Govt defence in RS: Demonetisation is in national interest

New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Facing opposition onslaught, government today put up a strong defence in Rajya Sabha on demonetisation, saying the step was taken in national interest to end corruption and black money, which it is said is also used for terror activities in the country.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal, who spoke on behalf of the ruling side after Congress leader Anand Sharma slammed the government, rejected as baseless the opposition charge that there was "leakage" of the decision and said everyone was taken by surprise which is why there are "initial" problems.

"There is no politics in it. It is a step taken in national interest," he said, adding the step will help the country in the long run.

"If anyone has the strength to take on black money and corruption, it is the BJP government and Narendra Modi," the minister said.

He claimed that common people are out in support of the government's move which is aimed against graft and terror and that the step will lead to curbing inflation and tax rate may come down.

Goyal claimed that the country has welcomed this initiative of the Modi government and it is natural that some people who have black money and are indulging in corruption and blackmoney are worried about it.

"Desh me imandaar ka samman hua hai aur be-imaan ka nuksaan hua hai, (The honest have been honoured and the dishonest have faced losses)," he said.

"I am confident that public is understanding the initial problems because the decision was kept a secret. No honest tax-payer will lose a single rupee. The loss will be of those who have amassed wealth through corruption and black money and the public should also support the government in the move," he said.

Goyal said some pain and difficulty in the implementation of such a decision is inevitable but despite that the people have strongly supported the move.

He urged all the parties to support the move so that the House gives a message to the country that all are against corruption and black money.

To Sharma's charge that those questioning the government are labelled as anti-national, he said, "Understandably if someone opposes it (demonetisation), questions will be raised on whether they are against ending the menace of corruption and black money in the country."

Taking a dig at the opposition, he said, "We thought all political parties will support us in Parliament. But for some reasons they have opposed the move. It seems they are worried due to the large public favouring it and supporting the government despite the problems being faced by them."

Goyal also said BJP has already put out its poll expenses on the website and after this step all will think before indulging in corruption and black marketing. .

Retail, WPI inflation cools; industry demands rate cut

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) Softening food prices helped ease retail as well as wholesale inflation in October, raising hopes that RBI may go in for another rate cut in its monetary policy review next month.

Retail or CPI inflation dipped to 14 month low of 4.20 per cent in October, while the one based on wholesale prices or WPI fell for the second consecutive month to 3.39 per cent in October.

While Consumer Price Index based retail inflation was at 4.39 per cent in September, the one tracking Wholesale Price Index was at 3.57 per cent.

Retail food price inflation in October was 3.32 per cent, lower than 3.88 per cent recorded in September. The WPI food inflation basket too showed moderation with inflation at 4.34 per cent in October, as against 5.75 per cent in September.

The easing inflation prompted industry chamber Ficci to demand reduction in interest rate to support investor as well as consumer sentiment.

"An immediate 0.50 per cent cut in repo rate should be considered by RBI as well as some measures may be introduced to provide easy finance for sectors like housing, automobiles and consumer durables," Ficci President Harshavardhan Neotia said.

The all-powerful Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel last month cut benchmark interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent. The next RBI policy review is on December 7.

While Patel had signalled more tolerance towards inflation, the easing in CPI data was in line with the RBI's inflation target of 5 per cent for March 2017.

ICRA Senior Economist Aditi Nayar said the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes could further lower inflation in the coming months.

"The temporary shock to economic activity, including predominantly cash based transactions at mandis as well as construction activity, would have an impact on wholesale prices from mid-November 2016 onward," Nayar said.

Industry demand for rate cut comes after data showed that factory output in the April-September period declined by 0.1 per cent compared to 4 per cent growth in the year-ago period.

Opposition set to pin down govt in Parliament tomorrow

New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) A Congress-led opposition today came together seeking to pin down the government on the demonetisation issue in the Winter Session of Parliament beginning tomorrow but a consenses eluded on TMC's proposed march to Rashtrapati Bhawan for meeting the President.

The leaders will meet again tomorrow to finalize the strategy on the issue agreeing at the meeting to use "all parliamentary tools including a demand for constituting a joint parliamentary committee to go into the issue and hold the government to account.

On its part, TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her party will go ahead with its plans to meet the President tomorrow. Representatives of the National Conference and AAP are likely to accompany the TMC delegation.

At a meeting of 13 opposition parties including arch rivals TMC and CPI-M, besides BSP, SP, JD-U and DMK, opposition leaders unanimously concluded that it was too early to visit the President on the issue which must first be raised adequately in parliamentary forums.

Various parties have separately given adjournment notices in Lok Sabha and for suspension of proceedings in Rajya Sabha to discuss the issue and highlight the plight of the common man.

"So far as the march is concerned, there was unanimous decision by everybody that the march tomorrow is too early. As an opposition party, we must have a march in due course of time, but not on the very first day. On first day of Parliament, we must hold a discussion inside the House.

"There was an overwhelming consensus that there is no need to rush to Rashtrapati Bhawan on the very first day before bringing this issue before Parliament," Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the meeting. .

Support India on terror, ours not a friendship to hide: Rivlin

New Delhi, Nov 14 (PTI) Friendship between India and Israel is at work "day in, day out" and is not a relationship "we should be hiding", said Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as he pledged full support to India in fighting terrorism.

Rivlin arrived today on an eight-day visit to India, the first by any Israeli President in nearly two decades.

In a wide ranging interview to PTI, the Israeli President acknowledged differences with India on the Palestinian issue but spoke warmly about the growing Indo- Israeli ties as the two countries prepare to celebrate 25 years of establishment of full diplomatic ties between them next year.

Pledging full support to India in fighting terrorism, Rivlin said that his country was proud to "stand with India in its defence of the values of democracy".

"Terror is terror is terror, whoever carries it out and whoever are its victims. And we all have the duty to condemn in our words, and fight with our deeds against this terrible evil," asserted the President, whose country is one of the biggest suppliers of defence equipment to India and is cooperating with it in a major way in dealing with terrorism.

Answering a question on "murmurs" in Israel that India keeps under wraps their relationship because of close ties with the Arab world and domestic political considerations, Rivlin said, "Israel is proud of our friendship with India and I believe that India is proud of its friendship with Israel.

"Again, this is not just a friendship of leaders and governments. It is a friendship between people in all walks of life, in all fields of study, in all areas of trade. This is not a friendship we should be hiding. This is a friendship that we see at work day in, day out, at the very forefront of building a better world for Israelis, for Indians, and for all peoples," he said.

In reply to a question on India's continued support for an independent Palestine with east Jerusalem as its capital, Rivlin said, "Friends may not always see eye to eye on everything, and as friends we can agree to disagree with respect and understanding.

"Israel understands and indeed shares India's desire to see a just and lasting solution to the conflict between us and the Palestinians. But no solution that may ever be found has a chance of success lest we work now to build confidence between peoples," the President said, and asserted that Israel and Palestine need to work towards "direct negotiations".

Rivlin, who is accompanied by a strong delegation of businessmen, will hold comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow on key bilateral and regional issues.

On the long-pending FTA, negotiations for which were launched nearly five years ago between India and Israel, Rivlin said it is a "tool" that can have huge impact and boost the partnership. .

"More projects" to fight graft; ready to face consequences: PM

Panaji, Nov 13 (PTI) After demonetising high value notes to curb blackmoney, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he has "more projects" in mind to rid the country of corruption and was ready to face the consequences as forces are "up against me" with their 70 years of loot being in trouble.

"This is not an end. I have more projects in mind to make India corruption-free. .... Cooperate with me and help me for 50 days and I will give you the India you desired," Modi said after laying the foundation stone of Mopa greenfield airport and launching work on electronic city project in Goa.

"We will take action against 'benami' property; This is major step to eradicate corruption and black money ... If any money that was looted in India and has left Indian shores, it is our duty to find out about it," he said.

"I know that (some) forces are up against me, they may not let me live, they may ruin me because their loot of 70 years is in trouble, but I am prepared," Modi said in a speech which saw him getting emotional a few times.

He said the people voted against corruption in 2014. "I am doing what I was asked to do by the people of this country and it had become clear from the very first meeting of my Cabinet when I formed the SIT (on blackmoney). We never kept the people in dark." 

Hitting out at previous governments, the Prime Minister said they "neglected this ...we took a key step to help honest citizen to defeat the menace of graft.

Clinton blames FBI's Comey for her defeat in call with donors

Hillary Clinton attends an event where she addressed her staff and supporters about the results of the U.S. election at a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Hillary Clinton blamed FBI director James Comey for her stunning defeat in Tuesday's presidential election in a conference call with her top campaign funders on Saturday, according to two participants who were on the call.

Clinton was projected by nearly every national public opinion poll as the heavy favorite going into Tuesday's race. Instead, Republican Donald Trump won the election, shocking many throughout the nation and prompting widespread protests.

Clinton has kept a low profile since her defeat after delivering her concession speech on Wednesday morning.

Clinton told her supporters on Saturday that her team had drafted a memo that looked at the changing opinion polls leading up to the election and that the letter from Comey proved to be a turning point. She said Comey's decision to go public with the renewed examination of her email server had caused an erosion of support in the upper Midwest, according to three people familiar with the call.

Clinton lost in Wisconsin, the first time since 1984 that the state favored the Republican candidate in a presidential election. Although the final result in Michigan has still not been tallied, it is leaning Republican, in a state that last favored the Republican nominee in 1988.

Comey sent a letter to Congress only days before the election announcing that he was reinstating an investigation into whether Clinton mishandled classified information when she used a private email server while secretary of state from 2009 to 2012.

Comey announced a week later that he had reviewed emails and continued to believe she should not be prosecuted, but the political damage was already done.

Clinton told donors that Trump was able to seize on both of Comey's announcements and use them to attack her, according to two participants on the call.

While the second letter cleared her of wrongdoing, Clinton said that it reinforced to Trump's supporters that the system was rigged in her favor and motivated them to mobilize on Election Day.

The memo prepared by Clinton's campaign, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said voters who decided which candidate to support in the last week were more likely to support Trump than Clinton.

"In the end, late breaking developments in the race proved one hurdle too many for us to overcome," the memo concludes.

A spokesperson for the FBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

On the phone call, Dennis Chang, who served as Clinton's finance chair, said her campaign and the national party had raised more than $900 million from more than 3 million individual donors, according to the two participants who spoke to Reuters.

Japan makes exception; signs historic nuclear deal with India

Tokyo, Nov 11 (PTI) Shedding its reservations, Japan today made an exception to sign a landmark civil nuclear deal with India, opening the door for export of its atomic technology and reactors, after adding features like safety and security keeping in mind its sensitivities on the issue.

The nuclear deal, described as historic by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was part of the ten agreements signed between the two countries in various areas after he held talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on the second day of his three-day visit.

They held wide-ranging talks which covered aspects like trade and investment, security, terrorism, cooperation in skill development, aerospace and people-to-people contacts.

The nuclear agreement comes after tough negotiations for over six years between the two countries and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the nuclear deal was similar to the agreements signed with the US and other countries with added features on safety and security in keeping with Japan's sensitivities.

The two leaders, despite objections by China, also discussed the South China Sea issue and agreed on the need for respecting freedom of navigation and overflight in tune with the principles of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The nuclear agreement will also push implementation of the Indo-US atomic cooperation agreement since the major American companies in this sector have alliances with Japanese companies like GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse Electric Company.

The deal will come into effect as soon as the Japanese Parliament Diet approves it.

The Japanese Prime Minister, while noting that his country was the only one to have suffered atom bomb attacks, said he was "delighted" over the signing of the agreement with India despite it not being a signatory to the NPT.

At the same time, Abe, with Modi standing next to him, appeared to remind India about the NPT, saying his country wishes to see universalisation of the treaty, which New Delhi terms as "flawed".

"This agreement is a legal framework that India will act responsibly in peaceful uses of nuclear energy and also in Non-Proliferation regime even though India is not a participant or signatory of NPT," he said at a joint press interaction with Modi.

"It (the agreement) is in line with Japan's ambition to create a world without nuclear weapons," said Abe, whose country has traditionally adopted a tough stand on proliferation issues having been the only victim of atomic bombings during World War II.

He noted that India in September 2008 had made its intention of peaceful uses of nuclear energy and also announced moratorium on nuclear tests. .

Tata Sons hits out at Mistry; accuses him of betraying trust

Mumbai, Nov 10 (PTI) Launching a scathing attack on ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry, Tata Sons today accused him of betraying trust and trying to seek control of main operating firms of the over USD 100 billion group.

In a nine-page statement, the promoter of the major operating Tata companies made a point by point rebuttal to the letter which Mistry had written to its board members a day after he was ousted on October 24.

Tata Sons accused Mistry of trying to gain control of the Indian Hotels Co Ltd - the firm that runs Taj Group of Hotels - by using independent directors.

Mistry-headed IHCL, where Tata Sons holds just 28.01 per cent stake, had last week in a filing to stock exchanges stated that independent directors have backed the Chairman and his leadership.

"In hindsight, the trust reposed by Tata Sons in Mr Mistry by appointing him as the Chairman four years ago has been betrayed by his desire to seek to control main operating companies of the Tata group to the exclusion of Tata Sons and other Tata representatives," the Tata Sons statement said.

Tata Sons said dividend from 40-odd Tata Group firms had declined during Mistry's tenure while expenses have risen. It accused Mistry of demolishing the historic management structure where Tata Sons exercised control over its group companies.

"We now have an unacceptable new structure where the Chairman alone is the only common Director across several companies and this situation could not be allowed to go on," it said.

Punching holes into Mistry's performance over four years, it listed Tata Steel Europe, DoCoMo-Tata Tele joint venture and Tata Motors' Indian operations as "problem companies" where there was no "noticeable improvement in operations" and the situation has worsened with widening losses, increasing debt and declining market share.

"Even with no turn-around...the only action taken was to write-off huge amounts against these companies," it said.

Mistry had in his letter to the Directors warned of Tata Group firms facing Rs 1.18 lakh crore write-offs.

Tata Sons said the group's debt has risen by Rs 69,877 crore to Rs 2,25,740 crore in the last four years and went on to point that the buyer of Tata's European steel assets had dramatically turned around the company in the very first year.

It lashed out at Mistry's handling of the crisis at Tata Steel Europe and the stand-off with Japan's DoCoMo over the failed telecom joint venture where Tatas face USD 1.17 billion penalty for violation of contract. .

Note ban an attack on terrorism, Pak worried: Rajnath Singh

Ballia (UP), Nov 9 (PTI) Terming the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as an "attack on terrorism", Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said it has got Pakistan "worried".

The minister also said the demonetisation of higher currency notes is a step towards making the country an "economic super power".

"Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes give strength to those patronising terrorism... Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken away this strength by banning these notes. Fake Indian currency notes are printed in Pakistan and circulated in the country to destroy its economy," Rajnath said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' held in the poll-bound state.

"Yesterday was a historic moment and with the ban on these notes, a surgical strike has been conducted on corruption. This can create inconvenience for a few days, but this is certainly going to help the country in becoming an economic superpower," he said here and claimed that "poor are happy" with the decision.

Rajnath said Pakistan was "worried" about the development.

On US elections, Rajnath noted that the President-elect Donald Trump had appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies.

"During US Presidential election Donald Trump had said that he would work on politics of Modi. Now he has become the President. We should feel proud," the Home Minister said.

He said Modi had invited heads of different countries, including Pakistan, not just for "shaking hands" but to give them a message "of connection through hearts".

"This initiative was not felt by Pakistan. For improving relations, Modi had accepted telephonic invitation of his counterpart Nawaz Sharif and visited Pakistan but it did not mend its ways," the Home Minister said.

Fake currency notes with face value of Rs 400 crore are in circulation across the country, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal recently told Parliament, citing a government-mandated study.

The study on Fake Indian Currency Note (FICN) issues, including estimation of FICN in circulation, was conducted by Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata under the overall supervision of NIA (National Investigation Agency).

"As per the study, the face value of FICN in circulation was found to be about Rs 400 crore. It was found the value remained constant for the last four years," Meghwal had said.

Thousands of anti-Trump protesters take to streets of U.S. cities

By Timothy Mclaughlin and Alexander Besant | CHICAGO/NEW YORK

Demonstrators marched in cities across the United States on Wednesday to protest against Republican Donald Trump's surprise presidential election win, blasting his campaign rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims and other groups.

In New York, thousands filled streets in midtown Manhattan as they made their way to Trump Tower, Trump's gilded home on Fifth Avenue. Hundreds of others gathered at a Manhattan park and shouted "Not my president."

In Los Angeles, protesters sat on the 110 and 101 highway interchange, blocking traffic on one of the city's main arteries as police in riot gear tried to clear them. Some 13 protesters were arrested, a local CBS affiliate reported.

An earlier rally and march in Los Angeles drew more than 5,000 people, many of them high school and college students, local media reported.

A demonstration of more than 6,000 people blocked traffic in Oakland, California, police said. Protesters threw objects at police in riot gear, burned trash in the middle of an intersection, set off fireworks and smashed store front windows.

Police responded by throwing chemical irritants at the protesters, according to a Reuters witness.

Two officers were injured in Oakland and two police squad cars were damaged, Johnna Watson, spokeswoman for the Oakland Police Department told CNN.

In downtown Chicago, an estimated 1,800 people gathered outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower, chanting phrases like "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA."

Chicago police closed roads in the area, impeding the demonstrators' path. There were no immediate reports of arrests or violence there.



An AT&T truck burns as protests riot in Oakland, California, U.S. following the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Noah Berger

"I'm just really terrified about what is happening in this country," said 22-year-old Adriana Rizzo in Chicago, who was holding a sign that read: "Enjoy your rights while you can."

In Seattle, police responded to a shooting with multiple victims near the scene of anti-Trump protests. Police said it was unrelated to the demonstrations.

Protesters railed against Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep immigrants from entering the United States illegally.

Hundreds also gathered in Philadelphia, Boston and Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday evening. In Austin, the Texas capital, about 400 people marched through the streets, police said.

A representative of the Trump campaign did not respond immediately to requests for comment on the protests. Trump said in his victory speech he would be president for all Americans, saying: "It is time for us to come together as one united people."

Earlier this month, his campaign rejected the support of a Ku Klux Klan newspaper and said that "Mr. Trump and his campaign denounces hate in any form."