NEWS
DIGEST, Afternoon
16
Dec. 2018:08
Rabiul-II 1440: Vol: 11, No:76
INDIA
Modi Government Admits
it Never Studied the 'Impacts, After-Effects' of Demonetisation
New Delhi: While
responding to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the government said that
it has not studied or assessed the ‘impacts and after-effects’ of
demonetisation. The minister of state for finance, P. Radhakrishnan, responded
with a ‘no’ when asked if the government had studied the impacts of
demonetisation on the economy. On Nov.8, 2016, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi
had announced the decision to suddenly demonetise notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.
It led to severe hardships suffered by almost the entire population in the
country. Modi had argued that a large part of the currency will be returned
putting an end to the stock held as black money.Recently, the agriculture
ministry had admitted to a parliamentary standing committee that demonetisation
caused severe hardship for farmers. It said that due to the withdrawal of
currency notes, farmers were unable to buy seeds and fertilisers when it was
time for them to sow.“India’s 263 million farmers live mostly in the cash
economy. Millions of farmers were unable to get enough cash to buy seeds and
fertilisers for their winter crops. Even bigger landlords faced a problem such
as paying daily wages to the farmers and purchasing agriculture needs for
growing crops,” the ministry had said.However, a week later the agriculture
ministry withdrew the report and served show cause notices to officers who were
responsible for the earlier report. New report submitted by the agriculture
ministry said that demonetisation had caused no adverse impacts on farmers in
the country.P. Radhakrishnan also said in his response on Friday that 99.3% of
the money in circulation was returned to the RBI. “As per data published in
Annual Report 2017-18 of RBI, the total value of Specified Bank Notes (SBNs) in
circulation as on Nov.8, 2016, post verification and reconciliation, was Rs
15,417.93 billion, and the total value of SBNs returned from circulation was Rs
15,310.73 billion,” he said.thewire
AIUDF loses to
Congress, AGP in own bastion
Guwahati: The
panchayat elections threw up a surprise for perfume baron-turned politician
Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF with its vote share in minority areas in lower Assam
and the Barak valley districts dipping. The party seems to have lost out to
Congress and AGP in its very own bastion. In the 2013 panchayat polls, AIUDF
was in the second position winning 76 of the total 420 zila parishads (ZP).
Congress was in the lead with 273 ZPs in its fold, while AGP had 29 and BJP 15
in 2013. This time, of the 347 declared ZP seats on Friday, AIUDF is in the
distant third position with 15 seats, though party leaders said they are
hopeful of winning 25 ZPs as counting is still on.In Dhubri (South) district,
which happens to part of the Lok Sabha seat represented by Ajmal, AIUDF won
only two out of 17 ZP seats there so far. Likewise, in Mankachar—also in Dhubri
district—AIUDF has drawn a blank so far. From central Assam to lower Assam
districts and in some districts in northern Assam, it is Congress which has won
the ZPs in the minority-dominated areas. Also, in the panchayat wards,
panchayat president posts and anchalik panchayat member posts in minority
areas, it is Congress taking the lead followed by AGP and in some places BJP
has emerged as the front runner. “We will have to seriously introspect why we
could not do well, especially in minority-dominated areas,” AIUDF general
secretary, Haidor Hussain Bora, said.
Bora, however, mentioned that they had not fielded candidates in many
minority areas to ensure “secular votes” did not get divided. “We did not field
candidates in many of minority-dominated areas to prevent division of votes. In
many places under Rupahihat, Dhing, Lahorighat and other assembly constituencies,
where minority voters play a decisive role, AIUDF did not have candidates,”
Bora said. TOI
‘Muslim Hardliner’
Arif Masood is Congress’ New Minority Face in Saffron Citadel MP: news18
Bhopal: The assembly
polls in the saffron stronghold Madhya Pradesh saw the emergence of a new
minority face from Congress — Muslim hardliner Arif Masood who has been
extremely vocal about issues such as Ram temple, mob lynching and Triple Talaq
Bill. Contesting from Bhopal Madhya constituency, Masood defeated sitting MLA
Suredra Nath Singh, a grounded politician and old friend of outgoing Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The constituency represents a sizable part of
the Muslim-dominated Old Bhopal.Shunning his white skull cap and sporting Tilak
on forehead, Masood offered a peep into his campaign strategy when he went
around seeking votes in the Hindu dominated areas. He even paid a visit to
Hanuman temple in the last phase of campaigning. His publicity materials
exhibited his concern for the downtrodden form the both the communities. This
shift in Masood's strategy came after 2013, when he lost to Singh after an
intense polarised battle. Besides wooing the Hindus, Masood, a close aide of
senior Congress leader Suresh Pachauri, also worked extensively to attract
Dalits within his constituency. A couple of months ago, the middle-aged
politician even took out a religious procession of Dalits with pomp and show. “My
win is the win of Ganga-Jamuni tahzeeb in the city,” Masood had said after the
poll results. Notwithstanding his ‘soft’ image peddled in this poll, Masood has
been a prominent voice on anything connected to Muslims in Old city areas and
also on issues of national importance. As an executive member of All India
Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the newly elected MLA always voiced his
views on Ram temple issues.He also vociferously opposed the Triple Talaq Bill
through various protests in the state and led protests in Bhopal when mob
lynchings made national headlines. Masood emerged victorious in the vicinity of
Bhopal North constituency represented by an ‘invincible’ Arif Aqueel’, who won
five times from the seat including three times right under the nose of the BJP
in 2003, 2008 and 2013. Still, Aqueel and Masood have remained poles apart in
Bhopal politics.Masood has risen from the ranks in the Congress from being
student union leader in NSUI,which he represented as district general
secretary, and later as district head. Starting his career as a student leader
at Benazir College, he had worked under the tutelage of former Congress veteran
Rasool Ahmed Siddiqui.Meanwhile, the MP assembly which till now has witnessed a
lone Muslim MLA Arif Aqueel, will soon see a new lawmaker in Masood and the
community-related issues are likely to be pushed in the House vigorously, opine
many Muslim residents in the city.news18
Composite Nationalism
key to counter divisive forces: Mahmood Madani
New Delhi: Drawing
attention to the need to focus on “composite nationalism”, Muslim clerics from
the Jamiat Ulama -i-Hind (JUH) on Saturday came together in the Capital to
build a dialogue to counter divisive forces with the narrative of unity and
national integration. To mark 100 years of JUH, the minority organisation set
off on Saturday the first of the 100 public meetings and seminars proposed over
the course of the year around the theme of freedom, nationalism and how the
organisation can the minority community contribute to nation building. Maulana
Usman Mansurpoori, President of JUH delivering his inaugural speech hihglighted
the crucial role of the Jamiat leadership in the freedom movement. “The idea of
composite nationalism must be introduced to counter communal tension between
the communities,” Mansurpoori said. Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary JUH,
said that it was important to counter divisive forces trying to viciate the
atmosphere using religion, caste or creed. “These forces can be countered by
dwelling on the idea of India which is all bout rashtriaya ekta...national
integration". One of the first of a series of seminars proposed to be held
early next year is going focus on composite nationalism. Maulana Rabey Hasani
Nadawi, President of the Muslim Personal law Board in his message to the event
said that the new generation of Muslims is unaware of the contributions made by
their ancestors, therefore there is need to highlight the role played by
Muslims in the past in nation building so that they could face every situation
with courage and tenacity.TOI
NIA sees Muslim terror
link of UP-based module:TOI
Patiala: NIA
investigators looking into the Shamli (UP)-based Sikh radical terror module
that was plotting to kill SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir
Badal, president of the party, have dug out their links with Islamic terrorists
trying to radicalise Sikh youths settled in western UP. Sources in NIA said the
agency had found that Islamic terror outfits supported by Pakistan were trying
to make inroads into the Sikh settlements in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.
UP police had busted the terror module in October with the arrest of three
persons, Karam Singh and Gurjant Singh, both residents of UP, along with Amrit
Singh, a resident of Haryana, late on October 14 in connection with October 2
loot of two weapons, INSAS and.303 rifles, from a constable and a home guard in
Shamli’s Jhinjhana area. During their interrogation the accused had revealed
the name of Jerman Singh of Shamli, who was mobilising support for Khalistan.
Jerman was later arrested by the Patiala police in a joint operation with the
Rajasthan cops on Oct. 18 from Beechwal village on the outskirts of Bikaner.
The terror module had planned to target Badals at party’s October 7 rally in
Patiala, but could not carry out the attack. NIA later took up the case investigations
and sought details from Patiala as well as Shamli police with regard to the
terror module. The sources said that the investigations carried out by NIA have
so far revealed that since many safe houses had come up in Shamli during the
days of terrorism in the state and there were still a large number of Khalistan
sympathisers in the area, Islamic terror outfits that were trying to revive
militancy in Punjab were trying to evoke radical feelings among Sikhs settle in
and around Shamli. TOI
FLASH:
VIEWS & NEWS
BJP mahant’s defeat in
Pokhran will hurt Yogi Adityanath more than most:MOUSHUMI DAS GUPTA
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