Gold jewellers in India, the world’s second-biggest consumer, are planning a nationwide shutdown next week to demand easing of curbs on precious metal imports.
Bullion dealers and jewellers will shut shops on March 10 to protest restrictions on imports, Kumar Jain, a spokesman for the Bombay Bullion Association, said by phone. Jewellers want the import tax cut to 2 per cent from 10 per cent, relaxation in re-export rules and easier credit norms, he said. The association represents about 1,000 jewellers and traders.
India raised the tax on gold imports three times last year and linked shipments to re-exports to rein in a record current-account deficit and a slump in the rupee. The restrictions reduced overseas purchase and created a shortage, fueling domestic premiums to a record $160 an ounce over the London cash price in December. The South Asian country buys all its gold from overseas and made up for 25 percent of global demand in 2013, according to the World Gold Council.
The Commerce Ministry is in discussions with the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India about changing import rules, Minister Anand Sharma said in Mumbai today. Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Jan. 27 the curbs will be reviewed by the end of March only if Asia’s third-largest economy controls the current-account deficit.
The deficit, the broadest measure of trade, tracking goods, services and investment income, will narrow to $45 billion in the year ending March from a record $88 billion in 2012-2013, Chidambaram said Feb. 17. The shortfall was $5.2 billion in July through September, compared with $21.8 billion for the prior quarter, the RBI said Dec. 3.
Jewellers plan shutdown to Demand Easier Gold Import Rules
Six new judges sworn-in in Bombay HC
Six new judges were sworn-in as additional judges of the Bombay High Court on Monday.
The new additional judges include Anuja Prabhudesai who is the first woman judge to be appointed this year. She was a lower court judge in Goa.
With these appointments, the strength of judges in the high court stands at 66 now, whereas the sanctioned strength is 75. With Prabhudesai, the number of women judges in the high court stands at seven.
This is the second round of appointment in the high court this year. In January, the high court got five judges.
The six new judges who took oath on Monday are Anil Menon, Chrandrakanth Bhadang, Vishwas Jadhav, Ananta Badar, Pukhraj Bora, besides Prabhudesai.
Among other new judges, Bora was a registrar in the Supreme Court between 2010 and 2012, Badar was the principal district judge in Pune, Bhadang was the registrar general of the Bombay high court and Jadhav a district judge.
Only Menon comes from the bar. He has been a lawyer practising at the high court in Mumbai, mostly handling intellectual property rights cases.
Post INS Sindhuratna mishap, 4 top admirals in race to succeed Joshi as Navy chief
Days after Admiral DK Joshi quit as Navy Chief taking moral responsibility for submarine INS Sindhuratna accident and the Centre government accepted his resignation, four top admirals are in the race to become the next chief of the world’s sixth largest naval force.
According to reports, acting Navy chief Vice Admiral Robin Dhowan, Western Naval Command (WNC) chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) chief Vice Admiral Anil Chopra and Southern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Satish Soni are in the race to succeed Joshi.
In view of his criticism for not acting swiftly in the wake of recent naval mishaps, Defence Minister AK Antony has asked the Naval headquarters to provide their dossiers for a thorough examination before selecting the new chief.
The Defence Ministry is likely to make its choice soon and send the name for clearance to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by the PM.
Of the four contenders, Sinha joined the naval forces in June 1974 and is the senior-most but comes with a lot of baggage. Two Navy chiefs had warned the Defence Ministry against giving operational assignments to Sinha, who has presided over some of the worst accidents, including the sinking of INS Sindhurakshak that killed 18 sailors last August.
The INS Sindhuratna mishap that killed two officers last week and led to Joshi’s resignation also took place under Sinha’s watch. In view of the Sinha’s track records, the Defence Minister is not expected to take the risk of recommending him as the next Navy Chief as he promptly accepted Joshi’s resignation over the INS Sindhuratna mishap.
However, in view of the Defence Ministry not recommending his name, Sinha could either resign or drag the government to court. Sinha is due to retire on August 31, 2014. Dhowan is the second senior-most admiral in the line. He was commissioned in January 1975 but hasn’t led a fighting command, either the WNC or the ENC.
However, there are past precedents that could work in his favour. Admiral Sushil Kumar did not have the experience of running an operational command but he was still named chief after Vishnu Bhagwat’s sacking in December 1998. Also, late Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson, chief during 1982-84, had not led a fighting command. Dhowan retires on May 31, 2014.
INS Sindhuratna fire: cables to blame, not expired batteries, says initial probe
An early probe has revealed that the fire on board navy submarine INS Sindhuratna, which killed two officers, was due to faulty cables, and not expired batteries that had not been replaced, sources today said.
The cables in the third compartment of the vessel caught fire, sources said.
The two officers died saving their comrades from the fire that broke out on the submarine early Wednesday. They were reportedly trapped when a hatch slammed shut. Seven sailors were injured.
There was speculation that the vessel’s batteries had not been replaced as the contract had not been finalized on time. Sources today said the contract was pending but the batteries were not the cause of the fire.
The battery was, in fact, borrowed from another submarine which is under refit. Sources say the battery had about 75 cycles to go and not beyond use.
Investigations are still on into the Sindhuratna fire and other accidents involving Kilo Class submarines of the Navy in the last seven months, they said.
After the Sindhuratna fire, Admiral DK Joshi resigned as Navy Chief taking responsibility for the accidents on his watch.
Customs seize 1 kg gold bar, trace alleged smuggler
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be in Maharashtra on a two-day tour from March 5 and is scheduled to spend a day in Mumbai interacting with voters.
Rahul will first interact with engineering and other degree course students at Shirpur in tribal Dhule district on March 5, MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant said in Mumbai.
In the afternoon, he will address a public rally at Aurangabad, after which he will interact with people on the Dhule-Shirpur road.
On March 6, the Congress leader will interact with fishermen at Versova, after which he will address a public rally at Sonale village, Bhiwandi bypass, in Thane district.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Maharashtra affairs Mohan Prakash, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and MPCC president Manikrao Thakre will accompany Rahul during the tour.
Ruling Congress-NCP coalition in Maharashtra will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls with the same 26:22 seat-sharing formula adopted during the last elections, with Congress contesting 26 of the total 48 LS seats in the state.
There are 17 Congress members from the state in the outgoing Lok Sabha while NCP has eight.
Stock broker Ketan Parekh sentenced to 2 years jail
Ketan Parekh, an accused in several cases of stock market manipulation, has been convicted by a special CBI court in Mumbai for cheating and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment.
“The Special Judge for CBI cases, Mumbai has convicted Ketan Manharlal Parekh, share broker and sentenced him to undergo two years rigorous imprisonment with total fine of Rs 50,000,” CBI spokesperson said on Monday.
The court, however, acquitted a bank manager and other public officials in the case.
The case relates to cheating committed by Parekh in alleged criminal conspiracy with the then Senior Manager of NRI Cell and Incharge of Safe Custody Department, Bank of Baroda, Mumbai and others.
“It was alleged that the accused had abused their official position while functioning as such during 1989-1991 and conspired with Parekh,” CBI said.
The spokesperson said CBI had charged the accused with cheating Bank of Baroda, Sir P.M. Road Branch, Mumbai by obtaining the duplicate debentures in lieu of originals and by pledging the original debentures of a leading private company in the name of two NRIs which were purportedly lost from Safe Custody Department, Bank of Baroda, Mumbai Main office.
Loans facilities were then availed in the name of four associate firms of Parekh from Bank of Baroda, thereby causing loss to Bank of Baroda, the spokesperson said.
CBI filed the charge sheet 14 years ago in the Special CBI Court for criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by public servant and cheating besides provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act against the four accused persons.
The court acquitted three other accused public servants while Parekh was convicted.
Coalition politics is a challenge
Coalitions are the inevitable creation of new political disbursement, as regional parties accrue more and more support, larger parties, with dwindling vote banks, are forced to form alliances to secure office. Modern Democracy and its politics are challenged with Alliance Politics in India. Political alliances create a great deal of suspense and interest. One feels, the formation of alliances will take the shape of Indian Premier League (IPL) team formation. That is, financially sound political parties can form a formidable team/alliance and emerge victorious. Vitamin M (money) will play an unprecedented role in the 2014 elections. The notion of Coalition Politics draws its roots from the times when sparring states sometimes used to ally with each other in order to defeat a common enemy. All small time parties get together with one common agenda to defeat the strongest party they contest against.
India got a taste of Coalition Politics at the state level when the Left Front comprising of Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI (Marxist) and others formed the first ever Coalition Government in India in West Bengal with Jyoti Basu as the Chief Minister (succeeded by Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee). At the national level, the first ever coalition government was formed under the Prime Ministership of Late Shri Morarji Desai which existed from 24th March 1977 to 15th July 1979 headed by now an insignificant Janata Party. Since 1996, Indian Politics has been dominated with Coalition Governments which by far have been stable after a shaky start. Manmohan Singh is heading a coalition Government of 15 parties called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) with Sonia Gandhi, as its Chairperson. Post 1970s emergency, one saw the emergence of Janata Party and the weakening of the Indian National Congress, which once was the undefeatable Political Party in India. Also the breaking up of the National Parties saw a resurgence of regional parties which started dominating the state-level politics.
When Vajpayee couldn’t sustain the Government in 1996 due to lack of Majority (i.e. 272+ seats) in the Indian Parliament after being just 13 days old, the Third Front (a group of regional parties and Non-Congress and Non-BJP combine also referred to as the United Front) formed the Government headed by Mr. H. D. Deve Gowda, who was in office from 1st June 1996 to 21st April 1997. The Congress Party and other smaller parties including the left provided outside support to him in order to provide a stable Government and prevent snap-polls. After 1990, no single largest party even won with utmost majority in India. The rise of regional parties – representing India’s diverse caste, class, and ethnic groups – has robbed the country’s biggest political formations, the Congress and BJP, of much of their support. Coalitions, of course, come with many challenges. The insecurity of coalitions was made clear last year when the Trinamool Congress, a junior coalition partner in the national government, withdrew its support over economic reforms. The defection threatened to tip the Congress-led UPA coalition into a minority, and only with the support of two other regional parties did the government survive. The UPA coalition, which has governed since 2004, has been hounded by allegations of corruption and maladministration.
Coalition has its own challenges because you cannot keep everyone happy. Look at BJP, after an alliance with Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, Senior Bihar BJP leaders are said to be unhappy with the party’s tie-up. They all skipped the rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar where Modi shared the dais with Ram Vilas Paswan who returned to the NDA fold after a long gap of 12 years.
On the other side, many Congress leaders are not in favour of an alliance with JD(U) in Bihar, because they think Nitish’s JD(U) with not leave more than 10 seats out of 40 for Congress. Lalu Yadav said he has offered 11 seats to Congress and one seat to NCP. Political parties exist only because they cannot afford to have any principles. Till yesterday, Mr. Nitish was part of BJP alliance, probably for 17 years. There is a Modi wave in the country, that’s why some regional parties joined hands with BJP and broke their alliance with UPA. Nitish Kumar has taken a dig at Ramvilas Paswan saying that whatever suits him as per circumstances, Paswan does it. That is precisely what every politician is doing. If this time-tested ‘principle’ had not been all along followed, most of the politicians would not have been in politics. We will be having more of this medicine in the months ahead and in stiffer doses after the elections in which Nitish Kumar will also be a player. Besides, there are reports that Congress may go with JD(U), ditching Lalu to go solo. In any case, NDA is expected to sweep Bihar winning majority of seats. No wonder, states like Bihar and UP are lacking in infrastructure and development and they are backward. When these states are ruled by Lalu, Nitish Kumar, Mulayam, Akhilesh Yadav and BSP’s Mayawati, there is no prospect that anything will change. Strange things are happening. Soon after coming out from jail, Lalu went to Sonia and said he regretted the alliance break last time and he would definitely align with her this time. Every event is pointing towards the win of BJP. Let us wait and watch!
Narendra Modi will use ‘Tezaab’ if Muslims don’t vote for him: Azam Khan
Launching a direct attack on Narendra Modi over his repeated assertion that there have been no riots in Gujarat in the last ten years, Samajwadi Party’s Muslim face and Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan on Monday said that Muslims vote out of fear for him in his state.
“How can there be riots in Gujarat? How will they (Muslims) not vote for Modi – otherwise, wouldn’t they be burnt with Tezaab (acid). Where will they go then? If they have to live in Gujarat they will have to vote (in favour of Modi).”
“He (Modi) will turn the whole country into Gujarat,” Khan, the Minister of Minorities and Urban Development, added.
It is not the first time that Khan has trained his guns on Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots.
“An assassin of humanity cannot become Prime Minister of India,” he had said, while accusing Modi of pursuing divisive politics.
RJD-Congress Bihar tie-up not yet final; sources say Rahul eyeing JDU
With the deadlock between Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress on seat sharing in Bihar continuing, sources in Congress say that party Vice President Rahul Gandhi is interested in forming an alliance with Janata Dal (United).
“Rahul feels that RJD may be a liability, while Nitish is a better option,” the sources said.
Congress top leadership is reportedly upset with RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s muscle flexing after Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan chose BJP over RJD and Congress.
However, the sources tell that party chief Sonia Gandhi is against the idea of stitching an alliance with Nitish Kumar’s JDU.
Lalu had on Sunday after his party’s parliamentary board meet said that he was open to talks with the Congress over seat sharing. Sources say the logjam between RJD and Congress is over Madhubani and Motihari Lok Sabha seats.
Lalu had offered 11 seats out of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to the Congress. The Congress, however, feels that the constituencies offered by RJD are not winning seats as the party had no organisation there.
Janata Dal (United) is now part of a Third Front and will fight in alliance with CPI and CPI(M).
Want to see Narendra Modi as future PM: Ram Vilas Paswan
Days after his party returned to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said that he wants to see the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister of the country.
“I congratulate Narendra bhai for coming to Bihar again after he was welcomed by blasts in Patna. You (crowd) are here not only to welcome Modi, but to strengthen the NDA and bring a change in nation under his leadership. I want to see Narendra bhai as the future PM.”
The LJP chief made these remarks while addressing a huge gathering of supporters during the “Hunkar Rally” called by the BJP where he also shared the dais with its BJP leaders, including Narendra Modi.
Drawing comparisons between the governments in Gujarat and Bihar, the LJP chief praised Modi’s model of governance and said, “Winds of change are blowing in India.”
Paswan also categorically rejected Modi’s criticism over communal riots in Gujarat by saying, “Riots happened in Gujarat 12 years ago, nothing has happened there since then, but here in Bihar, it happens every year.”
Taking a dig at former allies Congress and the RJD led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, Paswan said, “Both Nitish ji & Lalu ji used to praise me. They said they would like to see me as Chief Minister of Bihar, now I have entered an alliance so have become bad for them.”
“I was a friend earlier, suddenly I turned into villain after forging an alliance with the BJP, ” Paswan said on his criticism for joining hands with the BJP after 12 years.
Justifying his party’s decision to re-enter the NDA fold twelve years after quitting it over the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the LJP chief said, “No one follows coalition dharma the way BJP does.”
The senior Dalit leader also sought people’s good wishes for his son Chirag Paswan, who is supposed to have played a key role in the alliance between the LJP and the BJP in Bihar.
“My son Chirag has come to seek your blessings,” Paswan said.