Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Naveen Patnaik, who is contesting from two assembly segments, Hinjili and Bijepur, tops the list of rich candidates with total assets worth Rs. 63 crore.A

Ruling BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is the richest among the 244 candidates contesting the assembly elections, in the 2nd phase, scheduled on April 18, a report released by Odisha Election Watch said Monday.

[Nasheman news]

BHUBANESWAR

The Odisha Election Watch is a part of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

“Of the 244 candidates in the fray for the 35 assembly segments, 70 are crorepatis,” said Odisha Election Watch Convenor Ranjan Mohanty, adding that 13 candidates have assets worth Rs. 5 crore and above, and 24 others have assets between Rs. 2 crore and Rs. 5 crore.

While Mr Patnaik, who is contesting from two assembly segments, Hinjili and Bijepur, tops the list of rich candidates with total assets worth Rs. 63 crore, BJP candidate KV Singhdeo contesting from Patnagarh segment in Bolangir district stands second with total assets worth Rs. 37 crore, the report said.

BJD’s Jharsuguda candidate, Naba Kishore Das, is in the third place with total assets worth Rs. 33 crore, it said.

Mr Das is followed by BJD candidate Saroj Kumar Meher of Patnagarh seat with total assets worth Rs. 31 crore.

Other rich candidates are BJP’s Bijay Kumar Swain (Rs. 15 cr), BJD’s Arkesh Narayan Singhdeo (Rs. 15 crore), BJD’s Nandini Devi (Rs. 11 crore), BJP’s Dinesh Jain (Rs. 8 cr), BJP’s Pitamber Acharya (Rs. 7 crore) and BJD’s Kishore Kumar Mohanty (Rs. 7 crore), the report added.

BSP candidate Narayan Versa contesting from Bhatli assembly segment only has Rs. 8,044.

Incidentally, KV Singhdeo’s wife Sangeeta Singhdeo was also on the top of the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha with assets worth Rs. 37 crore.

Of the 35 candidates contesting for five Lok Sabha seats in the second phase of the elections, 11 are crorepatis, he said.

“Tomorrow, whatever may be the case on the numbers required to form the government, there will be no relationship with those who talk of dividing the nation. And those who have ruined three generations of Kashmiris will not get a place in the cabinet of the BJP-led NDA government.

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[Nasheman news] Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for strongly rebutting those parties echoing separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, the Shiv Sena said on Tuesday that the prime minister must commit that Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and Sharad Pawar’s NCP will, under no circumstance, be a part of the NDA government after elections, even if it is short on numbers.

The Shiv Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, said while it is good that the prime minister has spoken against those attempting to divide the country, he needs to give people two assurances.

“Tomorrow, whatever may be the case on the numbers required to form the government, there will be no relationship with those who talk of dividing the nation. And those who have ruined three generations of Kashmiris will not get a place in the cabinet of the BJP-led NDA government,” the Sena said.

The Sena further said PM Modi’s stand against Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, for “supporting” those who want to “divide” the nation, should remain the same even after polls.

“Those dividing the country and those supporting them should not get a place in politics in future. If those supporting anti-nationals today sit with nationalists for political reasons, it will be an insult to our jawans (soldiers),” the Sena said.

The Sena said while National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah has made remarks about Jammu and Kashmir having a separate PM, it will not be a reality even after 100 generations have passed.

The Sena claimed Article 370 gives special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir, and the law of the country does not apply there, and therefore, there have been demands from many years to abolish the Constitutional privilege to the state.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party sought to remind the BJP that Mr Abdullah was a minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government and the National Conference was a part of the NDA, adding that his party’s policy towards Article 370 and 35 (A), both of which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was age old.

“Yet we keep kissing their furry caps to achieve the numbers in Parliament. This is nationalism of convenience,” the Sena alleged.

The Shiv Sena added that People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti has a similar stand on the Constitutional provisions for Jammu and Kashmir and she has warned that the state “will not remain with India if its special status is revoked.”

“Until yesterday, the same person was chief minister with support of the BJP. Even her anti-national mindset is old. Yet, the BJP got friendly with them while we kept opposing their alliance,” it said.

The Shiv Sena went on to say that “(Narendra) Modi has spoken with grit – the way an Indian prime minister should have spoken. He has spoken about how three generations have been destroyed under Abdullah and Mufti’s regimes,” the Shiv Sena said.C“PM Modi has also spoken about displacement of Kashmiri Pandits. However their ghar wapsi (return to their homes) couldn’t happen in the last 5 years,” the Sena said.

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When Narendra Modi was elected prime minister of India in 2014, one of the reasons that many welcomed him, at home and abroad, was that governance in New Delhi seemed to have ground to a halt. His predecessors in government, the Indian National Congress, had once been identified as the party of reform and competence. But, a series of political missteps and growing popular opposition meant that they instead developed a reputation for administrative paralysis.

Five years on, the choice between PM Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, seems to have been reset. For many, PM Modi’s government has not lived up to expectations. While he brought a new energy to governance, a lack of familiarity with policy combined with a lack of competence in his party and cabinet to stymie his more ambitious efforts at reform.

This week, when the Congress released its manifesto for the forthcoming general elections, it felt like we were back in the 2000s. Much in the manifesto was solidly reformist; it included several longstanding prescriptions from economists and public policy experts including legal reform, devolving more power to local governments and simplifying the goods-and-services tax. The BJP struggled to come up with coherent, pointed replies to these policy suggestions — even PM Modi’s finance minister was reduced to declaring that the manifesto was designed to help separatists break up the country. The contrast between the two sides could not have been sharper and it wasn’t the ruling party that sounded like the party of government.

For the BJP, this is a lost opportunity. It should not have ceded leadership on economics and policy back to the Congress. PM Modi has tried to rebrand himself, in office, as a welfare-state populist. But, the Congress’ manifesto is a reminder that the social-democratic party is always going to do better at promising welfare expansions than anyone else. It’s pledged that 3.6 percent of GDP will be redistributed, as an income supplement, to the poorest fifth of India’s population. How the hundreds of millions of Indians meant to benefit from this would be identified is unclear — nor can anyone say for certain what the impact on prices and the labor market of such a large basic-income program would be. Even so this promise, of a minimum guaranteed income, has stolen the BJP’s thunder: It had hoped its own much smaller income-support program for farmers would be sufficient to shore up PM Modi’s “pro-poor” credentials.

The Congress of the 1990s and 2000s sought to present itself as the only party that could credibly deliver welfare precisely because it was capable of delivering growth, fueled by economic reform. There’s something of that dual approach to the party’s 2019 manifesto as well. Sure, money has been promised to the poor, agricultural loans would be waived and the party has pledged to double public healthcare spending to three percent of GDP. At the same time, the party also has quite a few plans that, if implemented, would be good news for investment and growth.

For one, the Congress promised reform of tax administration, accusing the current government of giving the taxman “extraordinary discretionary powers that have throttled industry and come to be described as ‘tax terrorism.'” There’s some justice to that accusation, especially given the behavior of Indian tax authorities over the past week. In the last few days before the end of the financial year, the amount of direct tax collected jumped by over 10 percent — quite likely because income tax officials arm-twisted companies and individuals into paying extra advance tax in order to make the government’s figures look good.

The Congress has also promised that small and medium-sized Indian companies, as well as all start-ups, would not have to file any paperwork for their first three years. Given the amount of red tape to which Indians have grown accustomed, this is quite a remarkable suggestion. If it were to be implemented, by the Congress or anyone else, it might go some way towards changing what the default attitude to regulation in India is. If smaller companies get used to a low-interference environment, it will be hard to force them to return to the current, overregulated paradigm. Economic reformers have long wondered how to make the political case for deregulation. The Congress might have partially solved that problem.

It’s unfortunate that the BJP, which has traditionally been the party of small business, could not come up with a potentially transformative plan of this sort. Perhaps it’s revealing of the degree to which PM Modi’s statist instincts have taken over. The Congress is still unlikely to get anywhere near power once elections are done in May. But, the party has at least reminded PM Modi that welfarism need to be paid for by deregulation and reform.

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday warned that “J&K’s relations with India would end” in case Articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution — which provide special status and exclusive powers to the state regarding residency — are abrogated.

Mehbooba was reacting to BJP president Amit Shah‘s assertion in an interview to ET that removal of Articles 370 and 35A was the way forward for a solution to the Kashmir problem.

“These are still our issues. We needed full majority in Parliament. We did not have this (majority) in the Rajya Sabha. This time also, these issues will be part of our manifesto,” Shah had said in the interview, adding, “By 2020, we will have majority (in the Rajya Sabha).”

Reacting sharply to the statement, Mehbooba said: “If that turns out to be the case, 2020 will also be a deadline from Jammu & Kashmir to the nation. If you remove those terms and conditions on which J&K acceded to India, our relation with the country will also end.”

The former chief minister was answering reporters’ queries on Shah’s statement after filing her nominations from the Anantnag Lok Sabha consti

The threat drew a furious response from BJP, with finance minister Arun Jaitleyterming it “absurd” and emphasising that J&K will remain a part of India irrespective of what happens to Articles 35A and 370.

“The Instrument of Accession that J&K signed in 1947 was not different from the ones other princely states signed when they merged themselves into India. Article 370 came into being in 1950 while Article 35(A) was incorporated into the Constitution in 1954 and this makes it clear that these subsequent developments were not prerequisite to J&K’s accession to India,” he said.

Jaitley said that territorial integrity is part of the nation’s basic structure and can never be impacted by changes in the Constitution. “Will India ever become part of the UK if Westminster were to revoke the Indian Independence Act?” he said.

The exchanges between BJP and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti have increased the likelihood that J&K will loom large over the polls as a wedge issue. BJP has also locked horns with Congress over the promises the latter has made as part of its manifesto to hold unconditional talks with all stakeholders to reduce the presence of the Army and paramilitary forces in the Valley and to undertake a review of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Mehbooba, who is seeking to reclaim ground she lost in the Valley, had lashed out at Shah over the latter’s assertion about BJP’s ambition to do away with Articles 370 and 35A.

Both Shah and Modi have attacked Congress on its silence over the stand of its ally, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, that J&K should have its own PM. In another twist, senior Congressman Karan Singh, the son of late Maharaja Hari Singh, has also said Article 370 was not part of terms on which his father merged his principality into India.

Four out of the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favour of a 25 basis points cut in repo rate.E

The RBI decided to retain its policy stance as “neutral”

The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday announced a reduction in repo rate to 6 per cent from 6.25 per cent, in line with a majority of economists’ expectations. The RBI maintained its neutral policy stance, which enables it to move either way on the key rates. Repo rate is the key interest rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to commercial banks. More than 85 per cent of the nearly 70 economists polled by news agency Reuters had expected the central bank to cut the benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 6.00 per cent today.

Four out of the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted in favour of a 25 basis points cut in repo rate, while the other two voted to keep rate unchanged.

The central bank projected GDP growth at 7.2 per cent for financial year 2019-20, according to its first policy statement of financial year 2019-20 The RBI said it expects economic growth to be in the range of 6.8-7.1 per cent in the first half of the current financial year, and in the range of 7.3-7.4 per cent in the second half with “risks evenly balanced”.

Inflation is likely to remain benign in the short term, it noted. Assuming a normal monsoon in 2019, the RBI lowered its CPI inflation projection to 2.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19. 

For the first half of the current financial year, which began on April 1, the central bank expects inflation at 2.9-3.0 per cent, and 3.5-3.8 per cent in the second half.

Thursday’s rate revision – the second reduction this calendar year – means commercial banks will have more room to pass on the benefit of lower lending rates to loan borrowers. At the same time it would also translate into a lower interest rate earned by depositors.

The latest policy statement comes after the first bi-monthly review meeting of financial year 2019-20 by the Monetary Policy Committee which began on April 2.

India’s growth in GDP or gross domestic product slowed to 6.6 per cent in the October-December period, its slowest pace recorded since the quarter ended September 2017.

Consumer inflation – gauged by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – picked up to 2.57 per cent in February from the 19-month low of 1.97 per cent the previous month.

The RBI has set a medium-term goal of 4 per cent for consumer inflation, which it tracks primarily to formulate its policy.

New Delhi, Apr 2 : Outlining its policy to tackle terrorism, the Congress on Tuesday said if voted to power, it will take determined steps to persuade other countries to compel Pakistan to verifiably end its support to the terrorist groups that it shelters.
”Congress will take determined steps to persuade other countries to compel Pakistan to verifiably
end its support to the terrorist groups that it shelters,” the party said in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Describing that the party is against terrorism at global level, Congress said it is implacably opposed to terrorism any-where in the world and promises to work with other countries to eliminate terrorist groups, terrorist acts and cross-border terrorism.
”We will persuade the United Nations to constantly review the list of terrorists and to
expand the scope of sanctions,” the party said.
Congress affirms its firm belief in the continued relevance of the policy of friendship, peaceful co-existence, non-alignment, independence of thought and action, and increased bilateral engagement in its relations with other countries of the world.
Congress promises to establish a National Council on Foreign Policy consisting of members of the
Cabinet Committee on Security, scholars, domain experts and diplomats to advise the Government
on matters concerning foreign policy.
”We will work closely with all countries of the world, and particularly India’s neighbours and the G-20
countries, in various multi-lateral forums and institutions,” the party said.

”Foreign Trade will be an important element of our foreign policy and we promise to make every effort
to significantly increase trade with other countries,” the party said.
The party claimed that It was a Congress government that opened India’s economy to other countries of the world.
”Congress promises to strengthen its relations with other countries through enhanced economic
co-operation, two-way investments and closer relations between businesspersons,” the manifesto said.
”Congress promises to pass a Law on Asylum consistent with international treaties and conventions.
We will re-double the efforts to win for permanent membership India in the UN Security Council and the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” the manifesto said.
”Congress will work with SAARC and ASEAN coun-tries to enhance the volume of trade, investments,
tourism and cultural exchanges and reap the benefits of geographical proximity,” it said.
Congress in its manifesto promised to establish effective mechanisms with neighbouring countries, especially Sri Lanka and Pakistan, to resolve the problems faced by fishermen, to eliminate conflict, coercive action
and loss of lives, and to improve livelihood opportunities for our fishing communities.
”We will strengthen the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, expand its engagement with
other countries and encourage the Council to in-crease the projection of India’s soft power globally,” the manifesto said.

Congress further promised to increase significantly the size of the Foreign Service, induct domain experts and
scholars, open more missions abroad, participate more effectively in international organisations, leverage ”our growing economy and acquire a position of leadership in the world”.

Agencies

New Delhi, Mar 29 : India on Friday summoned Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner Syed Haider Shah here and raised protests over Khalistani presence in the Pakistani panel on Kartarpur and said it could reschedule April 2 meet on Kartarpur with Pakistan at Wagah.
“We have sought clarification, some controversial individuals are reported to have been in Kartarpur panel from Pakistani side. This raises our security concern. We do not want meeting for the sake of optics,” an official source said here even as in a statement the MEA said it has been conveyed that the next meeting on the modalities can be scheduled “at an appropriate time after receiving Pakistan’s response”.
“We called Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner and shared our position on these issues,” the source said.
“We told Pakistan categorically that while we are very keen to bring these discussions on the modalities, we need clarifications,” the source said adding, the Pakistan government through cabinet decision has set up a committee on Kartarpur and number of controversial names have come in that.
These include – the names of Gopal Singh Chawla, Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisan Singh and Kuljeet Singh.
“These names are controversial elements. Gopal Singh Chawla is a person who is associated with internationally designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed of JuD. They are associated with anti-India secessionist elements as are also other names,” the source said
“These are serious concerns about security,” the source said adding some of these developments raise questions about Pakistan’s ‘intention’ to make use of the Kartarpur Corridor.
It has been told to the Pakistani diplomat that India has made it “very clear” during talks at Attari on March 14 and “we sought assurances that the Kartarpur Corridor facility should not be misused in any manner for anti-India propaganda or promoting activities which would be detrimental to India’s interests and also affect the sentiments of the people”.
The MEA statement said India remains firm about opening the Kartarpur Corridor.
In order to take forward the infrastructure development for the Corridor in an expeditious manner, India has proposed to hold another meeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issues at the zero point agreed to at the last meeting, it said.
“Government of India remains committed to realise the long pending demand of the Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib using the Corridor in a safe, secure, smooth and easy manner,” the statement said.
Pakistan has thus been asked to give the clarifications.
There are also other gaps – like India had proposed for allowing about 5000 pilgrims whereas Pakistani numbers were much less. “We need clarifications on all these”.
India has accused earlier that Pakistan was being “insincere” on the Kartarpur corridor and said there was “sea of differences” between what the official Pakistani delegation offered at Attari and what Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had himself announced earlier.

New Delhi, March 28 (Nasheman News) India has opted against commenting at this stage on a draft initiated for consideration of the UNSC members to list Masood Azhar in the sanctions regime as part of international community’s efforts to fight against terrorism, sources said here on Thursday.

They said India’s views on Masood Azhar, the founder-leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist attacks in India including Pulwama terror attack in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed, are well known. 

The sources said it would not be appropriate to comment at this stage on a process which is entirely within the parameters of informal discussion of the United Nations Security Council and its members.

The United States has initiated a new effort for UN action against Azhar after several attempts to impose sanctions on him were blocked by China. The fresh move would force Beijing to take a public stand in the Security Council.

The US is circulating a draft resolution with the backing of Britain and France for the Security Council to condemn the February terrorist suicide-bombing in Pulwama and designate Azhar as an international terrorist who would be under the UN sanctions against Al Qaeda and similar persons and organisations.

New Delhi, March 28 (Nasheman News) India on Thursday expressed its disappointment over Pakistans response to its detailed dossier on Jaish-e-Mohammeds (JeM) complicity in the Pulwama terror attack and said that identical script was followed by Islamabad in the past after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 or in Pathankot in 2016.

India also said that Pakistan should take immediate, credible, irreversible and verifiable actions against terrorists and terror organisations operating from territories under its control. 

External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a media query that Islamabad continued to be in denial and even refused to acknowledge the Pulwama incident as a terror attack. 

He, however, said that India was still examining the paper handed over to it by Pakistan. 

“India is disappointed at Pakistan’s response to our detailed dossier on Jaish-e-Mohammed’s complicity in the cross-border terror attack in Pulwama and the presence of its terror camps and leadership in Pakistan. Regrettably, Pakistan continues to be in denial and even refuses to acknowledge Pulwama as a terror attack,” Kumar said. 

He also said that Pakistan did not share the details of the credible actions, if any, taken by it against terrorists or terrorist organisations based in territories under its control.

“We are hardly surprised, as this identical script was followed by Pakistan in the past after the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008 or in Pathankot in 2016. It is a well-known fact that the UN-designated terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. This was also acknowledged recently in international media by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister,” he said. 

Kumar said there was no dearth of sufficient actionable information and evidence in Pakistan to take action against them, provided there was sincerity and intent to do so. “Nevertheless, we are examining the paper handed over by Pakistan,” he said.

Kumar said Pakistan should abide by the commitment it made in 2004 and which its current leadership has recently repeated, i.e, vowing not to allow any territory under its control to be used for terrorism against India in any manner. 

Pakistan had on Wednesday sought more information from India on the involvement of the JeM in the Pulwama terror attack which killed 40 CRPF troopers on February 14, and the presence of JeM camps on its soil.

The Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad was recently called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the “preliminary findings” on the “Pulwama incident” were shared with him. 

India handed over the Pulwama dossier to Pakistan last month with details of JeM’s complicity in the attack, for which the terror outfit had claimed responsibility. 

Pakistan also claimed that it had examined 22 locations of terror training camps shared by India in connection with the Pulwama attack, but found no such camps and was willing to allow visits to the locations.

“While 54 detained individuals are being investigated, no details linking them to Pulwama have been found so far. Similarly, the 22 pin locations shared by India have been examined. No such camps exist. Pakistan is willing to allow visits, on request, to these locations,” it said.

It also said the Indian dossier contained 91 pages in six parts and only part 2 and part 3 pertained to the Pulwama incident. “Other parts are generalised allegations,” the Pakistan Foreign Affairs ministry said in a statement.

It said the investigation team had examined all the information provided by India, including the “confessional” video of Pulwama suicide bomber Adil Dar in which he “claimed” responsibility for the attack, the WhatsApp and telegram numbers used to share videos and messages, a list of 90 individuals suspected of belonging to a proscribed organisation and 22 pin locations of alleged training camps. 

It said the service providers have been requested for data, including the details of activities and contacts of the GSM number provided by India. 

“A request for assistance from WhatsApp has also been made to the US government. Additional information and documents from India would be essential to continue the process of investigations,” it said.