Autonomy of RBI essential nurtured by govt: Finance Ministry

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October 31, 2018

Amid reports of its mounting tension with the RBI, the Finance Ministry on Wednesday said that the government has “nurtured and respected” autonomy of the central bank and has been holding extensive consultations with it on many issues.

“The autonomy for the central bank, within the framework of the RBI Act, is an essential and accepted governance requirement. The government of India has nurtured and respected this,” it said in a statement.

Both the government and RBI, in their functioning, have to be guided by public interest and the requirement of the Indian economy, it said. “For the purpose, extensive consultations on several issues take place between the government and the RBI from time to time.”

However, the statement did not mention about the government citing the never-before-used power of issuing directions under the Act to RBI Governor to seek a resolution to differences with the central bank.

The government has sent at least three letters on different issues under Section 7 (1) of the Reserve Bank of India Act that gives it powers to issue any direction to the central bank governor on matters of public interest.

“The government of India has never made public the subject matter of those consultations. Only the final decisions taken are communicated,” the statement said.

“The government, through these consultations, places its assessment on issues and suggests possible solutions. The government will continue to do so,” it added.

EAM Sushma Swaraj holds talks with Amir, PM of Kuwait, raises Indian community’s concerns

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Afternoon Voice

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October 31, 2018

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday called on Kuwait’s top leadership, including Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and discussed a range of issues to strengthen the bilateral ties, besides raising the Indian community’s concerns.

Swaraj arrived on Tuesday in Kuwait from Doha where she met Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani on Monday and discussed ways to move forward on the roadmap set by the top leaders of the two countries.

“EAM Sushma Swaraj called on the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Hailed the role of Kuwait in the region. Noted the positive developments in bilateral ties and raised issues of concern to the Indian community,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Reliable partner in extended neighbourhood.
EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on the Amir of #Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Hailed the role of Kuwait in the region. Noted the positive developments in bilateral ties and raised issues of concern to the Indian community. pic.twitter.com/cVdGkvF6YF

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) October 31, 2018

“EAM Sushma Swaraj called on Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jabar Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah. Discussed issues of bilateral concern and explored avenues for enhancing and further strengthening economic and investment cooperation,” Kumar said in another tweet.

Moving forward, together.
EAM @SushmaSwaraj called on Prime Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Jabar Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah. Discussed issues of bilateral concern and explored avenues for enhancing and further strengthening economic & investment cooperation. pic.twitter.com/fPaF1oEthA

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) October 31, 2018

The meetings with Amir and the Prime Minister followed Swaraj’s interaction with the Indian community in Kuwait.

The Indian community in Kuwait is apprehensive of the changes in Kuwaiti government’s new labour policies.

The Indian embassy Wednesday announced that it will organise a meeting on November 2 for all Indian engineers who have been affected by the changes in Kuwait Government’s policies, amid reports that thousands of Indian engineers may face deportation due to the new labour policies.

The Indian community contributes significantly to the economic and scientific development of Kuwait.

Earlier, Swaraj offered a floral tribute at the statute of Mahatma Gandhi in Kuwait.

“Kuwait joins the world in celebrating Bapu at 150 this year,” Kumar wrote in a tweet along with a picture of the statue.

India shares close and friendly bilateral relations with Kuwait.

As per the latest statistics, over 8 lakh Indian nationals legally reside in Kuwait.

Kuwait has been a reliable supplier of crude oil to India. During 2017-18, Kuwait was the ninth largest oil supplier to India and it meets about 4.6 per cent of India’s energy needs.

Total bilateral trade with Kuwait during 2016-17 was USD 5.9 billion and for 2017-18 was USD 8.53 billion.

Delhi court grants bail to CBI DSP Devender in case involving Rakesh Asthana

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Web Team

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October 31, 2018

Asthana, Rakesh Asthana, DSP Devender Kumar, Devender, CBI, Devender Kumar — Image Courtesy: PTI

A Delhi court on Wednesday granted bail to CBI DSP Devender Kumar arrested in connection with bribery allegations involving the agency’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

Special CBI Judge Santosh Snehi Mann granted the relief to Kumar and asked him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and a surety of like amount.

The CBI did not oppose his bail petition.

In his bail application, Kumar had termed his custody “illegal” and urged the court to set him free.

The application also said Kumar was ready to abide by the conditions imposed by the court while granting him bail.

Kumar and Asthana have already challenged the legality of the FIR filed against them.

Besides them, two alleged middlemen — Manoj Prasad and Somesh Prasad — have also been named as accused in the case.

The agency had earlier told the court that Kumar had tried to fabricate evidence during the investigation in another case.

Kumar had claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case and that he was a victim of rivalry among the senior officers of the central probe agency.

He had said he was investigating a case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi, in which the complainant in the present case — Sathish Babu Sana — was a suspect and the names of some past and present senior CBI officers had surfaced.

Kumar had claimed that his arrest in the present case was motivated to stall the investigation in the case against Qureshi and that there was no direct allegation against him.

If convicted, the accused may get a maximum 10-year jail term in the case.

The FIR in the current case was lodged on the basis of a written complaint from Sana on October 15, wherein it was alleged that Kumar, being the IO in the case against Qureshi, was repeatedly calling the complainant to the CBI office to harass him and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs 5 crore for getting a clean chit in the case.

The complaint had also said a part of the bribe was paid by Sana.

Priyanka supports Harvey Weinstein’s ex, wears her design

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Web Team

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October 31, 2018

Priyanka Chopra has come out in support of her longtime friend and designer Georgina Chapman, who recently divorced disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein after he was accused of sexual misconduct.

The ‘Baywatch’ actor decided to wear a Marchesa design to her bridal shower as a symbol of her support. Priyanka said that wearing one of Chapman’s gowns is a matter of “women supporting women,” reported a leading magazine.

“Georgina’s a friend of mine, and she has been. And it’s not her fault. And I don’t think it’s right to take it out on a self-made woman what somebody in her life did,” said Priyanka.

“That’s the wrong attitude. I’ve known her for years, and that was a beautiful gown and deserved to be worn by a bride-to-be. And it made me feel like a princess. It was the right choice,” added the ‘Quantico’ star.

Priyanka is not the only celebrity who has voiced her support and defended Chapman over this issue. Post the controversy, Scarlett Johansson wore the designer’s outfit to Met Gala in May.

Chapman’s brand suffered a sudden downfall following assault allegations against her former husband. The designer, in October 2017, announced that she has decided to divorce Weinstein. “My heart breaks for all the women who have suffered,” she had told the magazine.

Distancing myself from politics, says Kanye West

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Afternoon Voice

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October 31, 2018

Rapper Kanye West has announced that he is “distancing” himself from politics after months of publicly supporting United States President Donald Trump.

“My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative,” West tweeted on Tuesday.

In another tweet, West added, “I would like to thank my family, loved ones, and community for supporting my ACTUAL beliefs and my vision for a better world.”

West’s social media post comes after he was rumoured to be involved with a political apparel line called “Blexit,” created by conservative commentator Candace Owens, which encourages African-American voters to abandon the Democratic Party.

CBI crosses Lakshman Rekha

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C K Subramaniam

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October 31, 2018

The premier investigation agency entangled in the internal feud is not in the good of the country. Regardless of the outcome, supposed to be certainly more dubious than that of certain past cases conducted by the agency itself, of this politically-oriented drama within India’s top investigation agency. As a lesson, the concerned institution should make mandatory for its investigation officers engaged in high profile cases to have all their calls, incoming and outgoing, to be first intercepted at agency’s server and then forwarded to the destination.

To conclude the corruption, if proved, would cause a trust deficit within the agency as well in the overall system outside of its premises, with the only difference the former is more harmful to the latter. It seems that the rot set in the functioning of the CBI at the top levels some years back has spread far deeper and wide. The credibility of the premier investigating agency of the country is facing an unprecedented crisis. The government should go for a massive shakeup, without no further loss of time, so as to restore its credibility.

A very good move to send both warring CBI officials on leave, the face-saving decision is the need of the hour as this may stop the reputation of the CBI from dipping. This unseemly fight between the Chief and his deputy at the CBI has brought disrepute to both the CBI and the government, the latter for allowing matters to drift this long. It is correct to direct both fighting officers to go on leave so that they are able to influence inquiries into whatever wrongdoing each has accused the other of being complicit in.

It is necessary to appoint only an officer of unimpeachable integrity and competence as the Director of CBI, the appointment being done by consensus between the Government and Opposition. The government must speedily investigate the charges of corruption, intimidation, and favouritism levelled against each other by Verma and Asthana and mete out exemplary punishment to either or both if found guilty. The reputation of the CBI is at stake.

The country is in shock to see the level of rot prevailing in a premium investigation team of the central government. This rot should not be wrapped under the carpet.

When over the ground situation is so rotten one can easily imagine the situation under the carpet. The right step in getting both the officers out of the way to ensure an impartial inquiry into each other’s claims and allegations. CBI credibility is at its low. Those in whom the PM reposed confidence to check corruption have behaved this way. This is also true for many IAS, IPS and Allied services officers who are more responsible for the poor condition of the countrymen than our elected leaders.

When the CBI officials do corruption, what will common people do? According to my suggestion, strict rules must be made to punish the corrupt people so that corruption can leave India. Corruption generally affects innocent people. A right move in the given circumstances is welcome. The process for the appointment of a full-fledged Director, CBI may begin soon. The two top officers of the CBI, who have been asked to proceed on leave, may face a high-level inquiry, presumably by the CVC or by a retired judge of the Supreme Court.

As important as it to focus on growth and improving ease of doing business it is equally important to ensure that democracy is not stifled if not future India would be in a peril.

Letters to the Editor: Oct 31, 2018

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Afternoon Voice

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October 31, 2018

Maneka Gandhi is right

The Union minister Maneka Gandhi had expressed her views in the recent past that the root cause behind rapes lies in the film and TV industry. She is 100 per cent right. In any film or TV program, the majority of the female characters are found in extremely short dresses, exposing nearly 90 per cent to 95 per cent of their bodies. This is the basic reason of any man to get provoked to commit rape even with a minor girl or a grown-up woman. The need of the hour is to ban such nasty exposures of the female body in films and the TV programs in all the languages, indiscriminately — if necessary, by the President’s ordinance to stop all the future, probable rapes. This menace should be nipped in the bud in the interest of the sexual safety of all girls and women of all age groups.

– Hansraj Bhat

Strongly Condemn

Just 8-year-old student of Madrasa Muhammad Azeem has been mob-lynched by some people in the Begumpur locality of Malviya Nagar in New Delhi last week. The incident took place when some Madrasa’s children were playing after 2 p.m. when some blackguards entered the camp and started to throw stones on the students. Somehow, Azeem became fully unconscious, after reaching the hospital, the doctors declared him dead. This is not the first such incident — every day many unbelievable incidents are happening. As the Indian citizens, we all strongly condemn this incident and request the central government to stop mob-lynching; otherwise, India will lose its identity.

– MD Sayeed Nadwi FY

Caged parrots struggling for existence

Caged birds are struggling for superiority. Proximity to power that are helping the dear ones. Corruption in Anti-Corruption department? Print and electronic media are adding fuel to the fire to the Social Media by reporting with sensational write-ups. Is it pertinent on their part to gather information and provide readers with their considered views so as not to create gossip in the social media? What a sad predicament faced! CBI entrusted with Investigation of Offences, now said to be involved in corruption; most shameful indeed – like fence eating the crop! This matter must be seriously investigated and the culprits concerned should be sacked and even denied pension benefits; betrayal of trust is the biggest crime; further, it brings disgrace to the Nation also.

– Subbu Subramaniam

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

Here’s how Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel fell in love

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Afternoon Voice

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October 31, 2018

In his first book, singer Justin Timberlake has opened up about how he fell in love with wife Jessica Biel.

The singer-songwriter, while sharing his love story in the book titled “Hindsight: And All the Things I Can’t See in Front of Me”, wrote, “When I met Jess, it was undeniable how beautiful she is.”

“I made some sort of sarcastic comment, really dry. Nobody got it except her. She laughed, and I noticed, all of a sudden, and in the way where you wonder if a person’s like you, if they have a very dry, dark sense of humour, too,” he narrated.

According to a magazine, while Timberlake did sense a special connection with Biel, he did not ask for her number at once. “I’m kind of really interested in that girl. There was just something about that girl. Kind of interested in that girl. Goddamnit,” he wrote.

Revealing how they were initially taking things slow, the ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling!’ singer wrote, “We were both still seeing other people, keeping ourselves safe from getting hurt, from really putting ourselves out there. It took a bit for both of us to admit to ourselves that we were really, really into each other.”

It was after he came back from an overseas tour that Timberlake and Biel decided to spend a month together. “We’ve had a lot of unforgettable times. She’s become a huge influence on my life, and I have such an admiration for her, especially seeing her as a mother now,” explained the hitmaker.

The ‘Say Something’ singer went on to say that his wife was one of the most patient people he ever met, adding, “She’s a very good writer. She’s a poet. She’s a tremendous actor. She’s funny. Very funny. And she’s one of the most patient people I’ve ever met. She changed me. She changed my life.”

Timberlake and Biel tied the knot in Puglia, Italy on October 19, 2012, and have a three-year-old son, Silas Timberlake.

Naomi Watts to cast as lead in ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel

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Web Team

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October 31, 2018

HBO on Wednesday announced that two-time Oscar-nominated actor Naomi Watts will be headlining the cast of a prequel to its hit series “Game of Thrones”.

Watts, 50, is the first A-lister to join the prequel show and will be playing a “charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”.

According to the network, the new show will be set thousands of years before the events of “Game of Thrones”.

It will chronicle the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, the official logline of the show read.

The as-yet-untitled project hails from creator Jane Goldman and author George RR Martin.

The show’s pilot is based on a story from Goldman and Martin, with teleplay credited to Goldman.

The duo will also executive produce the show alongside James Farrell, Jim Danger Gray, Vince Gerardis and Daniel Zelman.

Martin and Goldman’s “GOT” prequel is the first of several potential series set in the world of Westeros to move forward at HBO beyond the script phase.

In May 2017, a multitude of writers were announced by HBO to be working on what Martin described as the “successor shows.”

The other writers working on the potential spin-offs are Max Borenstein, Brian Helgeland, Carly Wray, and Bryan Cogman.

Chidambaram slams Centre for referring to never-used clause in RBI Act

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Afternoon Voice

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October 31, 2018

Slamming the government for reportedly referring to a never-used clause of the RBI Act directing the central bank to implement its wishes, former Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday alleged that the BJP dispensation is “hiding facts” about the economy and is desperate.

The senior Congress leader said that the governments he was a part of in the past had never used Section 7 of the Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, under which a direct order can be issued by the government to the central bank to carry out its wishes in “public interest”.

“If, as reported, Government has invoked Section 7 of the RBI Act and issued unprecedented ‘directions’ to the RBI, I am afraid there will be more bad news today.

“We did not invoke Section 7 in 1991 or 1997 or 2008 or 2013. What is the need to invoke the provision now? It shows that government is hiding facts about the economy and is desperate (sic),” he said in a series of tweets.

According to a media report, the government has invoked the never-before-used powers under the RBI Act allowing it to issue directions to the central bank governor on matters of public interest.

However, another report suggested that the government has initiated a consultative process with the RBI in three areas of concern and while doing so, has mentioned Section 7 without actually invoking it.