Ease of Doing Business: India jumps 23 notches, now at rank 77

Election News : Telangana :

Madhya Pradesh: chhattisgarh:

In a big boost for Narendra Modi government, India climbed another 23 points in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS.

In the last two years the country has climbed 53 notches, a performance matched in the past only by Bhutan. The biggest gain was in construction permit where India climbed 129 ranks to 52nd place on the back of targeted government effort to remove hurdles.

The details were revealed in World Bank’s Doing Business Report which is an assessment of business regulation across 190 economies.

Further, India now ranks in the top 25 in the world on three indicators- getting electricity, getting credit and protecting minority investors, department of industrial policy and promotion said on Wednesday.

The doing business report ranks countries on the basis of distance to frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice. India’s DTF score improved to 67.23 from 60.76 last year.

The World Bank has recognised India as one of the top improvers for the year. This year, India features among the report’s list of top 10 improvers for the second year in a row. India is the one of only nine countries around the world and only one in BRICS to feature in this list.

The six reforms recognised in this year’s report are starting a business, getting electricity, dealing with construction permits, getting credit, paying taxes and trading across borders.

In dealing with construction permits, India has implemented an online single window system, introduced deemed approvals and reduced the cost for obtaining these permits. In the electricity sector, the time taken for obtaining a new connection has reduced from 105 to 55 days. For resolving insolvency, India has put in place a new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and time bound reorganization procedure for corporate debtors.

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Why MP matters for the Congress

To win a heartland state will improve the Congress’s national standing and its ability to bring together a wider anti-BJP alliance nationally. Gandhi has set the stage for a fierce battle. The outcome will shape national politics.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi kicked off his party’s campaign in Madhya Pradesh’s Malwa-Nimar region on Monday and Tuesday. This is a particularly crucial belt in the state’s politics, for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 56 of the 66 seats here in the last elections. If the Congress is to displace the BJP from the state, it has to make a dent here. Gandhi, along with state leaders, Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, visited the Mahakal temple in Ujjain; addressed public rallies in Ujjain and Jhabua; and did a road show in Indore on Monday. And on Tuesday, he had public meetings in Dhar, Khargone and Mhow.

In all his public utterances, certain themes were common. These are now clearly emerging as an integral part of Gandhi and the Congress’ campaign messages for both the state elections and the 2019 battle. One, he launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for siding with rich industrialists, waiving their loans, letting them flee the country, and engaging in corruption and cronyism on Rafale. These allegations were interspersed with the cry of “chowkidar chor hai” (the watchman is a thief), a slogan that Gandhi and the Congress have made their own. This is a high stakes gamble. Modi’s biggest strength has been the electorate’s faith in his intent and integrity; the Congress wants to shatter that. If it works, Rahul will deserve credit for persistence and changing the narrative. But there is an equally high possibility of this backfiring, for there is no evidence to indicate that Modi is today seen as personally corrupt and he could well play the victim card. The second theme in Gandhi’s speech was his claim that as opposed to the BJP, the Congress was for the poor, farmers, Dalits and tribals. The Mandasur killings and agrarian distress have given the Congress ammunition to make this claim. The BJP, however, hopes to neutralise this with its range of both central and state welfare schemes. Gandhi’s third line of attack centred around Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s governance record and “corruption”. Chouhan hit back at a factual inaccuracy in Gandhi’s speech, when the Congress president claimed that the CM’s son was named in the Panama papers.

The larger story emerging from Gandhi’s campaign is how Madhya Pradesh matters to the Congress. In fact, this could well be the most important of the five state elections. It is the largest state going to the polls; the BJP has been in power for 15 years and it is imperative for the Congress to be able to make a comeback to sustain its own party organisation and cadre morale; the state has 29 Lok Sabha seats and success now could translate into success in 2019; to win a heartland state will improve the Congress’s national standing and its ability to bring together a wider anti-BJP alliance nationally. Gandhi has set the stage for a fierce battle. The outcome will shape national politics.

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DD channel cameraman, 2 policemen killed in Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh

HIGHLIGHTS

Doordarshan team covering Chhattisgarh polls was accompanied by a police team
2 injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at Dantewada district hospital
Several Union ministers condoled journalist’s death and condemned the Naxal ambush

One mediaperson and two policemen were killed after Naxals carried out an attack in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada. Two other security personnel were also injured in the attack, which took place in Dantewada’s Aranpur area.

The mediaperson who died was Achyutananda Sahu, a cameraman with the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan. The two policemen were with the district force.

“Those killed were identified as sub-inspector Rudra Pratap, assistant constable Mangalu and DD News cameraman Achyutananda from Delhi,” Deputy Inspector General (anti-Naxal operations) Sundarraj P told news agency PTI.

The Naxals ambushed a squad of local police which was carrying out patrolling on motorcycles from Sameli camp towards Nilawaya on Tuesday morning, he said.

A three-member team of Doordarshan was travelling for election-related news coverage at the same time and was caught in the cross-fire, he said.

Achyutananda Sahu was part of the team that included a reporter and a light assistant.

Teams of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) were immediately rushed to the forest to trace the ultras, the DIG added.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh police personnel injured in the attack, Vishnu Netam and Rakesh Kaushal have been referred to Raipur from the district hospital in Dantewada where they were undergoing treatment.

Condoling the death of Sahu, the director general of Doordarshan said, “Our hearts go out to the families of our brave cameraperson Shri Achyutananda Sahu and CRPF Jawans who laid down their lives in the line of duty.”

Prasar Bharati, which supervises Doordarshan, too condoled the cameraperson’s death in a separate tweet.

Soon after, Doordarshan put out a statement saying, “The entire DD News family salutes his service and stands by his family in this hour of grief.”

The minister information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore too condoled Sahu’s death. “Deeply saddened by the demise of our cameraman Achyuta Nanda Sahu and two jawans… These insurgents will NOT weaken our resolve. We WILL prevail,” Rathore said in a tweet.

Minister of Railways and Coal, Piyush Goyal followed suit and said, “Pained and angered at the Naxal attack on CPRF jawans and DD News crew in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. I strongly condemn such a cowardly and dastardly act.”

The Doordarshan team was in Nilawaya village in Aranpur, where voting will be held for the first time in history.

Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases on November 12 and 20.

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Rajasthan : Case Against Minister for Allegedly Promoting Enmity

A video has gone viral on social media in which Minister Dhan Singh Rawat can be seen as purportedly saying, “If Muslims can vote unitedly for Congress, then all Hindus can also unite and go with the BJP and make it win with a thumping majority.”

A Rajasthan minister has been booked under the Representation of the People Act for allegedly promoting enmity between two groups in his speech at an election rally last week, officials said.

A video has gone viral on social media in which Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Dhan Singh Rawat can be seen as purportedly saying, “If Muslims can vote unitedly for Congress, then all Hindus can also unite and go with the BJP and make it win with a thumping majority.”

At the public meeting in Banswara district on Saturday, the Bharatiya Janata Party legislator had claimed that his party was a “protector” of the “sanatan sanskriti” (traditional culture)’ of India and termed the Congress a “party of Muslims”.

State Chief Electoral Officer Anand Kumar said the district election department had lodged an FIR and the matter was being investigated.

A case has been registered against Rawat at Banswara Kotwali police station on Monday under Section 125 (promoting enmity between classes in connection with election) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Circle Officer Ghanshyam Sharma told PTI.

The officer added that investigation was on in the matter.

Days after Rawat’s purported comments drew criticism, state BJP president Madan Lal Saini clarified that the party does not discriminate on the basis of caste and religion.

“We represent every Indian living in the country. Development of each section of society is our slogan and we do not represent any particular community,” party vice-president and Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna said.

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Vedanta wins 10-year extension for Rajasthan oil block

Vedanta Ltd has won a 10-year extension of its contract for the prolific Rajasthan oil block, but on condition that it pays a higher share of profit to the government, the company said Monday.

The 25-year contract for exploration and production of oil and gas from Barmer block RJ-ON-90/1 of Vedanta, formerly Cairn IndiaNSE 0.81 %, is due for renewal on May 14, 2020.

“The Government of India, acting through the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has granted its approval for a ten-year extension of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Rajasthan Block, RJ-ON-90/1,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

The tenure of the RJ Block PSC has been extended for an additional period of 10 years with effect from May 15, 2020.
“Such extension has been granted by the Government of India, pursuant to its policy dated April 7, 2017, for extension of pre-New Exploration Licensing Policy (pre-NELP) exploration blocks PSCs subject to certain conditions,” it said.

The government had in last year approved a new policy for extension of PSCs that provided for an extension beyond the initial 25-year contract period only if companies operating the fields agree to increase the state’s share of profit by 10 per cent.

Vedanta has challenged the policy and the matter is in courts now.

“The applicability of the pre-NELP Extension Policy to the Rajasthan Block PSC is currently sub judice,” the firm said.

The company feels that the May 1995 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the block provided for an automatic 10-year extension on same commercial terms if there are oil and gas left to be produced. But now, the government has midway retrospectively changed fiscal terms in the name of extension is unjust to it.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), which as a government nominee picked up 30 per cent stake in the Rajasthan block in 1995, also was of the opinion that PSC provides for an extension on same terms.

ONGC had first in May 2015, then again on at least two occasions in 2016, concurred with Cairn’s interpretation of the PSC for extension of the Rajasthan contract by 10 years on same terms.

Vedanta had challenged the conditions for the extension of the contract in Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court in July this year ordered extension be given on old terms and conditions.

The Centre, however, has challenged the court order and the matter is sub judice currently.

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MP polls: Rahul Gandhi starts campaign in BJP’s bastion

Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrived in the Malwa-Nimad region of the poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on Monday for a two-day election campaign.

The Gandhi scion, along with senior party leaders — Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath and Member of Parliament from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia, visited the Mahakaleshwar temple and paid obeisance to Lord Shiva.

Congress has been hoping to make inroads into the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) bastion for over a decade.

The Congress party had managed just nine out of the 66 seats, belonging to the region. The Malwa-Nimad region accounts for the state’s 66 out of the total 230 assembly seats.

Madhya Pradesh goes to polls on November 28, 2018. The results will be declared on December 11, 2018.

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Raipur diary: Chhattisgarh CM launches poll campaign, Congress mum on manifesto

Raman launches Bastar poll campaign

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh kicked-off the BJP’s Bastar mission with the agenda of peace and development. Noting that growth of the region at four-time the original rate was his main agenda, Singh said the Bastar region remains a priority even for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bastar region, larger than Kerala in an area, is affected by the Maoist violence. Political parties believe the tribal belt holds a key to the formation of the government.

It is also true that the myth about ‘road to power from Bastar’ was dented in 2013 when the Congress won eight of the 12 seats from Bastar. Modi will address his first election rally at Jagdalpur in Bastar on November 9.

Congress to maintain secrecy on manifesto

Without naming the BJP, chairman of Congress manifesto Chairman T S Singhdeo claimed that during the previous elections, the opposition took out a leaf out of its manifesto which it had declared before. Singhdeo was referring to the Minimum Support Price of Rs 2,000 and a bonus of Rs 250 which the Congress had mentioned in its manifesto. Later, the BJP had allegedly revised its own manifesto and hiked up the MSP and bonus to Rs 2,100 and Rs 270 for peddling them as their main poll agenda.

The Congress state committee is likely to release the manifesto after the ruling BJP, sources in the Congress said. A total confidentiality is being maintained while preparing the manifesto this year, they added.

‘Happea’ for happiness and peace

The word ‘Happea’ sounds strange, but the mission is noble. The word derives its name from the first three letters of ‘happiness’ and ‘peace’. In fact, this is the prime objective of Raipur-based academician Jawahar Surisetti behind the launch of a unique web-portal.

The portal is built on the premise that different age groups have different definitions and reasons for happiness. The idea came to him after he was struck by the low ranking of India in the Global Happiness Index.

“There is a mismatch, with India being the spiritual capital of the world but also not being happy,” he said. The Happea movement caters to four segments – kids, teens, young adults, and senior adults.

Shortage of 2000 currency notes

The shortage of currency notes of 2000 denomination ahead of the Assembly polls is being linked to a rising demand of cash during the elections. The disappearing of these pink notes from the markets and ATMs has led to this suspicion gathering strength. Even though bankers admit that there is a shortage of these notes, they claim they cannot do anything as most of these notes in circulation is not returning to the banks. Bank customers are getting money in the denominations of K500, K200 and K100 from ATMs. “There is no unusual demand of K2,000 notes in the state. Either the hoarding (of these notes) is to be blamed, or the printing of such notes has stopped,” tax consultant Ramesh Warlyani said.

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KTR elated as traders extend support to TRS

Caretaker IT & Municipal Administration Minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday welcomed Hyderabad-based businessmen, including Marwadi Samaj, Agarwal Samaj and Jain Samaj, into the TRS fold at a programme held at Telangana Bhavan here on Sunday. He offered traditional pink shawls to the businessmen, who extended full support to the ruling party in the upcoming elections.

The Congress leaders tried to create fear psychosis that separate Telangana State would be in darkness clashes will be order of the day. The KCR dispensation disproved the critics by tiding power crisis in just six months and 90 per cent of the problems had been addressed – K T Rama Rao

Speaking on the occasion, the IT minister said during the four-and-a-half years of TRS rule, caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao totally focused on inclusive growth and tried to maintain law and order. KTR also stated that the TRS government dispelled fears and apprehensions of multiple businessmen by providing them with total security and a free hand for business and trade activity in the new State. The Congress leaders tried to create fear psychosis that separate Telangana State would be in darkness clashes will be order of the day.

However, the KCR dispensation disproved the critics by tiding power crisis in just six months and 90 per cent of problem had been addressed. Referring to facilities in the city, KTR said the State government focused on providing better roads, 24-hour power supply to farm sector, industry and domestic needs.

The new State was making rapid strides on growth trajectory with a focus on law and order and protection to the business and traders. He also said the infant State has achieved better economic development at national level with active participation by all sorts of businessmen flourishing in the State, he said.

KTR appealed to the businessmen to vote for the ruling party for completing the projects and developing the State further. Otherwise, the people would face the problems of power, law and order and corruption if Mahakutami was voted to power as their commandants are in Delhi and Amaravathi, he cautioned. The people should choose whether they need a local Chief Minister, who cares for all or a sealed cover CM imposed from Delhi, he suggested.

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Congress releases third list of candidates for Chhattisgarh polls; party banking on old and new faces to regain power

The Congress is banking on a combination of new faces and old-timers in ticket distribution to end its 15-year wait to rule Chhattisgarh, which goes to polls next month.

The Opposition party, late on Saturday evening, released a list of candidates — its third — for 37 Assembly seats going to polls in the second and last phase of voting on 20 November. It has renominated 15 sitting MLAs and fielded 11 candidates who had lost in 2013, besides giving tickets to 11 fresh faces.

No sitting MLA was denied a ticket in the third list. However, only three women figure in it.

A Congress leader said the party is ensuring that representation is given to all sections of society. “It is a completely balanced list wherein the party has given representation to leaders belonging to all sections of society,” claimed the head of the Chhattisgarh Congress communication wing, Shailesh Nitin Trivedi.

“Candidates were selected on the basis of the party’s survey and performances of leaders,” he said, adding that it is a “well-planned strategy” to win the upcoming election.

The two lists released earlier contained 18 names. With this, the Opposition party has, so far, announced 55 candidates in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh, which has a 90-member House.

State Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel (Patan seat), Congress Legislative Party leader TS Singhdeo (Ambikapur), senior Congress leader Satyanarayan Sharma (Raipur Rural) and prominent tribal leader Amarjeet Bhagat (Sitapur) were among the sitting MLAs who were given tickets.

In the last Assembly polls, 26 Congress sitting MLAs, including prominent leaders like Rampukar Singh, Ravindra Choubey, Amitesh Shukla and Mohammad Akbar, had tasted defeat. This time, Singh (Pathalgaon-ST), Shukla (Rajim), Akbar (Kawardha) and Choubey (Saja) have been renominated from their respective seats.

Chhattisgarh Congress working president Shiv Kumar Dahariya, who had lost the previous election from Bilaigarh (SC), has been fielded from Arang (SC) this time. Similarly, Guru Rudra Kumar, who had lost the 2013 election from Arang, has been given a ticket from Ahiwara (SC).

A popular young Congress leader, Vikas Upadhyay, who had lost to BJP minister Rajesh Munat from Raipur West last time by a margin of 6,160 votes, has been renominated from the seat. He will take on Munat again.

Among other leaders who have been given tickets despite losing the 2013 polls are Premsai Tekam (Pratappur) and Pratima Chandrakar (Durg Rural).

Vinay Kumar Bhagat and Uttamdan Minj, who had lost the 2008 Assembly election from Jashpur and Kunkuri, respectively, have been fielded from the same seats this time. Vinay Jaiswal, an eye surgeon, Devendra Yadav, Ramkumar Yadav are among the fresh faces fielded by the party this time.

Bhilai Municipal Corporation Mayor Devendra Yadav, a youth leader, has been fielded from the Bhilai Nagar seat, where he will take on state minister and sitting BJP MLA Premprakash Pandey. Jaiswal will contest from Manendragarh.

Ramkumar Yadav, a prominent farmer leader, had contested from Chandrapur constituency as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate in 2013 and had finished runner-up. He recently joined the Congress, which has given him ticket from Chandrapur.

Voting in Chhattisgarh will be held in two phases — on 12 November and 20 November — and counting will take place on 11 December.

The first phase covers 18 seats spread across eight naxal-affected districts — Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada, Sukma, Kondagaon, Kanker, Narayanpur and Rajnandgaon. The remaining 72 seats will see polling on 20 November.

The ruling BJP has so far announced 78 candidates.

In 2013, the BJP had won 49, the Congress 39, the BSP 1 and an Independent 1.

The BJP has been ruling the tribal-dominated state, which came into existence in November 2000, since 2003 under the leadership of Raman Singh.

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MP polls: Rahul Gandhi to begin Malwa tour tomorrow after visit to Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain

Months after BJP president Amit Shah’s visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will on Monday perform a puja at the famous ‘jyotirlinga‘ in Ujjain before embarking on a two-day tour of the BJP-dominated Malwa-Nimar region.

Shah had visited the abode of Lord Shiva on 14 July this year before flagging off the “Jan Ashirwad Yatra” of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The BJP has been accusing Rahul of playing the “soft Hindutva card” to attract the voters in poll-bound states.

During his two-day tour beginning Monday, Rahul will address rallies in Jhabua, Indore, Dhar, Khargone and Mhow and also take part in a road show in Indore.

In Madhya Pradesh, where elections are scheduled to be held on 28 November, the Congress has been struggling to oust the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) from power for the last 15 years.

“During his visit to the Mahakaleshwar temple (one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas‘ of Lord Shiva), Rahul will worship the Lord Mahakal like a common devotee,”

According to a programme released by Congress, Rahul will address public meetings at Ujjain and Jhabua, respectively, after visiting the Mahakal temple.

He is also scheduled to participate in a road show to be organised by the Congress in Indore on Monday evening, and will address a public meeting at Rajwada.

On Tuesday, Rahul will interact with news editors and the business community in two separate programmes at Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. He will later address public meetings at Dhar and Khargone.

On Tuesday evening, the Congress chief would address a public meeting at Mhow after offering tribute at the memorial of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar’s birthplace. Mhow, about 23 kilometres from Indore, is the birthplace of Ambedkar.

Earlier, the Congress had proclaimed Rahul as a “Shiv-bhakt” (a devotee of Lord Shiva) ahead of the assembly elections held in Gujarat last year.

Gandhi began canvassing in Madhya Pradesh last month by offering prayers at the famous Kamta Nath temple in Satna district’s Chitrakoot town.

Meanwhile, the BJP Sunday ridiculed Gandhi for visiting temples in poll-bound states.

Apart from Madhya Pradesh, elections are also scheduled to be held in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan — both currently ruled by the BJP — and the north-eastern state of Mizoram, where the Congress is in power, in the next two months.

BJP national vice-president Prabhat Jha said, “Congress has been making false allegations against BJP about playing religion-based politics. Now, Rahul should answer why he is running to temples ahead of elections?

“The Congress president should also clarify why he and his mother Sonia Gandhi did not visit the Mahakal temple during previous visits,” he said.

Jha alleged that Rahul was trying to mislead people by pretending himself as a religions person for the sake of electoral gains.

When asked about BJP’s criticism, Kapoor said, “Rahul is visiting the Mahakal temple as a devotee of Lord Shiva..in pure sense of devotion. Do the BJP leaders solely reserve the right to worship Lord Shiva? Lord Shiva is for all.”

Kapoor clarified that Rahul’s likely visit to Janapav near Mhow, which is the birthplace of Lord Parshuram, could not materialise due to his busy schedule.

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