From the left and right: Protests planned today against govt policies

The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the trade union arm of the RSS, said it will hold protests across the country to oppose the Centre’s plan to privatize public sector undertakings

Trade unions and farmers’ outfits affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) will hold separate protests against the Centre’s economic and agriculture policies today. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the trade union arm of the RSS, said it will hold protests across the country to oppose the Centre’s plan to privatize public sector undertakings (PSUs) and anti-worker “unjust decisions”.

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the farmers’ outfit of the CPI(M), said it will protest the Centre’s recent ordinances relating to the farm sector. It said farmers will burn copies of the ordinances the Centre promulgated on Friday. It said the new laws will pave the way for “corporates to loot peasants and endanger food security of the people”.

In Delhi, BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay will address several protest meetings. These protests will be held at Delhi cantonment to oppose privatisation of ordinance factory boards and outside the office the divisional railway manager at the New Delhi railway station to oppose privatisation in the Indian Railways. BMS zonal organizing secretary Pawan Kumar said Upadhyay will also address protests organized by employees of MTNL and public sector banks. The BMS slogan for the protest is, “Save public sector, save India”…Read More

Village in Bihar calls for poll boycott after giving chance to every party

Begusarai goes to polls on April 29 with three main candidates in fray: CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, BJP’s Giriraj Singh and RJD’s Tanveer Hasan

Lok Sabha elections 2019: As one passes through the Barauni region in Bihar’s Begusarai, a crowd of 50-odd people can be seen standing by the side of an unpaved road. But they are not standing in the soaring heat to witness the election spectacle or catch a glimpse of a star campaigner. Shoulder-to-shoulder, each one has just one strong message to deliver to all the politicians and their cavalcade passing by: Boycott polls. Begusarai goes to poll on April 29, in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election, with three main candidates in fray: CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, BJP’s Giriraj Singh and RJD’s Tanveer Hasan.

“Can you hear us for a moment?” a group of young boys and women, belonging to Rajwara village, ask as they watch the campaign vehicles of Kanhaiya Kumar pass by. The villagers claim they haven’t seen a concrete road since the time of independence and they have to collect donations to maintain the unimproved roads. The voters of Rajwara have given a chance to all the parties in the Assembly elections since India’s independence in 1947.

Rajwara falls under the Teghra assembly constituency. First, there was an elected MLA from the Congress in 1951, followed by an independent candidate in 1957, Communist Party of India in 1962, BJP in 2010 and RJD in the latest state elections held in 2015. “I have never seen a road in this village since independence. We have given an opportunity to all parties. They come here to ask for votes and forget about us every time,” Arun Kumar, an unskilled worker in the region, says.

The problems compounded in 2016 when villagers realised Rajwara had been moved out of the Bihat nagar parishad (city council). It wasn’t a part of a gram panchayat either. “As a result, we haven’t been able to get benefits of any government schemes to build toilets, get cylinders or be a part of any housing scheme,” 27-year-old student Sanjeet Kumar said. The villagers have not been able to reap the benefits of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, PM Awaz Yojana, among other central government schemes...

LIVE RBI policy review: Will we see another surprise?

RBI policy review will take place at 2:30 pm

 

#COMPANIES| There is near unanimity that the six-member monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would keep policy rates unchanged, but this being an annual policy, the event promises to discuss many issues that would set the stage for the next one year, including bad-debt resolution and liquidity management.

The repo rate is at 6.25 per cent now, while the RBI has changed its stance to 'neutral' from 'accommodative', indicating pause in a rate-cutting cycle. Core inflation, which is consumer price index (CPI) minus food and fuel, is sticky at around five per cent, even as the headline CPI has fallen below four per cent, well within the target of RBI. However, economists say uncertain monsoon can flare up prices and, therefore, the central bank would likely wait before deciding the way for rates to go. Meanwhile, the focus would be to continue to nudge banks to cut lending rates.

• 1:46 PM

  Special deposit facility: Economists expect creation of non-collateralised liquidity parking instrument in this policy

• 01:40 PM

  Economists say: uncertain monsoon can flare up prices. So RBI would likely wait before deciding the way for rates to go

• 01:34 PM

  Now that US Federal Reserve has signalled that at least two more rate hikes will ensue in 2017, market participants will look for RBI's take on the same.
    

01:03 PM

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