Centre not providing funds that are due to WB: Mamata

News Network
November 15, 2019

Kolkata, Nov 15: Alleging that the central government was not providing the funds which were due to the state, West Bengal Chief Minister on Thursday said the sum would have helped in carrying out relief work in areas hit by cyclone 'Bulbul'.

Reiterating that no one should play politics over such issues, Banerjee expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would keep his promise of assisting the state in the relief and rehabilitation efforts.

"Around Rs 17,000 crore is due to us from the Centre. If they had given us that due amount, we could have used that to carry out relief work," Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat here.

The CM said she would write to the central government in connection with the dues.

The Trinamool Congress supremo said the Centre was urged to send a team to take stock of the situation in the three affected districts - North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore.

"I would also request the Centre to help us in this situation. We will send them our report after the central team completes their survey. The PM had earlier said he will help us. Let's hope (that he will keep his promise)," she said.

Banerjee claimed that the state government has incurred a loss of Rs 640 crore after the government failed to provide its due share of the central revenue.

Apparently referring to Union minister Babul Supriyo's visit to the cyclone-ravaged areas in South 24 Parganas district on Wednesday that led to protests there, Banerjee asked people to refrain from playing politics in relief distribution.

"Instead of standing by the affected people, some are playing politics and indulging in vandalism. I would urge them to refrain from it. This is not the time for politics," the chief minister said.

Without naming Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who earlier in the day shared the views of Banerjee that there should not be politics over the distribution of relief materials, she said some individuals were acting as the "BJP mouthpiece" and playing "a dirty game".

"I generally do not comment on constitutional posts, but a few people (governors) are acting just like BJP mouthpieces. In my state, too, you have seen what is going on - they want to run a parallel administration," Banerjee said.

She also stressed that the central and the state governments have specific roles to play and the two should work together when the situation demands so.

"The Centre and the state should work in a federal spirit to tackle the situation caused by the severe cyclone in the state. And no individual politician, or some people, who are BJP supporters, should play a dirty game," she said in an apparent reference to Supriyo's visit on Wednesday.

Reacting to her remarks, Supriyo said it is the TMC which has been playing politics over distribution of relief materials.

"We have extended every kind of support. Both the prime minister and the home minister had called the CM and assured of all possible help. She should keep aside her ego and seek more central aid if needed.

"But, TMC is engaged in dirty politics over my visit, as they are trying to hide the real ground situation. Several locals have complained about lack of relief material and food for the last four days," he alleged.

Six lakh people have been affected and over five lakh houses damaged due to the cyclone, which made landfall late on Saturday between Sagar Islands in West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh. Altogether 14 people, including fishermen of a capsized trawler, died in the calamity.

The chief minister said the administration is able to provide lanterns and kerosene to only 40,000 families, and asked the Centre for more lanterns.

Banerjee had on Wednesday announced one lantern and 5 litres of kerosene for each affected family in the state.

Relief kits are also being prepared and would soon be delivered to them, she added.

In the three affected districts, school examinations would be held in early December instead of late November.

"Several schools are still submerged. How will the students go and appear for examinations? That is why the dates need to be rescheduled," she said.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Washington, Jun 11: Observing that historically India has been a tolerant, respectful country for all religions, a top Trump administration official has said the US is "very concerned" about what is happening in India over religious freedom.

The comments by Samuel Brownback, Ambassador-At-Large for International Religious Freedom, came hours after the release of the "2019 International Religious Freedom Report" on Wednesday.

Mandated by the US Congress, the report documenting major instances of violation of religious freedom across the world was released by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department.

India has previously rejected the US religious freedom report, saying it sees no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of its citizens' constitutionally protected rights.

"We do remain very concerned about what's taking place in India. It's historically just been a very tolerant, respectful country of religions, of all religions," Mr Brownback said during a phone call with foreign journalists on Wednesday.

The trend lines have been troubling in India because it is such a religious subcontinent and seeing a lot more communal violence, Mr Brownback said. "We're seeing a lot more difficulty. I think really they need to have a - I would hope they would have an - interfaith dialogue starting to get developed at a very high level in India, and then also deal with the specific issues that we identified as well," he said.

"It really needs a lot more effort on this topic in India, and my concern is, too, that if those efforts are not put forward, you're going to see a growth in violence and increased difficulty within the society writ large," said the top American diplomat.

Responding to a question, Mr Brownback said he hoped minority faiths are not blamed for the COVID-19 spread and that they would have access to healthcare amid the crisis.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has criticised any form of discrimination, saying the COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone equally. "COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or border before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood," PM Modi said in a post on LinkedIn in February.

The government, while previously rejecting the US religious freedom report, had said: "India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion".

"The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities… We see no locus standi for a foreign entity/government to pronounce on the state of our citizens' constitutionally protected rights," the Foreign Ministry said in June last year.

According to the Home Ministry, 7,484 incidents of communal violence took place between 2008 and 2017, in which more than 1,100 people were killed.

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News Network
March 4,2020

New Delhi, Mar 4: The Supreme Court on Wednesday revoked the ban of cryptocurrency imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2018.

Pronouncing the verdict, the three-judge bench of the apex court said the ban was 'disproportionate'.

The bench included Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice V Ramasubramanian.

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), whose members include cryptocurrency exchanges, and others had approached the top court objecting to a 2018 RBI circular directing regulated entities to not deal with cryptocurrencies.

Advocate Ashim Sood, appearing for IAMI, submitted that Reserve Bank of India lacked jurisdiction to forbid dealings in cryptocurrencies. The blanket ban was based on an erroneous understanding that it was impossible to regulate cryptocurrencies, Sood submitted.

The petitioners had argued that the RBI's circular taking cryptocurrencies out of the banking channels would deplete the ability of law enforcement agencies to regulate illegal activities in the industry.

IAMAI had claimed the move of RBI had effectively banned legitimate business activity via the virtual currencies (VCs).

The RBI on April 6, 2018, had issued the circular that barred RBI-regulated entities from "providing any service in relation to virtual currencies, including those of transfer or receipt of money in accounts relating to the purchase or sale of virtual currencies".

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Petrol price on Wednesday was hiked by 40 paise per litre and diesel by 45 paise, the fourth straight daily increase in rates after oil PSUs ended an 82-day hiatus in rate revision. Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 73.40 per litre from Rs 73, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 71.62 a litre from Rs 71.17, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or VAT.

This is the fourth daily increase in rates in a row since oil companies on Sunday restarted revising prices in line with costs, after ending an 82-day hiatus.

In four hikes, petrol price has gone up by Rs 2.14 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.23.

Latest petrol, diesel prices in top cities:

New Delhi: Petrol ₹73.40. Diesel ₹71.62

Gurgaon: Petrol ₹72.86. Diesel ₹64.90

Mumbai: Petrol ₹80.40. Diesel ₹70.35

Chennai: Petrol ₹77.43. Diesel ₹70.13

Hyderabad: Petrol ₹76.20. Diesel ₹70b

Bengaluru: Petrol ₹75.77. Diesel ₹68.09

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