No need to panic on price rise; states should take action: Finance minister

Finance minister Arun Jaitley

The author has posted comments on this articlePTI | Jul 4, 2014, 12.41PM IST

NEW DELHI: Blaming hoarders for the rise in food inflation, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said there is "no panic situation" and asked the states to take measures to crack down on hoarding and black-marketeering to rein in prices.

"When production of food items is higher than last year and still prices rise, then it means that intermediaries are keeping the stock somewhere," Jaitley said at a conference on food inflation.

He said the test of the good governance is how to de-hoard the stock kept by intermediaries into the market to rein in prices. "This is the biggest challenge."

READ ALSO: Arun Jaitley vows action on inflation, warns hoarders

Stating that prices of some food items increase every year during the July-December period due to hoarding, Jaitley said: "There are reports of below normal monsoon this year. Hoarders are taking advantage of the situation."

"Prices of some items had touched Rs 70-100 per kg last year. Prices are still lower this year. There is no panic situation," he said.

The minister asked the state governments to assess the problem as action taken after price rise creates panic in the market.

Noting that prices of crude oil have increased due to tension in Iraq, Jaitley said there are, however, indications of softening of prices.

He was addressing the conference of state food and consumer affairs ministers to discuss measures to check food inflation. The meeting was also attended by food minister Ram Vilas Paswan and agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh.

Jaitley also mentioned that prices of onion, potato, rice, pulses and milk have increased because of different reasons.

READ ALSO: Food inflation worries far from over

Inflation rose to five-month high to 6.01 per cent in May due to rise in prices of essential items like vegetables, fruits and cereals.

In order to check prices during the coming festival season, Jaitley urged the states to assess the supply-demand situation and take effective measures in advance to boost supply.

He also asked the state governments to set an example of good governance as there is no reason for price rise when production is at a record level and supplies are adequate.

READ ALSO: Food inflation: Of onion tears and potato fears

Emphasising on the need for coordinated efforts to control prices, Jaitley said both the Centre and states should prepare a joint-action plan in this regard.

The finance minister highlighted measures taken by the Centre in the last few weeks including additional allocation of 5 million tonnes of rice for poor and imposition of minimum export price on onion and potato.

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PM hints at increased private sector role in railways

KATRA: Ahead of the rail budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hinted at an increased role of the private sector in development of railways.

"We want the railway stations to have better facilities than airports. This is our dream and it is not a difficult thing to do and this is economically viable too. I have discussed it in detail with my Railway friends. You will see a change in near future.

"In that, private parties would also be ready to invest because this is a good project economically and will benefit everyone. This would be a win-win situation project and we want to move ahead in this direction in the coming days," he said.

READ ALSO: Modi flags off Katra-Udhampur train, calls it 'gift for the nation'

The Prime Minister was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the Katra rail line project in Jammu.

Modi said the railway stations in metros and important cities such as Jammu would be priority for the government with regard to development of railway stations.

He said the railway ministry has been given a detailed outline of the project.

Railways minister Sadananda Gowda will present his maiden Rail Budget on July 8 in Parliament. The Government has already hiked the fares for passenger travel and freight transportation.

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Ashok Chavan put in charge of election strategy for Marathwada region in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress on Friday gave the former chief minister Ashok Chavan the responsibility of drawing up assembly elections strategy for Marathwada region.

Chavan, now the Lok Sabha MP from Nanded, will be assisted by ministers Madhukar Chavan, Rajendra Darda, Amit Deshmukh, Abdul Sattar and D P Sawant, all of whom hail from Marathwada, party sources said. Chavan had to quit as the chief minister after getting embroiled in Adarsh Society scam in 2010. Hingoli MP Rajiv Satav and Rajya Sabha member Rajni Patil will also be part of the group headed by Chavan.

The region has 46 assembly constituencies out of which Congress had won 18 in 2009.The region sends eight MPs to the Lok Sabha. In this year's elections, Congress was washed out in the entire state, barring Nanded and Hingoli constituencies in Marathwada.Party sources said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, state Congress chief Manikrao Thakare and Congress general secretary Mohan Prakash held discussions with leaders from the region about pending local issues such as demand for inclusion of some castes in the reservation category, funds for upgradation of places of worship, road repairs, farmers' issues, etc.

On Thursday, the state Congress started region-wise preparations for assembly elections by identifying the senior leaders who would oversee the campaign in western Maharashtra."

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CRPF jawan commits suicide in Shopian district of J&K

SRINAGAR: A CRPF jawan allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself inside his camp in Shopian district of Kashmir, police said on Friday.

Constable Surender Kumar of 14 Battalion of CRPF shot himself with his service rifle on Thursday night inside the camp at Imam Sahib in Shopian town, the police said.

Police are trying to ascertain why the CRPF jawan took such an extreme step.

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Court defers hearing in Muzaffarnagar riots case till July 16

MUZAFFARNAGAR: A local court has recorded the statement of a witness and deferred till July 16 the hearing in the Kawal killing case here.

The complainant Arvind Kumar, deposed in court last evening and said that his son Gaurav and nephew Sachin were beaten to death allegedly by the accused.

Additional district and sessions judge Jitendra Kumar has deferred the hearing and fixed July 16 for cross examination of Arvind in the case.

According to the prosecution, the two youths were beaten to death by the five accused Mujassim, Muzammi, Nadeem, Furkan and Jajangir in Kawal village in the district on August 27, 2013.

The family of Gaurav had lodged an FIR against seven persons following which the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had filed a charge sheet against the five accused on November 27.

Tension had prevailed in Kawal village after three persons were killed over an eve-teasing incident, making it the epicentre of the riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas that claimed over 60 lives and left more than 40,000 homeless.

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Senator McCain meets PM, conveys desire to expand India-US strategic partnership

NEW DELHI: India and the US on Thursday expressed a desire to revitalize their relationship and expand their strategic partnership.

US Senator John McCain met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conveyed the keen desire in the US to work with him to revitalize the India-US strategic partnership, an official release said here.

He also conveyed the expectations in the US about a new momentum in India's economic growth and all-round progress under the new government and wished the prime minister success in this endeavour.

Modi said he desired to further deepen and expand the strategic partnership, based on shared values of India and the US and interests, sensitivity to each other's concerns and tangible progress across the full spectrum of bilateral relations.

He observed that success of democratic countries and their cooperation will advance peace, stability and prosperity in the world and hoped for a forward looking, result-oriented visit to the US in September 2014 to take the relationship to a new level.

The two sides also discussed the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prime Minister expressed concern over the increased threat of terrorism across the world and reiterated that the fight against terror should be a global priority for humanitarian forces.

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Somali lawmaker assassinated, al-Qaida-linked group claims responsibility

MOGADISHU: Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Shebab claimed responsibility for shooting dead a lawmaker and wounding another on Thursday, the latest in a surge of attacks in Mogadishu during Islam's holy month of Ramzan.

"This was a targeted assassination. We also wounded another MP and two body guards," Shebab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab said.

Witness said MP Ahmed Mohamud Hayd, a former minister and a senior army commander, was killed in the capital's port district, one of the most heavily policed areas in the heart of the city.

Gunmen in a car opened fire on the lawmakers as they left a hotel, spraying bullets at the small group of people.

"We will continue to hunt other MPs if they do not leave the apostate organisation," Abu Musab added.

The Shebab have vowed to intensify attacks during Ramadan. "They were going to attend a parliament session when they have come under attack, one of the lawmakers was confirmed dead," fellow MP Abdi Bare Yusuf told reporters after the attack.

Shebab fighters fled fixed positions in Mogadishu three years ago and have since lost most large towns to a 22,000-strong UN-backed African Union force, fighting alongside government soldiers.

But they still hold sway in vast swathes of the rural hinterland from which they regularly launch guerrilla raids.

Recent Shebab attacks in Somalia have targeted key areas of government, or the security forces, in an apparent bid to discredit claims by the authorities and AU troops that they are winning the war.

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Japan to issue multiple entry short-term stay visa to Indians

NEW DELHI: Starting today, Japan will issue multiple entry visas for short-term stay to Indians.

This was announced by the Japanese embassy here today. The decision was taken following the announcement by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he visited here this January that his ''government would introduce multiple entry visas based on the recognition that enhancement of people to people exchanges is important to further broaden relations between Japan and India," the embassy said.

The multiple entry visa will be issued not only at the Japanese diplomatic missions in India but also at all the Japanese embassies and consulate generals overseas in light of a large number of Indian nationals living outside India, it said in a release.

It is expected that this will help increase the number of Indian tourists to Japan and improve convenience in business activities, thus further developing bilateral exchanges between the two countries.

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West Bengal BJP submits memorandum to women's panel on Tapas Pal

KOLKATA: The BJP on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the West Bengal Women's Commission seeking its intervention for the arrest of actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal who was in the centre of a controversy for his discourteous and offensive statements on women.

Party spokesman Ritesh Tiwari told PTI that a delegation had met the Commission chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee and submitted the memorandum.

He alleged that a number of FIRs had been filed against Pal, but the state government was not taking steps for his arrest.

Tiwari said that commission had been urged to intervene and ask the state government to order his arrest.

Earlier, state BJP president Rahul Sinha had said that the party would approach Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and apprise her about the MP's conduct in the coming Parliament session.

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Delhi Metro to install three more solar power plants

NEW DELHI: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is going to install three more roof-top solar power plants in its premises, as a continuation of its policy to encourage eco-friendly work practices and technologies.

These three plants, with a joint power generation capacity of 250 KWP (kilowatts peak), will come up at the Anand Vihar ISBT and Pragati Maidan Metro stations along with DMRC's residential complex at Pushp Vihar.

The individual production capacity of these plants will be 115 kwp at Anand Vihar ISBT, Pragati Maidan 85 KWP and Metro Enclave, Saket with 50 KWP.

The Power Purchase Agreement for installation of these plants was signed today between DMRC and Noida-based private developer Jakson Engineers Ltd and approved by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) in the presence of DMRC's Managing Director Mangu Singh and other senior officials.

The plants are expected to start production within next six months.

Like DMRC's first solar power plant at Dwarka Sector 21, these plants will also come up as per the RESCO model.

Under this model, DMRC will pay for the units generated by the plants and the capital investment shall be provided by the developer, Anuj Dayal, DMRC executive director (Corporate Communications), said.

The power generated by these plants will be used for DMRC's operational requirements, which include station lighting and other loads.

"DMRC will continue to explore the possibility of installing more such plants at its stations, depots, parking lots as well as residential complexes. Efforts are also being made to integrate such solar plants with the station structures of Phase 3," Dayal said.

Delhi Metro has already taken up a slew of measures oriented towards the conservation of environment and the use of renewable means of energy.

All the stations to be constructed as part of Delhi Metro's Phase 3 are being designed as 'green buildings'.

In 2011, DMRC was certified by the United Nations (UN) as the first Metro Rail and Rail based system in the world to get Carbon Credits for reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions as it has helped to reduce pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tons every year, thus, helping in reducing global warming.

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