16,000 villages in Maharashtra made ‘water-neutral’: CM

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January 16, 2019

Through initiatives such as the Jalyukt Shivar water conservation scheme, the BJP-led Maharashtra government has made 16,000 villages free of water scarcity, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at an international conference on micro-irrigation in Aurangabad.

“Micro-irrigation facilities have increased three times in the state,” Fadnavis said at the event which was also attended by Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Fiji Agriculture Minister Mahendra Reddy and others.

“Water is very precious and we still have not realised it….we don’t get regular rainfall and micro-irrigation is the only solution. Earlier, two countries would fight over water. Now such crises erupt between districts and even tehsils,” said Fadnavis.

“The government is working hard on the Jalyukt Shivar initiative and has made 16,000 villages water-neutral (free of water scarcity). Thirty-four lakh hectares of land is (has been brought) under irrigation. Micro-irrigation facilities have increased three times,” the chief minister claimed.

“Through the Nanaji Deshmukh Krushi Sanjivani project, we are working on providing sustainable irrigation in 4,000 villages,” Fadnavis added.

While the BJP-led state government has put a lot of stress on village-level water conservation projects, the state faced a poor monsoon in 2018, forcing it to declare drought in 151 tehsils in 26 out of the total 36 districts.

BEST workers’ union calls off strike, agrees to ’10-step increment’

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January 16, 2019

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) workers’ union has agreed to call off their nine-day-old strike on Wednesday after they agreed to the implementation of an interim pay-hike for about 15,000 employees. The ’10-step increment’ will kick in from this month. The workers’ union also informed the Bombay High Court that it will call off the strike with immediate effect.

Among the terms agreed to withdraw the strike was the appointment of a retired high court judge who will negotiate terms between the workers’ union and BEST management.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court had directed the workers’ union to take a final decision on the withdrawal of their strike.

This direction came after BEST management told the court that it was willing to implement the interim pay-hike for about 15,000 employees, PTI reported.

Meanwhile, commuters had to face hardships due to the strike, even as the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) deployed its buses to minimise their woes.

Over 32,000 BEST employees had been on strike since January 8 over their various demands, including pay hike, revision of pay grade for junior level employees, and merger of loss-making BEST’s budget with that of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

We aim to facilitate self-help groups: Dy. Mayor

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January 16, 2019

“We are reinforcing women in the industrial field. BMC has built a strong network of self-help groups across the Mumbai city and its suburban regions. Women are being encouraging to enter in the commercial industry,” said Dy. Mayor of BMC Hemangi Worlikar while inaugurating an exhibition cum sale to promote the products made by these groups.

Dy. Commissioner (Planning Dept.) Asst. Commissioner (Section A) of BMC jointly organised an exhibition cum sale centre to promote the products made by self-help groups at Kala Ghoda Bhuyari Marg Fort which has been inaugurated by Dy. Mayor Hemangi Woralikar. On this occasion, president of G/South ward Kishori Pednekar, President of Women and child welfare committee Smt. Gavkar, local corporater Sujata Sanap and officers from planning dept. and other depts. were also present.

Woralikar also stated “Mumbai is economic capital of India. People across the country come here to earn their livelihood through entrepreneurship. We provide aid to women to form their network of self-help groups and also provide them trainings and extend support to encourage their start-ups. These kinds of exhibitions would be helpful to sale commodities manufactured by them.”

Woralikar appealed the public to purchase these products. Exhibition will continue till January 17 2019.

2, including cop, injured in leopard attack in Nashik

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January 16, 2019

Two persons, including a policeman, were injured in an attack by a leopard in Nashik district of Maharashtra, police said on Wednesday.

The feline entered a house in the tribal-dominated Kalwan taluka on Tuesday, an official at Abhona police station said.

On getting information, a police team from Abhona rushed to the spot.

While the policemen were trying to evict the leopard from the house, the animal attacked them and those staying in the house before running away, the official said.

The house owner and an assistant police inspector received injuries in the attack, he said.

They were taken to a government-run hospital where they were provided medical treatment, he added.

Bombay HC seeks probe report on death of 3 students of Palghar school

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January 16, 2019

The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government on Wednesday to submit a progress report on its probe into the death of three students of a residential school at Virar in Palghar district of the state in 2014.

A bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by parents of the three boys, all aged 14, who had allegedly escaped from their private residential school in August 2014 after being admonished by a teacher on their poor performance in an exam.

Their bodies were found a day after their escape in a river close to the school.

The medical report said the children died of drowning, and the charge sheet filed by the Virar police claimed that the students committed suicide.

However, their parents filed the plea in HC seeking that the probe be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The parents told the bench on Wednesday that they suspected some foul play, and that the CBI must be directed to inquire into the role of the teacher who had admonished the children, forcing them to escape from the school premises.

They also sought that the authorities probe how the children managed to escape from the school premises despite security guards and other safety arrangements being in place there at that time.

The petitioners, through their lawyer Kishor Redekar, also alleged during the court hearing that the children might have been “killed by some teacher at the school”.

The court said it was not inclined to transfer the probe into the case to the CBI since the medical report and the charge sheet had ruled out any foul play on part of the teachers or other school authorities.

“Why will a teacher kill some students? The medical report and charge sheet also rule out any foul play. We are not inclined to order for the probe to be transferred based just on your allegations,” the bench said.

The court, however, directed the state to place on record the progress report of the police’s probe on the next date of hearing. It also asked the state to put forth its side of arguments on the next date.

Kidnapped labourer rescued in Maha, contractor arrested

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January 16, 2019

A labourer allegedly held captive by a contractor for more than a fortnight over a monetary dispute was rescued by the police here in Maharashtra, an official said.

The accused contractor, Kundlik Chavan, was arrested, he said.

Namdev Jadhav (aged around 45), a resident of the neighbouring Buldhana district, was intercepted by some people on December 28 while he was going to his relative’s place in Jalna and forcefully taken away in a vehicle, Chandanzira police station’s inspector Balasaheb Pawar said on Tuesday.

Later, Chavan called up Jadhav’s son over phone, saying that the labourer was held captive as he had taken Rs 5 lakh from the contractor to work at a sugarcane field in Kolhapur district, but did not do his job, he said.

The accused then asked the victim’s son to repay Rs 5 lakh if he wanted his father released, he said.

Jadhav’s son then lodged a complaint at the Chandanzira police station.

The police traced the phone call, but the accused kept on changing his locations, the official said.

Two days back, the police received a tip-off, based on which they traced the victim to a room at Kotta village in Parbhani district, located around 40 km from here, and rescued him from there on Tuesday, Pawar said.

The contractor was subsequently arrested and booked under relevant sections, Pawar added.

SBI to sell Essar Steel’s NPAs worth 15,000 crore to recover dues

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January 16, 2019

SBI plans to sell over Rs 15,000 crore worth bad loans belonging to Essar Steel to recover its dues from the debt-laden steel maker.

State Bank of India (SBI) invites expression of interest (EoI) from banks/ARCs/NBFCs/FIs for the proposed sale of its non performing financial asset with total dues of Rs 15,431.44 crore, the bank said in an advertisement.

The lender has put the reserve price for the recovery of bad loans from Essar Steel India at Rs 9,587.64 crore. SBI said that the resolution plan for the recovery of non-performing asset (NPA) has been approved and filed in NCLT Ahmedabad, according to which the minimum recovery to the bank is Rs 11,313.42 crore. The reserve price of over Rs 9,587 crore is on the basis of net present value (NPV) of minimum recovery discounted at 18 per cent with a time factor of one year.

SBI has asked the interested ARCs/ banks/ NBFCs/ financial institutions (FIs) that they can conduct due diligence of the asset with immediate effect, after submitting EoI and executing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with the bank. The sale of the NPA account is to happen through e-auction on January 30, as per the bid invite.

In September last year, SBI had withdrawn the process of sale of debt of Essar Steel to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) after NCLAT asked lenders of the debt-ridden firm to consider the second round bid of Numetal and mining baron Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta.

Essar Steel, which runs a 10-million-tonne steel mill in Gujarat, owes more than Rs 49,000 crore to over two dozen banks led by SBI and has been under bankruptcy proceedings. As per the resolution plan submitted by ArcelorMittal, Rs 42,000 crore will be paid to the secured lenders, while an additional Rs 8,000 crore will be pumped into the company as working capital.

ArcelorMittal’s offer to take over the bankrupt Essar Steel was accepted by the committee of creditors (CoC). Essar Steel Asia Holding, the holding company of Essar Steel that was controlled by the Ruias, had also proposed to the CoC, led by SBI, to pay an upfront Rs 54,389 crore to retake the management of Essar Steel.

Last week, the Ahmedabad bench of NCLT reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the bid by Essar Steel Asia Holdings to retake the management of the company.

Modi speaks like ‘RSS pracharak not PM’: CPI(M)

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January 16, 2019

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments on the Kerala government over the Sabarimala issue, the CPI(M) on Wednesday said that though he took an oath on the Constitution, but he was speaking like a ‘pracharak’ of the RSS.

The party said that the Modi’s comments on the issue were “atrocious and condemnable”. Mr. Modi forgot that he had taken oath on the Constitution of India and he spoke as an RSS pracharak not as the Prime Minster. His statement constitutes a direct assault on the Indian Constitution and the Supreme Court, the party said in a statement.

It said that the state government was implementing the judgement of the Supreme Court, and the prime minister’s statement has “dangerous implications for the future. This means that any Supreme Court judgement which does not suit the interests of the BJP and RSS will be defied and the government seeking to implement it will be attacked by them. In the history of independent India this is an unprecedented situation. All those who subscribe to the constitution and secular democratic values will condemn the stand of the PM, the party said.

On a visit to Kerala on Tuesday, Modi tore into the CPI(M)-led LDF government over the Sabarimala temple issue, saying this will go down as “one of the most shameful behaviour” by any party and government in the country.

Since the shrine opened for the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festivities on November 17, it witnessed massive protests by devotees and right-wing outfits against the state government’s decision to implement the Supreme Court’s order, allowing women of all ages to enter the temple. Traditionally, girls and women in the menstruating age group of 10-50 years were barred from offering prayers at the shrine, the presiding deity of which is “Naishtika Brahamachari” (perennial celebate).

The hill shrine would be closed on January 20. Violence involving BJP-RSS and the ruling CPI(M) rocked parts of Kerala during the January 3 shutdown with several houses and shops of rival leaders and workers being attacked over the entry of two women into the temple.

Infosys to implement Rs 4,242 crore project: Cabinet

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January 16, 2019

IT major Infosys has been selected to implement the next generation system for processing income tax return filings with the Union Cabinet sanctioning an estimated Rs 4,241.97 crore for the project. The move will help in bringing down the income tax return (ITR) processing time to one day and hence speed up refunds.

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its “approval to expenditure sanction of Rs 4,241.97 crore for Integrated E-filing and Centralised Processing Centre 2.0 Project of the Income Tax Department”, Union minister Piyush Goyal said.

Briefing media about the decision, he said that the processing time at present for ITR is 63 days and it will come down to one day after implementation of the project. The project is expected to be completed in 18 months and will be launched after three months of testing. Infosys has been selected to implement the project after the bidding process. The current system has been a success and new project will be more tax friendly.

The e-filing and Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) projects have enabled end-to-end automation of all processes within the Income Tax Department using various innovative methods to provide taxpayer services and to promote voluntary compliance. The Cabinet also sanctioned a consolidated cost of Rs 1,482.44 crore for the existing CPC-ITR 1.0 project up to 2018-19.

Goyal also informed that the tax refunds worth Rs 1.83 lakh crore have been issued so far in the current fiscal. The decision will ensure transparency and accountability besides faster processing of returns and issue of refunds to the taxpayers’ bank account directly without any interface with the Income Tax Department.

As per an official release, the broad objectives of the integration project include, faster and accurate outcomes for taxpayer, enhancing user experience at all stages, improving taxpayer awareness and education through continuous engagement. Besides, it will also be promoting voluntary tax compliance and managing outstanding demand.

Exim Bank to get Rs 6,000 crore capital infusion: Cabinet

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January 16, 2019

The government on Wednesday approved a capital infusion of Rs 6,000 crore in state-owned Exim Bank to expand its business. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved an increase in the bank’s authorised capital from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore.

Briefing reporters about the decisions, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said that it has been decided to issue recapitalisation bonds by the Government of India to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore for capital infusion in Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank). The equity will be infused in two tranches of Rs 4,500 crore in 2018-19 and Rs 1,500 crore in 2019-20 respectively.

The recapitalisation bonds will be on the lines of those issued to public sector banks, he said, adding that the infusion of capital into Exim Bank would enable it to augment capital adequacy and support Indian exports with enhanced ability. Exim Bank is the principal export credit agency in India and the infusion will give an impetus to new initiatives such as supporting Indian textile industries, likely changes in the Concessional Finance Scheme, likelihood of new letters of credit in future in view of the country’s active foreign policy and strategic intent.

The bank primarily lends for exports from India including supporting overseas buyers and Indian suppliers for export of developmental and infrastructure projects, equipment, goods and services from India. Established by the Government of India in 1982, Exim Bank is the apex financial institution for financing, facilitating and promoting the country’s international trade.