Hindu outfit threatens to attack top Pak diplomats

June 25, 2014

Hindu outfitNew Delhi, Jun 25: A nondescript Hindu outfit, which calls itself Shri Hanuman Sena, has threatened to physically harm top Pakistani diplomats in the country.

Pakistan on Tuesday officially raised the issue with the ministry of external affairs seeking a foolproof security cover for its officials. The threat was received by the high commission in the form of a letter.

In their response, Indian officials assured Pakistan that no effort will be spared in ensuring the safety and security of all diplomats in India. "Indian officials also recalled that when on an earlier occasion a reference was made by Pakistani diplomats about security issues, a safety review had been conducted with representatives of Pakistan High Commission and Indian authorities,'' said a source.

Even last month, the high commission had received anonymous letters threatening to hurt Pakistani diplomats. There is still no confirmation about who sent those letters. Pakistani diplomatic sources said the threat was a matter of concern.

Pakistan and India are looking to get dialogue going, at least between the two foreign secretaries, after the freeze resulting from last year's bloody ceasefire violations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised many by inviting his counterpart Nawaz Sharif for his swearing-in but the invite and the subsequent round of "letter and saree diplomacy'' has provided an impetus to Modi's stated desire to build trust with Pakistan.

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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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News Network
July 15,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: India's COVID-19 tally has reached 9,36,181 as 29,429 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

The death toll went up to 24,309, including 582 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

Out of the total cases, 3,19,840 are currently active and 5,92,032 are cured/discharged/migrated.

As per the Ministry, Maharashtra -- the worst-affected state from the infection -- has a total of 2,67,665 COVID-19 cases and 10,695 fatalities. While Tamil Nadu has a tally of 1,47,324 cases and 2,099 deaths due to COVID-19.

Delhi has reported a total of 1,15,346 cases and 3,446 deaths due to COVID-19.

As per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) 3,20,161 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 14, of these 1,24,12,664 samples were tested on Tuesday.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Jan 27: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet passed a resolution on Monday setting in motion the process for abolishing the state Legislative Council.

A similar resolution will now be adopted in the Legislative Assembly and sent to the Centre for necessary follow-up action.

With just nine members, the ruling YSR Congress is in minority in the 58-member Legislative Council. The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has an upper hand with 28 members and the ruling party could get a majority in the House only in 2021 when a number of opposition members will retire at the end of their six-year term.

The move by the Andhra Pradesh cabinet came after the Y S Jaganmohan Reddy government last week failed to pass in the Upper House of the state legislature two crucial Bills related to its plan of having three capitals for the state.

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Chairman M A Sharrif on January 22 referred to a select committee the two bills -- AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) Act (Repeal) Bill -- for deeper examination.

The chairman had said that he was using his discretionary powers under Rule 154 while referring the Bills to the select panel in line with the demand of the TDP.

Following this, the chief minister had told the Assembly, "We need to seriously think whether we need to have such a House which appears to be functioning with only political motives. It is not mandatory to have the Council, which is our own creation, and it is only for our convenience."

"So let us discuss the issue further on Monday and take a decision on whether or not to continue the Council," he had said.

In fact, the YSRC had on December 17 first threatened to abolish the Council when it became clear that the TDP was bent on blocking two Bills related to creation of a separate Commission for SCs and conversion of all government schools into English medium.

As the Legislature was adjourned sine dine on December 17, no further action was taken. But last week, the issue cropped up again as the TDP remained firm on its stand on opposing the three-capitals plan.

The YSRC managed to get two TDP members to its side, but the government failed to get the three capitals Bills passed in the Council.

"What will be the meaning of governance if the House of Elders does not allow good decisions to be taken in the interest of people and block enactment of laws? We need to seriously think about it… Whether we should have such a House or do away with it," the chief minister had said in the Assembly.

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