1. Urjit Patel Announces Shock Exit as RBI Governor Before Term
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel resigned from the position citing personal reasons with immediate effect on Monday, 10 December, nearly 10 months before the completion of his term in September next year.
The announcement that could potentially roil currency and equity markets on Tuesday triggered a political war of words, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh saying he hoped that Patel’s sudden resignation was not a “harbinger of the [Narendra] Modi government’s attempts to destroy” the institutional foundations of India’s $3 trillion economy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Patel left behind a great legacy and would be missed “immensely”.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Govt Wins Round 1, UK Court Orders Vijay Mallya Extradition
The Westminster’s Court in London, that gave a go-ahead for extradition of former Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) owner Vijay Mallya to India, also made some observations that were not very charitable about Indian banks involved in the episode, and detailed how Mallya laundered the loan funds.
The court observed that Mallya hid his assets and “divested it on to his three children in trust for their benefit”.
The order stated, “Dr Mallya was held in contempt by the Supreme Court. There is clear evidence of dispersal and misapplication of the loan funds, and I find a prima facie case (that) Dr Mallya was involved in a conspiracy to launder money.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Oppn Agrees to Joint ‘Action Plan’
Moving beyond the stage of joint Opposition meetings, leaders of 21 political parties on Monday, 10 December, agreed to work out an ‘action plan’ to effectively take on the Narendra Modi-led government ahead of the 2019 election.
However, leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), two big regional parties from the country’s largest state Uttar Pradesh with 80 Lok Sabha seats, did not attend the meeting.
“This is a process and as you can see this process is bringing together everybody. This process is going to be carried out in an open, friendly and respectful manner,” Congress president Rahul Gandhi told reporters when asked about the absence of the BSP and the SP.
Other Opposition leaders said they were looking at better floor coordination inside Parliament and issue-based, joint political programmes outside.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. Kushwaha Quits NDA Govt, Says Dejected By Leadership
Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) leader Upendra Kushwaha resigned from the Union council of ministers and walked out of the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what he called was a “nondemocratic” style of leadership.
Kushwaha, who announced his decision at a press conference in Delhi a day before the commencement of Parliament’s winter session, said he was keeping all options open, including teaming up with the Opposition.
Kushwaha was upset with an arrangement that aimed to distribute equal number of seats between the BJP and Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) in Bihar for next year’s general elections.
“Contesting fewer seats would have meant [for RLSP] that our voice would not have been heard inside Parliament,” Kushwaha said, spelling out why he was not happy with the seat-sharing proposal.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Poll Results, Patel’s Exit to Weigh on Mkts Today
Dalal Street investors are bracing for a roller coaster ride on Tuesday, 11 December, as the expected event of state poll results and the unexpected resignation of RBI governor Urjit Patel will possibly pull the indices down sharply at the open.
On other hand, large buying by government-run LIC after the initial fall could cushion the market’s fall by close, brokers and dealers said. However, market players are not sure, in case of a fall, how much to assign to negative poll results, if any, and how much to Patel’s resignation.
“In Monday’s fall (by 700 points), markets have already discounted BJP not doing well in these three states, but any surprises could catch the bears napping,” said Arun Kejriwal, director, KRIS, an investment advisory firm.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. No Tax on Withdrawals From NPS
The government on Monday, 10 December, announced a slew of changes to the National Pension Scheme (NPS), including increasing the government’s contribution, exempting withdrawals from tax, and also exempting up to Rs 1.5 lakh of contributions to the scheme from tax.
Prior to Monday’s change, NPS subscribers could withdraw 60 percent of the corpus, with 40 percent mandatorily being deposited in annuity schemes.
Of the 60 percent, one-third was taxable and two-third tax exempt. Following the changes, the entire 60 percent would be tax free.
Taken in combination with the fact that the 40 percent to be deposited in annuities was already tax exempt, the change means that the entire withdrawal from NPS will now be tax free.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. All Indians Should be Concerned, Says Ex-Guv Rajan
Reacting to Patel’s exit, Raghuram Rajan said, “This is something all Indians should be concerned about because strength of our institutions is really important for... sustainable growth and equity in the economy.”
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who was himself RBI governor, said, “At a time when the Indian economy is faced with many headwinds, this is very unfortunate and a severe blow to the Indian economy.”
Rajan also called Patel’s resignation a “statement of dissent” and said the government should be “very careful in dealing with it so that the autonomy of the institution as well as its credibility is preserved”.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. In a First, India Win Opening Test Down Under
India walked off the scene of heartbreak on their last Test tour of Australia with their heads held high on Monday, 10 December.
The dramatic, nailbiting 31-run win was only their sixth Test victory in Australia over 70 years, and their first ever in the opening match of a series. It ended when off spinner R Ashwin got last man Josh Hazlewood caught at slip off the penultimate delivery of the extended middle session on the final day.
The team first rushed to him in celebration and then to collect the stumps as souvenirs, joy and relief in equal measure, after Australia’s lower order batsmen had raised hopes of an improbable fightback chasing a record 323.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. NRC: Assam Seeks Month’s Extension
The Assam government moved the Supreme Court on Monday, 10 December, for extending by a month the deadline to file claims and objections for inclusion in the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Nariman on 1 November approved the Centre’s draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for submission of claims. It kept 15 December as the last date for filing claims by those excluded from the draft published on 30 July.
In its application, filed by advocate Shuvodeep Roy, the government cited the panchayat elections in the state and the exhaustive nature of the claims and objections form as the major reasons for seeking more time. It was not easy for semi-literate and illiterate persons to fill the forms.
(Source: The Hindu)
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