BackPolitical updates: Amarinder Singh says Congress should learn lessons from Assam
In other news, the Union cabinet spelt out plans for a complete overhaul of the aviation sector with an eye on the future
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New Delhi: The Central government on Wednesday released plans to overhaul the aviation sector with the release of the civil aviation policy. With this, all airlines can now start overseas flights provided they deploy 20 flights. In a boost for consumers, one-hour flights will be capped at ₹ 2,500. In Punjab, Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh in an interview to NDTV said that the party must decentralise to deal with regional satraps. The Congress in Punjab is facing trouble as their newly appointed general secretary in charge Kamal Nath has resigned from his position. This comes in view of raging controversy over his recent appointment because of his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Govt hits the reset button on civil aviation
The Union cabinet on Wednesday spelt out plans for a complete overhaul of the aviation sector with an eye on the future. The cornerstones of the new civil aviation policy are competition, consumers, connectivity (within India and with the rest of the world) and investment—both from domestic and foreign investors. The government is convinced that this will be the key to realizing its target of growing domestic passenger traffic nearly four-fold to 300 million by 2022. Read more
Decentralize Congress to deal with satraps: Amarinder Singh
Former Punjab chief minister and leader of the Congress campaign in the state Captain Amarinder Singh said the party would have won the assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh in 2014 and Assam earlier this year if rebel leaders Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and Himanta Biswa Sarma from the two respective states had not quit. In an interview with NDTV, Singh said that Congress leaders should learn lessons from the exits of powerful regional leaders and the resultant electoral defeats. Read more
Kamal Nath resigns as Congress general secretary in charge of Punjab
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Wednesday night wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi, expressing his desire to be relieved from the charge of poll-bound Punjab in view of the raging controversy over his recent appointment because of his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Read more
GST bill: Has NDA government yielded too much ground to states?
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is wooing states by giving concessions. In a bid to arrive at a consensus on the goods and services tax (GST), the Centre has yielded on many demands by states, including lowering the revenue threshold level beyond which traders will be exempt from GST and giving up administrative powers over traders with a revenue of less than ₹ 1.5 crore. Read more
Tax evasion: India, Switzerland information sharing pact by December
India and Switzerland on Wednesday took an important step towards combating tax evasion with both countries deciding to conclude a pact for automatic exchange of information by the end of the year. Read more
FAQs on the controversy over Delhi’s parliamentary secretaries
President Pranab Mukherjee’s refusal to give his assent to a bill passed by the Delhi government backing their decision to appoint 21 parliamentary secretaries has sparked a controversy. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for interfering in the state government’s functioning. Here’s a look at what the controversy is about. Read here
CBFC denies clearance to Gujarati film on Patel quota stir
Even as Bollywood film Udta Punjab managed to sail through hurdles after a Bombay high court order, a Gujarati movie based on the ongoing Patel quota agitation in the state has been denied clearance by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). Read here
VVIP choppers deal: New ED chargesheet focuses on Christian Michel
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a fresh chargesheet, delving specifically into the role of British national and alleged middleman Christian Michel James and a few of his Indian associates, in connection with its money laundering probe in the ₹ 3,600 crore VVIP chopper deal. Read here
Subramanian Swamy escalates campaign against Raghuram Rajan
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a CBI-led probe into the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI)’s alleged flouting of its own rules while granting 10 small finance bank licences. Read here
Arvind Kejriwal cites precedent in defence of parliamentary secretaries
Continuing his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that the prime minister should stop troubling the people of Delhi, pointing out that previous governments had appointed parliamentary secretaries as well. Read here
Central government stalling Delhi bills: AAP
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday accused the central government of deliberately stalling bills passed by the city-state’s legislative assembly. Read more
Mathura violence: Prime accused arrested
The prime accused in the Mathura violence case Chandan Bose and his wife were on Wednesday arrested from a village in Parsurampur area, the police said. Chandan Bose, stated to be the second-in-command after Ram Vriksh Yadav, was arrested this morning along with his wife by a police team of Mathura from Caithwalia village, superintendent of police Kripa Shankar Singh said. Read here
Katchatheevu: The big issue over a small island
During her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa pushed for the retrieval of Katchatheevu, the centre of a long-standing dispute between the fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. On 26 August 2014, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Centre, told a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha: “If you want Katchatheevu back, you will have to go to war to get it back." Read here
GST’s karmic reality: Why Modi and Jaitley may succeed where congress failed
The Swarajya reported that under finance minister Arun Jaitley, the finance ministry has abandoned the United Progressive Alliance’s I-know-what’s-good-for-states approach. However, with persevering with the GST, the BJP has risked losing the support of the trading community and pushing up production costs in the short run. Read here
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