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THe Hindu April 24, 2018 The Maharashtra government has decided to extend its loan waiver scheme to four lakh more farmers in the State. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting today. The quantum of funds required for this waiver was not disclosed. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told media persons that farmers who had taken loans from 2001-2009 but could not be included in 2008-09 loan waiver, which was announced by the Centre, would be the beneficiaries. This additional loan waiver would be under the existing waiver scheme, he said. Fadnavis also said that farmers who had taken term loans from 2001-2106 for Emu bird farming, shed nets and poly houses up to  ₹ 1.50 lakh will also get relief. The loan waiver scheme, which was announced in June 2017, is called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana and it is applicable for loans, which were raised by farmers from April 1, 2009 to June 30, 2016. A press statement issued by the Chief Minister’s offi...

The News Minute April 24, 2018 The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) should shut down units 1 and 2 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), a counter-affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by green organisation Poovulagin Nanbargal states, as the plant failed to set-up an Away From Reactor Facility (AFR) in the time stipulated by the court. On Monday, an apex court bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, had directed the corporation to file an affidavit on the progress it had made in setting up safety features for the plant. In 2013, the Supreme Court had directed NPCIL to set-up the facility to store the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) generated from two plants by May 2018. SNF needs to be managed in a safe manner to ensure it doesn’t harm humans and the environment due to the ionizing radiation. In court on Monday, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing on behalf of the NGO, said, “There is a lack of any...

The Week April 23, 2018 Be it left wing extremism in the hinterland or insurgency in the Northeast, the NDA government has claimed a huge improvement in the security situation in the country. A comprehensive review of the overall internal security situation undertaken last month has prompted the Union home ministry to withdraw the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Meghalaya and certain parts of Arunachal Pradesh, leaving only Tirap, Changlang, Longdeng and eight police stations in areas bordering Assam. The home ministry has also decided to relax the Protected Area Permit (PAP) for five years for foreigners visiting Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland barring nationals of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This has been done with an eye on development and increasing tourist inflow to these areas. The move assumes significance as the ruling party at the Centre, the BJP, is increasing its presence in the northeast. Speaking to THE WEEK, Minister of State for Home, ...

Financial Express April 24, 2018 Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) stocks tumbled heavily in the late afternoon deals on Tuesday with shares of Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd falling more than 18% to an all-time low after company’s Q4 net loss widened nearly three-fold while the stock of Anil Ambani’s telecom company RCom dropped 19%. Shares of the defence and engineering firm Reliance Naval extended losses in the mid-morning trades on Tuesday after opening lower 9% lower at Rs 24.55. Earlier yesterday, Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd said that its net loss has broadened to Rs 408.6 crore for the quarter finished 31 March 2018 as compared to the net loss of Rs 139.92 crore reported in the same quarter of previous year. On the jitters of net loss swelling nearly three-fold, the stock of Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd crumbled as much as 18.15% to a record low of Rs 22.1 on Tuesday from a share price level of Rs 27 as on 23 April 2018. Unusually high trading volumes...

India Today April 24, 2018 The emir of al-Qaeda in the Subcontinent (AQIS) has exhorted terror cells and sympathisers to wage jihad against India, target Hindus in general and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in particular. In an audiotape accessed by India Today TV, the Pakistan-based Maulana Asim Umar -- born in Sambhal, UP -- calls for lone-wolf attacks on Indian officers, claiming that they "force Muslims to deposit their arms and ammunition during riots". The Delhi Police, on Monday, issued a circular asking top IPS and IAS officers to be careful. In the audio, Umar also asks terror sympathisers to study and emulate terrorists who carried out lone-wolf attacks in Europe. He is caught on tape saying: "These Muslims were born in Europe. But when they realised that jihad is their calling, these men rattled the continent." Umar, who in 2014 was declared the 'emir' of AQIS by Osama bin Laden...

SOT April 25, 2018 The Justice Department has decided to allow  Bayer  AG's megadeal to acquire  Monsanto  Co., valued at more than $60 billion, after the companies pledged to sell off additional assets to secure government antitrust approval, according to people familiar with the matter.  An agreement in principle between the companies and the department, brokered in recent days, marked a breakthrough in the U.S. merger review process, which had remained in limbo because of Justice Department concerns about the deal.  Monsanto shares rose more than 6% in recent trading after  The Wall Street Journal  reported on the Justice Department's decision.  Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann and Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant recently met with Justice officials in Washington to help secure an agreement, people familiar with the matter said.  The Bayer deal presented the Justice Department with its second major merger decisio...

Mint April 24, 2018 Has there been too much withdrawn from automated teller machines (ATMs)? A report by State Bank of India (SBI) has  claimed  that cash withdrawals rose sharply the second half of 2017-18. While withdrawals in the second halves of fiscal years have always been higher than the first, the SBI report said the increase in FY18 was unusual. When we look at the data posted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), some interesting patterns emerge in terms of cash withdrawals from ATMs. Firstly, if we look at the number of cash withdrawals from ATMs per month, we see that the number of withdrawals is still lower than what it used to be prior to demonetization in November 2016. In fact, going by  figure 1 , it is likely to take a long time for the number of withdrawals from ATMs to hit pre-demonetization levels (as shown by the blue trend line). Instead, after demonetization, people are withdrawing larger amounts from each ATM visits. While it is hard...

Mint April 24, 2018 “Things are good, but they’re getting risky.” That’s how David Lipton, first deputy managing director at the IMF, characterized the global economic state of play in a  Bloomberg Television interview. His observation captured the mood at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, where the best upswing since 2011 gave cause for optimism even as fears of rising protectionism dominated discussions. While the IMF left its forecasts for global growth this year and next at the 3.9% it estimated in January, it flagged plenty of worry spots, too. Record debt was highlighted as a threat to financial stability, and officials warned that growth will fade as central banks tighten monetary policy, US fiscal stimulus subsides and China’s slowdown continues. Here’s what was talked about in Washington: Trade Slog US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’s considering a trip to China and is “cautiously optimistic” of...

Mint April 25, 2018 India is seeking more oil, drones and aircraft from the US to help narrow its $28 billion trade surplus amid rising concerns of possible collateral damage to its economy from President Donald Trump’s trade spat with China. Asia’s third-largest economy could bridge the surplus by up to $4 billion through oil imports alone, government officials said, asking not to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to the media. India is among partner countries seeking to allay US trade deficit fears by raising imports as the Trump administration redraws bilateral trade plans and seeks to alter world trade norms. Earlier this month the US added India to a list of countries it’s monitoring for possible currency manipulation aimed at boosting exports. India, which denied its central bank interventions help exports, fits one of the main criteria for countries making the list—a bilateral trade surplus of at least $20 billion. Along with South Korea, India wa...

Hindustan Times April 24, 2018 The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping is expected to be a landmark in bilateral ties, China’s state media said on Tuesday, adding the summit could emulate the meeting between Rajiv Gandhi and Deng Xiaoping in the late 1980s. The Modi-Xi meeting in the historic city of Wuhan in central Hubei province later this week has raised expectations of warming ties between the two countries following the extended chill in the aftermath of the Doklam military standoff last year. “The meeting can be as significant as the one in 1988 when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi met, and will set the course for bilateral ties,” the nationalistic Global Times tabloid said in an editorial on Tuesday. “Indian academia and political circles have agreed the country needs to develop cooperative ties with China. It appears that India is changing its radical attitude toward China highlighted in ...