1. Interim Budget, Final Pitch
Combining a report card of its past performance and a political economy manifesto for the future, with the obvious aim of turning sentiment and rebuilding the multi-class, multi-caste, multi-regional coalition that brought it to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government presented on Friday, 1 February, its final Budget ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In what was billed as an “interim” budget but turned out to be an expansive, and explicitly political one, interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal reached out to the urban and small-town middle-class with a proposal for a significant tax sop; small and marginal farmers with a first of its kind national-level income support scheme; and workers in the unorganised sector with a pension scheme.
Goyal is in charge of the finance portfolio in the absence of Arun Jaitley, who is recovering from an illness.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Vadra Seeks Anticipatory Bail in London Property Case
Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary of eastern UP, moved an anticipatory bail plea in a Delhi court on Friday in connection with a money-laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The case, related to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a 1.9 million pounds property in London, is listed for hearing on Saturday, 2 February.
Vadra’s move comes close on the heels of the court granting anticipatory bail to his alleged aide Manoj Arora, who is also accused in the case. The court gave Arora interim relief from arrest till 6 February.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. Jaitley on NSSO Job Data Report: Absurd to Say Economy Growing Without Job Creation
Reacting to the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) job survey of 2017-18 that records a surge in the unemployment rate to over 6 percent, a 45-year high, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that it is not a report but a draft which has not been approved.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Jaitley said, “Let me clear the disinformation here. If our average real GDP growth is 7.5 percent and inflation is 4.5 percent, which at the moment is 2.19 percent, then our nominal growth adding the two is about 11.5 to 12 percent. If the economy is growing at 12 percent nominal growth for the last five years, it would be an economic absurdity to say that such a large economic growth, the highest in the world, doesn’t lead to the creation of jobs.”
“If no job creation takes place then there is social unrest. This has been a peace period where no major social agitation has been witnessed in the last five years,” he added.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Ravi Pujari Busted at Barber’s in Senegal
Gangster Ravi Pujari, wanted in over 200 cases in India, was picked up from a barber shop in the Dakar, the capital of Senegal on 21 January, said the Karnataka chief minister’s office on Friday, 1 February, citing a communique from the western African country. Three busloads of Senegalese policemen were deployed for the arrest, the CMO said.
The notorious extortionist, wanted in dozens of cases of threat calls to Bollywood stars, and even a prominent industrialist, has been on the run for years. He had an Interpol Red Corner Notice, updated several times, against him. “We have confirmation of his arrest in Senegal and are preparing case documents for his extradition,” said Mumbai’s JCP (crime), Ashutosh Dumbre.
Ravi Pujari was a partner in a chain of restaurants in several West African countries, including Guinea, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. Karnataka police, who were on Pujari’s trail when he was in Burkina, initially lost track of him. Eventually, Pujari was traced in an operation involving India’s intelligence agencies, Karnataka police and Gujarat ATS, besides African authorities.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications Files for Insolvency
Reliance Communications, controlled by the Anil Ambani group, on Friday decided to opt for insolvency proceedings through the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) after failing to sell assets to pay up debt to the tune of around Rs 45,000 crore.
“RCom board of directors decides upon implementation of debt resolution plans through NCLT framework,” the company said in a statement. The board of directors of RCom on Friday reviewed the progress of the company’s debt resolution plans since the invocation of strategic debt resolution on 2 June 2017.
RCom’s plan to sell spectrum to Reliance Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, did not materialise. Swedish telecom firm Ericsson had earlier filed a petition before the NCLT to invoke insolvency proceedings against RCom.
The RCom board noted that despite the passage of over 18 months, lenders have received zero proceeds from the proposed asset monetisation plans, and the overall debt resolution process is yet to make any headway, the statement said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Opposition Unites on EVM Issue, to Approach EC on Monday
As many as 21 Opposition parties Friday came together and decided to approach the Election Commission on Monday to demand that at least 50 percent of the VVPATs or paper trails be tallied with the EVM results in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. They said there is doubt in the minds of many people about the EVM system being fair.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, CPI leader D Raja and DMK’s Kanimozhi were among the leaders who attended the meeting. The BSP and SP, which recently announced an alliance in Uttar Pradesh without the Congress, also attended the meeting, as did the AAP.
Saying “everybody is quite excited to work together”, Rahul said the Opposition has “put together a document” which will be submitted to the EC. Congress leaders said the main demand would be that at least 50 percent of the VVPATs or paper trails should be tallied with the EVM results in the Lok Sabha elections.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Two Pilots Dead as IAF Jet Crashes in B’luru
Two pilots of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were killed on Friday after their Mirage 2000 fighter jet crashed during takeoff at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in Bengaluru.
The French-origin trainer aircraft, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, was on an acceptance sortie after being upgraded at HAL, an IAF spokesperson said in New Delhi. IAF has ordered a probe into the accident that comes four days after a Jaguar aircraft went down in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
First inducted into IAF in 1984, Friday’s crash was the 11th accident involving the Mirage 2000 fleet. The IAF is now left with 48 Mirage 2000 fighters.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. PM-Led Panel Zeroes in on 5 Names for Next CBI Director
The PM-led selection panel on the CBI director’s appointment on Friday narrowed down the search to five IPS officers belonging to the 1983 and 1984 batches amid indications that a final decision on a new CBI chief may be reached on Saturday.
The meeting, which considered a shortlist of 30-odd IPS officers picked from an exhaustive list of 80 eligible officers belonging to 1983-85 batches, managed to further cut down the list to five — former Madhya Pradesh DGP Rishi Kumar Shukla (1983 MP cadre), CRPF chief R R Bhatnagar (1984 UP), NSG chief Sudeep Lakhtakia (1984 UP), National Institute of Criminology & Forensic Sciences director Javeed Ahmed (1985 UP) and BPR&D chief A P Maheshwari (1984 UP).
Congress’s leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is believed to have raised some reservations regarding the choice of officers based on their ranking as per seniority and experience.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. 129 Indian Students Arrested in US Immigration Fraud
The United States authorities had arrested 129 Indians enrolled at a fake university run by undercover agents in Detroit, Michigan to expose a “pay-to-stay” immigration fraud till Thursday, 31 January, and officials have said that more apprehensions can be expected.
They have been placed in “removal proceedings” — marked for deportation, in other words — and will remain in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until the conclusion of their case by immigration courts.
US prosecutors announced Thursday the arrest of eight men of Indian descent for using the fake university, University of Farmington, to run a “pay-to-stay” for foreigners to stay on student visa and work.
The institute, which touted itself as a “nationally accredited business and STEM institution”, had no instructors and ran no classes or educational activities. It has since been shut down and its website has been taken down.
It enrolled at least 600 students, officials have said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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