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The Hindu Vijaita Singh February 12, 2018 A letter written by the Centre’s interlocutor R.N. Ravi to the Naga groups, including the NSCN (Isak-Muivah), on February 3 helped to end the impasse over the Nagaland Assembly elections. Civil society groups and the NSCN(I-M) had called a boycott of the elections till a political solution was reached. In the letter seen by The Hindu, Mr. Ravi assured the groups that the new Assembly would not come in the way of the final agreement. Following this, they withdrew the call. The Election Commission announced the poll schedule on January 19. The poll process started on January 31. February 7 was the last date for nominations. No nomination was filed till February 5. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also the BJP’s in charge for the Nagaland elections, said the election process could be set in motion by “extensive lobbying and manoeuvring.” “Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Mr. Ravi played a key rol...

The Indian Express Deeptiman Tiwary   February 12, 2018 The CBI has told the Delhi High Court that it has no evidence against dismissed Naval officer Captain Kashyap Kumar linking him to the Naval War Room Leak case, it was reported recently. Kumar had approached the court saying the taint was creating problems for him in his present employment. What is the alleged espionage case that rocked the Naval establishment in 2005? Why has the investigation lagged in a matter with serious national security implications? In early 2005, Air Force Intelligence put an  Air Defence Directorate officer  who was allegedly having an extra-marital relationship, under electronic surveillance. What emerged shook up the security establishment. Based on the information it had collected, Air Intelligence raided the home of Wing Commander S L Surve that April, and allegedly recovered a pen drive that contained documents related to India’s maritime preparedness and plans for ...

The Indian Express Sowmiya Ashok February 12, 2018 How would Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel have handled the Kashmir problem if he, instead of Jawaharlal Nehru, had been India’s first Prime Minister? The picture of Patel’s thoughts that emerges from his letters and conversations are complex and multilayered. Last week, in the course of a strong attack on the Congress party and its leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Lok Sabha: “Had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel been India’s first Prime Minister, a part of my Kashmir would not have been with Pakistan today.” Over the years, Modi and the BJP have positioned themselves as the true inheritors of the legacy of India’s first Home Minister, while stressing the alleged injustice done to Patel by Jawaharlal Nehru and his political and biological heirs. A criticism of Nehru’s alleged pusillanimity on Kashmir, and the celebration of Patel’s strength of character and commitment, has been at the core of this narrative. What exactly...

The Indian Express, PTI, February 11, 2018 The Reserve Bank will soon have greater flexibility in terms of managing its liquidity operations with the addition of one more tool ‘Standing Deposit Facility Scheme’ to its kit. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget has proposed to amend the RBI Act to empower the central bank to come up with an additional instrument for liquidity management. The proposal forms part of the Finance Bill 2018 which is scheduled to be approved by Parliament by March 31. “That is to provide one more tool for liquidity management. There is no more MSS (market stabilisation scheme),” Economic Affairs Secretary S C Garg told PTI. The Reserve Bank proposed in November 2015 the introduction of the SDF by suitably amending the RBI Act. This will provide the RBI a new tool for liquidity management, particularly in times when the money market liquidity is in excess to deal with post-demonetisation like scenario. Post-demonetisation, t...

The Indian Express, PTI, February 11, 2018  With the real estate market beginning to adjust to various reforms like demonetisation, GST and RERA, most Indian metros witnessed recovery with sales improving, while property prices corrected or maintained status-quo, a survey said. According to the survey by property portal 99acres.com, most of the metros saw average property prices either dipping or remaining flat, while overall sales improved in a few markets. The sales volume witnessed growth in cities such as Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru on the back of price corrections. While Hyderabad and Kolkata saw rentals increasing by 4 per cent each during the October-December 2017 quarter as compared to the same period in 2016, Bengaluru and Mumbai recorded 3 per cent hike. The report said the inventory-heavy markets of Delhi NCR and Mumbai witnessed corrections in some popular housing pockets of Gurgaon, Noida and Navi Mumbai. “The real estate industry underwen...

Sunny Verma, The Indian Express,  February 12, 2018 Nudged by the finance ministry, public sector banks are planning to sell their stake held in various subsidiary companies in order to monetise their non-core assets. The move is expected to bolster the banks’ capital adequacy while reducing the pressure of recapitalisation on the exchequer in future years. At least three state-owned banks, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank and Punjab National Bank, have proposed to sell their stakes in subsidiary and other companies, and have obtained approval of their respective Boards for the same, government sources said. More banks are expected to follow on exiting from non-core assets. Canara Bank plans to sell its stake in companies including Canbank Factors Ltd, Can Fin Homes Ltd, Canbank Computer Services Ltd and National Stock Depository Limited. The government has announced capital infusion of Rs 4865 crore in Canara Bank. Punjab National Bank, which received capital infusion of Rs 5,...

The Indian Express, February 11, 2018 IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Sunday gave a clarion call for countries to create the required environment for job creation, warning that unemployment can trigger dangers of youth radicalisation and deeper poverty. Asserting that memories of the 2008 financial crisis are “still alive and not gone away”, Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), underlined the need to learn lessons from the recent global shift towards protectionism. “People without jobs can lead to conditions like countries going deeper into poverty and radicalisation,” she said. In his address to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said “many countries are becoming inward focused and globalisation is shrinking and such tendencies can’t be considered lesser risk than terrorism or climate change”. Lagarde was speaking at a session entitled ‘Navigating a Shifting Global Landscape’ on the open...

The Economic Times, February 11, 2018 What's supposed to be the most volatile asset in the universe is proving to be a bastion of stability compared with wild swings and carnage in global equities this week.  Bitcoin clawed its way back from the four-month low of $5,922 it touched on Tuesday, rebounding 53 percent to $9,069. The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell more than 5 percent this week, wiping out gains for the year. Emerging markets stocks and currencies also plunged, while shorter maturity U.S. Treasuries climbed as investors fled from risky assets to safe-havens.  Bitcoin's supporters are quick to extol the cryptocurrency' virtues as an asset that's uncorrelated to the broader market -- independent from any single country, company or central bank -- which can serve as a haven in times of market turmoil. And while that turmoil can usually be found in Bitcoin prices and headlines, this week U.S. equities are beating ...

Dipankar Ghose, The Indian Express, February 12, 2018 In October 2016, representatives of the state government admitted that there are over 70,000 educated, unemployed youth listed in the ‘Life Register’ — as the employment register of the state Department of Labour and Employment is called. HIS IS one of the small black-and-yellow taxis that dot the hilly streets of Kohima. Hanging around the front mirror is a small banner. “Liverpool Football Club”, it reads. In school, he had dreamt of playing professionally abroad. On the top right of the windscreen, there is another sticker that says “Nagaland University”. A computer engineer, Richmond Ao had hoped to become a software programmer. But try as he might, the 27-year-old could not find a job. And thus, his source of income is now his slightly creaky Maruti Alto. But Richmond will vote. “Because I need to vote for the best, cleanest candidate there is, who will not be corrupt, and will find our young people work. My time h...

Rahul Tripathi, The Indian Express, February 12, 2018 The Centre, in its bid to ensure elections in Nagaland, is learnt to have assured Naga groups, political parties and armed organisations that all options are open, including re-elections in Nagaland, whenever an accord is finalised with NSCN (IM) and and other Naga groups to pave the way for new leadership. In recent discussions with armed groups, the Centre, it is learnt, also gave assurances that armed cadres may be absorbed after arriving at a solution. “This is still under discussion. There are a few options that we are looking at and we have sought an opinion from the rebel groups. One of them is to raise an All Naga Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) at the disposal of the state but the Centre can help fund and train them,” said an official. Polls are expected to be held on February 27 in the state and results will be declared on March 3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to campaign on February 22 while BJP pre...

Khushboo Narayan, The Indian Express, Mumbai ,  February 12, 2018 DRI’s adjudicating authority, K V S Singh, dropped all charges filed by the agency against Adani Power Maharashtra Ltd and Adani Power Rajasthan Ltd for allegedly inflating the value of the goods imported under power and infrastructure heads. The order of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s adjudicating authority to strike down all proceedings launched by the DRI against two Adani Group firms in a power equipment overvaluation case of nearly Rs 4,000 crore is “erroneous, illegal and improper not only in law but also on facts”, according to the Customs department. In an appeal filed at the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Mumbai on November 28, the department claimed that the adjudication order “suffers from several contradictions which indicate either total non-application of mind or recklesness in passing of the order”. It alleged that “…the manner in which the ...