1. BJP Reaches Out to Oppn Over Next President
With the Election Commission notifying the Presidential election and hours before the Opposition met to discuss its candidates, the ruling BJP on Wednesday reached out to the Congress, the CPM and other parties to begin a consultation exercise on the issue.
Sources said that Union I&B Minister M Venkaiah Naidu sent word to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and contacted CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury to initiate consultations. Naidu also spoke to the NCP’s Praful Patel and the BSP’s Satish Chandra Mishra to finalise meetings with NCP chief Sharad Pawar and BSP leader Mayawati.
BJP sources indicated that the NDA candidate will file the nomination papers on 23 June and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to be present – he will leave for the US on 24 June.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Shivraj Visits Mandsaur, Says Culprits Won't Be Spared
They were words that Rekha Bai had been waiting to hear for a long time from Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who reached Mandsaur on Wednesday morning, eight days after five farmers were killed in a police firing. The CM had come to Mandsaur to meet some of the family members of those who had died in the 10-day farmers’ agitation.
“I am personally looking into the matter and the culprits will not be spared,” the Chief Minister said. Chouhan addressed Rekha Bai and other women present at the house of Durgalal Dhakad, whose 32-year-old son Ghanshyam, a resident of the Badwan village, was allegedly beaten up by police in the violence-hit Mandsaur district on 6 June.
Meanwhile, two more farmers committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh, fifth since the Mandsaur protests.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Day After UK Court Relief, ED Charges Vijay Mallya, Others
A day after a London court granted Vijay Mallya relief till December in an extradition case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday submitted a chargesheet in a Mumbai special court against the businessman and six others in a Rs 900-crore money laundering case.
The directorate will send a copy of the chargesheet, which runs into over 5,000 pages, to the United Kingdom to make the case against the businessman stronger. ED lawyer HS Venegaonkar said the chargesheet will add to the evidence produced by India before the courts in London.
Besides Mallya, also named are Kingfisher's chief financial officer A Raghunathan, IDBI Bank's former chairman and managing director Yogesh Agrawal, and four others.
(Source: Times of India)
4. Short-Term Crop Loans at 4 Percent to Douse Unrest
In a move that seems intended to douse the unrest after the violence in Mandsaur and farmer protests in Maharashtra, the Centre has increased the quantum of its ongoing scheme of cheaper loans for farmers from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,339 crore.
The proposal states that the measure is intended to help farmers withstand the pressure of distress sale of produce by accessing concessional lending where they get short-term loans up to Rs 3 lakh at an interest rate of 4 percent if they return the amount on time within a year.
The proposal for an increase in the budget for such loans was framed on 7 June, a day after the Mandsaur firing that killed six farmers.
(Source: Times of India)
5. Kochi Metro Inauguration: ‘Metroman’ Sreedharan’s Name Amiss
The absence of E Sreedharan, ‘Metroman’ and Principal Adviser, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC); Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala; and local Congress legislator PT Thomas from the list of those who are to share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the inauguration of Reach I of the Kochi metro on Saturday has triggered a row. The inauguration was mired in a row earlier when a Kerala minister announced that the State would go ahead with the inauguration even if PM Modi was not available.
In the list prepared by Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) and forwarded by the State to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), 17 were to share the dais with the Prime Minister when he formally commissions the 13.4-km elevated corridor from Aluva to Palarivattom.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. GST Days Away, Discount Sales of Gadgets, Apparel Flood Markets
As the countdown to the roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) enters its last leg, discount sales on goods such as large electronic appliances, apparel, mobile accessories and footwear are picking pace across online platforms and traditional offline retail format stores.
Reason: retailers are staring at lower margins on certain products stocked before 1 July, on which the net tax incidence is expected to be higher, alongside concerns over paperwork involved with existing stock.
While white goods such as air-conditioners are available at discounts ranging between 10-40 percent, some apparel companies are offering discounts as high as 50 percent on their products, with flash sales offering retailers an opportunity to clear slow-moving inventory.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Monsoon Fury in Northeast Continues
Manipur, Mizoram and parts of Assam continued to face the brunt of floods, as monsoon rain continued to lash several parts of the Northeast.
Flash floods have submerged many areas in Manipur, while water from Mizoram's hills threatens to submerge parts of Hailakandi district in south Assam's Barak Valley. The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) has issued flood alerts in Lakhimpur, Sonitpur, Darrang, Dhemaji and Karimganj.
This is the second time that Manipur is experiencing flash floods after the one triggered by pre-monsoon rain. The Nambul river, which flows through the heart of Imphal, overflowed on Tuesday night, inundating Sagolband in Imphal West.
The Imphal River, also flowing above danger level, breached its embankment at Kairang in Imphal East early Wednesday morning. At least 30 houses were flooded. The water receded today after the rains stopped but was still above danger level, official sources said.
(Source: The Telegraph)
8. MHA Report Passes Off Spain-Morocco Photo as Indo-Pak Border
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its annual report purportedly used a picture of the international border running between Spain and Morocco instead of India’s border with Pakistan, while detailing information on floodlighting in the area. The picture, which is carried with the caption ‘Floodlighting along the Border’ was published in the ministry’s 2016-17 annual report. Responding to the alleged goof-up, the ministry on Wednesday said it is enquiring into the incident.
Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said the ministry will apologise if there is a mistake. “If there is a mistake, we will apologise,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. St Stephen's Releases Cut-Off List, English at 98.5%
St Stephen's College released its first list on Wednesday for undergraduate courses with the highest cut-off of 98.5 per cent set for English and Economics.
To be eligible for interview for English honours, students who studied commerce need 98.5 percent, those with science 98 percent and those with humanities 97.5 percent in their Best of Four Subjects (BFS) in the Class XII board exams, according to the college website.
For Economics, the cut-off is 98.5 for commerce students and 97.5 for humanities and science students. The cut-off for English at the Delhi University college was a notch higher at 99 percent and a bit lower at 98.25 percent for Economics last year.
(Source: The Telegraph)
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