1. Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, To Vote Today
Mizoram, the last bastion of Congress in the Northeast, is going to polls on Wednesday, 28 November. The party is eyeing a third consecutive term, while the main rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Mizo National Front, are looking to make serious inroads into the 40-member Assembly.
The state of Madhya Pradesh, with 230 assembly seats, will also go to polls on Wednesday. In a one-on-one battle with the BJP, the Congress is looking to topple the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government that has been in power for the past three terms.
2. NPAs on Downhill Path Since March Peak, Says RBI
Both gross and net non-performing assets (NPAs) of scheduled commercial banks have reduced in the two quarters ending 30 September 2018 since their peak in March 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Tuesday, 27 November.
However, the RBI did point out that the profitability of banks was still impacted due to a decline in earnings from loan assets and on higher provisioning required due to deterioration in asset quality.
That said, it highlighted the bank credit growth that had accelerated over the last two quarters.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. Wheelchair-Bound Woman Forced to Stand Up at Mumbai Airport Checking
Union Minister Jayant Sinha has responded to a differently-abled woman who had complained of alleged mistreatment by the security personnel at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSIA).
“Really sorry for the suffering that you went through,” Sinha, the minister of state for civil aviation, said on Twitter.
He asked officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which mans airports in the country, and Mumbai airport to redress the matter.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Ban on Hafiz Saeed Outfits Not Lifted: Pakistan Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain
Pakistan Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said the nation was “bound by UN resolutions” and asserted that the country had not lifted its ban on Hafiz Saeed’s organisations, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud- Dawa and Falah-I-Insaniyat Foundation.
“We are bound by the UN resolution (under UNSC 1267). So there is no question of lifting the ban,” Mr. Hussain told The Hindu in an exclusive interview. “There is just a misconception because of the lapse of the [anti-terror] Ordinance,” the Minister added.
The Minister’s statement is in sharp contrast to a submission made in court in October, when lawyers for Hafiz Saeed told the Islamabad High Court that an Ordinance banning the outfits had lapsed.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. Airdrop Electric Poles in Cyclone-Hit Areas: Tamil Nadu Minister
Tamil Nadu Forest Minister Dindigul C Sreenivasan known for his gaffes was at it again. This time for urging the Centre to help the state with flights and choppers to airdrop electric poles in areas devastated by cyclone Gaja.
“Our electricity board workers are struggling to replace the damaged poles. It is very hard to bring electric poles to the farmland. Therefore, the union government should intervene and provide flights and choppers to place new poles,” Sreenivaasan said on Tuesday, 27 November.
He was addressing a meeting at cyclone wrecked Nagapattinam. The Gaja cyclone is estimated to have uprooted more than 15,000 electric poles across seven coastal districts and the government says it may take several weeks to have all of them back in action.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Pakistan to Invite PM Modi For SAARC Summit in Islamabad: Report
Pakistan Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, 27 November, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be invited to Islamabad for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit, Dawn reported. The previous summit in 2016 was cancelled after India backed out following the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri where 19 soldiers died.
The last summit of the leaders of the eight SAARC countries was convened in Kathmandu in late 2014. Recalling Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks that if India took one step forward, Pakistan would take two, Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal pitched for dialogue with New Delhi to solve all contentious issues.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Urjit Patel to House Panel: Demonetisation Impact Transient, Economy Now Robust
For the first time since the RBI-Centre tussle, RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Tuesday, 27 November, appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance, of which former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a member, and said the impact of demonetisation was transient and the economy was robust.
This is probably the first time when an RBI Governor has been called by a panel thrice on the same issue. Prior to this, Patel shared details related to demonetisation with the panel in June and July last year. The governor also told the 31-member Parliamentary panel, headed by Congress leader Veerappa Moily, that the economy would get a boost from oil prices cooling off from four-year highs.
(Source: Indian Express)
8. Man Pulled Out of Police Van, Beaten to Death in UP’s Shamli
A man was dragged out of a police vehicle and beaten to death in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli on Monday, 26 November. In a video that has gone viral, the police can be seen just standing and not making any attempt to save the man.
One person has been arrested and police are on the lookout for five others who attacked the victim identified as Rajendra.
Shamli Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar said that a police team had gone to village Hathchoya on Monday evening after receiving a complaint that Rajendra, apparently drunk, was creating nuisance in the area. He was taken into custody.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Mithali Raj accuses Diana Edulji of bias, claims ‘people out to destroy me’
India’s captain in the ODI format, Mithali Raj has accused BCCI Committee of Administrators (CoA) member and former player Diana Edulji of bias after she was dropped from for the semi-final against England in the ICC Women’s World T20. A controversy had erupted since the experienced batsman’s exclusion from the team and the team’s subsequent exit from the tournament.
Raj slammed the team coach Ramesh Powar for humiliating her in her first reaction to the development. In a letter she shot off to the BCCI, she said that “a few people in power are out to destroy me.”
(Source: Indian Express)
10. Trains Carrying Shiv Sainiks Caused a Worry For Maharashtra, UP CMs
Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh mulled over some tense moments before eventually permitting the departure of two special trains ferrying 3,000 Shiv Sainiks to Ayodhya last week.
Sources said the UP government had conveyed its reservations over thousands of Sainiks shouting “Har Hindu ka yahi pukar, pehle mandir phir sarkar” entering its jurisdiction, possibly leading to serious law and order issues.
Reacting to the concerns, General Manager of the Central Railways DK Sharma had to call off the train journeys just an hour before departure from Thane and Nasik stations.
(Source: The Hindu)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)