Modi govt took steps to secure borders, strengthen economy: Amit Shah

HISAR: BJP President Amit Shah today said the Narendra Modi government has taken steps to secure the country's borders and pursued policies which have made India the fastest growing economy in the world.
"The Modi government has taken steps to secure the country's borders," Shah said addressing a public gathering on the occasion of 35th annual fair at Agroha Dham here, an event organised by Agroha Vikas Trust.
Shah, who was the chief guest at the function here, referred to Lance Naik Hemraj who was killed and then beheaded by Pakistani soldiers in 2013.
"Under the NDA government led by Narendra Modi, no one will dare insult our martyrs like Hemraj. No one can dare commit any misadventure and our brave forces, due to the government's strong political will, are ready to meet all challenges," he said.
On the Goods and Services Tax, Shah said Sales Tax, VAT, Octroi, Service Tax and Excise Duty will be brought under GST ambit and added that "our government has fulfilled the dreams of traders."
"Once it (GST) is implemented from April 1, 2017, it will further increase the economic might of India in the world. It is a bold step taken by the government," he said.
He said earlier there were many obstacles in the path of the country on the economic front.
"There were many obstacles and the Modi government removed all of these. After two-and-a-half years (of rule), today we are the fastest growing economy in the world," he said.
Without naming Congress, Shah alleged that the successive governments at the Centre allegedly failed to create enough employment opportunities and said those who framed the policies earlier were unaware that the country also belonged to businessmen and small traders.
Shah said the BJP government had taken several steps to generate jobs through self employment which has empowered the youth.
"Through Mudra Bank, loans ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh have been extended to small traders without guarantee. During past two-and-a-half years loans worth Rs 2 lakh crore have have been given to 4.5 crore youths by our government and this is a big achievement," he said.Shah also touched upon schemes like Stand-up India and Start-up India and Make in India. "In five to ten years, this country will be the top economy of the world," he said.
Shah said more than 250 initiatives have been taken by the Modi government to improve trade and because of this the country has moved forward in Global Competitive Index. It is because of these efforts that foreign companies are keen to set up projects in the country, he added.

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Centre aggressive, Opposition not to budge on JNU issue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday exhorted his party and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) constituents to remain united and aggressive in the face of the Opposition’s attack on the government’s handling of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) issue, terming it an attempt to “distract” the government.

On the first day of the Budget session of Parliament, Mr. Modi met with his party’s parliamentary executive and NDA leaders as the Rajya Sabha is scheduled to take up the JNU issue and the death of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula on Wednesday.

Top sources who were present at the meeting said Mr. Modi praised the work of his own government, and said the JNU issue was being used as a “distraction” by the Opposition to attack it.

“He also made comments on the common cause being made by the Congress and the Left on this issue, terming Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as being politically unwise in the matter,” said a senior Minister present at the meeting.

“Prime Minister Modi said the Left was interested in keeping the issue alive as it had to face elections in West Bengal and Kerala, where it has a stake, but that the Congress had nothing to gain from it,” said the source.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also spoke at the meeting briefing the senior leaders of the alliance on the issue. He gave details of the JNU incident of February 9 and the controversy surrounding it.

Meenakshi Lekhi, MP, has moved a notice in the Lok Sabha to discuss the issue.

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Let’s register sex of foetus, says Maneka

Striking a startlingly contrarian note on the social evil of prenatal sex determination and resultant female foeticide, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, speaking at a media event in Jaipur, suggested the determination of the sex of the foetus from the moment pregnancy is detected.

“It is really not feasible to go around trying to catch every ultrasound technician for revealing the foetal gender to parents in violation of the PCPNDT Act,” said Ms. Gandhi.

“Rather, why not reverse the strategy? The moment a woman gets pregnant, we should find out the gender of the child, tell the mother about it, and immediately register it in public records. Then we can track which pregnancies are carried to full term.”

“Since the gender is already known, and given the law, families would be compelled to go through with the pregnancy especially when the foetus is female,” Ms. Gandhi said.

Currently India’s strategy to combat declining sex ratios hinges on the PCPNDT Act (the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994), which prohibits ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus. Ms. Gandhi’s suggestion contradicts this law, and the principle of not determining the sex of the foetus.

She was speaking to the media at the All India Conference of Regional Editors in Jaipur, on Monday. Organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the event aims to highlight the achievements of the NDA government in the social and infrastructure sectors by getting the concerned Union Ministers to interact with the media.

In response to a question from The Hindu on the proposed plan to extend paid maternity leave from the current 3 months to 6.5 months, she said, “I was pushing for 7 months maternity leave but the Labour Ministry would only agree to 6.5 months. Everything is cleared from my Ministry. The paperwork is pending with the Labour Ministry. Unless they clear it, I can’t say when this will become a reality.”

On the recent changes in adoption procedures, which have made it a web-based, photograph-driven process, Ms. Gandhi, responding to a query on whether the new system works to the detriment of children with special needs, told The Hindu that it had not affected their rate of adoption.

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Rajan warns against straying from fiscal consolidation path

Ahead of the Budget, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Friday cautioned against deviation from the fiscal consolidation path, which, he said, could hurt macroeconomic stability.

During the global turmoil, macroeconomic stability should not be risked, and both the government and the central bank should continue to bring down inflation, Dr. Rajan said.

The growth multipliers on government spending at this juncture are likely to be much smaller, so more spending will probably hurt debt dynamics.

“Put differently, it is worth asking if there really are very high- return investments that we are foregoing by staying on the consolidation path?”

“As Brazil’s experience suggests, the enormous costs of becoming an unstable country far outweigh any small growth benefits that can be obtained through aggressive policies… We should be very careful about jeopardising our single most important strength during this period of global turmoil – macroeconomic stability.”

Taking the fiscal deficits of the Centre and states, the consolidated fiscal deficit for the country rose last year to 7.2 per cent from 7 per cent. “So we actually expanded the aggregate deficit in the last calendar year.”

Originally, the target was to bring down fiscal deficit to 3.6 per cent of the GDP in 2015-16 but it has been postponed by a year. Now, government is targeting 3.9 per cent in the current fiscal. Deviation from the fiscal consolidation path could push up government bond yields, both because of the greater volume of bonds to be financed and potential loss of government credibility on future consolidation, Dr. Rajan said while delivering the CD Deshmukh Memorial lecture.

A slowing in inflation has been on account of the “joint work” of the government and the RBI, aided to some extent by the fall in international commodity prices, he said. “This is no mean achievement given two successive droughts that would have, in the past, pushed inflation into double digits.”

Dr. Rajan said that it was unfortunate that despite the success on the inflation front there are voices suggesting weakening the fight against inflation.

Inflation framework

“Let me therefore reiterate that we have absolutely no intent of departing from the inflation framework that has been agreed with the government. We look forward to the government amending the RBI Act to usher in the monetary policy committee, further strengthening the framework.”

With the government’s UDAY scheme to revive state power distribution companies set to become operational in the next fiscal it is unlikely that states will be shrinking their deficits, he said..

This will put pressure on the Centre to adjust more, Dr. Rajan said. The NDA government had last year put a pause on the fiscal consolidation path, postponing reduction in fiscal deficit target by a year.

He stressed that macroeconomic stability relies immensely on policy credibility, which is the public belief that policy will depart from the charted course only under extreme necessity, and not because of convenience. “If every time there is any minor difficulty, we change the goal posts, we signal to the markets that we have no staying power,” Dr. Rajan said.

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Centre invokes culture to bring bulls back into the ring

With just days left for Pongal festival to start, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has invoked “culture and tradition” to bring jallikattu back.

But in doing so, the Center has circumvented a May 7, 2014 judgment in which the Supreme Court hails the very same reason to ban jallikattu as plain act of cruelty shown to a dumb animal. It had held that this “sport” was grossly against the Tamil culture and tradition to “embrace bulls and not over-powering the bull, to show human bravery”.

“Yeru Thazhuvu, in Tamil tradition, is to embrace bulls and not over-powering the bull, to show human bravery... Welfare and the well-being of the bull is Tamil culture and tradition, they do not approve of infliction of any pain or suffering on the bulls, on the other hand, Tamil tradition and culture are to worship the bull and the bull is always considered as the vehicle of Lord Shiva,” Justice (retired) K.S. Radhakrishnan observed.

By issuing the notification, the NDA government has only successfully accomplished the U-turn its predecessor, UPA II, tried to take but only to be stopped just in time by the Supreme Court through its 2014 judgment banning jallikattu.

A careful reading of the 117-page verdict shows the court expressing its resentment at the “abrupt” change in the stand of the UPA II government against its own notification issued on July 11, 2011 exempting the ‘bull’ as a performing animal. The reasons quoted by the UPA II government in court then are identical to what the NDA government's latest notification. The Centre said it wanted jallikattu back “keeping in mind the historical, cultural and religious significance of the event”. The judgment also recorded the MoEF assuring the apex court that no “unnecessary pain or suffering” would be caused to the animals.

But the apex court trashed the Centre's argument and “abrupt” change in stand. Justice Radhakrishnan said jallikattu, no matter what regulations are put in place, can never be free from cruelty.

“Sadism and perversity is writ large in the actions of the organizers of jallikattu and the event is meant not for the well-being of the animal, but for the pleasure and enjoyment of human beings...” the apex court had observed. The court had, possibly apprehending future notifications to circumvent the spirit of its judgment, held that no regulations or guidelines should be allowed to dilute or defeat the spirit of a welfare legislation like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and constitutional principles. If so, the Supreme Court should strike them down without hesitation. With the possibility of the Animal Welfare Board of India challenging the 2016 MoEF notification looming high, the judgment has already laid down the law that a court’s duty under the doctrine of parens patriae is to take care of the rights of animals, since they are unable to take care of themselves as against human beings.

The notification violates the very essence of the PCA Act as interpreted in the May 2014 verdict of the Supreme Court. Under Section 3, no right is conferred to inflict necessary or unnecessary pain or suffering on the animals.

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A cannon yet to fire - not a single big ticket proposal

Where does India stand on defense manufacturing and how have the government’s recent moves on easing FDI norms and ease of doing business helped the sector?

The reality on the ground, according to several senior analysts is that little has come in by way of tangible large investments and for now India is still reliant on importing military equipment to fulfil its short term needs.

Why is this still the case?

Following on the heels of its heavy defeat in the Bihar elections, the NDA government moved quickly to ease FDI regulations for several key sectors including defence. The government allowed foreign investment up to 49 per cent under the automatic route, from the earlier government approval route. It also stipulated that investments exceeding 49 per cent would now be cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board rather than going through the more circuitous route of the Cabinet Committee on Security.
Yet, more than a year after the NDA government first announced that it would increase the FDI cap in the defense sector to 49 per cent, from 26 per cent, there is still a reluctance on the part of most global majors to come in with a significant project. Part of this problem is linked to an ongoing debate about whether 49 per cent is actually enough given that the limit is designed to ensure that control of the venture remains with the Indian companies.

From an industry perspective it's long been the opinion of several analysts that unless the FDI cap is increased to at least 74 percent things are unlikely to move on the ground.

Most other developed countries have recognized the fact that defense production necessarily involves a series of international collaborations. However, as India gradually opens up the sector there remains a lingering sense of mistrust among Indian companies who don't want to lose control of the venture. Conversely, foreign firms are unwilling to transfer high-end technology unless the cap is increased to a level above 50 per cent (and perhaps significantly more), because it simply doesn't make business sense.

But is the debate about investment caps merely a superficial one that covers up some deeper issues with policy planning in defence?

Amit Cowshish, a former financial adviser to the Ministry of Defense, explained that in reality there has always been a provision to raise the cap over 49 per cent if it involved a significant transfer of high-tech technology. In September this year, a U.S. official noted that when there was 'industry anxiety over control of technology' then the FDI limit would be increased on a case-to-case basis.

Yet despite this clause there has not been a single big ticket proposal for investment. Figures tabled in parliament in March showed that the government has got just six FDI proposals worth a paltry Rs 96 crore ($15.3 million) in the defence production sector, with only two of them being for 49 percent. This was for a period of seven months and the situation hasn't really improved since. In the meantime, India's defence expenditure is expected to accelerate heavily over the next three decades, with the country expected to spend another $120 billion on arms acquisition over the next 10 years.

Given such a large domestic need, why have Indian companies continued to be such poor suppliers and why are foreign companies still unwilling to invest given the potentially huge market.

“Design and Development projects usually entail a long gestation period and there is an inherent risk of failure,” Mr. Cowshish observed. “Therefore no one would run the risk of making heavy investments in such projects unless there is a guarantee of orders coming in and clarity on the exact nature of the domestic market,” he said.

There is therefore a catch 22 situation where local manufacturers like Bharat Forge, L&T and Tata require high-end technology to scale up manufacturing but there is no clarity from the MoD on what exactly its requirements are. “On the MoD website there is a document called the Technology Prospectus and Capability Roadmap but the targets mentioned here are vague with no idea even of what the requirements are over the next five or even fifteen years,” Mr. Cowshish pointed out. “And it is difficult to make out a business case from this document.” Another senior industry analysts points out that India has a history of dragging its feet on defence deals. Added to this is the fact now that the Make in India campaign sends out mixed signals with regards to foreign investment. “There is a hesitation on the part of foreign companies because they don't know where they are going to fit in. It's clear that the MoD will now prioritise Indian manufacturing,” he explained. The central government is now cognizant of the fact that the majority of technology, at least for the short term, has to come in the form of off-the-shelf purchases like the Rafale deal. In the long term, the plan may be to have Indian companies scale up to the level of a Lockheed or a Boeing.

But can this be done without properly addressing the issue of creating an ecosystem for the same?

According to Rear Admiral (Retd.) Vijai S Chaudhari, Additional Director of the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, a few policy correctives to improve the ease of doing business are imperative.

“To start with if a company is going to spend so much money on a project there is not even now the guarantee of export even to a benign country. It will be dealt with on a case to case basis,” he explained.

The other major stumbling block is India's Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) that keeps getting updated every few years. “There was a proposal sometime back to allow someone who has signed under the old policy to migrate easily to the new one but that was rejected,” Mr. Chaudhari said. The reason the DPP goes through periodic revisions, he said, is that India has always remained cautious about big bang reforms in the sector and so change is always piecemeal. This FDI phobia, he pointed out, has to change.

“The final nail on the coffin is that there is a clause in the DPP which says that in case of a foreign collaboration the department will nominate the production agency,” Mr. Chaudhari said. “This would stack the odds very much in favour of a PSU. The better alternative would be to let a potential bidder reach his own agreement with a private agency.”

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Days after rebuking party, Advani lauds government

Days after the scathing attack on the BJP leadership following the party’s debacle in the Bihar Assembly election, BJP veteran L.K. Advani on Sunday heaped praise on the NDA government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while casting his vote in the Ahmedabad municipal polls.

Mr. Advani expressed the hope that the BJP would be voted back in the local elections in Gujarat, saying: “I am hopeful that the results of the local polls will be the repeat of the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.”

“I can say that the consciousness of our party has increased [after the Bihar poll]. All efforts have been made here to see that the result comes in our favor. And these efforts will be certainly reflected in the result,” he said after exercising his franchise at Khanpur in Ahmedabad, where Mr. Advani and his family are registered voters.

“I believe the whole system takes its own time. Since the government is going in the right direction, I believe that the results will also be good,” he said, asked about the performance of the NDA government.

On Sunday, Mr. Advani appeared appreciative of the BJP leadership of Mr. Modi and Amit Shah.

After the Bihar election, Mr. Advani and former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha, M.M. Joshi, Shanta Kumar and Arun Shourie issued a strongly worded statement attacking the leadership for the fiasco and demanding that responsibility be fixed for the debacle. They said the party had been “emasculated” in the last one year and was being “forced to kow-tow to a handful.”

Mr. Advani, an MP from Gandhinagar, said the local bodies polls were as important as the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. In the municipal polls this time, 50 per cent of the seats have been reserved for women. Four candidates from one party per ward are in the fray. “I am happy that MPs are also allowed to vote in the corporation polls. I also learnt that 50 per cent seats are reserved for women,” Mr. Advani said.

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Two-thirds majority for Nitish-Lalu Grand Alliance

As the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad duo led the Grand Alliance on Sunday to a historic, thumping two-thirds majority, even reviving its junior partner, the Congress, the BJP-led NDA bit the dust — and the curtain came down on what must rate as one of the most bitterly fought Assembly elections in Bihar.

Conscious that this victory would resonate through the country, influencing politics in other parts, Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar — composed but clearly moved by the extent of the mandate — said: “The Bihar 2015 poll will always be remembered as a milestone in the electoral politics of the State; it reflected the national mood.”

Mr. Kumar said the poll would be remembered as one where the “party at the Centre had put all its resources into an Assembly election.”

PARTY POSITIONS 243/243

Parties	Won	Leading
BJP + ( BJP, LJP, HAM, RLSP)	58	0
JD(U)+ (JD(U), RJD, INC)	178	0
Others (SP, JAP, AIMIM, Independent)	7	0

Lalu Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, has proved to be the kingmaker, providing both the mass support for the coalition and a sharp aggression at the stumps, countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi at every stage. Mr. Kumar lived up to his reputation of being a “Chanakya”: he retained his chief ministership, while helping old comrade Lalu Prasad return to the centre stage after many years in the political wilderness. In 1990, too, when Mr. Prasad became Chief Minister for the first time, Mr. Kumar’s role in that victory had earned him the sobriquet “Chanakya” of Bihar politics.

On Sunday evening, while the flamboyant Mr. Prasad, whose personal exit poll of 190 came closest to the results, threw open the gates of 10, Circular Road to the surging crowds, three houses down, the more reticent Mr. Kumar, after his press conferences, met party workers who milled around him, before walking onto the road outside. There he stood on a small wooden platform to accept more congratulations.

The decisive victory ensures that government formation will be smooth. Mr. Kumar said that first his party legislators would meet, and then all the coalition MLAs would meet to settle the issue of portfolios. To a question whether one of Mr. Prasad’s sons would be his Deputy Chief Minister, he said the press conference was not an appropriate forum to discuss the matter. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be after Diwali.

At two post-victory press conferences, one at the RJD office followed by the other at the Chief Minister’s official residence, where the Congress’s Ashok Chowdhury, too, was present, Mr. Prasad underscored the fact that regardless of the numbers the two parties notched up, Mr. Kumar would be the Chief Minister.

Mr. Kumar called for an end to the bitterness, negativity and rancour that marked the election.

Mr. Kumar stressed that he intended to work with and respect the Opposition, despite its meagre tally. As for the Grand Alliance, he said, it was united by a common world view, an agreed programme of action and the desire to achieve consensus on all issues affecting the future of Bihar.

If the initial trends, thanks to the fact that the postal ballots were opened before the EVMs, favoured the BJP, leading its workers to celebrate prematurely, by 9.20 a.m. the trends reversed in favour of the grand coalition. It was then the turn of the workers of the JD(U), the RJD and the Congress to shout victory slogans, burst crackers and smear gulal on each other.

After the JD(U) and the BJP parted ways in June 2013, all eyes were on the Bihar Assembly election. It became a matter of prestige for both. Each looked for partners that would widen their social base; caste played a critical role in this election, but in the end, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the NDA’s charge, it became a referendum on his 16 months in power rather than on Mr. Kumar’s decade as Chief Minister.

Mr. Modi, who flew to Bihar for a record 26 times to address public meetings, and BJP president Amit Shah crafted the party’s strategy, dominating even the billboards. This gave the grand coalition an opportunity to portray them as baharis (outsiders), even as the BJP leaders and activists sulked, finding themselves on the margins.

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Bihar exit polls predict dead heat

Exit polls released on Thursday after the last round of the Bihar polls predicted a tough contest in the State.

While two polls — one by CNX and the other by AC Nielsen — predicted a majority for the JD(U)-RJD grand alliance with 132 and 130 seats respectively, two others — the C-Voter and News Nation polls — saw the alliance exactly at the majority mark of 122.

In the last of these, the NDA was very close behind at 117. The Chanakya poll, however, predicted a comfortable win for the BJP-led NDA with 155 out of 243 seats.

The Cicero poll showed the NDA three seats ahead of the grand alliance with 120 seats, without a majority for anyone.

CNX gave the NDA its lowest tally of 93 while Chanakya gave the grand alliance the lowest tally of 83.

With no clear trends coming out as a whole, the exit polls only ended up increasing the suspense around the high-profile polls. The counting will take place on Sunday.

An NDA win will reinforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position and strengthen his hands in the coming winter session of Parliament, where the Opposition is likely to take up the issue of “intolerance” in a big way, propelled by nationwide protests from intellectuals.

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