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Current Affairs - 1 July 2005

Greece defaults on debt, IMF says
  • WASHINGTON: Greece fell into default on its debt to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday after missing a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) payment, the global lender said.

    "I confirm that the SDR 1.2 billion repayment due by Greece to the IMF today has not been received. We have informed our Executive Board that Greece is now in arrears and can only receive IMF financing once the arrears are cleared," said Fund spokesman Gerry Rice.

Congress 'offers' govt a deal: Axe Swaraj-Raje, get GST bill nod
  • NEW DELHI: Faced with the unstinting solidarity of the Modi government with foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje over 'Lalitgate', Congress has made an interesting proposal - it will not block the Goods and Services Tax bill despite its strong reservations if it gets the two scalps.

    The swap of sorts has been tacitly suggested to the government as the way out of the looming stalemate in the monsoon session of Parliament starting on July 21. While keen on passage of the GST bill, described as a bold effort to rewrite the taxation structure, the government has refused to be tempted. "No question," a senior government functionary told TOI when asked about the offer.

    The opposition's feelers were made after the Modi government belied Congress's estimate that it would give in to pressure for the resignations of Swaraj and Raje for helping "fugitive" Lalit Modi.

    Congress, which has raised objections on the GST bill with the Rajya Sabha select committee, is determined to ensure that Parliament doesn't function during the monsoon session. Although some regional players are tepid in their response to the disclosures about links of Swaraj and Raje with Lalit Modi, Congress reckons that its sustained pressure and the fear of ceding political space will make them come around, resulting in a phalanx to batter PM Narendra Modi's fortifications in Parliament.

    The lineup will, Congress tacticians feel, be strong enough to neutralize the superior numbers that the government has in Lok Sabha. The opposition is in majority in Rajya Sabha, in any case.

    Congress has listed five objections to the GST committee, seeking inclusion of tobacco and electricity duty in GST, removal of 1% tax over GST to compensate manufacturing states, inclusion of compensation formula in the bill, restoration of dispute settlement mechanism and a categorical fixing of ceiling on GST rate.

    Congress, however, is not bent upon stalling the bill, especially with key regional outfits coming out in its support. If the BJP regime agrees to the proposed compromise, Congress may be willing to "walk out" of Rajya Sabha to let the constitutional amendment bill pass.

    While it may be a major concession to BJP which stalled the flagship tax reform during UPA-2 to convey an impression of policy paralysis, Congress thinks it would not be the loser in the bargain.

    Resignations of Swaraj and Raje would be a big breach in PM Narendra Modi's armour in the form of an acknowledgement of guilt by the BJP regime, possibly opening the doors for similar arm-twisting for future violations. Also, the Congress is not too keen to block economic reforms it had initiated, like it supported FDI in insurance after initial protests.

    BJP's junior minister for parliamentary affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "The select committee is looking at GST on the demand of Congress. After the committee submits its report, there is no logic in opposing it. When Congress was in government, there would be a hit-wicket every day and since they are in opposition, they are delivering a no-ball every hour. It will be a political disadvantage for Congress to oppose it."

Maharashtra CM accused of delaying US flight as secretary forgets visa
  • MUMBAI: Passengers onboard Air India flight to Newark had to put up with an hour long delay in the departure during the wee hours of Sunday as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was onboard and an absent-minded IAS officer in his entourage forgot to carry the passport that had his US visa.

    Praveen Pardeshi, principal secretary to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who flew to the US caused much confusion as he had only carried his new passport, while the US visa was stamped in his old one. ''The seven-member delegation travelling with the CM reached the airport about 45 minutes before departure. It was only when he submitted his passport at the check-in counter for a boarding pass that Pardeshi realized that he did not have the US visa with him,'' said an airline source. The secretary immediately called up his residence and arranged for his old passport to be brought to the airport. '' Since he was part of a VIP entourage, they issued him a boarding pass. Had he been a commoner, the airline would not have issued a boarding pass till the time the passport with the valid US visa was not submitted at the airline counter,'' said an official.

    A protocol officer is always assigned to receive the chief minister at the airport, ensure he has a VIP room, takes care of his check-in, luggage, immigration and sees him off till the aircraft. The protocol officer though not officially mandated also takes care of similar needs of the CM's entourage be it family or officials/business delegates etc.

    So the protocol officer took the boarding passes of all members, including Pardeshi for requisite clearances from the CISF and immigration authorities. Here again, the fact that Pardeshi was travelling with a VIP helped as he was allowed to walk through Indian immigration, despite not having a valid visa for travel to the US.

    The airline had begun boarding at 12.15 am and in an hour all the 250-odd passengers, except Pardeshi were seated onboard the flight. The 16-hour non-stop flight operated by 336-seater Boeing 777 aircraft which was scheduled for a 1.30 am departure, was ready to depart at 1.15 am. But AI's Investigation and Fraud Prevention Squad which scans passports, visas to detect fake documents, had held Pardeshi back and keeping with the norms decided to offloaded him.

    The boarding officer and special handling officer informed the CM about the situation. The CM insisted that he would travel ony with his delegation. Baggage reconciliation security norms demand that the check-in bags and possession of passengers who have been offloaded should be removed from the aircraft before it is cleared to depart. ''It meant that instead of offloading one passenger and his check-in bags, the airline now had to offload eight passengers and 14 check-in bags,'' said a source. ``The bags were kept in two different containers and so it was time-consuming process. Then again, as so many passengers had to be offloaded the airline would now have to prepare a new load and trim sheet. It is a document that lists crucial flight safety details like number of passengers, number of bags, fuel weight, payload weight etc.

    "Our calculations showed it would take anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes to offload the delegation's check-in bags. The flying time of AI 191 from Mumbai to Newark is just over 14 hours. The pilots' flight duty limitation is 16 hours. At that point, we decided to wait for Pardeshi for some time so that can board the aircraft and the need to offload baggage by opening the cargo section of the Boeing 777 could be avoided. Doing that (offloading baggage) may have left us running around to find new set of crew for operating this flight," said the source.

    '' Finally, Pardeshi's old passport was brought to the airport. He was cleared by the Sqad and he boarded the flight at 1.55 am,'' the source added. The flight was released for departure at 1.56 am. But because of peak hour aircraft movement, the flight had to wait till 2.27 am to get a push back clearance and commence departure.

    The statement on the matter issued by AI said: "The flight, AI 191 of 29 June was delayed by a total of 57 minutes. The delay was partly due to technical/operational reasons, and also the air traffic congestion." Talking to TOI, minister of state for civil aviation, Mahesh Sharma on Tuesday said that technical glitch was the reason of delay. "I have spoken to the Maharashtra chief minister and officials concerned in Air India. Our findings are that the flight was not delayed for the principal secretary to CM. ATC and other technical issues during the operations caused delay," Sharma added.

    The chief minister's office said they were unaware of the flight being delayed if at all and of the reasons for the delay. ''There is a 12-hour time lag between India and the US and we have not been able to speak either to the CM or to Pardeshi."

    Pardeshi's father-in-law, for chief secretary Arun Bongirwar who stays a few buildings away from Pardeshi's residence at Suniti said he went to sleep between 10.30- 11 pm, around the time that Pardeshi left for the airport and does not have a clue of what happened. Pardeshi's wife and children do not stay here with him. ''Being a government servant I know that if he did not have the visa they can offload him. Maybe he is being made a scapegoat and the reason may be something else. I have no clue. All I know is what I am seeing on TV. I have not spoken to him since he left for the US,'' said Bongirwar.

    Ignored by govts, Haryana villagers crowdfund Rs 1cr bridge
    • CHANDIGARH: You don't always need a Dashrath Manjhi to single-handedly cut through a mountain and build you a road. As residents of nine villages in Haryana's Sirsa district have shown, all you need is strong collective will to cut through a mountain of red tape.

      When politicians and bureaucrats ignored their requests to build them a bridge over Ghaggar river so that they could reach Sirsa town with their farm produce faster, the villagers teamed up and collected Rs 1 crore. With it, they have funded a 250-foot-long, 14-foot-wide bridge connecting Aleeka and Panihari villages to Sirsa.

      Manjhi was a poor farmhand in Bihar's Gaya district who single-handedly chiselled out a road through a 300-foot-high mountain using just a hammer and chisel. He went at the stubborn rock for 22 years starting in 1960 until he was recognized as India's Mountain Man for connecting his Gehlour village to neighbouring villages in 1982.

      The Sirsa villagers had not heard of Manjhi, but knew one thing - they did not want to wait for Superman to emerge one day and end their woes. Work on the bridge started in April 2014. Today, it is near completion and the 25-member committee which is supervising the construction has requested local saint, Mahant Brahm Dass, to inaugurate it.

      Once completed, the bridge will be a lifeline for 1.25 lakh people as it will cut the distance from their villages to Sirsa town by at least 30km. They will also get easier access to markets in Punjab for their farm produce.

      "We have no place for politicians or bureaucrats in our list of invitees for the bridge's inauguration," says Hardev Singh of Panihari village. "For us, a labourer who contributed Rs 500 and a widow who contributed her pension of Rs 1,000 are more important than those who fooled us for more than three decades.''

      "From Devi Lal to current chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, we had represented our case to all. Except for Sirsa MP Charanjit Singh Rori and former minister Gopal Kanda who contributed Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5.51 lakh respectively from their personal funds no one even bothered to look at us," added Singh.

      Major Singh, a resident of Aleeka village, said, "While on a visit to Rajasthan, Hardev Singh came across an engineer in Hanumangarh who was supervising construction of a government bridge. After inquiring about the cost he discussed the idea of building our own bridge with the villagers. Brahm Dass ji laid the foundation. Initially, Panihari and Aleeka villages came together and later a cluster of seven villages joined hands."

      The other villages include Bujhkaramgarh, Farwai Khurd, Dhani Kahan Singh, Sikanderpur Rasoolpur, Thedi, Theeral and Bheema.s

      Hardev adds, "None of the politicians, official machinery and local officers has even bothered to visit the spot."

    IndiGo and Infibeam file for Rs 3,000 crore IPOs
    • NEW DELHI: Marking a big day for IPOs, two companies — no-frills carrier IndiGo and e-retailer Infibeam — on Tuesday filed papers with Sebi to raise nearly Rs 3,000 crore in all. In a sign that the IPO market is revving up after months of subdued activity, staffing firm TeamLease also initiated the process of filing papers for raising around Rs 450 crore.

      In addition, Biocon arm Syngene, Prabhat Dairy, Navkar and Catholic Syrian Bank, which have already got a nod from regulator Sebi, plan to hit the capital market in the next two-three months with IPO offers totalling nearly Rs 2,000 crore.

      InterGlobe Aviation, which runs the country's biggest airline by market share under 'IndiGo' brand, plans to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore. Becoming the first e-commerce player to tap the IPO route, Infibeam plans to mop-up around Rs 450 crore.

      Started in 2007, Infibeam runs several e-commerce services such as Infibeam.com, Indent, BuildaBazaar, Incept and Picsquare. Last year, Sony Music had bought a 26% stake in Indent. TeamLease Services' MD & co-founder Ashok Reddy said the company was exploring multiple options to facilitate the aggressive growth that it plans for the future.

    Now insurers will find it tough to reject claims
    • MUMBAI: Life insurance companies will find it almost impossible to reject claims in future because of an amendment to a provision in the Insurance Act that allowed companies to call into question polices taken years ago. In the past, life insurers could avoid liability if they could prove that there was mis-statement or non-disclosure of material facts in the insured's proposal form.

      Speaking to TOI, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) chairman S K Roy said, "There will be no scope for rejecting claims now. With the amendment to Section 45 of the Insurance Act, the entire investigation process has been scrapped. The amendments have far reaching consequences as there is total immunity to the policyholder."

      Insurance companies will, however, settle only a single claim under the Prime Minister's Jeevan Jyot Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), which aims to cover all bank accountholders for Rs 2 lakh, subject to an insurance premium of Rs 330. The Life Insurance Council — an association of life insurers — is preparing a database of all those covered under the scheme in order to run a de-duplication process to weed out those who have bought more than one policy.

      Compared to most life insurers, LIC has a lower rate of rejections. With the amendment, the number may go down further. According to data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the claim settlement ratio of LIC improved to 98.14% during the year 2013-14 compared to 97.73% during the previous year. The percentage of rejections was 1.10% in 2013-14, remaining almost at the same level (1.12%) as of the previous year.

      For private insurers, the settlement ratio had gone down slightly to 88.31% during the financial year 2013-14 when compared to 88.65% during the previous year. Private insurers had repudiated more claims (10,036) than LIC (8,387). The percentage of repudiations for private insurers was 8.03% in 2013-14, which was 7.85% for 2012-13. The amendment to Section 45 means that insurance companies will have to be more careful at the underwriting stage — particularly those it considers in the high-risk segments.

      According to Roy, the corporation has already settled three claims under the PMJJBY scheme even as the enrollment process is in progress. Banks have informed LIC that around 1.5 crore lives have been enrolled. Data has been provided to LIC in respect of 90 lakh insured and the scheme is open for enrollment for another two months.

      "There may be more claims in the system but we are yet to receive them. The nominee has to refer the claim to the bank who in turn will present the documents to the insurance company. The insurance company will then pay the claim into the nominee's bank account," said Roy.

    Chhattisgarh woos jawans fighting Naxalites, hikes salary by 58%
    • RAIPUR: In a major decision, Chhattisgarh government has decided to hike the allowances for police jawans including constable, assistant constables and secret troops posted in Naxalite-dominated areas of Bastar division, Gariyaband and Rajnandgaon.

      The move, which is expected to benefit nearly 22,000 police jawans, would result in an almost 58% hike in emoluments of assistant constables, who, after the revision, would get Rs 14,144 per month instead of Rs 8,990 earlier. In addition, they would be entitled to Rs 25 lakh insurance cover like other policemen. This would reportedly cost the exchequer an additional sum of Rs 121 crore annually.

      A decision to this effect was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Raman Singh on Tuesday.

      He said Naxalism continues to be a major problem for state, specifically in the Bastar region. He said while 70% of Naxalism in country affected state, of this 90% is in Bastar division. He said those fighting Naxalites need to be provided monetary support and benefits.

      According to officials, as per the cabinet decision, ration allowances have also been increased from Rs 650 to Rs 2,650 for state police force deputed in Bastar. This is the first hike in ration allowances in the last nine years.

      Ration allowances have also been increased for STF from Rs 1,200 to 2,200. The cabinet has also decided to hike Naxalite areas allowances for all three categories. The allowance for personnel in most sensitive areas would be 50% of their basic salary; 35% for sensitive areas and 15% for the general affected areas. This amount will be applicable till 2018-19 and further decisions would be taken in this regard in a review meeting before March 31, 2019.

      The cabinet also approved 150 additional posts for Secret Troops. As of now there are 458 secret troops active in state. In addition, shoes worth Rs 2,000 and a backpack worth Rs 1,000 would be given to jawans and assistant constables in a year. The government has also decided to set up a 100-bed trauma centre in Jagdalpur with the help of police housing corporation for treatment of personnel injured in Naxalism violence.

      The centre would come up in a PPP model and probably start functioning within a year. The estimated cost of the centre would be Rs 12.50 crore.

    Maharashtra tops in Patent filing in India: CGPDTM Report

    • The Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) have recently released its annual report. CGPDTM works under the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Controller General supervises the working of the Patents Act, 1970, the Designs Act, 2000 and the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and also renders advice to the Government on matters relating to these subjects. It also administers the Geographical Indications Registry.

      The report contains interesting statistics about filing of patents in India:

      Among states, Maharashtra (2,892) filed the most patents during the year 2013-14. The other top 5 states in the number of patents filed are: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.
      Interestingly, Karnataka (1639) has seen 40% increase in the number of patents filed by it, overtaking Tamil Nadu from behind. This is being attributed to the growth of global R&D centres being set up in the state
      Among cities, Bangalore tops the list, again because of the presence of top class IT industry which is focussing on R&D
      The top companies who contributed the most from Bangalore: Samsung R&D Institute (84 patents), Infosys (83 patents), Wipro Ltd (59 patents) and Samsung India Software Operations Pvt. Ltd (66 patents)
      Among institutions: Indian Institute of Science (IISc) (32 patents), Siddaganga Institute of Technology (24 patents), Tumakuru and Indian Space Research Organisation (12 patents)
      With global manufacturing companies like Huawei, which is planning to invest $170 million in an R&D campus, and similar plans by Xiaomi and Twitter, the number of Patents filing will grow exponentially in the coming years.


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