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Hindustan Times Dated: March 28, 2019 Rajeev Jayaswal   Punjab National Bank (PNB) has rejected fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi’s allegation that the bank’s chairman Sunil Mehta “instigated” PNB executives and created a “malicious case” against his company Gitanjali Gems Ltd and him without any “tangible” proof. “All action taken by the bank against those involved in the fraud is as per the rules and regulations defined by law and is without any prejudice,” a PNB spokesperson said on Thursday. The diamantaire, who is absconding, is a co-accused in the ₹13,500-crore PNB fraud along with his nephew Nirav Modi. PNB said that the investigating agencies are working on the case, which is currently subjudice. “The bank has and continues to provide full cooperation to all investigating agencies working on the matter,” it said. The bank, however, chose not to comment on Choksi’s accusations. A statement issued by Choksi’s lawyers on Wednesday accused the chairman of PNB of...

The Print Dated: March 29, 2019 PAF had outranged and outgunned India’s best fighter jets, and it’s only because of IAF’s training, awareness and some luck that Pakistan’s 27 February mission failed. Whether the Rafale deal is a scam or the best thing for India’s defence, people with greater eminence are fighting over. Let me, meanwhile, list four facts emerging from the 26-27 February air skirmishes to bring the story of what we can call the real Rafale scandal. *  In the Rajouri-Mendhar sector air skirmish a day after the IAF’s successful Balakot strikes, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) was able to create surprise and local superiority—technological and numerical—in a chosen battlefield. It struck in daylight when least expected, and perfectly timed the changeover of IAF AWAC patrols. The outnumbered IAF pilots (12 aircraft of three vastly different types) scrambled from various bases showed the presence of mind not to walk into the ambush set for them. But they fa...

Business Line  Dated: March 28, 2019 Ahead of the merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda, the government has given the latter a booster shot, announcing a capital infusion of  ₹ 5,042 crore. The capital infusion will be by way of preferential allotment of equity shares (special securities/bonds) of the bank during FY2018-19 as the government’s investment, Bank of Baroda said in a stock exchange notice. Meanwhile, shares of Bank of Baroda jumped nearly 7 per cent on Thursday. The stock climbed 6.62 per cent to close at  ₹ 129.60 on the BSE. Link: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/govt-to-infuse-rs-5042-cr-into-bank-of-baroda/article26661452.ece

Business Line  Dated: March 28, 2019 “India was the largest beneficiary of the programme in 2017 with $5.7 billion in imports to the US given duty-free status”.  President Donald Trump should delay his decision to terminate the preferential trade status granted to India till the general elections in the country are over, several influential United States (US) lawmakers, including Democratic presidential aspirant Tulsi Gabbard, said on Wednesday. Trump this month informed the US Congress about his intent to terminate the designation of India as a beneficiary developing country under Generalised System of Preferences(GSP) programme that facilitates duty free import of certain products from underdeveloped countries to help grow their economies. Under the US GSP programme, nearly 2,000 products including auto components and textile materials can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by the Congress....

Business Line Dated:  March 28, 2019 India, the world's top vegetable oil importers, has cut taxes on palm oil import earlier this year.  Indonesian Palm Oil Board (IPOB), the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India and non-profit organisation Solidaridad Network are in talks to propose incentives on shipments of palm oil certified by Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), industry officials said The groups aim to propose an import tax cut for Indonesian palm oil shipments to India, R. Azis Hidayat, the head of ISPO Commission Secretariat said on Thursday.  India, the world's top vegetable oil importers, has cut taxes on palm oil import earlier this year. But the tax imposed on palm from Indonesia, the world's top exporter, was higher than those imposed on Malaysia. The Indonesian government has offered opening up market for Indian raw sugar in exchange for lower tax on Indonesian palm oil.  On Wednesday, ISPO said it has certified palm plantation ...

Business Line Dated: March 28, 2019 T E Raja Simhan Tamil Nadu continues to live up to its notoriety as a State that pioneered the cash-for-vote practice. Seizure of cash by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in the State is four times more than its nearest rival Uttar Pradesh. As of March 25, of the total of  ₹ 143.47 crore seized across the country,  ₹ 36.6 crore was from Tamil Nadu, followed by Uttar Pradesh ( ₹ 8.26 crore), and West Bengal ( ₹ 6.43 crore), according data released by the ECI. The State has been subjected to higher surveillance to ensure there is no repeat of cash-for-vote strategy as was allegedly adopted recently in RK Nagar in Chennai, and in the past in Thirumangalam byelection (2009) and Sathankulam byelection (2003). The ECI has ensured that its flying squads across the State carry out random checks of vehicles, including two-wheelers.  This has affected consumers and cash-based businesses i...

Indian Express Dated: March 29, 2019 By    P Vaidyanathan Iyer   Economists are looking at signals such as drop in vehicle sales and production cut, drop in  consumption of food items, slower growth in core industry segments. A look at the possible  reasons, and the concerns  What are the signs to suggest that the Indian economy slowing down? The economy is indeed slowing down. Many economic indicators point to that. In fact, some analysts started picking up the first signals of a powering down six to eight months back. Anecdotal evidence collected by analysts then is showing up in micro and macro numbers now. For instance, after posting double-digit growth rates of about 14 per cent in passenger vehicle sales during April-June 2018, Maruti Suzuki, the largest carmaker, witnessed declining sales for most months except October 2018 and January 2019, when it posted less than 2 per cent growth. Tractor sales for Mahindra, which has a 40...

EPW Dated: March 29, 2019 TV distribution is riddled with political ownership and the emergence of near-monopolies in the languages, states, and metros’ markets. There are instances of cross-media ownership among the national cable companies. Such information is either deeply embedded, or available in a non-transparent manner.  Recently, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) allowed the Reliance Industries Group (RIG), owned by multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani, to acquire majority stakes in the two largest cable distribution MultiService Operators (MSOs), DEN Networks and Hathway Cable (Laghate 2019). This raised the same concerns about TV distribution, that the regulators and policymakers had discussed with regard to the media content business. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s consultation papers and recommendations had cautioned against the growing trends of political ownership, market concentration, and cross-media ownership by large corporate groups in ...

DAWN Dated:March 28, 2019 A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Thursday urged the United States to act cautiously on the issue of blacklisting Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and avoid bypassing the relevant committee of the UN Security Council, saying it would only complicate the issue. The comment came a day after the US bypassed the 1267 Sanctions Committee — where an earlier move to blacklist Azhar had  stalled recently — and directly filed a draft resolution with the UNSC to designate the JeM leader.  Speaking during a   regular press briefing   in Beijing today, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the US move was not in line with the resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations.  He remarked that this action had undermined the authority of the sanctions committee as the main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC. "Such an act will do nothing to facilitate a solution through consultation and will only le...