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Kalam was ready to make Sonia PM

June 30, 2012

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New Delhi, June 30: President Abdul Kalam raised no objection to Sonia Gandhi becoming Prime Minister in 2004. Instead, he had been prepared to swear her in despite intense pressure from various parties and politicians, as that was the only “Constitutionally tenable” option available to him if the Congress chief had staked her claim.

Mr. Kalam says this in his forthcoming memoir, Turning Points, thus lifting the veil on an episode that has been wildly speculated upon, with right-wing sections till today convinced that he had dissuaded the Italian-born Ms. Gandhi from considering the prime ministership. In the book, the former President reveals that his office had readied a letter inviting Ms. Gandhi to form the government as Prime Minister but that she surprised him by nominating Manmohan Singh in her place: “This was definitely a surprise to me and the Rashtrapati Bhavan Secretariat had to rework the letter appointing Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister.”

The former President says he was inundated with “emails and letters from individuals, organisations and parties” asking him not to accept Ms. Gandhi’s prime ministerial claim, all of which he passed on to “various agencies in the government for their information without making any remarks.” Visiting political leaders added to the pressure. But these demands were “constitutionally untenable”, and if Ms. Gandhi “had made any claim for herself, I would have had no option but to appoint her.”

In the same chapter, Mr. Kalam discloses that he wrote out his resignation in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment holding unconstitutional the May 23, 2005 midnight dissolution of the Bihar Assembly. He says he dropped the move after the Prime Minister pleaded with him not to resign as the resulting furore might lead to the fall of the government. The President was away in Moscow when Dr. Singh called him twice and conveyed the Union Cabinet’s decision to dissolve the Assembly based on reports from the State Governor. Mr. Kalam writes that he quizzed the Prime Minister on the urgency to dissolve an Assembly that had been in suspended animation for six months but nonetheless signed the midnight proclamation because he was convinced the government had made up its mind. However, despite his explicit request, he felt the government did not properly present the President’s action in court, leading to adverse judicial remarks on the Cabinet, which is “mine and I have to take the responsibility.”


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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: An Air India flight from Delhi to Moscow on Saturday had to return midway after the airline's ground team found out that one of the pilots had tested positive for novel coronavirus, officials said.

"When the A320 plane, which did not have any passengers as it was heading to Moscow to bring back stranded Indians under Vande Bharat Mission, had reached Uzbekistan's airspace, our team on ground realised that one of the pilots had tested COVID-positive," senior Air India officials said.

"The flight was immediately asked to return. It came back to Delhi at around 12.30 pm on Saturday," the officials said. The crew has been quarantined. Another plane would be sent to Moscow to bring back the stranded Indians, according to the officials.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

Singapore, Jun 2: Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded 11 Indian banks along with as many non-financial companies and infrastructure majors besides four government-related issuers following a downgrade of the Indian government's issuer rating to Baa3 from Baa2 with a negative outlook.

The rapid and widening spread of the coronavirus outbreak, deteriorating global economic outlook, volatile oil prices and asset price declines are creating a severe and extensive credit shock across many sectors, regions and markets, said Moody's.

The Indian banking sector has been affected given the disruptions to India's economic activity from the coronavirus outbreak, which is weakening borrowers' credit profiles, it added.

The 11 lenders include Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Export-Import Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IndusInd Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India and Union Bank of India.

The 11 non-finance companies are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Oil India, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Petronet LNG, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Reliance Industries, UPL Corporation and Genpact.

The 11 infrastructure companies are NTPC, NHPC, National Highways Authority of India, Power Grid Corporation, Gail India, Adani Green Energy Restricted Group (RG-2), Adani Transmission Restricted Group, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Transmission, Adani Electricity Mumbai and Azure Power Solar Energy.

The four Indian government-related issuers are Indian Railway Finance Corporation, Housing and Urban Development Corporation, Power Finance Corporation and REC Ltd.

"Government-related issuers in India have been affected because of disruptions to India's economy which will weaken borrowers' credit profiles," said Moody's.

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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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