Village that gave ‘shelter’ to Humayun plays host to PM Modi

Four centuries ago, an emperor stopped by, giving the village its name.

Today, Shahanshahpur had another brush with fame when it hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The village, some 30 km from Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, has had its tryst with history.

Legend has it that the village was named after ‘Shahanshah’ Humayun, who had taken shelter in the hut of an elderly woman here after his battle with Sher Shah Suri more than 450 years ago.

Today, Shahanshahpur played host to the prime minister, who inaugurated the ‘Pashu Arogya Mela’ (cattle health fair), being organised for the first time in the village, on 1,800 acres.

The prime minister, who addressed a public meeting, also laid the foundation stone for a toilet under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the village.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Minister of State for Rural Development Mahendra Singh and BJP’s UP President Mahendra Nath Pandey were also present on the occasion.

The residents of the village take pride in the lore about the Mughal emperor’s visit.

“The prime minister’s visit has given the villagers a reason to relive the tale,” said Apna Dal (S) local MLA Neelratan Patel ‘Neelu’. Apna Dal (S) is an ally of the BJP.

The story goes that Humayun reached the quiet village after crossing the Ganga late at night after Sher Shah Suri defeated him in the battle of Chausa. That was when the elderly villager gave him shelter in her hut without knowing that her lodger was none other than Humayun, say locals.

Govt bats for rate cut to revive growth

Govt bats for rate cut to revive growth

The government has started advocating another rate cut from the Reserve Bank of India’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) — to spur lending and consumption, and revive the economy.

“There is scope for monetary easing because of inflation projections. Inflation last month picked up but our analysis has taken that into consideration… We had based it on a mid-term inflation of 4 per cent,” said a senior official on Saturday when asked what the Centre thought of another rate cut. The next meeting of the MPC is on October 3-4.

The MPC has cut rates only once this financial year (2017-18, or FY18), in its bi-monthly policy meeting in August. But, it maintained a “neutral” outlook, citing uncertainties in inflation trajectory. The rate cut was the first in 10 months and brought rates to a near seven-year low.

Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rose to a five-month high of 3.36 per cent in August, from 2.36 per cent in July, as food items, particularly vegetables, turned costly, after prices fell between April and June.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the April-June quarter fell to 5.7 per cent — from 7.9 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2016-17. This is the lowest since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014 and India has now lagged China in growth for the second consecutive quarter.

Experts have attributed the slowdown to the note ban in November last year and destocking by companies before the goods and services tax (GST) roll-out on July 1 this year.

With the criticism of the slowdown gaining in volume, top policymakers in the government have held a number of meetings to brainstorm on ways to revive the economy, boost exports, spur investments, and create jobs for the millions entering the workforce every year.

The officials have deliberated on ways to raise resources to finance higher capital spending beyond the budgeted ~3.10 lakh crore for 2017-18. This could be through higher borrowing or higher disinvestment receipts. Methods of nonfiscal stimulus have also been discussed; these include more infrastructure bonds issued by central agencies such as the National Highways Authority of India and recapitalising banks through either issuing bonds or paring the government’s stake in state-owned lenders further. Debates have also taken place on whether to spend within the budgeted means or to let the “red line” of the fiscal deficit target slip. This is a marked departure from the Centre’s previous stance; analysts and economists across the board have said the government should choose in favour of the former, as private sector investment still remains subdued.

The official quoted above told Business Standard that some spending room was already provided for in the Budget. “We knew when we were making the Budget that we were perhaps cyclically weak. That is why a balance was stuck. Instead of dropping the fiscal deficit from 3.5 per cent of GDP to 3 per cent, we went for a target of 3.2 per cent. Any change in tack in the middle of the year could affect the decision-making credibility of the government.” The expert committee on fiscal responsibility and budget management had recommended a 3 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current financial year.

At an interaction with media, officials said some measures to boost economic activity would be announced soon. Asked about the slowdown in manufacturing, the officials said a number of sectors within manufacturing should pick up once the effects of the demonetisation and the GST roll-out dissipated. “What has happened is that a number of sectors have been affected. Where that manifests itself is that in past two of three quarters, manufacturing imports have increased substantially. Once the effect of the demonetisation and the GST substantially reverses we should expect those sectors picking up. Also these sectors have been affected by the appreciation of currency,” the official said. “Any response has to be across the board to boost manufacturing in the economy, like in interest rate and lower exchange rate. One good news is that the world exports volume has increased significantly. So, hopefully, these one-off effects veering off manufacturing will pick up,” he said. Growth in manufacturing declined to 1.2 per cent in April-June, from 5.3 per cent in January-March. Mining and quarrying contracted 0.7 per cent during the quarter, after growing 6.4 per cent in the previous quarter.

SBI: Extra provisioning for stressed telecom sector

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday reiterated that the telecom sector was under stress and the bank was doing extra provisioning for this. SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the telecom sector was under a lot of stress and the bank was making extra provisions.

The country’s largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), on Saturday reiterated that the telecom sector was under stress.

SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, “The telecom sector is undergoing a lot of stress and the bank is making extra provisions for this.”

She said this when asked whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) decision to reduce the IUC charges would affect incumbent operators, such as Vodafone, Airtel and Idea, which were already feeling the heat of Reliance Jio’s disruptive move.

On the bank’s non-performing assets outlook for the rest of the fiscal year, Bhattacharya said, “We have probably reached the bottom. Slippages are under control although new sectors like telecom were showing stress.”

Bhattacharya, who inaugurated the State Bank Institute of Management at New Town area in Kolkata, said the merger of the associate banks with itself was a deep structural reform.

“Results will come over a period of time. We will deliver them in the next three to four quarters as promised.” Regarding the outlook of the economy after demonetisation and the goods and services tax roll-out, Bhattacharya said the government would have to do some “heavylifting”, like infrastructure development.

PM promises homes for all in 5 years, jobs

Amid expectation that the Centre might soon announce a booster shot for the economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reiterated his government’s promise of providing every poor person, whether living in rural or urban areas, a house by 2022. The PM said his government and party’s agenda was development, not merely votes.

“When crores of houses are built across the country, it will require bricks, cement, iron and wood. It will generate jobs for thousands and open up new avenues of income and employment,” the PM said at a public rally in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi. He inaugurated the first “Pashu Arogya Mela” (cattle health fair) on the second day of his two-day visit.

Indications are the Modi government might announce a package for power, housing and social welfare programmes to generate jobs and perk up demand. Officials said 24x7 power supply to all could be among the big-ticket announcements. On the whole, discussions have been held on a stimulus package of ~40,000-50,000 crore after gross domestic product (GDP) growth plunged to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18.

There is expectation that the PM might announce the stimulus package during his speech at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive meeting in New Delhi on Monday. The speech will be open to media and televised live. The PM’s Mann ki Baat address is scheduled for Sunday morning. The PM will also give a report card of the various social welfare schemes launched to commemorate the birth centenary of Jan Sangh leader Deendayal Upadhyaya, whose birthday falls on Monday.

In his pubic address on Saturday, the PM said: “If Modi will not take up such an arduous task, who else will,” noting that crores of families were still homeless. The PM said that by 2022, when the country celebrates 75th year of Independence, “every poor, whether in urban or rural area, will get a home”. The PM also distributed Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana certificates to some beneficiaries.

He said the Opposition indulges in vote bank politics. "Some politicians work only when it fetches them votes. But we have been brought up in a different culture. For us, the nation is above all and it is our top-most priority, not votes," he said.

Stressing that his government's prime agenda was development, he said, "Governance is not about politics or winning elections. The priority is the well-being of the nation." "Our (BJP) politics is not for votes, our culture is different. In politics, people do only that task which yields votes, but our character is different," Modi said.

Referring to the mega animal fair spread over 1800 acres of land here, he said "these animals don't go to cast their ballot. They are not anyone's voters." The Prime Minister also promised to double farm income by 2022. He said farmers need to be encouraged to adopt dairy farming and animal husbandry as alternative sources of income.

On corruption, Modi said his government had "waged a war" against black money and graft, for which the poor has had to suffer because of "the loot" by the dishonest. "A common honest man suffers as the corrupt used to loot him. The campaign for honesty is now moving forward like a festival. The way in which our trader brothers are associating with GST and Aadhar, every penny of the people will be spent for their welfare. We are moving forward fast," he said.

He also attacked the previous Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. "The previous government had no interest in giving homes to the poor. After mounting pressure, they gave a list of only 10,000. But the current (Yogi Adityanath) government has given a list of lakhs of people to avail benefit," he said. Uttar Pradesh is a key state if BJP is to return to power at the Centre in 2019.

The PM also spoke about his ‘Swachha’, or Clean, India campaign. He quoted a survey and said toilets at home can save up to ~50,000 per annum if hygienic practices are adopted. Praising the people of the village, where he laid the foundation of a toilet, for naming it as "Izzatghar" (the home of honour), Modi said "I liked this word so much. Where there is Izzatghar, there is honour of our mothers and sisters. I also congratulate the state government for recognising it as Izzatghar. In the days to come, those who are concerned about their honour, will construct more Izzatghar."

The PM said many new projects have been launched for cleanliness in Varanasi, including a ~600-crore sewer treatment plant and a unit to generate power from garbage.

India has 3rd highest no. of cancer cases among women

New Delhi: Cancer cases as well as mortality are increasing rapidly among Indian women, primarily because of low awareness and late detection. India accounts for the third highest number of cancer cases among women after China and the US, gro- wing annually at 4.5-5%, new data shows.

According to a report ‘Call for Action: Expanding cancer care for women in India, 2017’, cancer among women in India is estimated at 0.7 million. However, the real incidence is much more -between 1 and 1.4 million per year as many cases go undi- agnosed or unreported.

India also ranks among the top two countries globally on mortality for key women-specific cancers. Data shows cervical and breast cancer mortality rates in India are 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than the maternal mortality.

It highlightes the significantly adverse mortality rates for women-specific cancers in the country. India topped the list for mortality for breast and cervical cancers and reported the second highest incidence for ovarian cancer globally.

According to the report, released by E&Y in association with Ficci Flo, in 2015, cancers of the breast (19%), cervix uteri (14%) and ovary (7%) contributed to 40% of all cancer incidence among women with states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi having the highest incidence for these cancers.

“It is alarming that awareness levels of womenrelated cancers is low among the general population and even medical professionals. Despite the established benefits of screening, coverage in India is low for women,” the report said. India-based studies have confirmed that screening improves early detection of cancers by 1.5-2.5 times. For instance, cancers such as breast and cervical can be cured if detected early and treated adequately.

According to the report, of the 2,000 new women diagnosed with cancer every day, 1,200 are detected in late stages. This reduces fiveyear survival rate by 3 to 17 times for breast and cervical cancer. Late detection also adds to the cost of treatment. Estimates show treatment cost for late-stage cancers is 1.5 to 2 times higher than the cost for early-stage cancers.

In fact, the mortality to incidence ratio, which is a key indicator for measuring effectiveness of national cancer control programmes, is the worst in India for key womenspecific cancers when compared to global peers. Experts say it is imperative to address the menace of growing incidence of cancer among women with urgency and in a holistic manner with due emphasis on prevention, timely diagnosis, effective treatment and palliative care.

The report estimates the economic burden of cancer care treatment to be the highest compared to all other diseases, with the cost of a single hospitalisation exceeding the average annual per capita expenditure of more than 60% of the population.

It also projects cancer incidence among women in India to increase from 110 per 1 lakh population to 190-260 per 1lakh population by 2025, which will mirror incidence rates of China and other upper middle income countries such as Brazil and Thailand.

India witnessing further deterioration of key risk factors that contribute to cancer incidence. For instance, while obesity is considered a major contributing factor for cancer, the proportion of overweight women in India grew at twice the global average growth between 2004 and 2014, the report says. Chandigarh: With the governments of Punjab and Haryana struggling to end stubble burning in their states, some farmers have taken to social media to suggest ways to manage the menace effectively ahead of paddy harvest.

While farmers are reluctant to adopt new technologies, young and tech-savvy farmers are posting videos and pictures of machines and techniques to clear the stubble without starting fires. Sources told TOI that the farmers are now seeking out newer ways to clear their fields as state governments have started imposing fines on violators under pressure from the National Green Tribunal. In one such video posted by Harinder Singh Riar on Facebook he is seen allaying fears of farmers about machines.

CEA SUBRAMANIAN GETS A YEAR’S EXTENSION

Chief Economic Advisor ( CEA) Arvind Subramanian ( pictured) will continue in his current role for at least a year beyond his tenure, which ends on October 16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday.

This ended weeks of speculation on Subramanian’s future in the government; there were reports that he would quit before his tenure was over.

A senior official said the discussions regarding Subramanian’s tenure had been going on for some time now, and he had briefly considered not continuing for a second term because of personal commitments.

A senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Subramanian was appointed CEA in October 2014. After his extension was confirmed on Saturday, he said, “India is a country where there is never a shortage of issues... It is true that growth slowdown poses an extra challenge. I think that this is a good opportunity for me personally, to try and contribute to the debate and the solutions.''

He also said the economy was facing multiple headwinds and there was a need to attack them on various fronts. “We have seen growth slowing down and investment not picking up. We have to attack this problem on many fronts — exchange rate, public investments — while maintaining macroeconomic stability.”

Asked about the appreciation of the rupee, he said, “All countries struggle with this challenge. Different countries take measures based on their trade-offs and objectives. What the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has been doing is to stem appreciation of the rupee.” The appreciation in the rupee-dollar exchange rate, between January and April this year, has impacted both exports and imports, he added. Over the years, his Economic Surveys have stood out for starting debates and discussions on a number of issues, including targeted government services through the “JAM trinity” (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-mobile), a state-owned “bad” bank to take over ~7 lakh crore of toxic assets in the banking system, and Universal Basic Income for the poor. The CEA has also been a member of a high-profile panel tasked with recommending a medium-term fiscal road map. The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management panel had recommended a fiscal deficit target of 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), revenue deficit of 0.8 per cent, and a combined Centre-state debt ceiling of 60 per cent of GDP for the fiscal year 2022-23. Other recommendations include setting up of a fiscal council and giving the government tightly defined escape clauses to deviate from the road map. Subramanian had authored a lengthy dissent note to the committee’s recommendations, suggesting the focus of policymakers should be on reducing primary deficit rather than fiscal deficit. The other members of the panel drafted a rejoinder to Subramanian’s dissent note. The government is examining the report.

He has also been one of the most vocal critics of the RBI’s six-member Monetary Policy Committee, and its inflation modelling. The second part of his 2016-17 Economic Survey released in August said there was a “considerable” case for monetary policy easing, given that retail inflation was at historic lows and there was a wide divergence between headline numbers and inflation targets. The Survey said in the past 14 quarters, inflation had been overestimated by more than a 100 basis points in six quarters, with an average error of 180 basis points. This was, however, not as stringent a critique as in the past.

The Survey had been considerably delayed as some in the topmost rung of government had objected to Subramanian’s strong criticism of the MPC’s inflation modelling and monetary policy decisions. In June, Subramanian had reacted quite strongly when the MPC held rates. “In recent times, seldom have economic conditions and the outlook warranted substantial monetary policy easing.”

‘Good Aussies are not picking Kuldeep’

India opener Ajinkya Rahane on Saturday praised spin pair Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav and said it is good that Australian batsmen are not picking them.

Australian batsmen struggled to pick the duo as in the first ODI in Chennai, chinaman Kuldeep returned with 2/33 while leg-spinner Chahal scalped three wickets for 30 runs. In the second match in Kolkata, Kuldeep (3/54) took a hat-trick and Chahal chipped in with two wickets. “This is a good sign that they were not able to pick both of them. Both are quality spinners and also did well in the domestic circuit. In ODIs its important to pick wickets in the middle overs and both guys are doing the same thing without leaking much runs. So its good to have them,” Rahane told reporters here. When asked about the possible return of the first-choice opener Shikhar Dhawan to the squad in the fourth match, Rahane said he will try and give his best for the team without thinking about the future. Dhawan, who was named in the Indian squad, requested the BCCI to relieve him for the first three ODIs as he wanted to be with his ill wife. So, in his absence, Rahane opened the innings with Rohit Sharma in the first two ODIs.

“See, I don’t think about the future. I always give my best whenever I get an opportunity and that’s what matters the most. Also, I always think about staying in present and we all don’t know what will happen in the future. For me, the best thing is to stick to my game plan, back myself, give my best whenever I get a chance and contribute to the team,” Rahane, who is in the team as the thirdchoice opener, said.

“When Shikhar returns, we all don’t know what is going to happen. But, at the moment, for me, it’s important to give my best for my team,” he added.

On the flexibility of the batting order, Rahane said, “The good thing about this team is anyone can bat anywhere. I also batted at number three, four or five. It is important how you handle and visualise the situation. Also, the minor adjustments are made in the mind.”

When the team was having a practice session, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar visited the nets. When asked about what transpired between him and Tendulkar, Rahane said: “We had a net session four days back. He told me to back my own game.”

“He also asked me to prepare well and have a good mindset. He spoke about mental preparation and how to remain mentally strong. I got a lot of confidence from his talk,” he added. IANS