Boris Johnson’s Pune, Mumbai trip in jeopardy

British PM is to visit two cities April end 

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat 

New Delhi, April 2

Maharashtra's alarming Covid-19 situation and high positivist rate of more than 14% has put British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit to Pune & Mumbai in jeopardy.

Johnson is slated to visit New Delhi sometime on April 26-27 and as part of his itinerary was contemplating visiting Pune, Mumbai etc.

Johnson is eager to visit Pune which is the world's largest vaccine manufacture facility, Serum Institute of India (SII). SII has been producing Oxford Astrazeneca's vaccine Covishield, which has been exported to many countries from there. British officials are struggling to take a call on Pune visit and in touch with Indian counterparts.

This is the second time the British Prime Minister is contemplating visiting India. He was to be country's Chief Guest during the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. But Britain was hit hard by another Covid wave and lockdown was declared forcing cancellation of his trip.

The April trip was finalised when the situation started improving in the UK and it looked as if the second wave won't hit India. However, Maharashtra is among the worst hit among eight states. As if this was enough, Pune and Mumbai top the list of districts in highest reported cases. A night Curfew has been imposed in Pune from today and the situation continues to be alarming in Mumbai too.

The cases have risen at a rapid speed in Maharashtra from 15000 or so on March 15 and have trebled in less in 17 days. Though the state tops the country in terms of vaccination.

UK as the chair of the G7 grouping has invited India for the meeting of the grouping in June. Indian PM Modi will be traveling to the country for the summit, which could see its first in-person quad meeting as well. Both sides are also working on a trade deal.

Govt Orders probe over Fake Farmers accounts

• PM-KISAN fund embezzled
• Rs. 61 crores recovered in TN alone 

Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

New Delhi, Oct. 20

Alarmed over the busting of fake farmer beneficiaries of the Prime Minister’s much touted PM-KISAN scheme, the Centre has ordered a nation-wide probe into the massive leakage of funds. The Centre has released more than Rs one lakh crores into 11.07 crores farmers accounts under the scheme including 1.10 crores in Maharashtra. 

• 
  Total Number of Farmers: 14.64 crores 
• PM-KISAN beneficiaries: 11.07 crores
• Maharashtra beneficiary: 1.10 crores
• Amount Released: Rs 1.10 lakh crores
• Fake farmers detected : 5.38 lakhs in TN
• Probe ordered, Random checking to begin

The Centre has asked state governments to physically verify their genuineness and decided for random checking of at least 5-6% such accounts physically. The Centre transfers Rs 2000 every four months into all eligible farmers accounts. The massive scam surfaced in Tamil Nadu. Top government officials in the Agriculture Ministry told Lokmat that “some unscrupulous elements had misused the login-id and password credentials of district officials under the scheme for bulk booking of ineligible persons,” said the ministry. 

The Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar admitted that large scale bungling had taken place in the PM-KISAN scheme in Tamil Nadu. The probe revealed that out of 5.95 lakh beneficiaries accounts verified till 15th September 2020, 5.38 lakh were ineligible. The Services of 96 contractual staff were terminated, 52 persons including contractual staff were arrested and a large number of FIRs registered.

Since it is the responsibility of states to identify beneficiaries, the onus is also on them to recover money lost and refund the amount to the Centre. “An amount of Rs. 61 Crore has been recovered” said the official. A worried Centre has ordered a country-wide probe to find out the existence of bungling in other states too. Highly placed sources in the government told Lokmat that the Centre would initiate steps to physically verify beneficiaries of the PM-KISAN scheme soon.

PMO’s sermon to Ministers & leaders, No Anti-China rhetoric, for now

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

• No Anti-China rhetoric, for now
• No Lowering of Guards either

New Delhi, July 10
Without lowering the guards on the LAC in Galwan and other areas, the government has signaled the anti-China rhetoric be kept at low pitch.

The Prime Minister’s Office has signaled to the ministers and the BJP functionaries nothing should be spoken or hinted even remotely in public until Pre-May status quo in restored in Ladakh.

The frontal organizations and trade bodies closely connected with the saffron party have been conveyed to restrain in their anti-China rhetoric.

In fact, no government minister including members of the Cabinet Committee of Security (CCS) has uttered a word since disengagement announcement on July 7. The Modi government is closely watching how fast the Chinese move back to their original positions and holding its horses till then.

The Chinese foreign Minister Wang Li had added an interesting line in his July 7 statement while smoking the peace pipe. He said, “We hope India can work with China to guide public opinion in the right direction……. avoid amplifying the differences and complicating matter so as to jointly uphold the big picture of Indo-China relations.”

Obviously, the Chinese want India to guide its public opinion and stop strong anti-China rhetoric and recall all anti-China steps taken by any departments, states and companies to restore full normalcy.

The boycott Chinese goods call has suddenly gone silent. It is authoritatively learnt that a workable formula is being evolved with the promoters of some of the 59 Chinese Apps to restore status quo ante.

It is in this context that the Tik Tok’s owner ByteDance company is even considering moving its headquarters out of China along with the video-conferencing operations. It means India’s security concerns will be addressed in terms of data safety as servers will be moved to India too. It has two servers already in India.

Authoritative sources in the government say that except for the 59 App ban, there has not been any strong action initiated against any of the Chinese companies by any of the ministries and departments. Even cancellation of contracts here and there by any agency was on technical ground and not because of their place of Chinese origin.

BJP High command tells state leaders

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

"keep quiet !”

BJP High command tells state leaders

Issue to be resolved in 3 days

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct 30

The BJP high command has cautioned Maharashtra BJP leaders not to speak out of turn and avoid any comments detrimental to alliance with Shiv Sena in the state.

It was pointed out that neither BJP president Amit Shah and nor any central leader of the party has spoken on demands by the Shiv Sena raised day-in and day-out. There are certain elements in the Sena who are adding fuel to the fire and creating complications in the smooth sailing of the alliance.

In fact, the high command is watching the situation closely and all senior leaders like working president J P Nadda, Information & Braodcasting and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav are in loop. The party leaders will hold internal discussions once the Prime Minister is free from his diplomatic priorities. There is no hurry or pressure to seal the deal either.

A senior minister told Lokmat on the condition of anonymity, “We will solve the issue in three days.” He reminded that Sena was throwing similar tantrums before the Lok Sabha polls too and once BJP president Amit Shah held a close-door meeting with Uddhav Thackeray, everything was sorted out.

Of course, there will be power sharing arrangement between the two parties. But the BJP had roped in several smaller parties also in the alliance. Therefore, it is working out modalities of sharing power with its “historic ally” within its own set up first. There is a possibility that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis may make a brief trip to Delhi to brief the high command on the situation.

Ends 

Ram Temple Tops RSS agenda at 3-day conclave

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report 

Ram Temple Tops RSS agenda at 3-day conclave

RSS brass' 3-day meet in Bhubneshwar

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct 10

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) working committee will brainstorm on key issues of Ram Temple, Article 370, National Citizenship Register and other key issues in Bhubneshwar. There are reports that the issue of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) may also come up during the brainstorming running into five days. While on October 15, all senior RSS workers will be part of the congregation- first major exercise in the Odisha Capital. The next day, members of the executive committee which is a larger forum will review the overall situation including the political situation.

Thereafter, three days Working Committee will be convened between October 17-20 where key policy decisions of the past will be reviewed and agenda next will be debated and finalised.

The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and General Secretary Bhayyaji Joshi will participate in the meeting apart from joint general secretaries Dattaterya Hosabole, Krishan Gopal, Manmohan Vaidya and others. The chiefs of 55-odd frontal organisations have also been invited at the three day conclave. There is a likelihood that BJP president Amit Shah and working president J P Nadda may take part for a day. VHP International Chief Alok Kumar has been specifically asked to be present as the Ram Temple issue is to be discussed in great detail. It seems a strategy is to worked out as the Ayodhya verdict will be out in November. The VHP has already said big preparations for the Ram Temple construction will begin.

There is a view in the RSS that UCC can wait for sometime as Ram Temple is of prime importance and process of construction must begin at a faster pace after the verdict.

The state of the economy and global warming, Upcoming Legislative Assembly elections

are among other subjects. The RSS also wants the government to seriously take up the issue of religious conversions and population control. Since the RSS chief has openly praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi on more than one occasion, its a clear sign of bon-homie between the RSS and the BJP. 

Modi sends 8 top officers to Maharashtra, Goa

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Pre-poll push for PM's schemes

Modi sends 8 top officers to Maharashtra, Goa

Officers to camp at 8 districts

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct 27

Eight senior officers of the rank of additional secretaries and joint secretaries are being deputed shortly by the Prime Minister to Maharashtra & Goa to camp in eight clusters to over-see welfare work 8 clusters.

These officers have been identified and will be sent to these eight districts after under-going training program. These officers will be deputed Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Sangli, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Thane and North Goa. These senior IAS officers will camp in these aspirational districts to over-see the implementation of Prime Minister Modi's welfare schemes.

The PM plans to depute nearly 750 officers of the Centre who will be tasked in coming months to cover 45,000 villages in 115 ‘aspirational districts’ with seven government schemes. The scheme is being closely monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office.

An officer has been designated for every 75 villages and each has been tasked to undertake at least three visits to the village spanning four seven days. While each district has been assigned a ‘prabhari officer’ in a joint or an additional secretary role, 322 directors and deputy secretary officers and another 322 under-secretaries have been assigned the jobs of ‘nodal officers’. Four to 10 such nodal officers have been tagged with each prabhari officer, who will assign villages for tour scheduling and coordinate the visits of nodal officers. In the first phase, 80 officers have been chosen who will visit 80 districts spanning over several states.

The government is also set to announce a package of benefits for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) spread across these 80 districts. They will monitor social security benefits for workers

The scheme is part of Modi's pre-election push for the MSME sector which employs over a 120 million people in over 6 crores units. The list of clusters range from food processing units to steel ancillary, to Pharma and other sectors in these seven districts of Maharashtra and one in Goa. They will work with officers from banks, EPFO, ECIS, SIDBI to ensure that targets are met. The officers will see whether these units have been trained to get the benefits of government's e-marketplace (GeM) portal.

This will help them to ensure that government and its agencies can buy directly from the small units.

54 of 77 Modi ministers fail to file their Asset details

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

54 of 77 Modi ministers fail to file their Asset details

Modi foregoes his royalty from books  

Jaitley richest, Paswan poorest

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct.14

A large number of Ministers in the Modi government have not heeded to the directive of the Prime Minister to file their assets and liabilities details by August 31, 2017.

According to official details available, only 23 ministers of the 77-member Council of Ministers have complied with the directive and filed their return which is mandatory under the rules and procedures. Of the 28 Cabinet Ministers including the Prime Minister, 19 filed their return. However, the compliance went for a toss when it came to Ministers of State. Of the 48 Ministers of state including those holding Independent charge, only four deemed it fit to submit their assets/liabilities return. The Prime Minister was most prompt in complying his own directive and was the first to declare his assets followed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Health Minister J P Nadda, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also filed their return.

But Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal who is amongst the richest women Union Ministers with Rs 87.45 crores (2014-15) has not declared her assets for the current year. Woman & Child Welfare Minister Maneka Gandhi, Heavy Industries Minister Anant Geete, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Home Minister Rajnath Singh , Chemicals & Fertiulizers Minister Ananth Kumar are among those who didn't file their return so far. It may, however, be mentioned that all the ministers had filed their return as desired during 2014-15 and 2015-16. But they didn't comply during this reason.

According to the Code of Conduct issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is mandatory for Union Ministers to furnish details of their assets and liabilities every year by August 31. The code applies to states as well and needs to include full disclosure of ministers’ family members as well. The asset declaration has to include the assets of the wife and dependent children and also give details of liabilities. 

For instance, the assets of Prakash Javadekar are pegged at Rs 7.86 crores. But he and his wife have a liability of Rs 3.05 crores. A glance at the return filed by the ministers including the PM showed that there has not been any astronomical rise in their income & assets. The rise has been very marginal. The declaration made by PM makes an interesting reading where in his fixed deposits have swelled from Rs 51.27 lakhs to Rs 90.26 lakhs. Surprisingly, the PM's income from royalty of book vanished in thin air during 2016-17. During the previous year, Modi earned Rs 12.35 lakhs from the sale of his books as royalty. It seems, he has given royalty as charity which remains undisclosed. His income showed a growth of Rs 28 lakhs to Rs 2.01 crores whereas his income during 2015-16 was Rs 1.73 crores.

Arun Jaitley remains the ruchest ministers in the government though his assets have shown a marginal decline ever since he became a minister.

PM wants ban on cash donations to parties

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special report 

PM wants all cash donations to political parties be banned before Next Lok Sabha polls

Shah, Jaitley to evolve consensus among political parties 

Cash donation limit was brought down from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2000 this Budget, introduced electoral bonds 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 22

The Modi government is contemplating to dispense with all cash donations to political parties and wants such donations to be made only through digital/cheques/drafts and other modes of transactions. All donations must have a trail rather than from unknown sources.

Sensing the mood of the nation and growing desire to root out political corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now floated the suggestion that cash donations to political parties be completely banned.

As part of cleansing political corruption, the Modi government has already brought down the maximum cash donation limit from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2000 by any individual in the current Union Budget. In his budget speech on February 1, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley referred to the Election Commission’s recommendation in December 2016 to ban anonymous contribution “above or equal to” the amount of Rs 2,000.

BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have been sounded by the PM in this regard to evolve a political consensus among various political parties. Though publicly, some political parties including the Left have said that cash donations be banned. But the principal Opposition party, the Congress, has not expressed any opinion in this regard. Even other national and regional recognized political parties have come forward or demanded that cash donations be withdrawn.

Earlier, there was a restriction in place with regard to cash or anonymous donations in excess of Rs 20,000 by any person or company in a financial year under Section 29C in The Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The Commission had also suggested to the government to amend laws in order to allow tax exemptions only to parties that contest elections and win seats, either in the assembly or the Lok Sabha. The same was incorporated in the Union Budget this year.

Amit Shah said that “the BJP is working towards abolishing all cash donations and consult others.” He did not elaborate what he meant others. But it was explained by a senior party leader that BJP wants to bring in transformational changes and reforms in the governance of the country and polity and moving towards taking hard, bold and risky steps. “Demonetization and surgical strikes against Pakistan were bold decisions. If we can bring down the cash donation limit to Rs 2000 we will eliminate all cash donations as well”, said a senior general secretary. But it will take some time.

The BJP leadership is aware of some of the critical statements made by experts and learned people even when cash donation limit was brought down to Rs 2000 only from Rs 20,000 within three years of coming to power.

Modi is keen that all cash donations be banned and it should be done before the next Lok Sabha polls due in May 2019.

The government has already introduced a proposal to amend the Reserve Bank of India Act in order to enable the apex bank to issue electoral bonds in according with which the government shall be framing a scheme wherein a donor could purchase bonds from authorised banks against cheque and digital payments only. They shall be redeemable only in the designated account of a registered political party. These bonds will be redeemable within the prescribed time limit from issuance of bond.”   When asked, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “Lets wait.”

Telecom war take its first toll

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

     Telecom war take its first toll

*    Midnight coup at Sanchar Bhavan 

*    J S Deepak shunted out

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 2

A bitter corporate battle in the telecom sector between Reliance Jio and  rival telecom operators seems to have taken its first toll. In a late evening order, the Prime Minister shunted out Chairman Telecom Commission & Secretary Telecom J S Deepak and sent him to the Commerce Ministry as OSD. Three months later, Deepak will go to Geneva to take over as India’s Ambassador at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Normally, the posting at Geneva is for three year period as it requires tough negotiations and hard bargaining at the world forum. The posting at Geneva had always been there for three years. A careful reading of the transfer order reveals that Deepak will remain in Geneva for a period of 14 months only. It seems the government was in such a tearing hurry to show him the door that it did not wait for his return from a telecom conference abroad. Deepak was attending the World Mobile Conference at Barcelona when the marching orders out of Sanchar Bhawan were issued.

Surprisingly, the government did not name Deepak’s successor at the Telecom Commission which is now headless. The Telecom Ministry doesn’t have a secretary either.

It seems the PMO was angry with Deepak when the Telecom Commission, the highest decision-making body for the sector, wrote to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) urgently review its tariff orders and directions. The Telecom Commission met on February 23 and issued the letter and also made it public.

The letter assumes significance in the backdrop of bitter battle between Reliance Jio and other operators like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

Since the launch of its free voice and data services in September 2016, Reliance Jio forced incumbents Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular to bring down tariffs leading to a price war in the industry.

The tariff war, according to DoT, has adversely impacted government’s collections from Rs 3975 crore in the first quarter of FY17 to Rs 3584 crore in Q2, and further down to Rs 3186 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

The main reason for the downward trend appears to be a tariff war in the industry triggered by free promotional offers, the DoT secretary said. However, the letter did not name any of the companies.

What made government angry was that when the matter was before the superior judiciary as Vodafone and other players had moved Delhi High Court alleging that TRAI had failed to prohibit violation of its tariff orders, why the DOT jumped the gun.

Modi on peace & harmony mission

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Prime Minister Narendra Modi seem to be on peace and harmony mission. Even as reports of impending Cabinet reshuffle are floating around, the PM has been working in twin direction o achieve his mission. If he is making peace overtures to several of his senior Cabinet ministers in the Union Cabinet, he is also toying with the idea of creating a new Ministry of Peace in the country.

Can Maya do a Nitish in UP

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

If the Bihar election outcome this week has a message cutting across states and regions through decades of politics, it is that the country's fabled diversity is actually a fusion bomb of sorts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP committed the worst blunder since their May 2014 victory as they got oblivious of the fact that they'd swept Bihar in the Lok Sabha poll because the enemies were divided. It was different this time, with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav re-forging their alliance with Congress in toe. Their union this year was BJP's nemesis. What is true of Bihar is true of the country down the ages. The former Janata Party could topple the mighty Congress under Indira Gandhi in 1977 because all opposition parties, big or small, leftist or rightist, could be put under a single umbrella at the initiative of the late Jaya Prakash Narayan.

I am not sure who deserves most "credit" for uniting the opposition to BJP in Bihar this time round. Is it due to the party's sub-soil of bigotry and arrogance that it cannot hide behind the curtain of development promises, like sabka saath sabka vikas? Is it because BJP as a party is not a quick thinker as its strategy is based on logistics—60000 party workers deployed in Bihar and 40 ministers—and not on ideas? Is it because BJP is losing grip over its talkative fringe elements ? It is possible that all these factors have contributed to the dramatic re-election of Nitish Kumar in Bihar. But the fusion bomb that blew on Modi would not have been critical if it lacked a core, a credible face, in Nitish Kumar. Pollsters have noted the effortless transfer of votes among RJD, JD(U) and Congress that marked the Bihar election. One doubts if it were to happen without the announcement being made beforehand of Nitish Kumar as the coalition's candidate for the post of chief minister. On the other hand, BJP lost many assembly segments where it had won last year because the people were not sure who'd be the party's nominee as chief minister. Lesson: Modi's franchisee model is way past its use-by date.

Though there are many states which will go to polls during the next two years including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Goa, Uttrakhand, etc. But none is likely to impact the national political scene as much as UP will. Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalitha surely will impact the national political scene. But they themselves are unlikely to move to the centre to play a lead role. A win for the Left in Kerala may weaken the Congress further and it will be music to the ears of Mamata and Jaya. But the real test of Modi will come when the election for the President and Vice President of India takes place in July 2017. It will become more difficult for the Modi government to win these polls if the BJP continues to lose one state after the other.

Therefore, it's the Assembly polls in UP that will be crucial in evolving Opposition politics. Like Nitish Kumar has emerged as the face of Bihar assembly election of 2015, that of Uttar Pradesh in 2017 may be Mayawati, a woman of exceptional administrative competence. She temporarily lost her buoyancy towards the close of her last term as chief minister (2005-12) largely due to intrigues by the UPA at the Centre. Uttar Pradesh is a bellwether state as its electoral outcome will set the stage for general election due in 2019.

Though Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is defined by its caste identity, she has in the past succeeded winning upper castes, intermediate castes and Muslims. In ideal circumstances, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, could be the pivot of anti-BJP votes in the state. But the Yadav family has shot itself in the foot by betraying the Nitish-Lalu-Congress coalition in Bihar.

After being offered the leadership (president and chairman of the parliamentary board) of several socialist parties (JD (U), RJD etc) under the Samajwadi Party's banner and symbol, and accepting it, Mulayan Singh took 180-degree turn. He suddenly walked out and as if this was not enough, he formed a six party front of his own and put up candidates across Bihar. Mulayam is regarded as a closet ally of BJP and a suspect now. SP's popularity in the state is also at an all-time low, bringing the present regime the popular sobriquet of "goonda raj".

By 2017, therefore, there may not remain so much of SP as to tip the scale either way. On the other hand, it can be a gigantic phalanx of anti-BJP castes and religions in a state of 199 million people (2011 census), which could be the sixth largest if it were a country. The state is also among the top five SC-inhabited ones, with 20 per cent SC population, a factor which is again weighed heavily in favour of Mayawati emerging as the natural leader of a new formation. However, population shares matter little for leadership but what counts are people's memories of past leaders and how they compare with the present lot. Mayawati shines against the Mulayam Singh’s 2002 SP government and is remembered as a moderniser who did her best to turn around the problem-ridden state.

There are two things that Mayawati needs to do to regain her key position in 2017. First, she has to work on a broad social coalition. Besides, she must do an image makeover of herself, a Mayawati 2.0, who is caste conscious but not casteist and avoids all caste-based slurs, like “Manuvadi”. BJP has lost the plot because of its lack of faith in equality of man. Uttar Pradesh is waiting for a new Mayawati who sees all human being including upper caste Hindus as equal.

LONELY AT THE TOP

As the trust deficit rising, Modi is increasingly becoming a loner

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will baffle psychologists. When it comes to strategising, he is a Gujarati Napoleon. Before the budget session of Parliament, nobody thought he could move an inch on the trickiest of issues, the land acquisition bill. Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha stood like a rock to thwart the bill. But now there are chinks in the wall and many are betting in favour of the bill’s success. But when it is about handling people, Modi is prone to tie himself up in knots, or to fly off the handle. He is at his best when left to himself, but he is also ok when abroad, as he currently is. Problems are all at home.