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THE HINDU JULY 05, 2019 In a sweltering capital threatened by storms, the traditional Fourth of July parade on Thursday served as a warm-up act to a distinctly nontraditional evening event at the Lincoln Memorial, where President Donald Trump made plans to command the stage against the backdrop of a show of military muscle. Protesters unimpressed by his “Salute to America” program inflated a roly-poly balloon depicting Mr. Trump as an angry, diaper-clad baby. With his decision to add his own production to the usual festivities, Mr. Trump set himself up to be the first President in nearly seven decades to address a crowd at the National Mall on Independence Day. “I will speak on behalf of our great Country!” he said in a morning tweet. “Perhaps even Air Force One will do a low & loud sprint over the crowd.”  But thunderstorms threatened, with periods of “torrential rain” forecast by the National Weather Service. “We think that he is making this about him...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS JULY 05, 2019 DEEPTIMAN TIWARY The CBI had booked NRI arms dealer Vipin Khanna, Brazil-based Embraer and Singapore based Interdev Pte Ltd over alleged payment of commission in the deal worth USD 210 million. In the first major action in the 2008 Embraer aircraft deal case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth over Rs 15 crore belonging to an Indian company that allegedly acted as middleman. The company, KRBL Ltd, is owned by AgustaWestland accused Gautam Khaitan. The attached assets include land and a rice mill in Sangrur, Punjab. The ED registered a case of money laundering in connection with alleged payment of kickbacks worth Rs USD 5.7 million in the 2008 Embraer deal in October 2016. The case was based on a CBI FIR. The CBI had booked NRI arms dealer Vipin Khanna, Brazil-based Embraer and Singapore based Interdev Pte Ltd over alleged payment of commission in the deal worth USD 210 million. It is alleged that the kickbacks were ro...

THE INDIAN EXPRESS JULY 05, 2019 Patel, who suddenly quit as the RBI Governor in December 2018 nine months ahead of his three-year tenure, said the decline in share of PSU banks in the banking sector should not be resisted as the 'market mechanism is working'. FORMER RESERVE Bank Governor Urjit Patel has warned the government against nudging public sector banks to over-lend and pump prime the economy and boost preferred sectors, stating it would lead to higher bad loans and fiscal deficits. In his first comments after quitting as RBI Governor last December, and coming on the eve of the Union Budget, Patel said as the government’s “headroom for running higher fiscal deficits is (virtually) exhausted, government banks are nudged to (over-)lend to pump prime the economy/ boost preferred sectors.” According to Patel, who made a presentation at Stanford’s Annual Conference on Indian Economic Policy on June 3-4, “this leads to higher non-performing assets (NPAs) o...

THE ECONOMIC TIMES JULY 04, 2019 SARITA C SINGH GMR Infrastructure Ltd on Thursday announced signing of agreement with Adani Power NSE -0.92 % Ltd for sale of entire stake of 47.62% in GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd (GCEL) to Adani Power for an estimated value of Rs 3000 crore.  Bankers to the project had opted for change in management of the stressed plant held by GMR Generation Assets Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure, an official statement said. Lenders followed a detailed bidding process and selected APL as the final bidder. GCEL has received 100% approvals of all lenders for implementation of the resolution plan, it said. "Implementation of the resolution plan will lead to a significant deleveraging for the GMR Group,"it added. GCEL had an outstanding debt of Rs 5,926 crore as on March 31, 2019. The statement said GIL’s profitability is expected to improve significantly considering the company's consolidat...

THE ECONOMIC TIMES JULY 04, 2019 PREETI MOTIANI Use psychological tactics to push people towards saving more, opting for health insurance and similar desirable personal finance behavior, advises the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey 2018-19 is also in favor of using religious norms such "dying in debt is a sin" to improve tax compliance. The  survey says that health insurance plans need to be simplified to make it easier for individuals to buy  them.  The survey says that there is an information asymmetry in the health sector which often leads to  people making health related decisions which are not in their best interests. These decisions include  failing to buy a health insurance scheme. The survey also suggests using behavioral principles to enhance impact of Jan Dhan Yojana such as making enrollment in a savings plan the default option  The Economic Survey 2019 suggests that the following psychological bias...

THE ECONOMIC TIMES JULY 04, 2019 NISHTHA SHALUJA Bringing private investment in the infrastructure sector is key to India becoming a $10 trillion economy by 2030, as fiscal constraints are preventing increase in fund-flow from public sector, the Economic Survey 2018-19 said. “For a smooth and fast travelling, India needs adequate and timely investment in quality infrastructure. In order to create a ten trillion dollar economy by 2032, India needs a robust and esilient  infrastructure. Public investment cannot fund the entire infrastructure investment requirements of the country,” the survey tabled in the Parliament said on Thursday. India needs to spend 7-8 per cent of its GDP on infrastructure annually, which translates into annual infrastructure investment of US$200 billion currently. However, the country has been able to spend only about US$100-110 billion annually on infrastructure, leaving a deficit of around US$90 Billion per annum. “Given the fiscal con...