Category: India

NGT to decide Odd-Even fate today, raps govt on move

Editor

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) rapped the Delhi government on Friday for going ahead with odd-even traffic restrictions at a time the air quality appeared to be improving, and said it could ‘stay’ the scheme during a special hearing on Saturday if the government failed to prove that the restrictions were effective. Questioned the rationale behind the Delhi government’s move, the NGT pointed to data from the central and Delhi pollution control boards which showed that both PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were higher after odd-even was implemented in…

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One year post demonetisation, These 11 charts show it affected Indian economy

Editor

Did demonetisation convince cash-dependant India to switch to digital transactions and mobile wallets? How did it impact the banking sector? On the one year anniversary of prime minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation announcement, experts and politicians on all sides have been debating whether they risky policy was a success or a failure. The decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes was part of the government’s overarching agenda to crack down on black money and move towards a cashless economy. Did demonetisation convince cash-dependant India to switch to digital…

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Ryan school’s class 11 student killed junior to postpone exam: CBI

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The day after school bus conductor Ashok Kumar was arrested by Gurgaon police for the murder of 7-year-old Ryan International School student Pradhyumn Thakur, TOI had asked in a headline, “Have cops got the right man? Pradhyumn’s father doesn’t think so.” Barun Thakur may have been right. The probe into the most sensational murder case in recent times turned on its head on Wednesday when the CBI identified a 16-year-old Class 11 student of the same school — the Ryan campus in Gurgaon’s Bhondsi — as the prime suspect. The…

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A year after demonetisation was announced, digital transactions drop

Editor

After demonetisation, the spike in digital payments was caused by artificial constraints, and does not seem to have had a lasting impact on Indian citizens. Soon after demonetisation was announced in November last year, it was projected as part of a broader push towards a cashless economy. Several ministers and government officials claimed that this would nudge Indians to rely on non-cash or digital transactions. In the weeks and months following demonetisation, digital payments (including mobile wallets and mobile banking, credit/debit card transactions, and UPI) saw a sharp spike even…

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I repeat what I said in Parliament, demonetisation was organised loot and legalised plunder: Manmohan Singh

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Terming November 8 a “black day” for the economy and democracy, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today repeated what he said in Parliament last year: that demonetisation was “organised loot and legalised plunder”. Calling November 8, 2016 a “black day” for our economy as well as democracy, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today repeated his famous statement he made in Parliament last year: that demonetisation was “organised loot and legalised plunder”. Addressing traders in poll-bound Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city on the eve of the first anniversary of demonetisation, the 85-year-old Congress…

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From Aadhaar to Love Jihad and Article 35A a Big day in Supreme Court

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From Article 35 A to Love Jihad. The Supreme Court will hear a host of important cases today. A bench led by Justice AK Sikri will also hear the West Bengal government’s petition against the Centre’s move to make Aadhaar, a 12-digit unique identification number for citizens, mandatory to get social welfare benefits. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra will take up petitions seeking repeal of Article 35(A), a law that guarantees special privileges to the restive state of Jammu and Kashmir. The main petition in the case…

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GST, demonetisation may impact wedding season: ASSOCHAM

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The upcoming wedding season starting in November may be impacted by 10-15 per cent particularly wedding services like marriage garden/marriage hall booking, tent booking, confectionery services, photography and more, reveals by industry chamber ASSOCHAM. Demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are likely to impact the upcoming wedding season in India as people will have to shell out more on buying jewellery and apparels, at salons and beauty parlours, photography, even for hiring venues like hotels/marriage palaces, courier and other related services, reveals the ASSOCHAM It is being estimated that…

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RSS has launched campaign to convert Muslim majority State into Hindu Rashtra

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Since Narendra Modi took over charge of Prime Minister of India, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has intensified its aggressive campaign to implement its age old agenda of converting this Muslim majority State into a Hindu Rashtra, speakers said on a function on Wednesday. While addressing the Media and Civil Society Groups over launch of Flag Foundation of Jammu and Kashmir, its Chairman Abdul Qayoom Khan said RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on 6th October in New Delhi has created a controversy again over the demand “to abolish the exclusive rights of…

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#AcheeDin: Turnover of company owned by Amit Shah’s son grew by 16,000 times

Editor

In a stunning revelation, a company owned by the BJP President Amit Shah’s son, Jay Amitbhai Shah, grew by 16,000 times after Narendra Modi formed the government at the Centre and the former became the saffron party’s chief. In an explosive piece, The Wire website wrote that the balance sheets and annual reports obtained from the RoC had revealed that in the financial years ending March 2013 and 2014, Shah’s Temple Enterprise Private Ltd. engaged in negligible activity and recorded losses of Rs 6,230 and Rs 1,724 respectively. In 2014-15,…

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No ‘Achhe Din’ on cards, the Modi bubble has burst

Editor

Middle-class youth who supported Modi and gave him legitimacy are now seriously doubting his economic policies. That doubt will soon turn into rage. “The economy is in a tailspin. Yes, it can crash. We need to do a lot of good things to revive the economy”. These words are not mine, but Subramanian Swamy’s. Swamy is not a “pseudo-secular” critic of the BJP. He is a disappointed devotee of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was, only last year, the BJP’s weapon of choice in its assault on Sonia and Rahul…

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