

“Our Founding Fathers have guided us this far, let us go farther with greater vigour and spirit to create an India of our dreams. On this Republic Day, let us strengthen our resolve to live up to the ideals of our Constitution,” Mukherjee said.

“The dynamism of our Constitution exemplified in the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity sets the tone of our development. We must strive to protect and preserve these foundational ethics,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the former President for his contribution to Indian politics and the growth trajectory.

“Pranab Da is an outstanding statesman of our times. He has served the nation selflessly and tirelessly for decades, leaving a strong imprint on the nation’s growth trajectory. His wisdom and intellect have few parallels,” Modi tweeted.

Karnataka’s 9 industrial clusters to compete with China: Governor

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[ Nasheman news] BengaluruIn a bid to increase industrial production capacity, Karnataka is developing manufacturing clusters in nine districts under “compete with China” scheme of the state, Governor Vajubhai Vala said on Saturday.

“The state government is implementing the ‘Compete with China’ scheme, by developing industrial clusters in nine districts. Action is being taken to create one lakh jobs in each cluster,” the Governor said in his Republic Day address here.

The southern state, which is a pioneer in IT and manufacturing businesses, had approved 1,958 projects with an investment of Rs 3.49 lakh-crore, under its Industrial Policy 2014-19, Vala said.

These projects will create employment opportunities to 10.28 lakh people, he added.

“Karnataka stood first in the country in attracting investments,” Vala said in his speech.

According to the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data from November last year, Karnataka saw the highest investment in the country for the first three quarters of 2018.

The ruling Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S)-Congress coalition government led by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy last year announced identifying nine districts across the state to set up industrial clusters to foster innovation and product diversification, thereby creating new jobs.

Ballari, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Hassan, Kalaburagi, Kolar, Koppal and Mysuru were identified for the scheme, by developing industries that could compete with China in industrial production.

The scheme aims to have manufacturing-related activities taking place right from village level, to the taluk (sub-district) and district levels of each cluster.

India accounts more than half leprosy cases globally: WHO

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Nasheman News : Even though the number of leprosy cases have steadily declined worldwide, an estimated two lakh cases continue to be reported every year, with India accounting for more than half, said World Health Organization (WHO).

“Leprosy-related discrimination, stigma and prejudice are the most powerful barriers to ending leprosy for good, especially given the disease is 100 per cent curable when detected early,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for Southeast Asia.

According to WHO, apart from India, a significant number of leprosy cases are detected in the Southeast Asia region, Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific.

“Though leprosy is often equated with serious deformity and disability, the percentage of patients having these symptoms is down to six per cent, demonstrating the disease is being diagnosed earlier than ever,” Singh added.

She further noted that core public health interventions such as active case-finding, improved treatment regimens and strengthened surveillance continue to drive down leprosy’s incidence and spread, but the disease’s bio-social components must be brought to the fore.

“As outlined in WHO’s Global Leprosy Strategy 2016-2020, policies that promote inclusion and aim at ending leprosy-related discrimination, stigma and prejudice should be at the front and at the centre of all leprosy programmes, as powerful tools to achieve a leprosy-free world,” she noted.


Absconding K’taka Cong MLA Ganesh said ‘Anand Singh attacked me first’

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Booked for attempt to murder and absconding for four days now, suspended Karnataka Congress MLA JN Ganesh from Kampli in Ballari district has now claimed that he was attacked first in a social media post. He claimed the brawl to be a result of provocation by Anand Singh.

In his post on Facebook addressed to his voters, Ganesh claimed the brawl was a result of provocation by Anand Singh and the entire episode was a conspiracy engineered by Singh and his nephew Sandeep to malign his reputation.

“He abused my community and kicked me on my chest… He went on to abuse me and asked me to lead him to Naik’s room. I was forced to take him there, where he demanded an apology from Naik for abusing him in the CLP meeting and tried to assault him. When I interfered, he twisted my thumb and hit me on my back with a bed lamp. I had no other choice but to react. Party seniors know this,” he wrote on his post.

In the same post he wrote, “Singh took me to his room and accused me of supporting E. Tukaram for a ministerial berth and began to abuse me, and also kicked me. Then I left for my room. Singh followed me and took me to the Hagari Bommanahalli MLA, Bheema Naik, and began beating me again. He also twisted my fingers, which led to a fracture. I also retaliated.”

He also claimed that there is a threat to his life but he has not filed any counter complaint.

In a loss of face for the Congress, the Kampi MLA was booked for attempt to murder for assaulting his party colleague and Vijayanagara MLA Anand Singh in a drunken brawl at the posh Eagleton resort on January 19. As a result, Anand Singh is currently in hospital for treatment and is set to undergo an eye surgery.

The Congress leadership had taken its MLAs to the resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru after two independents withdrew support for the government and four Congress MLAs skipped the legislature party meet.

Ganesh has been booked under sections 323 (Voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 307 (Attempt to murder), 504 (intentional insult to breach peace) and 506 (Criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to Anand Singh’s statement to the police, if Ganesh had his own way, he would have shot Anand Singh dead with his gunman’s weapon.

CNN anchor apologises for Kamala Harris tweet

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Nasheman News : A CNN anchor has apologised for a tweet in which he appeared to suggest that Indian-American Senator Kamala Harris, who announced her 2020 presidential bid earlier this week, needed to prove that she was born in the US.

CNN’S Chris Cuomo said during an appearance on ABC News on Thursday that he “screwed up” and that the tweet, which he sent on Tuesday, was misinterpreted, reports The Hill magazine. 

The anchor’s since deleted tweet said: “And hopefully there will be no games where the issue keeps changing for right accusers…and…the legit info about Harris comes out to deal with the allegation ASAP. The longer there is no proof either way, the deeper the effect.”

Cuomo said on Thursday that his tweet was intended to make the point that Harris shouldn’t have to defend herself against those accusations. 

He added that he made his point “poorly”.

“You don’t get to disparage people this way because of their race, because you don’t like what they represent,” he said. 

“And what I’m saying is before we go through this again, if you have an accusation, put up or shut up. Kamala Harris shouldn’t have to go through this. That was my point. I made it poorly.”

On Monday, Harris announced that she will seek the Democratic nomination for President in 2020.

Harris, who became the first person of Indian-American descent to be elected to the Senate, will have to first win the Democratic Party nomination next year battling several candidates, including Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu elected to Congress, Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Housing Secretary Julian Castro.


Twitter India celebrates National Voters’ Day

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Nasheman NewsTwitter India on Friday launched the second phase of its initiative #PowerOf18, that aims at encouraging the youth to contribute to the public debate and participate in civic engagement, on the occasion of ninth National Voters Day.

National Voters Day was started by the government in 2011 to encourage the young to vote.

The campaign roped in gold medalist boxer Nikhat Zareen to share her journey and message to the youth in an exclusive video on Twitter. 

In her message, Zareen noted that the youth of the country needs to understand the power of their votes, exercise it and be the change that #PowerOf18 can bring in for the country.

“As we move closer to the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Twitter is committed to providing a healthy platform to the youth that fosters civic conversation and democratic debate,” said Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy, Twitter India, in a statement. 

“Keeping this objective as core, we are excited to have launched into our second phase for #PowerOf18 today and are looking forward to ignite, enable and empower discussions amongst the youth, who are voters of today and the leaders of tomorrow,” Kaul added.

Twitter will also curate an exclusive digital panel around the theme of #PowerOf18 at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019 on Friday.

Through the panel discussion, Twitter is aiming to bring together young, dynamic Indians for the world of literature to discuss the transformative power of civic action and the importance of making voice heard on its platform, and beyond, the statement said. 

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