QBullet: CBSE Retest After Leak; Govt to Sell 76% Air India Stake
Here is a round-up of all the important headlines for the day.
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1. Leak Forces CBSE Retests
All 1.7 million students of Class 10 who took the mathematics exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on 28 March, and all 500,000 students of Class 12 who took the economics exam of the same board on 26 March, will have to take them again, after the board admitted on Wednesday that the question papers had leaked before the exams.
The board said it would announce the dates for the retest within a week, but a senior board official speaking on condition of anonymity said they would happen after 13 April, when the Class 10 and Class 12 exams end.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Govt to Sell 76% Stake in Air India, Transfer Management Control to Private Players
Starting its ambitious strategic disinvestment process for debt-laden Air India, the government on Wednesday unveiled plans to sell up to 76 percent stake in the national carrier and transfer the management control to private players.
The Union Cabinet, in June last year, had granted an in-principle approval for the strategic sale of Air India and its subsidiaries and this process is being monitored by Air India-Specific Alternative Mechanism headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. One of the stated objectives of this group of ministers and officials was “treatment of unsustainable debt of Air India”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Ball-Tampering Aftermath: Steve Smith, David Warner Banned for 12 Months
Steve Smith and David Warner, former Australia captain and vice-captain respectively, have been banned for a 12-month period by Cricket Australia. The verdict has come after investigation into the ball-tampering controversy.
Also involved in the cheating case, Cameron Bancroft has been banned for nine months. Smith and Bancroft have been banned from a leadership position with the national team for a period of 12 months while Warner will not be considered at all in the future.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Mamata Calls on Sonia Gandhi, Meets Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha, Shatrughan
In a bid to forge opposition unity, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and stressed the need for the Congress to be part of a front to take on the BJP.
The Trinamool Congress leader also met a host of other opposition leaders during her two-day visit to the national capital.
Banerjee had on Tuesday met NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and leaders of some regional parties, including NDA ally Shiv Sena, to explore possibilities of a “federal front” to take on the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Cambridge Analytica Row: UK Data Firm Worked for JD(U), Shared Address With KC Tyagi's Son
A day after he told a British parliamentary panel that UK data firm Cambridge Analytica counted the Congress party as its client in India, Christopher Wylie, a former employee turned whistleblower, Wednesday released documents that showed that CA’s parent company, SCL Group had worked for the JD (U) in the 2010 Bihar elections.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Wylie released photographs of documents that showed the extent of the firm’s work and the location of its offices in India. “SCL India was asked to provide electoral research and strategy for the 2010 state elections for the JD(U).
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Videocon Gets Rs 3,250-Cr Loan From ICICI Bank, Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar's Husband Gets Sweet Deal From Venugopal Dhoot
In December 2008, Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon Group set up a company with Deepak Kochhar, husband of ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, and two of her relatives; then gave a Rs 64-crore loan to this company through a fully owned entity before he transferred the latter’s ownership to a trust headed by Deepak Kochhar for just Rs 9 lakh, an investigation by The Indian Express has found.
In what raises questions of propriety and conflict of interest, the transfer of the company to Deepak Kochhar happened six months after the Videocon Group got a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from ICICI Bank. Almost 86 per cent of that loan (Rs 2,810 crore) remains unpaid and Videocon account was declared an NPA in 2017.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. SC/ST Act Order: Centre Will Seek Supreme Court Review
The law ministry on Wednesday cleared the ground for the government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the apex court’s decision to ban automatic arrests and registration of criminal cases for suspected offences against underprivileged communities.
The law ministry’s advice came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met a delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ministers and members of Parliament who said after the meeting that they had been assured that the BJP-led NDA government would stay at the vanguard of efforts to uplift the Dalits. Opposition members led by Congress president Rahul Gandhi met President Ram Nath Kovind on the same issue.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. China to Resume Sharing Hydrological Data With India on Brahmaputra
China said on Wednesday it will resume sharing with India the hydrological data of the Brahmaputra river as top water resource officials of the two countries wrapped up two-day talks, the first after Beijing last year stopped providing the data crucial to predict floods.
"On the basis of humanitarian spirit and our shared will to develop bilateral ties we will continue with the cooperation on hydrological information cooperation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing.
(Source: Times of India)
9. Power Bills Set to Come Down in Delhi, High Users to Benefit Most
The more power you consume, the more you will benefit from the revised tariffs announced by the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Wednesday.
The regulator slashed energy charges across the board by up to 25%, while hiking fixed charges payable to discoms by up to six times. Given the fact that fixed charges are typically a small part of the total bill, the net effect for most consumers will be a saving on their current bills.
(Source: Times of India)
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