As the NDA Government completes a month in office the PM shared his thoughts

A few thoughts as we complete a month in office

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Dear Friends,

Today our Government completes a month in office. The support and affection of the people has been overwhelming and this inspires us to work even harder.

67 years of previous governments is nothing compared to 1 month, but I do want to say that in the last month, our entire team has devoted every single moment for the welfare of the people. Every decision we took has been guided solely by national interest.

When we took over a month ago, I kept thinking that I am new to this place and some people believed that I would take at least a year or even two to learn the intricacies of the working of the Central Government. Fortunately, a month later that thought does not exist any longer in my mind. My confidence and determination has increased tremendously and I credit a substantial part of this to the collective experience and wisdom of my ministerial colleagues and also to my experiences as a four time Chief Minister. The affection of the people and support from officials has also added to this confidence in large measure.

Over the past few days I have been meeting Ministers and Officials from various departments who have been making detailed presentations to me. I must share that these presentations have enabled a wonderful exchange of thoughts and ideas and we have come up with excellent roadmaps for the various ministries and departments.

CMs of several states have met me in the past month. They have extended their good wishes and talked about issues concerning their state. I look forward to working closely with them in the times to come.

I feel there are areas where surely we need to improve. A big challenge I am facing in Delhi is to convey to a select group of people about our intentions and sincerity to bring a positive change in this country. These are people who are both within and outside the government system. There have been some instances in the last month with which our Government had nothing to do yet these controversies have persisted. I don’t blame anybody but I surely feel that we need to strengthen systems whereby the right things are communicated to the right people at the right time. Hopefully things will change then.

Every new Government has something that friends in the media like to call a ‘honeymoon period.’ Previous governments had the luxury of extending this ‘honeymoon period’ upto a hundred days and even beyond. Not unexpectedly I don’t have any such luxury. Forget hundred days, the series of allegations began in less than a hundred hours. But when one is working with the sole aim of serving the nation determinately, these things do not matter. That is why I keep working and that is most satisfying.

26th of June is an important date for me. It marks the completion of one month of our journey to fulfil the aspirations of the people. This day is also another landmark day, when in 1975 I witnessed an important phase that taught me the significance of a vibrant democracy.  26th June was the day when the Emergency started, having been imposed an evening earlier. As a youngster, I have several memories of those testing times.

The Emergency surely stands out as one of the darkest periods in our history and is a grim reminder of the dangers associated with subverting freedom of speech, press, expression and silencing opposition. Our democracy will not sustain if we can’t guarantee freedom of speech and expression. Today is also a day to reaffirm our pledge to safeguard these values and at the same time create strong institutions through good governance so that that we never ever see those dark days again.

Once again I salute the people of India for their strong support and good wishes as we complete a month in office. I assure you that we are committed to taking India to greater heights in the years to come.

Yours,

Narendra Modi

Shashi Tharoor takes a dig at Narendra Modi with 'NaMo alphabet' tweet

Though the Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to snap out of his elections rhetoric phase, former minister and party's Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday coined a new version of the 'NaMo alphabet' reminding everyone of the vitriolic LS polls campaign.

On completing a month in office, PM wrote a blog where he thanked the people for the support and affection and said that every decision that his government had taken had been guided solely by national interest. 

Congress leaders lampooned his blog and said that PM needed to come out of election rhetoric. Congress leader Shakeel Ahmad said, “Modi should come out of rhetoric now. The election campaign is over. The nation is laughing.” 

He also said that the PM was blowing his own trumpet. “He is calling his government the best after Independence. He did not even consider Vajpayee's government,” Ahmad said. 
Another Congress leader Anand Sharma said that writing a blog was not equal to governing, ANI reported. 

Tharoor's post on Twitter read, “New NaMo alphabet? A for achhe din; B for bitter pill; C for cave-in rollback; D for disempowered Ministers; E for excuses; F for fuel price rise (sic).” 

McCain joins chorus for Modi to address joint Congress session

Senior Republican Senator John McCain has joined the group of lawmakers urging Congressional leadership to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the US Congress. 

"When the Prime Minister comes to Washington, I urge our congressional leaders to invite him to address a joint session of Congress," McCain said in a major speech on India at the Senate yesterday. 
The Arizona Senator is travelling to India next week to meet Modi and his national security team. Last week, two top American lawmakers had urged the Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner to invite Modi to address a joint session of the US Congress. 

Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman George Holding in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, had requested that Modi be allowed to address a joint meeting of Congress. 

Modi is expected to travel to Washington in September. "I can imagine no more compelling scene than the elected leader of the world's largest democracy addressing the elected representatives of the world's oldest democracy," McCain said. "As we seek to take our strategic partnership with India to the next level, it is important for US leaders to reach out personally to Prime Minister Modi, especially in light of recent history. That is largely why I am traveling to India next week.

In his speech, McCain said India and the US have a shared interest in working together to end the scourge of extremism and terrorism that threatens stability, freedom, and prosperity across South Asia, and beyond. "The (US) President's current plan to disengage from Afghanistan is a step backward from this goal, and thus does not serve the US-India strategic partnership," he said. 

"For all of these reasons, and more, I hope the President will be open to re-evaluating, and revising, his withdrawal plan in light of conditions on the ground," McCain said. If the 21st century is defined more by peace than war, more by prosperity than misery, and more by freedom than tyranny, I believe future historians will look back and point to the fact that a strategic partnership was consummated between the world's two preeminent democratic powers, India and the United States, he added. 

"If we keep this vision of our relationship always uppermost in our minds, there is no dispute we cannot resolve, no investment in each other's success we cannot make, and nothing we cannot accomplish together," the Republican Senator said.

And that is why I am pleased that President Obama invited the Prime Minister to visit Washington. I wish he had extended that invitation sooner, but it is positive nonetheless," he said. 

MBA student arrested for sending anti-Modi MMS

An MBA student has been arrested here for allegedly sending anti-Modi MMS.

The four were released after being questioned, but Waqas was arrested under the IT Act, police said, but did not confirm when he was held. 

Waqas, pursuing his MBA in a college at Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district, was in the city for an internship. He was staying with the other students in a rented accommodation at Vasantnagar after police at Belgaum traced the mobile number to his residence. 

The complaint was filed with Belgaum police by RTI activist Jayant Tinaikar, who said he had received the message on May 16, police said. 

The incident comes a few days after a man from Goa was booked for posting a derogatory message against Modi on Facebook. 

Sayed Waqas (24), was picked up along with four students at Vasantnagar area here after the local cyber police found they have been circulating an anti-Modi MMS. 

No luxury of 'honeymoon period' for my govt, Narendra Modi says

On completion of 30 days in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said he had no luxury of 'honeymoon' period as a "series of allegations" started in less than 100 hours but he feels there are "areas where surely we need to improve".

Looking back, he said "every decision we took has been guided solely by national interest" but here have been some "instances" in the last one month with which the government had nothing to do, "yet these controversies have persisted". He, however, did not specify the controversies.

Modi, former Gujarat chief minister, said "a big challenge" he was facing in Delhi is to "convey to a select group of people about our intentions and sincerity to bring a positive change in this country" and they are "both within and outside government system".

Refusing to blame anybody, he expressed the commitment to take India to "greater heights in the years to come" as he asserted that "my confidence and determination has increased tremendously".




In a blog, he wrote "67 years of previous governments is nothing compared to 1 month but I do want to say that in the last month, our entire team has devoted every single moment for the welfare of the people."

He said "every new government has something that friends in the media like to call a 'honeymoon period.' Previous governments had the luxury of extending this 'honeymoon period' upto a 100 days and even beyond.

"Not unexpectedly, I don't have any such luxury. Forget 100 days, the series of allegations began in less than a hundred hours", he wrote.




Referring to the series of meetings he had with ministerial colleagues, chief ministers and officials, Modi said "I feel there are areas where surely we need to improve."


While talking about the controversies and allegations, Modi said "when one is working with the sole aim of serving the nation determinately, these things do not matter. That is why I keep working and that is most satisfying."

The Prime Minister said when he took over a month ago, "I kept thinking that I am new to this place and some people believed that I would take at least a year or even two to learn the intricacies of the working of the central government. Fortunately, a month later that thought does not exist any longer in my mind."

He said the "support and affection" of the people has been overwhelming and "this inspires us to work even harder".

Recalling that on this date 39 years ago the Emergency had been imposed in the country, he said it "stands out as one of the darkest periods in our history and is a grim reminder of the dangers associated with subverting freedom of speech, press, expression and silencing opposition.

"Our democracy will not sustain if we can't guarantee freedom of speech and expression.

"Today is also a day to reaffirm our pledge to safeguard these values and at the same time create strong institutions through good governance so that that we never ever see those dark days again."

Happy over the "fruitful" meetings with CMs and detailed presentations with ministers and officials, he said "together we will take India to greater heights. Due to people's affection, collective experience of ministerial colleagues and support from officials, my confidence level rose tremendously."

Can Indian politicians work without media watchdog I&B ministry?

Every morning at the crack of dawn the babus of the information and broadcasting ministry get to work. Their job is to collate all the media feedback of the day for the Prime Minister so he can scan it before he starts his day.

“Under UPA rule, we used to collage the news items under different heads: political, security, finance and others. Now we group them under ‘positive’ and ‘negative’” an Indian Information Service official tells The Telegraph. Even worse for the beleaguered babus Modi wants his cuttings an hour earlier than Manmohan Singh.

Positive and negative. Now that is called streamlining and cutting to the chase. It also effectively sums up what the ministry of information and broadcasting has turned into over the decades. It does not just produce endless little preachy documentaries about AIDS, running water and happy Hindu-Muslim-Christian children, all apparently made by one Devendra Khandelwal. It keeps tabs on the media.

There’s nothing nefarious about it. All governments do it. But in a country like the United States that’s the clearly understood objective of the White House Press Office. Here the PMO currently has no media advisor reports DNA and the BJP’s newly appointed spokesperson M J Akbar has not briefed the press at all. What sounds like a function of the PMO is being done by I&B ministry whose stated objectives are quite different.

Maharashtra: Is Cong-NCP merger on the cards?

New Delhi: Desperate times call for desperate measures. If the buzz in the political circles is to be believed, the Congress and the NCP in Maharashtra are mulling a proposal that could have far-reaching impact on the political equations in the state. After the disastrous performance in the general elections, both parties face the prospect of a rout in the assembly elections and this seemed have spurred some leaders in both parties into some drastic thinking. The proposal—an informal one—goes like this: hand over the reins to Sharad Pawar in the election campaign; in return the NCP will merge with the Congress.

While television channels flashed Sushilkumar Shinde’s name as the replacement for incumbent Prithviraj Chavan as chief minister of Maharashtra on the weekend, the fire seems to have gone out as the new line of thinking has taken over. The proposal, sources say, was mooted by the Congress. The regional party is believed to have conveyed to the Congress high command that it is open to lead the alliance in the assembly election under the guidance of Sharad Pawar, however a merger is not on the cards.

s a merger the only option? The alliance has 15 years of anti-incumbency and a poor show in the general elections to boot. This would mean rehabilitation of Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule in the process if NCP decides to merge with the Congress. It would also mean the dwindling of power for Ajit Pawar who enjoys popularity among majority of the NCP MLA’s. The struggle for absolute power post Sharad Pawar would then move clearly in favour of Supriya Sule. She is a known face in Delhi and would easily fit into the Congress’ scheme of things rather than her cousin who prefers to stay in his home state. This will also help Pawar grab the secular card, as a merger will only strengthen the “secular” forces in the state. NCP is still seen as more of a pro Maratha party rather than a pro minority organisation.

BJP creating drought hype to cover up price rise: Mohammad Azam Khan

LUCKNOW: BJP is creating hype of a drought-like situation in the country to cover up the increase in costs of essential commodities and rail fare or any other price rise in the future, Uttar Pradesh Minister Mohammad Azam Khan said today. 

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, while opposing BJP member Satish Mahana's adjournment notice on the likelihood of a weak monsoon during the zero hour of the state Assembly, said, "A possibility of minor drought-like situation has been expressed, .. 

Ensure English is used on social media: Jayalalithaa to Modi

Terming the Centre’s move on use of Hindi as being “against letter and spirit” of the law, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suitably modify the instructions to ensure that English was the language of communication on social media.

The Chief Minister said she had learnt that two office memoranda issued by the Union Home Ministry “direct that official accounts on social media like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Google and YouTube, which at present use only English, should compulsorily use Hindi, or both Hindi and English, with Hindi being written above or first.”

That makes the use of Hindi mandatory and English optional, she said in the letter.

“As you are aware, as per the Official Languages Rules, 1976, communications from a Central government office to a State or Union Territory in Region “C” or to any office (not being a Central government office) or person in such State shall be in English.”

“This provision has been introduced following the introduction of a mandatory proviso in Section 3(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963, by an amendment in 1968, which states (that), ‘English language shall be used for purposes of communication between the Union and a State, which has not adopted Hindi as its official language,” she pointed out.

“People located in “Region C”, with whom the government of India’s communication needs to be in English, will not have access to such public information if it is not in English. This move would therefore be against the letter and spirit of the Official Languages Act, 1963,” she said.

“Hence, I request you to kindly ensure that instructions are suitably modified to ensure that English is used on social media,” she told Mr. Modi.

Further, recalling a memorandum she had presented to him on June 3 during her Delhi visit, Ms. Jayalalithaa reminded Mr. Modi about Tamil Nadu’s demand for making Tamil an official language of India.

She recalled she had sought that all languages listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution be given that status and had said that “if this request is fulfilled, the use of all official languages on social media can be encouraged.”

Campa Cola case: Punishing the victims and sparing the guilty

Even as I am writing this, officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are trying to find ways to evict owners of flats in a building in central Mumbai, the Campa Cola Compound, because the Supreme Court has held that some floors were built illegally and need to be razed. The occupants are fighting tooth-and-nail by holdinghavans and putting up barricades.

There is no doubt building and municipal laws have been broken by the developer of the property, probably in cahoots with municipal officials and crooked politicians. This is how the illegal floors got built. So, purely from a legal point of view, there is no doubt that the illegality must be ended by razing these floors.But illegality cannot be fought merely by perpetrating what any normal human being – someone who has invested his or her lifetime’s savings to buy a roof over the family’s head - would consider injustice.

The decision to raze the floors actually amounts to punishing the victims and sparing the guilty. The wrong people are being harassed for someone else’s illegalities. Those who argue for the rule of law are obviously not those who spent all their money buying a house. There are thus right arguments to use, and wrong ones, in the Campa Cola case.

Right argument: The illegality cannot be condoned. But the issue is who should be penalised more for it. It would be unfair to raze the homes without providing the people who paid good money for it an alternative home or financial compensation. This means either they must get a home at little extra cost somewhere else as compensation, or the floors should be regularised with stiff fines – most of it borne by the builder.

Wrong argument: The government regularly removes slums; so why should only the middle class be crying foul when it is its turn to face the law? This is an enticing egalitarian argument, but there is a crucial difference: the people settling on public land (a.k.a. slums) know that it is not their land. They are just illegal squatters. The people who bought flats in the Campa Cola building may or may not have known of the illegality involving the building’s construction, but they paid good money for it. They may also have been misled into believing their floors would be legalised. I am not for razing slums either, but the comparisons are plain wrong.

Right argument: The real crooks are the builders, the complicit municipal officials and the politicians behind both. These are the people who both create the problem (artificial land scarcity in the city) and pretend to be saviours of the home buyers by agitating on their behalf when the courts decide to clamp down. The remedy for this clearly does not lie with the courts. The corrupt benefit from the rent-seeking opportunities created by artificial land scarcity – while ordinary people aid them by buying houses that they desperately need. This nexus of the greedy and the needy can only be solved by public protests and pressure. The Campa Cola residents’ cause will have to be taken up on a larger scale by home buyers all over Mumbai in order to force changes in land use policy that will allow the city to grow normally.

Wrong argument: Caveat emptor means the buyer has to be more careful.However, the well-settled principle in consumer law is that it is the manufacturer or service provider who has to pay for delivering a faulty product or service. So, even if it can be said that the Campa Cola residents were not sufficiently careful while putting their money into their illegal homes, it is the builder who must be made to carry the can for it. Most consumer courts penalise the seller and never the buyer. This principle must be made to apply in the Campa Cola case too.

Clearly, while the Supreme Court has upheld the law, the focus of media attention and everyone else has been on the wrong culprits: it is the builders who need to be made to pay and be jailed. And their abettors in officialdom. These are the ones deserving of high punishment and who need to be taught a lesson. The flat-owners have already been punished with the mental torture of the last few years when they faced the prospect of being turfed out of home and hearth.

The punishment must now seek out the real guilty parties.

More than 50 million driven from homes by war, crisis: UN

Geneva: The number of people driven from their homes by conflict and crisis has topped 50 million for the first time since World War II, with Syria hardest hit, the UN refugee agency said today.

The UNHCR said there were 51.2 million forcibly displaced people at the end of 2013, a full six million higher than the previous year.

The protracted Syria conflict was largely to blame for the increase, it said in its annual report, released on World Refugee Day.

Since the war began in March 2011, a total of 2.5 million people have fled Syria, with 6.5 million more displaced inside the country.

The Central African Republic and South Sudan crises also sparked new waves of displacement."We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict," said UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres.

"Peace is today dangerously in deficit. Humanitarians can help as a palliative, but political solutions are vitally needed. Without this, alarming levels of conflict and the mass suffering that is reflected in these figures will continue," he warned.

The spiralling numbers have huge implications for aid budgets, and place massive strains on nations on the front-lines of refugee crises, the UNHCR said.

Its data covers three groups: refugees, asylum-seekers, and the internally displaced.

Refugee numbers reached 16.7 million people worldwide, the highest since 2001.

A total of 6.3 million have been exiled for over five years, the agency said -- noting that that did not include five million Palestinians aided by the UN Relief and Works Agency, a separate body.

Overall, the biggest refugee populations under UNHCR care came from Afghanistan, Syrian and Somalia, who together form over half the global refugee total.

The world's top refugee hosts were Pakistan, Iran and Lebanon.

The regions with the largest refugee populations were Asia and the Pacific, with a total of 3.5 million people.

Sub-Saharan Africa totalled 2.9 million, and the Middle East and North Africa, 2.6 million.

With most refugees hosted by poorer countries, human rights campaigners Amnesty International said rich nations must do far more to shoulder the load.

"The globe's self-styled leaders are lagging far behind the developing world when it comes to bearing the burden of the global refugee crisis," said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, head of Amnesty's refugees and migrants programme.

"Given the economic advantages rich countries have over poor, it's doubly shocking to see them shirking their responsibility," he said.

Amnesty noted that just three countries -- Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey - registered a total of 1,524,979 refugees from Syria alone last year.

Delhi Police traffic constable death: Najeeb Jung grants Rs 1 crore as compensation

New Delhi: Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Tuesday announced an exceptional amount of Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the family of Delhi Police traffic constable Mana Ram, who was run over by a car after a heated argument with the driver while on duty in the national capital. 

Although no compensation can replace the loss, the announcement may have come as a big support for the deceased family as Mana was the only support of his father. However, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was earlier announced for Mana Ram's family.

Earlier in the day today, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had requested Najeeb Jung to give Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of Mana Ram. 

In his letter, he had also written that when the AAP government was in power here, it had given Rs 1 crore to the family of a constable killed by the water mafia while on duty. 

In a barbaric incident of road rage, the 25-year-old traffic constable was crushed to death on Saturday evening when he tried to divert a car from driving on a flyover closed for four-wheelers. 

Reportedly, Mana Ram was mowed down by the accused, Raman Kant, 26, in Moti Nagar area here, when the constable jumped on the car bonnet to stop the driver. Ram was then dragged for 150 meters, before being thrown off and coming under the car's wheels.

Soon after the incident, Mana Ram was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared brought dead. 

Later, the accused and two juveniles who were inside the car when the incident happened were apprehended by the cops. 

Ram was given a solemn farewell by the Delhi Police at the Todapur Police Lines. Ram's father, Gehna Ram, along with the Commissioner of Police BS Bassi and Ram's colleagues, laid wreaths on his coffin. 

Meanwhile, Delhi Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the murder of Constable Mana Ram.

Delhi Police traffic constable death: Najeeb Jung grants Rs 1 crore as compensation

New Delhi: Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Tuesday announced an exceptional amount of Rs 1 crore as financial assistance to the family of Delhi Police traffic constable Mana Ram, who was run over by a car after a heated argument with the driver while on duty in the national capital. 

Although no compensation can replace the loss, the announcement may have come as a big support for the deceased family as Mana was the only support of his father. However, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was earlier announced for Mana Ram's family.

Earlier in the day today, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had requested Najeeb Jung to give Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of Mana Ram. 

In his letter, he had also written that when the AAP government was in power here, it had given Rs 1 crore to the family of a constable killed by the water mafia while on duty. 

In a barbaric incident of road rage, the 25-year-old traffic constable was crushed to death on Saturday evening when he tried to divert a car from driving on a flyover closed for four-wheelers. 

Reportedly, Mana Ram was mowed down by the accused, Raman Kant, 26, in Moti Nagar area here, when the constable jumped on the car bonnet to stop the driver. Ram was then dragged for 150 meters, before being thrown off and coming under the car's wheels.

Soon after the incident, Mana Ram was rushed to a nearby hospital, but was declared brought dead. 

Later, the accused and two juveniles who were inside the car when the incident happened were apprehended by the cops. 

Ram was given a solemn farewell by the Delhi Police at the Todapur Police Lines. Ram's father, Gehna Ram, along with the Commissioner of Police BS Bassi and Ram's colleagues, laid wreaths on his coffin. 

Meanwhile, Delhi Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the murder of Constable Mana Ram.

LTC bills scam: CBI examines BSP MP, ex-MP BJD

As part of its probe into alleged fake travel bills scam, CBItoday examined Rajya Sabha MP Brajesh Pathak and former BJD MP Renubala Pradhan in connection with submitting of bills to claim reimbursement from the government coffers. 

CBI sources said Pathak was asked in details in connection with the submission of bills worth over Rs 2.20 lakh whereas he paid only Rs 10,000 for his travels by Air India. 

When contacted, Pathak said the travel agent in Green Park here had booked ticket for him on the basis of which he travelled. 

"The boarding pass and ticket were provided to me by the travel agent and my PA. I just travelled on that," he said. 

CBI recently registered cases against three sitting MPs, including Pathak, and three former MPs, including Pradhan, for submitting allegedly fake inflated bills for claiming reimbursement for their air-travels, the sources said. 

It is alleged in the FIR against Pradhan that she had presented four bills worth Rs 1.62 lakh whereas Rs 5,600 was actually paid to Air India. 

Pradhan could not be reached for her comments on the development. However, soon after registration of the case against her, Pradhan had said "I don't know anything about the LTC scam." 

She had also said that she would be meeting CBI officers to clarify her position. 

The sources said MPs had booked their tickets under an Air India promotional scheme where full fare economy class ticket passengers were entitled to have one ticket for their companion at much cheaper rates but submitted e-tickets of full fare for claiming reimbursement. 

They said the difference of fare on companion ticket allegedly was a benefit to the concerned MP.

Taking up NGOs issue, AAP hits out at IB report

Lashing out at a recent report by the Intellegence Bureau, which alleged that some NGOs are hurting India's economic security, AAP today said it is nothing but "criminalisation of dissenting voices" and is being misused by political bosses.

"The purposefully leaked IB report, marked secret naming senior reputed activists, NGOs and people's movements and accusing them of hurting the national economic security is nothing but an attempt at criminalising dissenting voices.

"The content, tone and tenor of the IB report in fact suggests that it is being misused by its political bosses," AAP said in a statement here.

The IB in a report 'Impact of NGOs on Development' said opposition to several development projects in the country by a significant number of NGOs will have a negative impact on economic growth by two to three per cent.

It also claimed some NGOs and their international donors are also planning to target many fresh economic development projects including those in Gujarat.

Terming the IB as a completely "non-transparent organisation" with a huge budget but no "accountability", the party has alleged that it has often been used by governments to further their political interests.

"AAP sees this as a move to curbing the activities of groups and individuals working to protect the life and livelihood of people living on the margins, and working to protect land, water, forest and other natural resources.

"But it is clear from this report that people controlling the IB are now playing for the interests of the big private corporations and targeting groups who have been opposed to loot of natural resources and mineral wealth of the country in the name of development," the statement said.

"AAP condemns this dishonesty and vindictiveness of the security agencies and believes that such attempts needs to be nipped in its bud itself and NDA government should desist from promoting such mischief and rather focus on other important tasks on hand," the statement added.

A staunch opponent of nuclear energy, AAP said contracts to produce energy in an "expensive and dangerous way" was being given to foreign corporations.

"The country has also pursued nuclear energy, which is the most expensive and dangerous way of producing energy, in order to give contracts of lakhs of crores to foreign corporations.

"Most of these projects have caused displacement of mainly tribals on a large scale, environmental destruction and have encouraged mega corruption, which is the

Why is Akhilesh Yadav so generous to this IAS officer in UP?

The expenditure of public money to the tune of more than Rs.1 crore in a single year on fuel and electricity bills by IAS officer Anurag Yadav has raised questions about the former Lucknow district magistrate who is known for his proximity to the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav paid Rs.75.10 lakh as the electricity bill of his office and residence in 2012-13. Besides this, he footed bills of as much as Rs.67.02 lakh in purchasing diesel and petrol and spent Rs.34.45 lakh on new vehicles during this period.

Dubious
In the very first year of his appointment as the Lucknow district magistrate, Yadav had also paid Rs.11.60 lakh for miscellaneous expenses on his office, Rs.4.96 lakh on telephone bills, Rs.4.45 lakh on payment to labourers, Rs.2.42 lakh on stationery, Rs.1.08 lakh on furniture and Rs.1.41 lakh on maintenance of computers.

An IAS officer of the 2000 batch, Yadav was the Lucknow district magistrate from March 2012 to February 2014. The information about his exorbitant expenditure came out in the public domain after Lucknow-based social activist Sanjay Sharma filed an RTI application seeking details of the expenditure of the DM's office.

"Interestingly, these expenses were five to fifteen times more than what was spent by his predecessor and successor," Sharma said. "While those who earn Rs.33 a day are not considered as poor and kept out of BPL schemes, these officers don't mind spending public money on themselves...," the social activist claimed, and sought a probe into the spending of the bureaucrat.

In February this year, the SP government had put Yadav on the wait list and replaced him with Allahabad District Magistrate Rajshekhar in Lucknow.

PM's Office Questions Ministers' Choices for Private Secretaries

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office has put on hold the appointments of private secretaries to ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.

Sources say the PM's Office is debating whether to retain staff that have worked for ministers in the previous Congress-led regime, and will clear these appointments only after scrutiny. 

The decision is likely to impact at least eight ministers. Rajnath Singh reportedly wanted Alok Singh, an IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh, as his personal secretary. Mr Singh had previously worked for former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

Smriti Irani, Venkaiah Naidu, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Kiren Rijiju and Najma Heptulla may also have to let go of their personal secretaries, if the government decides against retaining officials who worked for the previous regime.

A minister's personal staff has direct access to important files and policy decisions of the government.

Sources said all such appointments were on hold; if some officials were asked to go, "it won't be a reflection on their competence." Government sources also cite a rule passed by the earlier UPA government that said a minister's personal staff should not be on deputation for over five years.

The move raised speculation about the Modi government's reluctance to trust officials who worked for UPA ministers.

Inflation at five-month high, demonstrates challenges for Modi government

(Reuters) - India's wholesale price inflation hit a five-month high in May, underscoring challenges facing the new government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned at the weekend that he will administer "bitter medicine" to revive the ailing economy.

Modi has made controlling inflation a priority since taking office last month, but prospects of weak summer monsoon rains and turmoil in Iraq have increased the risk of rising food and fuel prices.

In May, wholesale prices rose a faster-than-expected 6.01 percent as a 19 percent increase in potato prices during the month pushed up food inflation to 9.50 percent from 8.64 percent in April.

The data dampened some of optimism generated last week by retail price report that showed consumer inflation fell to a three-month low of 8.28 percent in May.

Hopes were dimmed for a cut in interest rates, and consequent foreign selling of shares helped push the rupee to its lowest level since May 6.

Economist Upasna Bhardwaj of ING Vysya Bank described the acceleration in wholesale prices as "very shocking".

"Though it is a broad-based up tick, food prices have surged sharply," said Bhardwaj. She expected prices to be volatile in coming months due to uncertainty over the outlook for crops so long as the rains disappointed.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is expected to deliver the government's first budget in the second week of July, though no date has been fixed.

Speaking to party workers at the weekend, Modi prepared ground for tough measures, while blaming the previous government for the state of an economy that has suffered its longest slowdown since India began free market reforms in 1991.

"A mother knows that if she doesn't give her child bitter medicine today, that will probably cause long-term damage," Modi said. "To improve the economic health of India, pull the country out of the current mess, shouldn't we take some bitter decisions?"

The comments were interpreted as a signal that the budget will seek to keep a lid on the fiscal deficit and avoid populist, but inflationary spending.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept interest rates on hold earlier this month, but toned down its inflation rhetoric, raising hopes it could even cut rates as early as this year. Although the RBI monitors retail price inflation more closely, the wholesale price trend is also eyed for trends.

Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank, said the data might lead the RBI to procrastinate over any easing.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose 5 basis points to 8.65 percent, in reaction, while the rupee weakened to 60.23 per dollar, its lowest level since May 6.

MONSOON WORRIES, IRAQ TURMOIL

The weather department has predicted below average rainfall between June-September this year, which could hit summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean and cotton, exacerbating price pressures and impacting economic growth.

Summer monsoon rains are vital for 55 percent of India's farmlands that lack irrigation facilities. In 2009, patchy rains led to the worst drought in nearly four decades and drove annual food inflation up to more than 21 percent.

India has stockpiles of staples, like rice, wheat and sugar that can be released, but the government has limited means to control surges in the cost of fruits and vegetables, which have the largest impact on food inflation.

Modi held a meeting last week to review India's contingency plan to deal with the risks a poor monsoon. To mitigate the impact, his administration is considering giving subsidised diesel, cheaper loans and extra seeds to farmers.

A surge in food prices could also push up interest rates, as it did during the the drought of 2009.

Importing nearly 80 percent of its oil, India is vulnerable to spikes in global oil prices, which hit a nine-month high on Monday as concern rose over the turmoil in Iraq.

Wholesale fuel prices rose 10.53 percent in May from a year earlier, accelerating from 8.93 percent in April.