Sena hits out at BJP on Air India privatisation decision

Agencies
June 30, 2017

Mumbai, Jun 30: NDA ally Shiv Sena today came down heavily on the Centre over its decision to privatise national carrier Air India, saying had such a decision been taken by the previous Congress-led UPA government, the BJP would not have spared it.airindia

It also asked the finance minister to spell out the reasons which made the 'Maharaja' (the Air India's characteristic logo) a "beggar."

The Sena's taunt comes two days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Cabinet has given "in-principle" approval for the disinvestment of Air India.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is charting out the disinvestment of the debt-laden carrier.

"Had this decision been taken by the previous government, the BJP would have exposed the Congress in public. The BJP would have asked how can a government that cannot run an airline, run the nation," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

"But the BJP today has indulged in the sale of the national carrier," it noted.

The Sena also sought to know from Jaitley the reasons for Air India's downfall and losses in the last few years, and those responsible for it.

The airline earlier had a local market share of about 35 per cent which has gone down to a mere 16 per cent. This happened as many routes were sold off to private companies by the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Sena claimed.

"This is corruption. If done during the Congress regime, the Modi dispensation had a chance to undo the damage. Why did they not do it?" it asked.

"Today the airline is being sold off as it has a debt of Rs 50,000 crore. Tomorrow the government will say they are unable to provide for the security cost of Kashmir valley and will thus auction it. They cannot be trusted," the Sena claimed.

Surviving on taxpayers' money, Air India has been in the red for long and various proposals, including government think tank Niti Aayog's suggestion for complete privatisation, have been made.

The airline has a debt of more than Rs 52,000 crore and is surviving on a Rs 30,000-crore bailout package extended by the previous UPA government in 2012.

Comments

Yaseen Baig
 - 
Friday, 30 Jun 2017

This government is selling one by one, now what is left!

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News Network
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Harried Yes Bank depositors rushed to ATMs to withdraw cash but faced multitude of problems including closed down machines and long queues, after the RBI placed the bank under a moratorium, capping maximum withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.

Aggravating the problems of depositors were difficulties accessing the internet banking channel, which ensured that they can't transfer the funds online as well. At an ATM in south Mumbai's Horniman Circle, with the RBI headquarters overlooking it, the shutters were pulled down.

The guard on duty said the machine was non-operational before he reported to work late in the evening and he was ordered to shut it after 2200 hrs. In the residential area of suburban Chembur, one ATM was dispensing cash but had a long queue of anxious depositors.

One man said it was still possible to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in multiple transactions from the machine.

However, another machine nearby had run dry within minutes of the RBI announcement, a woman said.

The regulatory actions, undertaken by the RBI and the government, came hours after finance ministry sources confirmed that SBI was directed to bail out the troubled lender.

For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: With 437 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, the tally of COVID-19 positive cases in India shot up to 1,834 on Wednesday night.

The number of deaths in the country due to COVID-19 has risen to 41.

The total number of active cases in the country is 1,649. 143 persons have been cured and discharged from the hospitals. One person has migrated, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Earlier on Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla urged all state governments and Union Territory administrations to ensure the lockdown measures issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs are strictly implemented.

"All the state governments/UT administrations are requested to strictly implement the lockdown measures issued by MHA in the exercise of the powers under Disaster Management Act, 2005 in letter and spirit," Bhalla said.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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News Nerwork
June 7,2020

New Delhi, Jun 7: Rain lashed some parts of the Delhi-NCR on Sunday morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted partly cloudy sky with possibility of development of thunder lightning for three days from June 10 onwards with minimum and maximum temperature will hover around 29° Celcius and 42° Celcius respectively.

Strong surface winds during day time have been predicted for today by IMD.

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