[Nasheman news] Visakhapatnam In these days of ostentatious marriages with even the middle-class families spending lakhs of rupees, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from Andhra is setting an example for others.
Patnala Basanth Kumar, Commissioner, Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) will be spending just Rs 36,000 on the marriage of his son scheduled here on February 10.
The families of bridegroom and bride will bear an expenditure of Rs 18,000 each on the ceremony, including the lunch for the guests.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan will bless the couple at the simple ceremony on Friday.
In 2017, Basanth Kumar had also performed his daughter’s marriage with equal simplicity by spending just Rs 16,100.
Basanth Kumar, who was promoted to IAS cadre in 2012, had earlier served as Officer on Special Duty and Joint Secretary to Governor Narasimhan.
People say he is setting an example at a time when many families are wasting huge money on marriages, which have become occasion for vulgar display of wealth.
Modi to flag off Train 18 on Feb 15
[NASHEMAN NEWS] New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the indigenously built Train 18, called the Vande Bharat Express, on February 15 from here, a Railway Ministry official said.
Train 18, the country’s first engine-less train manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai, will be flagged off at 10 a.m. from the New Delhi railway station.
“He will also address people while flagging off the train,” the official said on Wednesday.
The passengers travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi in the executive class will be charged Rs 399 for morning tea, breakfast and lunch, while travellers in the chair car will need to pay Rs 344 for the same.
While the passengers travelling from New Delhi to Kanpur and Prayagraj will have to pay Rs 155 and Rs 122 for executive class and chair car, respectively.
From Varanasi to New Delhi, the passengers will be charged Rs 349 and Rs 288 in the executive class and chair, respectively. They will be served evening tea with snacks and dinner.
The Railway Ministry had earlier indicated that the fare of Train 18 would be 40-50 per cent higher than that of the Shatabdi Express.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said that the indigenously built train would complete the distance of 795 km in eight hours, 35 per cent faster than other fastest trains on route.
Train 18recently became India’s fastest train by hitting a speed of over 180 kmph during a trial run.
It would soon start replacing the Shatabdi Express trains and run between Delhi and Varanasi.
The gleaming blue-nosed train comes fitted with the world class amenities like high-speed on-board WiFi, GPS-based passenger information system, touch-free bio-vacuum toilets, LED lighting, mobile charging points and a climate control system that adjusts the temperature accordingly.
The 16-coach train will have two executive compartments which will have 52 seats each and trailer coaches will have 78 seats each.
The executive class will have rotating seats to match the direction of the train.
Crypto exchange may have lost $145 mn after CEO dies in India
Nasheman News : The death of Canadian entrepreneur Gerald Cotten, died due to complications with Crohn’s disease while travelling in India in December, has left a huge stash of cryptocurrencies locked off from the people who own them.
Quadriga, Canada’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, said it’s unable to gain access to $145 million of bitcoin and other digital assets after the death of Cotten, its 30-year old CEO and Co-Founder.
Many of the digital currencies held by Quadriga are stored offline in accounts known as “cold wallets,” a way of protecting them from hackers. Cotten appears to have been the only person with access to the wallets, according to court documents cited by Canadian media and posted online by cryptocurrency news site CoinDesk, CNN reported.
The unusual case highlights the risks investors face looking after their assets in the thinly regulated industry.
Cotten’s death has plunged Quadriga into crisis and left it struggling to figure out how to refund more than 100,000 of its users. The company filed for creditor protection in the Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday.
“For the past weeks, we have worked extensively to address our liquidity issues, which include attempting to locate and secure our very significant cryptocurrency reserves held in cold wallets. Unfortunately, these efforts have not been successful,” Quadriga said in a statement on its website.
Cotten’s widow, Jennifer Robertson, said in the affidavit posted online that the laptop that Cotten used to run the currency exchange is encrypted.
“I do not know the password or recovery key. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere,” she said.
The company hired an investigator to see if any information could be retrieved but ongoing efforts have had only “limited success in recovering a few coins” and some information from Cotten’s computer and phone, BBC reported.
The Canadian High Commission in New Delhi told CNN that it was aware of Cotten’s death and had “provided consular assistance,” but declined to reveal further details.
‘I studied at uni, now sell eggs’: India’s job crisis under Modi
New Delhi, India – A grim-faced young man rustles up a quick egg snack on a pushcart at a quiet residential corner in a suburb of the Indian capital, New Delhi, as he meticulously enquires about his patrons’ tastes.
Sagar Kumar, a 21-year-old undergraduate in commerce at an open university in Noida, a city in Uttar Pradesh – the country’s most populous state in the Hindi-speaking heartland – is angry.
He has been working as a roadside food vendor for a year to pay for the school fees of his younger siblings and the kidney dialysis of an ailing father. He is impatient for a government job.
India unemployment rate highest in 45 years: Report
“I study at night, the rest of the time I tend to this food cart and earn 500 rupees [$6] a day. What use is a commerce graduate degree to sell eggs by the roadside?” Sagar said.
In New Delhi’s Tughlakabad slums, around the remnants of a medieval era fort, 24-year-old Seema is a part-time cook, but hopes to get a job as an office secretary.
“My typing speed is very good and I can add numbers. My family came to Delhi from Badayun [in Uttar Pradesh] where I wanted to get a clerical job at a government office. But I have had no luck yet. There are also safety concerns to consider when looking for a job as a woman here,” she says.
Survey barred from publishing
India’s fast-paced economic growth has failed to generate employment opportunities for over 12 million Indians who enter job market every year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who swept to power in 2014 on the promise to create 10 million job annually, has been accused of creating the worst unemployment crisis in decades.
A leaked report about India’s unemployment last week revealed that jobless rate rose to its highest level in at least 45 years.
For the first time, half of India’s working-age population (15 years and above), is not contributing to any economic activity, data analysis by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) shows.O
Officials at Niti Aayog, the premier government policy think-tank, said the report was not final and that sufficient jobs were being created.
Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the survey findings, saying it was “disinformation”.
“If the economy is growing at 12 percent nominal growth for the last five years, it would be an economic absurdity to say that such a large economic growth, the highest in the world, doesn’t lead to the creation of jobs,” Jaitley told Indian news agency ANI.
“If no job creation takes place then there is social unrest. This has been a peace period where no major social agitation has been witnessed in the last five years,” the minister claimed.
‘We need jobs’
But warnings about a brewing jobs crisis are not new. In December, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said labour participation rate, a measure of adults who are willing to work, has fallen to 42 percent.
In March 2018, data from the CMIE, a portal that tracks economic activity, said 31 million Indians were looking for jobs.
A report released last month by the All India Manufacturers’ Organisation said 3.5 million jobs had been lost since 2016, when Modi banned about 85 percent of currency notes.
Government jobs in India are the most sought after. India’s railway network recently received 19 million applications for 63,000 jobs as cleaners and track maintainers.
Sagar, son of a migrant family from Madhepura in Bihar state, says he applied for several government jobs, including at the railways which does not mandate a college degree.
Old enough to vote for the first time, he says “whoever forms the next government must help us”.
“We need jobs. If you can’t do that, then help us earn. I tried to get a loan for entrepreneurs, but that is a nightmare as well. So there is nowhere to turn. Neither jobs are available nor is it easy to get bank loans to fund a small business,” he added.
Sagar is among the 133 million young adults who will cast their ballots when the world’s biggest democracy holds a general election due in less than 100 days.
The election comes as India struggles through a period of what economists call “jobless growth”.
“The jobs crisis is really bad. The medium and small scale industries and agriculture are major employers in our country. These sectors have suffered due to policy induced shocks like a badly-implemented national services tax GST and a note ban in 2016 that broke the backs of small businesses and the informal sector,” economist Prasenjit Bose told media.
“Even the organised sector has not grown under this government. Although public sector investments have happened but that has not translated into jobs,” he said.
“The fact is that the economic growth data is being grossly overestimated. There can be no other explanation for this discrepancy between an over 7 percent GDP growth and a 45-year-high unemployment rate.”
Unemployment fuels inequality
Job growth has slowed just as the biggest youth bulge the world has ever seen nears its peak in a country where more than half of its 1.2 billion people are under 25.
In cases like Sagar and Seema, a precarious labour market, socioeconomic factors and a lack of public services has made matters worse.
Since the lack of access to income is the main driver of poverty, experts warn this will also fuel an increase in inequality.
With faster but uneven economic growth in recent decades, boundaries between villages and small towns have blurred. Meanwhile, migration, mobile phones and television have ensured people are more keenly aware of how the lives of others are improving faster than their own.
In states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan, upper caste land-owning farming communities have held large protests in recent years, demanding quotas in government jobs.
Under pressure to placate the unemployed youth, the government passed a law last month offering quotas to the upper castes in public sector jobs and higher education places.
Population is rising beyond the economy’s capacity to create jobs and there is insufficient job creation in the private sector, say experts.
Investment in the Indian economy is stagnating at lower levels than 2011-12 and the unorganised sector is declining, said Professor Arun Kumar, author of “Demonetisation and the Black Economy”.
“The government needs to address the agricultural crisis. The unorganised sector needs a boost, you need to give them credit and support. The unorganised sector, when revived, will create demand for its own self,” Kumar told media
In the midst of the squabbling over jobs data, economist Kumar says it is necessary to point out the distinction between unemployment and underemployment.
“In India, we don’t have social security. So if somebody loses work, they can’t say we won’t work. Everybody does some work here, so you see graduates pushing a cart etc. India is characterised more by underemployment than unemployment. The problem is our unorganised sector employs 93 percent of those seeking work. It is this 93 percent that is losing jobs because this sector is in crisis,” Kumar said.
Major election issue
This is why India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks nervous as it seeks re-election.READ MORE
India plans job quotas for upper caste poor as election nears
In a television interview last year, Prime Minister Modi had said that selling ‘pakodas’ (deep-fried finger food) is also a form of employment since the ‘pakoda’ seller would earn rupees 200 ($2.7) a day.
The remark created a huge controversy, with the opposition accusing Modi of being insentitive to people’s demands for jobs. Ahead of polls, it has ratcheted up pressure on Modi over his unkept promises on jobs.
The main opposition Congress party has promised to introduce a minimum income guarantee for the poor if it wins the elections, due by May.
India’s fractured political landscape, with its dozens of regional parties and caste alliances, poses a serious challenge to Modi’s reelection bid.
Inspite of people like Sagar and Seema’s economic aspirations, regional and caste politics will play a big part in how people vote. And it will be an uphill task for the next government, irrespective of its ideological affiliation, to create all the jobs needed.
Agencies
Will Sumalatha contest Lok Sabha polls in 2019?
JD(S) isn’t happy with the Congress’ efforts to being Sumalatha into electoral politics as this could be a stumbling block for Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda who wants to contest from Manyda.
After the death of rebel star Ambareesh, a void has been created in the Mandya Congress. With hundreds of Ambareesh fans demanding that his wife Sumalatha contest from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, the question is – will she? On Friday, hundreds of Ambareesh fans gathered outside Sumalatha’s residence in Bengaluru and requested her to contest the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate.
Speaking to the media after interacting with the fans, Sumalatha said, “Ambareesh’s fans were very supportive when he contested elections. Even after his death, they are offering to support me. I had never given a thought about entering politics or contesting elections in the past. Seeing the amount of respect they have for Ambareesh and me, I do not want to disappoint them. However, this is not an easy decision to make and I feel like I still need to think about it,” Sumalath said.
The actor also said that she had not yet held talks with leaders of any political party. And if she decides to contest, Sumalatha is unsure whether she wants to be a Congress candidate and get embroiled in the tension on ground in Mandya between JDS and Congress.
“Ambareesh was with the Congress and I am yet to talk to the leaders from the party. I don’t know if I will contest the elections but if I do, I will contest from Mandya. Ambareesh had worked for the people of Mandya and our family will continue to do the same. I am humbled by the support the people have shown me and I do not want to disappoint them,” Sumalath added.
According to Congress sources, the party lost a lot of votes during the 2014 Lok Sabha election as Ambareesh did not campaign actively for the Congress candidate. “When Ramya lost by a small margin, it was only because Ambareesh’s voter base did not vote for the Congress. With the pre-poll alliance in place, Sumalatha will be a neutral choice. If the JD(S) does not agree to field Sumalatha as the alliance’s candidate, then it would spell trouble for them. If she contests then it would be beneficial to Congress as Ambareesh was a Congress loyalist,” the source added.
However, JD(S) insiders say that the party is not happy with the Congress’ move to bring Sumalatha into electoral politics as it would then become difficult for Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Gowda to enter the fray.
“Kumaraswamy wants Nikhil to contest simply because his nephew Prajwal Revanna is contesting this time. Although Deve Gowda is not inclined towards offering Nikhil a ticket, the chances of him getting one would become lesser if Sumalatha decides to enter electoral politics. It would be worse if she contested as an independent as it would split the vote bank,” the source added.
Karnataka slams Centre for ‘bias’ in drought relief
Nasheman News : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara on Sunday accused the Union government of “bias” in its financial aid granted to drought-hit states.
“Drought relief sought by Karnataka was Rs 2,434-crore. However, only Rs 949.49-crore has been approved, while Maharashtra has been given Rs 4,714.28-crore,” Parameshwara said in a tweet.
“The appalling favouritism by the Central government is something that must be condemned by all,” he added.
The state had pegged the losses incurred due to the drought situation in 100 sub-districts (taluks) in 24 of the state’s 30 districts at Rs 16,500-crore and sought a Central government relief of Rs 2,434-crore.
With 151 of its 355 taluks hit by drought, Maharashtra had sought Rs 7,962-crore financial aid from the Union government and was granted Rs 4,714.28-crore on January 29.
“The Union government must be free of bias and treat all states equally. We demand immediate response and measures towards rectifying this. Karnataka must be assisted in managing the drought crisis and helping the farmers,” Parameshwara alleged in another tweet.A
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy earlier also accused the Centre of “preferential” treatment to states in approving drought relief.
“We will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to place our demands for drought relief again,” Kumaraswamy earlier said.
Congress state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao termed it as the Centre’s “step-motherly” treatment towards Karnataka in his letter to the Prime Minister on Sunday.
On January 29, the Central government had approved funds of Rs 7,214-crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to six states and the Union Territory of Puducherry, which were affected by drought and floods.
Apart from the funds granted to Karnataka and Maharashtra for drought, Rs 900.40-crore was approved for Andhra Pradesh as drought relief, Rs 127.60-crore to Gujarat for drought, Rs 317.44-crore for Himachal Pradesh for floods and landslides, Rs 13.09-crore to Puducherry which faced cyclone and Rs 191.73-crore to Uttar Pradesh for floods.
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL BS DHANOA CHAIRS TRAINING COMMANDERS’ CONFERENCE
Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Vayu Sena Medal, Aide-de-Camp, Chief of the Air Staff chaired Training Command Commanders’ Conference held at Headquarters Training Command, Hebbal on 01 February.
Chief of the Air Staff accompanied by Mrs Kamalpreet Dhanoa, President Air Force Wives Welfare Association (AFWWA) were received by Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vayu Sena Medal, Aide-de-Camp, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command and Mrs Asha Bhadauria, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional).
Chief of the Air Staff appreciated the changes made in the training syllabus to make it more operational oriented. The pilots passing out after HAWK Training will be fit for operational roles. The airmen training has also (been) enhanced with more emphasis on security training, cyber security and management of social media. The Technical Training pattern ensures that Air Warriors are ready to undertake operational roles in an enhanced technological environment. The focus has been on improvement in infrastructure for training requirements and sports facilities.
During the visit, Chief of the Air Staff also inspected an impressive Guard of Honour presented by the Air warriors of Headquarters Training Command and interacted with all Air Warriors and civilian staff of Headquarters Training Command.
Mrs Kamalpreet Dhanoa, President AFWWA chaired the Board of Management Meeting which was attended by all the Board Members. Mrs Kamalpreet Dhanoa, inaugurated the newly renovated Blooming Buds Play School and appreciated the excellent infrastructure created for tiny tots. She also interacted with the wives of Air Warriors and reviewed all the welfare measures undertaken by Headquarters Training Command.
Swaraj India leader attacked by two bikers
Nasheman News :Swaraj India’s Vice President, Anupam, who leads a nationwide youth movement against unemployment, was assaulted in south Delhi on Friday night by two bike-borne assailants who attacked him with a sharp weapon injuring him, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred near a busy market in East of Kailash area where two unknown bike-borne assailants attacked Anupam.
“When Anupam resisted, one of them attacked him with a blade-like object. The assailants managed to escape with his mobile phone. He suffered a deep cut below his right eye,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said.
Anupam leads a nationwide youth movement ‘Yuva Hallabol’ against unemployment. He had called a youth summit on January 27, joining hands with over 60 youth representatives across the country against depleting job opportunities in the country and to expose corruption in recruitments.
“We have detained some suspects in the case after scanning the CCTV footages. We are interrogating them,” said Biswal.
Unprecedented centre-state confrontation: Mamata resorts to sit-in after CBI-police face-off (Intro-Roundup)
[Nasheman news] Kolkata In a virtual no-holds-barred clash between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central and West Bengal governments, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began a sit-in here on Sunday accusing the Centre of attempting a coup to destabilise the state after an ugly face-off between the CBI and the state police over the federal probe agency’s bid to grill city police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Ponzi scheme scam case.
The showdown started after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers showed up near the official residence of Kumar, a day after CBI sources said they were “looking for” him, and claimed he might be arrested if he failed to respond to the CBI’s summons.
Kumar, a 1989 batch IPS officer, headed the Special Investigation Team set up by the Banerjee government after the Saradha ponzi scam came to light in 2013, a year before the CBI took up the case on Supreme Court order.
On Sunday, the evening drama began as a group of CBI officers approached Kumar’s Loudon Street residence, but were stopped by city police personnel, who also forcibly took five federal probe agency officers to a police station.
The Chief Minister, who had extended support to Kumar earlier in the day, rushed to his house and was closeted with other top officers, including state police Director General Virendra.
A visibly angry Banerjee came out of Kumar’s residence after over an hour, and alleged that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was giving instructions to the CBI at the behest of Modi and BJP President Amit Shah.
“I am sorry to say National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is giving instructions to the agency. He is implementing what PM Narendra Modi is asking for,” Banerjee said.
“I will start a dharna (sit-in) at Dharamtala area to save institutions, constitution and the federal structure of the country. This is a satyagraha,” she said.
Minutes after she began the sit-in, the police commissioner and other officers, state ministers and Trinamool leaders joined her, and scores of ruling party activists converged in the area from Kolkata and nearby districts.
Banerjee said a meeting of the state cabinet would be held on Monday at the sit-in venue to ratify the state budget slated to be presented during the day.
Banerjee said she would skip Assembly proceedings, but the House would continue as usual.
Banerjee also alleged CBI officers came to Kumar’s residence without any search warrant to conduct a secret operation.
“You are coming to the commissioner’s residence without any warrant to conduct a secret operation. It is (nothing but) instruction from Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.”
“There is a constitutional break-down and they are trying to organise a coup to destabilise the state. They are trying to run a parallel administration,” she told reporters outside the Commissioner’s house.
“I have come here because I have a constitutional and personal responsibility to give protection to my forces,” she said.
In a rare exhortation, Banerjee appealed to all security forces to be together and condemn the attitude of the Modi government.
She called the developments a ‘blow’ to the country’s federal structure, and claimed that the Supreme Court in its judgement had said both central and state agencies can discuss mutually if they have any queries.
Addressing the media at the sit-in venue, Banerjee said a large number of opposition leaders have telephoned her to back her movement.
“Leaders of various opposition parties, including Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Mayawati (BSP), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), Omar Abdullah (NC), Ahmed Patel (Congress) and M K Stalin (DMK), have called me to extend their solidarity and support,” she said.
It all began around 6 p.m., when CBI officers, led by its deputy superintendent Tathagata Bardhan, were spotted near Kumar’s residence, but within a few minutes some senior Kolkata police officers rushed there and were seen having animated discussions with the federal team.
A little later, another CBI team reached the spot.
Meanwhile, a strong city police team was seen near the CBI’s state headquarters at CGO Complex in the Salt Lake area. However, they left after a couple of hours.
The drama intensified near Kumar’s residence around 7 p.m., as three deputy commissioners of city police and some officers of the anti-rowdy section reached the spot, following which there ensued a scuffle between the CBI team and cops.
The five CBI officers including Bardhan were bundled into three vehicles and taken to the Shakespeare Sarani police station.
They were released later in the night.
CBI Joint Director Pankaj Srivastava said his officers went to Kumar’s residence to question him, but were stopped from entering the house.
Meanwhile, the Central Reserve Police Force troopers have been deployed at the CBI headquarters at CGO Complex as also at its city office Nizam Palace.
Trinamool spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said his party would raise the matter in Parliament on Monday.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m.
[Nasheman news] New Delhi The Rajya Sabha was on Monday adjourned till 2 p.m. amid ruckus, minutes after it met for the day.
Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu announced that he has rejected notices given by some opposition members under Rule 267 (suspension of business) on various issues as the Upper House met.
This drew vociferous protests from the Opposition and some members even trooped to the Chair’s podium.
Amid the ruckus, Naidu adjourned the House till 2 p.m.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien gave notice on the alleged “excesses of CBI against federal governments” while Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Manoj Jha gave notices on other issues.