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Saturday, March 9, 2013

Gujarat riots: IUML MLA gives clean chit to Narendra Modi

Watch the quotes from Speech of IUML MLA from Kerala who was in Gujarat recently

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 8: An MLA of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) that is part of the Congress-led UDF government in Kerala has absolved Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of any blame whatsoever in the post-Godhra riots.
Addressing a IUML meeting at Panoor in Kerala on Wednesday, the legislator KM Shaji said that Modi has not tried to implement the BJP's Hindutva agenda in Gujarat.
According to Shaji, Modi cannot be held guilty of killing Muslims.
Nor did he have a role to play in the destruction of any masjid, Shaji averred.
The MLA quoted human rights activists as saying that some leading businessmen engineered the Gujarat riots.
Shaji noted that big industrial houses set up shop in Gujarat not too long after violence ravaged the state in 2002.
Pointing to the harmony between Gujarati Muslims and Hindus, he said that members of the minority community have welcomed Modi's good governance.
Gujarat has witnessed rapid development over the past one decade and the steps taken by the BJP regime should be emulated by other states in order to achieve similar growth, the MLA stressed.
Incidentally, several IUML leaders were present on the dias while Shaji gave a clean chit to Modi but none of them objected to his praise of a political rival.
The surprising aspect is that IUML never misses a chance to target the BJP. Now that Modi is emerging as the clear frontrunner in the race for the prime minister's post and more than one stalwart in the main opposition party has already endorsed his candidature,
it looks like IUML is looking to mend fences with him.
Whether this is a pointer of things to come remains to be seen. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has repeatedly hinted that Janata Dal (United) could walk out of the NDA if his Gujarat counterpart is projected as the BJP's choice for the top post. Shaji's comments show that there are no lifelong enemies in politics. Probably
Modi may one day get Kumar's backing too. Article Credits.Sreekumar Oneindia March 8, 2013

Muslims won't mind if Modi is elected PM: Vastanvi- Former vice chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband

PTI , Ahmedabad, March 03, 2013 Former vice chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband, Ghulam Muhammad Vastanvi on Sunday said that Muslims should not have any problem if people of the country elects Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. "If our country makes him Prime Minister, there is no reason for us to have any objection (Agar apna mulk unko PM banata hai to hamari taraf se koi inkaar to ho hi nahi sakta)," Vastanvi told reporters in Ahmedbad on Sunday when he was asked him about his views about Modi as prime ministerial candidate. He was here in the city to attend a 'samuhik nikaah' or mass marriage function organised by the Gujarat Sarvajanik Welfare Trust where 162 Muslim couples tied the knot on Sunday. When asked about his take on the plight of minorities particularly Muslims in Gujarat, he said, "For the past 10 years there is BJP rule in the state. If the BJP government works for Muslims, then Muslims will support it and if it does not, then they will move away."he said at the function which was also attended by Dariyapur's Congress MLA Gyasuddin Shaikh and local councillor Badarudding Shaikh.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Distressed Andhra Pradesh farmers selling organs to escape debt trap

Several marginal and small farmers in Andhra Pradesh were denied the benefit of farm loan waiver scheme and hence continued to remain in agricultural debt trap. NEW DELHI: Almost five years after the UPA government allocated the lion's share of its Rs 52,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme to Andhra Pradesh, reports are emerging from the state that distressed farmers are selling their organs to come out of the agricultural debt trap. Three states - Andhra Pradesh, UP and Maharashtra - had got almost 57% of the Rs 52,000 crore package meant for all 35 states and Union Territories. Disbursal in Andhra Pradesh was Rs 11,000 crore while it was Rs 9,095 crore in UP and Rs 8,900 crore in Maharashtra. The farm loan waiver has been cited as one of the main vote-catchers for the Congress in the 2009 LokSabha polls and this was vindicated in the party's handsome performance in the three states with the largest allocations. While Congress bagged 31 seats in Andhra, it got 22 in UP and 16 in Maharashtra, a performance which facilitated formation of the second UPA government at the Centre. In Andhra Pradesh, around 77 lakh farmers cornered more than Rs 11,000 crore, almost 21% of the total farm loan waiver package. But as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report reveals, a huge number of ineligible farmers were allowed waiver while many marginal and small farmers were denied the benefit and they continued to remain in a debt trap. CAG detected tampering with loan records, alteration in ledgers and changing records where non-agricultural loans were converted into agricultural loans. In one such instance, the auditor pointed out how the AP Grameen Bank in Ballikurava had altered land holdings of at least 17 loanees so as to alter their category and make them eligible for full waiver in the marginal farmer category. These irregularities were noticed not just in Andhra Pradesh but across several states were sample study was carried out by the auditor. The CAG's sample study was carried out over 715 bank branches in 92 districts of 25 states involving more than 80,000 farmers' loan accounts. The disbursement to these farmers amounted to Rs 330 crore. In Andhra Pradesh, scrutiny of 3,200 loan accounts revealed that in at least 132 cases, ineligible benefits were allowed, highest among all states bar J&K where the sample study found ineligible benefits were allowed to 153 farmers. In close to 100 cases in Andhra Pradesh, the CAG found benefits extended to farmers on loans which were not disbursed in the first place.

AirAsia to offer fares as low as Rs 1,000

AirAsia may offer fares as low as Rs 1,000; may skip Mumbai-Delhi route NEW DELHI: AirAsia may avoid flying on the Mumbai-Delhi route and focus on smaller cities and the southern metros in a unique strategy to keep costs low and capture a larger slice of the fast-growing flying population in the rest of the country. The Tony Fernandes-run budget carrier, which rattled the aviation ministry and some of the country's established carriers by announcing an airline venture with the Tata Group last month, will focus on Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and northern cities like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, top airline officials have said. The decision is surprising as Mumbai and Delhi are the most lucrative flying routes with all domestic airlines having a presence. But flying to these airports is also expensive as landing and other charges are at least 25% higher than other airports. The cities also don't have low-cost airports. "We are going after a pan-India licence and not a regional one," Suresh Nair, AirAsia regional manager — India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, said, explaining the group strategy. "Avoiding Delhi and Mumbai doesn't make us a regional carrier because India is much beyond that. If we fly, say, Chennai-Ahmedabad or Chennai-Jaipur, that would mean national operations. We would fly wherever we can to keep cost of operations low," he added. The move is in sync with AirAsia's disruptive strategy and its desire to grab a bigger market share of passenger traffic outside the two big cities. A section of the travel fraternity still thinks that AirAsia would be able to offer competitive fares not only by adopting certain practices unique to them and but also those not yet tried in India. Having a domestic network helps cope with expensive airports but the costs involved in operating from Delhi and Mumbai will still be quite high for a budget carrier. Keyur Joshi, COO of Nasdaq-listed travel portal makemytrip.com expects the company to avoid some of the major cities, not just Delhi and Mumbai. "I expect them to avoid Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad to keep costs low. Indian airlines have not been able to negotiate with airport operators to resolve that. AirAsia may also prefer to add more frequencies on a route rather than going after many routes, something not yet tried in India," he added. In a conference call with reporters on February 21, Tony Fernandes said the airline will avoid Delhi and Mumbai. "We will avoid certain airports like Delhi and Mumbai because of high charges and also because these airports are slot constrained. We will stimulate the market first with low-cost structure and later as the airports are being developed, we would also look at these newer markets. India is a huge country and we are confident that we will succeed," Fernandes had said. It is not yet clear whether AirAsia will completely avoid these two cities, as in not ferry passengers from other destinations to the two top metros. Nair said the routes have not been finalised and can't yet make a comment. While AirAsia is entering the domestic market for the first time, it has been flying between several Indian cities and south-east Asian countries. The experience so far has not been very good. The airline plans to pull out of flying between Delhi and Bangkok and rival IndiGo has responded aggressively by doubling services on the same route. High airport charges forced it to withdraw services between Kuala Lumpur and Hyderabad in 2010 while its long-haul arm AirAsia X pulled out of Delhi and Mumbai in January last year for the same reason. "We don't know why airlines don't come together on these issues. Every rupee makes a difference. We also know that costs of a couple of airlines are very low but they are not offering that price to customers," Nair said. AirAsia may also offer fares as low as Rs 1,000 to lure passengers when it begins operations in India though a successful replication of its South-east Asian model may be difficult due to the country's high-cost structure. The Malaysian budget airline will start fares at Rs 999 for flyers wanting to book months in advance and hopes to make early booking a regular habit. News Credits:TOI

SBI identifies some properties of Kingfisher for attachment

SBI, the lead banker in the 17-lender consortium to Kingfisher Airlines, has identified some properties for attachment, according to a top SBI official. "Efforts are afoot to make some recoveries. Already certain properties have been identified towards attachment by the bank as against loans disbursed to the airline. Allocations have been made in the bank's NPA which stood at (around) Rs 22,000 crore as of Dec 2012," A Krishnakumar, Managing Director and Group Executive (National Banking) told reporters. A sub-committee has also been formed, involving about four banks to examine availability of assets of the borrower and will also solicit needful legal advisors before the next stage of opting for litigation, he said. It was last year reported that lenders to debt-ridden Kingfisher were considering selling the carrier's two properties in Mumbai and Goa worth Rs 120 crore to recover a part of the loans worth over Rs 7,500 crore.

Monday, March 4, 2013

How Narendra Modi shakes UPA, rocks Twitter in just 50 mnts

New Delhi, March 3: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was in the limelight while delivering his 50-minute-long speech at the BJP conclave in New Delhi on Sunday, March 3.
Beginning from Gujarat development stories to Manmohan Singh-led UPA government's inability to take the nation to a better position, Modi mentioned everything in his speech.
"Nothing can save the Congress. But to save the nation, we have to stand united and present ourselves to the people," said Modi.
The Gujarat CM also asserted that the BJP has the power what UPA does not have.
Speaking about the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, Modi said, "It does not matter who is the PM candidate. We don't have the right to disappoint the nation."
Modi, who is also expected to get a place at BJP's central team ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, criticised Manmohan Singh while asserting that Pranab Mukherjee would have been a better PM than the present one. Taking a dig at the Gandhi family, Modi said, "The Congress tradition is to sacrifice the interests of the country for one family. They even sacrifice the interests of the party." "I feel if Pranab Mukherjee was the Prime Minister instead of Manmohan Singh, we would have been where we are...Pranab Mukherjee has a connect with the people, understands the problems of India...but if he succeeded, then what would happen to the family," added the CM.
Meanwhile, micro-blogging site Twitter was flooded with tweets on Modi's speech. Hash tags related to his speech such as Narendra Modi, Namo, BJP Council were trending on the top of Twitter. Article credits:Nairita,Oneindia