Situation in Kashmir not conducive for polls: Omar

Agencies
July 9, 2018

Jammu, Jul 9: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah today reiterated his demand for dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and said the situation in Kashmir is not conducive for polls.

His party, however, would take part in the democratic exercise whenever it is held, he added.

“The National Conference has gone on record to demand the dissolution of the assembly. It is the cure for all the rumours about horse trading, splitting of political parties and government formation," Abdullah told reporters here.

“We will contest the elections whenever they are held. The reality is that the situation in Jammu may be conducive for polls but the situation in Kashmir is very grave,” the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister added.

The NC, Abdullah said, does not demand immediate elections as it understands that it will take time to create a conducive climate.

When asked whether the NC would move the Supreme Court for dissolution of the assembly, he said it is something that the party has not yet decided.

Speaking about the speculations about the BJP trying to form the government in the state again with rebel PDP MLAs, Abdullah said he would go by senior BJP leader Ram Madhav's tweet wherein he denied the reports.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Saturday said his party was for continuing with governor's rule in the state in the interest of peace, governance and development.

His comments came after Abdullah tweeted a news report that claimed "a big chunk of PDP MLAs are in touch with the BJP high command."

Abdullah said the BJP's state unit, however, was telling people otherwise.

"Let us see who is right and who is wrong,” he said.

When asked if the BJP had reached out to him for government formation, the NC leader replied in the negative.

He asserted his party was not indulging in horse trading and would not have any role in disintegration of the PDP.

Abdullah rejected the BJP's claim that the situation in the Valley had improved since the imposition of the governor's rule.

"A few days ago, three civilians were killed in the Kulgam district. I don't see any improvement in the situation. The militant activities too haven't gone down," he said.

"May be sitting in Delhi they feel that the situation is improving, but I don't think so sitting here in Kashmir," he added.

He refused to comment on media speculation about the Islamic State gaining a foothold in Kashmir.

The NC leader said Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra should work to restore the peace that prevailed in the state during the tenure of his government.

“The atmosphere of brotherhood in the Jammu region, for which my government worked between 2009 and 2014, needs to be restored. There is a world of difference between the prevailing situation and that of 2014," Abdullah said.

The situation, he added, had only worsened.

The NC leader blamed the erstwhile PDP-BJP government for the mess in the state.

“Today they are admitting that the government and Mehbooba Mufti as chief minister failed. This is what we were saying for three years. It was an inept government run by inefficient people,” he said.

The former chief minister said allegations of corruption against the ministers of the PDP-BJP government had come to light and his party would take them up with Vohra.

“Many people have reached out to us and levelled allegations of corruption against ministers of the previous government. All these will be taken up with the governor and we hope there will be a fair probe," he said.

Abdullah asked the NC leaders and workers to reach out to the people across the state.

He asked them to generate awareness about the NC's mission, which, he said, is not to come to power in the state but to steer it out of its problems, ensure equitable development in all regions and maintain brotherhood.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification to enable citizens with mild to medium colour blindness to obtain a driving licence.

An official release said that the Ministry has been taking measures to enable divyangjan citizens to avail transport-related services, especially driving licence.

It said the ministry received representations that the colour blind citizens are not able to get a driving licence due to requirements in the declaration about physical fitness (Form I) or the medical certificate (Form IA).

The release said that the issue was taken up with expert medical institution and advice sought.

The recommendations received were that mild to medium colour blind citizens be allowed to drive and restrictions should only be on the severe colour blind citizens.

"This is also allowed in other parts of the world," the release said.

The notification seeks to amend Form 1 and Form 1A pertaining to Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 4,2020

New Delhi, May 4: Rebutting the Congress' criticism, the BJP said on Monday that the railways has subsidised 85 per cent of ticket fare for special trains being run for migrant workers and the state governments have to pay the remaining 15 per cent.

The ruling party also accused the Congress of promoting indiscriminate movement of people which, it said, would lead to "faster spread" of coronavirus infection "just like we saw in Italy", and asked if this is what Sonia Gandhi wants.

The counter-charge from BJP leaders, including its spokesperson Sambit Patra and information technology department in-charge Amit Malviya, came after Congress president Sonia Gandhi hit out at the central government for making migrants pay for their train fare and asked her party's state units to pick the tab.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took a swipe at the railways, saying, on one hand, it is seeking ticket fare from people stranded in various states while on the other it is donating Rs 151 crore to the PM-CARES Fund.

Responding to him, Patra said, "Rahul Gandhi ji, I have attached guidelines of MHA which clearly state that 'No tickets to be sold at any station'. Railways has subsidised 85% & state govt to pay 15%. The state govt can pay for the tickets (Madhya Pradesh's BJP govt is paying). Ask Cong state govts to follow suit," Patra tweeted.

The BJP leader further clarified that for each 'Shramik Express', special trains being run for migrants to take them back to their native places during the lockdown, about 1,200 tickets to the destination are handed by the railways to the state government concerned.

State governments are supposed to clear the ticket price and hand over the tickets to workers, he said.

He said the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is doing so and asked Rahul Gandhi to tell the Congress-ruled states to follow suit.

Hitting out at Sonia Gandhi, Malviya tweeted, "Congress is obviously upset at how well India has handled Covid. They would have ideally wanted a lot more people to suffer and die. Promoting indiscriminate movement of people would lead to faster spread of infection, just like we saw in Italy. Is this what Sonia Gandhi wants?"

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy claimed that migrant workers returning home will not have to pay money as the rail travel will be free from now onwards.

"Talked to Piyush Goyal office. Govt will pay 85% and State Govt 15%. Migrant labour will go free. Ministry will clarify with an official statement," he tweeted.

BJP Congress Coronavirus COVID-19 Coronavirus lockdown Italy Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Sambit Patra Amit Malviya Subramanian Swamy Piyush Goyal

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 21,2020

Jan 21: Indian policymakers may make it easier for companies to tap foreign funding, as a prolonged cash squeeze makes it tough for firms to borrow at home.

Investors are speculating about potential steps Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman could unveil when she presents the nation’s budget on Feb. 1. These measures may include freeing up firms to borrow at higher rates and offering tax breaks to global funds.

“The government will need to relax local rules to make it easier for Indian companies to raise debt overseas and tide over the funding crunch in the onshore market,” said Raj Kothari, London-based head of trading at Jay Capital Ltd. “At the same time, they need to ensure that the borrowers tapping offshore markets abide with stricter corporate governance so as to avoid further defaults.”

A prolonged crisis in India’s shadow bank sector and a pile of bad loans at traditional lenders is making it expensive for Indian companies, other than the best-rated firms, to access funding. The government has tried a series of measures to spur domestic credit, including providing so-called credit enhancement and allowing tiny firms to restructure debt.

Here are some steps Sitharaman may consider to spur foreign borrowing:

• She could raise the cap of 450 basis points above Libor, which limits overall foreign debt costs for Indian companies

• This could help lower-rated firms sell bonds abroad. Indian companies rated BBB currently borrow at more than 10%, about 3.8 percentage points more than their top-rated peers;

• Sitharaman could waive the withholding tax foreign investors need to pay on holdings of rupee-denominated debt sold by Indian companies abroad

• The waiver was offered between September 2018 to March 2019, but wasn’t extended as the highest global interest rates since the financial crisis deterred Indian borrowers. Since then, the three-month Libor has dropped by about 1 percentage point

• She could permit Indian property developers and housing finance lenders to sell overseas bonds for reasons beyond affordable housing projects

• New funding lines to the real estate sector, arguably ground zero of India’s economic slowdown, could help kickstart consumption and investment as the industry is the nation’s biggest job-creator.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.