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Nitish says, Nobody can beat Modi in 2019; slams Congress

Agencies
August 1, 2017

Patna, Aug 1: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday tore into Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, insisting continuing in the Grand Alliance would have amounted to "compromising with corruption".

Having embraced the BJP after a four-year hiatus, Nitish claimed there would be "no challenge" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2019 general elections.

He also said the proposal for a reunion had come from the "highest level" in the BJP which he accepted as "going got impossible" in the Grand Alliance due to accusations of corruption against his then deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

"There were corruption charges and cases were filed by the CBI (against Lalu Prasad and family). I had only told them to come out with proper answers. Instead, they made fun of me saying whether I was a CBI official or the police," he told a press conference.

"Laluji did not give any clarification on corruption charges. How could I remain silent after having talked about zero tolerance to corruption? Now I have a feeling that they did not have a proper answer," Nitish said. Nitish, till recently seen as a potential challenger to Modi, said, "Nobody else (other than Modi) can occupy the PM's post. Now nobody has the strength to beat rpt beat Modi."

Asked about his future role in national politics, Nitish, also the JD(U) chief, said, "Ours is a small party which does not harbour big national aspirations." When asked about the possibility of JD(U) becoming part of NDA at the national level with ministers in the Modi government, Kumar said the JD(U) national executive will meet in Patna on August 19 and all such issues will be decided there.

He also hit back at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for criticising him for forging an alliance with "communal" BJP.

"Making huge money hiding behind the shield of secularism ...is this secularism? ... I need no certificate of secularism from anybody," he said, questioning Lalu's secularist credentials.

Highlighting his own commitment to secularism, he said his government had given compensation to the victims of the Bhagalpur communal riots on par with those of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

On reports that senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was upset over the party joining hands with BJP, he said, "It is not necessary that everybody always agrees on everything. One can have divergent views. The decision to break the Grand Alliance was taken by Bihar JD(U) at its executive meeting which I had to abide by." "JD(U) is registered with the Election Commission as a

regional party in Bihar and hence going against the decision of the state party was not possible for me," he said. Nitish mocked at Rahul Gandhi for claiming that he had an inkling that Kumar would walk out of the coalition for the last three to four months. "Then why did he (Gandhi) meet me when I had gone to Delhi and sought his intervention...to ask RJD to come clean on the accusations.

"Congress did not act on time in Assam also when AGP had come on board. It cost us the Assam polls," he said, adding "we can be a partner but not a camp follower." Even as Nitish defended his decision of aligning with the BJP, JD(U) veteran Sharad Yadav had earlier in the day voiced his disapproval, saying the mandate in the 2015 Assembly polls

was for the grand alliance. He termed the development "unpleasant" and "unfortunate".

"The situation is very unpleasant to us... It is unfortunate that the coalition has been broken. People's mandate was not for it. Bihar's 11 crore people had endorsed our alliance," Yadav told reporters outside Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha member has met a number of opposition leaders since Nitish walked out of the 3-party Grand Alliance, which also included the Congress, and joined the NDA camp.

In Lucknow, BJP chief Amit Shah dismissed allegations of his party engineering splits and defections in rival political organisations.

"In Bihar, we did not break any party. Nitish had tendered his resignation as he had decided that he will not put up with corruption. Should we have told him with a gun to his temple that stay in that alliance?," Shah told a press conference.

Nitish also slammed Lalu over his claim that he made him the chief minister despite RJD having more MLAs. "He (Lalu) arrogantly says that he made me the CM ... The people of Bihar showed him his worth in 2010 (when RJD's strength was reduced to 22)," he said. Meanwhile, in a boost to the fledgling JD(U)-NDA alliance dispensation in Bihar, the Patna High Court today dismissed two PILs challenging the formation of a new government by Nitish Kumar, saying the court's intervention was no longer required after the floor test in the state Assembly. While one public interest litigation was filed by RJD MLAs Saroj Yadav and Chandan Verma, the other was by Jitendra Kumar, a Samajwadi Party member.

Nitish had comfortably won the confidence vote 131-108 on Friday.

 

Comments

hotman
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Aug 2017

If Lalu's son has any complaint on corruption, then drop him and warn his father about the issue.

Why did resign and joined BJP which you have already divorced/left them from the earlier union.

 

Bihar people have not voted you to join BJP, you have cheated them.

Your commitment was with Lalu, you should have continued.

 

Biharis will not forget you.

 

AK
 - 
Tuesday, 1 Aug 2017

Cheaters alwz like the LIARS and the DECIEVERS...

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Mumbai, Jul 30: Counterfeiting incidents have increased 24 per cent in the country in 2019 over the previous year, creating an over Rs 1 lakh crore hole in the economy, according to a report.

The report also said counterfeiters are having a free run due to the pandemic-driven disruptions to organised supply chains and the resultant spike in consumer demand.

According to the report by ASPA, a self-regulated industry body of anti-counterfeiting and traceability solutions providers, counterfeiting has risen steadily in the last few years, and exploiting the pandemic as a cover for their activities.

Between February and April 2020, over 150 incidents of counterfeiting cases were reported, mostly about fake PPE kits, sanitisers and masks taking advantage of the high demand for these products, it noted.

"There was a 24 per cent increase in counterfeiting in 2019 over 2018, leading to the loss of more than Rs 1 lakh crore to the overall economy," said Nakul Pasricha, president of Authentication Solution Providers Association.

The association works with global authorities like the International Hologram Manufacturers Association, Counterfeit Intelligence Bureau of the Interpol, and domestic industry lobbies like Ficci, he said.

Counterfeiting is a universal issue and is 3.3 per cent of global trade, according to the OECD data, impacting social and economic development across the world.

The report lists the currency, FMCG, alcohol, pharma, documents, agriculture, infrastructure, automotive, tobacco, lifestyle and apparel, as the 10 sectors impacted most by counterfeiting.

Among these, currency, alcohol and FMCG continue to be the top three sectors with the highest counterfeiting in the last two years. The FMCG sector is most vulnerable, as counterfeit incidents rose 63 per cent between 2018 (79) and 2019 when the reported cases jumped to 129.

Within the states, the fakers have a free run in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Delhi, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand, calling for urgent actions to frame anti-counterfeiting policy measures.

According to the report, UP continues to be on top followed by Bihar, Rajasthan, and together these three states represent almost 45 per cent of all counterfeiting reported in the last two years.

What is more alarming is that counterfeiting is not limited to high-end luxury items today, as common everyday items as fake cumin seeds, mustard cooking oil, ghee, hair oils, soaps, baby care vaccines and medicines are aplenty in the markets.

"There is an urgent need for building and nurturing authentication ecosystems in the country with the active involvement and active participation of all stakeholders," said Pasricha.

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News Network
February 1,2020

Washington, Feb 1: The Indian economy experienced some abrupt slowdown in 2019 due to turbulence in non-banking financial institutions and major reform measures such as GST and demonetisation, but it is not in a recession, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said.

"The Indian economy indeed has experienced an abrupt slowdown in 2019. We had to revise our growth projections, downwards to four percent for last year. We are expecting 5.8 per cent (growth rate) in 2020 and then an upward trajectory to 6.5 percent in 2021," Georgieva told a group of foreign journalists here on Friday.

"It appears that the main reason for this slowdown was the non-banking financial institutions experiencing a turbulence," she said on the eve of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the annual budget in Parliament on Saturday.

She said India had undertaken some important reforms that over the longer term would be beneficial for the country, but they do have some short-term impact.

"For example, coming with the unified tax system, and the demonetisation that took place. These are steps that over time are beneficial, but of course they might, might be somewhat disruptive over short term," Georgieva said in response to a question.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director said that there is not a lot of fiscal space in India. “But we also recognise that the policies of the government on that side, on the fiscal side have been prudent. We will see how the reading of the budget, the submission of the budget goes, tomorrow,” she said.

In the medium-term, she said, the IMF remains optimistic about India. “This is why we see that upswing potential for the growth in the country,” she said.

Georgieva said that the current economic slowdown cannot be described as a recession. "No.... You're far from that. But it is a significant slowdown, not the recession," she said.

The IMF managing Director noted that the consumption in India also slowed down and that contributed to the overall slowdown in the economy. The IMF would be keen to see what India does to get relatively sound macroeconomic fundamentals to pay off in terms of better growth trajectory, she said ahead of the budget.

One thing that is important for India is that budgetary revenue have been below target. "The country knows that. The finance minister knows it. They need to increase budgetary revenue collection so they can improve their fiscal position. I said it's tight on the spending side, but I also want to stress that there is room to improve collection on the revenue side," she said.

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News Network
January 29,2020

Mumbai, Jan 29: Unfazed by his suspension from flying on Tuesday, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Wednesday claimed that he once again approached television journalist Arnab Goswami, who he said was his co-passenger on a flight from Lucknow, for an "honest discussion" but was turned away.

Kamra tweeted in the morning that "Arnab Goswami was again travelling in his flight while returning from Lucknow". "I again asked him politely if he wants to have a honest discussion he with his verbal arrogant hand jester he asked me to move away & I did that (sic)," he tweeted.

The comedian was suspended from flying by IndiGo and Air India on Tuesday after he allegedly heckled Goswami aboard a Mumbai-Lucknow plane and posted a video clip on his Twitter handle.

While IndiGo suspended Kamra from flying with it for a period of six months, Air India banned him until further notice.

In a statement released on Twitter after he posted the video, Kamra said he did "exactly what Republic TV journalists do to people in their private/public spaces". Kamra stated he had not done anything criminal by allegedly heckling Goswami.

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