Month: March 2019

Gujarat BJP announces candidates for four LS seats, drops three MPs

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The BJP on Sunday announced four more Lok Sabha candidates for Gujarat, dropping three sitting MPs.

Bharatsinh Dabhi, sitting MLA from Kheralu assembly constituency, will contest from Patan while Geeta Rathwa, a district panchayat member for the last five terms, will be the BJP candidate from Chhota Udepur (ST).

Mitesh Patel, a district-level treasurer in the BJP, will fight from Anand.

The three will replace sitting MPs Liladhar Vaghela from Patan, Ramsinh Rathwa from Chhota Udepur (ST) and Dilip Patel from Anand.

Junagadh Member of Parliament Rajesh Chudasama has been renominated from the same seat.

Vaghela had declined to contest the April-May Lok Sabha polls citing poor health.

The ruling party has so far announced candidates for 23 out of the state’s 26 seats.

It is yet to announce candidates for Mehsana, Surat and Ahmedabad (East) Lok Sabha seats, the last held by actor-politician Paresh Rawal who refused to contest this time.

The BJP, while announcing candidates for the 23 Lok Sabha seats, has dropped eight sitting MPs.

Apart from the three dropped Sunday, the other five are party patriarch LK Advani from Gandhinagar, Haribhai Chaudhary from Banaskantha, Probandar’s Vitthal Radadiya, Devjibhai Fatepura from Surendranagar and Prabhatsinh Chauhan from Panchmahal.

Among the 23 candidates are four women, comprising Geeta Rathwa from Chhota Udepur (ST), Ranjanben Bhatt from Vadodara, Punamben Madam from Jamnagar and Bhartiben Siyal from Bhavnagar.

The BJP also announced the candidate for the Talala Assembly by-poll, necessitated by the conviction of Congress MLA Bhagvan Barad in an illegal mining case and subsequent disqualification.

It has already announced names for the three other Assembly by-polls.

Jawahar Chavda and Parsotam Sabariya, both Congress MLAs who had resigned from the Assembly to join the BJP, have been given tickets from Manavadar and Dhrangadhra while Raghavji Patel, also a former Congress MLA, will contest from Jamnagar (Rural).

The Congress, on the other hand, has declared only 13 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections so far, and none for the four by-polls.

While the Congress is yet to declare its candidate for Patan, it has fielded Punjbhai Vansh, Bharatsinh Solanki and Ranjit Rathwa from Junagadh, Anand and Chhota Udepur Lok Sabha seats respectively.

The last date of filing nominations for the Lok Sabha polls is April 4, while polling will take place across the state on April 23.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Despite challenges, Indian equity market amongst best performers in FY19

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Despite several challenges including the NBFCs-triggered liquidity crisis as well as global trade tensions and high crude oil prices, the Indian equities market emerged as one of the best performers globally in 2018-19.

“The Indian indices — S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 — both have outperformed major world indices in 2018-19,” HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani told IANS.

The BSE Sensex rose nearly 17 percent during the financial year 2019, while the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange increased by 15 per cent during the same period. For both the indices, this was the highest growth in any fiscal since FY 2009-10.

However, the gains were capped as crude oil prices rose and fears over a tariff war-induced global slowdown grew.

On March 29, the last trading day of FY 2018-19, Sensex rose 127 points to close at 38,672.91 and the Nifty50 settled at 11,623.90 points, higher by 53.90 points from its previous close.

On a sectoral basis, the banks, energy and IT sector outperformed with a growth of 25 per cent followed by FMCG at 16 per cent and Pharma at 12 per cent. While the laggards were led by media at (-) 24 per cent, auto (-) 23 per cent and telecom (-) 22 per cent.

“Despite a volatile year due to US-China trade tensions, liquidity crisis and NBFCs, India-Pakistan border tension, the Nifty50 rallied by 14.9 per cent and BSE Sensex was higher by 16.9 per cent in FY19,” said Shivendra Foujdar, Founder and Managing Partner, Avighna Trades.

The year was marked by several issues starting from high crude oil prices, rupee faltering to new record lows, the liquidity crisis in the non-banking financial companies (NBFC), US-China trade tensions, delay in Brexit breakthrough among others.

Amar Pandit, founder of HappynessFactory.in a wealth-tech platform said that the market witnessed a correction in September-October after the NBFC crisis came to light as IL&FS defaulted in September.

He noted that recapitalisation of state-run banks which were under stress was a major boost for the markets.

Along with recapitalisation of PSBs, eventual easing of liquidity concerns, and a sustained rise in foreign fund inflows also supported the market, according to analysts.

Expectations of the incumbent government coming back to power further boosted the investor sentiments.

Increase in interest rates globally, however, was a major concern for the Indian market cited Mustafa Nadeem of Epic Research.

“The important factor that changed the overall scenario in FY19 was the rising interest rates in global markets specifically that by the Federal Reserve,” Nadeem said.

“Hence the liquidity that was there available easily was being sucked out and capital outflow was seen. So it was a year more of consolidation.”

The inflow of domestic funds however made up for it, analysts said. Foujdar said: “Even when Nifty was seen losing the benchmark of 10,000 points, the DIIs flow kept supporting the market making Bank Nifty and IT rose close to 25 per cent during the just concluded fiscal,” he said.

Stock-wise, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries and Axis Bank were the top gainers with a gain of 71 per cent, 54 per cent and 52 per cent in FY2018-19. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Vedanta and Indiabulls Housing Finance lost the most, by 47 per cent, 33 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.

Nifty50 and the Sensex even fared better than major global indices, Nasdaq (9.53 per cent), S&P 500 (7.33 per cent), analysts said.

Analysts and experts are of the opinion that the markets are likely to continue the upward momentum in the next few months.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: “The NPA problem has reduced from 11.5 per cent in March 2018 to 10.8 per cent in September 2018, which is further expected to decline to 10.3 per cent in March 2019.”

“This process is ongoing and will provide a real effect on the humongous size of the stuck project in India, which will result in a restart of private spending in the coming years. In a nutshell, the domestic economy is likely to improve in FY20 compared to the FY19.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Rahul Gandhi fled to Kerala as he fears Amethi will seek account of work, says Amit Shah

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday ridiculed Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, saying he has “fled” to Kerala fearing that Amethi voters will seek an account of work done by him and his party over the years.

Shah was speaking at his first election meeting in western UP, where voting will be held on April 11. The saffron party had won all eight Lok Sabha seats in the region in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

“Rahul Gandhi has fled to Kerala as he fears that Amethi voters will seek an account from him,” the BJP chief said.

Shah also said, “The Congress had given clean chit to Pakistan terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in Samjhauta Express bomb blast case, sent Swami Aseemanand and other innocent persons to jail, and had put a tag of terrorism on Hindus.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Won’t fly if substantial dues not paid by April 14, Jet Airways pilots tell management

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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In a breather for Jet Airways, the pilots of the debt-laden airline on Sunday extended the deadline set for the management to make payment of pending salary dues and provide details on the fund infusion plan to April 14.

“Collective decision of pilots is that since we have new management in place, chairman has stepped down last week and new interim committee is yet to be formed … so keeping in mind all these factors, we will wait till April 14 and if we don’t get a substantial amount of our pending salaries and long-term roadmap by that date, then we will stop coming to work from April 15,” a member of National Aviators Guild said in Delhi.

The pilot union body of Jet Airways had called for an open house in Mumbai and Delhi today to discuss the plan of action after the company paid the pending salary of December on March 30.

The airline, at the centre of a financial mess, has not been able to pay its pilots, engineers and senior management on time since August. Disappointed at the company’s failed attempts to meet promised salary payment schedule and frustrated at not being able to meet several financial liabilities, the pilot union had sought help from several government agencies ranging from labour ministry to the Prime Minister’s Office.

After lenders took control of the airline post the exit of Naresh Goyal and Anita Goyal from the company board, pilots and engineers had expected the company to treat their concerns on priority and provide details on the expenditure plan of the interim funding amounting to Rs 1,500 crore.

However, as there was no word from the management to address these concerns, pilots and engineers had decided late Friday to initiate non-cooperation from April 1.

Scrambled at the thought of operations being hit from April 1 at the time when the airline scouts for investors, the salary of December was paid on March 30, leading to today’s open house discussion to decide on next course of action.

As of April 1, salaries for the months of January, February and March will be pending for these categories of employees. The composition of the interim committee which will operate the airline till a suitable investor is found is expected to be announced on Monday.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lok Sabha Polls 2019: Rahul senses loss in Amethi, so shifting seat to Kerala, says UP Minister

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Stepping up attack on Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his decision to contest from Amethi and Wayanad in Kerala, Mohsin Raza, the lone Muslim Minister in Yogi Adityanath government on Sunday said that he has sensed his defeat from Uttar Pradesh.

“For the first time he has sensed his defeat in Amethi and that is the reason why he has decided to file nomination papers from Wayanad,” Raza told IANS.

He said the Congress has shifted Rahul Gandhi to a safer seat, but not a single seat is safe for him across the country.

Accusing the Congress of cheating the people of the country, Raza said: “They have cheated people so much that they are not able to save their traditional seats in Amethi and Rae Bareli (seat of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi).”

The BJP Minister said the people will vote for his party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the development work he has done across the country.

He also said that the Congress has accepted defeat in the elections and thus they were leaving their traditional seats to contest elsewhere.

The BJP Minister’s remarks come soon after the Congress announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest from Wayanad in Kerrala, besides his traditional seat of Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi has represented Amethi undefeated since 2004.

He is facing a stiff challenge again in Amethi from BJP leader Smriti Irani .

Irani had narrowed the victory margin of Rahul Gandhi in 2014.

Amethi will go to polls on May 6. Counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Narendra Modi has done everything to encourage corruption, alleges Rahul Gandhi

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s behaviour betrays a “sense of panic” and hit out at him for presiding over a “failed” economy and not delivering on poll promises.

In an interview to PTI, Rahul Gandhi said PM Narendra Modi is more of a “Publicity Minister” than a Prime Minister and is “floundering because of his arrogance”.

On his own prospects of becoming the prime minister, Rahul Gandhi said “it would be arrogant for me to comment on the issue” and that the people are the masters and they will decide.

Accusing the prime minister of pushing a particular narrative in the media through the PMO, Gandhi said the PM will not be able to deflect from real issues.

Castigating the PM for failing to deliver on 2014 election promises and presiding over a failed economy, Gandhi charged, “Mr Modi’s arrogance and thirst for power, his obsession with self-promotion even when that promotion is filled with lies and his false belief that only he has the solution to every one of India’s problems and consequently he doesn’t need to consult anyone else, is why he is floundering.”

He was asked what his last message to the PM was before the LS election cycle sets in.

On key issues before the country, the Congress chief said, “Unemployment, unemployment, unemployment; farmers, farmers, farmers; a failed economy and personal corruption of Mr Modi.”

He listed the alleged destruction of institutions, increase in hate and bigotry, a palpable increase in anger and violence in society and attacks on rights of SC-ST’s as some other issues that the electorate will consider when it sets out to vote.

“The false promises of Mr Modi in 2014 putting 15 lakh in each bank account, creation of 2 crore jobs, the building of 100 smart cities and the bringing back of 80 Lakh crore black money from abroad, will be major election issues.”

The Congress Party’s NYAY offers a ray of hope and its incredible scale and transformational potential, is going to make it a key issue in this election, he said.

On whether he was the future Prime minister, Gandhi quipped, “It would be arrogant for me to say so. Who am I to say that? It is for people of India to decide. My position is to work for India’s betterment and to defend the ideals of the Congress party. What happens thereafter is for the people of India to decide.”

On the perception that the BJP has an edge in the ongoing war of narratives post the Pulwama attack events, the Congress chief alleged that there was pressure on the entire media created through phone calls, threats of CBI, threats of Enforcement Directorate, to push a particular narrative.

But the narrative on the ground is clearly that Narendra Modi has failed at addressing the jobs crisis, has failed on agriculture distress and has damaged India’s economy. That narrative is not going to shift, he said, adding India was in extreme pain on account of government’s policies and growing unemployment.

That’s not changing, that’s there; that’s fundamental; that isn’t going anywhere. We’re going to win this election on those issues and on a positive narrative being set by the NYAY scheme, job creation, investing part of GDP in education and healthcare and addressing the agriculture distress, he said.

On electoral funding, Gandhi said while Congress completely supports the demand for transparency, electoral bonds were actually doing just the opposite of transparency.

“Mr Modi – a man who came riding on the plank of fighting corruption, has done everything to encourage corruption! And Electoral Bonds is a principal example thereof,” he charged.

Asked how important this election was for the Congress after the party was down to 44 in the last Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said the last election was an aberration. “This election, we will do much better with people’s support.”

The Congress chief said the party after 2014 had got down to basic brass tacks to rework, rebuild and resurrect the organisation as a whole and it was initiated by decentralising power.

The party is using technology to communicate more effectively with its workers, right up to the booth level. SHAKTI is one such technology-driven platform that now has over 10 million workers registered on it.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Joining Congress as it is national party in true sense; Lalu advised to do so, says Shatrughan Sinha

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who has announced that he is quitting the BJP, on Sunday said he decided to go with the Congress as it was a national party in the “true sense” and family friend Lalu Prasad also advised him to do so.

He said leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, wanted him to join their respective parties, but he had made it clear that whatever be the situation, the constituency he would be contesting in the Lok Sabha polls would be Patna Sahib.

The actor-turned-politician, who has been criticising the Modi government for long, said it was “painful” for him to leave the BJP with which he has had such a long association, but was disturbed at the treatment meted out by the party to stalwarts such as L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha.

The BJP has not fielded party veterans Advani and Joshi in the Lok Sabha polls.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, Sinha said he had won from Patna Sahib in 2014 on his own merit, without support from the party and feels that this time he could break his “previous records” in terms of victory.

He slammed the BJP’s leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah saying earlier there was “lokshahi” (democracy) and now there is “tanashahi” (dictatorship) in the party.

“There used to be collective decision during Atal (Bihari Vajpayee) ji’s time. There was democracy in the true sense. But now, there is the case of one-man show and two-man army,” said the 73-year-old leader, who is in Muscat where he is being honoured as a cinematic legend.

Asked why he decided to go with the Congress, Sinha said there were several reasons such as it is the grand old party which has had great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and those of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The party also has a great contribution to the country’s freedom movement, the sitting MP from Patna Sahib said, adding another reason was that it is a national party in the “true sense”.

“Our family friend (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad also suggested ‘you go there (to the Congress). We are there with you and will be together politically also’. It was done with his (Lalu Prasad’s) permission and in agreement with him,” said Sinha, who won the Patna Sahib seat back to back in 2009 and 2014 parliamentary polls.

He said an important factor is that the Patna Sahib seat has gone to the Congress quota in the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) seat sharing and he had said that whatever be the situation, the constituency for him fighting the polls would be the same.

“Many people like (TMC chief) Mamata Banerjee, (SP president) Akhilesh Yadav, and (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal among others, wanted me to be in their party. But I had to come to this place because I had said that whatever be the situation, the location will be the same,” Sinha said, adding that the Congress was a great party.

On claims by BJP leaders that he got votes in Patna due to the party, the former Union minister said, “I would like to say that in the last election it was not just Modi ‘leher’ (wave) but Modi ‘qahar’ (destruction) on certain seats like we saw Shahnawaz Hussain losing from Bhagalpur. Arun Jaitley had a humiliating defeat.”

Sinha said he purposely did not call top BJP leaders such as “friend, philosopher, guide” Advani, Joshi, Yashwant Sinha, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh in the 2014 polls for campaigning.

“I did not even call my own daughter Sonakshi Sinha so that people don’t get to say things. I won on merit, on principles, without anybody’s support or help. They (the BJP) did not give me the help they were giving to other candidates, they did not give me any help,” he alleged.

“Despite the Modi leher or qahar in the entire country, by the grace of the people of Patna, in my victory, I had the highest vote share percentage in the country,” Sinha said.

Asked how he sees the impending clash with senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on the Patna Sahib seat, Sinha said the Union minister is like a family friend and he has respect for him.

Asserting that he doesn’t want to comment on personalities as he has only spoken about issues, Sinha said, “For Ravi Shankar Prasad I can only convey my best wishes. After all, the people of Patna will decide. We will accept the verdict. I have a feeling that by the grace of God and with great support from the people, I could be breaking my previous records also in terms of victory.”

He also hailed Rahul Gandhi’s leadership qualities, saying the Congress president is a man to be watched for his vision and dynamism.

“The way he has taken up issues boldly, he has proved himself and in one year as Congress president, he has won three states despite EVMs and many hurdles. He is the originator of the most popular slogan — ‘chowkidar chor hai’,” Sinha said.

On whether Gandhi could be the next prime minister, Sinha said it all depends on the blessings of the people the number of seats Congress gets.

“Rahul Gandhi has all the capabilities,” he added.

Sinha alleged that the BJP had been threatening him for long that it will take action against him.

“I kept on reminding them that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. They have taken so-called action (of not giving ticket), so it is high time for an appropriate reaction,” Sinha said.

Sinha met Rahul Gandhi last week and is set to join the Congress on April 6.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Israel reopens Gaza commercial crossing in sign of easing tensions

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Israel reopened its commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday but kept military reinforcements deployed on the volatile frontier, a day after a smaller than expected Palestinian protest along the border.

Gaza medical officials said four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations on Saturday marking the first anniversary of the “Great March of Return” protests.

Around 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the protests started on March 30 last year, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures. An Israeli soldier was also killed by a Palestinian sniper in July.

But while around 40,000 protesters, some hurling grenades and explosives, turned out on Saturday, according to the Israeli military, several signs pointed to pullback from wider confrontation amid Egyptian efforts to reach a long-term ceasefire that would also ease blockaded Gaza’s economic plight.

An Israeli military spokesman noted that there had been “significantly less violence” during Saturday’s protest, which organisers had billed a “million person march”, than in past weekly demonstrations.

In addition, hundreds of Palestinian men, some from Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, were deployed in bright orange vests to deter people from going near Israel’s border fence, a frequent flashpoint.

A Hamas official said Egyptian mediators were expected to hold talks in Israel to try to finalise a deal.

Israel, which considers Hamas to be a terrorist group, has maintained an official silence about any pending agreement, a week before a closely contested election in which rocket strikes from Gaza on Israeli border towns have become a main issue.

Trucks carrying food and fuel rolled into Gaza through the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday despite the firing of several rockets at southern Israel overnight and Israeli tank fire on Hamas positions in response. No injuries were reported on either side of the border.

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The crossing had been closed on Monday after a rocket that wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv touched off a two-day surge in cross-border violence.

Israel launched a wave of air strikes and ramped up its forces at the border after the rocket strike, as Egypt stepped up its mediation.

A prospective deal, according to three Palestinian officials close to the talks, would include steady Qatari-funded fuel supplies for Gaza, job creation projects and expansion of the territory’s fishing zone off the Mediterranean coast.

For their part, militant groups in Gaza agreed before Saturday’s protest to keep demonstrators from the border fence and stop the launching of incendiary balloons that have burned farmland in southern Israel, the officials said.

“Days separate us from achieving our demands. We are patient and the enemy is under a test,” Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s deputy Gaza chief, told the group’s Aqsa TV.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accused by far-right rivals of being too soft on Hamas, said on Sunday he ordered Israeli forces to remain at “full strength” along the Gaza frontier.

But in public remarks on Thursday, he said Israel would undertake a broad military campaign in Gaza – Hamas and Israel last fought a war in 2014 – only after exhausting all other options.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Insolvency law’s objective is reorganisation of defaulting firms, not recovery: IBBI chief M S Sahoo

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asserting that the insolvency law’s objectives are reorganisation and resolution of a defaulting company, IBBI Chairperson M S Sahoo said that if creditors recover their dues one after another or simultaneously, the company would bleed to death.

Significant amounts of recoveries have been made from defaulting firms since the implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) which provides a robust framework for market-driven and time-bound resolution process.

Sahoo, who is at the helm of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), noted that the code does not rule out recovery, but it must be incidental to reorganisation.

“Recovery should happen ideally from future earnings of the reorganised firm,” he told PTI in an interview.

As per various estimates, more than Rs 5 lakh crore has been the direct and indirect realisation on account of the IBC. Out of the total estimated amount, around Rs 2 lakh crore has been recovered before the cases were admitted for resolution under the code, while recovery through resolution plans is pegged at over Rs 1 lakh crore.

Sahoo emphasised that the code is for reorganisation and insolvency resolution of a defaulting firm.

“The objective is reorganisation and not recovery. If the creditors, one after another or simultaneously, recover their dues, the firm will bleed to death.

“The question is, does recovery facilitate reorganisation? If not, it is not contemplated in the IBC,” he said.

Around 12,000 cases have been filed since the implementation of the code and setting up of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Under the code, cases can be taken up for resolution only after approval from the tribunal.

Sahoo said that the committee of creditors (CoC) of a company undergoing insolvency proceedings should be guided by feasibility and viability of the plan and not how much the creditors are realising under the resolution plan or how the realisation is shared among different categories of creditors.

The code specifically tells what shall be considered while approving a resolution plan, he said, adding that to him, the key job of the CoC is to distinguish between a viable and an unviable firm.

“If it is a viable (company), it must be rescued, and it is the duty of the CoC to rescue it. If it is not viable, the CoC should allow its closure. If you rescue an unviable firm or close a viable firm, it is dangerous for the economy. The law expects the CoC, as an institution of public trust, to rescue a viable firm and allow closure of unviable one,” he said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Fully vindicated by PM Modi’s statement, claims Vijay Mallya

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya claimed on Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in a recent interview confirming the recovery of Rs 14,000 crores worth of his assets has fully vindicated him in his assertion of being a “poster boy” for the BJP-led government.

In his characteristic style of issuing statements through social media, the 62-year-old asserted that by Modi’s own assertion the recovery of assets was higher than the alleged Rs 9,000 crores.

“I humbly submit that my assertion that I am a poster boy is fully vindicated by the PM’s own statement about me (by name) that his Govt has recovered more than what I allegedly owe the banks,” Mallya said in his latest Twitter outburst.

“Fact that I have been a UK resident since 1992 ignored. Suits the BJP to say I ran away, he notes.

Mallya’s latest social media intervention follows a recent interview in which Prime Minister Modi said that recovering an amount more than what Mallya defrauded was a big win for India.

“You must’ve seen in the case of Vijay Mallya. He owed banks Rs 9,000 crores but the government has confiscated his properties worth Rs 14,000 crore from across the world. Now, he is in trouble because we are taking double the amount,” Modi had said.

In reference to the comments, Mallya noted: “Saw PM Modi’s interview in which he takes my name and says that even though I owe Rs 9,000 crores to Banks, his Govt has attached my assets worth Rs 14,000 crores. So the highest authority has confirmed full recovery. Why do BJP spokesmen continue their rhetoric?”

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss, accused of defrauding Indian banks, has filed an application seeking permission to appeal against his extradition order signed off by UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid last month.

A UK judiciary spokesperson confirmed last week that all the papers have been received and are now awaiting allocation to a single High Court judge who will decide, on the basis of those papers, if permission is given to go to a full hearing.

If the application is accepted, the case will proceed to a “substantive hearing” in the next few months’ time. In the event that Mallya’s application is rejected at this stage, he will have the option to submit for a “renewal”.

The renewal process will lead to a 30-minute oral hearing during which Mallya’s legal team and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on behalf of the Indian government will renew their respective claims for and against an appeal for a judge to determine if it can proceed to a full hearing.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail on an extradition warrant executed by Scotland Yard in April 2017.

At the end of a year-long extradition trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London last December, Judge Emma Arbuthnot had ruled that the “flashy” billionaire had a “case to answer” in the Indian courts.

The court had also dismissed any bars to extradition on the grounds of the prison conditions under which the businessman would be held, as the judge accepted the Indian government’s assurances that he would receive all necessary medical care at Barrack 12 in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.

Incidentally, the jail was back in reference at the UK court this week as the likely holding cell for fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, whose extradition case is also being presided over by Judge Arbuthnot.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow