Pandya, Rahul tender unconditional apology; BCCI members demand SGM

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January 14, 2019

Suspended cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul on Monday tendered “unconditional” apologies for their sexist comments during a TV chat show amid CoA chief Vinod Rai saying that the BCCI should correct the two players, not end their careers.

However, despite the apologies tendered by the duo, 10 BCCI units demanded a Special General Meeting to appoint an ombudsman for carrying out an inquiry. Rai’s fellow Committee of Administrators (CoA) member Diana Edulji wants an inquiry done by CoA and the BCCI office-bearers.

“Yes, Hardik and Rahul have submitted their reply to the fresh showcause notices that were served to them. They have tendered unconditional apology. The CoA chief has instructed the CEO to conduct an inquiry as per clause 41 (c) of the new BCCI constitution,” a senior BCCI official told agencies on conditions of anonymity.

Edulji fears a “cover up” in the controversy, triggered by Pandya and Rahul’s much-condemned statements on ‘Koffee with Karan’ in which they spoke about hookups with multiple women and being casual about it even with their parents. The comments have been described as “inappropriate” by India skipper Virat Kohli.

Brought back midway from the tour of Australia, Pandya and Rahul’s immediate fate hangs in balance with the World Cup less than four months away. Rai, in an e-mail to Edulji, said that the “BCCI is not in the business of ending young careers”.

“Please be assured that the desire to conduct the inquiry is not a desire to ‘cover up’. The interest of cricket in India has to be kept in mind. The off the ground act of the players was deplorable. It was crass as I said immediately after reading the comments,” Rai wrote.

“It is our responsibility to reprimand them, take corrective action, sensitise them of their misdemeanour and then get them back on to the ground once they have suffered the consequences,” he said.

The former CAG stated in his mail that players have been “shamed” after being recalled from an international tour, the ongoing ODI series against Australia, and principles of natural justice demands that they be heard.

“We have shamed them by recalling them from an ongoing tour. We have suspended them from further games. We need to correct them and not bring their career to a cul de sac by indefinitely delaying a decision. These misdemeanours require swift action, with a corrective approach,” he added.

The road to redemption for the duo could prove to be a tricky.

As per the new constitution, the secretary — in this case the acting secretary — can call an SGM on 21 days’ notice but if it has to be an Emergent SGM within 10 days, the board president (acting president) in this case has to convene the meeting.

“It will be interesting what call Khanna will take. If I remember, he once didn’t sign the minutes of SGM fearing that it would be in violation of Supreme Court orders. On another occasion, he didn’t even attend an SGM,” a state unit member, who was present during both the meetings, said.

“There is a possibility that Khanna may instruct Amitabh Chaudhary to call a normal SGM with 21 days’ notice which a secretary is allowed to,” he added.

Lahiri rounds off with 66, finishes T-43rd; Kuchar wins Sony

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January 14, 2019

Anirban Lahiri rounded off the week with a four-under 66 that included six birdies and a double bogey to finish tied 43rd in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Lahiri totaled seven-under 273 with rounds of 68, 68, 73 and 66.

Matt Kuchar turned in an amazing display of front-running to win the title with a final card of 22-under 258 and win his second title in three starts. He beat his playing partner Andrew Putnam by four strokes after leading by two going into the final round.

In his final round, Lahiri starting from 10th, birdied 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 3rd and 9th. In between, he suffered a three-putt double bogey on Par-3 seventh.

Kuchar was 1-over 36 for the front nine and that gave a lot of others a chance to get into the hunt. Then he had five birdies on the back nine and then he was comfortable and romped home to the win. After a 36 on front nine, he had a 30 on back nine.

Kuchar began the week 63-63 in the first two rounds and then it was 66-66 over the weekend to become the second player to become a multiple winner in this season.

As Putnam was second, there were four others in Tied-third place and they included Marc Leishman (64), Hudson Swafford (64), Chez Reavie (67) and Corey Conners (64).

Kuchar had 115 starts on tour without winning a single a title. Now he has won two of his last three tournaments. In terms of days, the 40-year-old Kuchar waited 1,667 days between his seventh and eighth TOUR wins but it took just 64 days to get this ninth title.

Charge sheet in sedition case ‘politically motivated’: Kanhaiya Kumar

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January 14, 2019

Former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others, named in a charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in a sedition case on Monday, termed the move as “politically motivated” and questioned its timing, ahead of the parliamentary election.

“The charge sheet is politically motivated. However, we want the charges to be framed and a speedy trial in the case so that the truth comes out. We also want to see the videos that have been placed on record as evidence by the police,” Kumar told agencies.

The Delhi Police also charged former students – Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event organised on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on February 9, 2016 to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru.

Khalid, who addressed a student gathering at St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore on the “role of youth in safeguarding the Constitution”, said, “We reject the allegations. The move to file the charge sheet three years after the alleged incident is an attempt to divert the attention (of the people) right before (parliamentary) elections. We will fight it out in court.”

Others charged in the case are Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat.

As many as 36 others, including Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja’s daughter Aprajita, Shehla Rashid (then vice-president of the JNUSU), Rama Naga, Ashutosh Kumar and Banojyotsna Lahiri have been named in column 12 of the charge sheet due to insufficient evidence against them, police sources said.

Former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) leader Shehla Rashid, who had led the campaign for the release of Kumar and other students, said, “This is a completely bogus case in which ultimately everyone will be acquitted. The timing of the charge sheet right before the elections just reflects how the BJP wants to reap electoral benefits out of this. I was not even on campus on the day of the event.”

CPI Leader D Raja said, “It is politically motivated. After three years Delhi police is filing the charge sheet in the case. We will fight it legally in court and politically outside court.”

Australian Open: Prajnesh loses in straight sets to American Tiafoe

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January 14, 2019

Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s maiden Grand Slam appearance ended in disappointment after American Frances Tiafoe defeated the Indian in straight sets in the opening round of the Australian Open on Monday.

Tiafoe defeated Gunneswaran 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 6-3 to set up a second round clash with big South African Kevin Anderson.

World No. 39 American beat the Indian qualifier in a match that lasted an hour and 52 minutes.

Guuneswaran fought hard in the first set which went into the tie-breaker after both players held their serve till the 12th game.

In the tie-breaker, Tiafoe got a mini-break and then closed the set at 9-7 in the tie-breaker.

Once he won the first set, the American completely dominated the 106th ranked Indian in the second and third sets respectively.

Prajnesh’s first serve let him down in the second set and his success rate was 43 percent compared to 72 per cent of the American.

Tiafoe converted two break points in the third and sixth game of the second set to take it 6-3.

In the final set, Tiafoe got an important break of serve against the left-handed Gunneswaran in the eighth game and then closed the match in the ninth game to end India’s lone challenge in the singles event.

In the women’s event, Ankita Raina and Karman Kaur Thandi failed to cross the early hurdle losing in the second and first round respectively in the qualifiers.

PM receives Philip Kotler award for his outstanding leadership

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January 14, 2019

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award which focuses on the triple bottom line of the ‘people, profit and planet’. It’s offered annually to the leader of a nation, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

According to the award citation, Modi was selected for his “outstanding leadership for the nation”. His selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country,” it read.

The citation also states that under his leadership, India is now identified as the centre for innovation and value added manufacturing (Make in India), as well as a global hub for professional services such as information technology, accounting and finance. The statement quoted the citation as saying Modi’s visionary leadership has also resulted in the digital revolution (Digital India) which includes the Unique Identification Number, Aadhaar, for social benefits and financial inclusion.

The statement further read that the mentions initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which have positioned India as one of the most lucrative manufacturing and business destinations in the world.

Philip Kotler is a professor of marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill health, Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia was deputed to confer the award to Modi.

MHA to empower mass surveillance agencies

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January 14, 2019

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Centre on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed against the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) on December 20, notification that allows ten agencies to monitor any computer resource. The apex court said that it will examine the issue and sought the reply from centre within six weeks.

On December 20, the MHA had issued the notification empowering ten agencies for mass surveillance. The agencies include, the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Cabinet Secretariat (R&AW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (For service areas of Jammu and Kashmir, North-East and Assam only) and Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

Advocate ML Sharma had challenged that the MHA order on grounds of it being ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’. However, the Home Ministry, in an earlier statement had clarified that its order does not confer any new powers to any security or law enforcement agency, adding that any interception, monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource will be done as per the law.

CBI vs CBI: Appointment of Nageswar Rao as interim Director challenged in SC

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January 14, 2019

The appointment of M Nageswar Rao as the interim CBI Director was challenged in the Supreme Court on Monday.

The petition filed by NGO Common Cause has sought a direction to quash the January 10 order by the Centre appointing Rao as the interim/acting Director of the CBI.

The PIL filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan has sought a direction to the Centre to appoint a regular Director of CBI forthwith by following the procedure laid down in Section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, as amended by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

FinMin wants PSU banks to bring down govt equity to 52%

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January 14, 2019

In a bid to align with the best corporate practices, the Finance Ministry has asked the public sector banks to gradually bring down the government’s equity to 52 per cent, a top official said.

“The government is essentially a major shareholder. So, this need to be aligned to the best corporate practices. The shareholding needs to come down to at least 52 per cent in the first phase. As and when market condition allows, banks will take step in that direction. They have all the permission in hand,” Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar told agencies.

Dilution of government stake will help banks to meet 25 per cent public float norms of market regulator SEBI. Some of the public sector banks have government’s holding beyond 75 per cent.

Besides, it will encourage the banks to follow the prudential lending norms.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has already initiated step for Rs 20,000 crore share sale through qualified institutional placement (QIP). Post QIP, the government stake will be diluted from the existing 58.53 per cent.

Last month, shareholders of the bank approved sale of shares to fund the business growth.

Many other banks are planning to raise capital through some means or other, depending on the market condition.

Some of the lenders like Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Oriental Bank of Commerce among others have already issued or in process of issuing Employee Share Purchase Scheme (ESPS).

He further said that the government has also initiated the process for consolidation of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to better serve the needs of the rural India.

Recently, the Centre has amalgamated three RRBs — Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank — into a single RRB with effect from January 1.

Currently, the Centre holds 50 per cent in RRBs, while 35 per cent and 15 per cent are with the concerned sponsor banks and state governments, respectively.

Strong case to revisit ‘restrictive’ FDI retail policy: Report

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January 14, 2019

Domestic ratings agency Icra has said there is a “compelling case” to revisit the “restrictive” retail foreign direct investment (FDI) policy as India has not been able to get sizeable investments despite opportunities.

Citing examples of other emerging geographies to allay concerns, the agency said organised and unorganised retail can co-exist.

The multi-brand retail sector remains “most restrictive” to FDI, with a cap of 51 per cent ownership and guidelines relating to mandatory investments in back-end infrastructure and local sourcing norms, it said.

“There is a compelling case for the government to revisit its FDI policy. The investment requirements of the sector are sizeable,” its vice president and co-head for corporate sector ratings Kinjal Shah said.

According to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, India received $1.4 billion in FDI in the retail sector between 2000 and 2018, which is only 0.36 per cent of the overall FDI inflows, it said.

The agency said a population of over 1.3 billion with favourable demographics and a rising middle class present a big opportunity for foreign retailers, who have actually evinced interest.

ICRA said “restrictive nature of the retail FDI policy” has curtailed the foreign retailers’ operations.

Shah said there remains on-ground opposition for multi-brand retail from local traders, who fear risk of being thwarted by the deep pockets and increased competition from foreign players.

Pitching for relaxation in inter-segmental restrictions for multi-brand retail, Shah also said that India needs to up the caps on foreign ownership in the segment.

There is limited domestic capital being invested in the sector and FDI flows can bridge capital deficit and remove the supply chain inefficiencies, Shah said.

Citing global experience to drive home the point of co-existence between organised and unorganised retail players, the agency said China saw a spike in employment and number of traders since liberalising on foreign ownership in retail in 1992 and Indonesia is witnessing traditional retailers holding on to food selling.

It can be noted that relaxations in foreign ownership is an extremely sensitive subject politically in the country which faces opposition from large segments.

BEST strike enters its 7th day, Congress and AAP questions BJP-Sena

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January 14, 2019

Over 32,000 employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) are on strike since Tuesday last week where 3200 odd buses are off the roads. Striking workers are demanding the merging of BEST’s budget with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the former’s parent body, as well as higher wages. Talks over the strike in last week between a state government committee led by the Maharashtra chief secretary and striking BEST unions have failed to break the impasse.

The Nationalist Congress Party and Aam Aadmi Party on Monday questioned the motives of the ruling BJP-Sena and asked why the strike had been allowed to linger on for a week now. The BEST bus strike has entered its seventh day in the metropolis where an official of the civic-run transport undertaking expressed the hope that a High Court hearing later in the day will give any solution to this unending issue.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Monday said that the BEST strike enters 7th day to promote wet leasing of buses to benefit Shiv Sena leaders. Similar ploy was played in MSRTC buses. Shiv Sena should clarify how many buses belong to their leaders. The BJP will also hand over electric supply to their friend Adani. Shiv Sena and BJP are holding Mumbaikars to ransom to benefit their leadership.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Preeti Sharma Menon, while expressing her party’s support to BEST’s striking workers, alleged that the state government was “anti-labour. We support the demands of the strikers and are shocked that the government is unaffected by the longest BEST strike ever. This government is anti labour. It had also turned a deaf ear to the MSRTC’s (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) strike last year.

Meanwhile, a senior BEST official said that we have pinned our hope on the Bombay High court which is due to hear this case on Monday afternoon. With HC intervention, we are hopeful an agreement will be reached today.

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke over phone with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to find a solution to the bus stir. The telephonic conservation between Fadnavis and Thackeray took place after a meeting on Monday in Mantralaya between striking BEST union functionaries and the state chief secretary D K Jain failed to break the deadlock.

Thackeray has already said that his party will fulfill a promise to merge the budgets of the BMC and BEST. Meanwhile, the commuters continued to suffer with auto rickshaws, taxis as well as private and state transport buses unable to cope with the daily passenger load catered to by BEST.

Kandivali-resident Shrinivas Tambe (50) said, “I have to travel over two-and-half kilometres to reach office. It seems the authorities in power are supporting the strike or else it would not have gone on for such a long time. I suspect the government will shut down BEST once more metro routes are operational.