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Showing posts from September 7, 2020

An Expert Explains: Decoding GDP contraction

The Indian Express Dated 07.09.2020 By NeelKanth Mishra The contraction seen in first-quarter GDP data is severe, but not unexpected. What should be done — or not done – at the level of govt policy so that the economy gets a chance to rebound as quickly as possible? The income split shows growth in agriculture compared to the first quarter of last year. There have been minor declines in financial services and utilities, and major declines in retail, transportation and manufacturing. (Photo: Jasbir Malhi/Express Archive) How should one read the first-quarter GDP data and the  contraction by 23.9%?  What signal does it offer for the future? And does it give any idea of the sectors that the government must prioritise? Compared to the first quarter of last year, the income split showed growth in agriculture, minor declines in financial services, utilities (like electricity and water) and public administration, and major declines in retail, transportation, manufacturing, hotels, and constru

Government suspends FCRA clearance of 4 Christian groups

The Worlds News (The HINDU) Dated:September 06, 2020 By:  Of the six NGOs whose license under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was suspended by the Union Home Ministry this year, four are Christian associations. An FCRA licence is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds. At least two U.S.-based Christian donors are also under the Ministry’s scanner for funding NGOs and groups here, a senior government official said. Impact of donations “Concerns have been raised regarding the impact of U.S.-based evangelical donors including Seventh Day Adventist Church and Baptist Church in regard to Indian associations; a probe is on,” the official said. The four Christian groups whose FCRA was suspended are Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical in Jharkhand, the Evangelical Churches Association (ECA) in Manipur, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jharkhand and New Life Fellowship Association (NLFA) in Mumbai. The reasons for the suspension or viol

Bank deposit and credit remain on divergent paths

  live Mint Dated: September 04, 2020 By: Shayan Ghosh The growth in bank deposits has come despite lenders lowering interest rates on their term deposits as well as savings bank accounts Topics RBI MUMBAI  : Bank deposits in the June quarter grew at the fastest pace in close to three years even as credit growth continued to decelerate, data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed. While deposits grew 11.5% from a year ago, credit grew at 6.4%, the slowest since the March quarter of 2017. Bank deposits have grown despite lenders lowering interest rates on term deposits and savings bank accounts. Industry experts believe that customers are likely stocking up capital, owing to the uncertainty that the pandemic has brought. Although this is the latest quarterly data available on credit and deposits, RBI also publishes fortnightly data on these parameters. For instance, bank credit growth stood at 5.52% y-o-y and deposits increased 11.04% in the fortnight ended 14 August. Experts belie

An Expert Explains: Decoding GDP contraction

The Indian Express Dated 07.09.2020 By Neelkanth Mishra  The contraction seen in first-quarter GDP data is severe, but not unexpected. What should be done — or not done – at the level of govt policy so that the economy gets a chance to rebound as quickly as possible? The income split shows growth in agriculture compared to the first quarter of last year. There have been minor declines in financial services and utilities, and major declines in retail, transportation and manufacturing. (Photo: Jasbir Malhi/Express Archive) How should one read the first-quarter GDP data and the  contraction by 23.9%?  What signal does it offer for the future? And does it give any idea of the sectors that the government must prioritise? Compared to the first quarter of last year, the income split showed growth in agriculture, minor declines in financial services, utilities (like electricity and water) and public administration, and major declines in retail, transportation, manufacturing, hotels, and constr

Five Arunachal youths ‘abducted’ by PLA; Army, Police say no such complaint received

  The Indain Express Dated: September 006, 2020 By: Abhishek Saha Meanwhile, a police team investigating the reports Saturday left for the remote border village where the youths are said to reside. Their families could not be contacted at the time of filing this report. Five youths from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district have been “abducted” by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, local media organisations reported Saturday, even as the Indian Army and police said they had received no such complaint. Meanwhile, a police team investigating the reports Saturday left for the remote border village where the youths are said to reside. Their families could not be contacted at the time of filing this report. Tapir Gao, MP from East Arunachal constituency, tweeted: “5 Tagin youths have reportedly been abducted by  China ’s #PLA from Sera7 area below the McMahon Line under Indian territory in Upper Subansiri in Arunachal since 3rd Sept. Similar incident happened in March. Time to tak

Five Arunachal youths ‘abducted’ by PLA; Army, Police say no such complaint received

  The Indian Express Dated: September 07, 2020 By:    Abhishek Saha Five youths from Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri district have been “abducted” by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, local media organisations reported Saturday, even as the Indian Army and police said they had received no such complaint. Meanwhile, a police team investigating the reports Saturday left for the remote border village where the youths are said to reside. Their families could not be contacted at the time of filing this report. Tapir Gao, MP from East Arunachal constituency, tweeted: “5 Tagin youths have reportedly been abducted by   China ’s #PLA from Sera7 area below the McMahon Line under Indian territory in Upper Subansiri in Arunachal since 3rd Sept. Similar incident happened in March. Time to take a stand against #CCP.” Tagin is the tribe the men belong to. Ering also attached screenshots from  Facebook  by one Prakash Ringling who wrote that his brother and four others were abducted by the PLA

Explained: What the opening of waterway with Bangladesh means for Tripura

Explained Desk   Dated: September 07, 2020  By:  Debraj Deb As Tripura opens its first-ever inland waterway with Bangladesh from Sonamura in Sepahijala district, along with the expectations and hopes, there are also questions around the ambitious project and its trade potential. The route connecting Sonamura, about 60 km from Agartala in the Indian side, and Daudkandi of Chittagong in Bangladesh was included in the list of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes agreed up on May 20 this year. The ambitious project has already been projected by Tripura’s incumbent  BJP -IPFT government as a major catalyst to catapult Tripura into a gateway to the North-East. A big boat carrying 50 MT cement from Bangladesh’s Munshiganj port is scheduled to come in as part of the trial run Saturday. Tripura’s cross-border trade commenced in 1995. Currently, the state exports a handful of goods and materials worth Rs 30 crore to Bangladesh annually, but imports good worth Rs 645 crore. This huge trade defic

Tibet: China planning $146 billion for infrastructure investment

Telegraph India Dated: 05.09.2020 by Last week, President Xi Jinping lauded achievements and praised frontline officials but said more efforts were needed to enrich, rejuvenate and strengthen unity in the region  China is planning a more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) push to accelerate infrastructure investment in Tibet, including new and previously announced projects, three sources familiar with the matter said. The renewed push to step-up development of the remote and impoverished southwestern region signals Beijing’s intent to bolster frontier security amid heightened border tensions with India in recent months, two of the sources said. Last week, during a senior Communist Party meeting on Tibet's future governance, President Xi Jinping lauded achievements and praised frontline officials but said more efforts were needed to enrich, rejuvenate and strengthen unity in the region. He said a number of major infrastructure projects and public facilities would b