After plaint against CM, Cong high command issues fiat over tickets

DHNS
February 2, 2018

New Delhi Feb 2: In an apparent move to rein-in Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the Congress high command has issued a strict instruction to the state leadership not to promise the party ticket (B Form) for the upcoming Assembly elections to any aspirants, without its approval.

The Congress top brass' instruction comes in the wake of complaints from a section of Karnataka Congress leaders that Siddaramaiah was unilaterally declaring the candidates   for the Assembly polls.

"Since the party has already initiated the constituency-wise survey to select winnable candidates, instructions have been given to the state leadership not to assure tickets to aspirants,"   said a senior party leader here.

After getting the survey reports, the Central leadership will hold meetings with state leaders on selecting the candidates, he said.

"Since the Congress high command agreed for state leaders' request to declare at least 100 candidates by the end of February or early March to enable them to start the campaigning early, there is no need for anybody to declare candidates now itself," said the leader.

Earlier, when seven Janata Dal (S) rebel MLAs insisted that the Congress declare them as its candidates for coming Assembly polls, the party top brass rejected their demand and said the tickets will be decided after getting the feedback from the local leadership.

A section of leadership in the state is upset with Siddaramaiah after he declared at a public meeting, his intention to give the ticket to his close aide and Public Works Minister H C Mahadevappa from C V Raman Nagar (SC Reserve) Assembly segment in the Bengaluru city.

Mahadevappa is currently MLA from T Narasipur (SC Reserve) constituency in Mysuru district. Now he is planning to contest from C V Raman Nagar and lobbying for the ticket for his son Sunil Bose to make electoral debut from T Narasipur.

Taking strong exception to the chief minister's move, some state leaders complained to the party top brass saying that this may create confusion among workers as many senior leaders were lobbying for tickets for their children.

Earlier, some leaders urged the high command not to give a free hand to the state unit, demanding that maximum seats should be given to 'loyal' Congressmen instead of new entrants to the party.

There were difference between Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief G Parameshwara on this issue. While Parameshwara was against giving tickets to sons/daughters of senior politicians, the chief minister favoured it saying winnability would be the top criteria. Siddaramaiah is also planning to field his son Dr Yathindra from Varuna Assembly segment.in Mysuru district.

Comments

Anonymous
 - 
Friday, 2 Feb 2018

In India democracy ended. Now demoCRAZY. Money, power, influence will determine your position

Unknown
 - 
Friday, 2 Feb 2018

Should stop father-son/daughter politics. 

Mohan
 - 
Friday, 2 Feb 2018

Nobody is different.. All are giving chances to their son, daughter, or close aide. If modi is good term with his wife then she would have got some role in his govt

Sukesh
 - 
Friday, 2 Feb 2018

Siddu always giving candidate tickets to close aides.

Danish
 - 
Friday, 2 Feb 2018

Nothing wonder in that. In karnataka, siddu will decide and in centre Rahul will do (sonia will directions)

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Agencies
February 6,2020

Even more than three years after demonetisation and all-out efforts to make most transactions through electronic, cash is still king, as it thrives in a digital India, said fintech start-up Paytm founder Vijay Sekhar Sharma.

"While cashless economy is not possible in India, less cash economy will be in the future. Less cash is the only solution, not the elimination of cash," Sharma told IANS in an interview after unveiling an all-in-one payment gateway on Tuesday.

Asserting that it would take 5-10 years for India to make the transition to digital payments from the traditional mode of cash, Sharma, 41, said the e-payment industry benefitted more from the November 8, 2016 note ban and withdrawal of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations.

"I think it (demonetisation) helped the industry despite lack of specific help. But the world has changed since then. It is about the scale of distribution of merchants that is what is propelling digital payments," said Sharma.

Most of the cash not only came back into circulation, but also remains as the mode of payment for the majority due to its convenience for the people used to such transactions.

Expounding Paytm's zero service charge, Sharma said the strategy is sustainable as it leads to acquiring more customers and merchants, enabling newer business opportunities.

Paytm also does not levy a service charge to small merchants for its payments services, unlike organised players like Uber.

"Though there is a monetisation model, the merchants who are small shopkeepers, become our financial services customers as they open a bank account, which is profitable."

Paytm secured a Payments Bank license from the Reserve Bank of India to offer a savings bank account, Rupay debit card and money transfer services.

"We are banking on payment services acquiring customers and merchants who avail banking, lending, insurance, wealth and software services like billing software and business ledger software services eventually," Sharma noted.

The mobile first bank services include zero balance and zero digital transaction charge accounts.

"Basically, payments, cloud, commerce and financial services are a cohort we follow. So, payments is our customer as well as merchant acquisition. If it breaks even, we are happy because other line items make more money, he affirmed.

Noting that in a market like India, one cannot price services at a premium unlike in a developed country like the US, the billionaire businessman said a consumer in a developing country would not be able to afford such a hefty charge.

Forbes ranked Sharma as India's youngest billionaire in 2017, with a net worth of $2.1 billion.

While several countries operate on the model of higher service charges, Sharma said newer business models have to be discovered in India, as customer lifecycle value is accounted for more stages than in other nations.

Asked about an upscale retailer like Zara not giving a wallet payment option during its recent end of season sale in Bengaluru, Sharma said Paytm was addressing such hiccups with its all-in-one payment solutions.

"It's an opportunity, because if the retailer has our all-in-one point of sale machine, where in they enter the amount, it shows both the Quick Response code (QR) and card payment options," he observed.

Sharma compared older swiping payment machine to feature phones and modern ones to feature-rich smartphones.

"If you notice, they look like feature phones and the modern day card machine is more a smartphone like. You can add the smatphone components, which can add the features," reiterated Sharma.

Though Paytm's all-in-one QR point of sale machine integrates the billing system, its chief executive said it was not ideal to have an independent QR feature.

Paytm has 16 million strong merchant user base, which Sharma aims to raise to 26 million base in the next one year.

Sharma has launched in this tech city an all-in-one payment gateway and Paytm Business Payments solution, which enable digital payments through multiple methods for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and an Android point of sale machine.

With the new gateway solution, collecting digital payments through multiple methods can be achieved seamlessly while Paytm Business Payments solution enables automated vendor payments, including employee salaries and customer refunds among others.

The One97 Communications-owned Paytm aims to help SMEs streamline and digitise their business activities using its new solutions, which enhance the overall efficiency of both accepting and making payments.

Paytm has a data bank of over 200 million saved cards and bank accounts, a feature which enables partner apps to shorten transaction times and propel faster conversions while using the all-in-one payment gateway.

Complementing the two solutions, Sharma also launched an all-in-one Android point of sale machine, which can accept payments through all forms such as cards, wallets, UPI apps and even cash.

The device has a QR code that supports all contact and contactless payments, coming with integrated billing software customized solutions for different sectors such as catering, ticketing, parking and others.

The handheld Android device is equipped with an in-built printer, scanner and can also generate bills.

Valued at $16 billion, Paytm is not alone in the fiercely competitive Indian fintech space where a dozen players like PhonePe, MobiKwik, Kotak 811 and deep pocketed international giants Google Pay and Amazon Pay are in the fray.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Kasaragod, Apr 24:  Stricter measures have been enforced in more places in this district, as part of intensifying efforts aimed at containing the spread of Covid19.

According to District Collector Dr Sajith Babu, the new norms of intensified lockdown would be enforced in Kumbala, Mogral-Puthur, Chemmanad, Madhur, Muliyar and Kumbala grama panchayats, being identified as new hotspots in the district.

Earlier, door-to-door police patrolling at regular intervals have been implemented in Thalankeri, Choori, Kalanad and Nellikkunnu, where more positive cases of Covid-19 has been reported.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bagalkot, April 7: A group of villagers on Monday attacked three Muslim men at Bidari village in Bagalkot district accusing them of being responsible for the spread of coronavirus in the country.

The three men belonging to Mahalingapura village were walking on the road when they were attacked with sticks by people even when they said that they were nowhere connected to Tablighi Jamaat.

This incident happened within the limits of Mudhol Police Station.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Lokesh Jagasalar said that the police is investigating the matter and no one will be spared who all are involved in this act.

"No one will be spared and we have taken the incident seriously and finding whoever harassed three Muslim men, at no cost the incident be defended by anyone, it was unexpected and case will be booked and stringent action will be taken against those who are involved in the incident," Lokesh told news agency.

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