Mangaluru Chalo: Cops scuttle bike rally as BJP defies ban

Mangaluru, Jan 9: Noted city based tax accountant and former Rotary District Governor Surya Prakash Bhat passed away late this evening following brief illness. He was 62 and is survived by his wife Srimathi and two daughters Shruthi and Shravya.

Surya Prakash Bhat suddenly fell ill and had been in coma for the last two weeks due to complications arising from acute diabetes. He was undergoing treatment in the ICU at Yenepoya Hospital, Kodialbail. However he failed to respond to treatment and passed away at 9.20 p.m on Wednesday, January 8th.

He was an active Rotarian. He was an active member of Rotaract Club of Mangalore Central during his youth and then joined Rotary Club of Mangalore in 1989. After holding various positions in club level and the district level including Rotary District Secretary during the year 1995-96, he became club President of Rotary Club of Mangalore during its Golden Jubilee year in 1999-2000. Then on he rose to the position of District Governor of RI Dist. 3180 during 2003-2004. He was presently a member of the Rotary District Advisory Council.

Popularly known as "SURI", Surya Prakash Bhat was born in Mangalore on 8th May 1957. He had his early education in Milagres High School and graduated from St. Aloysius College. He did his articleship under Kamath & Rao Chartered Accountants. He has been practicing as a Tax Consultant since 1980 specializing in the fields of Goods & Service Tax (GST).

He has earlier served as Treasurer and Secretary of Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mangalore. He also has been a Member of Finance & Banking Committee of FICCI, New Delhi; Member of Advisory Board, Department of Commercial Taxes as well as of Customs & Central Excise. He was one of the founders of The Karavali Automotive Sports Club, Mangalore and a Trustee of Shri Somanatha Temple, Someshwar, Mangalore.

Had been regularly anchoring programme like “Janadhwani”, a programme which highlights problems of common man, Elections Special and Budget Analysis in the local TV Channel.

Funeral will be held tomorrow in Mangalore.

Rotary Connection

Surya Prakash Bhat Joined Rotaract Club in 1976-77 and had won record 14 out of 15 awards in the district (Comprising of 8 Revenue Districts) as the best President during 1984-85.  He served as Rotaract District Secretary during 1985-86. 

He has been addressing various institutions, organizations and service clubs on matters of general interest, personality and individual development and Rotary. Has addressed the prestigious Rotary Institutes at Colombo and was trainer for the DGN’S at Cochin Institute, Bangkok Institute & SINGAPORE Institute. He was the President during the "Golden Jubilee Year" of Rotary Club of Mangalore during 1999-2000 when the club had bagged a record 28 awards in all.

He attended Rotary International Conventions at Singapore in 1999, at Denmark/Sweden in 2006 and New Orleans, USA in 2011,and Sydney, Australia in 2014. He was District Secretary during 1995-96 and then was the Club President during 1999-2000. He had initiated unique District Projects like “Sanjeevini” – Students Parents Insurance Scheme, “Jeeva” Highway Ambulance Project, Mid Day Meal for students of 6th & 7th Std children, Mobility Training Centre for the Blind etc. 

During the Governorship, RI Dist.3180 topped the world in membership development with 15 new clubs and 852 new members.  He has represented the Dist.3180 to Council on Legislation (decision taking body of Rotary International) at Chicago, USA during 2006-07.  Has been awarded “The Citation for Meritorious Service” by THE ROTARY FOUNDATION of Rotary International in recognition of his devoted efforts for the furthering of better understanding and friendly relations of people’s of the world. Has also been awarded “The Service above Self” citation of the Rorary International for the year 2011. Was the coordinator for Zone 6A & 6B covering around 12 countries for Literacy Programme of R.I for the year 2006-07.

Was the Chairman of the Dist. Trainers Training Programme at the Rotary Institute 2017-18 at Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

New Delhi, June 22: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be “mindful of the implication of his words” as a controversy raged over his “no intrusion” remark about the violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley.

“The Prime Minister must always be mindful of the implications of his words and declarations on our Nation’s security as also strategic and territorial interests,” Singh said in a statement here as Chinese media welcomed Modi’s ‘no intrusion’  remarks contending that it may lead to a de-escalation of tensions between China and India.

Congress has been maintaining that Modi’s assertions at Friday’s all-party meeting that neither was there any intrusion nor was any Indian post captured ran counter to the statements made by the Indian Army and the External Affairs Ministry.

Singh said the prime minister cannot allow his words to be used by China as a vindication of its position and all organs of the government should work together to tackle this crisis and prevent it from escalating further.

“We remind the Government that disinformation is no substitute for diplomacy or decisive leadership. The truth cannot be suppressed by having pliant allies spout comforting but false statements,” the former prime minister said.

Singh said the prime minister and the government should rise to the occasion to ensure justice for Colonel B Santosh and the army jawans who made the supreme sacrifice and resolutely defended the nation’s territorial integrity.

“To do any less would be a historic betrayal of the people’s faith,” the former prime minister said.

“At this moment, we stand at historic crossroads. Our Government’s decisions and actions will have serious bearings on how the future generations perceive us,” Singh said.

Singh said China was brazenly and illegally seeking to claim parts of Indian territory such as the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Tso Lake by committing multiple incursions between April 2020 till date.  

“We cannot and will not be cowed down by threats and intimidation nor permit a compromise with our territorial integrity,” said Singh. 

The former prime minister said this was a moment where “we must stand together as a nation and be united in our response to this brazen threat.”

Jan 24: India’s economy appears to be shaking off a slump, as activity in the services and manufacturing sectors expanded for a second straight month in December.

The needle on a gauge measuring so-called animal spirits signaled the economy may be taking a turn for the better, as five of the eight high-frequency indicators tracked by Bloomberg News came in stronger last month. The dial was last at the current position in August.

“Animal spirits” is a term coined by British economist John Maynard Keynes to refer to investors’ confidence in taking action, and the gauge uses the three-month weighted average to smooth out volatility in the single-month numbers.

The nascent recovery would need a helping hand, with expectations building that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will provide some stimulus when she presents the budget Feb. 1. Official forecasts show the economy is set to expand at 5% in the year ending March 2020 -- the weakest pace in more than a decade.

Here are the details of the dashboard:

Business Activity

The dominant services index rose to the highest level in five months in December as improving new work orders helped boost activity. The seasonally adjusted Markit India Services PMI index climbed to 53.3 from 52.7 in November, helping post a strong end to the calendar year.

India’s manufacturing PMI also rose -- to 52.7 from 51.2 a month ago -- boosted by the fastest increase in new orders since July. A reading above 50 means expansion while anything below that signals contraction.

The uptick in business confidence was accompanied by a rise in inflationary pressures, the survey showed. That trend may keep monetary policy makers from resuming interest-rate cuts anytime soon, leaving most of the heavy-lifting to boost growth with the government.

“The relative stability in macro indicators over the past two months suggests that the worst is behind, but the recovery is likely to be prolonged,” said Teresa John, an economist at Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt. in Mumbai. “Still, sluggish growth and rising inflation indicate that India may well remain in stagflation for most of 2020.”

Exports

Exports remained a laggard, falling 1.8% in December from a year ago. The drag was mainly because of a fall in export of engineering goods, which constitute a third of India’s non-oil exports.

Capital goods imports continued to contract and was lower by 16.5% year-on-year in December after a 22% drop in November. This was the seventh consecutive month of continuous decline, underscoring the weakness in the capex cycle, according to IDFC First Bank.

Consumer Activity

Weakness in demand for passenger vehicles persisted, with local sales falling 1.2% in December from a year ago, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. That capped the worst yearly passenger vehicle sales on record. A Nielsen study on demand for fast-moving consumer goods showed volume growth dropped to 3.5% in the last quarter of 2019 from 3.9% in the same period of 2018.

Funding conditions held out hope, showing considerable improvement in December, according to the Citi India Financial Conditions Index. Credit growth remained tardy though, with demand for loans rising at a slower 7.1% pace from a year ago compared with a nearly 8% growth in November.

Industrial Activity

Industrial output rose for the first time in four months in November. The pick up was broad-based, led by mining, manufacturing and electricity. Mining and manufacturing, in particular, posted a second month of sequential growth. Production of consumer goods also rose after a few months of contraction.

The index of eight core infrastructure industries, which feeds into the index of industrial production, however, declined 1.5% in November from a year ago -- the fourth straight month of contraction. That was on account of shrinking production of electricity, steel, coal, natural gas and crude oil. Both the core sector and industrial output numbers are reported with a one-month lag.