India will deliver on hope of driving global growth: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India will live up to the global expectation of being a bright spot for growth with requisite policy as also administrative reforms on a sustained basis.

"The world has much expectations from India in contribution to the global growth. I would like to place before you how India intends to meet the challenge," the prime minister told the Bloomberg India Economic Forum 2016, held here to commemorate the media group's 20 years in India. 

Modi said India today was not just the world's fastest-growing economy but also has a low capital account and fiscal deficits, along with low inflation. "This is the result of good policies and not good fortune," he said, alluding to the achievements in the difficult times globally. 

"Let me emphasise on our fiscal consolidation. We have met the ambitious fiscal deficit targets in each of the previous two fiscal years," the prime minister said, adding: "We have reduced the deficit even while increasing capital expenditure." 

He told the gathering that the country's net foreign direct investment inflow during the third quarter of the current financial year was an all-time record. "This is concrete evidence of the success of 'Make in India' policy in employment-intensive sectors."

As examples, Modi said motor vehicle production, which was a strong indicator of consumer purchasing power and economic activity, grew at 7.6 percent this fiscal, furniture output grew 57 percent and employment-intensive wearing apparel sector grew 8.7 percent 

"My goal is reforms through transformation. Administrative reform is a start."

The prime minister said since a large share of India's population still depended on agriculture, his government's target was to double the income of farmers soon. Towards this, he added, a big focus was being given to irrigation with a large budget.

"We are also creating a national agricultural market and removing distortions," he said, adding" "Seeds have been sown for a new dawn for farming, and retaining the youth in the sector." 

The prime minister said transparency was another hallmark of his government, giving the example of auction of resources such as coal through competitive bidding. "Our record on implementation in general and reduction in corruption in particular is now well understood."

Modi said his government will also work with the Reserve Bank of India to set inflation targets and that interest rates will be set by a Monetary Policy Committee -- a panel that will have no representative from the government.

He also referred to the new norms for exploration and production of hydrocarbons assets by the private players. "We have introduced pricing and marketing freedom and also a transparent revenue sharing system. This will eliminate several layers of bureaucratic controls."

He said in renewable energy India has grown from 1,500 MW of solar power to 10,000 MW per annum in a short span of time. People were surprised when the target of 175 GW of renewables was announced. But today, this stood to be recognised by the global stakeholders, he said. 

Listing other initiatives, the prime minister said parliament had recently passed a new law on inland waterways to make it an efficient mode of transport and foreign investment limits in the stock exchanges were raised and they were allowed to be listed. 

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How BJP Student Wing Reacted To Kanhiya Kumar, Who Trended Worldwide

New Delhi:  Kanhiya Kumar's speech, delivered last night at the Jawaharlal Nehru University or JNU, where he pledged his commitment to fighting for "azaadi (freedom) not from, but in India" catalyzed him into a worldwide trend on Twitter.  The nearly one-hour -long address  was fiercely critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.  Unsurprisingly, students from the ABVP, the youth wing of the ruling BJP, aren't impressed

Mr Kumar, President of the Left-affiliated JNU Students Union, was arrested on sedition charges last month, forging an international debate on whether  the government is using the charge of "anti-national" as a fig leaf for cracking down on dissent and free speech.

Mr Kumar has denied making anti-India remarks at a rally at JNU in February, after which he was arrested. Footage of Mr Kumar that was televised by some news channels has been declared doctored by a forensic lab that was asked to examine the video by the Delhi government.

"Nobody is anyone's enemy here, everybody sits together and has tea as we  discuss our ideologies, but if anyone is going to do sloganeering against our country we would react," said Saurabh Verma, General Secretary of the BJP's student wing at JNU. It was on the basis of an ABVP complaint that a BJP parliamentarian filed a police case last month, leading to the jailing of Mr Kumar after a controversial police raid on campus to find him. Two other students from JNU are still in prison. 

Mr Kumar, 28, has been given bail by the Delhi High Court with a list of conditions that include a commitment to not participating "actively or passively in any activity which may be termed anti-national". 

Mr Sharma  said that the Delhi government's inquiry, which clears  Mr Kumar of making inflammatory remarks, is not the last word on the case. "Kanhaiya  Kumar has got conditional bail; we believe in the workings of the court, we are waiting for the final result," he said.


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Arun Jaitley takes on Rahul Gandhi, writes ‘How much does he know – when will he know’

Hours after Congress vice president slammed Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha over a host of issues, BJP leader and Union Finance Minister​ Arun Jaitley took on Rahul Gandhi writing a scathing blog on Facebook titled - ‘How much does he know – when will he know’.

Taking on the Congress leader for criticizing Prime Minister Modi, Jaitley said that the PM not only 'works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government, but inspires his team to work harder than we would have normally'.

Jaitley added that after hearing Rahul he felt that India had made the right choice between 'the Prime Minister who leads the government and a Prime Minister who is merely implementing decisions taken elsewhere'.

The FM also said, "Shri Rahul Gandhi’s views are shaped by the environment of a political party which has evolved into a ‘crowd around a family’."

The Congress vice president, shri Rahul Gandhi, has claimed that the Prime Minister hardly consults his senior ministers. If shri Rahul Gandhi is to be believed, then smt Sushma Swaraj is not consulted on the Pakistan policy, shri Rajnath Singh was unware of the Nagaland accord and, presumably, I am unware of the Budget proposals.

As one evolves from a young to a middle-aged one, we certainly expect a certain level of maturity. The more I hear shri Rahul Gandhi, the more I start wondering “how much does he know – when will he know”.

The Prime Minister should be the natural leader of the party and the government. In the NDA it is so. The UPA was quite different. The Prime Minister is to lead by example. The present Prime Minister not only works hard and involves himself in the functioning of the various departments of the government, but inspires his team to work harder than we would have normally. Each one of us, whether the External Affairs Minister, Home Minister or myself, are responsible for each important decision taken by each of one departments. We do not by-pass the Prime Minister who is always available for consultation and guidance. After hearing shri Rahul Gandhi, I think India has made the right choice between the Prime Minister who leads the Government and a Prime Minister who is merely implementing decisions taken elsewhere.

Shri Rahul Gandhi’s views are shaped by the environment of a political party which has evolved into a ‘crowd around a family’. The UPA model of governance was that if a person outside the family is the Prime Minister, he should be reduced to being a figure-head. Given a choice between a ‘hands-on’ Prime Minister or a ‘nominal’ head, I would unhesitatingly choose the former.

Rahul today launched a scathing attack on PM Modi and his government over the "fair and lovely" scheme on black money and the raging trouble in JNU and Hyderabad University.

In acerbic remarks on Modi's style of functioning, the Congress VP accused him of not listening to anyone's opinion including that of his ministers and MPs.

"You have been taught by your teachers in the RSS that there is one truth in the universe - your own and nobody else's opinion matters," he told the treasury benches while speaking on the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha.

"The Prime Minister cannot run the country with his opinion alone.  The country is not PM and PM is not the country," he said in a 40-minute speech during which Modi was absent.

Attacking the scheme on black money announced in the budget on Monday, Gandhi said, "Nobody who has black money will be jailed under Modi's 'Fair and Lovely' scheme.  All those who have black money can make it white under this scheme," as per PTI.

Recalling Modi's promise of putting people with black money behind bars, the Congress leader said the government had instead come up with a way to help such people.

He was referring to the one-time four-month compliance window announced by Jaitley under which people with domestic black money can come clean by paying 45 percent tax and penalty and get immunity from prosecution.

Gandhi was sharply critical of the government over the turmoil in Delhi's JNU and maintained that student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been charged with sedition, had not uttered a single word against the law but was behind bars while the "real culprits" were roaming free.

Questioning Modi's silence over the JNU episode, Gandhi said that he had not uttered a single word when teachers and the media were attacked in the Patiala House court complex in the capital when Kumar was brought there for a hearing. "Which religion teaches to assault teachers," he asked.

Gandhi said that 60 per cent of students in JNU belonged to dalits, minorities and OBCs.  40 per cent of them came from a poor background.

"Why are you after the JNU? Because dalits and adivasis study there and you don't want them to grow. But we will not let this happen. We cannot crush the JNU," he asserted in the course of his speech interrupted by the ruling NDA members.

Referring to the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula in the Hyderabad Central University, Gandhi said that the PM had not bothered to call his mother.

He also attacked Modi's Pakistan policy and accused him of releasing  that country from a "small cage" in which the UPA government had put it through its diplomacy by suddenly visiting Lahore to have tea with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif.

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Arun Jaitley Budget 3 Focuses On Farmers, Poor And Small Tax Payers; Cars Costlier

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a budget for farmers and the poor on Monday, announcing a string of farm measures, rural aid and health programmes. He also announced measures that he said would help more than two crore taxpayers.

Cars will be costlier, with the Finance Minister proposing a new cess on cars. And cigarettes too will cost more as he proposed a hike in excise duty on tobacco.

Stock markets traded choppily through his speech, the Sensex sinking at one point by 660 points when the minister announced a 10 per cent tax on dividends of over Rs. 10 lakh a year. They pared much of the losses after he ended his speech.

Investors are relieved that the government is sticking to the roadmap for fiscal consolidation; Mr Jaitley has fixed next year's fiscal deficit target at 3.5 per cent of the GDP.

Presenting his third budget, Mr Jaitley pledged to "spend prudently and wisely for the people, especially for the poor and downtrodden."

He outlined what he said were the nine pillars on which the government would base its "transformative agenda" for the economy in the coming year, first among them agriculture and farmers' welfare. Mr Jaitley said the key areas of policy focus would be farming, social reforms, infrastructure and recapitalising the banking system.

"We need to give back to our farmers. We need to think beyond food security to income security...will double income of farmers by 2022." He has allocated Rs. 35,984 crore for farmers' welfare.

The minister has also announced a 228% jump in funds for rural transformation, allocating Rs. 38,500 crores for MGNREGA, a rural employment scheme that was a flagship of the previous Congress-led UPA government.

Among major announcements was one for LPG connections for poor women, which he said would benefit 1.5 crore households this year.

The Finance Minister has raised the deduction limit for those with total income of less than Rs. 5 lakh from 2000 to 5000. He has also announced relief for tax payers who do not own a house and don't get house rent allowance from employers.

The Finance Minister began by saying he is presenting the Union Budget at a time when the global economy is in serious crisis, emphasising that "India has held its ground firmly" in tough times. 

"We inherited an economy of slow growth, high inflation and low faith in government...amidst global headwinds, the Indian economy has held its own," said Mr Jaitley, much of speech seated.

Beside him sat Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had described the Union Budget as an examination in which "125 crore Indians are going to test me."

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