After GMR, Indian carmakers in deep waters in Sri Lanka

December 12, 2012

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New Delhi, Dec 12: After the Maldives, India’s economic interests are in deep waters in another neighbouring island nation, Sri Lanka.

 

Notwithstanding the setback in its efforts to help the GMR Group in the Maldives, New Delhi has now taken up the cudgels for Indian carmakers and urged Colombo to roll back the recent steep hikes in import duty on automobiles.

 

“The Indian High Commission in Colombo has taken up the matter with the Sri Lankan government. The issue will be discussed again when the Finance Secretary of Sri Lanka would travel to India,” said Syed Akbaruddin, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), on Tuesday. Sri Lankan finance secretary Dr P B Jayasundera is set to visit India shortly.

 

The Sri Lankan government recently raised excise duty on imported utility vehicles from 100 per cent to 173 per cent. Duty on cars with less than 1000 cc engines was also raised from 120 per cent to 200 per cent, including a 47 per cent hike in excise duty.

 

The excise duty on both three-wheelers and two-wheelers were raised from 45 per cent and 61 per cent respectively to 100 per cent. Besides, an absolute levy of $ 845.95 was imposed on all commercial vehicles, in addition to an 12 per cent excise duty. Indian carmakers would be hit hard by the steep hike as the island nation is the largest export market, accounting to nearly 13 per cent of the total automobile export.

 

The Ministry of Commerce is understood to have sought the help of the MEA to take up the issue diplomatically with the Sri Lankan government.

 

Rajiv Kher, additional secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, on Monday said that New Delhi was concerned over the “very substantial rise in import tariff” by Sri Lank as the island nation on the Indian Ocean was a “very important market” for cars and commercial vehicles manufactured in India.

 

Lately, New Delhi has reacted very strongly to the Maldivian government’s decision to terminate its agreement with a consortium led by Indian infrastructure giant GMR Group to manage the international airport in an island close to the archipelagic nation’s capital Male. New Delhi warned Maldives about the repercussions their move could have on bilateral ties.

 

But a judgment of the Court of Appeal of Singapore on December 6 ruled that the Maldivian government could take control of the airport from the GMR Male International Airport Limited or GMIAL, a joint venture of GMR Infrastructure and Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad.

 

The judgment came as a setback for the GMR Group that had earlier got an injunctive relief from the High Court of Singapore against the applicability and operations of the notice the Maldivian government had served the company on November 27 seeking to take back the control of the airport. India subtly toned down its rhetoric on Maldives move against GMIAL after the judgment.

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News Network
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has congratulated AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for his party's stupendous victory in the Delhi Assembly polls, saying the people of the national capital will continue to benefit from his leadership.

Responding to the Dalai Lama's statement, Kejriwal in a tweet on Wednesday said, "Am humbled by the kind words and blessings from His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Thank you very much @DalaiLama."

Referring to the Happiness Curriculum for government schools in Delhi, the Dalai Lama said he has a deep admiration for the efforts the AAP government has made towards "shaping better, happier human beings with improved values".

"These measures will have a positive impact on children's overall education, as well as helping the poor to fulfil their dreams of improving their lives," he said.

He also lauded the AAP government's initiative to incorporate aspects of inner mental development into the school curriculum.

"Through such initiatives, you are showing a path to the rest of India," the Dalai Lama added.

In a near-repeat performance of 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday retained power with a stunning victory, winning 62 of the 70 assembly seats and leaving the BJP with just eight seats.

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News Network
May 13,2020

May 13: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday mocked the prime minister's announcement of a Rs 20 lakh crore financial package as a "headline and blank page", and said he was looking forward to the finance minister filling the blank page.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced massive new financial incentives on top of the previously announced packages for a combined stimulus of Rs 20 lakh crore.

Chidambaram said he would count every additional rupee the government infuses into the economy and examine what the poor, hungry and devastated migrant workers get after walking hundreds of kilometres to their home states.

"Yesterday, PM gave us a headline and a blank page. Naturally, my reaction was a blank!

"Today, we look forward to the FM filling the blank page. We will carefully count every ADDITIONAL rupee that the government will actually infuse into the economy," he said on Twitter.

The former finance minister said "We will also carefully examine who gets what?".

"And the first thing we will look for is what the poor, hungry and devastated migrant workers can expect after they have walked hundreds of kilometres to their home states.

"We will also examine what the bottom half of the population (13 crore families) will get in terms of REAL MONEY," he said in a series of tweets.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also slammed the prime minister's announcement.

"Last night the Prime Minister did what comes to him best. Maximum packaging, Minimum meaning.It was a case of classic NAMO. No Action Message Only," he said on Twitter.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Noida, Jul 16: A key aide of 1993 Mumbai blasts case convict Abu Salem who worked in his illegal property business in NCT of Delhi has been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh police, officials said on Thursday.

Gajendra Singh, who was also close to gangster Khan Mubarak, was nabbed in Mumbai late Wednesday night by the Noida unit of the STF, they said.

"Gajendra Singh had taken Rs 1.80 crore from a Delhi-based businessman in 2014 in a property-related case. When he was pressured to return the money, Singh had Khan Mubarak's shooters open fire at the businessman in sector 18 of Noida," Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Raj Kumar Mishra said.

The businessman was in his car when the attack took place, and he narrowly escaped, the officials said.

Mishra said Singh had paid the shooters Rs 10 lakh, and the agency has cracked the money trail of the transaction.

"Gajendra Singh also invested Abu Salem and Khan Mubarak's money into properties in Delhi-NCR," the officer added.

Singh was wanted in a couple of cases registered at a police station in Noida where he has been lodged now for further proceedings, the STF said. 

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