1. RBI Cuts Interest Rate Second Time This Year
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut key interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday, 4 April, its second reduction in two months, seeking to lift economic growth and consumer spending and lower borrowing costs in a move that comes just a week before the start of polling in the seven-phase general election.
RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) reduced the repo rate at which it lends short-term money to commercial banks, to 6 percent from 6.25 percent.
The central bank lowered the reverse repo rate, at which it borrows money from commercial lenders, to 5.75 percent from 6 percent. It maintained a neutral policy stance, meaning that it’s not in favour of either increasing or lowering the interest rates.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. In 1st Message After Poll Race Exit, LK Advani Says Nation First, Party Next
Veteran BJP leader LK Advani on Thursday, 4 April put out a blog post - his first in five years - to mark the BJP’s foundation day on 6 April.
Advani, who has been the sitting MP from Gandhinagar since 1991, expressed his gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar for having “elected him to the Lok Sabha six times”. “Their love and support has always overwhelmed me,” he wrote.
Advani will not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The BJP has, instead, fielded party president Amit Shah from Gandhinagar.
In his blog addressing the BJP workers, Advani wrote that the foundation day of the party “is an important occasion for all of us in the BJP to look back, look ahead and look within.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. President Kovind Sends Election Commission Note on Kalyan Singh to Centre
Days after the Election Commission wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind about Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) with his remark that Narendra Modi should be re-elected as the Prime Minister, the President has forwarded the communication to the Home Ministry.
The file was sent to the Home Ministry after the President returned on Thursday, 4 April, from a state visit to Croatia, Bolivia and Chile. There was no official comment from Rashtrapati Bhavan but sources said the President has forwarded the EC’s communication “as is routine”.
According to the Constitution, the President will take a decision based on the advice of the government. The Home Ministry is the administrative authority for Governors who are appointed by the President under Article 156 of the Constitution.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Anyone Who Calls Army ‘Modiji Ki Sena’ Is a Traitor: VK Singh
VK Singh, junior minister for external affairs and BJP candidate from Ghaziabad, said on Thursday, 4 April, that those terming the Indian Army “Modi Sena” were not only wrong, but also traitors to the nation.
The comment of the former Army chief, seen in the context of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s controversial remark dubbing armed forces as “Modi Ki Sena” with reference to the air strikes on Balakot in Pakistan, immediately sparked a controversy even though Singh said he did not know the reference.
The Election Commission has already issued a notice to Yogi for the comment made at an election rally.
“Which army are you talking about?” Singh told BBC in an apparent reference to Adityanath’s remarks.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Mother Dairy Invested Rs 190 Cr in IL&Fs, Sent SOS to PM After Default
Days before IL&FS defaulted on loan repayments in the last week of August, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Ltd (MDFVL) decided to make a series of investments totalling over Rs 190 crore in the beleaguered infrastructure company.
MDFVL, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board that produces, processes and sells dairy products, fruits and vegetables, invested Rs 190.84 crore in inter-corporate deposits of IL&FS (for a period of 8-16 days) in a series of six transactions between 20 August 2018 and 28 August 2018.
These investments happened at a time when the IL&FS Group’s debt woes were in the public domain and the IL&FS group was busy selling its assets to raise funds to honour its debt repayments.
In February 2019, seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in recovering the due amount (Rs 190.84 crore) from IL&FS, Sanjeev Khanna, the CEO of MDFVL, wrote a letter to the PM appraising him of the situation and that the IL&FS default has “weakened” the company’s ability to pay to the farmers.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. We Didn’t Study CST Bridge Audit Report Fully, Admits Chief Engineer in BMC Meet
Virtually admitting its negligence of the Himalaya foot overbridge that crashed last month, BMC said on Thursday, 4 April, that civic engineers did not fully study its structural audit report submitted in September.
The FOB crash killed six persons and injured 31.
The bridges department chief engineer said this at the standing committee meeting when corporators pointed out that while the report summary said the FOB was in good condition, the detailed conditional assessment mentioned cracks in the parapet/railing, staircase being broken, concrete slabs having been corroded and beams being exposed.
It had recommended a non-destructive test to assess the residual strength of the steel structure and a few tests to ascertain the concrete’s strength and quality. However, none of these tests was conducted by BMC.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. AFSPA Needs to Be Reviewed to Make It More Humane: Hooda
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) needs to be reviewed to make it more humane as well as accord better protection to soldiers deployed in counter-militancy operations, Lt Gen D S Hooda (Retd), who oversaw the cross-border “surgical strikes” as the Northern Army Command chief in September 2016, said
Lt Gen Hooda also said the national security strategy (NSS) vision document he prepared for Congress does not talk about either the AFSPA or the number of troops required to combat insurgency in J&K.
“There is no reference to AFSPA or troop deployment, one way or the other, because these are tactical issues. The NSS document instead is a long-term vision paper about what the country’s national security should be in the years ahead,” he told TOI.
This comes amid BJP’s blistering attack on Congress for promising in its manifesto to review AFSPA as well as the deployment of armed forces in Jammu & Kashmir.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. Four BSF Jawans Killed in Encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh
Four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and two others injured in an encounter with Maoists in Chhattisgarh on Thursday, 4 April, police said.
“Four personnel including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) were killed in the encounter. The exchange of fire started when a team of 114 Battalion of BSF personnel deployed in Pakhanjur town was on a routine combing operation near Mahala village,” IG Bastar, Vivekanand Sinha said.
The IG added that Maoists also suffered causalities in the exchange of fire but they escaped into the jungles.
“We have started a massive combing operation in Maoist-affected areas of Kanker district and we are hoping for results in the next few hours,” SP Kanker, RL Druve said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Michel Has Named Top Congress Neta: ED’s Agusta Charge Sheet
British national Christian Michel, alleged to be a key middleman in the AgustaWestland deal, has disclosed that of various abbreviations mentioned in a “budget sheet” containing details of kickbacks, “AP” is supposed to mean a prominent Congress politician, the Enforcement Directorate’s supplementary chargesheet has said.
In the chargesheet, the fourth in the case, ED said that according to Michel, the entry “fam” meant “family”.
These abbreviations relate to the alleged kickbacks of 30 million euros paid to “Air Force officials”, “bureaucrats”, “defence ministry officials” and “top political leaders of the then ruling party”.
(Source: The Times of India)