1. Small Loans Could Turn Bad: Rajan
Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan has cautioned that the next crisis in India’s banking sector could come from loans given to the unorganised micro and small businesses, called MUDRA loans, and credit extended through the Kisan credit card.
MUDRA loans are offered under the Prime Minister Mudra Yojana or PMMY, launched in 2015 by the NDA government.
A total of Rs 6.37 lakh crore has been disbursed under the scheme by public and private sector banks, regional rural banks and micro-finance institutions till date, as per the data from the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) website.
“Both MUDRA loans as well as the Kisan Credit Card, while popular, have to be examined more closely for potential credit risk,” Rajan wrote in his 17-page note.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Nun Writes to Vatican Against Jalandhar bishop
Facing increasing stigma and persecution from local church authorities ever since she accused Jalandhar bishop Franco Mullakal of repeatedly raping her, the Kottayam-based nun has written to the ambassador of the Pope in India pleading that a “speedy enquiry” be conducted into the case and that “Bishop Franco be removed from his responsibilities”.
Copies of the seven-page letter dated 8 September 2018, were released to the media on Tuesday, 11 September. In the letter to Apostolic nuncio Giambattista Diquattro, the nun wondered whether the “Catholic Church has concern only for bishops and priests. We would like to know if is there any provision in canon law for justice for nuns and women?”
Can the “church authorities give back what I have lost?” the nun asked.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. 57 Killed as Telangana RTC Bus Falls into Gorge in Kondagattu
Four children were among the 57 persons killed on Tuesday morning when a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus plunged into a gorge while on its way from the Kondagattu temple in Jagtial district. Forty-three persons were seriously injured in the accident.
At least 43 persons, including the driver Srinivas, died on the spot. The others succumbed to injuries at the Jagtial area hospital and the Karimnagar district headquarters hospital, where they were rushed for treatment.
The bus, meant for 54 passengers, was carrying 100 people when it set off from Shanivarampet village to Jagtial town. From the temple shrine, it took the ghat road. As the bus reached the last curve on the ghat road, it hit an autorickshaw. While attempting to avoid hitting a car that was stranded on the road, the driver lost control, and the bus plunged into a 10-metre-deep gorge.
(Source: The Hindu)
4. ED’s Dossier on Mehul Choksi Reveals ‘Tricks of Trade’
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has accused fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi of indulging in circular trading through dummy companies, so-called “air to air” exports and split consignments, and inflating stock value to perpetrate, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, a fraud on the State-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB).
ED investigators who asked not to be identified, highlighted these findings from their investigation file after Choksi, in a Sunday, 9 September, interview to HT, accused the agency of reducing his brand value to zero.
He also claimed that since ED has attached all his properties, he has no money to pay back PNB. “They (the PNB) can sell off my assets and pay whoever has to be paid. They should take it from the ED, I am in no position to return any money,” Choksi told HT. On Tuesday, 12 September, Choksi repeated the same comments in a TV interview.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Damage to Aravallis Scary, Says Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 September, ordered the demolition of structures built illegally by a prominent builder in the protected forests of the Aravallis, noting that ecological damage done by colonisers to the ancient hills was irreversible and “quite frightening.”
A Bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta ordered that all structures built after 18 August 1992 in the area known as ‘Kant Enclave’ at Anangpur in Faridabad district of Haryana should be demolished.
They have to be razed down by 31 December 2018, the court said.
It held that these illegal structures defy a Haryana government notification of 18 August 1992, issued under the Punjab Land Preservation Act, declaring the area as forest land and fragile.
(Source: The Hindu)
6. Bangladeshi Migrants: Won’t Let Any Illegal Stay, Will Expel One by One, Says Amit Shah
BJP president Amit Shah said on Tuesday, 11 September, that the government will identify all illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in India and expel them, one by one — “chun chun kar nikalenge”.
Addressing party workers in Jaipur, Shah also said that the BJP would win every election, even if there were attempts by the Opposition to revive issues such as the killing of Mohammed Akhlaq over suspicion of consuming beef or the return of awards by authors citing a climate of intolerance.
“When Akhlaq happened, we won. We won when award wapsi happened. If they do something else now, too, we will win,” Shah said.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress over the NRC, Shah said: “Arrey, aapko jitna virodh karna hai woh karo, Bharatiya Janata Party ka sankalp hai, ek bhi Bangladeshi ghuspethiya desh mein rehne nahi denge, chun chun kar nikal denge (You oppose it as much you want, but the BJP’s vision is that we won’t let even one Bangladeshi infiltrator stay in the country…We will single them out, one by one, and expel them).”
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Delhi Police Spectators, Perpetrators: CBI in Delhi HC on 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence to show that Delhi Police personnel were “silent spectators”, “abettors” or “perpetrators” in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the CBI has told the Delhi High Court.
“Circumstances really speak louder than words. It has rightly been said that while men may lie, circumstances do not. In the present case, overwhelming circumstantial evidence has come on record to establish that Delhi Police personnel in uniform were either silent spectators to the crime or abettors or even the perpetrators,” the CBI stated in a written submission before a bench of Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Vinod Goel.
“The immoral and illegal role of police did not even come to an end when the riots subsided. Even after the registration of a few cases, the investigating agency resorted to sabotage and subversion of their statutory duty,” the CBI said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Rafale 'Commission' Finger at PM and Ambani
Arun Shourie, Yashwant Sinha and Prashant Bhushan alleged on Tuesday, 11 September, that the award of offsets in the Rafale deal to the Reliance-Dassault joint venture was "a commission for the services that Mr Ambani provides to Mr Modi".
In a scathing attack on the Centre, particularly Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who wrote blogs defending the deal and rubbishing the charges of corruption, the three public figures said that false arguments were being offered to hide the truth and even the Indian Air Force was being pressurised to publicly praise the acquisition of the fighter jets.
"The responses of Reliance, Mr Jaitley and the government at large, cumulatively show that award of offsets to Reliance-Dassault JV is a commission for the services that Mr Ambani provides to Mr Modi," Shourie, Sinha and Bhushan said in a statement.
(Source: The Telegraph)
9. EC Serves Showcause Notice to AAP over Donation Discrepancies
The Election Commission on Tuesday, 11 September, served a show-cause notice to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in connection with the alleged discrepancies in donations received by the party during the 2014-15 financial year.
Issuing the notice, the EC asked the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to show cause as to why action should not be taken against AAP for “failure to follow its lawful directions and instructions”.
Citing a report by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the poll watchdog pointed out that the bank account of the AAP has recorded total credits of Rs 67.67 crore from donations in excess of Rs 20,000. However, the party has disclosed total income of Rs 54.15 crore from donations in its audited accounts for the year, it said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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