Power centralisation in PMO behind poor economy: Sena

News Network
December 10, 2019

Mumbai, Dec 10: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said centralisation of power in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was one of the main reasons for the "poor" economic health of the country.

The central government wants the finance minister and RBI Governor under its control, an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' claimed, adding that the present BJP-led dispensation is not ready to listen to economists as it considers the economy as a "share market gamble".

It supported concerns raised by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, who recently said India is in the midst of a "growth recession" with signs of deep malaise in the economy that is being run through extreme centralisation of power in the PMO and powerless ministers.

India's economic growth slowed to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in the July-September quarter. With inflation rising, fears of stagflation -- a fall in aggregate demand accompanied by rising inflation -- have resurfaced.

The Shiv Sena said former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi cannot be held responsible for the country's present economic situation.

"Centralisation of power in PMO and powerless ministers - this situation is not good for the economy," the Marathi publication said.

"The present government is not ready to listen to economists as it considers the economy like a 'share bazaar satta'. What is Nirmala Sitharaman's contribution as finance minister - 'I don't eat onion, you also do the same'," the Uddhav Thackeray-led party said in taunting remarks.

The government wants the finance minister, RBI governor, finance secretary and Niti Aayog Chairman under its control, it claimed, adding that this is the main reason for the country's "poor" economic health.

The economy is "paralysed" and former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's "diagnosis" is absolutely correct.

"The government is not ready to accept the economic slowdown. When the onion prices touch Rs 200 per kg, the finance minister says 'I don't eat garlic, onion, so don't ask me'," it quipped.

The Sena said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "not trying" to improve the situation. "When he was the chief minister of Gujarat, he had expressed concern over the rising onion prices," it noted. The Sena said that PM Modi had said onion is an essential commodity and it has become so costly that it will have to be "kept in lockers".

"The situation has changed and Modi is now the prime minister and the economy is in a 'crisis'. An unconscious person is brought back to senses by being made to smell onion, but this is not possible now since onions have disappeared from markets," it said in sarcastic comments.

The Sena also blamed decisions like demonetisation and "unnecessary focus" on projects such as the bullet train for the current economic situation.

"Whatever Pandit Nehru and his colleagues earned for the country, this government is selling it off," it said, apparently referring to the proposed sale of public sector undertakings like the BPCL and Air India.

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dead indian
 - 
Tuesday, 10 Dec 2019

Vote for hindu rastra and eat sand and mud this is the aukaat of you people..all the best for futur

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: The government on Wednesday said no data or security breach has been identified in Aarogya Setu after an ethical hacker raised concerns about a potential security issue in the app.

The app is the government's mobile application for contact tracing and disseminating medical advisories to users in order to contain the spread of coronavirus.

On Tuesday, a French hacker and cyber security expert Elliot Alderson had claimed that "a security issue has been found" in the app and that "privacy of 90 million Indians is at stake".

Dismissing the claims, the government said "no personal information of any user has been proven to be at risk by this ethical hacker".

"We are continuously testing and upgrading our systems. Team Aarogya Setu assures everyone that no data or security breach has been identified," the government said through the app’s Twitter handle.

The tweet gave point-by-point clarification on the red flags raised by the hacker.

"We discussed with the hacker and were made aware of the following... the app fetches user location on a few occasions," it said, but added that this was by design and is clearly detailed in the privacy policy.

The app fetches users’ location and stores on the server in a secure, encrypted, anonymised manner - at the time of registration, at the time of self assessment, when users submit their contact tracing data voluntary through the app or when it fetches the contact tracing data of users after they have turned COVID-19 positive, it said.

On another issue that users can get COVID-19 stats displayed on the home screen by changing the radius and latitude-longitude using a script, Aarogya Setu said that all this information is already public for all locations and hence does not compromise on any personal or sensitive data.

"We thank the ethical hacker on engaging with us. We encourage any users who identify a vulnerability to inform us immediately...," it said.

Responding to Aarogya Setu's clarification, Alderson tweeted, "I will come back to you tomorrow".

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Mumbai, Mar 8: A day after the Enforcement Directorate registered a money laundering case against Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor and raided his premises, he was taken to the agency's office in Mumbai on Saturday for further questioning.

Kapoor, who was grilled by central agency's officials on Friday night at his Samudra Mahal residence in Mumbai, was shifted to the ED office in the metropolis around 12.30 pm.

ED officials said Kapoor was questioned throughout the night, with some rest time.

A senior ED official connected with the probe told IANS: "Kapoor will be questioned about Yes Bank loans to Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL)."

The official said that during searches a lot of incriminating documents were found and the agency wanted to grill him on his links with DHFL promoters and other companies.

Kapoor's alleged role in the disbursal of loan to a corporate entity and kickbacks reportedly received in his wife's bank account are also under probe.

The ED had filed the money laundering case against Kapoor and raided his residence, apart from issuing a look-out circular so that he does not flee the country.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Kapoor as a continuation of its probe against the DHFL wherein it was allegedly found that Rs 12,500 crore was diverted to 80 shell companies using one lakh fake borrowers. The transactions with these shell companies date back to 2015.

An ED official in New Delhi told IANS that the DHFL probe revealed that funds diverted by the DHFL originated from Yes Bank.

He said that the searches at Kapoor's residence on Friday night were meant to find out any irregularity in grant of loans to the DHFL by the Yes Bank.

The ED has accused Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of DHFL of purchasing shares in five firms -- Faith Realtors, Marvel Township, Abe Realty, Poseidon Realty, and Random Realtors -- after which they were amalgamated with Sunblink.

The outstanding loans of these five firms, totalling around Rs 2,186 crore till July 2019, were allegedly appropriated onto the books of Sunblink to cover up the diversion of loans acquired from DHFL.

The ED's action comes after the RBI superseded Yes Bank Board for 30 days and appointed an administrator, putting a cap of Rs 50,000 on withdrawals by account holders for a month.

The RBI said that the bank's board was superseded "owing to serious deterioration in the financial position of the bank".

Former SBI CFO Prashant Kumar was appointed as administrator of Yes Bank, which has over 1,000 branches and 1,800-plus ATMs across the country.

On Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the bank was on watch since 2017 and developments relating to it were monitored on a day-to-day basis.

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News Network
March 16,2020

New Delhi, Mar 16: Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani has been summoned by the ED in connection with its money laundering probe against Yes Bank promoter Rana Kapoor and others, officials said on Monday.

They said Ambani was asked to depose at the Enforcement Directorate office in Mumbai on Monday as his group companies are among the big entities whose loans went bad after borrowing from the crisis-hit bank.

The officials said Ambani, 60, has sought exemption from appearance on some personal grounds and he may be issued a new date.

Ambani's group companies are stated to have taken loans of about Rs 12,800 crore from the bank that turned NPAs.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in a March 6 press conference that the Anil Ambani Group, Essel, ILFS, DHFL and Vodafone were among the stressed corporates Yes Bank had exposure to.

Officials said promoters of all the big companies who had taken large loans from the beleaguered bank which later turned bad are being summoned for questioning in the case to take investigation forward.

Ambani's statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) upon deposition, they said.

Kapoor, 62, is at present in ED custody after he was arrested by the central probe agency early this month.

The ED has accused Kapoor, his family members and others of laundering "proceeds of crime" worth Rs 4,300 crore by receiving alleged kickbacks in lieu of extending big loans through their bank that later turned NPA.

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