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Congress wants Rahul Gandhi to be the face of anti-BJP alliance

Agencies
July 22, 2018

New Delhi, Jul 22: The extended Congress Working Committee on July 22 authorised Congress president Rahul Gandhi to forge an alliance with like-minded parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha election to take on the BJP.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the newly-constituted CWC, Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and Congress Legislature Party members from various States.

The party also authorised Mr. Gandhi to constitute a committee to work out alliances with various national and regional parties to form a grand national alliance.

About 40 leaders spoke at the CWC meeting where they all stressed that the Congress should play a lead role in forging an anti-BJP front. Some leaders said Mr. Gandhi being the leader of the principle opposition party should be the face of the national alliance. Asked about party leaders wanting Mr. Gandhi to be the face of the alliance, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said, “Naturally, he is the leader of the main national (opposition) party and we would want our leader to be the face of the Opposition alliance.”

Senior party leader and former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram gave a detailed presentation on how the party could be strengthened with the help of allies in various States.

Sources said that Mr. Chidambaram highlighted that the Congress is strong in 12 States and with the help of its allies, it can forge a formidable front for the next general election.

Party should fight for the oppressed: Rahul

Mr. Gandhi in his opening address at the first meeting of the newly constituted CWC on July 22, described the body as an “institution of experience and energy that will serve as a bridge between the present, past and the future”.

Mr. Gandhi called upon “Congressmen/women to rise and fight for India’s oppressed”, according to Congress communication chief Randeep Surjewala, who was tweeting from inside Parliament Annexe, the venue of the meeting.

“Sh. Rahul Gandhi reminds the role of Congress as the voice of India as also its responsibility of present and future, as BJP attacks institutions, dalits, tribals, backwards, minorities & poor,” Mr. Surjewala added.

Mr. Surjewala said former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh rejected the culture of self praise and jumla of the Modi government and questioned its claim of doubling farm incomes in five years.

“Dr. Manmohan Singh points out that the claim of doubling farm income by 2022 will require an agri growth rate of 14%, which is nowhere in sight,” he tweeted.

“Mrs. Sonia Gandhi cautions about the rain of despair and fear heaped upon India’s deprived and poor. Points out that rhetoric of PM Modi shows his desperation reflecting that reverse countdown of Modi govt has begun,” he tweeted.

The CWC that was constituted last week by Mr. Gandhi has 23 members, 18 permanent invitees, 10 special invitees.

However, the first meeting had 239 guests in attendance the extended CWC meeting includes State units chiefs, Congress legislature party leaders have been invited but also heads of different cells of the party, secretaries and joint secretaries.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider a plea raising the issue of mass termination and the illegal salary cut of employees in IT/ITES/BPO/KPI by their employers during the lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus.

A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, S.K. Kaul and B.R. Gavai, taking up the matter through video conferencing, agreed to examine the issue and listed it for May 15.

The petition, argued by senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, was filed by National Information Technology Employees Sena (NITES) through advocate-on-record Amit Pai, and sought implementation of directions issued by the Centre on March 29 and similar advisories issued by several other states mandating payment of wages/salaries to the employees and also directed not to terminate them during the period of lockdown.

A directive was issued by the Union Ministry of Labour and Empowerment to all Chief Secretaries of state governments to issue advisories to public and private companies to not lay off employees or implement pay cuts during lockdown.

In the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report published on April 19, it was noted that "several companies across the country have started to terminate its employees without any reasonable cause and have started withholding their salaries. It is submitted that in such testing times, the rights of the employees ought to be protected by necessary orders/directions to the companies through the Respondents to effectively implement the lockdown and to contain the spread of the virus", said the plea.

On March 29, the Centre issued an order directing all states and Union Territories to issue orders, requiring all the employers in the industrial sector and shops and commercial establishments to pay wages on the due date without any deduction during their closure due to the lockdown.

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News Network
July 2,2020

New Delhi, Jul 2: India's COVID-19 tally breached the 6 lakh cases mark with 19,148 new coronavirus cases being reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

The total cases now stand at 6,04,641 of which there are 2,26,947 active cases while 3,59,860 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

434 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours taking the number of COVID-19 deaths in the country to 17,834.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, has a total of 1,80,298 cases including 8,053 fatalities. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has 94,049 cases inclusive of 1,264 deaths.

Delhi has 89,802 coronavirus cases including 2,803 deaths.

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Agencies
August 6,2020

Mumbai, Aug 6: Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday that overly focusing on what sovereign rating agencies think can take one's eyes off what needs to be done for the economy.

"It is also important to convince both domestic and international investors that after the crisis associated with the pandemic is over, we will return to fiscal responsibility over the medium term, and the government should do more to convince them of that," Rajan told the Global Markets Forum.

India was placed under one of the strictest lockdowns in the world in late March for more than two months to stem the spread of the coronavirus, but cases have continued to rise steadily since the government eased restrictions in June, stymieing hopes of an economic recovery.

The government has announced several initiatives to help the poor and small- and medium-size businesses, but actual cash outgo from the government's measures has been estimated at just about 1% of GDP.

Several attribute the fiscal prudence to fear of a downgrade after Moody's cut India's rating and outlook in early June followed closely by a change in outlook from Fitch.

The central bank on its part too has reduced the key lending rate by 115 basis points on top of the 135 bps last year and is widely expected to cut rates by another 25 bps later on Thursday.

"The RBI and government have certainly been cooperating, but it seems like it is elsewhere, the ball is in the government's court to do more," Rajan said.

He said the RBI needs to focus on whether credit is reaching the stressed areas of the economy and also if the viable firms were able to access credit and not the unviable ones.

"And I think that's where it has to focus its attentions, because resources, as you well know, are limited in India today."

Recently analysts, however, have cited the growing possibility the RBI may prefer to pause and cut rates only at its October meeting.

Government officials too have suggested the possibility of any more fiscal stimulus being announced, would only come in the second half of the fiscal year, once a recovery has taken root and coronavirus cases have peaked.

"What India should focus on at this point is protecting its economic capabilities, so that when it has dealt with the virus it can go resume activity in a reasonable way. That should be the focus," Rajan said.

"And if it does that, there is no reason why the rating agencies will not see that as an appropriate policy".

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