http :www.hindustantimes.
com/
New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XIX No. 5
A NEW OPTION
FOR TAXPAYERS
The highlight of the budget was a new simplified personal income tax
regime that allows people to choose to forgo exemptions for lower rates
10%
What the nominal GDP growth
is expected to increase to in
2020-21. This is up from 7.8% in
2019-20. Last budget assumed
a nominal GDP growth of 12%
~4.1L Cr
~2.1L Cr ~1.15L Cr
The budget projects a big
jump in disinvestment
receipts. This is a massive
rise from ~65,000 crore in
2019-20 revised estimates
10% TDS ON
CAPITAL GAINS IN
MUTUAL FUNDS?
The Finance Bill has, perhaps
unintentionally, introduced TDS (tax
deduction at source) on capital
gains in mutual funds, along with
TDS on dividends, experts said.
Union finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman announced her inten-
tion to abolish Dividend Distribu-
tion Tax (DDT) on mutual fund
dividends. These were to be made
taxable at slab rate and TDS was to
be deducted on them at 10% for
dividends exceeding ₹5,000 per
year. Experts say the Bill also
introduced TDS on capital gains in
mutual funds for resident individu-
als. “Income under the act includes
capital gains. Hence capital gains in
the hands of investors would also
be liable for deduction of TDS at
10%,” said Dhruv Rawani, a Mumbai
based Chartered Accountant. ››P2
FOOTWEAR AND
FURNITURE DUTY UP
Finance minister Nirmala Sithara-
man on Saturday proposed raising
customs duty on items such as
footwear and furniture on the
premise of promoting “Make in
India” and said the items had been
“picked up carefully” as the locally
manufactured products of compa-
rable quality were available in India.
“MSMEs (micro, small and medium
enterprises) should be given a fair
chance ... They produce these items
in good quality and quantity,” she
said at a press conference after
presenting the budget in Parlia-
THE OLD AND
NEW TAX SLABS
Current
tax slab
in ₨ lakh
Up to 2.5
2.5 to 5
5 to 10
Above 10
The table doesn't include cess of 4% and surcharge that's
applicable on higher income groups
~6.9L Cr
The budget assumes Goods and
Services Tax (GST) collections will
rise to this. This estimate is up
from RE figures of ~6.1 lakh crore
in 2019-20
Gross budgetary support for total
capital expenditure will increase
to this. This is up from ~3.48 lakh
crore in 2019-20 (RE)
After a sharp cut in food subsidy in
the budget, this will be the spend-
ing in 2020-21. The 2019-20 budget
estimated it to be ~1.84 lakh crore
(BE) but spent only ~1.09 lakh crore
BUDGET OF VISION, ACTION: PM MODI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the decade’s first Union
budget as one that will boost jobs and financially empowering
common people. In a televised statement after Union finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget on Saturday,
Modi said that the budget has both “vision and action” and the
unleashed reforms will “ensure speed to the economy, empower
every citizen financially, and strengthen the foundations of the
economy of this decade”. He dubbed it a “Jan Jan ka Budget”, or a
budget for every person. The PM pointed out that
four sectors that are major sources of jobs —
agriculture, infrastructure, textiles and
technology — have got special attention in
the budget. He also linked the tax concessions
to start-ups and real estate firms with more
job opportunities. He said that investments
will see creation of jobs, and the economy will
gain momentum through “historic steps”
taken to bring investments. The PM spoke at
length about personal income tax, maintain-
ing that the country’s tax system has
started a new journey towards trust
from the old days of dispute. ››P5
ment. Labour-intensive sectors IPO. In her speech, she proposed the
among MSMEs are critical for government will also sell its stake in
employment generation. Cheap and
low-quality imports are an impedi-
IDBI Bank to private investors and
amend the Banking Regulation Act
ment to their growth. Special to strengthen cooperative banks.
attention has been taken to apply a The finance minister also said the
measured restraint on the import of deposit insurance coverage in case
such products, she said. ››P2 of bank failures will be increased to
₹5 lakh from ₹1 lakh. She proposed
to expand floating a debt ex-
STATE-OWNED LIC change-traded fund (ETF), consist-
SET TO GO PUBLIC ing primarily of government
securities, to expand the debt
Finance minister Nirmala Sithara-
market . Sitharaman didn’t say how
man said the government plans to
much of LIC the government plans
sell a partial stake in Life Insurance
to sell. Given that the giant holds
Corporation of India (LIC), the
about $433 billion in assets, even
country’s largest insurer and
a minuscule sale would be quite
institutional investor, through an
large. ››P13
FEBRUARY 02, 2020
New optional
tax slab
in % in ₨ lakh in %
Nil Up to 2.5 Nil
5 2.5 to 5 Nil
20 5 to 7.5 10
30 7.5 to 10 15
10 to 12.5 20
12.5 to 15 25
15 and
above 30
CONCERNS ON
DEFENCE FUND
India on Saturday set aside ~3.37
lakh crore for defence spending in
its budget for 2020-21, an increase
of 6% over last year’s budget
estimate (BE) and only 1.9% over the
revised estimate (RE) for 2019-20,
triggering concerns among experts
that insufficient funding could hit
the military’s modernisation drive.
According to budget papers, last
year’s BE and RE stood at ~3.18 lakh
crore and ~3.31 lakh crore. While BE
refers to budgetary projections
made for the next financial year, the
actual money spent during the year
comes under RE. If defence pen-
sions are taken into account, the
budget 2020-21 stands at ~4.71 lakh
crore compared to ~4.31 lakh crore
and ~4.48 lakh crore in last year’s
budget and RE respectively. ››P12
FOCUS ON HEALTH,
FAMILY WELFARE
Health and family welfare was
allocated ~ 67,484 crore in the
budget, a 3.8% increase over last
year’s budgetary outlay of ~64,999
crore. Although there was no
increase for the government’s
flagship health insurance scheme,
AB-PMJAY, it got the biggest share
of the health allocation, receiving
~6,429 crore. “We have a holistic
vision of healthcare that translates
into wellness of the citizen. Mission
Indradhanush has been expanded
to cover 12 such diseases, including
five new vaccines. Fit India move-
ment is a vital part of the fight
against non-communicable dis-
eases,” Sitharaman said. ››P7
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2020

MARKETS CRASH AS
BUDGET UNVEILED
As Nirmala Sitharaman delivered the longest budget speech (2 hours, 40 minutes
and 16 seconds) ever, the measures introduced by the government to revive the
economy appeared to fall short of market expectations. Indian markets delivered
the worst post-budget drop since 2009. A look at how equity, bond markets reacted

TRACKING THE EQUITY, BOND MARKETS

Sensex 10-year bond yield
(in %)

12.58pm 12.59pm
Government proposes Nominal GDP growth
41000 to sell part of its for 2020-21 is 6.610
holding in insurance estimated at 10%
behemoth LIC by way
OPEN of initial public offering
as part of the govt’s
40,753 disinvestment initiative
1.09pm
points
Govt introduces new
slabs and reduces tax
rate for different slabs
40700 for an individual 6.602
income of up to ₨15
lakh per annum, if a 1.19pm
taxpayer opts for Dividend
foregoing exemptions Distribution Tax
and deductions. The to be removed;
new system means dividend to be
estimated revenue taxed only at the
foregone amounting hands of recipients
40400 to ₨40,000cr a year 6.594

6.587

40100 6.586

6.585
CLOSE
39,735
points
39800 6.578
12.03pm 12.47pm
As much as ₨27,300 Government has permitted
crore provided for Deposit Insurance and
1.41pm
development and Credit Guarantee
FM cuts short
promotion of Corporation (DICGC) to raise
budget speech
industry and deposit insurance coverage
after feeling
commerce by from ₨1 lakh to ₨5 lakh
unwell towards
the end
39500 6.570

9.15am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 2pm 3pm 3.30pm

11am 1.41pm
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Speech

WHAT’S
Source: Bloomberg, Press Information Bureau
begins presenting 2020-21 budget ends

COSTLIER MIXED REACTIONS

n Cigarettes, tobacco
products What politicians, experts and captains of industry are saying
n Imported refined about the budget and its impact on the economy
vegetable oil
n Imported PCBA
(circuit boards) for
cellphones
n Footwear

n Furniture
THE FIRST BUDGET
n Fans THE MODI GOVT HAS
OF THE DECADE ...
THIS BUDGET WILL TAKEN STEPS TO
n Tableware/ GIVES AN OUTLINE OF A
INCREASE INCOME RATIONALISE TAX SYSTEM,
kitchenware NEW AND CONFIDENT
AND INVESTMENT... BOOST INFRASTRUCTURE,
made of porcelain INDIA. IT IS A PROMIS-
BRING NEW VIGOUR... STRENGTHEN BANKING
or China ceramic ING, PROACTIVE AND
[AND] WILL FULFIL SYSTEM, PROMOTE
PROGRESSIVE BUDGET
n Imported THE CURRENT NEEDS INVESTMENT AND EASE
WHICH WILL MAKE
household items OF THE COUNTRY AS OF DOING BUSINESS,
INDIA HEALTHY AND
n Imported ghee, WELL AS FUTURE WHICH WILL FURTHER
WEALTHY IN THE
butter, oil and EXPECTATIONS. GOVT'S RESOLVE TO MAKE
COMING YEARS.
cheese NARENDRA MODI, INDIA A $5TN ECONOMY. RAJNATH SINGH,
Prime Minister AMIT SHAH, home minister defence minister
n Imported EVs

n Imported vehicles

n Some imported
medical equipment
n Parts for commer-
cial vehicles
n Clay iron, steel
INSTEAD OF A THE NUMBER 10
and copper DELHI HAD HIGH COHERENT POLICY
EXPECTATIONS.. BUT HAS GOT BOTH A
DIRECTION, WE GOT A ‘1’ AND ‘0’, YOU CAN
ONCE AGAIN DELHIITES
WHAT’S RECEIVED STEP-MOTH-
2.5-HOUR MONOLOGUE
CONCEALING REALITIES
PICK EITHER OF THESE
NUMBERS. I AM OKAY
CHEAPER ERLY TREATMENT. DELHI
IS NOT PART OF BJP'S
OF A FLOUNDERING
ECONOMY. DESPITE
WITH THAT.
P CHIDAMBARAM,
n Purified tereph-
thalic acid (PTA)
PRIORITY LIST, SO WHY MANIPULATING DATA, THE senior Congress leader and
CRISIS SHOWED UP IN THE former finance minister,
SHOULD ITS PEOPLE when he was asked about
n Newsprint BUDGET NUMBERS.
VOTE FOR THEM? how would he rate the
n Lightweight ARVIND KEJRIWAL, SITARAM YECHURY, 2020-21 budget on a scale
Delhi chief minister CPI(M) general secretary of 1 to 10
coated paper
n Sports goods THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FOR ME WAS THE GIVEN THE HARD CONSTRAINTS
n Some imported CALL OUT FROM THE FINANCE MINISTER IN THE ECONOMY, THE FINANCE
military THAT 'WEALTH CREATORS WILL BE RESPECTED'. MINISTER HAS DONE A CREDITABLE
equipment THIS WILL BE A MASSIVE BOOST TO BUSINESS JOB AT BALANCING THE NEED FOR
n Some domestically
CONFIDENCE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND A AN ECONOMY IN REVIVAL MODE
SIGN THAT WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT AND FISCAL ORTHO-
made mobile
BUILDING A NEW INDIA, WHERE DOXY. THE FM COULD
components
CORPORATE INDIA AND NEW AGE NOT HAVE BEEN
n Fingerprint ENTREPRENEURS WILL BE AGGRESSIVE ON
readers STAKEHOLDERS IN GROWTH. EITHER COUNT.
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL, founder and GOPICHAND HINDUJA,
chairman, Bharti Enterprises co-chairman, Hinduja Group
 www.facebook.com/hindustantimes www.twitter.com/htTweets n DOWNLOAD OUR iPAD APP www.hindustantimes.com/iPad n OUR EDITION ON KINDLE http://read.ht/JS4

New Delhi/METRO n Vol. XIX No. 5 n Price ₹6.00 /with Hindustan ₹ 10.50 (₹ 8.50 in Faridabad) n 74 Pages. Area specific pages extra. FEBRUARY 02, 2020

BUDGET IN
NUMBERS
~30.42
Level of expenditure budgeted
lakh cr 3.5% ~1.85
Fiscal deficit target Tax concessions to
lakh cr ~2.83
Outlay for agriculture
lakh cr
PEOPLE OF INDIA HAVE ... REPOSED FAITH IN OUR ECONOMIC POLICIES. THIS IS
THE BUDGET TO BOOST THEIR INCOMES AND ENHANCE PURCHASING POWER.
for 2020-21 for 2020-21 businesses and individuals and allied sector Nirmala Sitharaman, Union finance minister

MICRO GAMBLE FOR MACRO GAIN

TAX REGIME OF CHOICE Taxpayers can opt for new MORE TO SPEND Govt to give up ~40Kcr in income-tax MAYHEM ON THE STREET Sensex tumbles 988 points,
slabs by forgoing exemptions or stick to existing system receipts, ~25Kcr on DDT to spur spending, boost demand insurers take a hit amid fears of a drop in 80C investments

UNIONBUDGET
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a tweet shortly after the budget speech,
Modi tweeted: “JanJanKaBudget places
immense faith in India’s youth. That is why
Tax devolution to
20202021
Roshan Kishore
there is emphasis on MSME sector, skill
development, boosting exports and creating
next generation infrastructure. The start up
and real estate sector have got significant
states unchanged
Rajeev Jayaswal
n letters@hindustantimes.com benefits.”
Sitharaman said the three themes of the letters@hindustantimes.com
THE TOTAL SHARE,
HOWEVER, APPEARS
n

NEW DELHI: The Union budget for 2020-21 budget were: “Aspirational India; economic
offered an estimated ₹40,000 crore of tax con-
cessions to individual taxpayers, following up
development; and a caring society.”
However, the Opposition was quick to pan
NEWDELHI: The 15th Finance Com-
mission (FC-XV) has kept devolu-
MARGINALLY LOWER
its September decision to offer ₹1.45 lakh the budget. “The main issues confronting this tion to states unchanged in its BECAUSE OF SEPARATE
crore of the same to companies, resorting to a country today are unemployment and the sit- interim report for 2020-21 even as PROVISIONS FOR THE
straightforward (and obvious) budgetary uation as far as the economy is concerned. I their cumulative share shrank
stimulus to revive the economy. Cooperatives did not see any concrete idea... The govern- marginally to 41% after the num- NEWLY CREATED UTS,
have also been given the option to move to a ment’s approach is visible in this budget. ber of states was reduced to 28 J&K AND LADAKH
low-exemption, low-tax regime. It was hollow,” Congress leader Rahul Gan- because of the reorganisation of
It also increased government spending, the dhi told reporters after the presentation in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) into said. The Commission is headed
second way to deliver Parliament. two Union Territories (UTs). by former bureaucrat NK Singh.
THE 2020-21 BUDGET a budgetary stimu-
lus, albeit by a modest
Between the out-of-budget, September 2019
move on corporate tax and the 2020-21 budget,
The 14th Finance Commission
had recommended a 42% share
Finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, while presenting
COMES AGAINST THE amount, but with a the government has given ₹1.85 lakh crore for states in the divisible pool of the union budget for 2020-21 in
BACKDROP OF THE sharp focus on capital
expenditure (or asset
worth of tax concessions to the businesses
and individuals. This includes the reduction
taxes.
“Keeping in view the fact that
Parliament on Saturday, said the
15th Finance Commission has
SLOWEST RATE OF creation). in corporate tax rates (₹1.45 lakh crore of rev- there has to be a certain degree of given its first report for 2020-21.
GROWTH IN 10 YEARS The 2020-21 budget enue forgone); the reduction in income tax predictability and stability in fed- “In the spirit of cooperative
comes against the rates announced in the budget (₹40 thousand eral finances, our approach to federalism, I am pleased to
EVEN AS THE GOVT backdrop of the slow- crore of revenue forgone); in addition, there’s vertical devolution mirrors that announce that we have, in sub-
REVISED THE 2018-19 est rate of growth in the scrapping of Dividend Distribution Tax of our predecessor Commissions stantial measure, accepted the
10 years. To be sure, (an estimated ₹25,000 crore benefit for compa- with modifications due to the recommendations of the Com-
GDP FIGURES the historical com- nies, although there will be an increase in change in the status of Jammu & mission. The Commission will
parison improved after Friday’s revision in income tax on account of the fact that divi- ILLUSTRATION: GAJANAN NIRPHALE Kashmir,” the FC-XV report said. submit its final report to the Pres-
the 2018-19 GDP figures pushed this year’s dends will simply be added on to taxable The Commission retained the ident during the latter part of the
growth to 5.7% from 5%, yet, the biggest income in the hands of recipients as and devolution to states at the same year, for five years beginning
expectation from the budget was that it would where applicable). There are other, smaller level as the 14th Commission, but 2021-22,” she said.
give a boost to aggregate demand in the measures as well, sharply focused on specific the total share appears margin- In December 2019, states
economy. kinds of companies or sectors. Investors to pay DDT ‘Taxpayer can decide’ Insurance cover raised ally lower because of separate locked horns with the Centre for
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, The revenue implications of these moves provisions for the newly created about four months delay in pay-
visibly tiring towards the end of a two-hour- are clear, with budgeted gross tax revenue of Giving in to a longstanding Finance minister Nirmala Sithara- In Budget 2020, Sitharaman UTs, J&K and Ladakh, a spokes- ing compensation to them for
40-minute-long speech, said in an interview the Centre expected to come down from ₹24.61 demand by domestic companies, man presented the budget on proposed to increase the limit of person said. shortfall in their Goods and Ser-
that she “wanted to touch each and every sec- lakh crore in 2019-20 to ₹24.32 lakh crore in Union finance minister Nirmala Saturday, signalling a focus on insurance cover in case of bank However, the final report of the vices Tax (GST) revenues. The
Sitharaman on Saturday reviving growth with a new I-T failure on deposits to ₹5 lakh from
tion of society and I wanted to give out the 2020-21. To be sure, the 2020-21 budget esti- Commission, which is expected Central government, on Decem-
abolished the Dividend Distribu- scheme. “A taxpayer is smart ₹1 lakh. The proposal comes in the
message that this government is a responsi- mates (BE) are higher than the revised esti- by October 2020 for 2021-26, may ber 16, released ₹35,298 crore to
tion Tax (DDT), which will enough to take a call on how wake of crisis at Mumbai-based
ble one”. mates (RE) of ₹21.63 lakh crore for 2019-20. now be imposed on investors much he wants to spend or save.” urban cooperative bank, PMC tweak the devolution formula compensate states for revenue
She described the budget as a “Jan Jan Ka These revenue projections are based on the instead. ››P3 FULL INTERVIEW ››P10 Bank. ››P12 depending on changes in key losses for two months ahead of
Budget”, or a budget for everyone, as did CONTINUED ON P 20 macro parameters, the report CONTINUED ON P 20

TRACKING THE MONEY Oppn: Budget didn’t

How the government will collect money that it will need to
spend, according to the budget presented on Saturday
Borrowings Corporation
and other tax
Goods
and
Income
tax
Non-tax
revenue
Union Non-debt
excise capital
address real issues
Did the finance
liabilities

20p 18p
services
tax
18p 17p
duties receipts Customs

10p 7p 6p 4p
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com

NEWDELHI: The Congress on Satur-

day attacked the Bharatiya Jan-
ata Party (BJP)-led government
› minister read the
economic survey? Was the
chief economic adviser
over the union budget, saying it
was in complete denial that the privy to the content of the
economy faces a “grave macroe-
conomic challenge” and claimed budget speech? I think the
Rupee
that it had given up on reviving
the economy, accelerating
answer... is in the negative
P CHIDAMBARAM, senior Congress
comes growth and creating jobs.
Addressing a news conference
leader and former finance minister
at the Congress headquarters in
Rupee New Delhi, former finance minis- “Did the finance minister read
goes ter P Chidambaram slammed the
budget, saying there was nothing
the economic survey? Was the
chief economic adviser privy to
in the package that led one to the content of the budget speech?
believe that growth will revive in I think the answer to both ques-
2020-21. “The claim of 6 to 6.5% tions is in the negative,” he added.
growth next year is astonishing Chidambaram said the budget
and even irresponsible,” he said. speech contained multiple
The senior Congress leader themes, segments and pro-
said the government “does not grammes, leaving the listener
6p 6p 8p 9p 10p 10p 13p 18p 20p believe” in reforms and certainly dazed and confused.
Pen- Subsi- Defence Centrally Other Finance Central Interest States' not in structural reforms as “It was a laundry list of old
sions dies spon- ex- commis- sector payments share of finance minister Nirmala Sithar- [that is, current] programmes. I
sored pendi- sion and scheme taxes and
ture other duties aman had outright rejected every am pretty certain that even the
scheme
transfers reform idea in the economic sur- most loyal BJP MP or supporter
vey. CONTINUED ON P 20

Ammonia gas leak ‘Hindus will rule’, says man as he

kills one at snacks
factory in Noida
NOIDA: One person was killed and
three others developed breathing
problems on Saturday after a gas
leak in the processing unit of
snack manufacturer Haldiram’s
in Noida’s Sector 65 around noon.
The deceased, a Meerut resi-
dent, worked as ammonia plant
operator, officials said. ››P19
fires in the air at Shaheen Bagh
NEW DELHI: Two days after a
shooter opened fire at a group of
protesting students near Jamia
Millia Islamia, injuring one of
them, a 23-year-old man from
Delhi on Saturday fired two
rounds in the air at the Shaheen
Bagh protest site, where anti-
CAA demonstrators have been
agitating since December 2019.
The shots were fired less than
150 metres from the protest site
— the epicentre of anti-CAA pro-
tests in Delhi. No one was
injured.
As he was being detained, the
man was caught on camera say-
ing, “No other community will
have a say in this country. Only
Hindus will.” Police have
arrested the man, who has been
identified as Kapil Gujjar. ››P17 n The shooter being detained. PTI

TN: 15 convicted for

sexually assaulting EVACUATED
FROM CHINA
hearing-impaired girl
CHENNAI: A special court in Chen-
nai on Saturday convicted 15
men, including security guards, n Crew members of
electricians, and plumbers, of the flight that
raping an 11-year-old hearing- airlifted 324 Indians
impaired girl for six months from coronavirus-
inside a gated community in hit Wuhan, in Delhi
Chennai in 2018. on Saturday. >>P22
Their sentences will be pro- AMAL KS/HT
nounced on Monday. ››P22
02 hindustantimes SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0

TAXATION
Goods and
Services Tax Corporate tax
Income ta x Amount (in lak
h crore rupees

TAX OVERVIEW crore rupees)

) Amount (in lakh crore rupees)
Amount (in lakh 2017-18
4.31 2017-18
5.71
2017-18 4.43

IN THE BUDGET 2018-19

4.73
2018-19

2019-20 BE
5.82
2018-19 6.64

There is a significant shortfall in tax 5.69 7.66

2019-20 BE
collections between 2019-20 BE and 2019-20 BE
2019-20 RE 6.63
5.60 6.11
RE figures. Because of the conces- 2019-20 RE 6.12
2019-20 RE

sions in corporate tax and income 2020-21 BE

6.38 6.81
tax rates, direct tax collections in 2020-21 BE 6.91
2020-21 BE

2020-21 are expected to be less uments The govern

Source: Budg
et do
cuments Source: Budget documents
Source: Budget doc
than the 2019-20 BE figures. The 14% rise in incom
e ment has es a 12% rise in Corporate
has estimated a Services Tax timated a 13 The government has estimated
The government absolute increase of co % ris
of about 78 llections in 2020-21, an e in Goods and ction s in 2020-21, an abso lute increase of about
government is hoping for a big tax collections in
2020-21, an ,000 crore ru
pees
absolute in
crease
Tax colle
e rupe es
re rupees 70,500 cror
growth in GST collections. about 78,500 cro

NEW SLABS OFFER TAX CUT, mybudgetmymoney

MAJ GEN (RETD) PS RATHORE, 65 RAJASTHAN

BUT WITHOUT EXEMPTIONS

SIMPLIFIED REGIME Tax rate on income in the range of ₹5­7.5 lakh per year will be halved to 10%

Gireesh Chandra Prasad

n letters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: Individual taxpayers

received major relief with Union
finance minister Nirmala Sithar-
aman on Saturday offering a
sharp reduction in tax rates for
those who do not avail of any
exemptions.
In line with the proposed new
simplified personal income tax
regime, the tax rate on income in
the range of ₹5-7.5 lakh per year
will be halved to 10%.
“Anyone who is earning
between ₹5 lakh to ₹7.5 lakh (a
year) today pays 20% in the cur-
rent regime. We are now making
it 10%,” the minister said in her
Budget speech. Those earning up
to ₹5 lakh are exempted in the
existing regime, which will con-
tinue to be the case in the new
optional regime too.
The minister said income in
the range of ₹7.5-10 lakh will
attract 15% tax in the new regime,
down from the prevailing 20%.
However, the new income tax
system is optional and a taxpayer
can choose to remain in the exist-
ing regime with exemptions and
deductions.
“The income between ₹10-12.5
lakh is presently taxed at 30%.
That is now being brought down
to 20%. The income between
₹12.5-15 lakh will be taxed at 25%
only, down from the current 30%.
Income above 15 lakh will con-
tinue to be taxed at 30%, but no
exemptions at all,” Sitharaman
said.
The rate cut announced in the
Union Budget is expected to cost
the exchequer about ₹40,000 crore
in annual revenue, the minister
said.
n People watch Sensex update outside BSE in Mumbai on Saturday.
The minister said the idea was
to reform personal income taxa-
tion, which is currently “riddled
with numerous exemptions.”
She said that the new simpli-
fied tax regime is being brought in
to provide significant relief in
individual taxation where the tax
rate will be significantly lower for
those who forego exemptions.
As per finance ministry’s cal-
culations, a person earning ₹15
lakh a year and not availing of
any deductions whatsoever, the
benefit of tax cut would be ₹78,000
a year under the new optional tax
regime.
The tax reforms proposed in
the Budget will stimulate growth,
simplify the tax structure,
improve ease of living and reduce
litigation, the minister said.
At present, those below the age
of 60 do not have to pay tax for
earning up to ₹2.5 lakh a year. In
this age group, those who have
taxable income above ₹5 lakh,
income in the range of ₹2.5 lakh to
₹5 lakh is taxed at 5% plus a cess at
4%. Income between ₹5 lakh and
₹10 lakh is taxed at 20% and
income above ₹10 lakh at 30% plus
cess.
Income above ₹50 lakh also
attracts a surcharge in four slabs,
making the income tax regime
more progressive. Older people
get relief in the basic exemption
limit.
As per the Budget document,
an individual taxpayer opting for
the new tax regime will not be
ANSHUMAN POYREKAR/HT PHOTO
entitled for deduction under 80C
of the Income Tax.
Section 80C provides deduc-
tion for contribution towards
insurance premium, deferred
annuity, provident fund and cer-
tain type of shares.
Taxpayer will also have to
forego deduction under 80CCC
(contribution towards certain
pension fund), Section 80D
(health insurance), 80E (interest
on loan for higher education),
80EE (interest on loan taken for
residential property), 80EEB
(purchase of electric vehicle), 80G
(donation to charitable institu-
tions), and 80G (rent paid).
Besides, a taxpayer opting for
the new scheme will not get tax
benefit for leave travel conces-
› The proposed tax
structure will provide
significant relief to
taxpayers and more so to
those in the middle class.
NIRMALA SITHARAMAN,
Union finance minister
sion (LTC), allowances for
income of minors, and certain
allowances of MPs/MLAs.
The tax benefit will not be
available in respect free food and
beverages through vouchers pro-
vided to employees.
However, certain deductions
are proposed to be retained in the
new regime, like conveyance
allowance for meeting expenses
in performance of duty and allow-
ance for travel on tour and trans-
fers.
“The Union Budget
announced by Finance Minister
focused on tweaking of personal
tax rates in a bid to boost purchas-
ing power and income of individ-
uals. However, the introduction
of new regime versus the old
regime wherein the overall taxes
have been reduced by scrapping
of the major deductions such as
LTA, 80C and HRA may not bene-
fit the common man but may
burn a hole in his pocket,” says
Nitin Baijal, director at Deloitte. HIMANSHU VYAS / HT PHOTO
Tax experts say ₹78,000 is the
maximum savings for an individ-
ual shifting to the new regime.
EXPECTATION
However, an individual may I expect lower tax rates for individuals. Also, prices of domestic appliances, petrol and
actually end up paying more tax
on shifting to the new regime if
diesel should come down. I hope the defence budget will go up for the modernisation
the deduction and exemptions of the defence forces. The government should procure new guns, equipment, aircraft
foregone are more than the sav- and ships. I hope the government has a plan to deal with the economic slowdown.
ings under the new regime.
Hence, it may require profes-
sional help.

BY APRIL 2021 BUDGET OFFERING

Make in India push: Duty Exemptions for UPSC It is a good budget for farmers, infrastructure and defence. The allocation for the
defence sector has been increased, which is a positive step and will result in moderni-

on footwear, furniture up staff, poll chiefs to go

sation. It was a very good budget for tax payers with lot of benefits for them.

HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
CHEAP, LOW-QUALITY
IMPORTS IMPEDE THE
outlived their utility. “On review,
certain such exemptions are
being withdrawn. Remaining
Sunetra Choudhury and
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
letters@hindustantimes.com
with these tax exemptions then
good luck to them,’’ said a former
Chief Election Commissioner,
For new rates, 10% TDS on capital
taxpayers must
n

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nir-

mala Sitharaman on Saturday
proposed raising customs duty on
items such as footwear and furni-
ture on the premise of promoting
“Make in India” and said the
items had been “picked up care-
fully” as the locally manufac-
tured products of comparable
quality were available in India.
“MSMEs (micro, small and
medium enterprises) should be
given a fair chance ... They pro-
duce these items in good quality
and quantity,” she said at a press
conference after presenting the
budget in Parliament.
Labour-intensive sectors
among MSMEs are critical for
employment generation. Cheap
and low-quality imports are an
impediment to their growth. Spe-
cial attention has been taken to
apply a measured restraint on the
import of such products, she said.
Sitharaman proposed similar
measures for the medical equip-
ment segment. “Till a few years
back, we were dependent on
imports for medical equipment.
Now, not only we are manufac-
turing medical equipment but
also exporting them,” she said.
To achieve the twin objectives
of giving impetus to domestic
industry and also to generate
resource for health services, she
proposed to impose a nominal
health cess on the imports of med-
ical equipment, she said. “The
proceeds from this cess shall be
used for creating infrastructure
for health services,” she added.
“It has been observed that
GROWTH OF LABOUR-
INTENSIVE SECTORS
AMONG MSMES, WHICH
ARE CRITICAL FOR
JOB GENERATION
imports under Free Trade Agree-
ments are on the rise. Undue
claims of FTA benefits have
posed a threat to domestic indus-
try. Such imports require strin-
gent checks. In this context, suita-
ble provisions are being incorpo-
rated in the Customs Act.”
The finance minister hinted at
a violation of rules of origin to
dump cheap goods, particularly
those manufactured in China, in
India through its FTA partners.
“In the coming months we shall
review rules of origin require-
ments, particularly for certain
sensitive items, so as ensure that
FTAs are aligned to the conscious
direction of our policy,” she said.
“We are also strengthening
provisions relating to safeguard
duties which are applied when a
surge in imports causes serious
injury to domestic industry.
Amended provisions shall enable
regulating such a surge in
imports in a systematic way.”
The provisions for checking
dumping of goods and imports of
subsidised goods are also being
strengthened for ensuring a level
playing field for domestic indus-
try, she said.
She said that many exemp-
tions from customs duty that had
been given in public interest had
custom duty exemptions shall be
comprehensively reviewed by
September 2020 for taking a view
on their relevance,” she said.
“I propose to crowd-source
suggestions for such reviews.
Suggestions would also be invited
in respect of the customs laws and
procedures for aligning them
with the needs of changing times
and ease of doing business.”
Under the “Make in India” ini-
tiative, well laid-out customs
duty rates were pre-announced
for items like mobile phones, elec-
tric vehicles and their compo-
nents. This has ensured a gradual
increase in domestic value addi-
tion capacity in India. “Customs
duty rates are being revised on
electric vehicles, and parts of
mobiles as part of such carefully
conceived phased manufacturing
plans,” the minister said.
Pratik Jain, partner & leader of
the indirect tax practice at PwC
India, said: “Changes incorpo-
rated in the Customs Act to pro-
vide for stringent checks on pref-
erential duty claims on goods
imported under a Free Trade
Agreement based on rules of ori-
gin requirements would necessi-
tate a complete review of current
imports by the businesses. There
has been a decision to review all
customs duty exemptions by Sep-
tember 2020, which is a direc-
tional shift to provide additional
incentive to domestic manufac-
turing. However, it will have to be
seen if increasing customs duty
alone would help the Govern-
ment meet this objective.”
NEWDELHI: One of the proposals of
the union budget presented on
Saturday is to do away with tax
exemptions that election com-
missioners enjoy. These perks,
which are equivalent to those
offered to Supreme Court judges,
are on the value of rent-free
accommodation, conveyance
allowance and medical allow-
ance.
The budget says that these
exemptions should be done away
with by April 2021 for not just
Election Commission members
but also members of the Union
Public Service Commission
(UPSC).
“This tantamounts to altering
conditions of service with retro-
spective effect and that too in the
Finance Bill,” an an Election
Commission member said on
condition of anonymity,
The budget document calls for
amending the EC Act of 1991
which entitles members of the
Commission to these perks.
It also proposes that Section 10
of the Income-Tax Act, 1995
which offered tax exemption to
perks to the UPSC chairman and
members should be completely
done away with.
Clause 45, was inserted by the
Finance Act, 2011; it also applies
to the retired chairman or mem-
bers of the UPSC and said that
allowances shouldn’t be
included in computing their total
income.
“If the government thinks
they can get rich by doing away
also on condition of anonymity.
These allowances and perks
include value of rent-free official
residence, value of conveyance
facilities including transport
allowance, sumptuary allow-
ance and the value of leave travel
concession provided to a serving
chairman or member of UPSC
and members of their family.
In the case of retired chair-
man and members of the UPSC,
the notification states that allow-
ances such as a maximum sum of
~14,000 per month for defraying
services of an orderly and for
meeting expenses incurred
towards a sectorial assistant on
contract basis and the value of
residential telephone free of cost
will be exempt from income tax
for the purpose of clause (45) of
section 10 of the act.
Meanwhile, the Election
Commission was on Saturday
allocated ~269 crore in the Union
Budget under the ‘Election’ head
as compared to ~255.46 crore last
year when the Lok Sabha elec-
tions were held.
A senior Law Ministry officer
and a former Election Commis-
sion functionary explained that
the amount allocated to the poll
panel would also be used for
“book adjustments” for expendi-
tures incurred in holding of LS
polls and other elections.
In the previous budget, the
Law Ministry was allocated an
additional sum of over ~666 crore
for conducting the Lok Sabha
elections which were held in the
summer of 2019.
forego PF, rent
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: A taxpayer opting for
new income tax slabs and rates
will have to forego a host of
exemptions and deductions,
including a deduction of ~50,000,
tuition fee of children, and contri-
bution towards insurance pre-
mium and provident fund.
In line with the proposed new
simplified personal income tax
regime, the tax rate on income in
the range of ₹5-7.5 lakh per year
will be halved to 10%.
However, the new income tax
system is optional and a taxpayer
can choose to remain in the exist-
ing regime with exemptions and
deductions. As per the Budget
document, an individual tax-
payer opting for the new tax
regime will not be entitled for
deduction under 80C of the
Income Tax. Section 80C provides
deduction for contribution
towards insurance premium,
deferred annuity, provident fund
and certain type of shares.
Besides, a taxpayer opting for
the new scheme will not get tax
benefit for leave travel conces-
sion, allowances for income of
minors, and certain allowances of
MPs/MLAs.The tax benefit will
not be available in respect free
food and beverages through
vouchers provided to employees.
gains in mutual funds?
Neil Borate
n letters@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI: The Finance Bill has,
perhaps unintentionally, intro-
duced TDS (tax deduction at
source) on capital gains in mutual
funds, along with TDS on divi-
dends, experts said.
Union finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman announced her
intention to abolish Dividend Dis-
tribution Tax (DDT) on mutual
fund dividends. These were to be
made taxable at slab rate and TDS
was to be deducted on them at 10%
for dividends exceeding ₹5,000
per year. Experts say the Bill also
introduced TDS on capital gains
in mutual funds for resident indi-
viduals. “Income under the act
includes capital gains. Hence cap-
ital gains in the hands of inves-
n People watch the stock exchange index in Mumbai on Saturday.
tors would also be liable for
deduction of TDS at 10%,” said
Dhruv Rawani, a Mumbai based
Chartered Accountant.
“Prima Facie, mutual funds
will be liable to deduct TDS on
capital gains as well as dividends
as per the Finance Bill. This gets
strengthened while reading the
definition of income under Sec-
tion 2(24) which includes capital
gains,” said Balwant Jain, a
Mumbai based Certified Finan-
cial Planner and Chartered
Accountant. “This will cause a lot
of hardship to mutual fund inves-
tors and would opens up an arbi-
trage with direct equity and
insurance investment products,”
he said. Currently, TDS is
deducted for NRI investors in
mutual funds but not resident
individuals. The latter have to
calculate and pay tax on the basis
of self-assessment.
AP
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
GOVT ABOLISHES
DDT, TO FOREGO
₹25,000 CRORE
DOUBLE-EDGED Companies and mutual funds no longer have to
pay dividend distribution tax on shares and MFs; benchmark
Sensex tanks 988 points as tax impact weighs on market sentiment
Jayshree P Upadhyay
and Neil Borate
n jayshree.pyasi@livemint.com
MUMBAI: Giving in to a long-stand-
ing demand by domestic compa-
nies, finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Saturday abol-
ished the Dividend Distribution
Tax (DDT), which will now be
imposed on investors instead.
“We propose to abolish DDT
and go back to the old classical
way of it being charged in the
hands of the receiver,” said
Sitharaman, adding that the total
tax foregone because of the move
was estimated at ₹25,000 crore.
DDT is a tax on dividends dis-
tributed by profit-making firms.
Given the difficulty of collecting it
from individuals, the govern-
ment asks firms to deduct the tax
and pay it on behalf of the inves-
tors. Currently, domestic compa-
nies pay DDT at 15%, but coupled
with a surcharge and cess, the
effective tax rate on the share-
holder is 20.56%.
Multinational companies
headquartered outside India pay
a higher tax rate, lower sur-
charge and no DDT.
DDT was hugely unpopular
because it did not allow foreign
investors to claim credit in their
home jurisdiction and led to
increased compliance for compa-
nies. Domestic companies were
also unhappy, seeing it as an
unfair second layer of taxation.
“Since dividends have been
axed for both stocks and mutual
funds, this will be favourable for
investors who are in the lower tax
brackets while resulting in addi-
theysaid
Our PM has the
› thought to give poor
people and farmers relief...
~2,83,000 crore has been
allocated for agriculture.
There is an entire roadmap
for the betterment
of agriculture
RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD , Union
minister
I did not find any
› strategic thing in it
(the budget). The main
issues are employment
and economy... income tax
has been complicated
RAHUL GANDHI, Congress leader
This is a very
› balanced budget
which prepares India to be
a $5 trillion economy and
covers a very vast canvas
on the social side of
economic development
PIYUSH GOYAL, Commerce minister
FM promises end to
› harassment to India
Inc and correcting the
Companies Act to
decriminalise many non-
compliances. A much-
needed message...
KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW ,
Biocon chairperson
n DDT is a tax on dividends distributed by profit-making firms
tional outgo for higher tax
bracket investors,” said Mrin
Agarwal, founder Finsafe India
Pvt Ltd.
“Particularly in debt funds,
abolition of dividends will vastly
improve returns for investors in
the lower tax brackets,” she
added. An investor in the 10% tax
bracket who earlier paid DDT at
29% on debt fund dividends will
now only pay 10%. Capital gains,
which are the other way of getting
returns in debt funds, are taxed at
slab rate for holding periods less
than three years. This makes a
lower DDT highly beneficial to
low tax bracket investors.
The stock market failed to be
enthused by the DDT abolition.
The benchmark Sensex index of
the Bombay Stock Exchange shed
987.96 points or 2.43%, to end at
39,735.53 points at the close of
trading. This was largely owing
to the levy continuing at mar-
ginal rates.
“Abolition of DDT could be det-
ISTOCK
rimental to the stock markets. As
the dividends will be taxed in the
hands of the shareholders at reg-
ular tax rate and in case of high
net worth individuals at the max-
imum marginal rates of 43%. This
may lead to a higher tax burden
for many investors. The expecta-
tion was that the shareholders
should be taxed at a concessional
rates,” said Girish Vanvari,
founder of tax consultancy
Transaction Square
This move was expected to
augment the investible funds for
corporate entities but it is the
impact on individual investors
that weighed on market senti-
ment.
Foreign shareholders stand to
gain from the move, as treaties
cap the dividend tax at 10% and
15% and can be even claimed as
credit in their home jurisdictions,
said Amit Maheshwari, partner
at Ashok Maheshwary & Associ-
ates, a chartered accountants’
firm.
n Arun Jaitley
Sitharaman begins
budget speech
with tribute to
Arun Jaitley
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: When finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman rose to
present the budget on Saturday,
she started with a tribute to her
predecessor, the late Arun Jait-
ley. Jaitley who was finance min-
ister in the first term of the Nar-
endra Modi government, died in
August last year.
“Of the structural reforms, the
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
has been the most historic in our
country. Its chief architect is not
with us today. I pay homage to the
visionary leader late Shri Arun
Jaitley ji,’’ said Sitharaman, who
has acknowledged in many inter-
views how Jaitley played the role
of a mentor to her.
On the benefits of GST’s intro-
duction, she quoted his words: “It
will be an India where the Centre
and States will work harmoni-
ously towards the common goal
of shared prosperity. The una-
nimity of the Constitutional
amendment and the consensus of
the GST Council highlights that
India can rise above narrow poli-
tics for the nation’s interest. With
the GST, neither the state nor the
Centre loses its sovereignty. They
will pool their sovereignty on
decisions on indirect taxes.”
Jaitley was instrumental in
pushing through GST, which
took effect in July 2017.
The finance minister then told
Parliament how the GST imple-
mentation had proved to be “true
to this vision’’ that Jaitley had,
resulting in “efficiency gains in
logistic and transport sectors.’’
‘Vivad se Vishwas’ to
reduce tax litigations
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman on Saturday
announced a new scheme, “Vivad
se Vishwas” (no dispute but trust)
to resolve 483,000 direct tax dis-
putes pending in various tribu-
nals. The scheme offers waivers
off penalty and interest if the dis-
puted amount is paid before
March 31, 2020.
“This year, I propose to bring a
scheme similar to the indirect
tax, Sabka Vishwas, for reducing
litigation even in direct taxes,”
Sitharaman said in her budget
speech.
In her first Budget, presented
on July 5, 2019, Sitharaman had
proposed the “Sabka Vishwas”’
legacy dispute resolution scheme
for litigation related to excise and
service tax payments. The
finance minister told Parliament
that the scheme had resulted in
settling of over 189,000 cases.
“Under the proposed “Vivad se
Vishwas” scheme, a taxpayer
would be required to pay only the
amount of the disputed taxes and
will get complete waiver of inter-
est and penalty provided he pays
by 31st March, 2020,” she said.
“Taxpayers in whose cases
appeals are pending at any level
can benefit from this scheme. I
hope that taxpayers will make
use of this opportunity to get
relief from vexatious litigation
process,”she said. Those who
avail the scheme after March 31,
2020 will have to pay some addi-
tional amount, she said.
A finance ministry official,
hindustantimes
n People wait to file their returns at special counters set up by the tax
department in Bangalore. Under the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ scheme, a
taxpayer would be required to pay only the amount of the disputed
taxes and will get complete waiver of interest and penalty provided
he pays by 31st March, 2020
Taxpayers in whose
› cases appeals are
pending at any level can
benefit from this scheme
NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, FM
who requested anonymity said
10% more will be charged as
interest and penalty after March
31.
” In cases, where litigation is
over interest and penalty, the
matter could be settled by paying
25% of the amount by March 31
and 30% after the cut-off date. The
offer will remain open till June 30,
2020,” the official said.
Experts said the effectiveness
of the scheme depends on the
details that would be notified by
the Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) soon. “Introduction of
TAXATION
AP FILE
“Vivaad se Vishwas” scheme, in
line with the “Sabka Vishwas”
scheme, for direct tax dispute res-
olution, is a welcome move. The
details would need to be ana-
lysed,” said Rajeev Dimri, part-
ner and co-head of the tax prac-
tice at KPMG India.
Fatema Hunaid, partner,
Grant Thornton India LLP said
the scheme “seems appealing as a
one-time measure.”
According to data compiled by
Dhruva Advisors in its research
paper, Tax Dispute Resolution in
India: Trends and Insights,at the
Income Tax Commissioner
(Appeals) level alone, the
locked-in amount was ~6.38 lakh
crore as of March 31, 2018. An
additional ~4.96 lakh crore is
stuck in disputes pending at other
forums such as the Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal, high courts
and the Supreme Court.
03
Taxpayers’ charter
to help stop
harassment at
hands of officials
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
n gireesh.p@livemint.com
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman on Saturday
proposed a taxpayers’ charter in
the Income Tax Act to ensure fair-
ness to all assessees and to make
sure that officials, in their quest to
collect taxes, do not end up har-
assing citizens.
Also, steps will be taken to
remove criminal liability for
offences under the Income Tax
Act, which are civil in nature, she
said in her Budget speech.
“An important aspect of ease of
living and ease of doing business
is fairness. Businesses should
have the confidence that things
are fair and that the tax adminis-
tration is efficient. We wish to
enshrine a tax payers’ charter in
the statute. Our government
would like to reassure tax payers
that they will not be harassed. Tax
harassment cannot be tolerated
when we speak about wealth cre-
ation,” said Sitharaman.
The minister said certain
offences under the Companies
Act are being decriminalised.
STEPS WILL ALSO BE
TAKEN TO REMOVE
CRIMINAL LIABILITY
FOR OFFENCES UNDER
THE INCOME TAX ACT
04 hindustantimes SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0

TAX CALCULATOR
WHAT THE BUDGET MEANS FOR YOU
Does Budget 2020 put more money in your pocket? The tax changes are full of fine print and will benefit
just a tiny fraction of the 35 million Indians who pay income tax in absolute terms. However, it will
improve the liquidity (or cash in hand) position of many who opt for the new regime
For the industry, abolition of DDT is
WHO GAINS, WHO LOSES?
Bank deposits upto
₨5 lakh, up from the
Cess and surcharges stay
the same, not providing
G Secs to be available
through ETFs giving
Higher tax payers do not
benefit, no real boost to
› a welcome move. However, the
corporate tax reduction and the
personal income tax slab under the tax
current ₨1 lakh, any additional relief to households safe money in hand even for regime need a lot of computing. This
insured. taxpayers. returns. those at lower levels. change will benefit only a certain section
of the society.
DDT scrapped, but divi- FM says ₨78,000 saved The effective tax rates LIC, IDBI disinvestment NIRANJAN HIRANANDANI, President, The Associated
Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
dends get taxed in your in taxes under the new are now 11 due to slabs, will bring transparency,
hands; those in 20% tax tax system for individual surcharges, with the depth to market; good The personal tax reduction was
slab worse off. earning ₨15 lakh highest rate at 42.74% for stock investors.
› well-intentioned but the flip side is
that removal of exemptions could have
negative implications for savings. More
WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY INCOME TAX THE TAX YOU ACTUALLY PAY could have been done for the real estate
Surcharge plus health and education cess on income tax make the effective rate sector beyond increasing the window of
Old tax system that you end up paying much higher. As per the old tax system
tax exemptions by a year.
You pay no tax up

7 If your annual taxable income is NAVNEET MUNOT, ED and CIO, SBI Mutual Fund
to a taxable
income of ₨ Lakh
The option to individuals to opt for a
If you factor in deduction of ₨1.5 lakh
under Section 80C and standard
deduction of ₨50,000 applicable to the
salaried and pensioners
₨12lakh
30% + 4% health and
education
cess
55lakh
₨
30% + 4% health and
education cess+
10% surcharge
5
₨ crore
30% + 4% health and
education cess+
37% surcharge
› lower tax slab structure with no
deductions or to continue with the
earlier higher slabs with deductions
= = = seems slightly confusing... it is
New tax system
imperative to give incentives to young
You pay no tax up 31.2% 34.2% 42.7%
to a taxable
income of ₨ 5Lakh
You let go of your deductions, but a rebate of
India to save for the future.
KRISHNA KUMAR KARWA, Managing Director, Emkay
Global Financial Services

Disappointment of equity market

₨12,500 takes your tax liability to zero
TAXING INVESTMENTS
Gains from the sales of assets are taxed
depending on how long you hold them.
› appears an overreaction but there
are sentimental issues over the selling
pressures gaining momentum. In what
HOW MUCH DO THE The marginal tax rate is the amount of
Here’s a quick guide to the taxes you’ll have
to pay on capital gains next year. Rates way the removal of DDT helps the tax
SUPER RICH PAY? additional rupees you pay per ₨100 of
income. The highest marginal tax rate kicks
include surcharge and cess
burden of investors as they might pay up
Highest marginal tax rate in once an individual breaches the highest
LISTED STOCKS
tax bracket. India taxes high-earning
more by way of income tax.
individuals more than USA but less than If you sell within a year: 15.6% HK PRADHAN, Professor, finance and economics
at XLRI

45% 45% 42.7%

China and South Africa. If you sell after a year: 10.4%
The tax exemptions to sovereign

37%
33%
GOLD
If you sell within 3 years: Max. income tax rate you pay
If you sell after 3 years: 20.8%
› wealth funds (SWFs) is a good step
by the government - most of the
developed assets have seen
REAL ESTATE investments by SWFs and this can only
be aided by the tax break. It should also
22% If you sell before 2 years: Max. income tax rate you pay
If you sell after 2 years: 20.8%
help complete infrastructure projects.
SANJEEV KRISHAN , Partner and Leader - deals, PWC

EQUITY-ORIENTED MUTUAL FUNDS There seem to be very few

If you sell within a year: 15.6%
If you sell after a year: 10.4%
› measures to boost demand and
revive the economy. The change in DDT
will hurt shareholders who are in the top
DEBT-ORIENTED MUTUAL FUNDS tax bracket. However, the tax and
growth rate projections seem over-
If you sell within 3 years: Max. income tax rate you pay
optimistic and the government may miss
If you sell after 3 years: 20.8%
China South India US Canada Singapore the target.
Africa PARTHAPRATIM PAL, Professor, IIM Kolkata

The personal I-T cuts for the middle

DDT GONE, DIVIDEND TAX STAYS
Dividend will be taxed in the hands of
investors at slab rate
YOUR TAX LIABILITY UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM
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For people under 60 (with ~1.5 lakh deductions) For senior citizens (above 60 years of age)
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salary old regime new regime Savings salary old regime new regime Savings
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750000 150000 33800 39000 -5200 750000 300000 0 39000 -39000 ZARIN DARUWALA, CEO, India,
stocks funds 1000000 150000 85800 78000 7800 1000000 300000 52000 78000 -26000 Standard Chartered Bank

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slab rate slab rate For people under 60 (with ~3lakh deductions) For very senior citizens (above 80 years of age) individuals [and]... higher investments.
JAIDEEP HANSRAJ, Managing Director and CEO,
Gross Deductions Tax under Tax under Gross Deductions Tax under Tax under
Kotak Securities
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SAURABH MUKHERJEA, Founder,
Marcellus Investment
Source: Mint research, EY
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
POLITICS OF BUDGET
‘BUDGET OF VISION, ACTION’ India story, BJP’s fortunes
What the budget means
PM ADDRESS Says special emphasis on sectors that are major job sources — agri, infra, textile, tech
Saubhadra Chatterji
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Nar-
endra Modi hailed the decade’s
first Union budget as one that
will boost jobs and financially
empowering common people, a
day after he said that the Eco-
nomic Survey, presented on Fri-
day, outlined a strategy to make
India a $5 trillion economy.
In a televised statement after
Union finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman presented the bud-
get in Lok Sabha on Saturday,
Modi said that the budget has
both “vision and action” and the
unleashed reforms will “ensure
speed to the economy, empower
every citizen financially, and
strengthen the foundations of
the economy of this decade”.
He dubbed it a “Jan Jan ka
Budget”, or a budget for every
person. Modi’s emphasis on jobs
-- he outlined the underlying
employment opportunities in
several of the budget announce-
ments -- comes at a time when
political opponents have
slammed the National Demo-
cratic Alliance (NDA) govern-
ment for rising unemployment.
In 2019, a report of the National
Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
had stated that India’s unem-
ployment rate hit a 45-year high
of 6.1% in 2017-18, triggering
widespread criticism of the gov-
ernment’s handling of the econ-
omy. The government, however,
BUDGET PLAN
Govt proposes to slash import duty on newsprint to 5%
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Union finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman announced
on Saturday a reduction in basic
customs duty on imports of news-
print and lightweight coated
paper from 10% to 5%.
Addressing the Lok Sabha
while presenting her second
Union Budget, Sitharaman said
she had received references say-
for
n PM speaks on the Union Budget, in New Delhi on Saturday.
All in all, this Budget will fulfil the aspirations of
› future along with the present needs.
NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister
maintains that the numbers in
this survey are not strictly com-
parable with previous surveys.
The PM pointed out in his
address on Saturday that four
sectors that are major sources of
jobs — agriculture, infrastruc-
ture, textiles and technology —
have got special emphasis and
attention in the budget.
He also linked the tax conces-
sions given to start-ups and real
estate firms with more job oppor-
tunities for young people. He
said that investments will see
creation of jobs, and the econ-
ing that the levy on newsprint has
put additional burden on the
print media at a time when it is
going through a difficult phase.
“I, therefore, propose to reduce
basic customs duty on imports of
newsprint and lightweight coated
paper from 10% to 5%,” she added.
In the last budget, the govern-
ment had imposed 10% basic cus-
tom duty on newsprint and light-
weight coated paper.
The budget has also proposed
PTI
omy will gain momentum
through “historic steps” taken to
bring investments.
The PM spoke at length about
personal income tax, maintain-
ing that the country’s tax system
has started a new journey
towards trust from the old days
of dispute. “We have decided to
decriminalise the lapses which
are of a civil nature in our com-
pany laws. We will also clearly
put in place the rights of a tax-
payer through the taxpayers’
charter,” the PM said.
In her budget speech, Sithara-
to abolish anti-dumping duty on
PTA (Purified Terephthalic
Acid). “PTA is a critical input for
textile fibres and yarns and its
easy availability at competitive
prices is desirable to unlock
immense potential in the textile
sector which is a significant
employment generator,” news
agency ANI quoted the minister
as saying.
The Indian Newspaper Society
(INS) had earlier urged the gov-
man laid emphasis on “trusting”
citizens, including current and
future taxpayers. She linked the
taxpayers’ charter with Modi’s
vision of an improved goal of
Ease of Living in India.
Modi maintained that the
decision to remove dividend dis-
tribution tax (DDT) will leave
~25,000 in the hands of the com-
panies which will be used for
fresh investments. He was hope-
ful that the measures in the bud-
get would lead to more invest-
ment because tax concessions
have been given for foreign enti-
ties as well.
The PM spoke about meas-
ures proposed for farmers with
the aim of doubling their
incomes. “The 16 action points
envisaged by the government
will help in boosting jobs in the
rural sector. While integrated
approach in agriculture will add
value to horticulture, fisheries
and animal husbandry, youth
will get new opportunities in fish
processing and marketing under
the ‘blue economy’,” he said.
Modi also said that the gov-
ernment’s flagship health
scheme Ayushman Bharat has
been expanded and it would lead
to jobs, manufacturing, and
improvement in expertise and
services. “The human resource
of this sector — doctors, nurses,
attendants, and also manufac-
turing of medical devices -- will
see a lot of scope.”
He pointed out that even in
ernment to save the newspaper
industry by scrapping the 10%
duty imposed on newsprint and
uncoated paper used for printing
newspapers, and lightweight
coated paper for magazines.
The total consumption of stan-
dard newsprint in India is 2.5 mil-
lion tonnes and indigenous mills
have a capacity of just 1 million
tonnes, the INS had said.
The Executive Committee of
the Indian Newspaper Society,
areas of technology, the govern-
ment has tried to boost employ-
ment. He listed new smart cities,
electronic manufacturing, data
centre parks, biotechnology and
quantum technology as areas
where many policy initiatives
have been taken.
“This is help us making India
as an integral part of the global
value chain,” said Modi. Giving
a long list of schemes and high-
lights of the budget, the Prime
Minister said: “I am confident
that this budget will boost
income and investment. It will
also boost demand and consump-
tion and give new momentum to
financial system and credit
flow.”
Opposition parties, however,
were unimpressed. “Overall,
this budget is lacklustre, and will
not get the economy back on
track,” said Telugu Desam Party
MP Jayadev Galla. The Trina-
mool’s Derek O’Brien main-
tained that the budget has
reduced the economic crisis to a
disaster and Indian economy has
shifted from “ICU to ventilator”.
In a series of tweets, Congress
chief spokesperson Randeep
Singh Surjewala slammed the
budget. He tweeted that “the
BJP, which believes in two-na-
tion theory, has introdcued two
tax systems to divide the taxpay-
ers. This is nothing but a puzzle
for the salaried class. They will
have to give more tax than the
old system.”
had, at its emergency meeting
last year, urged the Centre to
withdraw the 10% customs duty
which was announced by Sithar-
aman during the budget speech
on July 5 last year. “Publishers
are reeling under financial pres-
sure due to lower advertisement
revenues, higher costs and digital
onslaught. Newspapers will go
into deeper losses due to this
imposition,” the INS had said.
(With agency inputs)
hindustantimes
PRASHANT
JHA
W
hen Nirmala
Sitharaman got
up to present her
second budget,
the overall politi-
cal-economy context would have
cast a heavy shadow on her mind.
Growth has slipped, jeopardis-
ing both macro economic stabil-
ity. Inflation has spiked, poten-
tially leading to citizen discon-
tent. Industry sentiment is low,
with the private sector either
unwilling or unable to invest.
Unemployment is high, and
demand has slipped, generating a
potentially vicious cycle.
All of this has not yet had a
direct national electoral impact.
But the Bhartiya Janata Party’s
less than expected performance
in various state elections, and the
growing social unrest, which pos-
sibly has economic roots, was a
warning that the government
needed to get its economic story
right. The economic dip has also
had foreign policy implications,
for diplomats acknowledge that
they would have been able to bet-
ter present the government’s case
if the world was still convinced of
the Indian economic story.
This is a heavy cross to bear for
any finance minister. Has she
done enough to not just address
the economic roots of the slow-
down, but politically reassure the
BJP’s voters that things are on
track and diplomatically reas-
sure the world that India remains
a bright spot?
The answer is mixed.
Sitharaman began with reiter-
ating that the government had
taken a range of measures —
which amounted to structural
reforms. This is partially true.
But perhaps, there was a need for
an acknowledgment that the
economy has been in crisis — and
this has stemmed not just from
global but local factors. This
acknowledgement would not
have been seen as weakness —
the government has enough polit-
ical room and legislative heft —
THE BJP HAS SOUGHT TO
REASSURE THE WORLD
THAT INDIAN ECONOMIC
STORY IS ON TRACK AND
ITS SUPPORTERS THAT
THEIR INTERESTS ARE
IMPORTANT
but as strength.
She then structured her
speech into three big themes — of
an aspirational India, economic
growth for all, and a caring soci-
ety. In itself, these goals are laud-
able, but what does it mean for
specific groups?
Take the politics first. The
BJP’s core constituency is the
middle class — though it must be
acknowledged that the party has
now moved substantially beyond
this segment. The proposed
changes in a new tax regime will
bring cheer to this constituency.
It is however not fully clear
whether, without exemptions,
taxpayers do benefit substan-
tially under this regime — or
whether they will choose to opt
for the older regime. But it does
give a degree of relief, and
enhances the disposable income
in the hands of a large segment of
taxpayers. Politically, this may
help, including in the upcoming
polls in Delhi, which is home to a
substantial middle class. Eco-
nomically, the government hopes
that this will revive demand —
whether that happens is still to be
seen.
The second constituency that
the BJP was keen to send a mes-
sage to was the farmers, whose
incomes have dipped. Sithara-
man presented an elaborate
16-point roadmap to revive agri-
culture and allied activities —
from a reform in agricultural
markets to improved backward
linkages, from seeing farmers as
also energy producers, especially
in solar, to a boost to the blue
economy. These are all signifi-
cant points. But they are medi-
um- to long-term reforms. And
whether it will help boost rural
incomes — which is an immedi-
ate priority, for the slump in rural
05
demand has caused much of the
economic slowdown — is
unclear, especially in the absence
of a rural stimulus.
The third leg in the FM’s
approach was a focus on industry
and infrastructure. The govern-
ment is clearly hoping that some
relief to companies, assurances
on tax harassment, commitment
to wealth creators, a renewed
push to manufacturing, and a
heavy deployment of infra fund-
ing would lead to a virtuous eco-
nomic cycle — where investment
kick starts, jobs are created, peo-
ple have more money, and
demand picks up.
Once again, on paper, this is a
sound plan. But past experience
has shown that operationalising
this is often more difficult than
thought. Despite five years of
politically high-profile cam-
paign, Make in India hasn’t deliv-
ered the mass scale manufactur-
ing jobs the government had
hoped. Infrastructure projects
still operate more slowly than
envisaged. The fact that the mar-
kets — which have shown
remarkable resilience despite
dim economic indicators —
crashed on Saturday reveals that
industry and investors are not
quite convinced of the govern-
ment’s road map.
Put it all together, and here is
what you have. The BJP, some-
what free from electoral pres-
sures this year, adopted a cau-
tious approach. It has sought to
reassure the world that Indian
economic story is on track, and
reforms will pay dividends
sooner than later.
It has sought to reassure its
older supporters — the middle
class — as well as its newer sup-
porters — in rural India — that
their interests are important to
the government. It has also relied
on a traditional economic pre-
scription of investment leading to
growth to stall the slowdown.
But, given the scale of the eco-
nomic crisis, it may not be
enough. If Sitharaman’s gamble
does not pay off, the BJP may
have reason to worry, for there is
a possibility that the economic
outcome and the political out-
come will slowly begin aligning.
06 hindustantimes
THE RURAL
ECONOMY
MGNREGS spending exceeded
budget estimates by more than
~10,000 crores in 2019-20. The
government also could not spend
the budgeted ~75,000 crore for
PM-KISAN. There has not been
much increase in rural spending if
one compares BE numbers for
2019-20 and 2020-21
SUBSIDY CUTS OUTWEIGH
ACCESS TO FARM CREDIT
HIGHLIGHTS Slashed fertiliser subsidy is likely to impact farmers directly by increasing cultivation costs
Sayantan Bera
n sayantan.b@livemint.com
NEW DELHI: The budget presented
on Saturday promised to bring
prosperity to farmers through a
series targeted interventions,
from improved market access to
higher access to credit but
slashed the fertiliser subsidy by
₹9,000 crore.
The food subsidy bill was also
cut by a massive ₹69,000 crore,
from ₹1.84 trillion in 2019-20
(budgeted estimate) to ₹1.15 tril-
lion in 2020-21.
Lower provisioning toward
food subsidy means that the
Food Corporation of India (FCI),
the central agency that pro-
cures cereals from farmers and
supplies it to beneficiary house-
holds under the public distribu-
tion system, will be borrowing
from the National Small Sav-
ings Fund to make up the deficit,
said Siraj Hussain, former agri-
culture secretary.
Further, a cut in food subsidy
implies that despite a deterio-
₹1.37L cr allocated
for SC, ST, OBC
welfare; over ₹9K
crore for Divyang
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI :Finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman on Saturday
announced the budget provi-
sions of about ₹85,000 crore for
the welfare of the Scheduled
Castes and the Other Backward
Castes and another ₹53,700 crore
for the welfare of Scheduled
Tribes.
These numbers aren’t easily
comparable because they are
drawn from spends across min-
istries.
“This government is mindful
of the concerns of senior citizens
and Divyang (persons with disa-
bilities). Accordingly, an
enhanced allocation of about
₹9,500 crore is being provided for
2020-21”, she said.
The allocation for the depart-
ment of empowerment of per-
sons with disabilities was
₹1,204.90 crore in 2019-20.
At a pre-budget interaction
held on January 10, some of the
suggestions presented to Sithar-
aman by her party colleagues
included sops for scheduled
tribes and castes -- such as
increasing the scholarship
amount for SC/ST students; ask-
ing nationalised banks to offer
loans to five SCs instead of just
one for green field projects under
the ‘Stand-Up India’ scheme.
In February 2019, the then
interim finance minister Piyush
Goyal announced a 35.6%
increase in allocation for welfare
of scheduled castes from ₹56,619
crore in FY 2018-19 to ₹76,801
crore in FY 2019-20. The alloca-
tion under the Scheduled Tribes
component was increased 28%
from ₹39,135 crore in 2018-19 to
₹50,086 crore in 2019-20.
IN FEB 2019, THE THEN
INTERIM FINANCE
MINISTER PIYUSH GOYAL
ANNOUNCED A 35.6%
INCREASE IN ALLOCATION
FOR WELFARE OF SCS
FROM ₹56,619 CRORE IN FY
2018­19 TO ₹76,801 CRORE
IN FY 2019­20
16 ACTION POINTS FOR AGRICULTURE
~2.83L cr outlay — ₨1.6L
1 cr for the agri, ₨1.23L cr
for rural development
AGRICULTURE CREDIT
2 target for the year
2020-21 set at
~15 lakh crore
Comprehensive
3 measures for 100 water-
stressed districts
proposed
BLUE ECONOMY to
4 provide a boost to
fisheries
rating food security situation in
rural India driven by jobless-
ness, stagnating wages, and ris-
ing food inflation, coverage
under the scheme is unlikely to
increase.
In fact, the Economic Survey
released on Friday advised the
government to reduce coverage
under the National Food Secu-
rity Act, 2013, to the bottom 20%
Nutrition scheme gets a ₹3.7k-cr fillip
Amrita Madhukalya
n amrita.madhukalya@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: The gender budget allo-
cation saw a marginal increase
even as Poshan Abhiyaan, the
nutritional programme under
the Integrated Child Develop-
ment Services Scheme (ICDS),
has been allocated ₹3,700 crore in
the Union budget. This marks an
increase of 8.8% from the alloca-
tion last year of ₹3,400 crore.
“Emphasising on nutrition as
a critical component of health,
Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to
provide ₹35,600 crore for nutri-
tion-related programmes for the
year 2020-21,” said a women and
child development (WCD) minis-
try press release about the alloca-
tion for nutrition across all minis-
tries. The ministries of WCD,
health and family welfare, and
Slash in MGNREGS
fund by over ₹9K cr FM delivers longest budget
Saubhadra Chatterji
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman’s budget for
fiscal 2020-21, presented in Par-
liament on Saturday, slashed
funds for India’s flagship rural
job guarantee programme by
₹9,500 crore at a time the rural
economy is confronting distress
caused by stagnant wages, cycli-
cal vagaries of the weather and a
larger economic slowdown.
The government allocated
₹61,600 crore in the next fiscal
year, starting on April 1, to the
Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme (MGNREGS) against
expenditure of ₹71,001 crore in
the revised estimate (RE) for FY
2019-20 on the programme.
The steep cut indicates the
government’s stretched finances
at a time when many experts had
suggested that the Centre spend
more money on the job pro-
gramme to boost the rural econ-
omy and put more money in the
hands of rural poor. MGNREGS
guarantees 100 days of manual
work a year to at least one mem-
ber of every rural household.
In last year’s budget, the gov-
ernment had allocated ₹60,000
crore for MGNREGS, the highest
allocation for the scheme.
MGNREGS fu
nd allocatio
decreased n llocation
Actual 2018-19
61,815
Budget 2019-2
0 60,000
Revised 2019-2
0 71,002
Budget 2020-2
1 61,500
In the MGN
REG
expenditure S scheme, the demand
fr
the budgeted om government was m r
amount in 20 ore than
19-20
KISAN RAIL to be
5 launched for a seamless
national cold supply chain
for perishables
KRISHI UDAAN to be
6 launched for both interna-
tional and national routes
One-Product
7 One-District for better
marketing and export in
HORTICULTURE SECTOR
PM-KUSUM to encou-
8 rage farmers to switch
to environment-friendly
solar pumps
of India’s population, compared
to the 67% now.
The survey also recom-
mended raising the central
issue price, or the price poor
families pay to purchase subsi-
dised food from ration shops,
which now stands at ₹2-3 per kg.
The cut in fertiliser subsidy is
likely to have a direct impact on
farmers by reducing fertiliser
human resource development
are primarily responsible for
nutrition.
In her budget speech, Sithara-
man announced a new task force,
which will recommend in six
months policy prescriptions to
lower India’s maternal mortality
rate. WCD ministry officials said
the force will have officials from
Niti Aayog, health and WCD min-
istries, and deliberate the ideal
age of marriage of a woman.
The WCD ministry’s allocation
-- ₹30,007.10 crore -- amounts to an
increase of 3.6% from the grant
last year of ₹29,164.90 crore,
which is only 0.9% of the total
budget this year, a decline from
last year’s 1.04%.
Nutrition remains the focus of
the WCD ministry’s budget allo-
cation, with the ICDS getting
₹28557.38 crore. It marks a mar-
While the government has
shied away from committing
higher allocations for
MGNREGS at the beginning of
the new financial year, it has,
however, substantially
increased the allocations for
rural roads by nearly ₹5,000
crore. The Pradhan Mantri
Gram Sadak Yojna has been
given ₹19,500 crore, up from the
revised estimate of ₹14,070 crore
in the FY19-20.
The higher allocations come
in the backdrop of the govern-
ment’s emphasis on creating a
wider network of rural roads
that cannot only ease the move-
ment of people from villages to
district headquarters or further
but also help farmers to bring
their produce to the market.
The government has also
increased allocations for the
rural housing scheme, one of the
most popular welfare schemes of
this current regime. As against
the revised estimate of ₹18,475
crores, the finance ministry has
allotted ₹19,500 crore to the pro-
gramme, indicating additional
resources for achieving higher
targets for the scheme.
Similarly, the government
has also increased allocations
under the national livelihood
mission to ₹9,210 crore from
₹9,024 crore.
PM-KISAN a
underutilis
(in ~ crore)
75,000
Budget 2019-2
fo
The g overnm en
about thre
for PM-KIS
VILLAGE STORAGE
9 SCHEME to provide
farmers a good holding
capacity
13
NABARD to map and
10 geo-tag agri-warehous-
es, cold storages, refer
van facilities
14
Financing on Negotiable
11 Warehousing Receipts
(e-NWR) to be
integrated with e-NAM
15
Focus on LIVESTOCK to
12 double of milk
processing capacity to
108 mn MT by 2025
16
availability and increasing the
cost of cultivation, besides
impacting the liquidity situa-
tion of the fertiliser manufac-
turers.
Apart from major subsidies
like food and fertiliser targeted
at rural India, the budget papers
showed an incomplete roll-out
of PM-Kisan, the direct cash
assistance scheme for farmers
ginal increase of 3.5% from
₹27584.37 last year.
The grant for Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao scheme, which Sithara-
man referred to in her speech, has
declined by 21% from ₹280 crore
to ₹220 crore.
The allocation for the women’s
helpline has increased by 68.72%
from ₹17.78 crore last year to ₹30
crore. The One Stop Crisis Cen-
tre, which records complaints
received from women affected by
violence, has been granted 40%
more funds--₹385 crore this year
compared to ₹274 crore.
As per the gender budget state-
ment, an overview of all of the
Centre’s schemes that benefit
women partly or wholly, the allo-
cation for this fiscal is ₹1.4 lakh
crore, an increase of 4.7% from
last year’s ₹1.3 lakh crore.
The Centre for Budget and
BETI BACHAO REMARKS PROMPT PROTEST
27.5% increase for
speech of over 2 hrs, 40 mins Swachh Bharat
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Nirmala Sitharaman
delivered the longest budget
speech by a finance minister in
recent years. She spoke for two
hours, 40 minutes and 16 seconds
and there were still a few pages
left when she felt unwell and
ended her speech.
Clad in a bright yellow sari
with a light green border, Sithar-
aman recited a Kashmiri verse,
quoted poets Thiruvalluvar and
Kalidasa among others, and even
referred to the Saraswati-Sindhu
civilization.
Quoting late former prime
minister Rajiv Gandhi without
taking his name, she said, “A
former Prime Minister had once
voiced a concern that the fruits of
the welfare schemes were not
reaching the intended citizens –
the common and deserving citi-
zen was only receiving 15 paisa of
every rupee sent for him.”
Sitharaman’s first budget
speech in July 2019 after the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government returned to
power in the Lok Sabha elections
was also long. It went on for
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
RURAL FOCUS
Expenditure in key depa
rtments for rural areas
ed Department of Agriculture,
(in ~ crore) Department of Rural
Cooperation and Farmers' (In ~ crore)
Welfare Development
75,000
54,370
Actual 2018-19 46,076 111,842
Budget 2019-20 130,485
117,647
Revised 2019-20 101,904 122,649
Budget 2020-21
134,400
-20 Budget 2020
-21 120,147
Revised 2019
0
disburse on
ly
The government has bud
t expects to udgeted amount get
departments after failing ed a modest increase in the allocation of the
of the b
e-quarters to spend the budgeted two
in 2019-20 amount in 2019-20
A N
mybudgetmymoney
SS BHOGAL, 71, businessman PUNJAB
Balanced use of all kinds
of fertilisers – traditional
organic and innovative
fertilisers.
Measures for organic,
natural, and integrated
farming
DEEN DAYAL ANTYO-
DAYA YOJANA – 0.5 crore
households mobilised for
poverty alleviation
States who undertake
implementation of model
laws (issued by the
Centre) to be encouraged
launched ahead of the general
elections last year.
In 2019-20 the government
spent ₹54,370 crore under the
scheme, compared to the ₹75,000
crore it had planned, saving a
staggering ₹21,000 crore.
So far, only 84 million out of
an estimated 145 million farm
households in India have bene-
fited under the scheme.
Governance Accountability‘s
Sakshi Rai said, “...There is a
focus on redressal and aftercare
than checking the violence. Like EXPECTATION
HARSIMAR PAL SINGH /HT PHOTO
last year, the allocation for the
transgender community, too, is
missing completely... This needs
The government should reduce taxes and rationalise the criteria for exemption
through investments. In the previous budget, the government provided major corpo-
to be corrected.”
The allocation for Ujjwala
rate tax relief, but only to select units. The corporate tax relief should be for all busi-
scheme for providing LPG con- ness entities. There is need to simplify the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The complica-
nections to poor households has tions are too many. Evasion of GST is harming the industry.
seen a dip of 59%. It has been allo-
cated only ₹1,118 crore this year.
Dr Ruth Manorama of the
National Alliance for Women
said, “...when we dive deep into
BUDGET OFFERING
the budget, we see that there are The budget has met 50% of my expectations. The I-T relief and initiatives announced
limited budgetary provisions for
women, particularly women
for health and education are good steps. The start-ups have been exempted...this is
from marginalised communities. bound to enhance...economic growth. For cycle industry, nothing has been announced
Even where allocations register ... I was expecting some reduction in taxes on cycle parts. There is nothing for medium,
some increase, they are not ade-
quate to bring about transforma-
small and micro enterprises, which are reeling under the burden of taxes.
tional change...”
Saubhadra Chatterji population, still defecated in the
n letters@hindustantimes.com open in 2018 because of “cultural
around two hours and 17 min- Gadkari to offer her a candy that and other reasons”. The govern-
utes. This time, some of her might soothe her throat. Gadkari, NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Naren- ment however, had junked this
remarks on the success of govern- who carries a handful of sweets in dra Modi’s pet cleanliness claim. The ODF Plus will focus on
ment schemes such Beti Bachao his pocket, promptly obliged. He scheme, Swachh Bharat Mission, better waste management to
Beti Padhao prompted loud pro- had earlier offered one to home has been given a 27.5% hike in ensure higher levels of cleanli-
tests from the opposition minister Amit Shah as well. funds as the government wants to ness.
benches. Trinamool Congress Food processing minister shift from building toilets to bet- “Our government is commit-
leader Kalyan Banerjee termed Harsimrat Kaur Badal also came ter waste management. ted to ODF Plus in order to sus-
her projection of nominal GDP at to the finance minister’s place The Swachh Bharat Mission tain ODF behaviour and to
10% the “biggest joke”. and offered a candy. was allotted ₹9,638 crore in the ensure that no one is left behind.
Also, Sitharaman on many But Sitharaman, by now, was revised estimate in FY2019-20. Now, more needs to be done
occasions repeated certain too tired and unable to continue, Presenting India’s first general towards liquid and grey water
announcements, insisting that so she finally decided to cut short budget in the new decade, finance management. Focus would
they were important. Opposition her speech and told Speaker Om minister Nirmala Sitharaman also be on solid waste collection,
members, especially Trinamool Birla to consider the rest of the allotted ₹12,294 crore for the pro- source segregation and process-
member Mahua Moitra, were speech as read. As she sat her in gramme, a hike of 27.5%. In the ing,” she said in her budget
repeatedly heard requesting her her seat, Trinamool Congress FY19-20, the government had speech on Saturday, while
not to repeat the announcements. member Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, allotted ₹12,644 crore but a large announcing that the “total alloca-
During her speech, Sithara- who is a doctor by profession, mount remained unspent. tion for Swachh Bharat Mission
man had water for the first time rushed to the finance minister to Sitharaman underlined that is about ₹12,300 crore in 2020-21”.
after speaking for two hours and inquire about her health. the NDA government will con- The scheme, which was rolled
35 minutes and she asked for it Soon after the House was tinue to push for the next phase out from October 2 in 2014, has so
repeatedly.
Congress leader in the Lok
adjourned, the PM walked up to
her and greeted her. Before leav-
after meeting its initial target of
making India open defecation
far built 10.2 crore toilets across
the states, according to the offi-
Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary ing the House, Sitharaman waved free (ODF). cial data.
twice requested her to lay on the at her daughter, Vangmayi Park- The government’s claims how- Achirangshu Acharya, econo-
table of the House the rest of her
speech but she insisted on read-
ala, and three other family mem-
bers who were sitting in the gal-
ever, has been countered by a
team of demographers led by
mist with Viswa Bharati, said
that “the Swachh Bharat Mission
ing it. At one point, Prime Minis- lery. Dianne Coffey, a visiting has been a very successful
ter Narendra Modi and defence Congress president Sonia Gan- researcher at the Indian Statisti- scheme of the Modi government.
minister Rajnath Singh asked her
to sit and deliver the speech but
dhi and Samajwadi Party leader
Mulayam Singh Yadav were con-
cal Institute. The team found that
at least 43% of rural people in
But the new phase requires a
larger involvement of the admin-
she refused. The Prime Minister spicuous by their absence in the Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajast- istration ...greater resource
was also seen asking road trans- House. Congress leader Rahul han and Uttar Pradesh, account- mobilization is required for this
port and highways minister Nitin Gandhi was present. ing for two-fifths of India’s rural second phase.”
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
FOCUS ON BETTER MEDICAL Top 100 institutes will
offer online degrees: FM
CARE, BOOST TO EDUCATION
WELLNESS No budgetary increase for
Ayushman Bharat, but it got the biggest
share of health allocation at ~6,429 cr
Rhythma Kaul
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Health and family
welfare was allocated ~ 67,484
crore in the union budget 2020, a
3.8% increase over last year’s
budgetary outlay of ~64,999
crore.
Although there was no bud-
getary increase for the Naren-
dra Modi government’s flagship
health insurance scheme,
Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna
(AB-PMJAY), it got the biggest
share of the health allocation,
receiving ~6,429 crore for
2020-21.
“We have a holistic vision of
healthcare that translates into
wellness of the citizen. Mission
Indradhanush has been
expanded to cover 12 such dis-
eases, including five new vacci-
nes. Fit India movement is a
vital part of the fight against
non-communicable diseases
coming out of lifestyle issues. A
very focused safe water (Jal
Jeevan Mission) and compre-
hensive sanitation programme
(Swachch Bharat Mission) have
been launched to support the
health vision. That would
reduce the disease burden on
the poor,” finance minister Nir-
amala Sitharaman in her budget
speech.
The finance minister under-
lined the need to strengthen
medical infrastructure and
build human resources to
improve the quality of medical
colleges, especially at the dis-
trict level, and increase the
number of empanelled hospitals
under the Ayushman Bharat
scheme in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
Around 20,000 hospitals are
empanelled with AB-PMJAY,
with the majority being in
metropolises and state capitals.
“Budget 2020 has sharpened
the focus on skilling and upgra-
dation of medical human
resources. Under the National
Board of Examinations, large
hospitals with sufficient capac-
ity will be encouraged to train
resident doctors in super-speci-
ality courses. Bridge course for
nurses and paramedics for
equivalence with foreign
courses will be designed by
health ministry and Skill Devel-
opment together with profes-
sional bodies,” said Union
health minister Harshvardhan.
There is a significant
increase – from ~4,733 crore in
2019-20 to ~6,020 crore this year
-- for the Pradhan Mantri Swas-
thya Suraksha Yojna, which is
the central scheme that deals
with tertiary care hospitals,
including new All India Insti-
tute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS) or AIIMS-like hospi-
tals, and medical education.
“The budget estimates for the
department of health and family
welfare show an appreciable
increase of 3.75%, while there
has been a 10% hike in the allo-
cation for the department for
health research. This indicates
the government’s strong focus
on the health sector,” said
Harshvardhan.
Policy think tank Niti
Aayog’s proposal to allow pri-
vate entities to run medical col-
leges attached to district hospi-
tals under the public private
partnership (PPP) model found
mention in the finance minis-
ter’s speech.
Following the National
Health Policy document, Sithar-
aman stressed the need for pub-
lic-private partnerships to help
build hospitals and sustain
health infrastructure in under-
DIP/Shabdarth/D/0320/19-20
n Patients queue up at a civil hospital in Gurugram on October 8, 2018.
served areas.
Apart from running medical
colleges, the PPP model will also
be used to create more hospitals
in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to be
empanelled under the Ayush-
man Bharat scheme.“112 aspi-
rational districts to get prior-
ity,” she said.
“Proceeds from taxes on med-
ical devices would be used for
development of hospitals... The
government will provide viabil-
ity gap funding (VGF) for the
process,” said Sitharaman.
Using VGF to set up hospitals
in 112 aspirational districts has
been welcomed by industry. “It
will help create robust health
infrastructure especially in
areas where Ayushman Bharat
benefits have not reached yet
especially to the weaker section.
We hope to see more invest-
ments in primary care and digi-
tal health to achieve the goal of
Health for All,” said H Sudar-
shan Ballal, president, NAT-
HEALTH, a healthcare industry
body.
Sudarshan Jain, secretary
general, Indian Pharmaceutical
Alliance, said, “While the incen-
tives in terms of using taxes on
medical devices to build the
health care ecosystem and addi-
tional hospitals in tier 2 and 3
are commendable, other initia-
tives, such as the New Export
Incentive Scheme, are needed to
really give India a competitive
edge in the global health care
market.”
The central allocation for
crucial programmes such as the
National Health Mission
(~34,290 crore to ~34,115 crore)
and National AIDS Control Pro-
HEALTH/EDUCATION
YOGENDRA KUMAR/HT PHOTO
gramme (~2,956 crore to ~2,900
crore) remained almost the
same.
The government-run Jan
Aushadhi stores that sell
generic medicines at cheaper
than market rates will be
expanded to every district in the
next four years, with improved
number of medicines and surgi-
cal items, said the finance min-
ister.
Dr K Hari Prasad, President,
Apollo Group Hospitals, told
news agency IANS that after
many years, health care
received significant importance
in the budget. “Swachch Bharat,
clean drinking water, improved
nutrition for women & children,
Fit India movement and well-
ness centres are great initia-
tives promoting wellness and
are welcome,” he said.
Amandeep Shukla
n amandeep.shukla@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: India’s 100 top educa-
tional institutions will start offer-
ing full-fledged degree courses
online, finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman said in her budget
presentation on Saturday, in a
boost to digital learning, and the
doors are set to be opened for for-
eign direct investment (FDI) in
the education sector. India will
also conduct an Ind-SAT test to
screen Asian and African stu-
dents eligible for scholarships to
pursue education in the country.
In her budget speech, Sithara-
man sought to meet the expecta-
tions of an “aspirational India”
by focussing on the employability
of young graduates. “By 2030,
India is set to have the largest
working-age population in the
world. Not only do they need liter-
acy but they need both jobs and
life skills. Dialogues have been
held with state education minis-
tries, members of Parliament and
other stakeholders about the edu-
cation policy. Over 2 lakh sugges-
tions were also received. The
New Education Policy (NEP) will
be announced soon,” she said.
Significantly, one of the key
elements of the draft NEP is
allowing foreign universities to
offer educational programmes in
India.
Sitharaman, too, spoke about
greater inflow of foreign funds.
₹9K-cr allocated for senior citizens
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI : Presenting the union
budget for 2020-21 in the Lok
Sabha on Saturday, Union
finance minister Nirmala Sithar-
aman announced an allocation of
~9,000 crore for the welfare of sen-
ior citizens.
“This government is mindful
of the concerns of senior citizens
and Divyang. Accordingly, an
enhanced allocation of about
~9,500 crore is being provided for
hindustantimes
AN IND-SAT TEST FOR
ASIAN AND AFRICAN
COUNTRIES SHALL BE
USED TO BENCHMARK
CANDIDATES FOR
SCHOLARSHIPS
“It is felt that our education sys-
tem needs greater inflow of
finance to attract talented teach-
ers, innovate and build better
labs. Therefore, steps would be
taken to enable sourcing external
commercial borrowings and FDI
so as to able to deliver higher-
quality education,” she said.
Sitharaman also said that stu-
dents in the general stream, vis-à-
vis services or technology
streams, need improved employ-
ability to qualify for better jobs.
About 150 higher educational
institutions will start apprentice-
ship-embedded degree or
diploma courses by March 2021,
she added. The government also
proposes to start a programme
whereby urban local bodies
would provide internships to
fresh engineers for up to one year.
To provide quality education
to students of underprivileged
sections, the government pro-
poses to open the doors for
degree-level, full-fledged online
education programme. This shall
be offered only by institutions,
which are ranked among top 100
2020-21,” Sitharaman said.
Divyang is a term that means a
person with a divine body and
was suggested by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for describing
people with disabilities.
Currently, income up to ~2.5
lakh for resident individuals
(aged below 60 years) is exempt
from tax. Similarly, for senior cit-
izens aged 60 years and above but
below 80 years, income up to ~3
lakh is exempt from tax.
For senior citizens (aged 60
years or above but less than 80
07
in the National Institutional
Ranking framework. Initially,
only a few such institutions
would be asked to offer such pro-
grammes, Sitharaman said.
Another key announcement
was that under the “Study in
India” programme, an Ind-SAT
test will be conducted for Asian
and African countries. It shall be
used to benchmark candidates
who receive scholarships to
study in India. She said the gov-
ernment plans to provide about
~99,300 crore for the education
sector in 2020-21 and about ~3,000
crore for skill development.
Asked about the budget
announcements, an official said
a scheme was being prepared to
attract FDI in line with the decla-
ration. Indian Institute of Tech-
nology Delhi director, Prof V
Ramagopal Rao, welcomed the
move to encourage online pro-
grammes. Although undergradu-
ate courses would continue to be
taught the same way at the elite
engineering schools, other
courses like Master of Business
Administration or Master of Arts
could be offered online, he said.
Dheeraj Sharma, director,
Indian Institute of Management
Rohtak, said: “This is a welcome
move and will facilitate degree
granting to new applicants and
new students to specific pro-
grams that are offered online and
blended learning mode in various
top-ranking institutions.”
years), income up to ~3 lakh is
exempt from tax.
For so-called super senior citi-
zens, aged 80 years and above,
income of up to ~5 lakh is exempt
from tax. Income from ~300,001 to
~5 lakh is taxed at 5%, from
~500,001 to ~10 lakh at 20% and
above ~10 lakh at 30%.
The finance minister also allo-
cated ₹53,700 crore for the uplift of
scheduled tribes, and ₹85,000
crore for the welfare of scheduled
castes and other backward
classes.
08 hindustantimes
TRANSPORT
INFRA BOOST
The budget has increased overall
capital expenditure. This is seen in a
rise in allocation for the ministries
of road and railways. The govern-
ment has also announced comple-
tion of ambitious projects such as
Delhi-Mumbai expressway and
Bengaluru suburban railway
100 NEW AIRPORTS
PLANNED BY 2024
PROPOSAL Krishi Udan Yojana to be launched on international, national routes
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@htlive.com
NEWDELHI: The union budget pre-
sented by finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman has proposed
creating 100 new airports by 2024
to help growing air traffic under
Centre’s Udan scheme.
The budgetary allocation for
the civil aviation sector reduced
by around 16%from ₹4500 crore
(budget estimate) in 2019-20 to
₹3797.71 (BE) in 2020-21. Revised
estimates for 2019-20 were ₹3700
crore.
“Air traffic has been growing
rapidly in the country as com-
pared to global average. One hun-
dred more airports will be devel-
oped by 2024 to support Udan
scheme. .. .” the finance minister
said. The government’s Udan
scheme is aimed at making air
travel affordable, improving
regional connectivity and devel-
oping regional airports.
Sitharaman also announced a
Krishi Udan Yojana to be
launched by the ministry of civil
aviation on international and
national routes.
“The Krishi Udaan Yojna, to be
launched on international and
national routes, will immensely
help in bringing our North-East &
tribal districts to the forefront.
This will help investors realise
the unearthed potential of these
regions and attract investment
from all quarters. This budget
RSS affiliates hail
budget, welcome
agriculture plan
Smriti Kak Ramachandran
n smriti.kak@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: The affiliates of ruling
BJP’s ideological fountainhead,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), have welcomed the Union
budget, which includes a
16-point plan to revive agricul-
ture and allied sectors, and sops
for the medium, small and micro
enterprises (MSME) sector.
“The focus on infrastructure
like manufacturing of solar pan-
els will benefit MSMEs and help
in job creation,” said Jitendra
Gupta, regional member of
Laghu Udyog Bharati (LUB), an
RSS-linked national confedera-
tion of MSME units.
It also welcomed raising of
turnover threshold for audit
from ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore. The
limit will apply only to busi-
nesses that carry out less than
5% of their transactions in cash.
“Measures to strengthen
checks on imports due to free
trade agreements (FTAs), focus
on rules of origin and imposing
safeguard duties, proposal to
invoke import duties on non
essential products are good. We
are not against FTAs, but they
have to be on India’s terms,” said
Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM)’s
national co-convenor, Ashwani
Mahajan.
On the proposed disinvest-
ment of Life Insurance Corpora-
tion (LIC), Mahajan said the SJM
opposes strategic disinvestment,
but is not against the sale of
shares to the general public. The
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
(BMS) criticised the move, say-
ing it will cease to serve the soci-
ety once private profit mongers
are brought in.
The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
(BKS), a representative body of
farmers, said the overall alloca-
tion of ₹4.06 lakh crore for the
agriculture and rural sectors
should have been more.
The affiliates were also
pleased with earmarking of
funds for cultural projects.
n On Monday, the government had announced a plan to sell its entire stake in Air India.
also gives wings to aspirations of
the common citizens by allocat-
ing resources for development of
100 more airports under UDAN
scheme by 2024,” Union civil avia-
tion minister Hardeep Puri said.
“The budget announcement
for developing 100 new airports
by 2024 is a welcome initiative. It
will definitely boost air traffic
and tourism in hitherto lesser
connected regions in the country.
However, the proposed develop-
ment of new airports must be
complemented by a holistic air-
Kisan Rail to help farmers
transport perishable goods
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: Indian railways will
start a ‘Kisan Rail’ through Pub-
lic-private partnership (PPP)
with refrigerated coaches for
transportation of perishable
goods to assist farmers, set up
solar power plants on railway
land and along tracks besides
redeveloping four stations and
operationalising 150 private pas-
senger trains, Union finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman
announced in the union budget
on Saturday.
“To build a seamless national
cold supply chain for perisha-
bles, inclusive of milk, meat, and
fish, the Indian railways will set
up a ‘Kisan Rail’ through PPP
arrangements. There shall be
refrigerated coaches in the
express and freight trains as
well,” Sitharaman said in her
budget speech. The railways’
subsidiary, Container Corpora-
tion of India, currently provides
reefer services.
Sitharaman said four stations
will be redeveloped including
Nagpur, Amritsar, Gwalior, and
Sabarmati. She also announced
the long-pending 148-km Benga-
luru suburban transport project
at a cost of Rs 18,600 crore. The
Centre would provide 20% of
equity and facilitate external
assistance of up to 60% of the
project cost.
Sitharaman said more Tejas
type semi-high speed, fully air-
conditioned trains will be intro-
duced to connect iconic tourist
destinations. She added the high-
speed train corridor between
Mumbai to Ahmedabad would be
completed by 2023.
Sitharaman said within 100
days of taking office last year, the
government commissioned 550
Wi-Fi facilities in as many sta-
tions and that unmanned cross-
ings have been eliminated.
Railway board chairman V K
Yadav said they have identified
51,000 hectare land along tracks
Budget alloca
tion (in
Ministry of Road
Transport and
Ministry of Ra
ilways
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20 RE
2020-21 BE
Source: Budget
The governm
ent has raised
allocation for
the ministry of e budget
transport and
highways by
the ministry of
railways by 3.2
craft leasing and financing policy
as announced in the last budget.
In addition to this, a hike in FDI in
aviation is highly warranted. We
need more players in the sky,
more aircraft to fly more passen-
gers,” said Ankur Bhatia, Manag-
ing Director, Amadeus, Indian
subcontinent.
The aviation sector will also
benefit from the move to incentiv-
ise Sovereign Wealth Funds to
invest in infrastructure, some
experts said. According to Ajay
Singh, Chairman and Managing
REFRIGERATED
CONTAINERS, ALSO
CALLED REEFERS,
FACILITATE MOVEMENT
OF CARGO REQUIRING
TEMP-CONTROLLED
ENVIRONMENT
and vacant land for solar plants
with the potential of generating
10 GW electricity. “Indian rail-
ways requirement today is only
3.8 GW, and even after 100% elec-
trification, we will be needing
only 5 GW. The rest can be mone-
tized,” he said.
HT in 2018 reported the rail-
ways plans to set up the plants to
generate 10 GW under the first
phase of the initiative.
The railways aims to electrify
100% of its total 64,298 km long
broad gauge network by 2024.
“By 2030, our aim is to run our
network through clean energy,”
Yadav said.
Sitharaman proposed ₹1.70
lakh crore for the transport
infrastructure. She also
announced the funding fine
print for the ambitious National
Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP),
which involves investment
opportunities worth ₹103 lakh
crore.
“ Out of the NIP, which is for a
period of five years, Rs 13.7 lakh
crore will be invested in the rail-
ways,” Yadav said.
In the last budget, the Centre
proposed capital expenditure of
Rs 1,60,175.64 crore for the rail-
ways, up from Rs 1,48,528 crore a
year earlier. Sitharaman had
last year said the railways net-
work will require an investment
of about Rs 50 lakh crore till 2030.
A total of Rs 72,215.63 crore
(budget estimate) has been allo-
cated for the railways in the cur-
rent budget. It marks a 6.1%
increase over Rs 68018.67 crore
(budget estimate) the previous
financial year. The allocation for
2019-20 was also revised to Rs
billion ~)
Road length awarded an Construction of national highways/road projects
Highways
610.15 20
452.31
773.01
549.13
15
10
830.16
699.67
918.23
documen
722.16
ts
th
road Note: 2019-20 figures as
10.6% and for
The gov ern me
% kilometres of roads hav
five years, while 34,000
REUTERS FILE
Director, SpiceJet, concessions to
sovereign and pension funds to
get long term funds for infra-
structure is a positive step.
“The minister has done an
extremely good job considering
the difficult situation she was in...
Importantly, this is the first bud-
get where the Centre has tried to
bridge the trust deficit with Cor-
porate India and the fact that the
FM has said that she will not tol-
erate tax terrorism and there will
be a tax charter are positive
signs,” he said.
69,967.37 crore.
HT on Friday reported the
railways is struggling to meet its
freight and passenger fare earn-
ings targets for the financial year
2019-20 amid dwindling finances.
“ In view of a recent report
that Indian Railways is possibly
heading towards a revenue defi-
cit for the current fiscal year, the
ability to finance these required
investments would be critically
dependent on time-bound imple-
mentation of projects as well as
enhancing the focus on asset
utilisation and revenue genera-
tion through responsiveness to
end-user requirements,” said
Peeyush Naidu, partner,
Deloitte India.
The 2019-20 railway budget
pegged its freight and passenger
targets for the fiscal year at Rs
1.43 trillion, up by 12.2 % from Rs
1.27 trillion for the previous
year. Its passenger targets were
pegged at Rs 56,000 crore, up 9.7%
from Rs 51, 066 crore.
According to the railway min-
istry’s cumulative data till
November, the freight earnings
stood at Rs 71,800 crore, 4.32 %
less than the same period last
year and 19.72 % lower than its
target for the period. The passen-
ger fare earnings till the same
period stood at Rs 35,254.05 crore,
up by 3.99% from last year and
5.33% less than its target for the
same period.
This also comes at a time
when the national transporter is
focussing on an operating ratio
of 95%, down from 97.3% in
2018-19. Operating ratio meas-
ures expenses as a proportion of
revenue or the amount spent on
every rupee earned. Yadav on
Wednesday said the railways is
currently reeling under finan-
cial stress and would struggle to
meet its operating ratio target
this fiscal.
The budget on Saturday
pegged the operating ratio target
at 96.2%. Sitharaman said the
railways has a “small operating
surplus.”
d constructed (in thousand kilo
s/road projects
Award of national highway
6.1
8.2
4.4
15.9
5
10.1
8.0
0 2018-19
2016-17
2014-15 2015-16
on 30 September,
nt has sanctioned more than 58,000
e been constructed
mybudgetmymoney
PRAGHYA ROY CHOWDHURY, 21, student
EXPECTATION
I expect the government to make health care and education affordable by increasing
allocations to reduce dependence on the private sector. The budget should generate
employment avenues and an atmosphere of academic excellence. I think education,
right up to the highest level, should be free for the poor.
BUDGET OFFERING
I do not support the decision to set up medical colleges and hospitals on PPP model as
this will hike education fees drastically. The government should do it alone. I also do
not support the new ‘study in India’ project. I feel that it will limit the scope of higher
education. Also, the overall structure of the new education policy will benefit only
those who have money rather than make education available to all sections.
Govt looks to monetise 12 highway stretches
of over 6,000km in 5 years, says Sitharaman
Anisha Dutta
n anisha.dutta@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: The Centre proposes
to monetise at least twelve lots of
highways spanning over 6,000
kilometres in a bid to encourage
the National Highways Author-
ity of India (NHAI) to pursue
commercialisation of roads to
raise funds, Union finance min-
ister Nirmala Sitharaman said
in the union budget on Saturday.
This comes at a time when the
highways construction arm of
the government is reeling under
debt of almost ₹2 lakh crore.
The toll-operate-transfer
(TOT) model introduced by the
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) government in 2016 ena-
bles the Centre to monetise pub-
lic-funded infrastructure and
build new assets. Under the
model, the highest bidder wins
the right to run and maintain
operating road assets for a pre-
decided tenure, and earn reve-
nue from toll collection during
the period. So far the centre has
auctioned three bundles to a
tepid response.
She also said the FASTag
mechanism aimed at reducing
congestion along toll plazas at
national highways and increas-
ing digital transactions “encour-
ages us towards greater com-
INFRASTRUCTURE
metres)
9.8
5.5
17.1
10.8
2019-20*
2017-18
2019-20
Source: Economic Survey
2019
kilometres of roads in last
DELHI-MUMBAI EXPRESSWAY
TO BE COMPLETED IN 3 YRS: FM
NEW DELHI: An accelerated
highways development
plan will be taken up and it
will include 9,000 km of eco-
nomic corridor and 2,500
km of access-controlled
highways, finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said
in Parliament on Saturday.
Besides, 2,000 km each of
coastal roads and strategic
highways will be con-
structed.
Sitharaman also said the
Delhi-Mumbai expressway
will be completed in three
years, in addition to two
more express highway pro-
jects. Work will also start
mercialisation of our highways
so that NHAI can raise more
resources. I propose to monetise
at least 12 lots of highway bun-
dles ... before 2024,” she said.
Accelerated development of
highways will be undertaken on
a priority basis, she said. This
will include development of 2,500
km of access-control highways,
9,000 km of economic corridors,
2,000 km of coastal and land port
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
Types of high
ways propose
9,000
Economic
corridors
2.1
2,000
4.6 Coastal and la
nd
port roads
The finance m
in
undertake ac ister said the governmen
celerated de
highways velopment of
WEST BENGAL
SAMIR JANA / HT PHOTO
on the Chennai project, she
said.
Terming a sound high-
ways network essential to
propel the economy, the
Economic Survey on Fri-
day said the highways sec-
tor needs ₹19.63 lakh crore
investment by 2024-25.
Total investment in the
roads and highway sector
has gone up more than
three times in the five-year
period of 2014-15 to 2018-19,
the Survey had said.
Of about 59.64 lakh km of
roads in India, National
Highways was 1.32 lakh km
as on March 1, 2019. HTC
roads and 2,000 Km of strategic
highways..
“Under the Bharatmala eco-
nomic corridor, 9,000 km is being
built, 6,000 km of inter-feeder
corridors, 2,000 km of coastal
connectivity, 2,000 km of border
and international connectivity
roads, 5,000 km of national corri-
dors , 800 km of expressways and
2,500 new access-controlled
highways...Our budget alloca-
d
Figures in km
2,500
Access control
highways
2,000
Strategic
highways
Sourc
e: Budget spee
ch
t
w ill
Bring in prepaid
smart meters in
three years: Govt
to states and UTs
Utpal Bhaskar
n utpal.b@livemint.com
NEW DELHI: Union Finance minis-
ter Nirmala Sitharaman on Sat-
urday urged states and Union
territories to replace conven-
tional electricity meters with
prepaid smart meters in three
years, to cut losses and set the
stage for separating the carriage
and content operations of power
distribution companies, or dis-
coms.Carriage refers to distribu-
tion aspect and content to power.
India’s average aggregate
technical and commercial
(AT&C) losses are at 21.4%, push-
ing up the dues of discoms to
power generating companies to
₹72,938 crore at the end of
November. Smart meters mini-
mize human intervention in
metering, billing and collection,
and help reduce theft by identify-
ing loss pockets. “Also, this
would give consumers the free-
dom to choose the supplier and
rate as per their requirements,”
Sitharaman said.
India’s proposed distribution
reform scheme—tentatively
named Atal Distribution System
Improvement Yojana (Aditya) to
cut electricity losses below
12%—starts with smart meters.
The scheme in the works aims to
ensure continuous supply,
adopting models such as priva-
tising state-run discoms and
having multiple supply, network
and distribution franchisees.
Experts welcomed the move.
“Some utilities can realistically
do it in three to five years. Simi-
lar is the case of implementing
smart meters in three years, pos-
sible for select areas and custom-
ers,” said Sambitosh Mohapatra,
partner, power and utilities,
PwC India.
“It will surely resolve long-
term viability issues of the power
sector and lead to a vibrant elec-
tricity market,” said Sanjeev
Aggarwal, chief executive offi-
cer, Amplus Energy Solutions.
The budget also extended the
corporate tax rate of 15% to new
domestic electricity generation
companies, and provided for
around ₹22,000 crore to the
power and renewable energy
sector in 2020-21.
tion has increased by nearly
three times since financial year
2014-15,” union road transport
and highways minister Nitin
Gadkari said.
The Bharatmala Pariyojana,
an umbrella project launched in
2017 and hailed as India’s biggest
highways development plan,
involves a total of around 24,800
km for construction in Phase 1.
In addition, it includes 10,000
km of work remaining under the
older initiative.
“The National Infrastructure
Pipeline (NIP) for 2019-2025
pegged the projected capital
expenditure for transportation
(covering roads, railways, ports
and airports) at about ₹ 35.7 lakh
crore – of which about ₹ 4.9 lakh
crore and ₹ 6.7 lakh crores were
projected for financial year 20
and FY21. Under this budget, the
finance minister proposed an
allocation of ₹1.7 lakh crore for
transport infrastructure for
FY20-21. This is marginally
higher than the ₹ 1.6 lakh crore
under the previous year’s bud-
get. Achievement of the overall
NIP target would be critically
dependent on the effective
involvement of the private sec-
tor and leveraging of additional
resources,” said Peeyush Naidu,
partner, Deloitte India.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 09
10 hindustantimes
Taxpayers mature, can save or spend
INTERVIEW
NIRMALA SITHARAMAN, Union finance minister
U
nion finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman pre-
sented the government’s
budget for the 2020-21
financial year on Satur-
day, signalling a focus on reviving
growth with a new income tax
scheme, a push for the rural econ-
omy, and some increased spending on
crucial issues such as air pollution.
Edited excerpts of her interview with
HT’s R Sukumar, Mint’s Anil Pad-
manabhan and Doordarshan’s
Ajay Mishra on Saturday.
Was this a tough budget to deliver look­
ing at the current state of the economy?
The current state of the economy is
showing signs of improving. Since
July, we held discussions with vari-
ous stakeholders and made
announcements on a weekly and fort-
nightly basis. From July to Decem-
ber, there has been an effort on sev-
eral aspects — on December 31, the
infrastructure pipeline was
announced. There have been continu-
ous and detailed discussions of the
finance ministry with industries and
the concerned ministries. This bud-
get addresses issues that were left
over. We have been working continu-
ously [since July] and if these efforts
help the general public, we will be sat-
isfied with the efforts.
One of the things that was expected
from this budget was a stimulus to
growth. If you had to pick two or three
themes from the budget that you think
will really give a stimulus to the econ­
omy, what would they be?
According to analysis by economists
and policy experts, if private invest-
ment is not picking up, where does the
buck stop? The buck stops at the gov-
ernment’s doors. The government
will have to show that it is not waiting
for private investments to happen –
that will happen when it has to hap-
pen. But we have to go about invest-
ing. And that’s what we made very
clear, saying ‘yes, we will invest and
in infrastructure’.
I want to put out some things to
strengthen this point. The Prime Min-
ister announced this [plan] during his
Independence Day speech that ₹100
lakh crore will be spent on infrastruc-
ture over five years. Soon after that,
we had a task force and we looked
into details. We consulted states and
the private sector and came up with
the pipeline of 6,500 projects. Within
four months, we were able to come
out with a complete pipeline of pro-
jects and, in this budget, we are help-
ing that pipeline see the light of the
day.
I have given enough concessions
for sovereign funds that want to come
into India but with the added condi-
tion that you invest in infrastructure.
We have already given ₹22,000 crore
for companies that will handhold and
direct investments towards these
pipeline projects. We are also invest-
ing in inland water connectivity pro-
jects… With all this, I want to say the
[the government is meeting the]
expectation that money should be
spent in creating assets.
A focus visible in the budget is the rural
economy and agriculture, where you
have pledged to spend ₹2.83 lakh crore.
In the 16­point action plan, how will you
work with the states? And in the context
of agriculture, how do you see it
addressing problems in backward and
forward linkage?
If you look at the 16 points as a contin-
uum, you will see it has been created
keeping backward and forward linka-
ges in mind. And in it, the work that
needs to be done in agriculture, and
the work that needs to be done in
agriculture-allied areas – all these
areas involve a specific role for
the youth. And to give them the requi-
site skills, skill development authori-
ties have already held several discus-
sions with multiple states. This is
why I am saying that the planning for
this budget did not start in the last
three weeks – it began in July. So
when it comes to youth, or allied
industries – they follow a principled
direction.
When you look at the rural economy, one
of the things that seem to have helped
this year was the job guarantee scheme
MNREGA. You originally budgeted
₹60,000 crore but ended up spending
close to ₹71,000 crore. This year, the
budget estimates are lower than that.
Are you expecting enough of a pick­up in
rural jobs and rural economy to offset
this or will you step in and invest more
› The principle behind the MNREGA is that when the
need arises, we will give it. But if you notice in my
speech, I have mentioned the scheme will be extended for
fodder creation. Because today livestock in many of the
water­distressed districts don’t even have fodder.
Maintaining livestock is becoming an issue. If it is possible
for us to use many of those not­so­fertile land – I wouldn’t
say they are barren – to cultivate fodder, your local
livestock will survive from it.
when a need arises?
The principle behind the MNREGA is
that, when the need arises, we will
give it. But if you notice in my budget
speech, I have also mentioned the
scheme will be extended for fodder
creation. Because today, livestock in
many of the water-distressed districts
don’t even have fodder. Maintaining
livestock is becoming an issue. If it is
possible for us to use many of those
not-so-fertile land – I wouldn’t say
they are barren – to cultivate fodder,
your local livestock will survive on it.
And that itself can be one of the
MNREGA activities. So we have tried
to tie up some loose ends with the
scheme.
One of the other things where there has
been a reduction from last year’s budget
estimates, is food subsidies. The fact
that you also ended up spending less
than what you budgeted last year sug­
gests a capacity, utilisation or an imple­
mentation problem.
It can also be seasonal. Sometimes
when people are migrating, and the
interoperability that we are bringing
in, it can be due to that. I don’t think I
will be able to put my finger on what
specifically caused it. But it is not a
conscious reduction from our side.
On direct taxation, what compelled
you to create the new slabs for Income
Tax? And now for individual tax payers,
what will be a better option, in your
opinion?
The idea behind this move was to
make tax filing easier and simpler for
the people. They should be able to
understand what the tax burden on
them is exactly. The myriad of exemp-
tions – 120 exemptions that have piled
up over the decades – also creates a
problem of revenue estimation for the
tax department. Moreover, as a tax-
payer, a person needs to turn to a pro-
fessional to understand what exemp-
tions they should use. Our belief was
that ultimately, tax should be simpler
and the burden lighter. This is why, I
can say that from now, we are begin-
ning on a path to reduce exemptions
while also lowering the rate. The total
saving because of reduced tax will be
high in the new scheme. I have also
asked the revenue secretary to issue a
clarification note today itself that
even in the new scheme, four new
exemptions have been added because
we do not want to tax the savings peo-
ple already have. Justifiable, simple,
straight-forward exemptions have
been added to the new system.
So the idea is over a period of time, all
exemptions will go?
Yes, we want to remove gradually
everything called exemptions. I am
not waiting for a golden day to do it,
but have started the process by offer-
ing a new stream. I am not forcing
people – you can continue to be where
you want to claim exemptions. But
gradually, when exemptions go, I will
also give an attractive rate.
Do you think the tax changes that you
made will be significant enough to
impact consumption?
Yes, I am giving you an example. A
person with a salary of ₹15 lakh per
annum will save ₹78,000 and he will
have to use that money – either in sav-
ings or in consumption.
So what about the fear that some people
have that savings are gone altogether?
I don’t want to believe that a taxpayer
will have to be goaded to save. A tax-
payer is smart enough, intelligent
enough, responsible enough to take a
call on how much he wants to spend
or save. We should trust him to that
extent.
On the tax issue, the new charter
appears to be the first time a govern­
ment has gone out and said that taxpay­
ers have the right to not be harassed.
Can you tell us a little bit about this?
I have gone around the country talk-
ing to tax administrators and said
that, ‘yes you have a target to collect
revenue but please don’t overreach –
we have been assuring taxpayers’. All
that is on one level, but the Prime
Minister himself has wondered if we
really respect the taxpayer. Hence,
we thought if we are clear about the
intention, why should we not put into
law? If my research is right, there are
only three countries that have it in
their law itself – Australia, USA and
Canada. I am glad we have joined that
league to assure taxpayers that this
government’s intention is to trust
wealth creators and taxpayers.
Our belief was that ultimately, tax should be simpler
› and the burden lighter. This is why, I can say that
from now, we are beginning on a path to reduce
exemptions while also lowering the rate. The total saving
because of reduced tax will be high in the new scheme. I
have also asked the revenue secretary to issue a
clarification note today itself that even in the new
scheme, new exemptions have been added because we
do not want to tax the savings people have
You took a leeway of 0.5 percentage
point to raise the fiscal deficit target
from 3.3% to 3.8%, and you say you
will, moving forward, return to a path of
fiscal discipline. What does the budget
say to domestic and international inves­
tors?
You are referring to the FRBM act –
and since circumstances now needs
us to increase spending, this has been
a deliberate decision. We have also
had issues with revenue generation,
since GST collections had not been up
to the target for a few months this
year. Given both of these circumstan-
ces, we have utilised the forbearance
clause [in the FRBM act]. Otherwise,
we would not have been reflecting the
truth.
If you look at all the numbers, there is a
level of pragmatism. Some of the tax
receipts you are estimating this year are
lower than last year. You think they are
achievable?
Yes, [benefits from] corporate tax cut
will have show after a time lag. But I
have to bear the brunt in showing that
I lost the money [in revenue] today. If
I am able to come back to some disci-
pline in fiscal deficit by saying 3.5% in
the budget estimate, it is because I
expect revenue generation to
improve.
The nominal growth expectation of 10%
is the lowest in a long time.
It is realistic, I think. Because we
don’t want to give an [another]
impression. In fact in the House when
I said this, some members misunder-
stood so I had to repeat that it is nomi-
nal GDP growth.
How will you define this budget, as a
matter of a central theme?
On social media, the ministry ran a
hashtag – JanJanKaBudget. That was
the objective, to touch every section.
And also to send the larger message
that this is a responsible government,
it knows its limitations and its
responsibilities. It is also a govern-
ment that knows that only half of
India’s potential is being utilised. We
will do whatever it takes to encourage
the utilisation of the country’s full
potential.
One very big strand of your budget has
been this emphasis on market forces.
To give you an example: normally
where FMs would have used the fiscal
space to spend more, you have chosen
the option of cutting taxes and giving
power to individuals and companies on
how they spend. Is this a seminal shift in
the ideological approach to budget
making?
It is a shift to suit, and in line with, our
ideology. The government has to do
only as much as is expected from a
government. The PM made this clear
when he said—government should
have an impact but not make you feel
indebted, the government’s role can-
not be overwhelming. If I have to con-
stantly spend, collect, it is never going
to end. You will never be able to work
out a mechanism through which the
economy can drive itself at a pace at
which it can move, not generate too
much heat and at the same time be
sustainable in the way in which it
moves forward. Most of the things
where we are putting our equity, we
are also saying it should be in Public
Private Partnership (PPP) mode. We
are also saying that states will also
have to be in it. This whole idea of
only the central or state government
(will spend) no longer works. It has to
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FM SPEAKS
AFP
be all three together. Where I have
land, I give you land. Where I have
power generation capabilities, I give
that but where others will have to
come in, they will.
Similarly in railways, some of the
prime routes are suffering because
net collection has not been improved
nor is cross-subsidy any longer justi-
fiable. You can’t leave the poor (pay-
ing) high rates. Some of these routes
will be given out in PPP model.
Bengaluru suburban is using railway
tracks around the city; the decision
between the state and us is that it
should be on metro pricing model. It
can’t be railway subsidising tickets
and the (state) government running
it. That is just not sustainable. In
everything that we have announced,
the directional change in which that
project will have to run for itself (is
made clear); eventually (it will have
to) be sustainable on its own, is the
plan.
Even in infrastructure, this sovereign
wealth fund, instead of the classic model
of the government going out and invest­
ing money you have created the space
for them to come in and made it very
attractive for them…
We have given them enough incen-
tive. We have made sure that the
money they earn over interest and
other things will not be taxed, pro-
vided they spend on infrastructure,
provided they lock in for a certain
number of years. It is not like it’s just
been given. Every single word uttered
in the budget has gone through differ-
ent layers and all of us will own it up.
The time that the PM has given to see
that they are falling in place is amaz-
ing.
The other thing that we have noticed
in the last five years is that the public
sector is no longer what your political
opponents call ‘family silver’. In this bud­
get, you have taken it to a different level.
You are trebling your disinvestment
receipts. Are we seeing another big
shift?
Yes. If you have noticed, I have said
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
The current state of the
› economy is showing signs of
improving. Since July, we have
been holding discussions with
various stakeholders and making
announcements on a weekly and
fortnightly basis [on measures to
improve the climate]. From July
to December, there has been an
effort on several aspects.
that money from disinvestment will
go to the companies which are going
to be investing in long-term infra-
structure. Sale of ‘family silver’ is not
going for revenue expenses, it is going
towards greater asset creation,
responsible disinvestment, responsi-
ble sale, if at all, of family silver. That
is again being put towards asset
creation. That asset which you
no longer can run efficiently and
make profit is clearly offloaded, but
here we put (the receipts) into the
infrastructure pipeline. The two com-
panies which I’ve mentioned will
receive the funds. They will take the
money. It is a responsible way in
which public expenditure is being
handled.
So you are saying it won’t be used to bal­
ance the fiscal deficit or to finance it?
No, I have very clearly told you that
this is how it is going. Is that a general
off-the-cuff remark? No. We have
already given ₹22,000 crore towards
pipeline projects to these two compa-
nies, which means we are putting the
money where our mouth is.
But is this number achievable?
Absolutely, I think because to be fair,
the last announcement was made in
July. Again to be fair, the officials
have done tremendous footwork to
get it all off the table.
LIC will be the key, I guess to meet the
disinvestment target..
The leg work was done between July
and now. Because all this has its own
timelines, I am not benefiting by the
same this financial year, but it’s going
to the next (fiscal). But ruthlessly to
think you did not do it within a finan-
cial year and will you be able to do it
next time is not right because this
time we have done the footwork and
it’s going to be ready immediately
after the commencement of the next
year.
And what is the idea behind getting LIC
to do an IPO?
(To get) More money to be invested by
retail investors, more money to come
in from others. Why should it be only
the government investing? More pub-
lic, more opening up. The crowding
out does not happen; crowding in
should come in now.
You are projecting an increase in your
income tax collections despite the cut
that you are pushing through right now;
so, do you think it is achievable?
I am keeping both the systems going,
right?
Or you are expecting some buoyancy?
Of course. Because income tax I don’t
think is suffering now. The direct tax
collection is going on fine. The GST
got affected and it is now restored.
In fact, there is a significant increase in
GST, even in these things… you are
expecting a recalibration of rates? You
are counting on that?
Yes, that will also be a part. But there
is a lot of removing the deadwood, the
evasion which is happening is being
plucked. Otherwise, technically, as
per media assessment, nothing has
changed in the overall.
Going back to your statement of
involving states as a stakeholder.
Are we also seeing this budget signal
the limits of a Union government
shouldering the economic burden as it
were, and is now looking to involve
states?
No, no I wouldn’t see it like that. Why
should we involve the states more?
(Because) Most of the activity hap-
pens there. The land is with them,
zones are with them. If we want every
district to be an export hub, the activi-
ties start from them. The economic
survey has one very interesting data
if you noticed. The Chief economic
advisor has based it on hard data
and he has taken on board nearly 480-
odd districts in doing that data.
Because of private entrepreneurship,
the growth is unbelievable at the dis-
trict level. So, why would it not have
an optimism about revenue genera-
tion?
The stock market seems to have reacted
adversely to the budget. As an FM, does
it concern you?
It is not a fully open stock market
today (Saturday). Not all wings of the
stock market have been operational
today. We will have to wait for Mon-
day.
So it doesn’t worry you as an FM?
I am confident that the stock market
will get the full picture of the budget
by Monday.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
₹4,400 CR FOR
CLEANING AIR
UP FROM ₹460 CR Million-plus cities attempting to improve air
quality may receive monetary incentives from the Centre: Sitharaman
Jayashree Nandi
n jayashree.nandi@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: The Union govern-
ment has allocated ₹4,400 crore
to deal with air pollution in cit-
ies with a million-plus popula-
tion, up from ₹460 crore last
year. Apart from the financial
boost to large cities implement-
ing the National Clean Air Pro-
gramme (NCAP), Union finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman
said state utilities will be
advised to close down old ther-
mal power plants that do not
meet the emission standards.
“There are yet thermal power
plants that are old and their car-
bon emission levels are high.
For such power plants, we pro-
pose that utilities running them
would be advised to close them if
their emission is above the pre-
set norms. The land so vacated
can be put to alternative use,”
she said in her budget speech.
Experts say closing old ther-
mal power plants will be a big
step forward in curbing air pol-
lution and meeting India’s
nationally determined contri-
bution under the 2015 Paris
Agreement, which aims to limit
a rise in average world tempera-
tures to below 2 degrees Celsius
above pre-industrial levels.
Eleven of 29 thermal power
plants identified for closure
have been shut down.
“More than 30 GW coal-based
electricity generation capacity
operational in India is older
than 25 years. These older
power plants are a big threat not
just to the environment and
public health but also to the
economy. Shutting down the
older coal-based plants and
replacing those with renewable
energy is the only way forward
for India. Good to see this
emphasis by the finance minis-
n State utilities will be advised to
close thermal power plants
that do not meet the standards.
ter in the budget speech today,
even though it was mentioned as
an advisory, but it shows the
government direction and is a
positive move,” said Centre for
Research on Energy and Clean
Air analyst Sunil Dahiya.
Sitharaman said the million-
plus cities attempting to
improve air quality may receive
monetary incentives from the
Centre. “The parameters for the
incentives would be notified...”
HT reported on January 12
that a year since its launch on
January 10 last year, only about
₹172 crore have been disbursed
under the NCAP to 102 cities
that did not meet the annual
PM10 (coarse, pollution parti-
cles) national standard from
2011 to 2015. Of the 102 cities, 28
had recorded PM10 concentra-
tion of more than 90 micrograms
per cubic metres from 2011 to
2015.
Air pollution experts said a
budget of under ₹500 crore to
deal with a public health crisis
like air pollution is grossly inad-
equate. In this year’s budget, the
₹4,400 crore is a commitment
made by the finance minister
but does not reflect allocations
made for programmes under the
environment ministry.
“This jump in financial com-
mitment for clean air action in
million-plus cities is welcome.
But it is not clear how this will
be disbursed for multi-sector
action for verifiable mitigation
and to meet NCAP target. The
environment ministry is
expected to design schemes and
incentives to leverage this fund.
But this proposed budget of
₹400,000 core for clean air action
in cities is not showing up in the
allocated budget for the envi-
ronment ministry, which is
about ₹3,100 core. We need more
details on this. But this spend-
ing must ensure a verifiable
reduction in pollution in tar-
geted regions,” said Centre for
Science and Environment (CSE)
executive director Anumita
Roychowdhury.
The NCAP aims to reduce the
concentration of PM2.5 (fine,
respirable pollution particles)
and PM10 in 102 cities by 20% to
30% by 2024 over the 2017 annual
average levels.
It has been criticised for not
having a legal mandate for
implementation. The NCAP
depends on a collaborative and
participatory approach, which
means it is not mandatory that
cities meet the NCAP targets. It
also does not have a regional
focus and is largely a city-ori-
ented plan.
In a piece in peer-reviewed
journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
of the United States of America
in May 2019, air pollution scien-
tists Joshua Apte and Pallavi
Pant wrote the NCAP would be
far more effective if it focused on
a regional approach as against
city-level plans.
More funds allotted to fight climate crisis
Jayashree Nandi
n jayashree.nandi@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: With the implementa-
tion of the Paris Agreement com-
mitments beginning on January
1, 2021, India has increased the
budgetary outlays for climate-
mitigation action across sectors.
During her budget speech in
Parliament on Saturday, Union
finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman said that the coun-
try’s commitments will be exe-
cuted in various sectors “by the
departments/ministries con-
cerned through the normal bud-
geting process”.
She added that Coalition for
Disaster Resilient Infrastruc-
ture (CDRI), launched by the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
last year, will aid climate change
adaptation through disaster
resilient infrastructure.
“India submitted its Nation-
ally Determined Contribution,
under the Paris Agreement in
2015 on a ‘best effort’ basis, keep-
ing in mind the development
imperative of the country. Its
implementation effectively
begins on January 1, 2021,”
Sitharaman said .
Environment experts said it
was good to see the climate crisis
feature prominently in the
Quantum computing research gets ₹8,000-crore push
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The Union govern-
ment plans to spend ₹8,000 crore
over the next five years to push
domestic research in quantum
computing, Union finance minis-
ter Nirmala Sitharaman said
during her budget speech on Sat-
urday, when she also announced
plans that will help the public
and businesses improve access
to digital technologies.
The announcements were
part of a plan meant to encourage
a “new economy” that made use
of technology such as artificial
intelligence, Internet-of-Things,
and data analytics. In terms of an
immediate spend, the govern-
ment will pump in ₹6,000 crore in
the coming financial year to
ENVIRONMENT/SCIENCE
Union budget.
“The budget re-emphasises
the importance India gives to
tackling climate change and its
associated impacts. Tackling the
issue of air pollution is of utmost
importance and it’s heartening
to see that being recognised in
the budget. The renewables
industry has also got a big impe-
tus. Utilisation of this allocation
will, however, have to be done
smartly,” said Karan Mangotra,
associate director, The Energy
and Resources Institute (Teri).
The budget also proposed to
provide about Rs 22,000 crore to
the power and renewable energy
sector in 2020-21, which will con-
tribute to mitigation of green-
house gas emissions. Last year,
the budget allocation for the
ministry of new and renewable
energy was Rs 3,891.74 crore (RE)
which has been increased to Rs
5,753 crore this time.
Sitharaman said the KUSUM
(Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam
Utthaan Mahaabhiyan) scheme
will be extended to provide 2 mil-
lion farmers with stand-alone
solar pumps. “A scheme to ena-
ble farmers to set up solar power
generation capacity on their fal-
low lands and to sell it to the grid
would be operationalised,” she
said, adding that the large solar
expand optical fibre-based high
speed internet connectivity to
100,000 gram panchayats.
“The new economy is based on
innovations that disrupt estab-
lished business models. Artifi-
cial intelligence, Internet-of-
Things (IoT), 3D printing,
drones, DNA data storage, quan-
tum computing, etc., are rewrit-
ing the world economic order,”
the minister said.
To help domestic digital com-
panies, Sitharaman added, the
government will bring out a pol-
icy to enable private sector to
build data centre parks through-
out the country. “It will enable
our firms to skilfully incorporate
data in every step of their value
chains,” she said.
The storage of digital data has
been a contentious issue, with
n The budget has proposed to provide ₹22,000 crore to power and
renewable energy sector.
power projects along railway
tracks is also in the pipeline.
But some experts said that
there was not enough allocation
for the adaptation to the impacts
of the climate crisis. “Under the
agriculture outlays, Budget 2020
has made an attempt to provide a
concerted policy push to create
and strengthen the nexus
between agriculture, water and
energy. These are fundamental
elements to enhance resilience
at the local level. But the how
part — the institutional and
incentive structures that drive
the implementation — is miss-
ing. The budget missed out the
replenishment of the much-
needed National Adaptation
Fund for Climate Change
India’s proposed data protection
set to force companies to keep
copies of user information on
Indian soil – a move that could
help domestic industry but upset
multinational service providers
such as Amazon and Microsoft.
According to experts, Satur-
day’s announcement was signifi-
cant for its focus on quantum
computing. “This is the next
frontier of science and technol-
ogy. It will make all classical
technology of today obsolete.
There is already a saturation in
classical devices, and based on
Moore’s law this is the next 20
years. And, we have to be in the
game. With this mission, our
investment in quantum technol-
ogies will be on par with what
China, the EU or the USA made
not very long ago,” said Prof
hindustantimes
HT ARCHIVE
(NAFCC). For two consecutive
years, this has been ignored,”
said Nambi Appadurai, director,
Climate Resilience Practice at
World Resources Institute,
India.
India has made eight broad
commitments under the Paris
Agreement --to put forward a
healthy and sustainable way of
living based on traditions; to
adopt a climate-friendly and a
cleaner path than the one fol-
lowed by others at a correspond-
ing level of economic develop-
ment; to reduce the emissions
intensity of its GDP by 33-35% by
2030 from 2005 levels; to achieve
about 40% cumulative electric
power installed capacity from
non-fossil fuel energy resources
Ashutosh Sharma, secretary,
department of science and tech-
nology.
Moore’s law is the observation
that the number of transistors in
an integrated circuit doubles
every two years – which roughly
translates to computing power
doubling in the same period.
Quantum computing is based
on the physical concept of quan-
tum mechanics – which has the
potential of ushering in a new
generation of processors that are
predicted to have capacities far
beyond what current computers
are capable of. The most pioneer-
ing research in the field has till
now been carried out by private
firms such as Google and IBM.
The mission will focus on
areas such as quantum comput-
ing, quantum communication,
11
by 2030; to create an additional
carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion ton-
nes of CO2 equivalent through
additional forest and tree cover
by 2030; to better adapt to climate
change by enhancing invest-
ments in development pro-
grammes in sectors vulnerable
to climate change; to mobilise
domestic and new and additional
funds from developed countries
to implement mitigation strate-
gies; and, to promote climate-
friendly technologies.
“It’s very good that the gov-
ernment has officially
announced the implementation
of Paris Agreement commit-
ments in the budget speech. This
sends out a message to govern-
ment officials and ministries
about our seriousness towards
this global commitment. I wish
there was quantifiable targets
for adaptation too. It requires
significant funding,” said NH
Ravindranath, climate scientist
at India Institute of Science.
India is the fifth most vulnera-
ble country globally to climate
crisis, according to Global Cli-
mate Risk Index 2020 by German-
watch. India recorded the high-
est deaths due to climate crisis-
led disasters and the second
highest amount of monetary
losses in 2018, said the analysis.
cryptography and cybersecu-
rity. The safety of internet bank-
ing, online transactions, and dig-
ital data storage depends in the
premise that the current com-
puters cannot solve large prima
factorisation problems – which
can potentially be broken by
quantum computers.
The mission will develop
infrastructure and human
resources, along with basic
research and development of
materials that can be used for
quantum technologies. Incuba-
tion centres will also be set up
under the mission to promote
startups.
“This mission, too, will follow
a hub-and-spoke model, with
research centres having linka-
ges to incubation centres,” said
Sharma.
DIP/Shabdarth/0317/19-20
12 hindustantimes
BUDGETARY
DEFICITS
Fiscal deficit in 2019-20 is expected to
increase to 3.8% from the budgeted
3.3%. It is expected to come down to
3.5% in 2020-21. There has also been
an increase in the primary deficit,
which means that the rise in deficit is
not just on account of servicing past
debt of the government.
INSURANCE COVER TO GO UP
TO ₹5 LAKH PER DEPOSITOR
CUSHION At present, deposits up to ₹1 lakh are insured and paid back in case of bank failures
Tinesh Bhasin
tinesh.b@livemint.com
n
MUMBAI: In a relief to bank cus-
tomers, the FM has increased
the insurance cover on bank
deposits by five times to ₹5 lakh.
At present, the Deposit Insur-
ance and Credit Guarantee
Corp. (DICGC) provides a cover
of up to ₹1 lakh for all types of
deposits in a single bank. “The
new limit would cover a signifi-
cant number of retail deposi-
tors,” said Virendra Kumar
Sethi, head, mortgages and
other retail assets, Bank of Bar-
oda.
Ever since the crisis broke
out at the Punjab and Maha-
rashtra Co-operative (PMC)
Bank, there have been demands
to raise the insurance cover on
deposits.
The cover was last raised
after the securities scam of 1992.
According to an SBI Research
published before the budget, the
level of insured deposits as a
percentage of assessable depos-
Credit guarantee for HFCs,
NBFCs proposed in budget
Gopika Gopakumar
n gopika.g@livemint.com
MUMBAI: Budget proposals for
ailing non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs) have failed
to enthuse the industry.
The finance minister has
proposed an expansion of the
existing partial credit guaran-
tee scheme, first announced last
year, to cover securities issued
by NBFCs and housing finance
companies (HFCs).
Last year’s budget said the
government will provide a one-
time partial credit guarantee
scheme to public sector banks
for their first loss of up to 10%
for purchase of pooled assets of
crisis hit NBFCs, amounting to
a total of ₹1 trillion.
The definition of assets has
now been expanded to include
securities of all NBFCs and
HFCs, which could benefit
NBFCs, according to industry
experts.
The FM also relaxed the eligi-
bility of NBFCs for debt recov-
ery under the Securitization
and Reconstruction of Financial
Assets and Enforcement of
Security Interest Act 2002 from
₹500 crore to ₹100 crore for asset
size and from ₹1 crore to ₹50 lakh
for loan size.
According to Ajay Manglu-
nia, managing director and
head, institutional fixed
income, at JM Financial, this
will speed up the recovery proc-
ess and widen the pool of eligible
ESOP tax breather among start-up incentives
Salman SH
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BENGALURU:The finance minister
has proposed a host of incentives
for India’s startup ecosystem,
including deferring of taxes lev-
ied on employee stock ownership
plans (ESOPs), a dedicated early-
stage fund, and fresh tax rebates
based on a company’s turnover.
The minister also proposed a
centralized investment clearance
cell and a digital platform for fil-
ing intellectual property rights
n Account holders protest against PMC Bank in New Delhi on January 31.
its has declined from a high of
75% in financial year (FY) 1982
to 28% in FY18. Assessable
deposits are those which are
subjected to premium collec-
tion.
n The finance minister has also relaxed the eligibility of NBFCs for
debt recovery.
stressed assets in NBFC books
that can be recovered.
“This will improve the
NBFCs/HFCs ability to enforce
securities even for small ticket
size loans, thereby considerably
reducing the timelines associ-
ated with it,” he said.
Also proposed is an expan-
sion of the National Bank for
Agriculture and Rural Develop-
ment (Nabard) refinancing
scheme to include NBFCs and
cooperatives that on-lend to
agriculture. The government
has set a target of ₹15 lakh crore
for agriculture credit for FY21.
“The finance minister has
announced some measures for
NBFCs, but more was expected,
especially on the funding part.
The Finance Industry Develop-
ment Council (FIDC) had asked
(IPR).
However, the efficacy of the
government’s moves will be
tested, considering that meas-
ures announced in previous bud-
gets have not always translated
into meaningful gains for the
startup ecosystem.
The biggest move was the
deferral of tax payments on capi-
tal gains related to ESOPs for
startup employees. At present,
employees typically pay tax when
they exercise their options and
when they finally sell their
shares. ESOPs serve as an impor-
tant compensation tool for them,
Fiscal & primary defic
it
) e per
Fiscal deficit (% of GDP
)
Primary deficit (% of GDP
Actual
2018-2019 0.4
Budget
2019-20 0.2
Revised
2019-20
0.7
Budget
2020-21
0.4
Source: Budget Docume
ficit are expected to
Fiscal and primary de
er ov ers hooting budget
down in 2020 -21 aft
targets in 2019-20
The present ₹1 lakh deposit
insurance covers 90% of the
total savings accounts.
According to the SBI report,
an insurance of ₹2 lakh would
cover 70% of the term deposits.
PRASAD GORI/HT ARCHIVE
ALSO PROPOSED IS AN
EXPANSION OF THE
NABARD REFINANCING
SCHEME TO INCLUDE
COOPERATIVES THAT
LEND TO AGRICULTURE.
A TARGET OF ₹15 LAKH
CR FOR AGRICULTURE
CREDIT FOR FY21 IS SET
for a refinance mechanism but
that has only been provided for
agri credit (from Nabard). The
announcement on partial credit
guarantee scheme remains
unclear and needs more clarifi-
cation,” said Raman Aggarwal,
FIDC co- chairman. FIDC is an
industry body for NBFCs.
particularly in fast-growing
startups, whose valuations mul-
tiply at a fast rate. In the past few
years, a few hundred employees
of Flipkart, Ola, and Paytm,
among others, have netted crores
of rupees through ESOP
schemes.
The finance minister has now
proposed deferring the tax pay-
ment on the exercise of ESOPs by
five years, or until an employee
leaves the company, or when he/
she sells the shares, whichever is
earlier. However, in some cases
employees will have to pay tax
twice. If an employee holds the
Tax buoyancy
Growth in tax revenu
2.0
3.4
1.5
1.35
3.3
3.8
1.0
3.5
0.5
2010-11 2011-12 201
nts
come
The government ex
of extra GDP
SANCHIT KHANNA/HT PHOTO
However, experts point out
that it takes the Reserve Bank of
India a long time to pay the
claim. Insurance is paid out
only when a bank is liquidated.
India is one of the countries
Developers unhappy,
say no major steps
for real estate sector
Bidya Sapam
n lbidya.s@livemint.com
MUMBAI: Real estate developers
were a disappointed lot with the
budget not presenting any
major step to bail out the sector
that is facing the brunt of the
liquidity crisis plaguing the
financial sector for the past 18
months.
The government retained its
focus on affordable housing but
did not make any specific
announcement to revive hous-
ing.
The finance minister pro-
posed to extend a tax holiday
offered to builders developing
affordable housing projects.
“To boost the supply of
affordable houses, the tax holi-
day is provided on profits
earned by developers on afford-
able projects approved by 31
March 2020. I propose to extend
the date of approvals on afforda-
ble projects for availing this
benefit by one more year again,”
she said.
The government has also pro-
posed to extend by one more
year the additional deduction
of₹1,50,000 for interest paid on
home loans taken for buying
affordable homes.
In her last budget, the minis-
ter had increased the interest
deduction to ₹3,50,000 for houses
priced below ₹45,00,000 as
against ₹2,00,000 earlier for
shares for a long-term expecting
a buyback deal, then the quan-
tum of shares redeemed will be
taxed at 20%, in line with the
Finance Act 2018 as long-term
capital gain.
The tax deferment is a “great
move to attract high-quality tal-
ent” to Indian startups, said Anup
Jain, managing partner, Orios
Venture Partners. “However, it
would have been better if ESOPs
were taxed only at redemption, as
the liability has been deferred by
five years, not eliminated. Also,
this benefit is currently available
only to the 200-odd IMB (inter-
FINANCE, DEFENCE
unit increase in GDP
1.62
1.20
0.84
0.85
0.76
2-13 2013-14 2014-15
2015-16 2016-17 201
pects to collect ~1.2
of extra taxes in 20
20-21 for every ~1
where deposit insurance is
low—at about $1,508 (for ₹1 lakh,
it will go up to $7,540 for ₹5 lakh).
In comparison, for the US, the
cover is $250,000 and for the UK,
about $111,143, said the report.
According to SBI Research,
until March 2018, India had
about 0.23 billion term deposit
accounts with an average bal-
ance of ₹59,819, and 1.60 billion
savings bank account with an
average balance of ₹23,590.
Budget 2020 also gave inves-
tors a reason to cheer. The FM
said that the government would
sell a part of its holding in Life
Insurance Corp. of India (LIC)
by way of an initial public offer-
ing (IPO). “This will benefit
investors as well as policyhold-
ers,” said Arun Kejriwal,
director, KRIS Capital, a stock
advisory firm.
While the stock investors
would get to own the country’s
largest insurer, customers can
expect better corporate govern-
ance, more transparency, com-
petitively priced products and
better customer service once
LIC is listed.
loans until 31 March 2020.
These announcements are
however unlikely to be enough
to revitalize the real estate
market where several projects
have been stalled for want of
funding, according to several
developers and property con-
sultants.
“As far as real estate is con-
cerned, its only affordable
housing. I think the misses
are more than what has been
given. We have been suggesting
that the government provide
a one-time rollover of loans
like it did in 2008, and also come
up with a better rental housing
policy given the success of
the commercial leasing segment
because that’s where all the
foreign direct investment
money has come in. So, a
large amount of work needs
to be done,” said Rajeev
Talwar, chief executive officer,
DLF Ltd.
Unsold luxury housing stock
(homes costing more than ₹1.5
crore per unit) grew 10% in the
top seven cities by 2019-end,
according to data from real
estate advisory firm Anarock
Property Consultants.
These cities had a total of
89,200 unsold luxury homes at
the end of 2019.
Last year saw several realty-
focused steps from the govern-
ment, the key being the ₹25,000
crore alternate investment fund
for last-mile funding of stalled
housing projects.
ministerial board) registered
startups, thus it is best that all
startups who intend to issue
ESOPs get an IMB certificate,” he
said.
The budget also introduced a
tax holiday for startups, wherein
companies with an annual turn-
over of up to ₹25 crore will be
allowed a tax deduction of 100% of
its profits for three consecutive
assessment years. In case a
startup’s total turnover exceeds
₹25 crore in a year, the minister
proposed increasing the turnover
limit from the existing ₹25 crore
to ₹100 crore.
1.52
1.07
0.77
0.51
7-18 2018-19 2019-2
0 2020-21
Source: CMIE, bud RE BE
get documents
Defence allocation triggers
concerns on modernisation
Rahul Singh
n rahul.singh@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: India on Saturday set
aside ~3.37 lakh crore for defence
spending in its budget for 2020-21,
an increase of 6% over last year’s
budget estimate (BE) and only
1.9% over the revised estimate
(RE) for 2019-20, triggering con-
cerns among experts that insuffi-
cient funding could hit the mili-
tary’s modernisation drive.
According to budget papers,
last year’s BE and RE stood at
~3.18 lakh crore and ~3.31 lakh
crore. While BE refers to budget-
ary projections made for the next
financial year, the actual money
spent during the year comes
under RE. If defence pensions are
taken into account, the budget for
2020-21 stands at ~4.71 lakh crore
compared to ~4.31 lakh crore and
~4.48 lakh crore in last year’s bud-
get and RE respectively.
This year’s budget includes
~1.13 lakh crore under the capital
head for the modernisation of the
armed forces — ~10,340 crore
more than last year’s BE and just
~3,340 crore higher than the RE
for 2019-20 under the capital head.
The military, experts said,
could find it hard to pursue its
modernisation efforts because of
a scarcity of funds. “At first read-
ing, the allocation under the capi-
tal head seems to be insufficient
considering armed forces need to
fill large capability voids,” said
Air Vice Marshal Manmohan
mybudgetmymoney
GEETA MATHUR, 52, doctor
EXPECTATION
I hope the government will allocate funds for the real estate sector so that stuck
realty projects can be revived and investors or buyers get justice. I also want interest
on home loan waived for the period there is a delay in getting possession of flats.
BUDGET OFFERING
I am disappointed with no relief for the real estate sector. The government has not
announced adequate funds to revive projects stuck because of financial issues. I
hoped the budget would provide relief to homebuyers, who had been paying interest
on home loans for years without getting possession.
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
ipts
Disinvestment rece
94,726.87
Actual 2018-2019
1.20
65,000
Revised 2019-20
rnment estimates
Although the gove for disinvestment receipts
only 62% of its targe t
dgeted a higher tar
in 2019-20, it has bu
the next fiscal.
Allocation
in last 5 yrs
~2.74
lakh cr
~2.58
~2.46 lakh cr
lakh cr
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Bahadur (retd), additional
director general, Centre for Air
Power Studies. He said, with
major acquisitions in the pipe-
line, additional funds will have to
be somehow generated. The bud-
get speech in Parliament made no
mention of military spending
except that national security was
a top priority for the government.
“We were hoping to get more
money than what has been allo-
cated, but the government has
finite resources that have to be
distributed across different sec-
tors. We will have to prioritise
our purchases,” said a military
official, asking not to be named.
The military’s expectations
from the budget were high as it
plans to induct a wide range of
weapons and systems. “We have
In ~ crore
105,000
Budget 2019-20
210,000
Budget 2020-21
Source: Budget docume
nts
to realise
get for
~3.18
lakh cr
~3.37
lakh cr
~2.98
lakh cr
2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
to use the budget smartly and
make the most of what has been
given to us,” said a second senior
military official who asked not to
be named. This year’s budget
(excluding pensions) stands at
1.5% of the country’s gross
domestic product and accounts
for a little over 11% of total gov-
ernment expenditure for 2020-21.
Reacting to the budget, former
finance minister and senior Con-
gress leader P Chidambaram said
the newly appointed chief of
defence staff (CDS) should raise
his voice against the inadequate
budgetary allocation. “I want him
to protest loudly. I hope he will. I
assure him our voice will join him
in protesting loudly but he should
lead the protest,” Chidambaram
said at a news conference.
NOIDA, UP
DEEPCHANDRA TIWARI/HT PHOTO
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
CONSUMER
SENTIMENT
To improve the consumer sentiment,
the government has increased the
limit of insurance cover on bank
deposits to ₨5 lakh and its allocation
to the tourism sector in the budget.
A sustained growth in car loans,
which has been declining for a long
time, will be a good test of consumer
sentiment going forward.
STATE-OWNED LIC ALL
SET TO GO PUBLIC
LISTING Govt to also sell stake in IDBI Bank and amend Banking Regulation Act
HT Correspondent
n htrepoptera@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman said on Satur-
day that the government plans to
sell a partial stake in Life Insur-
ance Corporation of India (LIC),
the country’s largest insurer and
institutional investor, through
an initial public offering (IPO).
In her budget speech, she pro-
posed that the government will
also sell its stake in IDBI Bank to
private investors and amend the
Banking Regulation Act to
strengthen cooperative banks.
The finance minister also said
the deposit insurance coverage in
case of bank failures will be
increased to ₹5 lakh from ₹1 lakh.
She proposed to expand floating a
debt exchange-traded fund
(ETF), consisting primarily of
government securities, to expand
the debt market .
Shares of IDBI Bank surged
10.2% after the budget, the biggest
gain since November, while those
of private insurers fell. LIC
bought 51% of IDBI Bank last
year, leaving the government
Major boost to
tourism: Five new
on­site museums,
₹2,500 cr funds
Amrita Madhukalya
n amrita.madhukalya@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Announcing a mar-
ginal increase in the allocation of
the ministry of culture, finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman in
her budget speech said five
archaeological sites will be devel-
oped as “iconic sites” with muse-
ums. A deemed varsity of museol-
ogy and archaeology was
announced, too.
These include Harappan-era
sites Rakhigarhi in Haryana and
Dholavira in Gujarat; Assam’s
Sivasagar, where remnants of the
Ahom kingdom, are to be found;
Tamil Nadu’s seventh century
urn-burial site Adichanallur; and
Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh
mentioned in epic Mahabharata.
Sitharaman also proposed the
setting up of an Indian Institute of
Heritage and Conservation with
the status of a deemed university
under the Ministry of Culture.
Presenting the budget for 2020-21,
Sitharaman said ₹3,150 crore has
been allocated for the Ministry of
Culture and ₹2,500 crore for the
Ministry of Tourism.
She also proposed the setting
up of a tribal museum in Ranchi,
Jharkhand.
“Acquisition of knowledge in
disciplines such as museology
and archaeology are essential for
collecting and analysing scien-
tific evidence of such findings and
for dissemination through high
quality museums,” Sitharaman
said. The ministry’s allocation
saw a marginal increase of 3.5%
from ₹ 3042.35 crore last year to
₹3149.86 crore this year.
Pronob Sarkar, present of the
Indian Association of Your Oper-
ators, an Apex body with over
1600 your operator bodies as
members welcomed the
increased allocation for both the
tourism ministry and the minis-
try of culture said that new
national circuits are needed at
the moment.
“India can have a competitive
edge if we know how to market
some of our unseen destinations
well, especially if we focus on per-
sonalising the India experience
for the international tourist. We
are in need of better infrastruc-
ture in several areas with poten-
tial,” said Sarkar.
n At even 25%­30% of its assets under management, LIC can be
valued at around ₹8­10 lakh crore, analysts said.
with about 47%. That means the
government could raise $25 bil-
lion at Saturday’s price, Bloom-
berg calculations show.
Sitharaman didn’t say how
much of LIC the government
plans to sell. Given that the giant
holds about $433 billion in assets
— more than the whole of India’s
mutual fund industry combined
— even a minuscule sale would be
quite large. India has penciled in
Govt proposes tax on all
non-tax paying NRIs
Remya Nair
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman has moved a
proposal in the Union Budget
aimed at taxing non-resident
Indians (NRIs) who do not pay
income tax in other countries, a
move that will potentially affect
those Indians residing in coun-
tries such as United Arab Emir-
ates and Bahrain where no
income tax is payable.
The Modi government has
also sought to tighten the defini-
tion of who will be considered an
NRI to bring more such individu-
als under the tax net.
The move is likely to generate
widespread opposition from the
diaspora, which the government
has so far aggressively wooed.
“An Indian citizen who is not
liable to tax in any other country
or territory shall be deemed to be
resident of India,” read the bud-
get documents, effectively mak-
ing these citizens liable to be
taxed in India while reducing the
number of days a person can stay
in India in a year and still be con-
sidered an NRI.
“It is entirely possible for an
MSMEs’ turnover threshold
for audit increased to ₹5 crore
NEW DELHI: The government on
Saturday unveiled measures
aimed at facilitating growth of the
country's micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSME),
including raising the turnover
threshold of audit of their
accounts to ₹5 crore and a scheme
to provide subordinate debt to
MSME entrepreneurs.
“Currently, only businesses
having a turnover of more than ₹1
crore are required to get their
books of accounts audited by an
accountant. In order to reduce
compliance burden on small
retailers, traders, shopkeepers
who comprise the MSME sector,
I propose to raise by five times the
turnover threshold for audit from
ism industry
Allotment to tour
(in ₨ crores)
2,091
1,416
2019(RE)
2018
job creation, the
With the aim of
ocation to to
increased the all
) failure on deposits to ₨5
from 2019-20(RE
REUTERS FILE
₹2.1 lakh crore from asset sales in
the year starting April 1, more
than double that of previous year.
Bloomberg quoted finance sec-
retary Rajiv Kumar as saying,
“Target specified by honourable
finance minister will come from
listing of LIC and IDBI at this
stage.”
ICICI Direct analyst Kajal
Gandhi said, “LIC is likely to
become the country’s biggest
individual to arrange his affairs
in such a fashion that he is not
liable to tax in any country or
jurisdiction during a year. This
arrangement is typically
employed by high net worth indi-
viduals (HNWI) to avoid paying
taxes to any country/ jurisdic-
tion on income they earn,” the
memorandum that is part of the
budget documents said defend-
ing the move.
“Tax laws should not encour-
age a situation where a person is
not liable to tax in any country.
The current rules governing tax
residence make it possible for
HNWIs and other individuals,
who may be Indian citizen to not
to be liable for tax anywhere in
the world,” it added.
GLOBAL INCOME LIABLE
TO BE TAXED
The new proposal means that cit-
izens who are not residents in
India would be liable to tax in
India on their global income,
said Amit Maheshwari, manag-
ing partner at Ashok Mahesh-
wary and Associates LLP.
He added that individuals who
leave the country for employ-
ment are considered non-resi-
dent if their stay in India is less
than 183 days.
The time limit of 183 is now
proposed to be reduced to 120
the existing rupees one crore to
five crore,” finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman said while pre-
senting Union budget 2020-21.
She said a scheme will be
introduced to provide subordi-
nate debt to MSME entrepre-
neurs. Besides, the government
has also asked the Reserve Bank
to extend the debt restructuring
window for micro, small and
medium enterprises by a year to
March 31, 2021, Sitharaman said.
“An app-based invoice financ-
ing loans product will be
launched. This will obviate the
problem of delayed payments and
consequential cash flow mis-
matches for the MSMEs,” the
finance minister said.
Insured deposit % and to
Total amount of assessab
2,500
18000
15000
12000
9000
6000
3000
2020(BE)
uments
Source:-Budget doc 0
government
urism by 76%
The finance minister incr
company by market capitalisa-
tion on the day of the listing given
that it is the largest company in
terms of assets under manage-
ment (AUM).”
Assessing LIC, an over
60-year-old company, just on
embedded value like other pri-
vate sector insurers that have
been around for about 20 or less
years may not be only criteria.
AUM and profits will also be the
key determinants, Gandhi said.
“A government-owned entity,
LIC is likely to see valuation gap
versus private players,” Gandhi
said, adding that at even 25%-30%
of its AUM, the company can be
valued at around ₹8-10 lakh crore.
Even a 10% dilution will be dif-
ficult for market to absorb in one
go and the government may look
at doing this in lots, she added.
A “highlight of the budget is
the LIC IPO, which is akin to the
Saudi Aramco listing for Indian
capital markets, and will be IPO
of the decade,” Vijay Bhushan,
President, Association of
National Exchanges Members of
India (ANMI) said.
Bloomberg contributed to this story
days.
“Hence, the non-residents are
being cornered from two differ-
ent sides wherein being stateless
would lead to them becoming
resident in India. Hence, to qual-
ify as non-resident, they would
have to ensure that they remain
tax resident of any other country
and they should be out of India
for at least 246 days,” he pointed
out, adding that residents who
don’t pay taxes in other coun-
tries will be taxed in India.
Defending the government’s
move, in a post-budget press con-
ference, Revenue Secretary AB
Pandey said the government has
found instances in which some
people are residents of no coun-
try in the world and hence escape
paying taxes anywhere.
“So, in case of these Indian cit-
izens, their worldwide income
will be taxed in India,” he said.
This tax proposal has predict-
ably generated opposition from
residents in the middle-eastern
countries.
“Soon after the news flashed,
there was ambiguity as to what it
meant and what the outcome will
be. How can the government tax
us when we are working in
Dubai? This is a very bad move,”
said Atul Pandey, a resident of
Dubai.
By special arrangement with ThePrint
She said necessary amend-
ments will be made to the Factor
Regulation Act 2011 to enable non
banking financial companies
(NBFCs) to extend invoice financ-
ing to the MSMEs through
TReDS, thereby enhancing the
financial sustainability.
“Working capital credit
remains a major issue for
MSMEs. It is proposed to intro-
duce a scheme to provide subor-
dinate debt for entrepreneurs of
MSMEs. This subordinate debt to
be provided by banks would
count as quasi equity and would
be fully guaranteed through the
Credit Guarantee Trust for
Medium and Small Entrepre-
neurs,” Sitharaman said. PTI
hindustantimes 13
INDUSTRY/TOURISM
Vehicle loan growth YoY in %
tal assessable deposit am
ount
le deposits
(in 1,000 crore) Insured deposits as a percenta
ge of 15
assessable deposits
71.00
80
12
70 10.07
12,005.1 9
60
50 7.21
6
40
806.26 28.07 3
30 Dec-19
Jan-18
2000 Source: RBI
20
2018
Source: RBI
le-digit growth in
eased the limit of insuran
ce cover in case of bank Vehicle loans have seen sing
lakh from ₨1 lakh last 16 mon ths
Grant­in­aid of
₹30,757 crore for
J&K, ₹5,958 crore
mybudgetmymoney
RAJNI KANT, 31, cab driver NOIDA, UP
allotted to Ladakh
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Union finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman on Satur-
day announced an allocation of
₹30,757 crore for Jammu and
Kashmir, and ₹5,958 crore for
Ladakh in her budget speech.
Jammu and Kashmir and
Ladakh are now Union Territo-
ries following the division of the
erstwhile state of Jammu and
Kashmir in August when the
region’s special status was also
ended with the nullification of
Constitution’s Article 370.
The money allocated to
Jammu and Kashmir will go as
grant-in-aid for the Union Terri-
tory’s administration. The funds
for Ladakh will be directly con-
trolled by the Union home minis-
try since the Union Territory,
unlike Jammu and Kashmir,
does not have the provision for a
legislature.
In her budget speech, Sithara-
man said the government is fully
committed to supporting all-
round development of Jammu
and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Jamyang Tsering Namgyal,
the member of Parliament (MP)
from Ladakh, welcomed the allo-
cation. “Continuing the path of
development, Hon’ble Finance
Minister @nsitharaman ji
announced ₹5958 cr for our UT
Ladakh. Ladakh will surely pros-
per under the leadership and
vision of our Hon’ble Prime Min-
ister @narendramodi Ji,” he
tweeted.
President Ramnath Kovind
had in his address to a joint ses-
sion of Parliament on Friday
EXPECTATION
SUNIL GHOSH/HT PHOTO
referred to the government’s When I first started driving a cab, CNG cost around ₹17 per litre. Today, it is more than
intent to invest in the develop-
ment of Jammu and Kashmir and
₹45 in Delhi and even higher in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. I dread the rides where I
Ladakh. He said the nullification might have to fill the tank in any other state. Toll taxes are also very high. I hope these
of Article 370 paved the way for issues are taken into consideration to ease burden on poor people like us. My take-
equal development of the regions
and people in Jammu and Kash-
home money has gone down because of increase in expenses in running the taxi.
mir and Ladakh.
The home ministry has been
allocated ₹1.67 lakh crore. The
previous year’s grant was ₹1.19 BUDGET OFFERING
lakh crore. On revised budget
estimates, the allocation is 20.23%
There was no mention of anything which would help us. At least, the government
higher than the previous fiscal. should have announced regulation of fuel prices and lowering of toll taxes. There is no
Funds for the police moderni- relief for the automobile and transport sectors, which could have helped us. We are
sation, security-related expendi-
ture and infrastructure, border
an integral part of a smooth functioning society. But it seems that no one cares
infrastructure and management about us anymore.
have dipped slightly this time.
RHYMING IT WITH SCHEMES
A budget bouquet peppered with verse
Dhamini Ratnam its progressive movement.
n letters@hindustantimes.com Quoting from his poem,
Myon Watan, Sitharaman
NEW DELHI: Nirmala Sithara- said: “Humara watan, khilta
man turned to the Tamil clas- hua Shalimar Bagh jaisa/
sic Tirukkural, believed to be Humara watan, Dal lake mein
written by poet-saint Thiru- khilta hua kamal jaisa/ nav-
valluvar, besides quoting jawanon ke garam khoon
from a host of other poets, as jaisa/ mera watan, tera
she presented the first full watan, humara watan/ dun-
budget of the re-elected iya ka sabse pyara watan.”
National Democratic Alliance [Our land is the blooms of
(NDA) government.
The finance minister used a
poetic framework to structure n Poet­saint Thiruvalluvar n Dinanath Kaul ‘Nadim’
Shalimar Bagh/ Our land is
the lotus in Dal Lake/ it’s the
hot blooded youth/ my land,
the budget around three
themes: aspiration, economic
development, and care (or
antyodaya, the Gandhian idea
one of the finest works of
Tamil literature. It is com-
posed of 1,300 couplets
risms, Aathichoodi, attrib-
uted to Aauvaiyar — a name
used for at least three women
your land, our land/ the love-
liest land in the world]
What made the choice of
verse more significant is that
of maximum benefit to the grouped into three chapters poet-saints of the Tamil San- the Centre nullified Article
weakest sections of society). on love, wealth and virtue. gam era — before talking 370 last August, following
She compared the three “Freedom from illness, about agriculture. The verse which the state of Jammu &
themes to flowers in a bou- wealth, produce, happiness that Sitharaman quoted was: Kashmir was converted into
quet, with good governance and protection [to subjects]; “First tend to one’s land and two Union Territories. Sev-
and robust finance being the these five, are the ornaments then eat.” The Aathichoodi is eral restrictions are still in
hands holding the bouquet. of a kingdom,” Sitharaman a collection of simple one-lin- place in Kashmir.
“One such hand is govern- read out, before proceeding to ers, intended as a primer on She also prefaced the sec-
ance — clean, corruption- talk about governance. morality and virtuous living. tion on taxes with a poem
free, policy-driven and good Though not much is known Sitharaman began the bud- from 5th century poet Kali-
in intent and most impor- of the poet, Thiruvalluvar, he get quoting Sahitya Akademi das’s work, Raghuvamsa.
tantly trusting in faith,” was also a favourite of former awardee Dinanath Kaul “Surya, the Sun, collects
Sitharaman said. “If govern- finance minister P Chidama- ‘Nadim’, a 20th century Kash- vapour from little drops of
ance was described as one of baram, who quoted the Tamil miri poet who also wrote water. So does the King. They
the hands holding the bou- poet in the last budget he pre- poetry in Urdu, Hindi and give back copiously. They col-
quet, the other is the financial sented, in 2013, for UPA-2. English. Born in 1916, Kaul, a lect only for people’s well
sector,” she said. Earlier in her speech, Kashmiri Pandit, was among being,” she recited, before
Tirukkural, dated between Sitharaman quoted from the founders of the Left move- announcing the change in
300 BC and 5 AD, is considered another Tamil book of apho- ment in Kashmir, and a part of slabs for private income tax.
14 hindustantimes
E STA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 24
§
Decoding What the Union budget did not say
Budget 2020 The focus should have been on rejuvenating the
informal economy, not the vision of formalisation
Transparency on data, effort to ROSHAN
KISHORE
boost growth, and tax cuts are
welcome. But will it be enough?
W
hen finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman
he 2020-21 Union budget is on
T
arose to present the Union Budget in Parlia- expected lines, as far as key
ment, she had to address several challenges. parameters are concerned. Fis-
cal deficit as a percentage of GDP
The first had to do with the numbers. has gone up by 50 basis points
Ambitious
mates that failed to materialise; a cer-
esti-
ourtake (one basis point is 100th of a per-
centage point) to 3.8% in 2019-20. The govern-
ment has missed both its receipt and expendi-
tain over-zealousness in burying ture targets in the current fiscal year. This
was expected in the wake of the lowest nomi-
reports with inconvenient data; and critiques, even from people nal GDP growth in more than four decades.
The fiscal deficit for next year would have
who were once part of the system, combined to create a funda-
been much bigger had the government not
mental distrust of macro-numbers. The second, given that the decided to proceed with strategic divestment
of the Life Insurance Corporation, which, if
economy grew by 4.5% in the quarter ending September, was to implemented, will be the biggest in the coun-
revive growth across dimensions — urban and rural; investment try’s history. That the government has taken
such a drastic step underlines its commit-
and consumption; industry, and agriculture. And do this with ment to fiscal consolidation.
limited fiscal headroom. The third was to improve consumer and The budget also projects a conservative
growth outlook for the next fiscal year. A 10%
investor sentiment. The fourth was to create jobs for an econ- nominal growth rate projected for 2020-21 is
omy, which has the largest number of people in the productive the lowest since 2008-09. This is in keeping
with the Economic Survey’s projection of
age group (15-65). And the fifth was to not do anything that would real growth being in the range of 6%-6.5% and
no drastic increase in inflation. It reiterates
erode the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political capital.
this government’s achievements on main-
How did she do? For starters, the budget numbers seem, in taining low inflation and unleashing struc-
tural reforms such as the roll-out of the
most part, honest. For an FM to admit that nominal growth in Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Bank-
2020-21 would likely be 10% is a clear admission that there are ruptcy Code. There is further movement in
headwinds to growth. The budget estimate for tax revenue in
2020-21 is around ~38,000 crore lower than last year’s budget esti-
mate (although it is higher than the revised estimate by around
~2.6 lakh crore). The numbers may be considered ambitious, but
The budget is brave. It will The budget is insipid. It
they are still plausible. Further, by evoking the trigger clause of
the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act — the
boost sentiment, growth won’t revive the economy
deficit becomes 3.8% in 2019-20 and 3.3% in 2020-21, both 50 basis It strikes a fine balance in giving investment a push, while
points over the target — the FM has admitted what was an open
secret. Sure, the numbers do assume some revenue growth, but
remaining fiscally prudent. The markets will recognise it
the biggest boost on that front is expected to come from disinvest- RAJIV
ment (~2.1 lakh crore). With substantial work already done on KUMAR
the disinvestment of some companies (including BPCL), the
process kicking off in Air India, and the plan for an initial share
sale in the Life Insurance Corporation (announced in the budget
speech), this number, too, is plausible.
have been surprised at the equity mar-
On the growth front, it can be argued that this budget’s prom-
ise is not what will be termed a “dream” or a “big bang”, terms
previously used to describe budgets. That’s because it doesn’t
I ket response to the 2020 Union Budget,
presented by the finance minister Nir-
mala Sitharaman. It was her second
budget, and the first of this decade. The
more than 2% decline in both the NIFTY 50
have one big idea, such as the corporate tax cut that was and Sensex reflects their perplexing disap-
announced outside the budget cycle, or the creation of a bad pointment, which may have come about
because the markets perhaps expected a
bank, but a multitude of small ones, focused on specific sectors. “big-bang budget”. According to street
There is a 16-point plan for agriculture, but it doesn’t seem to expectations, this would have implied a
whopping increase in government expendi-
involve any substantial increase in funding. There is a plan for ture, without any reference to fiscal disci-
pline and the Fiscal Responsibility and Bud-
infrastructure, which involves attracting sovereign wealth
get Management (FRBM) framework. True
funds (with significant incentives), and also using proceeds of to this government’s established practice, it
has once again not succumbed to the fiscal
divestment. And there are other similar small measures aimed profligacy that such a big-bang would have
at start-ups, non-banking finance companies, and others. But implied.
I am confident that in the coming days,
much of growth will still be powered by government spending. the “market” will recognise the fine balance
This has increased, from a budget estimate of ~27.86 lakh crore in that the finance minister has achieved in
giving private investment and growth a
2019-20 to ~30.42 lakh crore. strong push, while retaining fiscal prudence
On the third, the two most important things the FM has and adhering to the FRBM framework,
which permits a flexibility of 0.5% in fiscal
announced in this regard are the tax cuts for people earning less deficit when structural reforms are under-
taken and revenues have not shown the
than ~15 lakh (provided they make do with no exemptions), and
expected buoyancy.
a tax charter that gives taxpayers rights, including freedom from In my view, this is a budget with strong
investment promotion features. These are
harassment. The fact that taxpayers have a choice of choosing reflected in several measures of which some
between the old regime (albeit with fewer exemptions) and new of the more important ones are; i) abolition
of the dividend distribution tax by the corpo-
ones (with almost none) complicates the process somewhat, but rates; ii) extending the concessional 15%
Ms Sitharaman has said the aim is to move towards a regime corporate tax rate to investment in the
power sector along with other manufactur-
with no exemptions and that is welcome. ing capacities; iii) extending tax concessions
There is not much in the budget by way of efforts that will to foreign country sovereign wealth funds
and also other foreign direct investments,
directly create jobs, and given that it is now clear that jobless when it is made in priority sectors, includ-
ing infrastructure; iv) permitting a tax
growth is a real concern, it can’t be said with any level of cer-
deduction of 100% to start-ups for turnover
tainty that an economic revival will automatically create more of up to ~100 crore, raised from ~20 crore, and
extending the concession from five to seven
jobs. years; v) introducing the Vivad se Vishwas
As for the fifth, the BJP seems to have acquired the ability to (No Dispute but Trust) scheme for direct tax
disputes, which number a whopping 4.88
drown out unpleasant economic news with sharp political mes- lakhs, allowing taxpayers to close the dis-
saging. And with at least some experts of the opinion that the pute by only paying the tax liability and
avoiding the payment of interest and penal
economy has bottomed out and that the worst is behind it, this interest; vi) extending the time limit by one
budget is unlikely to hurt the party politically. year for tax concessions for builders who
take up affordable housing projects; and vii)
That’s not a bad report card for a budget presented in an the announcement of a Taxpayer Charter
that will for the first time give the taxpayers
inconducive macroeconomic environment with little fiscal head-
their rights and save them from avoidable
room. Seen as a continuation of measures this government has harassment.
All these measures will give a strong
announced since September — a corporate tax cut, a fund for impetus to ramping up investment, which is
stressed real estate projects, a financing mechanism for shadow critical to bring the economy back to a high
growth trajectory. This will help the econ-
banks, and a national infrastructure pipeline — it is even omy achieve the $5 trillion goal by 2025.
impressive. But the numbers, however plausible they may be, The 16-point plan of action for agriculture
represents a comprehensive set of measures
still need to pan out. for accelerating the growth of this crucial
sector. It will also attract corporate invest-
ment. And together it will enable the dou-
bling of farmers’ incomes. I am particularly
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comment
the government’s commitment towards sim-
plifying the direct tax regime, as can be seen
in the floating of an alternative no exemp-
tion, low income tax regime, without doing
away with the existing regime.
So what is remarkable about this year’s
budget? The answer has to be found in what
the budget does not say or do, rather than
what it has done. Here’s why.
Any budget is an exercise in balancing
government expenditure against receipts.
The bulk of government receipts are revenue
receipts, which are a function of income gen-
eration and, therefore, GDP growth. So, if
GDP growth goes down, most calculations in
the budget fall flat. This is what has happened
in the current fiscal year, as nominal GDP
growth ended up being 7.8%, against the last
budget’s projection of 12%.
The Economic Survey would like us to
believe that the slowdown in growth is driven
by international and cyclical factors. There
is good reason to believe that this is not true.
The latest data released by the National
Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday evening
shows that the Indian economy has been los-
ing momentum since 2016-17. GDP growth,
which climbed to 8.3% in 2016-17, has been
falling continuously since then. It was 7% in
2017-18, 6.1% in 2018-19 and 5.7% in 2019-20.
The Indian economy was subjected to back-
to-back shocks of demonetisation and GST
between November 2016 and July 2017. The
pains of these policies, which the govern-
ment now says were meant to push formali-
sation in the economy, were borne dispropor-
tionately by the informal sector, which is
where the bulk of the Indian workforce is
employed. While some part of this pain was
supposed to be transient, especially after
happy at the incentives announced for those
states which implement the three modern
agriculture laws that were designed in the
NITI Aayog. These include the introduction
of the model Agricultural Produce and Live-
stock Marketing Act, 2016; Agriculture
Land Leasing Act, 2016; and the Contract
Farming Act, 2018.
The implementation of these pending and
yet critical structural reforms will go a long
way in modernising our agriculture sector,
including horticulture and fisheries. This is
a very welcome move, as presently hardly
10% of our agriculture output is processed
and farmers do not enjoy the benefits of
value addition in this sector.
Another notable feature of the budget is
the fairly ambitious disinvestment target of
~2.1 lakh crore for 2020-21. This is more than
double the present year’s target, but is
undoubtedly achievable. More than 25 dis-
investment proposals are currently in the
pipeline after being cleared by the cabinet.
These are currently being processed and
will surely be completed in the next 14
months.
Moreover, the listing of the Life Insur-
ance Corporation, and then disinvesting a
part of the equity to retail consumers, will
yield substantial revenues. This, along with
the strategic sale of Air India, when com-
pleted, will surely achieve the ambitious
disinvestment target. This will also refur-
bish the government’s credentials for its
avowed aim of making greater space availa-
ble for private sector activity and withdraw-
ing the government from non-strategic sec-
tors of the economy.
This pro-private sector approach is also
reflected in the budget announcement of
establishing a new medical college in public-
private partnership mode to be attached to
each of the government district hospitals in
the country. This will address the acutely
felt problem of shortage of health delivery
personnel and also help enhance medical
services.
With a nominal GDP growth rate of 10%,
the budget has assumed a very reasonable
rate of growth of only 9.2% in revenue
receipts from ~18.5 lakh crore to ~20.2 lakh
crore. With the further simplification and
administration of both direct and indirect
tax regimes, I expect this estimate to be
overachieved in the coming year. For total
receipts, including capital revenues from
disinvestment, the growth is projected at
14.7%, also a reasonable target. The total
public expenditure is expected to grow by
12.7% with public capital expenditures esti-
mated to rise by 23% (BE FY21 over BE
FY20). This is a healthy trend.
The finance minister has also provided
much-needed succour to the middle class by
lowering the personal income tax rates, and
more important, perhaps, by taking impor-
tant steps to simplify the tax payment proc-
ess. Seventy of the 100 possible deductions
and exemptions have been removed and an
option has been given to the taxpayers to
pay a lower tax rate if they are willing to
forego the exemptions and deductions.
Overall, this is a brave and balanced bud-
get that will boost investors’ sentiments and
restore the economic growth momentum.
Rajiv Kumar is vice chairman, NITI Aayog
The views expressed are personal
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
n A distress-ridden rural and informal sector
has the potential of triggering a contagion
in the formal economy as well REUTERS
liquidity was restored post-demonetisation,
a significant part of it could have been struc-
tural especially vis-à-vis GST-related costs.
Many economists had warned that these
shocks to the informal sector could adversely
affect income generation and, therefore, GDP
growth. This was backed by government’s
own statistics. Surveys conducted by the
NSO show that unemployment rate jumped
to a four-decade high in 2017-18 and inflation
adjusted consumption actually went down
between 2011-12 and 2017-18. The govern-
ment’s response was to ignore the warning
and dismiss the employment numbers as not
comparable. It has also junked the consump-
tion survey.
These numbers make for bad headlines.
But economic policy works in a continuum.
If the government of the day does not accept
existing economic realities, its policies, and
the assumptions on the basis of which they
It did not have a bold demand stimulus, a public
investment stimulus or any supply-side stimulus
PRAVEEN
CHAKRAVARTY
et us indulge in a thought experi-
L ment. Millions of people in the Chi-
nese province of Wuhan are badly
affected by the deadly coronavirus,
for which there is no easy cure. This has
been acknowledged universally as a mas-
sive health crisis.
In this background, let us assume that the
health minister of China visits Wuhan. Mil-
lions of affected people are waiting with
bated breath to hear plausible solutions
from the minister for alleviating their dis-
tress. The health minister gives them a
three-hour lecture in which he outlines how
the ancient Chinese civilisation was the
most prosperous and healthy civilisation in
the world, how their ancestors upheld vir-
tues of cleanliness and exercise and so on.
He then rambles on about the various pro-
grammes of his government, touting them
as superlative achievements, and then
promises a clean and healthy environment
for everyone in the future. The minister nei-
ther acknowledges the coronavirus crisis,
nor does he specify concrete steps to save
people from this disaster. In such a situa-
tion, even in authoritarian China, it would
be difficult for the minister to escape the fury
and wrath of the people.
Substitute Wuhan with India, coronavi-
rus with the “joblessness” virus, health min-
ister with finance minister and we can recre-
ate the Union Budget 2020 speech, delivered
by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. It
was an astonishing act of denial and an
impudent attempt at subterfuge.
As of January 31, India recorded its low-
est nominal GDP growth and highest unem-
ployment in four decades, with negative
growth in corporate tax collections, creep-
ing inflation and dormant private sector
investment. On February 1, the finance min-
ister stood up in Parliament to give the
nation a three-hour lecture on India’s pros-
perity in the “Sindhu Saraswati” civilisa-
tion and waxed eloquent about how our
ancestral poets laid emphasis on wealth and
entrepreneurship. Sitharaman’s budget
speech was, simply put, insipid.
There was an overwhelming consensus
among experts and economic commentators
that India’s economy needed a demand stim-
ulus to pull itself out of the current crisis.
This meant that the finance minister was
expected to announce a big stimulus that
would have put money directly in the hands
of the people to trigger consumption
demand. We got none of that. Instead, we got
a further complication of the personal
income tax rate structure, disguised as a
reduction of tax rates, where three simple
tax rate slabs were increased to six rate slabs
without exemptions. More than three-quar-
ters of income taxpayers will not be
impacted by this change, and it remains to
be seen if the rest will actually benefit from
the new structure.
While there was no direct demand stimu-
lus, there was no increase in existing wel-
are formed, are unlikely to be effective.
This is why last year’s budget ended up
overestimating growth and revenues in a big
way. This is also why, the government has
ended up spending significantly more
(~71,000 crore against ~60,000 crore) under
the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) this year. It needs to be under-
stood that MGNREGS pays less than market
wages and is often plagued with payment
delays. It is only the most desperate who seek
work under the scheme.
Contrary to popular perception, a distress-
ridden rural and informal sector in an econ-
omy like India has the potential of triggering
a contagion in the formal economy as well.
The poorest, after all, spend a much larger
part of their incomes than the rich. Any
squeeze in their purchasing power implies a
big hit to aggregate demand. It is entirely
likely that the slowdown in the formal sec-
tors of the economy is a lagged effect of the hit
in the informal sectors.
This is where this government’s macro-
economic vision is misplaced. It believes that
it can revive aggregate demand by boosting
the incomes of the relatively rich — the seg-
ment which stands to benefit from direct tax
concessions. It also believes that technologi-
cal plumbing such as direct benefit transfer
is a substitute to an aggressive budgetary
rural stimulus. It is not. The government
could not spend 28% of the ~75,000 crore ear-
marked for PM-KISAN in 2019-20, most prob-
ably due to Aadhaar-related seeding prob-
lems.
Unless the dominant economic vision of
formalisation is replaced by rejuvenation of
the informal economy, this government’s
assertions of macroeconomic stability may
not be convincing.
n roshan.k@htlive.com
The views expressed are personal
fare programmes either that would have
been a proxy to a demand stimulus. The bud-
get for the rural employment guarantee pro-
gramme was actually reduced by ~10,000
crores from last year and is even lower than
the actuals spent in 2018-19. The total food,
fertiliser and petroleum subsidy amount for
2020-21 was reduced by a whopping 24%
from the 2019-20 budget estimate. The
amount allocated for direct transfers to
farmers (PM-KISAN) saw zero increase
from the 2019-20 budget estimate, as was the
case for the midday meal scheme and the
health insurance scheme for the poor
(Ayushman Bharat). Clearly, the finance
minister did not think that declining rural
wages, farmers’ distress and youth unem-
ployment were real problems.
It is now well-acknowledged that the
headline hunting move to slash corporate
tax rates as a curtain raiser for the Prime
Minister’s Howdy Modi event in the United
States in September has failed to revive pri-
vate investment and stimulate jobs. Puz-
zlingly, the budget continued to shower cor-
porates with a ~25,000 crore dividend distri-
bution tax cut, which will benefit only select
large corporates and will certainly not do
enough to revive investment.
The finance minister spent more than an
hour in her speech announcing grand plans
for infrastructure investment and labori-
ously detailing the various projects. The
camouflage aside, the budget for capital
expenditure is still at 1.8% of nominal GDP,
which was the same as last year. So, it is not
even the case that the government is
embarking on a massive “New Deal” stimu-
lus through public investment to revive the
economy.
So, there was neither a bold demand stim-
ulus nor a public investment stimulus nor
any meaningful supply-side stimulus to pull
the economy out of what Arvind Subrama-
nian, the former chief economic advisor of
the government, has called “the great eco-
nomic slowdown”. But there was much talk
of winning trust, reducing tax harassment
and improving the ease of doing business.
Apparently, incorporating a “charter of
rights” for income taxpayers as a statute,
setting up an “Investment Cell”, and a web
portal for investment clearance and advice,
will magically improve trust and confidence
among economic participants. The fact that
the budget still assumes tax collections will
grow faster than nominal GDP growth of
10%, despite cuts in tax rates, suggests that
tax harassment is not going to abate soon.
The move to be transparent about off-
budget financing and a cleaner way to calcu-
late fiscal parameters is a welcome develop-
ment. The emphasis on non-tax revenues
without crowding out private investment is
an additional positive. But these are all
meaningful steps when the economy is
booming at 14-15%, not when it is struggling
at a four-decade low of 7.5%. The govern-
ment seems to have mixed up its bravado
and swagger, employing that for social pol-
icy while it is most needed for economic pol-
icy. What was sorely needed from the
finance minister was a “historic” budget.
Instead she gave us a “history” budget.
Praveen Chakravarty is a political economist and a
senior office bearer of the Congress
The views expressed are personal
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 15

The budget does not address the crisis of demand

The FM made an attempt in good faith to present her
vision. But the budget lacked a diagnosis of what is wrong,
a prescription to address it, and made baffling choices
YAMINI
AIYAR
his was the longest budget speech in
ing this columnist, had argued for the need to
urgently strengthen public expenditure in rural
India through the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS). But instead Budget 2020-21 has seen
a significant 13% cut in allocations from revised
estimates of the previous year. This is despite the
fact that the MGNREGS budget allocation has, for
years, fallen short of demand for work, resulting
in spending excesses of over ~4,000 crore (2018-19

T India’s history of budget speeches.

But two hours and 40 minutes later,
the only thing we have clarity on is
that the government is still not will-
ing to offer a clear diagnosis, forget
the much-needed prescription for an economy,
which in the words of a former chief economic
adviser, is headed for the intensive care unit.
To be sure, finance minister Nirmala Sithara-
man made a good faith attempt to present her
vision for what the economy needs. Aspirations,
economic development and care are the three pil-
lars that will drive the Indian economy. And to
achieve this vision, she presented a large number
of policy actions. A detailed 16- point action
agenda for agriculture, a focus on education and
skills, water and sanitation, an investment-clear-
ing cell, district-level export hubs, infrastructure
focused skill development, the National Infra-
structure Pipeline — the list goes on. But nowhere
in this laundry list of policy items can one identify
any policy steps that respond to the urgency of
the slowdown.
Forget any bold ideas or fiscal stimulus. Even
the choices made within the current basket of pol-
icy actions and deficit targets are baffling. Con-
sider this. There is little argument that the
decline in consumption demand, combined with
high inflation, especially in rural India is a matter
of serious concern. In this context, many, includ-
figures). Instead, the focus seems to be on spend-
ing in rural India through the PM-Kisan, which
has received an allocation of ~75,000 crore, a 38%
increase over revised estimates. But , as my col-
league Avani Kapur has highlighted in this news-
paper, the implementation of PM-Kisan has been
riddled with problems of targeting and weak
implementation. In fact, this is one reason why
expenditure for the scheme in FY-2019-20 has
been significantly reduced from a budgeted esti-
mate of ~75,000 crore to a revised estimate
~54,370.15 crore. Given these difficulties with the
PM-Kisan and the fact that demand for
MGNREGS is high, the choice of prioritising allo-
cations for PM-Kisan over MGNREGS, at a time
when rural consumption is at an all time low, can
only lead us to one conclusion. The government
has got both the diagnosis and the prescription of
the current slowdown, completely wrong.
Add to this is an important cut in the food sub-
sidy from a budget estimate of ~1,84,220 crore to a
revised estimate of ~1,08,688.35 in FY 2019-20 and
a lower allocation for FY 2020-21. Declining con-
sumption clearly indicated that rural India was
hurting from the current slowdown, and this bud-
get has likely only made the problem worse.
Rather than slash allocations, this was the
opportunity to initiate an overhaul of the public
finance management system — rationalising sub-
sidies, restructuring centrally-sponsored
n The decline in consumption demand, especially in rural India, is a matter of pressing concern. But the budget may have made the problem worse with cuts
in allocation. Instead, it should have streamlined public finance management systems and re-prioritised expenditure GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
schemes, and most important, streamlining fiscal the government’s fiscal numbers have faced since a more realistic and credible projection. Despite
flows to reduce unspent balances (to the tune of the obfuscation in the July budget. But the fine the promise of transparency, the fiscal math dis-
over 1 lakh crore rupees) in different central print raises more questions than it answers. The appoints again.
schemes — and re-prioritising public expendi- FM conceded to a fiscal slippage of 0.5% over last In the days before the budget two news items
ture, particularly in welfare schemes. But, July’s promise of a fiscal deficit of 3.3%, taking the dominated the headlines — 5% GDP and the
instead, the budget merely reiterated the govern- fiscal deficit for FY 2019-20 to 3.8%. The promise image of a young man with a gun pointed at pro-
ment’s oft-stated commitment to overhauling for FY 2020-21 is to put India back on the path of fis- testors. These headlines were giving credence to
central schemes, leaving the problem for a future cal consolidation with a commitment to contain- the view that the prioritisation of this govern-
date. ing the fiscal deficit to 3.5% of GDP. But when off- ment’s political, majoritarian agenda was under-
An important issue that the FM did acknowl- budget borrowing is accounted for, the actual fis- mining India’s economy. This budget was an
edge head-on was the need to ensure transpar- cal deficit is far higher and the projected target of opportunity for the government to change the
ency and credibility of the governments’ fiscal 3.5% remains unachievable. Commitments to narrative. It hasn’t.
math. Importantly, she added an annexure that meeting this target from disinvestment and
enumerated the government’s off-budget borrow- improvements in the Goods and Service Tax col- Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive,
ing. This is a very welcome move and a critical lection may not be enough, given collections in Centre for Policy Research
first step to addressing the credibility crisis that previous years. It may have been better to stick to The views expressed are personal

Given existing constraints, the FM did her best.

Now, continue to push reforms over the year
The FM has been transparent about the fiscal deficit. The
effort to improve the credibility of numbers is welcome
setting up of a financial resolution authority
ILA can be done in the coming months. The direc-
PATNAIK tion in which the economy goes will depend
on the reforms that follow this budget.
The budget took a fiscal expansionary
stance. To her credit, the FM appears to have
been more transparent about the fiscal defi-
cit than the previous years. First, she
announced a deviation from the Fiscal
inance minister Nirmala Sitharaman Responsibility and Budget Management Act,
n The budget also addresses the issue of tax harassment
avail of exemptions. Details about the exemp-
tions that have to be given up will determine
the outcome of this proposal. One of the most
utilised exemptions under Section 80 C of the
Income Tax Act is taken up by most salaried
people as they save for pension, provident
fund or buy insurance. If this is one of the
exemptions that people give up to opt for the
lower tax rate, its effect may be uncertain.
People are not likely to save in these instru-
ments if there are no tax exemptions.
On the one hand, people may spend more
as they do not save, and this may give a boost
to demand. On the other hand, this may have
enterprises (MSMEs) don’t need an interest
subvention as much as they need sources of
credit. The banking sector barely takes care
of about 5% of the credit needs of MSMEs. The
banking system lends mainly to large compa-
nies who are willing to borrow from banks
because that is the most convenient source of
credit. If the government works to develop a
deep and liquid bond market, banks may
then turn to the less creditworthy MSMEs,
who are being shunned today due to the pres-
ence of highly-rated large corporations.
Last year, in her speech for budget 2019-20,
Sitharaman had narrated a story. She cited a

The multi-pronged reforms

AJAY AGGARWAL/HT PHOTO

F presented the Union Budget amid

high expectations of a demand stimu-
lus for the economy. The slowdown in
the economy, combined with the existing fis-
cal stress, made this a challenging task.
While the budget had a number of steps that
(FRBM), 2003 target. Fiscal deficits of 3.8% in
RE 2019-20 and 3.5% for BE 2020-21 were esti-
mated. While the FRBM targets were 3.3% for
year 2019-20, and 3% for the 2020-21, the
FRBM Act provides for a trigger mechanism
for a deviation from the estimated fiscal defi-
the effect of reducing long-term savings for
investments that are already inadequate in
the economy.
The overall effect of the income tax meas-
ures in the budget on overall demand may be
Tamil verse that was sung as advice to a king.
It said: “A few mounds of rice from paddy that
is harvested from a small piece of land would
suffice for an elephant. But what if the ele-
phant itself enters the field and starts eating?
limited. The much-expected fiscal boost to What it eats would be far lesser than what it

in Union Budget 2020 may help in improving demand, it fell short

The focus on agriculture, an infrastructure push, a boost to the
corporate sector, tax cuts, disinvestment are positive steps
ner nations, which have led to a surge in
KUMAR imports, to the detriment of domestic indus-
MANGALAM BIRLA try. Hence some much-needed protectionist
measures have been put in place.
The mainly urban middle class gets a boost
through a cut in income tax. And bank depos-
itors too can feel assured about their depos-
its, since the insured amount ceiling has been
of the expectations of a big fiscal stimulus.
To be realistic, there was little scope for a
big fiscal stimulus. The FM seemed to have
tried to do the best under the given circum-
stances. She could perhaps have tried to do
more on policy and legislative changes that
are not necessarily tax, revenue, and expend-
iture-related. However, those can be done
later as they are not part of the money bill.
Financial legislative reform such as setting
up of a public debt management agency, or
cit. She took a deviation of 0.5% for both
years. Second, along with this deviation, she
said she would provide a list of government
borrowings that did not appear in the govern-
ment borrowing numbers. This is a welcome
step towards improving the credibility of
budget numbers.
In a boost to the economy, the FM gave
some tax breaks to households earning less
than ~15 lakh per annum. The new tax slabs
are a parallel system of income tax slabs that
can be chosen if the taxpayer does not wish to
the economy, which was perhaps too unreal-
istic, did not materialise and many people
seem to be disappointed with the Budget.
However, this does not mean that the gov-
ernment cannot give the economy a boost.
One of the reasons for the present crisis is the
health of the financial sector. Part of the solu-
tion also lies in steps that can be taken to
improve the health of the financial system.
For many of these steps, it is not fiscal resour-
ces that are required.
For example, micro, small and medium
would trample over !” The tax department
needs to heed the advice of the FM. Perhaps
that is why the FM announced that she will
introduce a taxpayers charter to prevent har-
assment of taxpayers. This is something that
may go some way in improving investor con-
fidence and preventing a contraction of the
economy.
Ila Patnaik is an economist and a professor at the
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
The views expressed are personal
By special arrangement with The Print

he finance minister, Nirmala Sithar-

T aman, had to present this year’s
Union Budget in a very challenging
context. Slowing economy, falling
aggregate demand, and lacklustre credit
flows and exports, were all pointing to the
need for a sharp fiscal stimulus.
But fiscal space is limited since tax collec-
tion was not growing handsomely. It is fur-
ther constrained by a strict fiscal responsibil-
ity law passed by Parliament. Thankfully,
that law has an exemption in case of special
circumstances. Hence taking recourse to
that allowable deviation, the FM presented a
budget which has a higher fiscal deficit. The
stimulus helps address the growth needs of
various stakeholders, such as farmers,
urban middle class, corporates and bank
depositors.
For instance, there is a significant capital
outlay earmarked for agriculture. There is
also a detailed 16-point plan to invigorate the
agriculture sector. These steps include eco-
nomic reforms and deregulation, connecting
the farm to fork through supply chains,
addressing water stress, and reducing price
distortions.
Similarly, there is also a boost to the corpo-
rate sector by abolition of the dividend distri-
bution tax. Already, corporate taxes had
been reduced to 22%, and in fact 15% for new
manufacturing companies. This will help
make India’s industry competitive.
The budget also points to certain anoma-
lies in our free trade agreements with part-
THE BUDGET HAS A CLEAR EYE
ON THE FUTURE AND IS WILLING
TO EMBRACE THE NEW ECONOMY.
THE TALK OF DISRUPTIVE TECH
AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF
A NATIONAL MISSION FOR
QUANTUM TECHNOLOGY
IS A MODEST FIRST STEP
raised to ~5 lakh per depositor.
The budget also makes significant provi-
sions to the ambitious National Infrastruc-
ture Pipeline initiative announced recently.
In the medium-term, infrastructure spend-
ing will be a crucial driver of economic
growth for the Indian economy.
Beyond fiscal boost, one of the very signifi-
cant announcements in the budget was the
part sale of shares in the Life Insurance Cor-
poration of India. This is in line with an ambi-
tious disinvestment programme which aims
to raise more than ~2 lakh crore next year.
This helps bridge the fiscal deficit, but more
importantly, signals the government’s deter-
mination to let private sector have a greater
play in the economy. The Union Cabinet has
already cleared the disinvestment in a slew
of public sector companies. This was a theme
discussed in the Economic Survey as well.
The budget also helps address the issue of
tax harassment. An important signal in the
budget was the enshrinement of the “tax-
payer charter” in the statutes of the tax laws.
It will lead to less coercive recovery of taxes.
This will enhance the element of trust
between the taxpayer and the government,
Faceless appeals and the introduction of the
settlement scheme for direct tax disputes are
welcome too. In order to attain fiscal sustain-
ability, the tax net needs to be wider, and tax
rates modest. The reduction in corporate
income tax announced earlier, and now
extended to the power sector, is greatly wel-
come.
Budget 2020 also has a clear eye on the
future and signals a willingness to embrace
the new economy. The talk of disruptive tech
and the announcement of a National mission
for Quantum Technology, with an outlay of
~8000 crore over five years, is a modest first
step and indicates a desire to compete with
economic superpowers on the frontiers that
matter.
India’s emergence into a higher growth
orbit is something that the world awaits.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is chairman,
Aditya Birla Group
The views expressed are personal
The government has adopted a measured policy of
planned recovery by a thousand cuts. It can work
The message is simple. The economy needs to strengthen
itself. The State will help with spending, easing bottlenecks
GOVIND
SANKARANARAYANAN
irmala Sitharaman’s Budget
N speech, which broke records for its
length, is likely to have left some
disappointed. She faced the chal-
lenge, common among Indians during the
wedding season, of having presented the
bride with an expensive gift in advance of the
wedding, and then finding herself somewhat
empty- handed on the big day. Readers will
recall that there were already big bang
announcements with regard to corporate tax
cuts, credit facilities for non-banking finan-
cial companies (NBFCs) and the merger of
banks, which are in progress. After these
announcements, her budget speech was
always likely to fall short of expectations.
Despite this challenge, the FM has stayed
consistent with her party’s philosophy that
it is the institutional economic framework of
the country that needs to change. Conse-
quently, a lot of air time was spent communi-
cating budgetary philosophy (often through
the medium of Tamil poets and remarkably,
even Harappan inscriptions) rather than
stating actual allocation numbers. I indi-
cated in my article in this newspaper, on Jan-
uary 20, that budgets were communication
tools and hence communication (even if
through poetry) was actually quite desirable.
I had called for greater articulation on the
simplification of taxes, explicit recognition of
the contribution of honest businessmen, and
clarity on macro-economic data. I was grati-
fied to see these issues addressed in the
speech.
Given the absence of big bang reforms,
what exactly is the government planning to
do to improve the economic plumbing? In the
backdrop of the challenges the economy
faces, the budget seeks to rekindle the econ-
omy through a range of activities around
agriculture, health and education. There are
large sums allocated to improvements in food
warehousing, financing of agricultural ware-
house receipts, enhanced limits for agri-
credit as also several interesting initiatives
in health and education. Building roads have
always been pet projects of Bharatiya Janata
Party governments, and there were clear
five-year targets set for the same, while also
promising 100 new airports. On a more per-
sonal note, my home town Bengaluru’s now
legendary traffic snarls may be alleviated by
a ~18,000 crore suburban rail project. Most of
these actions should drive job creation.
In tune with the belief that small initia-
tives can have larger beneficial consequen-
ces, small NBFC’s will now get the legal bene-
fits under Securitisation and Reconstruction
of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Secu-
rity Interest Act. This will enable precisely
the kinds of organisations which lend more
to small enterprises, and help in job creation
to lend more with the comfort of greater
recoveries. On a similar note, encourage-
ment of TrEDS ( the platform which enables
invoice discounting) is another excellent but
under-marketed scheme which still hasn’t
achieved traction. Public sector vendors will
now use TrEDS, making them easier to
finance.
In this manner, the government seems to
be looking at “recovery by a thousand cuts”.
This can indeed work if the government can
execute well on even a few of these initiatives.
One is also happy that the government is
clearly in a mood to bust its fiscal deficit. It
would be surprising if the fiscal deficit for
2020 was only 3.8 % and the actual number for
2021 is likely to be higher than the promised
3.5% However, FMs who are confident of
achieving deficit numbers do not say, as
Sitharaman did, that they would need a
“margin “ of 0.5%. Clearly, the government
is prepared to cross into 4% territory. But, it
doesn’t want to admit this openly. This is fair
game and is the only way to climb back to
growth. In connection with deficits, there
was a somewhat dramatic announcement
about the potential divestment of a part of
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). This is
likely to meet with resistance. There are
many other organisations the government
could choose to sell before it divests LIC. I
expect this particular proposal will not mate-
rialise, and to that extent, the fiscal slippage
will widen.
A few other initiatives stand out. First,
there is a reduction in direct taxes for the
middle class, which will certainly drive a lit-
tle more consumption. There is also the
reduction of the vexatious dividend distribu-
tion tax, which should make it simpler for
overseas investors to invest in India.
If one had been limited to only one wish for
the budget, it would have been a mechanism
to bring in large amounts of long-term capital
into the Indian bond markets, to enable the
funding of the tens of lakhs of crores we need
to boost infrastructure and to achieve the
green transition. In this area, there is an
interesting waiver of tax on sovereign wealth
funds which should catalyse investment in
the approved sectors.
For the second budget in a row, the govern-
ment is giving more attention to its climate
change commitments. The allocations for
smart metering and the funding to allow
farmers to generate retail; solar power for
farmers are all in the right direction. The FM
also indicated that there could be regulation
requiring highly emissive thermal plants to
close. If followed through, this is a remarka-
ble step for the government of a growing
economy. Those who are critical of the cur-
rent government often fail to give it adequate
credit for being among the most enlightened
in terms of its responses to climate change.
Following Sitharaman’s speech, we now
know that the government is not looking for
dramatic changes in policy such as steep
reductions in customs duties or the abolition
of capital gains tax. Instead the message we
must absorb is that the economy, in the main,
needs to strengthen itself in the normal
course and the government will try to help by
active social sector spending and easing bot-
tlenecks along the way. This approach also
reflects the reality that the government has
four more years to go and, therefore, does not
believe it needs to use stronger ammunition.
Fortunately, big bang budgets have not
always resulted in sustained economic
growth (with the exception of 1991) and one
hopes that the government’s generally sound
track record in execution will help it achieve
its policy of “ recovery by a thousand cuts”.
Govind Sankaranarayanan is former COO and CFO,
Tata Capital , is currently vice chairman at ESG Fund
ECube Investment Advisors
The views expressed are personal
16 hindustantimes
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FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes 17

htmetro DEC 16 CONVICTS ABUSING PROCESS

OF LAW: CENTRE
> P19

Another gun attack, this time at Shaheen Bagh

CLOSE SHAVE 23-year-old opens fire in air
near protest site, arrested; says he was angry
as blocked road was hampering his family’s
shopping plans for a wedding, pistol seized
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Two days after a teen-
aged minor from Jewar opened
fire at a group of protesting stu-
dents near Jamia Millia Islamia,
injuring one of them, a 23-year-
old man from Delhi on Saturday
fired two rounds in the air at the
Shaheen Bagh protest site, where
anti-Citizenship (Amendment)
Act (CAA) demonstrators have
been agitating for over a month
and a half.
The gun shots were fired less
than 150 metres from the protest
site — the epicentre of anti-CAA
protests in Delhi where hundreds
of men, women and children are
present daily. No one was
injured.
As he was being detained by
the police, the man was caught on
camera saying, “No other com-
munity will have a say in this
country. Only Hindus will.”
Police arrested the man, iden-
tified as Kapil Gujjar, a resident of
Dallupura in east Delhi. Police
said he is married and has studied
up to Class 12.
The man, they said, had
claimed he opened fire because
there was a wedding in his family
and his relatives had problems
going shopping to the Lajpat
Nagar market due to the road
blockade at Kalindi Kunj.
Since December 15, 2019, hun-
dreds of residents have been pro-
testing against CAA at road num-
ber 13A. The police have since
blocked the road that connects
South Delhi and Noida.
According to the senior police
officers, the firing took place
between 4.45pm and 5pm. “Eye
witnesses told us that the man
arrived in an auto-rickshaw
around 4.30pm and went to a local
tea shop. He sat there for about
15-20 minutes and then walked
towards the protesters. He
crossed the first barricade and
after reaching the second one, he
took out a pistol and fired one shot
in the air. Before anyone could
respond, the man fired another
shot,” said a senior police officer.
Joint commissioner of police
(southern range) Devesh Srivas-
tava said some policemen who
were standing near the barricade
overpowered the man and his pis-
tol was snatched. “We recovered
only one pistol from him. He was
immediately put in a car and was
taken to Sarita Vihar police sta-
tion. He has been booked under
the Arms Act. He will be ques-
tioned to trace the source of the
weapon,” the joint commissioner
said. He added that security had
been tightened in the area ad all
visitors to the protest site were
being frisked with the help of vol-
unteers.
Srivastava said they were veri-
fying if the man had any political
affiliations.
According to eyewitnesses, the
shooter was pointing his weapon
at the protesters. “When I heard
the first shot, I looked behind and
saw him. Within seconds, he
shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and again
opened fire. He was pointing his
weapon towards the protest site.
People ducked to protect them-
selves. We saw him trying to fire
again but his weapon jammed,”
said Ahtemama, a law student
from Jamia Millia Islamia.
Another police officer, who
questioned Gujjar after his deten-
tion, said the man claimed he was
angry about the road blockade at
Kalindi Kunj (connecting South
Delhi and Faridabad to Noida).
“He said he had a wedding in
the family and they had to often
go to Lajpat Nagar market. Since
they were having trouble access-
ing this stretch, he got angry and
fired near the protest site,” the
officer said.
Gujjar’s father, Gaje Singh,
and elder brother, Sachin, who
went to Sarita Vihar police sta-
tion, told reporters they had they
no clue about his plans. “We came
to know through TV news chan-
nels that he was involved in this.
He was not upset over anything
particular but had been irritated
over the road blockade in Shah-
een Bagh as most of our relatives
live there and accessing that area
has been a problem,” the elder
brother told ETV.
Sachin said that Kapil was
very religious and participates in
Kanwar Yatra every year. “We
don’t know where he got the
weapon from. He has never been
involved in any criminal activity
before,” the family said.
SHAHEEN BAGH,
January 28
n There was panic at Shaheen
Bagh protest site on
January 28 afternoon after
a man carrying a pistol was
reportedly caught by
protesters.
n Police said the man was
allowed to leave the venue
after he assured protesters
that the gun was licensed.
n A police officer said around
2.30pm, 60-70 people had
reached the venue and
insisted that the agitation
be called off. Some of them
began removing barricades
. “During the melee,
someone screamed that
one of them was carrying a
gun. At this, the man took
n A 17-year-old shot at students protesting outside Jamia Millia Islamia. The boy, dressed
out his pistol and claimed
that it was licensed
weapon,” he said.
n Women form a human chain during the protest against anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) at
Shaheen Bagh on Saturday. A 23-year-old had earlier on Saturday fired two rounds in the air, less than
150 metres from the protest site.
JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA, January 30 SHAHEEN BAGH, February 1
n A 23-year-old man, Kapil Gujjar, on Saturday fired two rounds in the air near the Shaheen
in a black jacket, brandished a country-made gun at the anti-CAA protesters and shouted Bagh protest site, where anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act demonstrators have been
“aao aaj azaadi dilata hoon” before shooting at protesters in the presence of scores of agitating for over a month and a half. The gun shots were fired less than 150 metres from
security personnel. One student was injured. REUTERS FILE the protest site. No one was injured.
‘Continuous attacks won’t deter
us, we will continue our protest’
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Tension and anger ran
high among protesters at Shah-
een Bagh on Saturday, after a
man opened fire near the protest
site where hundreds have been
gathering everyday, since
December 15, 2019, to protest
against the amended citizenship
act.
The protesters blamed the
Delhi Police for not being able to
provide safety to them and vowed
to continue their agitation
despite “continuous attacks.”
Saturday’s firing at Shaheen
Bagh took place within 48 hours
of a similar incident being
reported from Jamia Millia Isla-
mia, where a teenager had fired
bullets at a group of students pro-
testing against the Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA) on
Thursday. A 22-year-old student
was injured in the incident.
Earlier on Tuesday, a man car-
rying a pistol had been nabbed by
protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
According to eyewitnesses on
Saturday evening, three persons
entered the protest site crossing
barricades installed near Jasola
traffic signal. “One man walked
in and started raising slogans and
SANJEEV VERMA/HT PHOTO fired three shots in the air. The
SATURDAY’S FIRING
TOOK PLACE WITHIN 48
HOURS OF A SIMILAR
INCIDENT REPORTED
FROM JAMIA MILLIA
ISLAMIA, WHERE A
MINOR HAD FIRED AT
STUDENTS PROTESTING
AGAINST THE CAA
police didn’t come forward to stop
him till the third shot was fired.
We saw the attacker pointing his
weapon directly towards the pro-
testers. Hundreds of men, women
and children were present there.
Who would have taken responsi-
bility if anyone had been hurt?”
said an eyewitness requesting
anonymity.
The protesters also said that
after firing the shots, the attacker
dropped his weapon in a drain
and tried to escape. “Some pro-
testers chased and nabbed the
man before police could step in,”
the eyewitness added.
Questioning Delhi police’s
“inaction”, a group of protesters
gathered around the police barri-
cades later on Saturday evening
and raised slogans against the
cops. Noor Jahan, mother of four
HT PHOTO
and homemaker, said, “How can
they (the police) allow people to
enter with weapons? The police
are here for our safety and yet
gunmen are entering with weap-
ons with the intention of wanting
to hurt us. The same thing hap-
pened in Jamia and there too
police stood and watched as a stu-
dent was shot at and injured in
broad daylight.”
Kausar Bi, who has been there
at the protest site from Day One,
said, “Such attacks are happen-
ing because BJP leaders are pro-
voking people against us. They
are targeting Shaheen Bagh pro-
testers every now and then and
making people shout slogans like
‘goli maro…..”
Earlier this week, BJP MP and
minister of state for finance Anu-
rag Thakur at rally in Rithala,
called out a chant of “desh ke gad-
daron ko...” asking the audience
to finish it, which they did with
“goli maaro saalon ko”.
Later in the evening, some pro-
testers assigned volunteers
around the barricades to check
the identity cards of visitors. Abid
Sheikh, a volunteer at the protest,
said, “It’s natural that we will do
something for our own security.
We are verifying the identity of
each and every visitor before they
enter the protest site.”

Tejasvi Yadav to Yogi rakes up Shaheen BJP exploiting protests, Jamia admin bars CLAIMS, COUNTERCLAIMS

campaign for protest meetings

Congress-RJD
candidates in Delhi
Bagh, targets Kejriwal time to do a rethink: AAP inside campus HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com

HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Janata

HT Correspondent
n htcorrespondent@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI: In his first election

Dal (RJD), which has allied with
the Congress for the February 8
Delhi Assembly polls, is set to
hold road shows and rallies in
support of the candidates of the
two parties in the last leg of the
campaign.
RJD national president and
leader of Opposition in Bihar,
Tejasvi Yadav, will hold two
roadshows and two public meet-
ings from February 2-4 in Delhi.
“Yadav will hold a roadshow
and a joint public meeting of
RJD-Congress in Uttam Nagar
and Vikaspuri assembly con-
stituencies on Monday,” said
RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha,
in a press conference organised
with the Delhi Congress chief
Subhash Chopra on Saturday.
According to senior Congress
leaders, RJD leader Yadav is
also likely to hold a roadshow in
Palam assembly seat on Sun-
day.
The Congress has entered
into an alliance with the RJD on
four assembly seats — Uttam
Nagar, Palam, Burari and
Kirari — which have a sizeable
Purvanachali (from Bihar and
eastern UP) voter base. The
Congress will be contesting on
66 seats.
Congress party leaders said
that the presence of RJD leaders
will boost its campaign. “It
would help the party in reaching
out to Purvanchali voters, who
comprise over 40% of the city’s
population,” said a senior Con-
gress leader, who did not wish to
be named.
THE CONGRESS HAS
ENTERED INTO AN
ALLIANCE WITH THE RJD
ON FOUR ASSEMBLY
SEATS — UTTAM NAGAR,
PALAM, BURARI AND
KIRARI — WHICH HAVE A
SIZEABLE VOTER BASE.
speech in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi Adityanath
on Saturday criticised his Delhi
counterpart Arvind Kejriwal
over poor governance and for
supporting the Shaheen Bagh
anti-Citizenship Amendment
Act (CAA) protesters.
Addressing a public meeting
in Jahangirpuri in the Adarsh
Nagar assembly segment, Adit-
yanath took on the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) and the Congress,
saying they supported those
who “shout pro-Pakistan slo-
gans” and “supplied biryani” to
them.
In another meeting at Kar-
awal Nagar Chowk in east Delhi,
Yogi lashed out at anti-CAA pro-
testers, saying “their ancestors
divided India, so they have a
grouse against this emerging
‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’.”
“These protests happening at
various places in Delhi are not
about CAA, they are happening
because those people are ques-
tioning as to how can India
emerge as a major power in the
world, and they want to stop
that rising India,” he said.
Listing out the Modi-led cen-
tral government‘s decisions on
the construction of a Ram Tem-
ple, abrogation of Article 370
and ban on triple talaq, the Uttar
Pradesh chief minister said peo-
ple used to say it will result in
large-scale violence.
“Patharbaaz gayab ho gayee.
Pakistan parasth atankwadi ya
toh Pakistan se aane ki himat
nahi kar raha hai. Aur agar aar-
aha hai toh kutte ki maut bhi
mare ja raha hain. (The stone
pelters have disappeared...Paki-
stan-supported terrorists now
don’t dare to come here and
those who come here are getting
killed like dogs),” he said.
Training his guns at the Con-
gress and AAP, Adityanath
said, “Today, terrorists are not
being served biryani. It was the
Congress that used to serve
biryani in Kashmir (to terror-
ists)...and now it is Kejriwal
n Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took on the Aam Aadmi Party
and the Congress, saying they supported those who “shout pro-
Pakistan slogans” and “supplied biryani” to them. RAJ K RAJ/HT PHOTO
who is offering biryani to pro-
testers at Shaheen Bagh.”
In a direct attack on Kejriwal,
the UP CM said his counter-
part’s sympathises with the
“protesters at Shaheen who
chant pro-Pakistan slogans”. He
asked the people to support the
BJP which, he said, has devel-
opment, good governance and
nationalism as its agenda.
The UP chief minister took a
jibe at Kejriwal while referring
to a tweet by Pakistan’s science
and technology minister Fawad
Hussain and said he (Kejriwal)
is now seeking support from
Pakistan. “This shows he
doesn’t trust the people of Delhi.
He is asking his masters in Paki-
stan to tell Imran Khan’s minis-
ter to issue statement in his sup-
port,” he said.
The UP chief minister held
five back-to-back public meet-
ings on Saturday ahead of the
February 8 Assembly elections.
He is scheduled to address six
more public meetings in the
next few days.
At all the rallies, the UP CM
attacked Kejriwal on the issue of
governance. At the public meet-
ings in Narela, Jahangirpuri
and Karawal Nagar, he cited the
“pathetic condition of roads in
Karawal Nagar” to highlight the
lack of development work in the
country’s capital. “Where is the
money going? They have
deprived people of basic servi-
ces,” he said.
Referring to the ruling Aam
Aadmi Party as a gang of “politi-
cal blackmailers”, Adityanath
said that you can’t expect good
governance from them. He cited
the poor quality of drinking
water and failure to implement
Lokpal in Delhi as key failures
of the Kejriwal-led Delhi gov-
ernment.
“In politics, if you want to see
the tribe of political blackmail-
ers, then the Aam Aadmi Party
is an example...You can’t expect
governance from political
blackmailers,” he said.
At a the public meeting in
Narela, the UP CM said, “The
biggest power of democracy is
ballot, not bullet. I have come
here to appeal to you to use the
language of the ballot.”
on Shaheen Bagh sit-in
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha
MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday
urged the Anti-Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA) protes-
tors of Shaheen Bagh to “rethink”
about their sit-in so that the Bhar-
atiya Janata Party (BJP) does not
gain political mileage out of it.
Singh, who held a press confer-
ence to issue AAP’s statement on
the shooting incident at Shaheen
Bagh, referred to the anti-CAA
and NRC protestors in Mumbai
who withdrew their protests on
Saturday.
“Today, those who have been
protesting for the cause in Mum-
bai have taken back the protests.
I feel that at this time the protes-
tors (of Shaheen Bagh) should
show patience and understand-
ing so that the BJP does not take
political advantage by spreading
chaos and violence in the area. So,
you (the protestors of Shaheen
Bagh) should also rethink about
your protest now,” Singh said.
Minutes after a man fired two
rounds in the air at Shaheen
Bagh, the epicentre of anti-CAA
protests, chief minister and AAP
national convener Arvind Kejri-
wal urged Union home minister
Amit Shah to improve law and
order in Delhi.
“In broad daylight, bullets are
being fired. The law and order sit-
uation of Delhi is in tatters. Elec-
tions will come and go, politics
will also continue, but for the
sake of the people of Delhi, please
pay attention to improve law and
order,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in
Hindi.
The AAP sent a letter to the
Election Commission of India,
requesting it to “act immedi-
ately” and direct the Delhi police
commissioner and other agencies
to take measures to pre-empt
such “criminal act”. The party
submitted a video to the ECI in
which a group can purportedly be
n Since December 15, 2019, hundreds of residents have been
protesting against the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC)
at Shaheen Bagh’s road number 13A.
In broad daylight, bullets are being fired. The law and
› order situation of Delhi is in tatters. Elections will
come and go, politics will also continue, but for the sake
of the people of Delhi, please pay attention to improve law
and order.
ARVIND KEJRIWAL, Delhi chief minister in a tweet
seen giving a call to assemble
near Sarita Vihar in large num-
bers.
Singh reiterated that the BJP
was planning to create a “big dis-
turbance” in the national capital
on Sunday to get the February 8
Assembly polls deferred. “How is
it possible that individuals in the
national capital are brandishing
dangerous weapons and are fir-
ing openly? It is also surprising
that AAP has been seeking time
from the ECI since yesterday and
it has not responded so far,” he
said.
Singh questioned Union law
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
over his statement that the gov-
ernment was ready to talk to the
protesters at Shaheen Bagh to
BURHAAN KINU/HT FILE
clear their doubts over the
amended Citizenship law.
“I want to ask him what is pre-
venting his government (from
talking to the protesters) and
whether it was a personal state-
ment?” he said, adding Prasad
should know that the Union home
minister will never allow talks to
take place.
Singh slammed Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi Adityanath
for his alleged derogatory
remarks against Kejriwal.
“Yogi should have been
arrested till now. He is mentally
sick and requires treatment, and
he should know treatment is free
in Delhi,” he said, adding that the
EC should take strict action
against Adityanath.
NEW DELHI: Jamia Millia Islamia
on Saturday prohibited students
from holding any protest meet-
ings inside the university cam-
pus, and warned them of strict
action is found indulged in any
such activity.
The university administra-
tion directed students to report
any unauthorised entry of out-
siders in campus to avoid “dis-
ruption of peace”. It said the
guidelines were issued for the
“smooth” conduct of classes and
examinations.
The order comes at a time
when hundreds have been gath-
ering outside the university
campus every day in protest
against the Citizenship Amend-
ment Act and National Register
of Citizens.
On December 15, 2019, many
students were injured when
police allegedly barged into the
campus and attacked them in the
library. The clash followed a pro-
test organised by students and
locals against the CAA and NRC.
In an order issued on Satur-
day, Jamia Registrar AP Sid-
diqui said, “Any kind of protest
meeting, agitation, speeches and
mass gathering or any unlawful
activities causing inconvenience
and disruption in the day-to-day
academic functioning are not
allowed around the central can-
teen or anywhere in the Jamia
Millia Islamia campus.”
The Registrar requested stu-
dents to report the presence of
outsiders on campus.
“Students are expected to
cooperate actively in discipline
maintenance to support exam
and conduct of classes. They are
also expected to immediately
report any outsider or unautho-
rised campus entry as this can
lead to an attempt of disruption
of peace at university,” the
notice stated.
On Saturday, the Jamia unit
of Left students’ group AISA had
given a protest call against “Hin-
dutva terror and draconian
laws”. Gauhar, a student at
Jamia, said that despite the
administration’s warning, they
organised the protest.
18 metro hindustantimes SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES,N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0

Nothing for Delhi: AAP 20% candidates have criminal cases,

36% are crorepatis, shows ADR report
criticises Union budget Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa
n vijdan.kawoosa@htlive.com

NEW DELHI: This year’s Delhi

STAGNANT According to the party, Delhi’s share of central
taxes has remained static at ₹325 crore since 2001­02
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI: Ahead of the February
8 assembly elections in the
national Capital, the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) on Saturday
accused the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP)-ruled Centre of “not
giving any priority” to Delhi in
the 2020-21 Union budget.
Alleging “step-motherly”
treatment to Delhi, chief minis-
ter Arvind Kejriwal directly
linked the Union budget with the
elections in the Capital, which is
barely a week away.
“Delhi had a lot of expecta-
tions from the budget. But, once
again, step-motherly treatment
has been meted out to the people
of the city. If Delhi does not figure
in the priority list of the BJP
only, then why should the city’s
people vote for the party?...” Kej-
riwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
The AAP national convener
questioned the ability of the BJP
to fulfil its promises after the
Delhi election. “…It is also ques-
tionable that when the BJP is
already disappointing Delhi
before elections, will it fulfil its
promises after the elections
then?” Kejriwal asked.
The election results will be
announced on February 11. On
January 16, Kejriwal had asked
the Centre to give more funds
and make “big announcements”
for the national Capital so that
the upcoming government – be it
of the AAP, BJP or the Congress
– can use it for the betterment of
n Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said a stepmotherly treatment
had been meted out to the people of the national capital.
Delhi.
Later in the day, deputy chief
minister and Delhi’s finance
minister Manish Sisodia, in a
press conference, said the city’s
people have been “deceived” by
the BJP through the Budget. He
said neither did the Centre
increase Delhi’s allocation in
Central taxes nor did it allocate
any funds to the municipal cor-
porations.
“The share in Central taxes of
Delhi has remained stagnant at
₹325 crore since 2001-02. The
Delhi government has repeat-
edly requested the Centre to
increase this to at least ₹7,000
crore. We had asked for ₹1,250
crore in the 2020-21 (BE) and
₹1,150 crore in 2019-20 (RE) as
basic and performance grants to
the BJP-ruled MCDs. But, they
(Centre) gave nothing in the
HT FILE
Budget,” he said.
“This is despite the fact that
BJP leaders had in 2017, before
the MCD elections, publicly
declared that they would get
funds for the MCDs directly from
the Centre. What happened to
their promise? It was a Jumla
(joke). The BJP needs to answer
why it is starving its own ruled
MCDs of funds?” Sisodia asked.
On the revised income tax
structure, Sisodia said the mid-
dle-class had been cheated with
it. “They have made the tax
structure so complex that there
will hardly be any savings for the
salaried class. There is no
change in the existing tax struc-
ture for those who want to
remain in the existing structure
and for those who may want to
opt for the fresh announcement,
they will have to let go their
₹2,487 CR
ALLOTED TO
RAPID RAIL
GHAZIABAD: In a major
boost to regional connec-
tivity in the National
Capital Region (NCR),
the government has allo-
cated ₹2,487 crore to the
National Capital Region
Transport Corporation
(NCRTC), which is devel-
oping the country’s first
Regional Rapid Transit
System (RRTS) project.
The money has been allo-
cated under the Union
Budget presented in the
Parliament on Saturday
This allocation is the
highest in three years.
Officials said that the
allocation has increased
as the different
RRTS works are now
getting expedited. HTC
insurance policies and other tax-
saving policies,” he said.
In the education sector, the
AAP alleged the Centre had
rather decreased its allocation.
“I expected the BJP government
will increase the education bud-
get because according to their
own National Education Policy,
6% of the GDP should be spent on
education. Last year, the educa-
tion budget was 3.6% of the GDP
and this year they decreased the
share to 3.2%. This clearly shows
the apathy of the BJP towards
education,” the party said.
assembly election will see the
cases against its candidates,
including Kejriwal, are all an out-
come of the political vendetta by
the Centre. “It is not hidden from
the people of Delhi the Centre has
A PROFILE OF THOSE
CONTESTING POLLS
highest share of candidates with been after the AAP ever since it
declared criminal cases in over a came to power in 2015. They This year’s Delhi election will see the highest share
decade, according to figures by slapped cases after cases against of candidates with criminal cases in a decade
election watchdog Association Kejriwal, other ministers like
for Democratic Reforms based on Satyendar Jain and Kailash Gah- CHART 1 Candidates with criminal cases
analysis of affidavits filed by the lot, and many more AAP MLAs.
candidates with the Election They even raided Kejriwal’s Total candidates with criminal cases (%)
Commission of India. Twenty of home. Each attempt has misera- Candidates with serious criminal cases (%) 19.8
these candidates have been con- bly failed as no case could last in 20
victed in at least one case. the court of law,” said AAP Delhi 16.9
The election will also see the unit convener Gopal Rai.
16.2
highest share of crorepatis, high- Of all the candidates contest- 14.1
15
er-educated, women and older ing the election, 36% are crorepa-
candidates in over a decade. tis, the highest in four assembly 15.5
Of the 672 candidates contest- elections. This figure is higher for
ing the election, nearly 20% have the three big parties -- 83% candi- 10
a criminal case against them. dates of the Congress, 73% of AAP 11.7 11.0
This is the highest share of such and 70% of the BJP are crorepatis.
candidates at least since the 2008 Four wealthiest candidates are
assembly elections, when the fig- from AAP. Dharampal Lakra, the 5
ure was nearly 14%, and has since AAP candidate from Mundka
been increasing in every consec- constituency, is an outlier with 4.1
utive election. ₹292 crore worth of assets, nearly 0
This is in harmony with the four times more than the total 2008 2013 2015 2020
nationwide trend of increasing assets of the second wealthiest
criminalisation in politics—in candidate Pramila Tokas, the
the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AAP candidate from RK Puram CHART 2 Age-group of candidates
share of candidates with criminal constituency, who owns assets
Age Group (In Years) Upto 30 31-40 41-50 51-60
cases was the highest in a decade. worth ₹81 crore.
61-70 71+ Not Given (in %)
Not all candidates have cases The election this year also has
of a serious nature against them. the highest share of women can- 1
2008 10 34 31 16 6
But the share of candidates with didates (11.8%) since 2008. 2
serious criminal cases has also Fifteen percent of the Congress
9 31 30 18 1
been growing over time. This candidates are women compared 2013 9
2
year, more than 15% of candi- to 13% of AAP and 9% of the BJP.
dates have criminal cases of seri- The election will also see a 1
2015 10 28 31 20 9
ous nature against them, also the slightly smaller share of younger 1
highest since 2008. (Chart 1) candidates compared to the pre- 2
These include cases such as vious three elections. 2020 8 27 30 21 11
1
those related to murder, attempt This year only 8.5% of candi-
0 20 40 60 80 100
to murder, kidnapping, rape and dates are up to 30 years old while
other crimes against women. 27.5% of candidates are between
This year, 32 candidates have 31 and 40 years old. This is the
cases related to crimes against lowest since 2008. On the con-
CHART 3 Education level of candidates
women, one of them for rape, trary, there is a higher share of Education group Illiterate Literate 5th-12th
while four candidates have cases candidates who are more than 50 Graduate and above Other/unknown (in %)
related to attempt to murder. years old. (Chart 2)
Eight candidates have a case The share of higher-educated 2008 2 7 54 30 7
related to hate speech. candidates has increased. Forty-
The overall figure of 20% of five per cent candidates contest- 2013 3 2 58 35 2

Armed men rob e-commerce store in Manesar candidates having criminal cases
against them hides the fact that
big political parties have a larger
ing thiselection are at least grad-
uates. This figure was 40% in 2015,
36% in 2013 and 32% in 2008. The
2015 4 1 55 39 1

HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
GURUGRAM: Three masked men
armed with pistols barged into an
Amazon partner delivery station
on Friday night in IMT Manesar
and made off with ₹3 lakh in cash
and the cellphones of two of the
five employees there, the police
said.
According to the police, they
received a call from a man named
Pardeep Kumar around 8pm on
Friday that three unidentified
men had robbed them of the com-
pany’s cash and shot at them;
however, they were unharmed.
Kumar, who works at the store
between 2pm and 12am, said the
suspects arrived around 7.40pm.
“We were working when they
entered one by one. All of them
were holding pistols and threat-
ening us. After robbing us, they
locked the door of the building
from outside and fled,” he said.
Rajesh Kumar, the deputy
commissioner of police (DCP),
Manesar, said, “We have recov-
ered one live cartridge from a
countrymade pistol and CCTV
camera footage. The perpetrators
are yet to be identified.”
A case under sections 392, 397
of IPC and sections of the Arms
Act was registered on Friday.
“We are aware of an incident of
theft that occurred at a partner
delivery station. A case has been
filed in the matter and we are
extending necessary support to
the local police officials,” an
Amazon spokesperson said.
share of such candidates.
60%candidates of the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) have self-declared
criminal cases against them. This
figure is nearly 39% for the Bhar-
atiya Janata Party (BJP) and 27%
for the Congress.
Delhi chief minister Arvind
Kejriwal has the highest number
of criminal cases, 13.
The AAP said the criminal
share of literate but uneducated
candidates has decreased in this
period. (Chart 3)
“We gave maximum seats to
women and candidates from the
Sikh communities unlike other
parties. Besides, AAP and BJP
have the highest number of can-
didates with criminal cases. In
the Congress, the candidates who
may have cases against them are
2020 2 1 51 44 2
0 20 40 60 80 100
SOURCE: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS
mostly political rather than being tion to women is concerned, we
criminal,” said Delhi Congress have given an almost equal num-
chief Subhash Chopra. ber of tickets as other political
Former Delhi BJP chief Vijay parties have. We might have
Goel said, “As far as representa- given one or two tickets less.”

PACE NEWS Hindustan Times Media Marketing Initiative

Ramjas School, R. K. Puram Hosts RBCL G D Goenka

Ramjas School, R. K. Public School,
Puram under the aegis Model Town
of The Ramjas Organises DISHA WANTS TO
Foundation organised 'ARUSHAN'
the 25th Ramjas PLAY A SUPERHERO
Basketball Champoins League. The G D Goenka Public
Tournament saw participation of 150 School, Model Town Check out today’s HT City
teams from Delhi NCR and a number organised 'ARUSHAN',
of states. Raj Nath Gupta, Manager, an initiative of the
Ramjas School, R. K. Puram, students under "The
welcomed the august gathering. ONGC. On this occasion, the guests School Enterprise
Principal Rachna Pant highlighted the honoured the Principal Rachna Pant with Challenge", an
school's achievements in the field of the release of ' REFLECTIONS', her International Business
sports. The Chief Guest was Deepak latest collection of poetry. A cultural Programme for Schools
Kumar, World Cup Gold Medalist - Air programme was put up the students. The run by the Educational
Rifle Shooting while the Guest of Prize Distribution Ceremony saw teams Charity Teach a Man to
Honour was Mr. Randhawa, G. M. receiving their prizes. Fish.

Prize Distribution Function at Inauguration of ATL at Bal

St. Cecilia's Public School, Bhavan Public School, Mayur
Vikaspuri Vihar
Bal Bhavan Public School, Mayur
Vihar organised the inauguration
ceremony of the innovative and hi-tech
Atal Tinkering Laboratory. It is an
approach of central government of Under this challenge,
India to create an environment of the students were
scientific temperament, innovation and involved in
creativity amongst students. The lab collaborations with the
was inaugurated by the Chief Guest small local artisans and
Gopal Kumar Jha, the senior research marketers who face
scientist at The National Institute of problems to produce and
St. Cecilia's Public School, Vikaspuri Solar Energy. A presentation was sell their products.
celebrated the Annual Prize Distribution showcased to highlight the aims and Students were provided
Function supported by the Cultural objectives of Atal Tinkering Lab. The a marketing platform
Presentation themed 'Fit India Andolan'. young innovators presented their through the event to
innovative models. Principal Vividh Tender Notice No. W.503/CN/TF/OT/2019-20/06
The Chief Guest was Madhumita exhibit and sell various
Dated: 31.01.2020
Majumdar a classical singer of repute. Gupta motivated the students and said products. The Arushan For and on behalf of the President of India, Chief Administrative Officer, Construction,
The dignitaries included Guests of that "The students will surely make the Team offered a Southern Railway. Egmore, Chennai - 600 008 invites E-tenders for the following
Honour Daljit Kaur, an eminent best use of every hands-on-experience multi-faceted items from RDSO approved firms for Metal liners only. The receipt of E-tenders will
be closed before 15.00 hours on the due date mentioned against each item and will
educationist retired from Department of in the ATL". entertainment for the be opened on the same day.
Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and customers in the form of SI.
Tender No. Description of Item
Chairman Prof. Sewa Singh. The Annual Live Singing by No.
Name of Work: Manufacture and supply of special size
Report was followed by the Annual Prize renowned artists, music, metal liners for using with 52 Kg Rails over wider sleepers
Distribution. The proud achievers were dance, slam poetry 1 CNMS 427
for linking of Service Track to Drg. No. BNC/T-2019 (Gauge
side) and BNC/T-2020 (Non Gauge side) (Each set consists
felicitated by the dignitaries. The events, Kavi Sammelan, of One no. of BNC/T-2019 (GS) and One no. of BNC/T-2020
Principal highlighted and applauded the Stand up Comedy and (NGS) Drawing as per Annexure annexed

achievements of the institute, students much more. A Cultural SI. Approx. Tender Due date at EMD in Period of
Quantity
and faculty members. The prize Fiesta was organised No. Value in Lakhs 15.00 hrs on ` Completion

distribution function was followed by the which offered 1 3,20,000 Sets 396.48 05.03.2020 7,92,960/- 6 Months

Cultural Presentation - Fit India Andolan entertainment, various The detailed description of the items and tender documents can be downloaded
from the Website: www.ireps.gov.in. The detailed terms and conditions are
based on the theme of Fitness, Good games, Lucky Draw and available in the website.
Health and Wellness. Exhibition stalls.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes metro 19

Dec 16 convicts abusing Gas leak at Haldiram’s Noida plant, 1 dead

Sanjeev Kumar Jha
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
A National Disaster Response
Force team controlled the leak.

process of law: Centre

The DCP said no case has been
NOIDA: One person was killed and registered so far. “If the family of
three others developed breathing the deceased gives a complaint,
problems on Saturday after a gas we will certainly lodge an FIR
leak in the processing unit of against the company,” he said.
snack manufacturer Haldiram’s Balveer Singh, general man-

‘TESTING PATIENCE’ Central govt moves high court against postponement
of death warrants of convicts, court to decide matter in special hearing today
Richa Banka
n richa.banka@htlive.com
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court
will hold a special hearing Sun-
day afternoon to decide a petition
by the Centre challenging the
postponement of the death war-
rant in the December 16, 2012
gang-rape case till further orders.
The petition states that the con-
victs are testing the “patience of
the country”.
Justice Suresh Kait issued a
notice to the Tihar jail and
director general (prisons) on the
crime are trying the patience of
the country,” the solicitor gen-
eral, who is the Central govern-
ment’s second-most senior law
officer, told the Delhi High Court.
Mehta was critical of the con-
duct of the convicts, who he said
had taken the legal process for a
“joyride”.
He said that the word “applica-
tion” being referred here means
the special leave to file an appeal.
The solicitor general said that
the trial court, while postponing
the execution order, had failed to
consider that the four convicts
in Noida’s Sector 65 around noon.
Gautam Budh Nagar’s deputy
ager at the plant, termed the gas
leak as an “accident” and said it
commissioner of police (zone-2),
Harish Chander, said a team of
was not due to a technical lapse.
“The unit where the deceased
police officers and firefighters was working has a clearance cer-
was rushed. “When we reached, tificate from fire and other
Status of legal remedies we found people coughing and
gasping for breath. We cordoned n An NDRF team controlled the gas leak. HT PHOTO
departments concerned,” he said.
He added: “Our officials are on
off the area for nearly an hour to their way to his village. Besides
evacuate employees,” he said. ers in the maintenance depart- death can only be ascertained bearing the cost of education of
Around 2,500 workers were ment of the unit, from where 22 after the autopsy, but prima facie his children and an ex-gratia
rescued from the plant, from people were evacuated. One of it appears to be a case of death due compensation of ₹5 lakh, his wife
where a manufacturing and proc- them was rushed to a hospital, to asphyxia,” Chander said. will be offered work as a perma-
essing unit was being run. where he died later,” he said. “Three others, who had nent employee with us,” he said.
MUKESH AKSHAY VINAY PAWAN “We also asked the workers of The deceased, Sanjeev Kumar, trouble breathing, were taken to “Every day, Kumar used to
KUMAR SHARMA GUPTA adjoining buildings to come out. a resident of Murali Phoolpur in a nearby private hospital. They meet me to apprise me about the
The gas leaked through a valve of Meerut, worked as the ammonia were discharged after primary cooling plant. His death is a big
Review Rejected Rejected Rejected Rejected
one of the four ammonia condens- operator, officials said. “Cause of treatment,” he added. loss for the company,” he added.
Curative Rejected Rejected Rejected Yet to file
Mercy Rejected Filed on Rejected Yet to file

Coronavirus: Not safe to travel to

plea filed by the Union ministry of
home affairs through solicitor
general Tushar Mehta, stating
that the convicts had made a
“mockery of justice” by “abus-
ing” the process of law.
On Saturday, in a dramatic
turn of events, the Centre
urgently mentioned the petition
before the high court and a spe-
cial hearing was then scheduled
for 5.30pm on Saturday.
Appearing for the Union min-
istry of home affairs, solicitor
general Tushar Mehta told the
Delhi High Court that two of the
convicts – Mukesh Singh and
Vinay Sharma – can be hanged as
they had exhausted all their legal
options and even their mercy
petitions had been rejected by
President Ram Nath Kovind.
He said the trial court judge
had wrongly interpreted the
meaning of the word “applica-
tion” in the Delhi Prison Rules,
2018 and had taken it in a generic
manner, including the mercy
plea which is sent to the President
of India.
On Friday, a Delhi court had
postponed the hanging of the four
convicts, which had been sched-
uled for February 1 at 6am, till
further orders on a plea by one of
the convicts – Vinay Sharma –
seeking a stay on the execution of
the death warrant in wake of the
mercy plea filed before the Presi-
dent.
“This gang-rape case will go
down in the history of India
where convicts of a heinous
have been held guilty of a “horri-
ble, dreadful, abominable, cruel,
ghastly and heinous” crime.
The high court judge sought to
know whether the convicts can
be hanged separately. To this,
Mehta said that the convicts can
be hanged separately.
Citing a Supreme Court judg-
ment, Mehta said that keeping
the execution of the death war-
rant in abeyance can be “de-hu-
manising” for the convicts. He
said that a person on the death
penalty should be executed
immediately because it will have
a de-humanising effect on them.
He said that if one of the con-
victs chooses not to file a curative
petition, it does not mean that
others’ execution is also stopped.
He contended that tomorrow,
convict Mukesh Singh can also
move another mercy plea citing a
change in circumstances.
The solicitor general
requested that the hearing be
conducted on Sunday, stating
that this is the “grossest misuse of
The execution has
› been stayed for now. I
don’t know when the
execution will take place
but I am certain that it will.
The convicts will certainly
be hanged.
ASHA DEVI, mother of victim
Feb 1
law”.
He also cited the example of the
encounter of the accused in the
Telegana rape case, stating that
the people celebrated the killings
of the rapists because of the mis-
use of the law by the convicts.
He said that such an act shakes
the conscience of society.
He added that a mercy plea is a
personalised application by an
individual and this does not affect
the other convicts on death row.
Following this, the court
sought the response of the Tihar
jail authorities and three convicts
– Vinay Sharma, Akshay Kumar,
and Mukesh Singh – and posted
the matter for further hearing on
Sunday at 3pm.
When asked, Asha Devi, the
mother of the 23-year-old para-
medic student who was gang-
raped by the convicts on Decem-
ber 16, 2012, said that through this
petition, the Central government
is not just helping them but the
women of the entire country.
The paramedic student, who
was on her way home after
watching a movie when she was
gang-raped by the convicts
aboard a moving bus.
The woman was assaulted
along with her friend, and the two
were left on the road by the con-
victs.
The woman had died some
days later in the hospital.
on feb 1
President rejects
plea, another files
mercy petition
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: President Ram Nath
Kovind has rejected the mercy
petition of a second convict in
the December 16, 2012 gang-rape
and murder case.
Hours after the clemency
plea of 26-year-old Vinay Kumar
Sharma was dismissed by Presi-
dent Kovind, 31-year-old
Akshay Thakur, a third death
row convict, filed a mercy peti-
tion.
Thirty-two-year-old Mukesh
Kumar Singh, whose mercy plea
has already been rejected, and
25-year-old Pawan Gupta, are
the other two condemned pris-
oners.
According to officials of the
Union ministry of home affairs,
the President of India rejected
Vinay Sharma’s mercy plea
filed on Wednesday.
Director general (prisons)
Sandeep Goel said Akshay Tha-
kur filed the mercy plea
before President Kovind on Sat-
urday.
China but trading poses no risk
HEALTH WISE
SANCHITA SHARMA
Rising fear of the novel coro-
navirus (2019-nCoV) that
infected at least 12,000 people
and killed around 260 within a
month has led China to lock
down entire provinces and the
US and Australia to tempora-
rily ban the entry of foreigners
who have recently travelled to
China.
Even asymptomatic people
can carry the infection to other
regions and countries, which
makes it necessary to quaran-
tine Indian students evacuated
from China for at least two
weeks till they are free of the
infection.
Coronaviruses, however, do
not survive for long on objects
such as packages and letters,
according to the World Health
Organisation (WHO), which
makes it safe to remote-control
businesses from the safety of
your home or office outside
China.
The numbers are much
higher than officially recorded,
suggests a new modelling study
published in The Lancet on Fri-
day, which estimates that coro-
navirus (2019-nCoV) may have
affected up to 75,800 people in
Wuhan by January 25. And
with dozens of infected persons
leaving the city before the shut-
down, local outbreaks are wait-
ing to happen in Guangzhou,
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenz-
hen, which together account for
over half of all outbound inter-
national air travel from China,
found the study, which used
mathematical modelling based
on officially reported cases,
domestic and international
travel (train, air, road), and the
assumption that the 2019-nCoV
serial interval estimate (time
taken to infect other people) is
the same as severe acute respi-
ratory syndrome (Sars-CoV),
also a type of coronavirus.
“If the transmissibility of
2019-nCoV is similar nationally
and over time, it is possible epi-
demics could be already grow-
CORONAVIRUS
(2019-NCOV)
Common symptoms: Fever
(98% of patients), cough
(75%), myalgia or fatigue
(44%), and others
What to expect once symp-
toms begin:
n Day 0: Onset of symptoms
n Day 7: Hospitalisation
n Day 8: Shortness of breath,
n Day 9: Acute respiratory
distress syndrome
n Day 10-11: ICU admission
ing in multiple major Chinese
cities, with a time lag of one to
two weeks behind the Wuhan
outbreak. Large cities overseas
with close transport links to
China could potentially become
outbreak epicentres because of
substantial spread of pre-symp-
tomatic cases,” said lead author
Professor Joseph Wu from the
University of Hong Kong.
Historically, the other two
novel coronaviruses that have
emerged as global health
threats since 2002 have not
affected India despite causing
outbreaks in neighbouring
countries. The Sars-CoVspread
to 37 countries and caused more
than 8,000 infections and 800
deaths, mostly in south-east
Asia in 2002, while Middle East
respiratory syndrome corona-
virus (Mers-CoV; in 2012)
spread to 27 countries and
infected 2,494 people and caused
858 deaths. India remained
unscathed. Like 2019-nCoV,
both viruses cause fever and
moderate-to-severe respiratory
symptoms that may lead to
pneumonia.
“Both Sars-CoV and Mers-
CoV have low potential for sus-
tained community transmis-
sion, so outbreaks tend to die
out if managed well. But coro-
naviruses also have super-
spreading ability to cause large
clusters of infection from a sin-
gle case, which makes quaran-
tining infected people for two
weeks till they are infection free
non-negotiable,” said a health
ministry official, who did not
want to be named.

Uttarakhand co-operative development programme INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE

203, B. T. ROAD, KOLKATA - 700108
directorate (UKCDP)
Sahkarita Parisar, Near Railway Crossing, Miyanwala, Dehradun-248001 ADMISSION NOTICE
Uttarakhand Co-operative Development Programme directorate (UKCDP) invites SESSION 2020-21
Request for Proposal (RFP) in sealed envelope from credible agencies/Consultants
for the purpose of selection of Consultant of Concurrent Evaluation of the sever- The Indian Statistical Institute invites applications for various Degree/Diploma
al projects being implemented under the programme. Programmes and Research Fellowships:
The RFP decument containing the details of qualification criteria, submission
requirement, & scope of work along with evaluation criteria etc can be down- Detailed Admission Notice as well as Prospectus 2020-21 are available at the official Admission
loaded from the website www.ukcoorperatie.in website http://www.isical.ac.in/~admission
The eligible bidder/s may submit their responses in sealed envelope (by regis- Complete information on Scope, Duration, Eligibility, Stipend/Fellowship, Application Fee etc. of
tered post/speed post) only in the prescribed format to the office of Chief each programme is available in Prospectus 2020-21.
Programme Derector, Uttrakhand co-operative development programme direc-
torete (UKCDP) so as to reach no later than 02:00 PM, February 25th 2020 Candidates can apply ONLINE through the official website stated above.
Queries if any may be refereed to Mr Anand A.D. Shukla, Nodal Officer, On-line Application Starts : 07 February, 2020
Uttarakhand co-operative development programme directorate (UKCDP) on the On-line Application Ends : 08 March, 2020
mobile no: +91-9411162228 The queries could be mailed to cooperativepro-
jects.uk@gmail.com ISI ADMISSION TEST : 10 May, 2020 davp 39103/11/0006/1920
Chief Programme Dierctor, Uttarakhand
co-operative development programme directorate (UKCDP)
20 metro hindustantimes SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES,N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0

15 hurt as two buses collide

thecrosswords
CRYPTIC CLUES PUZZLE 15516 © Gemini Crosswords 2012 All rights reserved

ACROSS
1 Father will take part - it’s a promise (6)
4 He struggles to make a living (8)

on Yamuna Expressway
9 A coin’s tossed in a gambling situation (6)
10 Greek hero is sick, gripped by pains (8)
12 Loud anger and passion (4)
13 The speed at which some work should be
done (5)
14 Animals rush round (4)
17 In need of a rest-cure? (4,3,5)
20
23
It’s useful for making a comeback (6,6)
When he’s around, one moves quickly (4) GREATER NOIDA One bus hits stationary bus from the rear, say cops; drivers of both buses on the run
24 Angry enough to change sides (5)
25 Nothing to write, to be frank (4)
Shafaque Alam from Siddharthanagar are
28 A bad actor? (4-4) n shafaque.alam@hindustantimes.com Rajeshwar Singh, 40, and Ashok
29 He attacked the Romans, but turned tail at Kumar Singh, 35; Rajesh Singh,
first (6) NOIDA: At least 15 people were 45, and his wife Vimlesh, 40; Bhu-
30 Entertainer, possibly Sudanese (8) injured when a private bus and a pendra, 30, all of whom are resi-
31 Followed in a persistent way (6) stationary bus collided on the dents of Delhi, apart from Suren-
DOWN Yamuna Expressway, five kilo- dra Kumar, 20, and Ram Vriksha,
1 A fighting opponent (8) metres from Zero Point in 34, residents of Siddharthanagar,
2 A new stricter limit (8) QUICK CLUES Greater Noida, in the wee hours and Ankita, 25, from Etawah.
3 Advanced the time for sacrifice (4) ACROSS DOWN of Saturday. Police said nine persons were
5 By whom hotel guests may be 1 Provide money for (6) 1 Destroy (8) Police said there were 70 to 80 admitted to Kailash Hospital
taken in (12) 4 Physical disability (8) 2 Savageness (8) passengers each on the buses, while six persons were admitted
6 Port is left in it, in more than one way (4) 9 Gruesome (6) 3 Very keen (4) both of which were headed to the Government Institute of
7 They’re purely symbolic (6) 10 Infinite time (8) 5 Hostile (12)
12 Fortune (4) 6 Disastrous (4)
towards Delhi. Medical Sciences (GIMS). Dr
8 Stay outside or go (6)
13 Biting (5) 7 Small, exclusive group (6) According to the police, one of Meenakshi, casualty medical offi-
11 The rear squad is ordered to base (12)
15 Animal arrived, then left (5) 14 Passing mood of pique (4) 8 Climax of story (6) the buses had halted on the cer, Kailash Hospital said the
16 Study I’m making of fabric (5) 17 Good enough (12) 11 Very healthy (3,2,1,6) expressway for a change of driv- patients were moved in at 5.30am.
20 Behave creditably (3,2,7) 15 Valuable attribute (5) ers when the other bus allegedly “They had minor injuries,
18 Missing physical exercise (8)
23 Western US state (4) 16 Ruin financially (5)
19 Criterion followed by a cavalry
24 Courteous (5) 18 Sudden, far-reaching change (8)
hit it from behind. bruises and shock; they were dis-
regiment (8) 25 Aromatic culinary plant (4) 19 In spoken form (8) The stationary bus, owned by charged after treatment.”
21 Scold a number in a sharp way (6) 28 Interfering person (8) 21 Confused sound of voices (6) Brahma Bus Service, was coming A GIMS official said two per-
22 Possibly signed the sketch (6) 29 Small stones and sand (6) 22 A lot of trouble (6) from Uttar Pradesh’s Siddhar- sons – Rajesh Singh and Bhupen-
26 Understandably one is nervous on it (4) 30 Short pause for rest (8) 26 Encourage in wrongdoing (4) thanagar district while the mov- dra – were referred to Safdarjung
27 He’s got to go inside (4) 31 Expenditure (6) 27 German married woman (4)
ing bus, owned by Shri Krishna Hospital in Delhi since they had
FRIDAY’S SOLUTIONS (15515) Tour and Travels, Delhi was com- received serious injuries on their
htsudoku ing from Auraiya. The victims heads and bodies.
CRYPTIC were admitted to two hospitals in n According to the police, one of the buses had halted on the expressway for a change of drivers when the Upadhyaya said the drivers of
Greater Noida, and later two other bus allegedly hit it from behind. VIRENDRA SINGH GOSAIN /HT PHOTO both the buses fled after the acci-
injured persons were shifted to dent. “We have seized both buses
Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. for a change of drivers. Around seat when accident took place. We injured,” he said. The injured and are trying to trace the driv-
Sujeet Upadhyaya, SHO, Sec- 5am, a Delhi-bound bus from are searching for him,” he said. persons in the bus coming from ers,” he said. The owner of the
tor Beta 2 police station, said Auraiya allegedly hit the station- Naseem Ahmad, in-charge, Auraiya are Virendra, 50, and his Siddharthanagar-Delhi bus was
there were around 70 passengers ary bus from the rear,” he said. AWHO police check post, said he wife Rajkumari, 45; Shalini, 50 not available for comments.
in the Siddharthanagar-Delhi Manoj Yadav, owner of the reached the spot after getting and her daughter Jyoti, 20; Dhari- Police later arranged another
bus. “The driver was allegedly Auraiya-Delhi bus, said he information. “There were around wal, 45, and his wife Suman, 41; bus and facilitated the passen-
feeling drowsy and he halted the received information about the 150 passengers in the two buses. Yatendra, 39, all of whom are resi- gers’ journey to Delhi. No com-
vehicle on the extreme left lane accident at 7am. “It appears our The accident was severe and a dents of Auraiya.” plaint has been received in this
near the Chuharpur underpass driver took a nap on the driving total of 15 passengers were The victims in the bus coming regard so far, said officers.

QUICK Gurugram woman Ggm family drugged, robbed by helpers

duped of ₹30,000 HT Correspondent Anil Shahi and Om Kumar, who sister and I also fell asleep. police officers.
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com were distant relatives of her When I got up on Friday morn- The victim’s house was under
Fill in all the squares in the DIFFICULTY GURUGRAM: A woman was alleg- former help. ing, I found all the doors and renovation and despite 12 CCTV
grid so that each row, LEVEL edly duped of ₹30,000 after she GURUGRAM: Two male domestic On Thursday night, Yadav almirahs open,” he said. cameras being installed, none
column and each of the 9X9
squares contains all the placed an advertisement to sell helpers allegedly laced their after having dinner complained “I went to check on my was in a working condition.
digits from 1 to 9. her wooden bed online. Bhawna employers’ food with sedatives of drowsiness and told her son mother and found her lying The suspects took the advan-
Khurana, a resident of Sector 56, at a house in Palam Vihar and daughter to check her blood unconscious. I rushed her to a tage and escaped through the
posted the advertisement on Extension and robbed them of pressure. private hospital, where doctors main gate with bags, said the
SUDOKU>> SCAN THIS SUDOKU UNIT FOR July 9 last year and received a valuables and cash on Thursday “After a few minutes, the chil- conducted tests and informed us police.
THE SOLUTION AND MANY MORE PUZZLES call the following day. “The night, said the police. dren took me to my bedroom that her food was laced with sed- Sangwan said that they sus-
buyer said he would send the The police said the duo and I fell asleep. When I gained atives. However, she was out of pect the role of a gang, the mem-
money online and asked for my started working as helpers in consciousness, I found myself danger,” he said. bers of whom had earlier been
number. Since I had no e-wallet, the household from last week. lying in a bed in a hospital. My Like him, his sister also got arrested in similar cases.
htweather I requested my friend to receive The suspects had approached son told me that the helpers had up on her own, police officers “The employer received a call
it and shared the details, and the family members through mixed sedatives in our dinner, said. from an unidentified man who
ALMANAC TEMPERATURE ₹30,000 was deducted from my their old help, who had gone ransacked the house and fled Yadav said the suspects had shared the suspects’ pictures
Today is 2nd
February 2020 IN FOUR METROS friend’s account in six transac- home in Nepal and had recom- with cash and jewellery,” she not submitted their identifica- and their latest mobile num-
● 7 Jumada Al-Akhirah 1441 Delhi tions,” said Khurana. mended them in his place. said. tion documents, which they bers. He also shared the pictures
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY ● Magha, Shukla

Paksha, 8
21°c I 06°c A case was registered under Both the suspects are Nepa- Sangwan said three of the promised will be submitted of the sleeping pills used by the
Strong surface winds Shallow fog Shallow fog
● Samvat 2076 Mumbai Indian Penal Code sections 379 lese citizens, said the police offi- family members consumed the within a week. suspects to lace the food,” Sang-
during day time Sunset: Sunday 30°c I 16°c and 420 Friday. cers. same food and fell unconscious. They told the employer that wan said.
at 06:00 p.m.
Sunrise: Monday Kolkata Vivek Kundu, station house Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant Mohit Yadav, son of the com- one of their friends who was “Police teams are conducting
at 07:08 a.m. 24°c I 14°c officer, Cyber Crime police sta- commissioner of police (crime), plainant, said that since his visiting India will get all of their raids at suspected locations and
21°c I 06°c 21°c I 07°c 22°c I 08°c Moonrise: Monday
Chennai
at 00:38 p.m. tion, said “We have registered said that one of the victims, mother is diabetic, he gave her documents. we have received crucial leads
• • Moonset: Tuesday 32°c I 23°c the case and are conducting the 50-year-old Kamlesh Yadav, had insulin and made her sleep in They were hired on a monthly which can lead to arrest,” he
at 02:22 a.m.
investigation.” HTC hired two men, identified as her bedroom. “After dinner, my salary of ₹11,000 each, said added.

frompageone Protect foreign

Budget cal. The government also seems to be the biggest contributor to of states from 42% which was cerned. I did not see any concrete

assumption of a 13% growth in

GST collections.
On the expenditure front,
there is less of a stimulus. Total
budgetary expenditure in 2020-21
will grow by 12.7% between
2019-20 (RE) and 2020-21 (BE).
This is less than the 16.6% growth
between 2018-19 actual figures
and 2019-20 RE figures. Injecting
rural demand was seen as one of
the key challenges for this bud-
get. Total spending of ministry of
agriculture and ministry of rural
development — this includes
spending on MGNREGS and
PM-KISAN — is expected to grow
by 13.4% between 2019-20 (RE)
and 2020-21 (BE). However, the
growth is considerably smaller
(2.6%) if ones looks at the growth
between 2019-20 (BE) and 2020-21
(BE) figures. A slowdown in the
economy and the resultant hit in
revenue collections has forced
the government to cut down on
what it would have spent on the
rural economy had the overall
economic situation been better.
“The appropriate way to look
at the budget is to see how the gov-
ernment has honoured its past
commitments. There has been a
trend where budgetary alloca-
tions have not been honoured for
some time, this makes one sus-
pect whether a similar thing will
happen next year too,” said
Himanshu, associate professor of
economics at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University.
To be sure, the government
has ensured that capital spend-
ing, which matters more for
future growth, has not suffered
because of the economic slow-
down. Total capital spending in
2019-20 (RE) is ₹3.48 lakh crore,
more than the 2019-20 (BE) figure
of ₹3.38 lakh crore, and is
expected to go up to ₹4.12 lakh
crore in 2020-21 (BE). This bodes
well for future growth. Social sec-
tor spending such as in health,
education, social justice has also
been largely kept intact between
2019-20 (BE) and 2020-21 (RE) esti-
mates. The overall spending pat-
tern of the government suggests
that it believes that the worst is
over for the informal and rural
economy – the biggest proof of
this is a sharp reduction in
MGNREGS spending between
2019-20 (RE) and 2020-21 (BE) –
and the tax stimulus which has
been provided will give a boost to
economic activity in the next fis-
to be hoping that some of the stim-
ulus will also come from a revival
in investment. Sovereign wealth
funds have been promised tax
incentives in lieu of investments
in infrastructure. And PPPs (pub-
lic private partnerships) have
been envisaged in several areas.
“PPP projects in agri-ware-
housing, medical colleges
attached to district hospitals,
development of cities, and rail-
ways, will boost confidence
towards organised and sustaina-
ble business model, which will
attract private and foreign
investment. Commitment
towards infusing equity of ₹22,000
crores into IIFCL and subsidiary
of NIIF will help create long term
debt funding towards capital
expenditure for creating new
infrastructure. Fresh investment
in capex for infrastructure sector
will not only create new employ-
ment and leave more disposal
income in hands of common man
but create a pipeline to repay the
capital or debt,” Samir Kanabar,
tax partner, EY India, said.
Whether or not these assump-
tions will hold is a question that
cannot be answered immedi-
ately, analysts said. The first big
test will be when GDP figures for
the third quarter of the current
fiscal are released towards the
end of this month. If the economy
does not show a significant recov-
ery, it could further worsen senti-
ment.
Experts said one question
worth looking at is the revenue
projections and underlying tax
buoyancy assumptions which
have been made in the budget.
Tax buoyancy is growth in tax
revenue per unit change in GDP.
This number is expected to be 1.2
for 2020-21. This number was 1.1,
0.8 and 0.5 for 2017-18, 2018-19 and
2019-20 (RE) figures. This means
that the government is banking of
the significant widening of the tax
net compared to what it has been
in the recent past. Given the fact
that the budget assumes a nomi-
nal GDP growth of 10%, the low-
est since 2008-09, it is clear that
the revenue projections are rely-
ing more on ensuring better tax
compliance than reaping the tail-
winds of economic growth. The
other big area the government is
banking on is disinvestment pro-
ceeds, which are expected to fetch
₹2.1 lakh crore in 2020-21. A stra-
tegic disinvestment of the Life
Insurance Corporation is likely
this target.
“The budget overall was good
in intent in which all important
and necessary sectors were
touched upon and a growth tra-
jectory was chalked out. How-
ever, we feel the spending on each
sector could have been doubled as
compared to what has been allot-
ted. Overall, I feel that the finance
minister did not take the bull by
the horns,” Niranjan Hiranan-
dani, president of the Associated
Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India (ASSOCHAM),
said.
Tax devolution
the meeting of the powerful GST
Council.
The Union Cabinet on Novem-
ber 27, 2019 extended the tenure of
the Commission till October 2020
and asked it to submit two reports
-- one for the year 2020-21, and
another for the five-year period
between 2021-22 and 2025-26. The
tenure was extended to examine
various comparable estimates for
financial projections in view of
reforms and the new realities,
such as the reorganisation of J&K
after the nullification of Article
370. The Commission is of view
that the share of J&K should be
raised from 0.85% to 1% to meet
special needs of the two newly
constituted UTs. “Since this
enhancement has to be met from
the Union’s resources, we recom-
mend that the aggregate share of
states may be reduced by 1 per-
centage point to 41 per cent of the
divisible pool,” it said. The report
said several uncertainties, such
as an economic slowdown and
weak revenue collection, have
made it difficult to make “credi-
ble projections” for five years
using the current year as the base
and runs the risk of turning out to
be “excessively aspirational and
inaccurate”. “Given the uncer-
tainties of some key macro areas,
our recommendations in the final
report would undergo changes
and adjustments as appropriate,
in the light of subsequent data
and analysis,” it said.
Dr DK Srivastava, chief policy
adviser, EY India, said, “By
assuming nominal GDP growth
rates at 10% for FY20 and 11% for
FY21, the 15th Finance Commis-
sion has made optimistic assump-
tions.” In determining the verti-
cal devolution, the Commission
has effectively reduced the share
applicable for 29 states to 41%
which is applicable to 28 states, he
said. “This is due to rounding off
of Jammu and Kashmir’s share
which was 1.854% in a total of
100%, which amounts to close to
0.8% out of 42%,” he said, adding
that the rounding off works mar-
ginally in favour of the Centre.
For horizontal distribution,
the Commission has introduced
tax effort as a criterion in addi-
tion to the factors used by the
Fourteenth Finance Commission
and given it a weight of 2.5%. The
Commission reduced the weight
of the distance criterion from 50%
to 45% and introduced a criterion
of demographic change, giving it
a weight of 10%. The demo-
graphic change is a performance-
based criterion where data for the
state-wise total fertility rate has
been used, Srivastava said.
Opposition
cannot latch on to any idea or
statement in the budget speech
and take it to the people.”
If the ongoing programmes
have failed the people, how will
throwing more money into the
programmes change anything,
he asked. “The government has
given up on reviving the economy
or accelerating the growth rate or
promoting private investment or
increasing efficiency or creating
jobs or winning a greater share of
world trade,” Chidambaram said.
The Indian economy is
demand-constrained and invest-
ment-starved, and the finance
minister has not acknowledged
these two challenges, he added.
“You did not ask for such a
budget and you did not deserve
such a budget for voting the BJP
to power. But you have to live
with it until the government is
forced to revisit it, as it did in
2019,” Chidambaram said.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi said the budget contained
no strategic idea or anything con-
crete and it showed the “hollow”
approach of the government that
was “all talk and nothing happen-
ing”. He told reporters outside
Parliament that the budget was
repetitive and did not address the
main issue of unemployment con-
fronting the country’s young peo-
ple and the poor state of the econ-
omy. “The main issues confront-
ing this country today are
unemployment and the situation
as far as the economy is con-
idea, any strategic idea, that
would help our youngsters get
jobs. I saw a lot of tactical stuff,
redundant things, I did not see
any central idea,” Gandhi said.
“The speech was more than 2
hours and 45 minutes [long]. A lot
of repetition, a lot of rambling and
nothing concrete. So it is the
mindset of the government: all
talk, all talk, all talk, nothing hap-
pening. But the country is, of
course, suffering,” he said.
In Kolkata, West Bengal chief
minister Mamata Banerjee criti-
cised the government for its pro-
posal to sell a part of its stake in
Life Insurance Corporation
(LIC), describing it as a plan to
“ambush” the legacy of public
institutions. “I am shocked and
appalled to see how the central
government plans to ambush the
heritage and legacy of public
institutions. It’s the end of sense
of security. Is it also an end of an
era?” she tweeted.
Communist Party of India
(Marxist) general secretary Sita-
ram Yechury said the budget con-
sisted of just “platitudes” and did
not address the problems faced by
the people. “Just platitudes & slo-
gans. Nothing substantial to alle-
viate peoples’ misery, the grow-
ing unemployment, rural wage
crash, farmers’ distress suicides
and galloping prices,” he tweeted.
In Mumbai, Maharashtra chief
minister and Shiv Sena supremo
Uddhav Thackeray reacted
sharply, saying the budget was
“far away from economic reali-
ties” and only promised dreams
to the young, farmers and com-
moners. He said the government
hoped to achieve a 10% growth
rate, but it was barely 5% in the
current year and as per the eco-
nomic survey it is forecast to be
6-6.5% for the next year.
“This is the lowest growth rate
in recent years and not in expec-
tations with the Prime Minister’s
dream of achieving a $5 trillion
economy,” Thackeray said.
“The Opposition is criticising
the budget because it is obliga-
tory for them to be critical of any-
thing the government does. If one
looks at the budget objectively, it
lays out a road map for building
critical infrastructure with spe-
cial focus on backward districts.
It is high on its focus on social
spending and marginalised sec-
tions. Is this what the opposition
is upset about,” questioned BJP
leader Amit Malviya.
national raped in
2018; nab suspect:
HC tells city cops
NEW DELHI: A 42-year-old woman
from Italy, who was allegedly
raped and duped by a man during
her visit to India in 2018, on Janu-
ary 29 approached Delhi HC seek-
ing cancellation of bail of suspect.
On Friday, the court had
directed Delhi Police to provide
her protection while also direct-
ing AIIMS to treat her free of cost,
after she informed the court that
she was diagnosed with breast
cancer. Justice Suresh Kait had
also directed the ministry of
external affairs (MEA) to extend
her visa while also stating in case
her visa has not been extended,
no action should be taken against
her. The court said the DCP
should give her protection.
Speaking to HT, the woman
said she came to India first in 2004
and then in 2015. During her first
two visits, she stayed in Ris-
hikesh and Haridwar, among
other places, where she practiced
yoga.
She said she was recently diag-
nosed with breast cancer. She
alleged initially the police did not
help her but two years after the
incident, she can finally see a ray
of hope. “After today’s order, the
court agreed to hear the matter. It
was beyond my expectations. Not
only the judge directed the police
to arrest the accused, but I was
touched by the attention they
gave to my health, security and
visa issues,” she said.
In her plea filed through advo-
cate Alok Alakh Shrivastava, the
woman, a resident of Milan, Italy,
is seeking action against the
accused who had allegedly called
her to India claiming that he was
a yoga guru. He also sent her pic-
tures with President Ram Nath
Kovind, claiming that he knows
several other celebrities.
She alleged the accused con-
tacted her in May 2018 and said
she can start her own yoga cen-
tres. He later started sending her
messages stating he was in love
with her. However, when she
came to India in July 2018, he sex-
ually assaulted her and also
duped her of Rs 5 lakh for “jointly
setting up a yoga centre”.
RICHA BANKA
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes metro 21

Gang opens fire at Fire breaks out 12-HOUR RESCUE OP

34-yr-old wanted
at lab in AIIMS, Out to immerse idols, 2
for 2019 Vasant no injury reported drown in Bawana canal
police van in Ggm Kunj shooting held
HT Correspondent said. Three days later, on October
NEWDELHI: A minor fire broke out
in a building at New Delhi’s All
India Institute of Medical Scien-
ces (AIIMS) on Saturday evening,
HT Correspondent
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com

NEW DELHI : Bodies of two men

BODIES OF THE TWO
MEN WERE FISHED OUT
SATURDAY AFTERNOON

to free undertrials
ENCOUNTER Police nab three, including one prisoner, after
shoot-out in Sikrona village; search on for others; cop injured
Leena Dhankhar
n leena.dhankhar@htlive.com
GURUGRAM: An assistant sub-in-
spector was injured when a group
of 10 suspected criminals alleg-
edly opened fire at a prison van
and fled with two undertrial pris-
oners.
The incident took place on
Gurugram-Faridabad Road on
Saturday, said the police. The city
police, thereafter, chased the
group and managed to arrest
three persons, including one of
the undertrial prisoners, after an
encounter in Sikrona village in
Faridabad. The entire operation
lasted for half an hour.
The police said the arrested
suspects are said to be members
of Raju Basodi gang, which used
to operate from Tihar jail . Two of
their accomplices were lodged
inside Bhondsi jail for their
alleged involvement in over two
dozen criminal cases.
The arrested suspects have
been identified as Naresh Sethi,
Kapil and Sandeep alias Kala
Jatheri. As per the police, San-
deep was the undertrial prisoner
who had managed to flee from
police custody.
KK Rao, the commissioner of
Faridabad police, said the inci-
dent took place near Hanuman
Mandir on Gurugram-Faridabad
Road around 3.24pm.
He said five police personnel,
including an assistant sub-in-
spector, were escorting seven
undertrial prisoners from Fari-
dabad court to Bhondsi jail when
four cars, which were following
them, fired at the van and punc-
tured its tyres. They then inter-
cepted the van and allegedly fired
more than 150 gunshots at the
police team.
“An assistant sub-inspector
was injured in the attack, while
others managed a narrow escape.
The group then freed two under-
trial prisoners and fled. The
n Commissioner of police (Faridabad) KK Rao with the recovered
weapons that include 11 imported automatic pistols.
police team raised an alarm and
immediately informed the crime
teams of the incidents. The vehi-
cles of the suspects hit the police
barricade, after which they aban-
doned them and fled into the
fields of Sikrona village,” Rao
said.
More than 50 police personnel
started combing the field and
arrested three of the criminals
after an encounter. Three of them
received bullet injuries in their
leg and shoulder and were rushed
to a nearby hospital.
The police said that their state-
ments will be recorded once they
are declared fit. Rao said they
have recovered 11 imported auto-
matic pistols, one power pump
gun and 150 cartridges, along
with three vehicles, including
two stolen Mahindra Scorpio
SUVs.
The police said that one of the
arrested men is Naresh Sethi, an
alleged member of Raju Basodi
gang, who used to operate from
Tihar jail along with Sandeep
alias Kala of Jatheri village in
Sonipat. It was Sethi, who had
planned to free two of their gang
members from the police custody
SOURCED
on their way to Bhondsi jail. Dur-
ing preliminary interrogation on
Saturday, they allegedly con-
fessed to have killed at least six
men in the past couple of months.
Sethi, who fled from the police
custody in Delhi in December
2019 after throwing chilli powder
at police personnel, was involved
in making extortion calls and
demanding protection money
from businessmen and industri-
alists.
Sandeep was imprisoned for
one-and-a-half years for an
attempt-to- murder case and was
lodged in Bhondsi jail with two
dozen murder and robbery char-
ges against him. According to the
police, the arms and ammunition
were supplied to the gang by one
Delhi resident, Tinku.
Rao also said that pistols worth
more than ₹50 lakh were recov-
ered from the gang.
Attempts are on to nab remain-
ing suspects, said the police.
Manoj Yadava , director-general
of police, has announced a
reward of ₹5 lakh, while KK Rao
has also announced an additional
reward ₹5 lakh for the crime team
for their commendable work.
n htreporters@hindustantimes.com
NEWDELHI:The Delhi police on Fri-
day arrested a 34-year-old man
who was wanted for allegedly
shooting a man twice and injur-
ing him critically in south Delhi’s
Vasant Kunj in October 2019,
three days after the two had an
argument on Diwali. Police said
the accused had allegedly fled to
Kathmandu after attempting the
murder and then to Dubai. He
was arrested when he returned to
India, the police said.
Deputy commissioner of police
(special cell) Pramod Singh Kush-
wah said the arrested man is San-
jay Mehra, a resident of Kishan-
garh near Vasant Kunj.
“On October 27, 2019, Sanjay
and his two associates – Aditya
and Hariya – indulged in a fight
with one Ishant Mehlawat in Kis-
hangarh. At that time Ishant’s
cousin Pravesh managed to calm
both parties down but Sanjay
threatened them of dire conse-
quences of this fight,” the DCP
Exercise caution with unvented portable room heaters
CONSUMER FOCUS
PUSHPA GIRIMAJI
The tragic death of eight Indians
in a hotel in Nepal due to sus-
pected carbon monoxide poison-
ing is a grim reminder of the
danger posed by gas-based room
heaters, particularly when used
in closed rooms without ventila-
tion.
According to reports from
Nepal, the eight tourists from
Kerala were part of a group of 15,
holidaying in Nepal. On the last
leg of the journey, they all
checked into a hotel late in the
night and since it was very cold,
requested the staff for a room
heater and was given an eight-
foot outdoor gas heater –which
should never have been used
indoors. To make matters
worse, eight of them bundled
31, Sanjay and the other two alleg-
edly caught hold of Pravesh when
he was returning from the gym
along with his brother Prashant
in Vasant Kunj. Sanjay fired
three rounds on the two men, two
of which hit Prashant on his back
and leg,” the officer said.
Based on Pravesh’s statement,
a case of attempt to murder was
registered but Sanjay fled. A
reward of ₹50,000 was announced
on his arrest. “On Friday, we got
information that he is returning;
we arrested him from his house,”
Kushwah said. Police said Sanjay
had completed a hotel manage-
ment course from Delhi and then
went to London for advance
training in hotel management.
The DCP said after completing
the course, he started a take-
away restaurant in Kishangarh
but had to shut shop following
financial problems. Of late, he
was working as freelance cook.
He has also participated in the
auditions of TV show Big Boss in
its season 11, Kushwah said.
into one room , because of the
lone heater and shut the door
and the windows to keep out the
cold air while they slept. This
was a sure recipe for disaster.
Like all combustion prod-
ucts, unvented portable room
heaters that work on gas, wood,
kerosene or coal pose the risk of
carbon monoxide poisoning,
when used in enclosed spaces
with no ventilation.
In December 2014, a Delhi-
based computer engineer , his
wife and their six-year old child
were found dead in similar cir-
cumstances because of using a
gas-based room heater in a
closed bedroom in the night.
In order to understand the
risk from these heaters, one
must first be aware of how they
work.
If the gas-based room heater
is built to stringent quality stan-
dards that ensures efficient and
complete burning of the fuel,
then the carbon monoxide
released by it will be within per-
missible limits.
and 10 fire tenders were rushed to
the spot. Officials said that the
fire was controlled quickly and
no one was hurt.
According to officials, the fire
broke out around 5pm in a labora-
tory at the ground floor of the
AIIMS Cardio-Neuro Centre
likely due to a short circuit.
As a precautionary measure,
patients of two wards—Cardio-
Thoracic and Vascular Surgery
intensive care unit, and Coro-
nary Care Unit — were tempora-
rily shifted to the neurosurgery
ICU and the Cancer building of
the hospital.
“The lab was closed as certain
departments close early on Sat-
urdays. There was no one inside.
However, as a precautionary
measure, and also because there
was some smoke in the wards, we
moved patients from two wards
to other buildings. The fire was
quickly controlled. I went around
the building and things are under
control,” Dr Randeep Guleria,
director, AIIMS, said. HTC
IF THE GAS-BASED ROOM
HEATER IS BUILT TO
STRINGENT QUALITY
STANDARDS, THEN
THE CARBON MONOXIDE
RELEASED BY IT
WILL BE WITHIN THE
PERMISSIBLE LIMIT
However, besides the quality
of the room heater, there is
another essential component
for efficient and complete com-
bustion –adequate air.
Whenever a carbon fuel
burns efficiently and com-
pletely, each carbon atom in the
fuel binds with two atoms of
oxygen in the air and releases
carbon dioxide.
However, when it is used in
an enclosed area like a bedroom,
with all doors and windows
closed and no ventilation, the
heater first utilizes the availa-
ble oxygen and when the oxygen
who had slipped into Bawana
canal Friday night were fished
out on Saturday afternoon after
a rescue operation that lasted
more than 12 hours. The two
men had gone to the canal for
Saraswati idol immersion.
The two men were identified
as Raj Kumar, 24, and Shiv
Kumar, 21. Both were residents
of Razapur village in Rohini’s
Sector 9.
The police said the two men
were vegetable sellers and had
come to Bawana to immerse
idols of goddess Saraswati after
a religious procession.
Director of Delhi Fire Ser-
vice, Atul Garg, said around
10pm on Friday they were
informed that two men have
fallen in the Bawana canal.
“Our teams rushed to the spot
for carrying out rescue opera-
tions. The local police and the
disaster management authori-
ties were also alerted about the
incident. Search operations
were started immediately, but
level in the room depletes, the
carbon atom begins to bind with
only one oxygen atom (incom-
plete combustion) to release
carbon monoxide.
If there is no inlet for fresh air
from outside or an outlet for the
carbon monoxide to exit, it
builds up in the room to danger-
ous levels.
The problem with carbon
monoxide is that it is an odour-
less, tasteless non-irritant
gas- so it is very difficult to
detect it.
While at low levels, carbon
dioxide inhalation causes dizzi-
ness, nausea, headache, vomit-
ing, confusion, shortness of
breath, at higher levels it causes
disorientation, impairs your
thinking, muscle coordination,
thereby preventing you from
escaping from the contaminated
area.
As the concentration of car-
bon monoxide in the air
increases, it can cause sudden
unconsciousness and death,
because it displaces the oxygen
AFTER A RESCUE
OPERATION THAT
LASTED MORE
THAN 12 HOURS
the two men could not be traced
even after four-five hours,” he
said.
He added that the search con-
tinued till Saturday afternoon
and finally the two bodies were
fished out with the help of div-
ers. “We handed over the bodies
to the local police. Both the men
were pronounced dead at a hos-
pital,” he said.
Deputy commissioner of
police (outer north) Gaurav
Sharma said the families of the
two men were informed and the
bodies were sent to BSA hospital
for an autopsy.
“A case under relevant sec-
tions has been registered and
the incident is being investi-
gated,” he said.
carried by the haemoglobin in
your blood. And without oxy-
gen, the cells and tissues in the
body begin to die.
So a good quality, third party
certified electric room heater is
far better, but if because of
power outages (or during a holi-
day in a snow-clad area) you are
forced to use a gas –based room
heater, never use an outdoor
one indoors.
Even the indoor heater
should have an oxygen deple-
tion sensor, that automatically
cuts off gas supply to the heater,
if the level of oxygen in the room
goes below, say 19.5 per cent, as
against 20.95 per cent that exists
in the air.
You should also have in addi-
tion, a carbon monoxide alarm
in the room .
But despite these safety
measures, I would still advise
you never to use them in an
unventilated room and never
use them when you go to sleep,
even if it us for a short afternoon
siesta.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

LEVEL 6TH, C-WING, DELHI SECRETARIAT, NEW DELHI - 110002
PUBLIC NOTICE
Ban on sharp synthetic/nylon kite flying thread including popularly
known “Chinese Manjha”
This is for the information of the general public that in order to prevent the adverse effects
on human beings, cattle population, birds, soil and ecology and in exercise of the powers
conferred by section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) read with
Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs’ Notification No. SO 667 (E), dated 10th
September, 1992, a Notification was issued on 10.01.2017 by order and in the name of
the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of the NCT of Delhi with the following directions:
1. There shall be complete ban on the sale, production, storage, supply, import,
and use of kite flying thread made out of nylon, plastic or any other synthetic
material including popularly known as “Chinese manja” and any other kite-
flying thread that is sharp or made sharp such as by being laced with glass,
metal or any other sharp materials in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
2. Kite flying shall be permissible only with a cotton thread, free from any sharp/
metallic/ glass components/adhesives/thread strengthening materials.
Any breach of above directions may be reported to the office of the following:
S. Designation Email ID Helpline
No. Number
1. The Commissioner of cp.amulyapatnaik@delhipolice.gov.in 100
Police, Delhi Police

2. The Divisional divcom@nic.in 1077

Commissioner, GNCTD
3. The Chief Wildlife Warden, prabhat.tyagi@nic.in 9868206540
GNCTD dcfhqgnctd@gmail.com 9412057684
4. The Commissioner, commissioner-ndmc@mcd.gov.in 155304
North Delhi Municipal
Corporation
5. The Commissioner, commissioner-sdmc@mcd.gov.in 1800111140
South Delhi Municipal
Corporation
6. The Commissioner, commissioner-edmc@gmail.com 155303
East Delhi Municipal
Corporation
Note: The violation of directions issued under section 5 of the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986, or the rules made thereunder shall be punishable under section 15 of the said
Act which include imprisonment upto five years and/or with fine which may be extended to
Rs. One Lac or with both.
The above said NOTIFICATION is available at : www.environment.delhigovt.nic.in
Arun Mishra
DIP/Shabdarth/1174/19-20 Special Secretary
22 hindustantimes
htnation
324 evacuated from Wuhan
taken to 2 quarantine centres
CORONAVIRUS None has so far shown symptoms of being affected by the virus
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: The Air India jumbo
B747 carrying 324 Indians from
Wuhan, the central Chinese city
in Hubei province at the centre of
the novel coronavirus (2019-
nCoV) outbreak, landed at the
Delhi airport around 7.30am on
Saturday while countries across
the world evacuated their citi-
zens as death toll from the conta-
gion rose to 259.
After an initial screening for
symptoms at the Indira Gandhi
International Airport in the Capi-
tal, all of the evacuees, most of
whom are students, were taken to
the two quarantine facilities set
up by the Indian Army and the
Indo-Tibetan Border Police
(ITBP) in Delhi and neighbouring
Manesar, Haryana.
None of the evacuees has so far
shown symptoms of being
affected by the virus, government
officials said.
“The 324 incoming Indian citi-
zens from Wuhan, China have
reached today. Of these, 104 are
housed at Indo-Tibetan Border
Police’s Chhawla Camp [south-
west Delhi] and 220 are in Mane-
sar. They are being effectively
monitored,” the Union health
ministry said in a statement. Both
facilities can hold up to 900 peo-
ple.
Those quarantined will be
observed for any signs of the
infection for at least two weeks by
a qualified team of doctors and
staff trained at the facilities.
China’s National Health Com-
mission said on Saturday there
were 2,102 new confirmed infec-
tions in China on Friday, bring-
ing the total to 11,791. Around two
dozen other countries -- including
the first confirmed case in India --
have reported another 137 cases.
The death toll rose by 46 to 259.
Of the 324 Indians evacuated
from Wuhan, 211 are students, 110
working professionals and three
minors. Of them, 56 are from
Andhra Pradesh, 53 from Tamil
Nadu and 42 from Kerala.
About six others were not
allowed to board the plane by
Kamra sends IndiGo Collegium system should be
legal notice, demands reviewed: Ex-SC judge Sikri
₹25L for ‘mental pain’
HT Correspondent and PTI
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Days after IndiGo
banned comedian Kunal Kamra
for six months for allegedly hec-
kling journalist Arnab Goswami
on a flight, the comedian has sent
a legal notice to the airline
demanding an unconditional
apology, revocation of the ban, as
well as ₹25 lakh as compensa-
tion.
In the notice sent to the pri-
vate airline on Friday, Kamra’s
lawyer stated that his client has
suffered “mental pain and
agony” due to the airline’s “ille-
gal, arbitrary and high-handed
decision.”
Kamra was banned for alleg-
edly harassing the Republic TV
editor on an IndiGo flight from
Mumbai-Lucknow.
As civil aviation minister
Hardeep Singh Puri advised
other airlines to impose similar
restrictions on the comedian,
SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India
imposed bans on him without
specifying any period.
However, two airlines of the
Tata group — Vistara and AirA-
Prime accused in TN
cop’s murder arrested
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
RAMANATHAPURAM: A key accused
in the killing of special sub-in-
spector Wilson in Kanniyaku-
mari district was arrested here
on Saturday, the police said.The
accused, Sheikh Dawood, who
allegedly financed Wilson’s kill-
ers, was living in the district dis-
guised as a fisherman when he
was arrested, the police added.
He allegedly financed the spe-
cial sub-inspector’s killing,
police said, adding Dawood had
managed to escape when three
men with suspected links to the
terror group Islamic State (IS)
and connected to cases being
probed by the National Investi-
gation Agency (NIA) were
n A bus carrying some of the evacuees to a quarantine centre on Saturday.
immigration officials in China as
they showed symptoms such as
high fever, officials in Beijing told
news agency PTI. They may have
to undergo tests to confirm if are
infected with the virus.
Another flight of the airline,
which departed for the Chinese
city from Delhi around 1:37pm
on Saturday, is set to airlift the
remaining Indian citizens in the
worst-affected province.
Five doctors from the Ram
Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital,
who were on board the first flight,
are also in the second flight to
monitor the evacuees, an Air
India spokesperson said.
India on Thursday reported its
first case of coronavirus, with a
woman student in Kerala who
had recently returned to the
country from Wuhan testing pos-
itive. The woman, who is in an
isolation ward at a hospital in
Thrissur, is stable and her condi-
tion is improving, the state gov-
ernment had said earlier.
Till Friday, eight people were
admitted to isolation wards set up
in Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia
hospital for suspected infections,
hospital authorities said.
sia India — have said they are
“reviewing” the matter.
An IndiGo statement on Sat-
urday said, “The company will
duly respond to any legal notice
it receives in relation to this mat-
ter.” Kamra has given IndiGo a
week’s time to respond to the
legal notice.
While the aviation regulator
DGCA [Directorate General of
Civil Aviation] had on Wednes-
day stated that the action by the
four carriers is in “complete con-
sonance” with its regulations,
the pilot-in-command of the
Mumbai-Lucknow flight had
told IndiGo management on
Thursday that Kamra’s actions
were “unsavoury” but not
“unruly” and this incident was
not “reportable in any way”.
In the legal notice to IndiGo’s
CEO Ronojoy Dutta, Kamra’s
lawyer Prashant Sivarajan said
Goswami — against whom
Kamra’s “exchanges” were
directed — neither made any
complaint nor requested the
intervention of the cabin crew at
any point during the flight.
Kamra did not respond to calls
and messages for a comment.
arrested in Devipattinam in the
district on January 22.
He was reportedly funding B
Mohammed Ali and Mohammed
Amir, who were held for their
suspected IS links.
Dawood was at a gymnasium
when he was arrested based on a
tip-off, the police said.
Two men — Abdul Shameem
(29) and Taufeeq (27) — hailing
from Thiruvithancode near
Nagercoil, had shot at Wilson
using a pistol and stabbed him
when he was on duty at the Kali-
yakkavilai checkpoint on the
border with Kerala on January 8.
The two were picked up from
Udupi Railway station in Karna-
taka on January 14 and have
been lodged in Palayamkottai
central prison.
Six Indians held back,
face uncertain future
Sutirtho Patranobis
spatranobis@htlive.com
n
BEIJING: At least six Indians are
staring at an uncertain future
after Chinese authorities stopped
them from boarding the special
Air India flight, which flew out of
Coronavirus-struck Wuhan city
early on Saturday with 324 of
their compatriots on board.
The six — four students and
two trainees from a Shenzhen-
based Chinese electronics com-
pany — were stopped at immigra-
tion during their medical screen-
ing just before they were to board
the New Delhi-bound aircraft.
All six displayed either above
normal or fluctuating tempera-
tures during the screening, and
were immediately asked to step
aside from the immigration line.
HT spoke to two among the six
now stranded in Wuhan.
“I don’t know why they are not
allowing me? I have been inside
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Former Supreme
Court judge AK Sikri has called
for reconsideration of the colle-
gium system, saying selections
under it are often made based on
“impression” and has resulted
in the elevation of undeserving
judges to the higher judiciary
and omission of deserving can-
didates.
“As far as the collegium sys-
tem is concerned, it needs to be
reconsidered. India is the only
country where judges appoint
judges,” he said at the launch of
constitutional expert Chintan
Chandrachud’s book ‘The Cases
that India Forgot’ on landmark
judgments of the Supreme
Court and high courts which are
no longer in public memory
despite their significant impli-
cations.
In countries like the US, the
Senate confirms federal judges
after the President nominates
them.
Sikri, who served as the
Supreme Court judge from 2013
to 2019, said the state of things
has to be rectified. “Let me be
very blunt and frank. Most
B’luru records its hottest Jan day in 150 yrs: IMD
Press Trust of India
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
BENGALURU: The city recorded
a temperature of 33.4 degree
Celsius on Thursday — the
highest in January in the last
150 years, ever since the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD) started recording the
temperature
The IMD’s observation
affirmed a view among resi-
dents that the winter lasted
for an unusually short while,
and may be portentous of a
severe summer ahead.
“The highest-ever temper-
ature recorded in the city on
January 30 was 33.4 degree
Celsius. It has crossed all pre-
vious records,” Geeta Agni-
AMAL KS/HT PHOTO
my dormitory on self-quarantine
for more than a week. The slight
rise in temperature could be for
any reason. I don’t have any issue
of cold and cough,” the company
trainee said.
The trainee added that local
Chinese officials haven’t shared
any information about the num-
ber of days they have to be under
observation.
They know little else about
what is store for them in the next
few days.
“What do we do next? What
will I do for food? What happens if
I actually contract the disease
here?” the trainee asked.
“They said they cannot allow
us to leave immediately. We need
to stay in observation,” the sec-
ond one among the six told HT
from Wuhan.
“It’s not exactly quarantine
but they will not allow us to go
back to India early,” the person
added.
n Justice AK Sikri. VIPIN KUMAR/HT
times, we [collegium] go by our
impression when appointing
judges...”
He said it may not involve a
scientific study made about a
particular candidate. “There-
fore, many times those who are
taken may not be deserving and
many times those who are
deserving might be left out. That
needs to be taken care of,” he
said.
Sikri was a part of the five-
judge collegium, which recom-
mends names for appointments
to the higher judiciary, from
June 2018 to March 2019.
He said the collegium system
may be the best on paper going
by Indian conditions but its
working leaves a lot to be
C L I M AT E C R I S I S
Baglay named Lanka
high commissioner
SOARING MERCURY
n Bengaluru recorded a tem-
perature of 33.4 degree
Celsius on Thursday
n On the same day, HAL Airport
recorded a temperature of
32.5 degree Celsius, against
33.6 degree Celsius at Kempe-
hotri, director of the IMD in
Bengaluru, said on Saturday.
On the same date, HAL Air-
port had recorded a tempera-
ture of 32.5 degree Celsius,
against 33.6 degree Celsius at
Kempegowda International
Airport (KIA), she said.
Thursday’s temperature
broke the previous record of
Student who
tested positive for
virus recovering:
Kerala minister
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The coun-
try’s first coronavirus-infected
patient, a medical student who
returned to India from China last
week, is recovering fast, the state
health ministry said. No fresh
cases have been reported from
the state as well.
Admitted to an isolation ward
in Thrissur Government Medical
College on Thursday, the woman
is responding well to treatment,
according to a medical bulletin.
At least 1,600 people in the state
are under observation and 30
admitted across various hospi-
tals. Health authorities have
tracked 58 people who had been in
direct contact with the infected
woman, and put them under sur-
veillance.
Officials said they have also
alerted the Kolkata airport,
where she first landed on Decem-
ber 23 before taking a flight to
Kochi.
Her relatives said she left
China’s Wuhan city, the epicen-
tre of the Coronavirus, after its
airport was shut, and travelled to
Kunming, the nearest city, and
took a China Eastern Airlines
flight to Kolkata. Once there, she
took a flight to Kochi, after a four-
hour wait.
Four other students who trav-
elled with her are also under
observation.
“We are keeping an utmost
vigil. Even people who are under
observation at their homes have
been advised not to interact with
another family frequently. We
have formulated an isolation
guideline and imparted enough
training to health officials. At
least 61 isolation wards are ready
in the state,” said state health
minister KK Shailaja who is
camping in Thrissur.
desired. He pointed out Justice
DY Chandrachud, in two of his
judgments, “subtly” indicated
the collegium system might not
be working effectively and
might need changes.
The Supreme Court evolved
the collegium system through a
1993 judgment when it held the
Chief Justice of India (CJI)’s
opinion will have primacy over
the opinion of the government
with regard to the appointment
of judges. This effectively led to
a system wherein the collegium
of senior-most justices picks
judges for the higher judiciary.
In 2015, Parliament enacted
the National Judicial Appoint-
ments Commission (NJAC) Act
to mark a significant shift in the
manner of the appointment of
judges.
The NJAC Act sought to
replace the collegium system by
providing for a body comprising
representatives from both the
judiciary and the Centre to
make recommendations for the
appointment of judges to the
higher judiciary. The Supreme
Court struck down the NJAC
Act in October 2015 and held
that the collegium system would
continue.
gowda International Airport
n Thursday’s temperature
broke the previous record of
32.8 degree Celsius, recorded
on January 21, 2000
n IMD said the temperatures
were in line with forecasts
32.8 degree Celsius, which was
recorded on January 21, 2000.
Agnihotri said the rise in
temperature this year was in
line with the IMDs forecast in
November, which said the
summer would be harsher
throughout the country this
year, as compared to previous
ones.
15 convicted of rape, attempt
to kill TN schoolgirl in 2018
MC Rajan
n mc.rajan@htlive.com
CHENNAI: A special court here on
Saturday convicted 15 men,
including security guards, elec-
tricians, and plumbers, of raping
an 11-year-old hearing-impaired
girl for six months inside a gated
community in Chennai in 2018.
Special judge RN Manjula
acquitted one of the accused,
Gunasekar, 55, a gardener, for
the want of evidence. Another
accused, Babu, a lift operator,
died of illness during the pend-
ency of the case.
The 15 other accused were
found guilty of sexually abusing
and raping the hearing-impaired
minor schoolgirl. The trial court
held that the prosecution had
proved the charges against 15 of
the 16 accused beyond any rea-
sonable doubt. Manjula will pro-
nounce their sentences on Mon-
day.
The convicts, Ravikumar, 56,
Suresh, 32, Rajasekar, 40, Erald
Bross, 58, Sukumaran, 65,
Abhishek, 23, Murugesu, 54, Par-
amasivam, 60, Palani, 40, Jaya-
ganesh, 28, Deenadayalan, 50,
Jayaraman, 26, Surya, 23, Raja,
30, and Umapathy, 42, were also
charged with Indian Penal
Code’s Sections 307 (attempt to
murder), 506 (ii) (criminal intim-
idation). They were booked
Man kills wife, walks 38-yr-old woman,
with severed head for four daughters
more than a kilometre found dead in UP
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
n
LUCKNOW: A man in Barabanki’s
Bahadurpur village on Saturday
beheaded his wife and walked
with her severed head for more
than a kilometre before being
arrested.
The suspect, 30-year-old Akh-
ilesh Rawat, was near Jahangira-
bad police station when he was
arrested.
Superintendent of police (SP)
Arvind Chaturvedi said Rawat
had been arrested and a case of
dowry death filed against him, on
a complaint by the victim’s
father.
Akhilesh was married to
Rajani (26) more than two years
ago. The couple had a baby girl
three months ago, who died a few
days after the birth due to illness,
a police official privy to the mat-
ter said.
“The victim was living at her
parent’s house after her daugh-
ter’s death and Akhilesh man-
aged to bring her home four days
ago,” Chaturvedi said.
According to the police, the
Panel probing Bhima Koregaon
violence given 2-month extension
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
MUMBAI: A day after the two-mem-
ber commission probing the 2018
Bhima Koregaon violence threat-
ened to wind up prematurely due
to the government’s failure to
release the necessary funds, the
state has released the dues and
announced an inquiry into the
delay. The panel has also been
given an extension of two months
to complete its probe.
The commission, comprising
former Calcutta high court chief
justice JN Patel and IAS officer
Sumit Mullick, had written to the
government saying it was facing
a funds crunch.
“We have released the out-
standing amount. I have also
“Normally, the tempera-
ture increases after Makar
Sankranti [in the middle of
January], but this time there
has been an almost shooting
rise in the temperature. Win-
ter has practically not been
there,” Agnihotri said.
Explaining the possible
reasons, the IMD director
said, “We are facing the
impact of micro-climate,
where there is too much
urbanisation, too much vehic-
ular pollution.”
She added, “Locally, the cli-
mate of a particular place is
changing because of these
man-made factors. This is
what I feel. This is the trend
throughout the country, and
the world.”
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
THE SEXUAL ABUSE
CAME TO LIGHT IN JULY
2018. ACCORDING TO THE
CHARGE-SHEET, THE
CONVICTS FILMED THE
ABUSE, BLACKMAILED
THE 11-YEAR-OLD
under Sections 5, 6, 9 and 10
(aggravated penetrative sexual
assault), 12 (sexual assault)
under the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences Act
“Of the 15, who have been con-
victed, Ravikumar, Suresh,
Abishek and Palani might get
capital punishment or life
imprisonment as they have
found guilty under relevant sec-
tions of the IPC and POCSO,”
public prosecutor N Ramesh told
journalists.
The sexual abuse of the
11-year-old came to light In July
2018 and provoked outrage.
According to the charge-sheet
filed in the case, the convicts
filmed the girl’s sexual abuse
and blackmailed her.
The girl’s parents filed a police
complaint after she narrated her
ordeal to her elder sister. In their
police complaint, they said the
girl was gang-raped, filmed and
threatened with the elimination
COPS SAID THE TWO
STARTED FIGHTING ON
SATURDAY, WHEN
AKHILESH ALLEGEDLY
ATTACKED HIS WIFE
WITH A SHARP WEAPON
two started fighting on Saturday
morning, when Akhilesh alleg-
edly attacked her with a sharp
weapon. “We have recovered the
weapon from the suspect’s
home,” Chaturvedi added.
Munish Kumar, a resident of
Bahadurpur, said, “Akhilesh
walked for more than one kilome-
tre and was arrested near Kadir-
pur village when he was on his
way to the police station.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s
brother Jagdish Rawat said, “I
suspect Rajani’s daughter did not
die a natural death. Akhilesh’s
family must have had some role
in her death.”
The SP said, “A case has been
registered against the accused.
We are interrogating him to know
how and why he killed his wife.”
directed additional chief secre-
tary Shrikant Singh to conduct
an inquiry into the allegations of
dereliction of duty by home
department officials. Action
would be taken against officers
responsible for the delay,” said
home minister Anil Deshmukh
who had convened an urgent
meeting of the finance and home
departments on Saturday.
The term of the commission
was to end on February 8.
According to an official state-
ment, the commission has been
given five extensions so far.
The commission had written to
the state chief secretary on Fri-
day saying that the government
had not paid salaries of its staff for
the last two months.
“The circumstances indicate
Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Seasoned diplomat
Gopal Baglay was on Saturday
appointed India’s high commis-
sioner to Sri Lanka. A 1992-
batch officer of the Indian For-
eign Service (IFS), Baglay suc-
ceeds Taranjit Singh Sandhu in
Sri Lanka.
Sandhu has been appointed
Indian Ambassador to the
United States. A 1988-batch IFS
officer, Sandhu has had two suc-
cessful stints at the Indian
Embassy in Washington DC, the
last one being as Deputy Ambas-
sador from July 2013 to January
2017.
Sandhu’s move, in turn, came
of her family if she complained.
The accused tried to delay the
trial by moving the high court
(WHEN), seeking a Central
Bureau of Investigation probe
and then accusing the special
judge of being biased. But the
high court dismissed their peti-
tions.
The trial in the case com-
menced in January 2019 and the
prosecution produced 120 wit-
nesses.
A group of lawyers thrashed
the accused when they were pro-
duced in the Saidapet Mahila
court amid public anger and
shock over the child’s abuse in
2018. They were dragged from a
staircase, beaten and kicked
while police personnel struggled
to protect the accused.
HT in July 2018 reported
police found a 66-year-old lift
operator first sexually assaulted
the girl after she returned from
school and was cycling around
and later several others joined in
the assault.
He allegedly invited other
men who filmed each other rap-
ing the child. The accused took
the girl to various places in the
gated complex including the
basement, terrace, gym, and
public restrooms to rape her.
The abuse came to light amid
a series of rape cases involving
minors in the country.
HT Correspondent
n letters@hindustantimes.com
LUCKNOW: A 38-year-old woman
and her four daughters, three of
them minor, were found dead in
their home in Shantinagar, in
Fatehpur district of Uttar Pra-
desh, on Saturday morning,
police said.
The police suspect that the
woman poisoned her four
daughters before killing herself.
Within hours of finding the bod-
ies, the woman’s husband was
taken into custody on a com-
plaint by the woman’s brother.
Police acted on neighbours’
complaint of a stench emanat-
ing from the house.
Police found all five bodies in
the same room. Traces of cel-
phos, an agriculture pest killer,
were found near the bodies.
Neighbours said the man had
left the house four days ago after
a fight with his wife.
POLICE SUSPECT THAT
WOMAN POISONED HER
DAUGHTERS BEFORE
KILLING HERSELF
that the government is not seri-
ous about the commission. The
commission is unable to function
for want of money even for day-
to-day expenses,” it had said, add-
ing that the government should
wind up the judicial commission
in such a situation.
On January 1, 2018, riots broke
out in Pune district on the occa-
sion of the 200th commemoration
of the Bhima Koregaon battle in
which the East India Company
defeated the Peshwas with the
help of Dalit soldiers. One person
was killed in these riots and at
least 11 arrested, two of whom are
out on bail.
On February 9, 2018, the then
Bharatiya Janata Party state gov-
ernment had ordered a probe into
the case. WITH PTI INPUTS
after Harsh Vardhan Shringla,
who had last served as India’s
envoy to the United States, took
charge as the country’s new
Foreign Secretary on Wednes-
day.
Baglay has currently serving
at the Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO).
“He is expected to take up the
assignment shortly,” the minis-
try of external affairs (MEA)
said.
Baglay has held many key
positions, including spokesper-
son of the MEA and deputy high
commissioner of India to Paki-
stan.
He had also handled the sen-
sitive PAI (Pakistan-Afghani-
stan-Iran) division in the MEA.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0 hindustantimes nation 23

New bill proposed to streamline, Six, including five

regulate activities in Antarctica of a family, killed
Anonna Dutt
n letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI : The ministry of earth
sciences (MoES) is in the process
of formulating the ‘Indian Ant-
arctic Bill’ to regulate and
streamline all scientific and com-
mercial activities in the uninhab-
ited, ice-covered southernmost
continent, Antarctica.
The continent is governed by
an international treaty that
allows only peaceful and scien-
tific activities. The treaty prohib-
its any military activities, min-
eral mining, and nuclear explo-
sions and nuclear waste disposal.
The new bill is being formu-
lated to ensure that all protocols
under the Antarctic Treaty and
environment protocol are fol-
lowed and national measures
developed to protect the Antarc-
tic environment. The law will
also give jurisdiction to Indian
courts to deal with disputes and
crimes committed in certain
parts of Antarctica.
“Currently, the MoES is look-
ing at some technical considera-
tions for the bill; the final draft
will then be prepared in consulta-
tion with the law ministry. “We
are signatory to the Antarctic
Treaty and had to formulate a law
so that all the processes of
approvals etc for research and
other activities in the Antarctic
are streamlined. It will also pro-
vide us with legal recourse in case
something happens during our
expeditions etc,” said Dr Vijay
Kumar, a senior scientist from
MoES.
India also has annual Antarc-
tica expeditions where scientists,
engineers and others are sent to
the continent in batches between
November and January.
“Around 54 countries have
signed the treaty so far. Of these,
23 countries have already
brought in laws to enforce provi-
sions of the Antarctic Treaty.
Now, India is in the process of
doing the same.,” said Dr Kumar.
At present, the Antarctic oper-
ations of India are funded from
the budget allocated to the MoES.
The new bill will focus on protect-
ing the environment and ecosys-
tems in Antarctica and will have
sections relating to waste dis-
posal.“The Antarctic Treaty
clearly states that all the waste
generated in the region will be
taken away by the country gener-
ating it or storing and disposing of
it appropriately. The new bill will
have provisions on the same,”
said Dr Kumar.
in Kerala accident
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Six people,
including five of a family, were
killed in two road accidents in
Kerala on Saturday.
Five members of a family, died
when their car collided with a log-
laden lorry in Kottayam district,
police said. Sixty-eight year-old
lottery agent, his wife, daughter-
in-law, grandson, and a woman
relative were killed on the spot,
they said. In the other accident, a
76-year-old woman, who was
asleep inside her house, was
killed when a lorry, which went
out of control, rammed her dwell-
ing at Alappuzha. PTI

Tender No.: e-Tender/Technical Services/Electronic/communication

CAA violates India’s equipment/2019-20/002

Tender for Supply of the Electronic/
Constitution and Communication Equipments
Office of the ADGP/Technical Services Wing, Punjab Police, invites online tenders
(two bid system) for the purchase of following items:-

intl law: Amnesty Sr.

Press Trust of India
n letters@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON: Amnesty Interna-
tional has told the US lawmakers
that the recently enacted Citizen-
ship Amendment Act (CAA)
stands in “clear violation” of the
Constitution of India and interna-
tional human rights law and
“legitimises discrimination” on
the basis of religion.
The new citizenship law
passed by Parliament in Decem-
ber 2019 offers citizenship to non-
Muslim persecuted religious
minorities from Pakistan, Bang-
ladesh and Afghanistan.
The Indian government has
been emphasising that the new
law will not deny any citizenship
rights, but has been brought to
protect the oppressed minorities
of neighbouring countries and
give them citizenship.
Amnesty International Asia
Pacific Advocacy Manager Fran-
cisco Bencosme made the
remarks during a testimony
before the House Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa, Global
Health, Global Human Rights
and International Organisations
and House Oversight and Reform
Subcommittee. The Indian Par-
liament “passed the Citizenship
Amendment Act, which legiti-
mises discrimination on the basis
of religion and stands in clear vio-
lation of the constitution of India
and international human rights
law,” Bencosme said.
India has asserted that the leg-
islation on CAA was enacted fol-
lowing the due process. “The
CAA is an internal matter of
India. It has been adopted
through due process,” Spokes-
person of the Ministry of External
Affairs Raveesh Kumar has said.
No.
Name of the equipment Qty Earnest Money
(In Rs.)
Form
fee
1. Coaxial cable Low Loss Full copper 500 65,000/- 500
(30 Mtr. Length)
2. NiMh batteries for I-com hand held 2200 53,000/- 500
ICF3023T sets
Important Dates and Times:-
i) Sale of bid document From : A
ii) Tender Closing Date : A+21 days
iii) Opening of Technical Bid
iv) Opening of Financial Bid
:
:
A+21+1 days
To be Informed after completion of testing.
I F¹FFÊ»F¹F Ad²F¿NF°FF
Sd/-
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(DSP/Mod) ³FF¦F´FbS SûO, ¦FPÞF, ªF¶F»F´FbS, ¸F²¹F´FiQZVF-482003
for Deputy Inspector General of Police-
cum- Chairman Tender Committee
R û³F ³F¸¶FS :- 0761-2370951 Email :- nscbmcjb@gmail.com
8517 TS, Punjab, Chandigarh Website : www.nscbmc.ac.in
Ii ¸FFaI - 1118/LFÂF/¹FcªFe/´FeªFe/2020 ªF¶F»F´FbS , dQ³FFaI - 28/01/2020
FINANCE DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF d½FÄFd´°F
UTTARAKHAND FINANCE SECTION-1 ³FZ°FFªFe ÀFb·FF¿F ¨F³ýi ¶FûÀF ¸FZdOI »F I F»FZªF, ªF¶F»F´FbS , ¸F²¹F´FiQZVF ¸FZÔ E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. ´FFNÐ ¹FIi ¸F
´Fi½FZVF ½F¿FÊ 2002 ÀFZ 2012 °FI E½Fa E¸F.Oe./E¸F.EÀF./dO´»Fû¸FF À³FF°FI ûØFS ´FFNÐ ¹FIi ¸F ´Fi½FZVF ½F¿FÊ
PRESS NOTE
No. 82 /01(130) 2016/XXVII(1)/2020 Dehradun, Dated : 30 January 2020
2006 ÀFZ 2016 °FI IZ CØFe¯FÊ ÀF¸FÀ°F LFÂF/LFÂFFAûÔ dªF³WZÔ ´Fc½FÊ ¸FZÔ BÀF ¸FWFd½FôF»F¹F õFSF ÀFc¨F³FF
10 YEAR UTTARAKHAND GOVERNMENT STOCK 2029 ´FÂF ªFFSe I S ´Fi½FZVF IZ ÀF¸F¹F d³F¿´FFdQ°F Ad³F½FF¹FÊ ¦FiF¸Fe¯F ÀFZ½FF ¶FF¯O (BOND) I e VF°FûË I û ´Fc¯FÊ
The Government of Uttarakhand is floating a 11 year loan in order to finance devel-
opment schemes, such as those relating to Power, Agriculture, Irrigation and Industries I S³FZ WZ °Fb d³FQZÊdVF°F dI ¹FF ¦F¹FF ±FFÜ dIa °Fb EZÀFZ LFÂF/LFÂFFEZÔ dªF³FIZ õFSF ÀFaÀ±FF õFSF ªFFSe ÀFc¨F³FF ´FÂF IZ
for economic growth of the State. The Stock will he sold through the Reserve Bank of ´Fid°FCØFS ¸FZÔ I ûBÊ ªF½FF¶F ´FiÀ°Fb°F ³FWeÔ dI ¹FF W` , A±F½FF I F¹FFÊ»F¹F õFSF ªFFSe ÀFc¨F³FF C³FIZ §FS IZ ´F°FZ
India by auction in the manner indicated in the finance department notification No.
81/01(130)- 2016/XXVII(1)/2020, dated January 30 2020. The successful bidders will be ´FS Ad½F°FdS°F WûI S I F¹FFÊ»F¹F ¸FZÔ ½FFd´FÀF ´FiF´°F Wb AF W` , C³F LFÂF/LFÂFFAûÔ I û d³F¸³Fd»Fd£F°F dQ³FFaI ûÔ
required to make payment on February 05, 2020. Which will be the date of com- ¸FZÔ I F¹FFÊ»F¹Fe³F ÀF¸F¹F ¸FZÔ ½¹Fd¢°F¦F°F ø ´F ÀFZ Ad²F¿NF°FF I F¹FFÊ»F¹F ¸FZÔ ÀFaÀ±FF õFSF ¦FdN°F WFBÊ ´FFG½FS
mencement of the tenure of the Stock. The loan will be repaid at par on February. 05, ÀFd¸Fd°F IZ ÀF¸FÃF C´FdÀ±F°F WûI S A´F³FF ´FÃF S£F³FZ WZ °Fb Aad°F¸F A½FÀFS ´FiQF³F dI ¹FF ªFF°FF W` Ü
2030. The issue price will be Rs. 250.00 crore (nominal) interest at the rate determined
by the Reserve Bank of India on the basis of bids received, will be payable half yearly. dªF³F LFÂF/LFÂFFAûÔ ³FZ ´Fi½FZVF IZ ÀF¸F¹F d³F¿´FFdQ°F ¶FF¯O A³FbÀFFS Ad³F½FF¹FÊ ¦FiF¸Fe¯F ÀFZ½FF ÀF¸´F³³F
Interest in respect of the loan will be subject to tax under the Income Tax Act. 1961. I S d»F¹FF W` , ½FZ ÀFa¨FF»F³FF»F¹F, À½FFÀ±¹F ÀFZ½FF, ·Fû´FF»F ÀFZ ¶F²F´FÂF (BOND) A³FF´FdØF ´FiF´°F I S BÀF
Subscriptions for the loan can be made in the form of Cash/Bank Draft or Cheque and
will be received at the public debt offices of the Reserve Bank of India at Kanpur and I F¹FFÊ»F¹F ¸FZÔ 15 dQ½FÀF IZ AaQS ´FiÀ°Fb°F I SmÔ Ü
Mumbai. Ii ¸FFaI ´Fi½FZVF ½F¿FÊ ´FFNÐ ¹FIi ¸F ½¹Fd¢°F¦F°F ø ´F ÀFZ C´FdÀ±F°F
Details of the terms of loan are contained in Finance Department Notification dated
January 30, 2020 referred to above, copies of which alongwith the application forms Wû³FZ I F dQ³FFaI
are obtainable from the receiving offices mentioned above.
Financial position of the Government of Uttarakhand 01 2002 E½Fa 2003 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. 17/02/2020 (ÀFû¸F½FFS)
The Government's budget documents (which can be obtained from the website 02 2004 E½Fa 2005 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. 18/02/2020 (¸Fa¦F»F½FFS)
buciget.uk.gov.in) give detailed information regarding the latest financial position of
the state_ 03 2006 E½Fa 2007 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. E½Fa ´Fe.ªFe. 19/02/2020 (¶Fb²F½FFS)
Balance in the Reserve Funds : The balance at the credit of the Uttarakhand consoli-
dated sinking fund as on March 31, 2018 was Rs. 2484.3239 crore. 04 2008 E½Fa 2009 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. E½Fa ´Fe.ªFe. 20/02/2020 (¦Fbø ½FFS)
Debt position : The total debt of the Government of Uttarakhand as on March 31, 05 2010 E½Fa 2011 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. E½Fa ´Fe.ªFe. 22/02/2020 (VFd³F½FFS)
2018 was of the order of Rs. 41014.9441 crores consisting of Rs. 9838.4101 crores in
form of Special Securities issued to National Small Saving Fund of Government of India, 06 2012 E½Fa 2013 E¸F.¶Fe.¶Fe.EÀF. E½Fa ´Fe.ªFe. 24/02/2020 (ÀFû¸F½FFS)
Rs. 26662.2830 crores on account of State Development Loans, Rs. 3724.0215 crores 07 2014 E½Fa 2015 ´Fe.ªFe. 25/02/2020 (¸Fa¦F»F½FFS)
representing loans from the Agricultural Credit fund of the National Bank of Agriculture
and Rural Development and rest includes Govt. of India loans. 08 2016 ´Fe.ªFe. (dO´»Fû¸FF) 26/02/2020 (¶Fb²F½FFS)
Assets of the Government : Against the outstanding public debt of Rs. 41014.9441
crores the assets of the State Government on March 31, 2018 are in the form of roads C´FSû¢°F A½Fd²F ¸FZÔ C´FdÀ±F°F ³FWeÔ Wû³FZ E½Fa I F¹FʽFFWe ¸FZÔ ·FF¦F ³FWeÔ »FZ³FZ ½FF»FZ LFÂF/LFÂFFAûÔ IZ
and bridges, Irrigation projects, Power projects, Departmental buildings and other cap- d½F÷ ð ¸F²¹F´FiQZVF ¸FZdOI »F I üÔdÀF»F, ·Fû´FF»F °F±FF ¸FZdOI »F I üÔdÀF»F AFGR Bd¯O¹FF, ³FBÊ dQ»»Fe IZ
ital projects. (Bhupesh Chandra Tiwari)
Additional Secretary d³F²FFÊdS°F ¸FF´FQ¯OF³FbÀFFS C³FIZ SdªFÀMÑZ VF³F AFdQ ÀF¸FF´°F I S³FZ I e I F¹FʽFFWe ´FiÀ°FFd½F°F I e ªFF½FZ¦Fe,
´FÂFFaI - 10792/ ÀFc.E½Fa »Fû.ÀFa.d½F./dQ. 01.02.2020 Government of Uttarakhand dªFÀFIZ d»F¹FZ ÀFa¶Fad²F°F LFÂF/LFÂFFEZÔ À½F¹Fa dªF¸¸FZQFS WûÔ¦FZÜ Ad²F¿NF°FF
d³F:VFÀÂF AdWaÀFF I e VFd¢°F dI ÀFe ·Fe ´FdSdÀ±Fd°F ¸FZÔ ³FZ°FFªFe ÀFb·FF¿F ¨F³ýi ¶FûÀF
G-22373/20 ÀFVFÀÂF VFd¢°F ÀFZ ÀF½FÊßFZ¿N Wû¦Fe - ¸FWF°¸FF ¦FFa²Fe ¸FZdOI »F I FG»FZªF, ªF¶F»F´FbS
NEWS, VIEWS &
ANALYSIS. SINCE 1924 Royal Springs Golf Course Cheshmashahi Srinagar
Website: www.royalsprings18@gmail.com
e-TENDER NOTICE NO. 60 of 2019-20 DATED: 29.01.2020
Stay updated with the latest
news and happenings from For and on behalf of the Secretary, Royal Springs Golf Course of J&K UTI, e-tenders are invited on item rate
around the world with basis from the approved & The interested agencies must be either principal manufactures/country dealers/
Hindustan Times. authorized dealers/authorized representatives/importers or agencies dealing with golf machinery/mechanical
www.hindustantimes.com
machinery or eligible Firms/Agencies, registered with J&K UTI, CPWD, Railways & other State/Central Govt. for
www.facebook.com/hindustantimes
the following works.
www.twitter.com/htTweets
S. Name of Work Approx. Earnest Cost of Class of Contract Time of Major
No. cost in Money tender Completion Head of
lacs in Rs. in Document Account
shape of in Rs. in
CDR/FDR the shape
of DD
1. Supply of Golf Carts 90.00 180000/- 9000/- Approved/interested 90 working 5452-
at RSGC Srinagar. lacs agencies must be days Tourism
Make Club Car/ either principal
Ezgo/Yamaha/Caria manufactures/country
(Imported) dealers/authorized
dealers/authorized
representatives/
importers or agencies
dealing with golf
machinery/mechanical
machinery or eligible
Firms/Agencies,
registered with J&K
UTI, CPWD, Railways
& other State/Central
Govt.
Position of Funds: - Demanded
The bidding documents consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, drawings, Bill of Quantities
(BOQ), Set of Terms and conditions and details can be seen/downloaded from the website www.jktenders.gov.in
and as published in newspapers as per the schedule of dates given below:

1. Date of issue of Tender Notice 29.01.2020

2. Document Downloading Start Date 30.01.2020 (from 10.00 A.M.)
3. Bid Submission Start Date 30.01.2020 (from 10.00 A.M.)
4. Bid Submission End Date 17.02.2020 (Up to 02.00 P.M.)
5. Date & Time of opening of Bids online 18.02.2020
E-NIT No. 60 of 2019-20, Dated: 29.01.2020 of
The Financial Bid (Price Bid) duly signed on each page by contractor/firm/agency. The rates quoted in the Price
Bid shall be inclusive of, Income Tax, GST and all carriages, head load etc and FOR Destination i.e. RSGC District
Srinagar Kashmir. The intending tenderers should write every rate in words and figures legible without any cutting or
over writing on the Price Bid Document otherwise the tender is liable to be rejected.
Terms & Conditions:-
1. If it is found that any tenderer/s has/have furnished misleading/wrong or fraudulent information/documents, his/
their tender shall not be considered and the EMD of the tenderer/s will be forfeited.
2. Earnest Money in the shape of CDR/FDR shall be pledged in favour of Executive Engineer, Royal Springs Golf
Course Cheshmashahi Srinagar.
3. If the documents/information submitted is found to be wrong/fraudulent at any stage after award of contract, the
contract may be terminated and the work shall be executed at the risk & cost of the tenderer.
4. The Secretary/Executive Engineer RSGC reserves the right to postpone the tender submission/opening date and
to accept or reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason thereof.
5. The validity of the offer shall be 120 days from the date of opening of Financial/Price Bid.
6. The transfer of Tender Documents purchased by one intending tenderer to another tenderer is not admissible,
even subletting of work is not admissible. The tenderer can submit tenders only in the name of the person/firm
to whom the documents were issued. In case of any dispute/differences the jurisdiction shall be to the Courts
situated in Srinagar District Kashmir only.
7. The CDR in favour of the unsuccessful tenderers shall be released only after the allotment is issued in favour of
the successful contractor/firm/agency.
8. All other terms and conditions will be the same as are in vogue in RSGC and other conditions as per PWD form
No. 25/33 (Double Agreement Form).
Sd/-
No.: RSGC/EE/2019-20/988-92 Executive Engineer
Dated: 29.01.2020 Royal Springs Golf Course
DIP/K/2378/NB/M Cheshmashahi Srinagar
24 hindustantimes
world
shortstories
US ISSUES
TRAVEL ALERT
FOR PAKISTAN
WASHINGTON: Advising its
citizens to reconsider visiting
Pakistan due to terrorism, the US
on Friday issued the highest level
travel alert for the provinces of
Balochistan and Khyber Pakh-
tunkhwa along with the Line of
Control. The Level 4 of US travel
advisory means asking citizens
not to travel to the provinces of
Balochistan, Khyber Pakh-
tunkhwa (KPK) along with the
LoC. The rest of the areas in
Pakistan continues to remain on
Level 3 of the travel alert. “Do not
travel to the India-Pakistan
border. Militant groups are known
to operate in the area,” the State
Department said. PTI
DEATH TOLL IN
CHILE PROTESTS
TOUCHES 20
SANTIAGO: Two people died on
Friday after protests that began
in October over a hike in metro
fare flared in Chile, after a brief
lull. One man died of asphyxiation
when a mob looted and then set
fire to the supermarket in Santi-
ago on Friday. Another man died
on Friday, two days after being
shot in the head during a protest
near a police station in southern
Santiago. The death toll touched
30 people, including two others
who died this week. AGENCIES
AFGHANISTAN
PEACE: US
ENVOY TO
MEET GHANI
KABUL: The US special
envoy leading negotia-
tions with the Taliban
was set to meet with the
Afghan president on
Saturday, in an apparent
renewed push for talks on
an agreement with the
insurgents. US Special
Representative for
Afghanistan Reconcilia-
tion Zalmay Khalilzad
was prepared to hold
talks with Afghan
President Ashraf Ghani in
the afternoon, according
to the leader’s spokes-
man. The details of the
talks were unknown. AFP
PAK DECLARES
EMERGENCY TO
TACKLE LOCUSTS
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, which is
facing its worst locust attack in
decades, has declared national
emergency to tackle the insects
destroying crops on a large scale
in Punjab province, country’s
main region for agricultural
production. The decision was
taken at a meeting convened by
PM Imran Khan on Friday. The
meeting, attended by ministers
and senior officials of the four
provinces, also okayed an action
plan that requires 7.3bn Pakistani
rupees to end the crisis. PTI
COMMONWEALTH
OKAYS MALDIVES’
READMISSION
LONDON: Maldives, which left the
Commonwealth in 2016 at the
height of political turmoil in Male
and applied to rejoin the group
following the election of Ibrahim
Mohamed Solih as president in
2018, has been readmitted,
official sources said on Saturday.
Maldives became the Common-
wealth’s 54th member-state,
marking the end of a process that
began in December 2018, when
the new president wrote to
secretary-general Patricia
Scotland about rejoining. HTC
Scientific expedition to Galapagos Islands
finds relative of extinct tortoise subspecies
n Workers inspecting a tortoise near Wolf Volcano on Galapagos
Islands near Ecuador.
Nearly 12,000 cases
reported worldwide
259 KILLED Death toll from outbreak rises by 46; Communist Party of China
meets to discuss crisis, decides to extend holidays to stop the virus from spreading
A mother reacts as she pleads with police to allow her daughter to pass a checkpoint for cancer treatment in Jiujiang, China.
n
Sutirtho Patranobis & Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BEIJING:At least 259 people are now
dead and nearly 12,000 infected
with the novel coronavirus, Chi-
nese health officials said on Sat-
urday, as 46 new deaths were
reported.
The numbers in Hubei con-
tinue to balloon. It reported 1,347
new cases, taking the total to
7,153. Overall, 2,012 new cases
were reported across China until
Friday midnight.
As many as 1,795 are critical,
officials said, adding that there
were at least 17,988 suspected
cases of the virus.
The surging number of cases
has laid bare a massive shortage
of medical supplies in Hubei
Iraq president
appoints Allawi as
new premier
Reuters
n letters@hindustantimes.com
BAGHDAD:Iraqi President Barham
Salih appointed Mohammed
Tawfiq Allawi as prime minister
on Saturday, state television
reported, after squabbling par-
ties failed to name a candidate in
the two months since Adel Abdul-
Mahdi was ousted by protests.
Allawi, who will run Iraq until
early elections can be held, must
form a new government within a
month and will likely get stuck
between powerful parties vying
for cabinet posts, prolonging the
political deadlock.
Abdul-Mahdi quit in Novem-
ber during mass anti-govern-
ment unrest in which hundreds
of thousands of Iraqis took to the
streets to demand the removal of
Iraq’s political elite. Nearly 500
protesters have been killed since
October in a deadly crackdown
by security forces.
Soon after the president’s
announcement, protesters gath-
ered in Baghdad and southern cit-
ies expressed opposition to
Allawi’s appointment in videos
posted on social media. “Allawi is
rejected,” they chanted in one
video filmed at Tahrir Square.
For the demonstrators, Allawi,
the former communications min-
ister is part of the ruling elite and
therefore unacceptable.
LO N E S O M E G E O RG E
AP
N O V E L
province, reports said, with medi-
cal workers forced treat the virus
without adequate protection.
HOLIDAYS EXTENDED
A meeting of the leading group of
the CPC’s central committee on
the coronavirus prevention and
control agreed that Hubei would
extend the holidays to an “appro-
priate extent”. The meeting was
chaired by Premier Li Keqiang,
who also heads the group.
CHINA SPEAKS TO INDIA
China has urged India to respond
to the ongoing Coronavirus out-
break rationally and without
exaggerating tension, the Chi-
nese foreign ministry said on Sat-
urday. Foreign minister Wang Yi
spoke to external affairs minister
n Israeli border police members run during a protest by Palestinians
against the Middle East peace plan in West Bank.
Arab League rejects
US Middle East plan
CAIRO: The Arab League on Satur-
day rejected US President Donald
Trump’s controversial Middle
East plan, saying it did not meet
the “minimum rights” of the Pal-
estinians.
The pan-Arab bloc convened
in Cairo days after the US
unveiled its plan which is seen as
favouring Israel. The meeting
brought together Arab senior
officials including Palestinian
leader Mahmud Abbas, Saudi
Arabia’s foreign minister and the
UAE minister of state for foreign
affairs.
In a statement released after-
wards, the League said it “rejects
the US-Israeli ‘deal of the cen-
tury’ considering that it does not
meet the minimum rights and
aspirations of Palestinian peo-
QUITO: A scientific expedition
to the Galapagos Islands has
discovered a tortoise with a
“strong” genetic link to a pre-
sumed-extinct subspecies
made famous by the popular
Lonesome George, national
park officials said Friday.
George, the last known
member of the Chelonoidis
nigra abingdonii Pinta tor-
toise species, died in 2012 in
captivity aged over 100 after
refusing to provide any off-
spring.
The Galapagos National
Parks (PNG) said the expedi-
tion had discovered a young,
female specimen deemed “a
high-importance find because
C O R O N A V I R U S
S Jaishankar about the outbreak
in a recent phone call.
PHILIPPINE CARRIERS
CANCEL FLIGHTS
MANILA: Three Philippine airlines
on Saturday cancelled flights to
China, joining many others
around the world that have done
the same, after health officials
confirmed the Philippines’ first
case of coronavirus. A 38-year-old
Chinese woman tested positive
for the virus on Thursday.
NEPAL AND RUSSIA TO
EVACUATE CITIZENS
KATHMANDU/MOSCOW: Nepal gov-
ernment has initiated the process
to evacuate its citizens from
Wuhan, the epicentre of the
deadly coronavirus outbreak,
REUTERS
ple.”
Arab states also vowed “not to
... cooperate with the US adminis-
tration to implement this plan.”
PALESTINE CUTS TIES
WITH ISRAEL AND US
The Palestinian Authority has
cut all ties with the US and Israel,
including those relating to secu-
rity, after rejecting a Middle East
peace plan presented by US Presi-
dent Donald Trump, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas said
on Saturday.
“We’ve informed the Israeli
side ... that there will be no rela-
tions at all with them and the
United States including security
ties,” Abbas told the one-day
emergency meeting, called to dis-
cuss Trump’s plan. AGENCIES
it has a strong genetic compo-
nent of the species ‘Chelonoi-
dis abingdonii.’” She “could
be a direct descendant of a
pure individual, which could
still be alive somewhere,” the
park said.
Researchers chose Wolf
Volcano for their expedition
because whalers and pirates
who would eat the animals
were thought to have dumped
some of the tortoises there in
the past to lighten their ships’
loads.
The Galapagos Islands,
located 1,000km off the coast of
Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean,
were made famous by Charles
Darwin’s studies. AFP
O U T B R E A K
REUTERS
and is planning to send a char-
tered aeroplane as soon as possi-
ble. The Russian military will
evacuate Russian citizens from
regions that have been most
affected by the outbreak on Mon-
day and Tuesday.
HONG KONG MEDICAL
WORKERS TO STRIKE
HONG KONG: Thousands of Hong
Kong medical workers voted on
Saturday to strike as they urge
the government to close its bor-
der with the mainland to contain
the coronavirus epidemic.
The financial hub has 13 con-
firmed cases of the disease as of
Saturday. The HAEA will meet
with city’s hospital authority rep-
resentatives on Sunday to negoti-
ate.
Expanded visa ban
by US targets
Nigeria, Myanmar,
4 other countries
Reuters
n letters@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON:US President Donald
Trump issued an expanded ver-
sion of his travel ban on Friday
that targets prospective immi-
grants from Nigeria and five
other countries, a move that
could affect thousands of people
and reignite debate on whether
the policy is discriminatory.
Of the six countries added to
the ban, four are African nations
and three have Muslim-majority
populations. Democrats and
immigration advocates accuse
the Trump administration of
seeking to expand its original 2017
ban that targeted Muslim-major-
ity countries and of dispropor-
tionately focusing on African
countries.
Acting homeland security sec-
retary Chad Wolf said during a
call with reporters that the six
countries failed to meet US secu-
rity and information-sharing
standards, which necessitated
the new restrictions. The prob-
lems Wolf cited ranged from sub-
par passport technology to a fail-
ure to sufficiently exchange
information on terrorism sus-
pects and criminals.
The US will suspend the issu-
ance of visas that can lead to per-
manent residency for nationals of
Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar
and Nigeria.
The American government
also will stop issuing “diversity
visas” to nationals of Sudan and
Tanzania, according to the proc-
lamation.
Decks cleared for Trump’s acquittal
n US President Donald Trump in
Washington, DC. BLOOMBERG
WE’RE THE BIGGEST ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE
WORLD AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL US.
> MIKE POMPEO, US secretary of state, on oil & gas trade with Belarus
US bars foreigners
who visited China
Agencies
n letters@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON:The Trump adminis-
tration, while insisting the risk to
Americans from coronavirus is
low, nevertheless declared a pub-
lic health emergency on Friday
and announced the extraordi-
nary step of barring entry to the
US of foreign nationals who have
recently visited China.
In addition, US citizens who
have travelled within the past
two weeks to China’s Hubei prov-
ince will be subject to a manda-
tory quarantine of 14 days, the
incubation period of the virus,
officials said.
Americans who visited other
parts of mainland China will
undergo special health screening
upon their return, followed by up
to 14 days of “monitored self-
quarantine”, under the tempo-
rary restrictions.
UK GOVT PULLS STAFF,
FAMILIES FROM CHINA
LONDON: Britain on Saturday said
it was temporarily withdrawing
some staff and their families from
its diplomatic sites in China.
“We are committed to ensur-
ing the safety and well-being of
DRONES URGE CIVILIANS IN
CHINA TO WEAR MASKS
BEIJING/ NEW DELHI:A video is
doing the rounds on the
internet in which Chinese
officials in rural areas are
creatively using drones to
make sure local residents
don’t gather together with-
out wearing masks as the
nation battles against the
deadly coronavirus.
In the viral video, resi-
dents of a village in inner
Mongolia appear startled
when they hear a disembod-
ied voice from a hovering
drone admonishing them
for not wearing face masks.
“Yes, Auntie, this is the
drone speaking to you - you
shouldn’t walk about with-
Celebrations, sadness
as Britain leaves EU
Prasun Sonwalkar
n prasun.sonwalkar@hindustantimes.com
LONDON: Britain began an uncer-
tain future outside the European
Union on Saturday after the
country greeted the historic end
to almost half a century of EU
membership with a mixture of joy
and sadness.
Thousands of people waving
Union Jack flags packed Lon-
don’s Parliament Square and
sang the national anthem to mark
that reality as Brexit became law
at 11pm local time midnight in
Brussels.
Some pro-Europeans, includ-
ing many of the 3.6 million EU cit-
izens who have made their lives
in Britain, marked the occasion
with candle-lit gatherings.
The Department for Exiting
the European Union was abol-
ished on Friday. The UK and EU
moved into the transition phase
under the withdrawal agree-
ment, lasting until December 31,
by when trade and other post-
Brexit arrangements are to be
finalised.
In Scotland, which voted to
remain in the EU in the 2016 refer-
endum, demand grew for another
independence referendum.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson,
who won a landslide win in the
December election on a Brexit
manifesto, remained cautiously
upbeat in his Brexit address. “We
have taken back the tools of self-
government. Now is the time to
use those tools to unleash the full
potential of this brilliant country
and to make better the lives of
everyone in every corner of our
United Kingdom,” he said,
Yashwant Raj
n yashwant.raj@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON: The Republican-led
US Senate on Friday blocked
Democratic attempts to call for
more witnesses in the ongoing
impeachment trial of President
Donald Trump in party-line vote.
But they pushed the final voting
on his fate to Wednesday.
The resolution was defeated
49-51, with Democrats failing to
win the support of two more
Republicans in the 100-member
body, where Republicans hold a
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
n A woman waits to go through
immigration at Beijing airport
on Saturday. AFP
our staff and their families,” a
spokesman for the British foreign
office said.
APPLE TEMPORARILY
SHUTS CHINA STORES
BEIJING:Tech giant Apple on Satur-
day announced that it has tempo-
rarily shut all its retail stores and
offices across mainland China as
part of pre-emptive measures.
Apple said the shutdown will
come into force from Sunday to
February 9.
out wearing a mask,” says a
voice echoing from a drone
hovering over an elderly
woman, who looks confused
before walking away
quickly, a video posted by
Chinese state-run media
Global Times showed.
Another clip showed a
drone telling a group of
women to “put your masks
on, hurry up”.
Twitterati flooded the
social media with reactions.
A user wrote, “This might
look scary but if it saves
lives nothing to complain.”
Another posted, “Govern-
ment taking care of people!!!
Awesome.” AGENCIES
■ A image of Big Ben is illuminated at 10 Downing Street on
Brexit day in London.
KEY MILESTONES
A chronology of the road to Brexit
JUNE 23, 2016: UK votes in a
referendum to leave EU with
52% supporting Brexit.
MARCH 29, 2017: Then-PM
Theresa May asks European
Council to trigger Article 50
NOV 25, 2018: The 27 EU leaders
endorse the Brexit deal
APRIL 10, 2019: UK, EU agree on
Oct 31 as Brexit Day
53-47 majority. Democrats tried
one more time Friday evening,
but were thwarted again.
Charles Schumer, the top
Democrat in the Senate, slammed
the outcome as “tragedy ”.
“Americans will know that
this trial was not a real trial. It
had no witnesses, no documents
… and that it is a tragedy on a very
large scale,” he told reporters.
The White House had wanted
an earlier vote so the president
could have touted being vindi-
cated in his annual State of the
Union address scheduled for
US CAN DEPLOY
LANDMINES
ANYWHERE
IN THE WORLD
Agence France-Presse
n letters@hindustantimes.com
WASHINGTON: US President
Donald Trump’s administration
on Friday lifted US restrictions
on landmines, saying new tech-
nology made them safer, outrag-
ing campaigners for the aboli-
tion of the explosives that maim
thousands of civilians each year.
In the latest reversal of a pol-
icy of his predecessor Barack
Obama, Trump gave the green
light to a new generation of “non-
persistent” landmines that can
be switched off or destroyed
remotely rather than staying
active in the ground forever.
“The department of defence
has determined that restrictions
imposed on American forces by
the Obama administration’s pol-
icy could place them at a severe
disadvantage during a conflict
against our adversaries,” a
White House statement said.
“The president is unwilling to
accept this risk to our troops...
President Trump is rebuilding
our military, and it is stronger
than ever.”
Obama in 2014 banned the use
of anti-personnel landmines
with the exception, under pres-
sure from military planners, of
the Korean peninsula where the
explosives dot the last Cold War
frontier with North Korea.
Obama had also ordered the
destruction of anti-personnel
stockpiles not designed to defend
South Korea and said the US
won’t cooperate with other
nations in making landmines.
The White House said the US
military is free to deploy land-
mines around the world “in
exceptional circumstances”.
In rescinding the White House
directive, the Trump adminis-
tration said policy would now be
set by the Pentagon, which said it
was still prohibiting traditional
landmines that cannot be turned
off or destroyed remotely.
The new mines are set to self-
destruct within 30 days but can
be destroyed in as little as two
hours if necessary, Vic Mercado,
the Pentagon official in charge of
the policy, told reporters.
REUTERS
OCT 17, 2019: UK, EU strike a
new Brexit deal
OCT 28, 2019: EU offers UK
extension until Jan 31
JAN 23, 2020: Withdrawal bill
becomes law
JAN 29, 2020: European
Parliament approves Brexit deal
JAN 31, 2020: UK officially
leaves EU
Tuesday. However, Republican
leaders couldn’t deliver, how-
ever, because their own senators
wanted more time for discus-
sions. The final senate vote is now
set for 4pm local time on Wednes-
day.
TRUMP SAYS UP IN POLLS
President Donald Trump on Sat-
urday claimed his polling num-
bers were up after the Senate
paved the way for his acquittal
next week on impeachment char-
ges of abuse of power. He is all-
but-assured of being acquitted.
SUN DAY H IN DUSTA N T IMES, N EW D E LH I
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
htsportsmax
American dream in Melbourne park
AUSTRALIAN OPEN Kenin, 21, comes back from a set down to overpower Muguruza in the final, becomes the youngest winner Down Under since Sharapova in 2008
Associated Press
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
MELBOURNE: This, essentially,
was where Sofia Kenin was
going to win or lose the Austra-
lian Open final: She was down
love-40 while serving at 2-all in
the third set against two-time
major champion Garbine
Muguruza.
Kenin sensed this was the
moment that would matter. Up
in the stands of Rod Laver
Arena, so did her father, Alex,
who’s also her coach.
“I knew I had to take my
chance,” Kenin said. “I had to be
brave.”
Sure was. The 21-year-old
American won the next five
points, each with a winner—one
an ace, the others clean ground-
strokes to cap exchanges of 11
shots or more—and was on her
way to becoming a Grand Slam
champion.
Demonstrative as can be—
whether spiking a ball, drop-
ping her red-white-and-blue
racket or slapping her thigh—
and at her best when necessary,
the 14th-seeded Kenin won the
first major final of her career
Saturday by coming back to beat
a fading Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 at
Melbourne Park.
“That’s the game I feel, like,
changed things. I had to play
some (of my) best tennis. I did,”
Kenin said. “After that, I was on
fire. I was ready to take the
beautiful trophy.”
MAGNIFICIENT
Kenin was so magnificent when
it mattered the most, saving 10
of 12 break points she faced,
while converting 5 of 6 that she
earned.
“I’m not very happy about my
performance. ... At the impor-
tant moments, I didn’t find my
shots,” Muguruza said. “I think
she found her shots. I didn’t.”
Muguruza was visited by a
trainer after the second set and
her movement wasn’t ideal
down the stretch. Nor was her
serving: She double-faulted
eight times, including three in
the last game, one on champion-
ship point.
“A little bit lack of energy,”
Muguruza said.
For quite some time, Kenin
was overlooked and underap-
preciated, drawing much less
attention than other young ten-
nis players from the U.S., such
as 15-year-old Coco Gauff—
When Kim predicted Kenin would be able
n Kim Clijsters with a playful Sofia Kenin, 6, at the Miami Masters in
2005.
Hugs, a guru and a tree: Novak’s route to the top
Agence France-Presse
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
MELBOURNE: A strict vegetarian
diet, spiritual guru and family
hugging-sessions aren’t methods
employed by most athletes, but
they have helped Novak Djokovic
turn himself into one of the most
feared tennis players on the
planet—and perhaps the best in
history. The enigmatic Serb has
distinguished himself with his
willingness to turn to the unu-
sual, from hyperbaric chambers
to meditation and Spanish guru
Pepe Imaz, a former journeyman
player whose “love and peace”
philosophy drives his teachings.
Life has been a journey for the
Serbian star, who grew up in war-
torn Belgrade and practised in a
disused swimming pool but is
now based in the millionaire’s
playground of Monte Carlo, with
a record USD 140,228,279 in prize
money to his name.
Djokovic faced questions over
his durability earlier in his
career, after a series of retire-
ments for reasons ranging from a
toe blister to heat problems at the
n Sofia Kenin, the 14th seed, with the Australian Open winner’s trophy at the Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Kenin beat her in the fourth
round this week—and 18-year-
old Amanda Anisimova.
Maybe it was because Kenin
is only 5-foot-7 (1.70 meters).
Maybe it was because she went
into last season with this
resume: ranked outside the top
50, yet to get past the third round
of a major, yet to win a tour-level
title.
Kenin will be taken more
seriously now. By everyone. She
is the youngest Australian Open
champion since 2008, when
Maria Sharapova won the hard-
court tournament at age 20.
Kenin, who eliminated No. 1
Ash Barty in the semi-finals, is
expected to rise to No. 7 in Mon-
day’s WTA rankings, the young-
est American to make her debut
in the top 10 since Serena Willi-
TWITTER
2009 Australian Open, when he
was defending champion.
But he is now more steel than
snowflake—as seen when he won
last year’s record, nearly five-
hour, Wimbledon final, and the
2012 Australian Open final, the
longest Grand Slam decider in
history which stretched to 5hrs
53mins. With 16 Grand Slam titles
under his belt, and showing no
signs of slowing down, Djokovic
looks poised to overtake the great
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal,
the only men ahead of him on the
all-time list.
FRIENDS WITH A TREE
While Switzerland’s Federer and
Nadal of Spain come across as
straightforward characters,
Djokovic is the most complicated
member of tennis’s Big Three.
His daily routine, as related to
the New York Times last year,
involves getting up before dawn
with his family, watching the sun
rise and then doing hugging and
singing sessions, and yoga.
The father-of-two has dabbled
in various diets, including gluten-
and dairy-free, and is now a proud
ams in 1999.
“Those people that didn’t
believe in her, they had very
valid reasons not to, because
she’s always been the smallest
one,” Alex Kenin said the day
before the final. “But I guess,
thank God, I saw something that
they didn’t. Because I know her
better. I feel pretty happy. I
guess I was right.”
RUSSIA CONNECT
Kenin was born in 1998 in Mos-
cow to Russian parents; they
had moved to New York in the
1980s, but returned to be with
family for the birth of their
daughter. A few months later,
they went back to the U.S. for
good; Kenin grew up in Florida
and still makes her home there.
Muguruza came into the day
N Ananthanarayanan
n anantha.narayanan@htlive.com
NEW DELHI : Catching them young
in sports was passe decades ago.
Tiger Woods swung a club at
three, and since then it has been
more like ‘catch ‘em very young’.
For women’s tennis, which
boasts of a 16-year-old Martina
Hingis as its youngest Grand
Slam winner of the Open Era, the
real stories of adventure belong
to prodigies with roots in Russia
whose racquets have hit the high
notes, invariably in the US.
Sofia Kenin is the latest in the
line. Born in Moscow before her
parents migrated to live in New
York and then moved to Florida.
Dubbed a prodigy after she
started playing at five, Kenin’s
steely focus as a child was
recalled by WTA Insider, official
site of women’s tennis, on Satur-
day, after her breakthrough.
n Novak Djokovic is bidding for his eighth Australian Open title.
“plant-based athlete”—the sub-
ject of a Netflix documentary,
“The Game Changers”, for which
he is executive producer. Djok-
ovic has been vegetarian for four-
and-a-half years.
Rather than celebrating his
Australian Open wins by party-
ing, Djokovic, a seven-time win-
ner in Melbourne, climbs a fig
STREAMING
LIVE
with a far more formidable
record. She has been ranked No.
1 and won the French Open in
2016 and Wimbledon in 2017—
the only woman to beat each
Williams sister in a Grand Slam
In a delightful video shot dur-
ing the 2005 Miami Masters, Bel-
gian star Kim Clijsters (who
would win her first Slam later
that year) takes a six-year-old
Kenin on a venue tour. “Are you
going to be a global star?”, asks a
tournament official. The wide-
eyed, pony-tailed Kenin gives a
firm nod as Kenin’s father Alex-
ander and Clijsters watch.
Kenin is then introduced to
Andy Roddick and a few others.
She is neither overawed nor dis-
interested. Clijsters takes her to
watch a game from the players’
box, but the best is reserved for
the trip to the media conference
room. As she slips into the hot
seat, and Clijsters explains how
players field questions from the
media, a question is put to the
young girl by someone.
“Which one would you want to
win? The Wimbledon or the US
Open?” The reply is barely a
AFP
tree in the city’s Botanical Gar-
dens. “I have a friend there, a Bra-
zilian fig tree, that I like to climb
and I like to connect with so that’s
probably my favourite thing to
do,” he said, according to reports.
Djokovic broke through for his
first Grand Slam title at the 2008
Australian Open, but it would be
another three years before he
final.
But she tumbled out of the top
30 last season because of so-so
results. She was trying to
become only the third unseeded
champion at the Australian
Open in the professional era,
which began in 1968.
Muguruza put on her game
face from the moment she
walked through the tunnel lead-
ing to the court. She didn’t even
spare a smile for pre-match pho-
tos up at the net with a grinning
Kenin.
And when she made her first
move in front, breaking to go up
2-1 after 15 minutes, Muguruza
just tucked her racket under her
left arm like an old-school com-
muter with a folded newspaper
on the way to catch a subway
train.
whisper, but the priority is clear.
“Wimbledon”, grins the girl. Clij-
sters gives her early verdict. “It’s
great to see the future of tennis, I
guess. She might be one of the big
stars of tennis when I’m home ….
She is a very pretty, good girl. I
think she is going to be good,
yes?” Her ward nods vigorously
again.
On Saturday, Clijsters hailed
the player who she had intro-
duced to tennis stardom years
ago. “congrats @SofiaKenin on
your first grand slam title –
you’ve shown what’s possible
with focus, hard work and deter-
mination!” she tweeted.
Alex Kenin, asked about the
secret of women players of Rus-
sian origin excelling in tennis,
said: “I think there is something
there. The root. The root is very
tough. Tough and bitter. What is
around it is a decoration, but
there is something inside.”
took control of the sport, embark-
ing on a 43-match winning streak
at the start of 2011.
Between 2011 and 2016, Djok-
ovic won 11 of the 24 available
Grand Slam titles and reached
another seven finals, freezing out
the likes of Federer who won only
one Major in the same period.
The wheels came off rather
suddenly for Djokovic in late
2016, when he went into a slump
and then, suffering from an elbow
injury, ended his 2017 campaign
after Wimbledon. In the same
period Djokovic became a close
follower of Imaz and appeared on
stage with the spiritualist in a
video featuring meditation and
long discourses about the soul.
This, according to some
observers, fits a pattern where
Djokovic has restlessly turned
this way and that in search of per-
fection “When I was younger I
would get frustrated and impa-
tient with small things in life, but
that’s how you learn,” he said.
“You can’t be a perfect tennis
player and human being from a
young age. That’s why we love
this beautiful thing called life.”
hindustantimes
MY DREAM HAS OFFICIALLY COME TRUE. IF YOU HAVE A DREAM,
GO FOR IT BECAUSE IT CAN COME TRUE.
> SOFIA KENIN, after winning her maiden grand slam at Australian Open
AFP
Kenin makes her mood obvi-
ous at all times.
After lost points, she bounced
her racket or kicked it, rolled
her eyes, muttered to herself.
After winning points, she would
pump a fist and scream “Come
on!”—or, when she went up 5-2
in the second set, Kenin grabbed
a tennis ball and slammed it off
the blue court. Did that again
later, too, as the end neared.
SHAPE AND SPIN
While Muguruza generally
stuck to her preferred tactic of
hit-’em-hard, harder, hardest—
not a ton of nuance—and mov-
ing forward when an opening
demanded it, Kenin put more
shape and spin on balls, and
turned to her favorite element,
drop shots, when possible.
Thiem aims to breach
Djokovic’s fortress
Agence France-Presse
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
MELBOURNE: “King” Novak Djok-
ovic has won all seven Australian
Open finals he has contested, he is
on a 12-match winning streak and
will become world number one if
successful in the Melbourne Park
decider on Sunday.
Against those overwhelming
odds, few are giving Dominic
Thiem much of a chance to
wrench the title from his iron grip
and clinch a maiden Grand Slam.
But the Austrian, remarkably, is
the one with the recent edge.
Djokovic is 6-4 in their career
head-to-heads, but Thiem has
won four of the last five.
Three of those were on his
favoured clay, but he also came
from a set down to beat the Serb
on hardcourts at the ATP Finals
in November.
Djokovic is the first to admit
that the slick 26-year-old has suc-
cessfully refined his game over
the past 12 months to compete on
all surfaces. And he acknowl-
edges it is just a matter of time
before Thiem wins a Slam.
“I don’t think he’s really any-
more ‘next generation’. He’s been
around for many years. Now
already he’s an established top-
five, top-10 player,” said Djok-
ovic. “It’s just a matter of one
match here and there that can
potentially give him a Grand
Slam title, that he can actually get
in the mix of top three in the
world,” he added.
Despite the platitudes, Djok-
ovic, 32, is banking on adding yet
another chapter to his storied
Melbourne Park career, and
heads into the match with an
extra day’s rest after dispatching
an injured Roger Federer in his
semi-final on Thursday.
The world number two has
been firing ever since arriving in
Australia a month ago, and was
unbeaten over six ATP Cup sin-
gles matches as he led Serbia to
the inaugural title ahead of the
Australian Open.
“Yes, I’m pleased with the way
n Garbine Muguruza reacts holding the runner-up plate after losing
6-4, 2-6, 2-6 in the final.
Muguruza took the last two
games of the opening set to move
in front.
“I was obviously devastated,”
Kenin would say later.
But that is where the match’s
direction switched completely.
Kenin’s play elevated, yes,
but Muguruza’s dropped. Her
serve percentage and speed
dipped. Her footwork was prob-
lematic.
Kenin broke to go up 3-1 and
again to force a third set.
That’s when Kenin stood her
ground at that key juncture at
2-all in the third, holding there
and then breaking immediately.
“A very important moment,”
Muguruza called it.
Well, there’s an understate-
ment. Soon enough, Kenin was
kissing the trophy, just as her
n Dominic Thiem will play his third Grand Slam final on Sunday.
Vital stats
DJOKOVIC
2
32
VS
Rank
Age
THIEM
6 Head-to-Head
16 Slam titles
ROAD TO THE FINAL
70 Tournament aces
82% 1st serve won
118 1st serve return wins
109 2nd serve return wins
27 Break points won
I’ve been feeling and playing. I
thought ATP Cup went really
well for me, got a lot of hours
spent on the court, singles and
doubles,” said the 16-time Grand
Slam winner. “Obviously got a lot
of positive energy from that com-
petition. I dropped only one set so
far up to the finals. Hopefully I’ll
be able to perform as well as I
always have in the Australian
Open finals.”
‘IT’S HIS COMFORT ZONE’
Thiem, who has beaten four seeds
to make the grade, including
Rafael Nadal in the last eight, is
no stranger to Grand Slam finals,
making the last two at Roland
25
AFP
father had kissed her on the
cheek right before the walk
from the hallway outside the
locker room to the court.
When Kenin entered the
interview room for her post-
match news conference, she was
handed a glass of bubbly. She’s
barely old enough to drink
legally back home, but yes, she
is old enough.
Her mom stayed in Florida
and awaited a phone call to find
out about the match - too nerv-
ous to watch in person or on TV.
When it was time for Kenin’s
on-court speech, Dad called her
over for a bit of advice.
“He just told me a few things
what to say,” Kenin said. “I told
him, ‘I know what to say. I’m 21.
I can do this.’”
What can’t she do right now?
AFP
Garros. But this is his best effort
outside of the French Open.
He lauded Djokovic as the
5
26
“king of Australia” and insisted
his recent succusses against him
counted for little at the Serb’s
favourite tournament. “It’s true,
4 I won I think more of the last
-- encounters than he did. But I
think it doesn’t count so much.
It’s absolutely his comfort zone
here,” he said. “He always plays
57 his best tennis in Australia since
79% many, many years. So I’m expect-
ing that as well in the finals. All I
186
can do is my best again, play great
93 tennis again, and of course take a
28 look at the last matches we had...
try to repeat the good stuff that I
did there.”
Despite playing down his
chances, Thiem has the weapons
to trouble Djokovic.
He is supremely fit and
regarded as one of the fastest
movers on court, with a one-
handed backhand that generates
heavy spin and a power-packed
forehand. While the slower clay
has always been his preferred
surface, beating Federer in the
Indian Wells final last year was a
turning point for the Austrian on
hardcourts. “That victory gave
me so much relief and so much
confidence because finally I got
my first Masters 1000 title on
hardcourt,” he said. “I developed
my game in the right direction.”
26 hindustantimes
htsportsmax
In Olympic year, budget cut for all categories except Khelo India
HT Correspondents
sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
n
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Union
Budget on Saturday was not
received well by the Indian
sports fraternity, as the govern-
ment slashed funds across cate-
gories in what is an Olympic
year, and channelised a large
chunk of the sports budget
towards its flagship grassroots
project, Khelo India.
While Khelo India saw its
annual budget jump from ~578
crore last year to ~ 890.42 crore in
the current financial year— a
hike of ~312.42 crore—all other
schemes faced cutbacks, includ-
ing the National Sports Develop-
India eye rare Kiwi whitewash
FIFTH T20I India could keep experimenting as New Zealand go into final game gravely worried over finishing ability
Press Trust of India
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
MT MAUNGANUI: Invincible so far,
India will eye a rare 5-0 white-
wash against a bruised and bat-
tered New Zealand in the final
T20 International here on Sun-
day. New Zealand have never
lost all games in a bilateral T20I
series (three or more matches) at
home.
Since 2005, they have only
once lost all games in a bilateral
T20I series at home, going down
2-0 to England back in February
2008. While this puts India in a
unique position going ahead,
they will still stay fifth in the ICC
T20I rankings behind Pakistan,
Australia, England and South
Africa.
India will have their mind set
elsewhere though, pertinently
the experimentation cycle ahead
of the T20 World Cup in Austra-
lia. The fourth T20I was a step in
that direction, but it mostly came
to nought with the likes of Sanju
Samson and Shivam Dube wast-
ing their opportunities.
Samson has been promoted up
the order in his limited opportu-
nities against both Sri Lanka and
New Zealand, and has been dis-
missed while attacking the bowl-
ing. The management would
want him to show more patience,
while backing him to come good
once again. Meanwhile, Dube
has lacked footwork against both
spinners and pacers.
Elsewhere, with Manish Pan-
dey firming up the number six
spot, Shreyas Iyer could be pro-
moted to number three. The big-
ger question is about the keeper-
batsman spot.
Ever since the Australia
series at home, KL Rahul has
played with an increased work-
load in that role. Pre-series, skip-
per Virat Kohli had more or less
confirmed that Rahul would con-
tinue to keep in the ensuing
three-ODI series. While he has
been in great form, the team
management could afford to rest
him and bring in Rishabh Pant.
There is incentive to do so, for
this fifth and final game of this
series is the last T20I India will
play in the current 2019-2020 sea-
son. In the shortest format, there
is only the Indian Premier
League to look forward to in two
United sign Ighalo to cover for
striker shortage on deadline day
Reuters
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
LONDON: Manchester United
made a surprise late addition to
their squad on deadline day by
bringing in 30-year-old Nigerian
striker Odion Ighalo on loan
from Chinese club Shanghai
Shenhua until the end of the sea-
son. There were, however, no
eye-catching major deals in the
final 24 hours of transfer activ-
ity for European clubs which
continues the trend of recent
January windows.
None of the top four in the
Premier League made any late
moves at the conclusion of a
low-key month, with some of the
players who had been linked
with possible deadline day
moves staying put after pro-
posed deals failed to material-
ise.
France’s World Cup winner
Olivier Giroud remains at Chel-
sea despite reported interest in
the ex-Arsenal striker from sev-
eral clubs surprisingly includ-
ing London rivals Tottenham
Hotspur.
Wales international Gareth
Bale, left out of the Real Madrid
squad again for this weekend,
was also rumoured to be a possi-
ble Spurs target but stays with
the Spanish club.
Uruguay striker Edinson
Cavani, who had been linked
ment Fund (NSDF), which caters
to the elite athletes’ needs for
Olympics and other major
events (from ~77.15 cr to ~50 cr).
National Sports Federations
(NSFs) and Sports Authority of
India (SAI) also saw budget cuts.
A sum of ~2826.92 crore was
allocated for sports in the budget
on Saturday, and while Khelo
India was the biggest gainer, the
NSFs budget was cut from
~300.85 in 2019-20 to ~245 crore for
2020-21.
The budget for the Sports
Authority of India (SAI)— which
manages nationals camps, and
provides equipment and infra-
structure to athletes—was
revised from ~615 crore to ~500
n This is the last T20I India will play in the current 2019-20 season.
months, the next T20I series—
against Sri Lanka later in the
summer —being quite far away.
Pant, meanwhile, has been
benched since suffering concus-
sion in the first ODI against Aus-
tralia in Mumbai. While he has
fully recovered, his spot in the
first-choice playing eleven is
long gone. In fact, his status in
the current scheme of things is
far worse. At the Westpac Sta-
dium, Rohit Sharma was rested
to create an additional space in
Top deadline day transfers
Amount in £ million
Players
Bruno Fernandes (midfielder)
Sporting Lisbon to Man United
Krzysztof Piatek (forward)
Milan to Hertha Berlin
Jarrod Bowen (winger)
Hull City to West Ham United
Sander Berge (midfielder)
Genk to Sheffield United
Paco Alcácer (forward)
Borussia Dortmund to Villarreal
Odion Ighalo (forward)
Shanghai Shenhua to Man United
Cédric Soares (defender)
Southampton to Arsenal
Emre Can (midfielder)
Juventus to Borussia Dortmund
with Chelsea and David Beck-
ham’s new Major League Soccer
club Inter Miami also ended the
day staying put at Paris St Ger-
main.
Ighalo, who will offer cover
for United’s injured forward
Marcus Rashford, has Premier
League experience having
scored 33 goals in 82 games for
Watford before moving to Chi-
nese Super League club Chang-
chun Yatai and then Shanghai.
A SUM OF ~2826.92 CRORE WAS ALLOCATED FOR
SPORTS IN THE BUDGET ON SATURDAY, AND WHILE
KHELO INDIA WAS THE BIGGEST GAINER, THE NSFS
BUDGET WAS CUT FROM ~300.85 IN 2019-20 TO ~245
CRORE FOR 2020-21
crore. SAI, which also maintains
stadiums, saw a cut in funding
for maintaining stadiums too.
With the Tokyo Olympics six
months away, this has athletes,
coaches and administrators wor-
ried. Two-time Olympic medal-
list, wrestler Sushil Kumar, said,
“The budget in an Olympic year
should not be cut because for an
athlete this is the most important
the batting line-up. Logic dic-
tates that Kohli will take Sunday
off and Rohit could lead instead,
thus continuing with the one
additional batting spot.
In the bowling department,
Jasprit Bumrah could be rested
with Mohammed Shami coming
back to maintain the three-pacer
theory. Meanwhile, Kane Willi-
amson is expected to be fit for the
clash, after he missed out in Wel-
lington due to a left shoulder nig-
gle. The Black Caps’ team man-
Amount
46.5
22.8
22.5
22.0
19.4
Loan
Loan
Loan
West Ham United brought in
highly-rated striker Jarrod
Bowen, 23, from Championship
club Hull City on a 5-1/2 year
deal, while Sheffield United fol-
lowed the signing of Sander
Berge with the capture of Dutch
forward Richairo Zivkovic.
Zivkovic joins Chris Wilder’s
high-fliers on loan from Chinese
club Changchun Yatai but the
Blades have an option to make
the move permanent.
year.”
The move that may affect elite
athletes most is a reduction in
the corpus for cash awards given
to sportspeople as incentives for
winning international medals,
which was decreased to ~70 crore
from ~111 crore.
Samresh Jung, once India’s
top pistol shooter and now the
coach of the national pistol team
agement were confident of his
recovery even on Friday.
The hosts will have greater
concern over their lack of finish-
ing though, after squandering
two last over winning positions
in two consecutive games, and
the series along with.
Whether the Kiwis can
recover mentally and beat an
Indian side that is flying high on
confidence and momentum,
could eventually have a bearing
on the ODI series as well.
shortpasses
I-LEAGUE: REAL
KASHMIR WIN
AIZAWL: A goal on either side of
half-time helped Real Kashmir
beat former champions Aizawl
FC 2-0 in an I-League clash on
Saturday. Kallum Higginbotham
opened the scoring for the
visitors in the 17th minute.
Mason Roberston completed
the tally in the 82nd minute. It
was RKFC’s second win on the
trot, which moved them to the
fifth spot with 12 points.
Malik elected Paralympic
Committee of India head
NEW DELHI: India’s lone woman
Paralympic medallist Deepa
Malik has been elected presi-
dent of Paralympic Committee
of India though the results of
the elections are subject to a
pending case in the Delhi High
Court. Malik, who won the shot
put silver at the Rio Paralympic
Games, was elected unopposed.
Chennaiyin hit Kerala for
a six in ISL goal-rush
KOCHI: The South Indian derby
in the Hero Indian Super League
turned out to be a high-scoring
affair as Chennaiyin demolished
Kerala Blasters 6-3. Chennaiyin
roared into a 3-goal lead at
half-time, thanks to a brace
from Rafael Crivellaro (39’, 45’)
and Nerijus Valskis (45’). But a
hat-trick from Bartholomew
Ogbeche (48’, 65’, 76’) threat-
ened to bring Kerala Blasters
back into the match. However
Chhangte (59’ 80’) sealed the
result for the away side.
said, “I don’t know the logic
behind this. Although it (alloca-
tion for Khelo India) is also going
for sports, it’s like you are not
focusing on the present. Khelo
India is for the future but right
now we have to look at the
present, the Olympics. If indeed
the budget affects (training of
athletes) in the Olympic year,
then it’s not good.”
Rifle shooter Sanjeev Rajput,
who has qualified for the Olym-
pics said that the funding for
Olympic athletes should have
increased instead of being cut.
“If they cut the budget, how
can the athletes come up with
high performances when the
Olympics are a few months
GETTY IMAGES
FINED FOR OVER-RATE
India have been fined 40% of
their match fee for a slow over-
rate during their fourth T20 win
over New Zealand, the Interna-
tional Cricket Council (ICC) said
on Saturday.
Match referee Chris Broad
imposed the sanctions after
Virat Kohli’s side were found
two overs short of the target after
time allowances were taken into
consideration during the game
in Wellington on Friday.
Liverpool move 22 points clear
Agence France-Presse
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool surged a
massive 22 points clear at the top
of the Premier League with a 4-0
win over Southampton as Leices-
ter and Chelsea consolidated
their place in the top four in a
thrilling 2-2 draw at the King
Power.
Mohamed Salah scored twice
as the champions-elect equalled a
Premier League record with a
20th straight home win at Anfield.
Southampton believed they
should have had a penalty early
in the second half when Danny
Ings went down in the box against
his old club, but no spot-kick was
given and Liverpool went
straight up the other end to take
the lead through Alex Oxlade-
Chamberlain.
Jordan Henderson doubled the
European champions lead with a
smart finish on the hour mark.
Salah then produced two cool fin-
ishes in the final 20 minutes as
Jurgen Klopp’s men took their
tally of points to a remarkable 100
from the last possible 102.
Chelsea stretched their advan-
tage over Manchester United,
Wolves and Tottenham to seven
points, but offered further hope to
the chasing pack in the battle for
a Champions League place.
Frank Lampard’s men have
now won just four of their last 13
league games and the Blues’
boss’s frustration at not being
away?” Rajput asked.
The decreased funding may
not affect preparations for Tokyo
2020 since some, if not most, fed-
erations already have clearan-
ces for their training and tourna-
ments till the event.
“Our ACTC (Annual Calendar
for Training and Competitions)
has been cleared till September,
2020 so it covers the Olympics,”
said Boxing Federation of India,
executive director RK Sacheti.
“However, since the budget of
NSFs has been slashed, we have
to see where and how they
reduce/reallocate their funds.”
The boxing federation’s secre-
tary-general Jay Kowli pointed
out that reducing funds for NSFs
Hardik ruled out of
New Zealand Test
series, consults
UK-based surgeon
Press Trust of India
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI: Flamboyant India all-
rounder Hardik Pandya was on
Saturday ruled out of the upcom-
ing Test series against New Zea-
land after failing to regain full
match fitness, the BCCI said.
The decision was taken after
the 26-year-old consulted spinal
surgeon James Allibone in the
United Kingdom.
“Team India all-rounder Har-
dik Pandya has been ruled out of
the upcoming Test series against
New Zealand. He travelled to
London and was accompanied by
NCA Head Physio Ashish
Kaushik for a review by spinal
surgeon Dr James Allibone,”
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a
statement. “Hardik will be under
rehab at the National Cricket
Academy until he regains full
match fitness,” he added.
Pandya underwent a success-
ful surgery in October last year to
treat an acute lower-back injury
and has remained out of action
since. He last played for India
during the T20 International
series against South Africa, tak-
ing part in the third match in Ben-
galuru. He has not played Test
cricket since the Southampton
match against England in Sep-
tember 2018.
According to BCCI sources,
Pandya is also unlikely to be
available for the three-match
home ODI series against South
Africa from March 12-18. They
said his case is more serious and
he is unlikely to come back before
IPL (which starts on March 29).
It is also learnt that BCCI is
now aware that his trainer S Raj-
nikant did not give the Board a
complete picture of Pandya’s fit-
ness status. The back problem
had kept Pandya in and out of the
national team since mid-2018.
Returning from the surgery,
Pandya was last month pulled out
of the India A team’s tour of New
Zealand after failing mandatory
fitness tests in Mumbai.
n Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring the fourth goal against Southampton.
able to add to his forward options
in the January transfer window
was exacerbated as the visitors
needed two goals from centre-
back Antonio Rudiger just to
claim a point.
“Not many people gave us the
top four slot and I understand
why, and it’s probably the same
now,” said Lampard. “We’ve
come to Leicester, who every-
one’s raving about, quite rightly,
and we’ve got a point.”
All the goals came in the sec-
ond half as Rudiger nodded Chel-
SUN DAY HIN DUSTA N TIMES, N EW D E LHI
FE B RUA RY 02 , 2 02 0
will weaken an already strug-
gling structure.
“It’s the NSFs that handle ath-
letes from the start to gradua-
tion,” Kowli said. “I’ll give Mary
Kom’s example. Everybody is
interested in Mary Kom but
nobody is interested in strength-
ening the system that produced
her. There is wonderful support
given to athletes who are doing
well but nobody is paying atten-
tion to the system which needs to
be strengthened by providing
permanent and long-term infra-
structure to NSFs.”
National Rifle Association of
India (NRAI) president, Ranin-
der Singh backed Kowli.
“Khelo India does not produce
n Los Angeles Lakers players look on during the pre-game ceremony
to honour Kobe Bryant at Staples Centre on Friday.
Emotional LeBron
‘celebrates’ Kobe
Associated Press
n sportsdesk@hindustantimes.com
LOS ANGELES: LeBron James has
only been a part of the Los Ange-
les Lakers for 19 months. The
West Coast is a late stop on an
NBA odyssey that already
yielded rings, trophies and innu-
merable indelible moments in
Cleveland and Miami.
Yet when this venerated fran-
chise needed a leader to honour a
legend during one of the most
traumatic times in its history,
James took the microphone and
stood alone in a golden spotlight
at Staples Centre on Friday night.
Five days after Kobe Bryant
died in a helicopter crash, the
simple eloquence of James’
words left most of the arena
cheering through tears.
In just four minutes, LeBron’s
speech captured the melancholy
mood of a city while suggesting
it’s both possible and necessary to
move on after unthinkable trag-
edy. “As I look around this arena,
we’re all grieving,” James said.
“We’re all hurt. We’re all heart-
broken. But when we’re going
through things like this, the best
thing you can do is lean on the
shoulders of your family.”
When James stepped forward
and spoke on this dark day, he
cemented his importance to his
new team, even before they reach
the playoffs together for the first
time this spring.
James’ leadership skills mat-
tered this week well before the
game. James took the lead in the
Lakers’ first team meeting Tues-
day after Bryant’s death, step-
ping up to share his grief and his
memories of a friendly rival.
sea in front before two goals in 10
minutes from Harvey Barnes and
Ben Chilwell turned the game
around for Leicester.
A brilliant leap from Rudiger
19 minutes from time denied the
Foxes all three points, but Bren-
dan Rodgers’s men maintain an
eight-point lead over Chelsea in
third. Sheffield United are now
Chelsea’s closest challengers as
Chris Wilder’s men moved into
fifth with a 1-0 win at Crystal Pal-
ace thanks to a calamitous own
goal from Eagles’ goalkeeper
athletes for the Olympics,”
Singh said.
“NSFs are the ones who select
international teams. Khelo India
is a a good programme, which
brings children from the grass-
roots to the mainstream. But
once in the mainstream, it is the
NSFs who groom them and bring
them to international stan-
dards,” said Singh.
Hironmoy Chatterjee, the All
India Tennis Association secre-
tary-general, said, “It is quite a
shock. I don’t think it (budgetary
allocation) is enough. The play-
ers, the federation as well as the
IOA, everyone needs more sup-
port during this crucial (Olym-
pic) time.”
AFP
The Lakers knew their first
game back would be painful, and
the pre-game ceremony proved
them correct. James started by
reciting the names of all nine vic-
tims of the crash in the foggy hills
above Calabasas, California.
James had notes for a speech
tucked into the waistband of his
warmup pants, but he pulled
them out and pointedly discarded
them. “They asked me to kind of
stay on course, or whatever the
case may be,” James said. “But
Laker Nation, man, I would be
selling y’all short if I read off this
... so I’m going to go straight from
the heart.”
Just six days earlier, James
passed Bryant for third place on
the NBA’s career scoring list. He
spoke at length after that game in
Philadelphia about Bryant’s
influence on his game and his
approach to life, praising Kobe for
his everything from his superla-
tive skills to his desire to be a
strong father to his four daugh-
ters. Bryant and James spoke by
phone early that morning — as it
turned out, only several hours
before Bryant died. “Tonight, we
celebrate the kid that came here
at 18 years of age, retired at 38 and
became probably the best dad
we’ve seen over the past three
years, man. Tonight is a celebra-
tion.”
“These last three years, out of
all the success he had — five
rings, multiple MVPs, All-Star
Game MVPs, first-team every-
thing, all-life, all-world, all-bas-
ketball — it felt like these last
three years was the happiest I’d
ever seen him, being able to just
be with his daughters,” James
said of Bryant’s retirement.
AP
Vicente Guaita. At the bottom of
the table, West Ham and Watford
blew two-goal leads to slip into
the relegation zone.
Aston Villa’s celebrations at
reaching the League Cup final in
midweek were short-lived as
10-man Bournemouth held on for
a 2-1 win that lifted them up to
16th.
Norwich are now seven points
adrift of safety at the bottom of the
table as they again paid for not
taking their chances in a 0-0 draw
at Newcastle.