Ghani slams Pak on terror, tells it to end 'undeclared war'

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and the President of Afghanistan, Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani at the inaugural session of the Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference, in Amritsar, Punjab on December 04, 2016.

Amritsar, Dec 4 (PTI) In a hard hitting attack on Pakistan, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today accused it of launching an "undeclared war" on his country by covertly supporting several terror networks including the Taliban, and noted that there were no hidden deals in India's growing engagement in the war-ravaged country.

In his address at the 6th annual conference of Heart of Asia, Ghani, who severely criticised Islamabad, said an Asian or international mechanism must be put in place, without "playing games", to find out who was benefiting from terror, extremism and other illicit activities.

He said time has come for concrete action against terror infrastructure and those support it, and quoted a top Taliban commander saying unless terror sanctuaries were allowed in Pakistan, the outfit will not last even a month.

He said despite Afghanistan's bilateral and multilateral ties with Pakistan, the "undeclared war" that started in winter of 2014, has intensified after the recent Brussels conference on Afghanistan's transition.

Slamming Pakistan's habit of denying cross border terror attacks, the Afghan President called for setting up of international mechanism to verify reality of such attacks which have increased in the last few months.

He also sought setting up of a global fund to contain terrorism.

"There should be an Asian or international regime, whatever is acceptable to Pakistan, should be put in place to verify frontier activities and terrorist operations.

"We do not want blame game, we want verification," he said, without mincing words.

"We need to set up a fund to combat extremism," Ghani said.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz was among representatives of 30 countries who attended the conference inaugurated jointly by Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hailing India's role in Afghanistan's transition, he said "India's assistance is transparent and with no strings attached", adding "there are no hidden deals between India and Afghanistan." 

"We thank Pakistan for their pledges of USD 500 million for reconstruction of Afghanistan.

"This fund Mr Aziz could very well be used to contain extremists because without peace any amount of assistance will not meet the needs of our people," he said.

Asserting that no amount of money can assist Afghanistan if there is support to terrorists by Pakistan, he said military operations in Pakistan have brought about selective displacement of terrorists. .

Heart of Asia conference begins with focus on tackling terror in region

Amritsar, Dec 3 (PTI) As Afghanistan faces the resurgence of Taliban, a conference of major regional and global powers began today in this holy city to explore ways to effectively deal with threat of terrorism in the region, its complex security matrix and help the war-ravaged nation in its transition.

Being attended by nearly 40 countries and leading groupings like the European Union, the annual conference of the Heart of Asia -- Istanbul Process is deliberating on various challenges facing Afghanistan, including revival of a peace process in the conflict-ridden country.

Today, senior officials of all 14 countries, including India, China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan, and representatives of 17 supporting nations were deliberating on a vast range of issues facing the region including its complex security scenario and dealing with threat of terrorism, radicalisation and extremism.

Issues like enhancing Afghanistan's connectivity with South and Central Asian countries to boost trade were being discussed at the senior officials' meeting which was co-chaired by India's Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hikmat Khaleel Karzai.

The meeting is finalising the text for tomorrow's Ministerial Conference and is also deliberating on its Declaration which will have substantial portion on terrorism.

Pakistani Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz is representing Islamabad at the Ministerial conference on Sunday which will be jointly inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The annual conference is taking place amid heightened tension between India and Pakistan in the wake of the audacious terror attack on Nagrota army base and there was no clarity on an Indo-Pak bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the conclave.

India had already made it clear that it would never accept continuing cross-border terrorism as the "new normal" in bilateral ties with Pakistan while making it clear that talks cannot take place in an atmosphere of "continued terror".

At the senior officials' meeting, Afghanistan, which has also been facing increased attacks from terror groups operating from Pakistan, pushed for a regional counter-terror framework.

Ahead of the conference, both India and Afghanistan had called terror emanating from Pakistan as the "greatest threat" to regional peace and stability, and both the countries are set to press hard for adopting the counter-terror framework at tomorrow's deliberations. .

SC refuses to entertain plea to play national anthem in courts

New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea of a BJP leader and lawyer seeking playing of national anthem in all courts before the start of proceedings.

A bench of justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said it is not inclined to entertain the plea of BJP spokesperson Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay after Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted that the petitioner should file a proper application.

"Whether right or wrong, our order should not be overstretched. Bar (referring to Upadhyay) should show some retrain," the bench said.

Earlier in the morning, Upadhyay mentioned the plea before the bench which had on November 30 made it mandatory for cinema halls to play national anthem before screening of a movie and the audience must stand and show respect.

The bench has then sought AG's assistance to learn his view on the plea of Upadhyay.

In its November 30 order, the apex court had said that "love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag. That apart, it would instill the feeling within one a sense committed patriotism and nationalism." 

It had said that when the anthem is played the national flag shall be shown on the screen and the order should be given effect in a week's time.

The bench had also said that prior to the anthem being played or sung in the cinema hall, the entry and exit doors shall remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to disrespect to the national anthem and the doors can be opened once it is over.

Army presence at toll WB plazas kicks up storm, Mamata spends night at secretariat

Army presence at toll plazas in WB kicks up storm, Mamata spends night at secretariat



Kolkata/New Delhi, Dec 2 (PTI) Presence of army personnel at toll plazas in West Bengal triggered a row with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remaining at the state secretariat overnight in protest, asking was it an "army coup", drawing a a stinging condemnation today from the Centre which said the remark showed her "political frustration".

The row also echoed in Parliament with Trinamool Congress seeing "sinister" designs behind the move and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar vehemently denying the charge, saying it was a routine exercise. Parrikar also said it was very unfortunate that army has been dragged into an "unnecessary controversy".

The Army on its part strongly rebutted Banerjee's allegations that its personnel were deployed at toll plazas without informing the state government and were collecting money, saying the exercise was being carried out in coordination with Kolkata Police. The Army personnel, however, had left the toll plaza near the secretariat last night.

TMC MLAs and ministers also staged a dharna outside Raj Bhavan in Kolkata.

Banerjee left the state secretariat in the evening after she spent over 24 hours and fired a fresh salvo at the Modi government.

Accusing the Modi government of making a "wrong and concocted" statement in Parliament regarding the deployment of Army, Banerjee said her voice could not be stifled by "hatching conspiracy and showing force".

Banerjee also said the state government will take legal recourse if there is no withdrawal of army personnel from all toll plazas in the state.

Speaking to reporters late last night at 'Nabanna', the state secretariat in Kolkata, she said, "I will stay at the secretariat to guard our democracy".

"Is this a military coup?" she asked.

She said that army personnel were there in different districts like Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, North 24 Paragans, Burdwan, Howrah, Hooghly etc.

"The army is deployed without informing the state government. This is unprecedented and a very serious matter."

The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament with main opposition Congress too seeking clarification on the army deployment at 19 toll plazas in West Bengal.

In Lok Sabha, Parrikar termed the deployment a "routine exercise not unique to West Bengal" and saying similar operations to collect information on heavy vehicle movement that can be used during national emergencies had last month being conducted in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

No old notes for fuel from Saturday, toll collection to resume

New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) Amid reports of misuse, government today put an end to the use of old Rs 500 notes for buying fuel at petrol pumps and purchasing tickets at airports from Saturday, while exemption for payment of toll on highways will also end tomorrow.

Earlier, these facilities and the toll exemption were to continue till December 15.

All toll plazas on National Highways have been equipped with card swipe (PoS) machines through which people can make payments using their credit or debit cards, although people will be allowed to use old 500 notes for paying toll above Rs 200 or for purchasing FASTags from midnight of December 2.

The government had last week extended the time period of use of invalid currency notes for making payment of public utility bills, buying petrol, mobile recharge, rail tickets and air tickets at airport till December 15.

However, it has decided to withdraw the facility for use of old 500 notes at airports and petrol pumps from midnight of December 2.

The ministry said that processes of production, dispatch and distribution of currency notes have been continuing and more cash is flowing into the system steadily and digital transactions have also made an impressive progress and are expected to significantly improve during the coming days.

"Now, therefore, as digital transaction options have been increasing across different sections of the economy, it has been observed that the outlets of the oil and gas marketing companies are better equipped to accept payments through digital means," it said while removing petrol pumps from exempted list.

The ministry however clarified that supply of LPG continues to be in the exempted category for the purpose of payment through old Rs 500 bank notes.

While junking old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes on November 8, the government had allowed their use for utility bill payments for 72 hours.

This deadline was extended twice. When the last one was to expire on November 24, government amended it to state that only the old 500 rupee notes could be used for payment of utility bills like electricity and water, school fees, pre- paid mobile top-up, fuel purchase and airline ticket booking.

While old notes will continue to be accepted for other utility bill payments as well as at railway ticketing counters and counters of government or public sector undertaking buses for purchase of tickets till December 15, they will be discontinued for purchase of fuel and airline tickets at airport counters.

Continued terror cannot be "new normal" in ties: India to Pak

New Delhi, Dec 1 (PTI) Talking tough in the wake of attack on army camp in Nagrota, India today made it clear that talks with Pakistan cannot take place in an atmosphere of "continued terror", which it will never accept as "new normal" in the bilateral relationship.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said the government is awaiting detailed information on the specifics of the Nagrota attack before it decides on the next steps.

"But I do wish to emphasise that the government takes this incident very seriously and will do what it feels is required for our national security," he asserted.

Asked if there would be bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia (HoA) Conference in Amritsar on December 3 and 4, he said, "We have not received any request from Pakistan for a bilateral meeting.

"India has always been open to talks but obviously it cannot be that talks take place in an atmosphere of continued terrorism. India will never accept continued terrorism as the new normal in the bilateral relationship," Swarup said.

India's sharp remarks come two days ahead of the conference where Pakistan will be represented by Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Earlier, Pakistani media reports had quoted officials as having said there would not be a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the HoA meet on Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will jointly inaugurate the ministerial deliberations on Sunday where the Indian delegation will be led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the absence of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is ill.

Hitting out at Pakistan, Swarup said Pakistan is a country which has a long record of carrying out cross border terrorism which it regards as an instrument of state policy and which puts Islamabad at odds with the rest of the international community.

On the criticism that the attacks increased after the surgical strikes, he said, "It was our assessment at that point of time that there was an imminent threat based on hard intelligence about the location of armed terrorists who were ready to infiltrate from across the LoC and carry out terrorist activities on our side.

"This imminent threat was successfully neutralised through the surgical strikes. We should not look only at what happened but also at what did not happen, what was prevented through successful neutralisation of terrorists." 

On the appointment of Pakistan's new army chief, he said it is an internal matter of Pakistan. India will judge Pakistan by its behaviour and its track record and not by change of persons, he added.

Infra sector growth jumps to 6-month high of 6.6 pc in Oct

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) Infrastructure sector recorded a growth rate of 6.6 per cent in October -- the highest in last six months -- on the back of impressive performance by steel and refinery products.

However, growth rate of power generation, fertiliser production and cement output fell considerably on year-on-year basis. Coal production continued to fall for the third straight month.

The growth rate of eight infrastructure sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity -- was 3.8 per cent in October 2015. It was 5 per cent in September 2016.

The core sectors, which contribute 38 per cent to the total industrial production, expanded by 4.9 per cent in April-October compared to 2.8 per cent growth in the similar period of last financial year.

As per the official data released today, steel production jumped 16.9 per cent in October against contraction of 5.5 per cent in the year-ago period.

The output of refinery products soared by 15.1 per cent in October. The sector had declined by 4.4 per cent in October last year.

Growth in fertiliser and electricity generation was at 0.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively, in October 2016, against 16.8 percent and 13.8 per cent, respectively in October 2015.

Coal production declined by 1.6 per cent in October as against a growth of 6.6 per cent in the year-ago period.

Natural gas and crude oil output during October fell by 1.4 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively.

National anthem must be played before screening of films: SC

New Delhi, Nov 30 (PTI) The Supreme Court today directed that cinema halls across the country must play the national anthem before the screening of a film and people should stand up as a mark of respect.

The court also directed that the national flag should be shown on screen when the anthem is played.

"People must feel this is my country and this is my motherland," a bench of justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy said while stressing that it is the duty of every citizen of the country to show respect to the national anthem and the flag.

"At the root of protocol for national anthem, is respect for national identity, integrity and constitutional patriotism," the bench said while directing the Centre that the order should be given effect in a week's time and be circulated to all States and Union Territories through chief secretaries.

It also said no person should take commercial benefits by playing the anthem and that it should not be dramatised.

The apex court said the anthem should not be printed or displayed on undesirable objects, and also barred it from being played on variety shows and its abridged version anywhere.

Directing that its order be shown in electronic and print media and be followed in letter and spirit, the court said, "Time has come when people should feel they live in a nation" and "even in Shastras, nationalism was accepted."

The court's directions came on a PIL filed by Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem should be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and the programmes where constitutional dignitaries are present.

The apex court had last month issued notice to the Centre asking it to specify what would constitute disrespect to the national anthem.

PMO to notify CMs'' panel on making India less-cash economy

New Delhi, Nov 29 (PTI) Seeking to neutralise political turmoil over demonetisation within and outside Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is likely to shortly notify a committee of chief ministers to suggest ways to make India a less-cash economy.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already spoken to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to head the chief ministers' panel, for which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik are also being co-opted.

Sources said Jaitley had spoken to all the three chief ministers. Incidentally, the three were among the first to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of junking old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

The panel, which will be notified by the PMO, will also review the ground-level situation following the decision to demonetise high-value currency and suggest possible ways to ease hardships and inconvenience.

Besides assessing the public impact, it is to come up with a road map for a less-cash economy.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan would also be part of the committee. However, there is no decision on who will be picked from Congress and Left-ruled states.

The sources said names of chief ministers of Puducherry and Uttarakhand, V Narayanasamy and Harish Rawat, respectively, have been mooted from among the Congress fold.

The final call on the issue will have to be taken by the party, they said, adding that Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar is also believed to be in the reckoning from among Left states.

While the demonetisation issue has rocked Parliament for past several days, the opposition parties organised nation-wide protest against the issue on Monday.

Pay 50% tax on unaccounted deposits, or 85% if caught: Govt

New Delhi, Nov 28 (PTI) Providing yet another opportunity to black money holders to legalise their wealth, government has proposed to tax at 50 per cent the unaccounted demonetised cash that is disclosed voluntarily till December 30, after which a steep up to 85 per cent tax and penalty will be levied on undisclosed wealth that is discovered by authorities.

The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016, introduced on Monday in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, nearly three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned high denomination currency notes, also provides for immunity from being questioned on the source of funds.

It amends the Income Tax Act to also provide for black money declarants having to mandatorily park 25 per cent of that wealth in zero-interest, four-year-no-withdrawal scheme.

Introduced amid opposition uproar over hardships caused by demonetisation, the Bill proposes a Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana 2016 wherein the unaccounted, now banned 500 and 1000 rupee notes, deposited in banks between November 10 and December 30, will be taxed at 30 per cent plus a 10 per cent penalty. A 33 per cent surcharge on the tax will take the total levy to 50 per cent.

Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia told the media later that "the disclosures in PMGKY scheme will ensure that no questions will be asked about the source of fund. It would ensure immunity from Wealth Tax, civil laws and other taxation laws.

But there is no immunity from FEMA, PMLA, Narcotics, and Black Money Act".

The Bill proposes to amend Section 115BBE of the Income Tax Act to provide for a steep 60 per cent tax and a 25 per cent surcharge on it (total 75 per cent) for black money holders who choose to disclose after PMGKY ends.

Another section inserted provides for an additional 10 per cent penalty on being established that the undeclared wealth is unaccounted or black money, taking the total incidence of levies to 85 per cent.

The scheme comes within two months of the close of domestic black money disclosure scheme wherein the total incidence of tax was 45 per cent. A total of Rs 65,250 crore in black money was brought to book by the close of the scheme on September 30.

"We have seen that some people were trying to convert black money to black again by using new currency," Adhia said adding that the provision has been amended to bring 75-85 per cent tax.

It proposes to make penalty provisions for wealth found during search and seizures more stringent by raising the fines to 30 per cent of the income discovered which is admitted by the assessee and taxes are paid.

This compares to levy of 10 per cent in such cases income admitted, returned and taxes paid and 20 per cent where income is not admitted but taxes are paid. In all other cases the levy remains at 60 per cent.

The current provisions of penalty on under-reporting of income at 50 per cent of the tax, and misreporting (200 per cent of tax) will remain and no changes are being made to them.