India tally rises to 440K; Patanjali launches ayurvedic drug for Covid-19

According to government data, the situation in India is not as alarming as some of the other countries, given a limited spread on a per-capita basis

India reported nearly 15,000 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 440,215, an increase of 3.5% according to the Health Ministry.The country’s death toll has crossed the 14,000 mark with 312 fatalities in a day. India is the fourth-most-affected country by total cases, and eighth by death toll.

According to government data, however, the situation in India is not as alarming as some of the other countries, given a limited spread on a per-capita basis. India has 30.04 coronavirus cases per 100,000 population, which is just a little more than a third of the global average of 114.67, the health ministry has said, referring to the WHO Situation Report 153, dated June 21.

In a piece of good news, India’s unemployment rate fell to its pre-lockdown level of 8.5 per cent in the week ended June 21. The rate had spiked from 8.75 per cent in March to 23.5 per cent in April and peaked at 27 per cent in May. Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved, meanwhile, is launching a medicine, ‘Coronil’, for treating Covid-19 in Haridwar today. Acharya Balkrishna, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Patanjali, had earlier this month claimed that an Ayurvedic medicine developed by the company has been able to cure Covid-19 patients within 5-14 days…Read More

Galwan clash: PM must be mindful of his words, says Manmohan Singh

On Friday, Modi had said, at an all-party meeting: "Neither is anyone inside our territory nor are any of our posts captured."

Without charging Prime Minister Narendra Modi directly, former PM Manmohan Singh said Modi must “always be mindful of the implications of his words.”

“At this moment, we stand at historic crossroads. Our government's decisions and actions will have serious bearing on how future generations perceive us. Those who lead us bear the weight of a solemn duty. In our democracy that responsibility rests with the office of the Prime Minister. The prime minister must always be mindful of the implications of his words and declarations on our nation's security as also strategic and territorial interests," Singh said, in his first reaction after the India-China clash at Galwan Valley in which 20 soldiers lost their lives.

On Friday, Modi had said, at an all-party meeting: “Neither is anyone inside our territory nor are any of our posts captured.” The Congress questioned the statement and questioned whether Modi meant Indian territory had been ceded to China. The PMO warned everyone not to derive a "mischievous interpretation" of PM Modi's remark.

"The prime minister's observations that there was no Chinese presence on our side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) pertained to the situation as a consequence of the bravery of our armed forces. The sacrifices of the soldiers of the 16 Bihar Regiment foiled the attempt of the Chinese side to erect structures and also cleared the attempted transgression at this point of the LAC on that day," the government said...

Former PM Manmohan Singh says Modi govt doesn’t acknowledge slowdown

Singh said while an annual gross domestic product growth of 8 per cent was achievable; it required a rethinking about the role of fiscal policy, and bolder tax reforms.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday slammed the economic policies of his successor Narendra Modi, saying the government was not acknowledging that there was a slowdown, and that there was a need to rethink the reform process afresh to deal with the country’s challenges.

“Today we have a government which does not acknowledge that there is a word as slowdown. And I feel this is not good for our economy. If you do not recognise the problems that you face, you are not likely to find credible answers to take corrective actions measures and that is the real danger,” Manmohan Singh said at the launch of a book authored by former planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. “And therefore, as Montek has also pointed out in his book, the (target of) $5-trillion economy by 2024-25 is wishful thinking. Also, there’s no reason to expect that farmers’ incomes can be doubled in three year period.”

Singh said while an annual gross domestic product growth of 8 per cent was achievable; it required a rethinking about the role of fiscal policy, and bolder tax reforms. “As Montek says (in the book) if you look at the real fiscal picture, the real fiscal deficit of states and Centre combined is as high as 9 per cent and that’s not good for satisfying our ambition of having a dynamic economy, growing at the rate of 8-10 per cent,” Singh said…

Modi govt’s doctrine of governance behind economic slowdown: Manmohan Singh

India’s large economy can not be directed at will or managed by managing colourful headlines, wrote the former PM

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India’s economic slowdown is the result of ‘profound fear and distrust’ among people who act as agents of economic growth. The tearing of our social fabric of trust is the fountainhead of our current economic malaise, he said.

Singh, who was the Prime Minister of India between 2004-14, has blamed the Modi government for “rupturing” the country’s social fabric through “mala fide unless proven otherwise” doctrine of governance. Citing that nominal GDP growth is at a 15-year low, unemployment is at a 45-year high, household consumption is at a four-decade low, and bad loans in banks are at an all-time high, the senior Congress leader said “these are mere manifestations of a deeper underlying malaise that plagues the nation’s economy today.”

“Many industrialists tell me that they live in fear of harassment by government authorities. Bankers are reluctant to make new loans, for fear of retribution. Entrepreneurs are hesitant to put up fresh projects, for fear of failure attributed to ulterior motives,” the senior Congress leader said in a piece he wrote for The Hindu newspaper.

Singh said policymakers in government and other institutions are scared to speak the truth or engage in intellectually honest policy discussions. Singh claimed that people’s trust in independent institutions has been “severely eroded” and there is a lack of a support system for people to seek refuge against “unlawful tax harassment or unfair regulations.”

He said the present government’s suspicion that every industrialist, banker, policymaker, regulator, entrepreneur and citizen is out to defraud the government has led to a complete breakdown of trust in our society. “This has halted economic development, with bankers unable to lend, industrialists unable to invest and policymakers unable to act,” he added…

Recalling when and what went wrong necessary: FM on ‘worst phase’ remark

Conceding that there were some “weaknesses” in his regime, former PM Manmohan Singh had on Thursday said the Modi government should stop blaming the UPA for every economic crisis

Recalling when and what went wrong during a certain period is absolutely necessary, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, targeting former prime minister Manmohan Singh for accusing the NDA government of always trying to put the blame on its rivals. Conceding that there were some “weaknesses” in his regime, Singh had on Thursday said the Modi government should stop blaming the UPA for every economic crisis, as five years were sufficient time to come up with solutions.

“I respect Dr Manmohan Singh for telling me not to do the blame game. But recalling when and what went wrong during a certain period is absolutely necessary to put it in context, now that I’m being charged that there’s no narrative at all about the economy,” Nirmala Sitharaman told a group of Indian reporters here on Thursday. She was responding to a question on allegations by Singh that the government was always trying to put the blame on its opponents instead of finding solutions.

The senior Congress leader’s comments at the press conference in Mumbai came after Sitharaman at an event at the Columbia University in New York held the Manmohan Singh-Raghuram Rajan combination responsible for subjecting public sector banks (PSBs) to their “worst phase”.

Stop blaming UPA for every economic crisis: Manmohan Singh responds to FM

The NDA government should have learnt from the UPA’s ‘mistakes’, and provided ‘credible solutions’, Manmohan Singh said

Conceding that there were some “weaknesses” in his regime, former prime minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday that the Narendra Modi government should stop blaming the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for every economic crisis, as five years was sufficient time to come up with solutions.

Addressing a conference ahead of Maharashtra elections, he was replying to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments in the US, where she said the banking sector passed through its worst phase during the tenures of Singh and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government should have learnt from the UPA’s “mistakes”, and provided “credible solutions”, Manmohan Singh said.

Had the NDA government learnt from the mistakes, fraud-accused jeweller Nirav Modi and other loan defaulters would not have fled with public money, or the banks’ situation would not have gone from “bad to worse”, Singh said. “You cannot claim year after year that the fault lies with the UPA , you have been in office for five-and-half years and that is long enough period for a government committed to public welfare to do some credible things.”

Like Kulbhushan Jadhav, Sarabjit could also have been saved, says sister

ICJ stayed the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav on Thursday

“It is a victory of crores of Indians,” said Dalbir Kaur on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday staying the execution of former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav ordered by a Pakistan military court.

Kaur is the sister of Sarabjit, who was convicted in a case of alleged spying and carrying out four bomb attacks that killed 14 people in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Faisalabad in 1990.

Who was Sarabjit?

The unfortunate tale of Sarabjit has often been told and retold. His tragic death became all the more famous after a biographical film directed by Omung Kumar was made last year. Actress Aishwarya Rai essayed the role of Singh’s sister, Dalbir Kaur, while, Randeep Hooda and Richa Chada played the roles of Sarbjit Singh and his wife, Sukhpreet, respectively.

Sarabjit Singh was a resident of Bhikhiwind, located along the Indo-Pakistani border in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. In 1990, he was arrested for illegally crossing over to Pakistan. Since then, he spent over 19 years in solitary confinement. On April 26, he was brutally beaten up in a Lahore jail and he succumbed to his injuries in May 2013.

Narendra Modi Vs Manmohan Singh

On Sarabjit’s death, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat had said, “Truth about Sarabjit Singh’s death in Pakistan must come out”.

“Centre is unable to give a strong answer to Pakistan’s inhuman acts”.

Modi, then BJP’s PM candidate, added, “The Indian government had the time to take the Sarabjit issue on the international level. But they left it on the family to fight.”

Voicing his opinion, Dalbir too lashed out at the UPA regime and called for Manmohan Singh’s resignation.

In case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, while the likes of Sitaram Yechury criticised the NDA government for running to ICJ for help, others are mostly pleased. (READMORE…)