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A day after slamming Narendra Modi as "Butcher of Gujarat", the Trinamool Congress on Monday (28 April) demanded that the Gujarat Chief Minister should apologise publicly or face a defamation case for questioning the sale of Mamata Banerjee's painting."Either he has to prove this (charges on sale of paintings) or apologise publicly for this. Otherwise we will file a defamation case against him," Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy told reporters here.Modi, at a rally in Srirampore yesterday, had said, "Your (Mamata) paintings used to be sold for Rs 4 lakh, Rs 8 lakh or Rs 15 lakh, but what is the reason that one of your paintings sold for Rs 1.80 crore. I respect art. But who was the person who bought the painting for Rs 1.80 crore"."Who all have bought her paintings, for what price they bought it, suddenly how they found out your talent, this the people of Bengal want to know," he had said.Roy said the party has written to the Election Commission complaining that such "unsubstantiated" allegations are a violation of the model code of conduct."Someone whose hands are blood-stained in Gujarat riots is doubting the integrity and sincerity of our leader and making personal attacks," he said.State finance minister Amit Mitra said all money raised from the sale of paintings have either gone for charity purposes or funding the party's mouthpiece 'Jago Bangla'."Modi has made a very low level of personal attack on her. By going to the lowest denominator he has changed the political discourse in the country," he said.(PTI)
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The Finance ministers and central bank governors of G20 nations on Sunday (23 February) decided to work towards lifting their collective GDP by more than two per cent over the next five years and exhorted the United States to go ahead with the IMF quota reforms. "We will develop ambitious but realistic policies with the aim to lift our collective GDP by more than two per cent above the trajectory implied by current policies over the coming five years. This is over USD 2 trillion more in real terms and will lead to significant additional jobs," said a communique released after the two-day G20 meet. The group of 20 rich and developing nations said they "deeply regret" the stalling of IMF quota reforms with the United States yet to ratify them. The IMF quota reforms, which seeks to increase the voting share of emerging economies including India, had hit a roadblock with the US Congress refusing to increase the American contribution to the multilateral body. "We deeply regret that the IMF quota and governance reforms agreed to in 2010 have not yet become effective and that the 15th General Review of quota was not completed by 2014," the communique said. Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the communique fully reflected the concerns of the country. "The communique has been drawn by the deputies sitting together and I think our concerns have been fully reflected in the communique," he told PTI. The communique said: "Our highest priority remains ratifying the 2010 reforms, and we urge the US to do so before our next meeting in April". It said that the growth target could be achieved by increasing investment, enhancing trade and lifting employment and there was "no room for complacency". . As regards the tapering by the US Federal Reserve, Chidambaram said the concerns of the emerging economies have been acknowledged by the G20 and it was "for the US to follow up and address the concerns of the developing countries". Emerging economies, including India, have been asking the US, which has started gradual withdrawal of its fiscal stimulus, to be more predictable in monetary policy. The US Federal Reserve's tapering has caused flight of capital out of emerging economies and in turn hammering their currencies. "All our central banks maintain their commitment that monetary policy settings will continue to be carefully calibrated and clearly communicated, in the context of ongoing exchange of information and being mindful of impacts on the global economy," the communique said. The G20 countries also committed to develop new measures, for maintaining fiscal sustainability and financial sector stability, to significantly raise global growth. As per IMF's estimates, global growth is projected at about 3.7 per cent in 2014 and at 3.9 per cent in 2015. On exchange of financial information, the G20 meeting decided to endorse the Common reporting Standard for auto exchange of tax information on a reciprocal basis. "We expect to begin to exchange information automatically on tax matters among G20 members by the end of 2015. We call for the early adoption of the standard by those jurisdictions that are able to do so," the communique said. The G20 meet also had an extensive discussion on boosting investment, particularly in infrastructure, and agreed there is need for structural reforms to drive growth. "We know reform is hard. We have to earn economic growth and new jobs... It will take concrete actions across the G20 to boost investment, trade, competition and employment opportunities, as well as getting our macroeconomic fundamentals right," Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey, the G20 chair, was quoted by AFP as saying.(Agencies)
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A new 10-year security pact between the United States and the Philippines could lead to modest increases in US weapons sales in coming years, especially for maritime surveillance equipment, analysts said on Sunday (27 April).The agreement, to be signed on Monday (28 April), establishes a framework for an increased US military presence in the Philippines and is part of a "rebalancing" of US resources toward the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.The deal comes 23 years after the Philippine Senate voted to evict the US military from bases there, ending 94 years of American military presence in the Asian nation.Virginia-based defense analyst Loren Thompson noted that the deal came as China increasingly encroaches on maritime areas claimed by Manila in the South China Sea, even as a long-running Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines is abating."What Manila needs most in the way of military technology is weapons that can help enforce its claim to areas in the South China Sea," Thompson said.That could include P-8A maritime patrol aircraft built by Boeing Co, which have already been sold to India, conventional munitions such as the Standard Missile-3 built by Raytheon Co and small warships built by Lockheed Martin Corp or Australia's Austal, he said.A renewal of counter-insurgency operations would probably move helicopters up the list of acquisition priorities, particularly UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp.US industry executives said they were keeping a close eye on the situation in the Philippines, but arms sales ultimately would be negotiated between the two governments."This is a new market," said one industry executive who was not authorized to speak publicly. "Chinese ambitions are making many countries look for support from the United States - even ones that have been out of the US sphere for some time, such as the Philippines and Vietnam."Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, cautioned that any US arms sales would be limited in scope, given the small size of the Philippines' defense budget, which totaled just $2.2 billion in 2013, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies."You could assume that 25 percent or so of that amount is for investment," Callan said. "And that spending power is not going to move the needle for U.S. defense primes."Jim McAleese, a Virginia-based defense consultant, said the agreement's initial focus was on ship porting and military rotations, but arms sales could follow later.He said purchases of large weapons systems like Boeing's P-8A, which sells for about $275 million, would likely have to be funded by US foreign military aid. (Reuters)
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India's Current Account Deficit (CAD) is expected to be around two per cent of GDP during the current fiscal on the back of slackening imports and increased shipments, Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan has said. "Several things have happened. Exports have picked up. Imports have come down not only in relation to gold but also in relation to oil. The CAD would certainly come down below two per cent or around two per cent of the GDP," Rangarajan told PTI. Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said while tabling the interim budget that CAD will be contained at $45 billion this financial year, well below the $88 billion level in FY'13. In the first half (April-September) of 2013-14, CAD narrowed to $26.9 billion (3.1 per cent of GDP) from $37.9 billion (4.5 per cent) in the same period last fiscal. Both the government and the Reserve Bank of India had taken steps to bring down gold imports, one of the major causes for the widening of the CAD in 2012-13. "Certainly, the restrictions imposed on gold have helped in containing the import of gold. Therefore, any further changes in policy would depend up on the stability of Balance of Payments," Rangarajan, a former RBI Governor, said. He said RBI would have "greater room to operate" vis-?-vis deciding on interest rates if the current declining trend in inflation persists. "Containing inflation is one of the important objectives of monetary policy (of RBI). In pursuit of that, they have been following a policy. Therefore, they will take into account the behaviour of inflation and act accordingly. But inflation has shown a declining trend. If this trend persists RBI has greater room to operate," he said. Rangarajan said the low growth period is over and one can expect better growth in the second half of the year. "Even though the overall growth rate is fixed at 4.9 per cent a year, the second half growth rate will be in the range of 5.2 per cent. Therefore, the pickup in growth is already seen and there will be further growth next fiscal," he said.(Agencie)
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Europe is in favour of setting an economic growth target for the world's 20 biggest developing and advanced economies (G20), but only if they agree on bold reforms, the European Union's Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said.G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are meeting in Australia on Saturday (22 February) and Sunday (23 February) to find ways to boost global economic growth by focusing on investment, competitiveness, trade and employment.Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said support was building for setting a numerical goal for growth, but Rehn said it only made sense if reforms got equal support."I see that economic growth is a consequence of right policies and global coordination. So yes, we need a bold growth target, but only on the condition that we can also agree on bold economic reforms and sound economic policies," Rehn said."That is what this G20 is about," he told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the meeting.He said the growth target discussions were based on an IMF study which envisaged boosting growth by 0.5 percent of GDP annually over the current projections.But to get such faster global growth, Rehn said, G20 countries that have a current account surplus need to boost domestic demand and investment, while those that run a deficit have to make their public finances sustainable, create jobs and become more competitive."Once you agree on that, it is meaningful to have a bold growth target in the world economy," Rehn said.He said reforms were also the best defence against the financial market turmoil which shook many emerging market economies at the start of the year.Some of the affected countries blamed the market volatility, which forced interest rate rises in Turkey, South Africa, India and Brazil, on the policy of the Federal Reserve to start reducing its monetary stimulus to the US economy.But Rehn said that past policy choices in the emerging markets themselves were mainly behind their troubles now."Some economies that have been better prepared are doing better, also in the context of the recent financial market turbulence, while those that have been worse prepared are facing deeper turbulence and more serious challenges," he said."For instance, the European emerging markets -- the central and eastern European economies, have by and large been shielded from the recent turbulence ... mainly because they have done the right policy choice in the past, learning the lessons of the 1990s," Rehn said.To make sure that G20 countries implement what they pledge, reform progress could be monitored by the International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Rehn said."I believe that we will see further evolution of international policy coordination," he said, noting that Europe's economic governance model, which coordinates policies of 28 different countries, could serve as a benchmark."The G20 can benchmark its coordination and country surveillance on Europe, where countries have agreed to pool their sovereignties to strengthen economic policy coordination. We are ready to share our experiences," Rehn said.He said the G20 financial leaders should send a message to calm markets that they were ready to work together on global financial stability."It is of paramount importance that we reiterate our commitment to cooperate to ensure sustained and stronger growth in the global economy, which also requires some policy coordination in monetary policy," Rehn said."The preparatory discussions we have had so far were constructive and bode well for a cooperative spirit as regards economic policy coordination," he said.(Reuters)
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Foreign direct investment into India grew for the second consecutive month in February this year to $2.01 billion, up 12.29 per cent.In February 2013, the FDI was at $1.79 billion according to the data by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.However, for the April-February period of last fiscal, FDI inflows dipped 0.6 per cent to $20.76 billion, from $20.89 billion during the first 11 months of 2012-13.The highest FDI came in services ($2.18 billion), followed by automobiles ($1.28 billion), pharmaceuticals ($1.27 billion) and construction development ($1.05 billion) in the 11 months of 2013-14.Mauritius led the inflows into India with $4.48 billion, followed by Singapore ($3.91 billion), UK ($3.21 billion) and the Netherlands ($2.20 billion).In January 2014, FDI had increased 1.5 per cent at $2.18 billion.The country needs foreign investment to help regain its growth momentum. India's economic growth slowed to a decade's low of 4.5 per cent in 2012-13.India is estimated to require about $1 trillion between 2012-13 and 2016-17, the 12th Five-Year Plan period, to fund infrastructure projects.A decline in FDI would hurt the rupee, which depreciated to a record low of 68.85 against the US dollar on August 28 last year. Since then the local currency has rebounded and is hovering at 61 per dollar.(PTI)
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With political parties using him as punching bag in the highly charged election campaign, Adani Group head Gautam Adani said on Sunday (27 April) he got no special favours from Narendra Modi and his group has since 1993 acquired only barren waste land for infrastructure projects.The $8.7 billion ports-to-energy Adani Group began acquiring land near the coastal town of Mundra in Gujarat way back in 1993 and only one-third of a total landbank of 15,946 acres was acquired when Modi was Chief Minister, he said."Not a single acre has been taken from any farmer... We went to Kutch when no one looked there and acquired only barren and dessert-like land that was not suitable for agriculture," Adani told PTI in an interview here.Adani used the land to build India's biggest port, which loaded and unloaded a record 100 million tons of cargo in the year that ended on March 31, and the nation's biggest coal power station in the private sector, he said, adding that his group did not buy land at cheap rates to sell it to make profits."When we began acquiring land at Mundra in 1993, (Chief Minister) Chimanbhai Patel charged us 10 paisa per square meter. (BJP government led by) Keshubhai Patel (in 1995) charged us Re 1 per sq mt and Shankersinh Vaghela (led Rashtriya Janata Party) in 1996-07, charged Rs 1.5 per sq mt.Under Mr Modi, we got some 5,000 acre of land at an average of Rs 15 per sq mt rate," he said.Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has in his political meetings used alleged largesse to industrialists like Adani to attack Modi. At a recent rally, Gandhi claimed that Modi had given Adani land for Re 1, the price of a toffee.AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal too has alleged a nexus between Modi and industrialists like Adani and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. Adani, 51, said he does not want to get involved in the political slugfest but facts are different than what is being portrayed."Modi became Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 and we got first land under him in 2006 to set up a special economic zone (SEZ) under UPA government's SEZ policy. We wanted 10,000 acres but got only 5,000 acres. Now people are comparing the price we paid 20 years back for barren, non-agriculture land with the market rate of a land that has been developed with all facilities like road and electricity," he said.He said Modi, who is BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, is helping industries through policy. "Modi government has not flouted any rule or regulation to help anyone. No special favours have been granted to Adani."Adani Group, he said, has worked with state governments in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Haryana for acquiring land for projects.A school dropout, Adani moved to Mumbai at the age of 16 to try luck. He initially dabbled in diamond trade before returning to his home state Gujarat to run a small plastic factory owned by his brother.Eventually, he set up his own import and export business, Adani Enterprises in 1988. Few years later he borrowed heavily and invested in Mundra's vast swathes of marshy wasteland to build India's largest port.In Mundra, Adani also built India's largest privately- owned power plant, producing 4,620 MW of power, and a 64-km railway connecting the port to railway network.Adani has also gone abroad, including buying mines, ports, and railways in Australia and Indonesia.Adani plans to double his group size by 2020. Mundra port capacity will be doubled to 200 million tons; electricity generation capacity will be raised from 8,620 MW to 20,000 MW and the group will mine 200 million tons of coal.(PTI)
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Training his guns on BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate again over the Reliance gas issue, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday (21 February) asked Narendra Modi whether he will bring down the gas price if he comes to power. In a letter written to Modi by former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the party has asked him to make the election expenses of the BJP public and also the people who fund the party's election campaign. "You are a Prime Ministerial candidate, but why are you still quiet over the issue. A common man wants to know whether if your party forms government and you become the Prime Minister, would you bring down the gas price from 8 dollar per unit to 4 dollar?" said the letter, which Kejriwal read out to the media in a press conference. He also questioned the silence of the BJP and the Congress over the issue and wondered whether they were quiet because of their close relations with Reliance Industries Ltd Chairman Mukesh Ambani. "Parimal Nathvani, the group president of the Mukesh Ambani companies, was recently elected to Rajya Sabha with your help. "This creates suspicion over your relations with Mukesh Amabani. What is your relation with Mukesh Ambani?" the letter added. Kejriwal alleged that the UPA government is being run by Mukesh Ambani and if Modi comes to power, would his government be also run by the Reliance Industries Chairman? he asked. "You in your speeches talk about bringing back the money from Swiss banks, but the Ambani brothers have money in these banks. If you have good relations with the Ambanis and if they fund you, then would you bring back the black money," he said. The former Delhi Chief Minister questioned the election funding of the BJP and the Congress. "Helicopters and private jets are being used whenever you and Rahul Gandhi travel within the country and abroad. As per the news reports, the aircraft services you and Rahul Gandhi use are free of cost. Spending in your election rallies are worth crores of rupees. Some people say Mukesh Ambani funds you. Is that true?" he said. The Aam Aadmi party led Delhi government had asked the Anti-Corruption Branch to register an FIR against Reliance led Mukesh Ambani and Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily among others for alleged irregularities in gas pricing. The party, in a press conference, had alleged that the UPA government had agreed to raise the gas price of the Krishna-Godavari basin from Rs 4 to Rs 8 from April 1. This would mean loss of government's revenue of over Rs 54,000 crore. Kejriwal said that the party would write a similar letter to Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. "To Rahul, we would say the decision (of increasing the gas price) was taken by the government which is known to run by his family. We want him to speak on the issue," he said. He added that the party would not take a single penny from Mukesh Ambani as election fund. (Agencies)
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The Reserve Bank of India will need to continue raising its policy interest rate given the sticky nature of inflation, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday."The ingrained nature of inflation and inflation expectations mean that reducing inflation — even over a protracted horizon — will require significant increases in policy rates, which will weigh on growth," the IMF said in a report."Should high inflation expectations persist and inflation remain sticky, a more front-loaded path of interest rate increases may be needed," the IMF said.RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, has raised the key repo rate by 75 basis points to 8.00 per cent since becoming head of India's central bank in September. He has made consumer prices its key inflation barometer, a shift away from using wholesale price inflation.The latest 25 basis point increase, which surprised the market, was on January 28. Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, said in his last policy review that further rate hikes were not anticipated if the inflation trajectory remained subdued.The consumer price index touched a two-year low in January at 8.79 per cent as food prices cooled but was still much higher than the wholesale price index of 5.05 per cent, an eight-month low.The IMF expects India's consumer price index to remain near double digits well into next year driven by food prices.It endorsed giving more emphasis to consumer prices for making policy decisions."Headline CPI should provide the principal nominal anchor for monetary policy, as food and fuel price shocks propagate rapidly into core inflation, and inflation expectations and wage formation are closely linked to CPI inflation," the IMF said.The IMF expects India's economy to grow at 4.6 per cent in the current fiscal year ending in March, picking up to 5.4 per cent in the fiscal year that starts in April, which is in line with the RBI's expectations.(Reuters)
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The deadlock over the Telangana bill persisted with the government on Thursday (20 February) accusing BJP of bringing amendments at the eleventh hour even as it said it could consider extending the Parliament session to get crucial bills passed.The session, the last of the 15th Lok Sabha, is scheduled to conclude on 21 February.."We have listed the Telangana bill in Rajya Sabha and we would be attempting to get it passed. The question of amendments at this stage does not arise," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath told reporters.Criticising BJP, he said the opposition party had moved no amendment in Lok Sabha, "(but) they suddenly changed their mind and want to move amendments".He said BJP voted against similar amendments moved by members of other parties in Lok Sabha."If they didn't do it (move amendments) in Lok Sabha, I don't see why they should do it in Rajya Sabha. I have requested them to let the bill be passed," Nath said.With BJP pressing for a package for Seemandhra and moving amendments for the purpose, he said the government would like to see that Seemandhra gets its "adequate resources, adequate revenues and full justice is done"."There are issues which concern Seemandhra, valid issues.Of course, the government supports all the valid issues of Seemandhra," he said.Nath's statement meant that the government and BJP have not found common ground on the Telangana bill issue even though Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and his party colleague M Venkaiah Naidu had a meeting yesterday. The stalemate on the Telangana bill is over a demand for a constitutional amendment and a wholesome package for Seemandhra region.Asked if the government would extend the current session of Parliament, Nath said it could if key bills were not passed."We would like to see some bills passed and, if necessary, will extend Parliament (session)," he said, adding that till the time the business that is listed is not passed, the session would go on.Nath said there were certain bills on which there was no disagreement and that the government was also keen on the anti-corruption legislations."We want that the anti-corruption legislations are passed.They are much needed after the passage of the Lokpal Bill," he said.He said it was sad that some parties were blocking those legislations.(Reuters)
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