Month: May 2022

Hours after terror suspects were detained in Haryana’s Karnal, Home Minister Anil Vij on Thursday said that the terrorists received explosives from Pakistan through drones and were given the task to transport them to Adilabad in Telangana.

He said that the State police has arrested four terrorists along with a huge amount of explosives in Karnal district today.
Speaking to ANI on the incident, the Home Minister said, “Four terrorists were going in the Innova vehicle was nabbed by the police near the Bastara toll plaza in Karnal. On search of the vehicle, the police recovered three IEDs, a country-made pistol, 31 live cartridges, 1.31 lakh cash and six mobile phones recovered from them. They got explosives from Pakistan through drones and were tasked with carrying them to Adilabad in Telangana.”

Among the arrested accused Bhupinder Singh is from Ludhiana and the other three Gurpreet Singh, Parminder Singh and Amandeep Singh are from Ferozepur and were headed to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver a consignment of explosives.

“They were in touch with a Pakistan-based man Harvinder Singh Rinda, who is involved in terror activities and who used to send locations through an app to them to deliver explosives and weapons. Rinda used to drop weapons and explosives at a pre-designated location in the fields in Ferozepur with the help of drones,” said Vij.

He further added that the investigations in the case are underway and police were conducting an in-depth probe.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that it is yet not clear if the accused are terrorists or pawns of the terror organisations being used to transport explosives from one place to another.

Earlier today, Superintendent of police Karnal Ram Poonia said that the accused were taking the current consignment of explosives to a place near Nanded from Ferozepur, Punjab. A case under the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been registered.

“The accused were in touch with a Pakistan-based man who asked them to drop arms and ammunition at Adilabad, Telangana. Accused Gurpreet received explosives sent from across the border using a drone in Ferozepur dist. Earlier, they dropped explosives at Nanded,” said SP. (ANI)

Ace poll strategist Prashant Kishor on Thursday put paid to speculations of him floating a new political platform stating that he is set to embark on a 3000 km ‘padyatra’ that will start from Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram in Bihar’s Champaran on October 2.

He said he will launch a ‘Jan Surraj’ (Good Governance) campaign in the next three to four months into which he will rope in eminent personalities of Bihar who want to bring about a positive change in the state.
Prashant Kishore, popularly referred to as PK, said that there are no elections in Bihar in the near future and so he is not launching a political party for now. However, he did not comment on future plans on his own political platform.

“It is being speculated that I will form a new political party, I will not make any such announcement today. My role in the coming days will be to meet the people who are connected to the social and political life of Bihar and who understand Bihar’s problems and bring all of them together on one platform. We have identified and contacted nearly 17,500 people in the past four to five months,” Kishor said.

He added: “If we will decide in future that we need to make a political party then it won’t be Prashant Kishor’s party. It will be a people’s party”.

“If a large number of people come together on one platform, and collectively decide on the need for a political party, then the announcement of that party would be made. Even if that party is formed, then it will not be Prashant Kishor’s party, but every such person’s party who wants to accompany in the formation of the political party. This work should be completed by August or September,” the poll strategist said.

“In the coming three to four months, I will meet most of these people personally and discuss the methods to implement the idea of Jan Suraaj (good governance). My experience says that nearly 90 per cent of people agree that there is a need for a collective new effort,” he further added.

Kishor, had recently turned down an offer to join the Congress stating that the grand old party was in need of leadership. On May 2 he had posted a cryptic tweet on his timeline in which he said, “My quest to be a meaningful participant in democracy and help shape pro-people policy led to a 10yr rollercoaster ride! As I turn the page, time to go to the Real Masters”.

Hitting out at Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Lalu Prasad Yadav led RJD for their respective tenures as chief ministers, Kishor said that it is an undeniable truth that “Bihar is the most backward and poorest state” of the country.

“The amount of truth that is there in their claims of development of Bihar during their respective tenures, it is also a truth that even after the 30-year rule of Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar, Bihar is the most backward and the poorest state of the country. Bihar still stands at the lowermost step in most of the parameters of development. If Bihar has to come in the category of advanced states, we cannot reach there walking on the same path as in the past 10 to 15 years,” he said.

“Those who are connected to this land and understand the issues pertaining to this state and have the capability to solve the problems and who want to change Bihar, most of such people need to come together and make a new effort,” Kishor added calling upon the people to join him in his campaign.

Assuring the people of the state of his dedication, he struck down the question of “quitting in the middle”.

“I want to assure the people of Bihar that I am dedicating everything that I have for the betterment of the people. There is no question of quitting in the middle or backing down because of the troubles,” Kishor said.

Talking about the possibility of contesting the elections in alliance with any other political party, he said that he has no such plans yet.

“I have no thoughts about contesting the election in Bihar with any political party. If contesting elections was my target, then it could be fought by forming a party a year before the polls. I don’t need any such experiment with four years to go for the polls,” he said.

Asked about his Chief Ministerial ambitions in the future after the formation of his own party, Kishor said that he is not sure if he would hold any key positions like the president in the party.

“If we form the party, I cannot say that I will be the face of the CM candidate or the chief of the party,” Kishor said.

Kishor has been key in victories in Bihar, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and the latest in West Bengal elections. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday during his stopover in Paris.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister will convey his congratulations to Macron over his re-election in the French presidential elections.
“PM @narendramodi and President @EmmanuelMacron meet in Paris. This meeting will add momentum to the India-France friendship,” Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a tweet.

PM Modi will also reaffirm the close friendship between the two countries during the meeting.

“A meeting between two friends. An opportunity to translate the renewed mandate of President @EmmanuelMacron into a renewed momentum for the India-France Strategic partnership,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in France on Wednesday on the final leg of his three-day Europe visit and was warmly welcomed by members of the Indian diaspora in Paris.

Members of the Indian community were present outside the hotel where PM Modi reached after his arrival in Paris. Children were present in sizeable numbers and many of them sought autographs from the Prime Minister. People reciprocated the greetings of the people.

PM Modi said in a tweet after his arrival in Paris that France was one of India’s strongest partners.

“Landed in Paris. France is one of India’s strongest partners, with our nations cooperating in diverse areas,” he said.

PM Modi reached Paris after his visit to Germany and Denmark. (ANI)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is on a two-day visit to West Bengal, on Thursday flagged off a boat ambulance at a floating border outpost (BOP) at Haridaspur in the state.

After inaugurating the floating BOPs, Shah will also lay the foundation stone of the Maitri Sangrahalaya (museum) located at BOP Haridaspur.
The number of floating BOPs has been increased to enhance the surveillance in the inaccessible areas of Sunderbans of West Bengal.

Apart from this, the services of boat ambulance are also being commenced to provide medical assistance in this inaccessible area of Sundarbans from Saheb Khali (West Bengal) to Shamsher Nagar (Bihar).

The Home Minister’s day-long engagement also includes a public meeting that he will attend at 6:15 pm at Railway institute sports ground in West Bengal’s Siliguri.

On Friday, the Home Minister will visit Teen Bigha and interact with Border Security Force (BSF) personnel at BoP Jhikabari at around 9.30 am in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district.

The Home Minister will later hold a meeting with the MPs, MLAs and state office-bearers of the West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party at 2 pm on Friday at Hotel Westin in Kolkata.

The Home Minister’s two-day visit to the state will culminate at a cultural event organised by the Ministry of Culture to celebrate the inclusion of Durga Puja on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage, at around 6 pm at Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. (ANI)

Internet services of Bhilwara city in Rajasthan have been suspended for 24 hours after two persons were attacked by some unidentified people and their bike was set on fire.

The incident was reported in the Sanganer area of Bhilwara last night.
“An incident was reported in the Sanganer area of Bhilwara last night in which two persons were attacked by some unknown people when they were having food. Their bike was also set ablaze. We are investigating the matter,” Ashish Modi, District Collector Bhilwara told media persons.

The district administration official informed that one person has received minor injuries while the other suffered minor head injuries and is in a stable condition.

Investigations have been started into the matter and the district administration along with police is checking the nearby CCTV footage.

The Bhilwara District Collector further appealed to people not to pay heed to rumours and maintain peace in the area.

Further investigation is underway. (ANI)

A battle of videos has broken out between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena, with both claiming the legacy of Bal Thackeray.

Shiv Sena has hit out at Raj Thackeray by sharing a video of the party founder Bal Thackeray in which he is seen taking a veiled jibe at the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief.
This comes soon after Raj Thackeray shared a video of Bal Thackeray wherein he is seen speaking against the use of loudspeakers. Raj Thackeray has warned that the MNS workers will play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers.

The loudspeaker row in the state broke out after the MNS chief issued an ultimatum to the state government to remove the loudspeakers from the mosques by May 3.

Following the end of the deadline, the Mumbai Police seized loudspeakers from the MNS office and detained the party’s Chandivali unit president Mahendra Bhanushali and others on Tuesday. The Police also registered a case against Raj Thackeray over his speech at a rally in Aurangabad held on May 1 where he reiterated his ultimatum.

In the video shared by the Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray is heard saying, “People say, someone has copied my style of oratory, I don’t know who? One day they will say that I have copied him if I speak in the same style. It reminds me of a joke on this.”

The Shiv Sena founder is further heard saying, “One boy during his exams submitted blank answer sheet, another boy complained to the professor about the first boy submitting blank answer sheet. Professor asked him, so what? The second boy said I am just telling you to know that I have also submitted a blank answer sheet, so you should not say that I have copied from him. Now he raises the Marathi issue, Marathi… I had raised this Marathi issue when you were not even born. You can copy someone’s oratory style but the thought is important behind everything. But let it be. There are many issues…”

Notably, Raj Thackeray had recently posed in Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray’s trademark attire in a social media post. Raj Thackeray is incidentally attempting an image makeover to revive his political fortunes in the state by embarking on hard Hindutva.

In the video, shared by Raj Thackeray, Bal Thackeray is heard saying that the Shiv Sena will not rest until it is successful in preventing people from offering namaz on roads when it comes to power in the state.

“We (Shiv Sena) will not stop until we are successful in preventing the people from offering namaz on roads when we will form the government in Maharashtra,” Bal Thackeray said in the video posted by the MNS chief on his Twitter handle today.

“If someone has any complaint about the Hindu religion, then they can come to us, and we will solve the issue. Loudspeakers will be removed from the mosques,” Bal Thackeray said in the video shared by Raj Thackeray. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in France on Wednesday on the final leg of his three-day Europe visit and was warmly welcomed by members of the Indian diaspora in Paris.

Members of the Indian community were present outside the hotel where PM Modi reached after his arrival in Paris.

Children were present in sizeable numbers and many of them sought autographs from the Prime Minister. People reciprocated the greetings of the people.

PM Modi said in a tweet after his arrival in Paris that France was one of India’s strongest partners.

“Landed in Paris. France is one of India’s strongest partners, with our nations cooperating in diverse areas,” he said.

PM Modi will meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who was re-elected last month.

PM Modi reached Paris after his visit to Germany and Denmark. (ANI)

Bangladesh-India relations enjoy cooperation and development in almost every area. Moreover, the relative success in economic advancement and strong pursuit of connectivity of both the countries have evoked to think about a comprehensive economic partnership as well.

As both the countries are experiencing high growth and stable rise, they have embarked on signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, which has been titled as Bangladesh-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), to reap the benefits of mutual trust and understanding in a range of bilateral issues.

It is timely as Bangladesh is going to come out from LDC and facing the challenges emanating from it. Over the past twelve years, the Bangladesh-India bilateral economic relationship has been going well and has entered a new terrain with the strengthening of traditional ties and foundations being laid to deepen and broaden the partnership in going forward. India is the second-largest trade partner of Bangladesh and Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia. Bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh has grown steadily and the exports of Bangladesh have tripled over the last decade.

Notably, the talks on a CEPA began informally since 2018, in the backdrop of increasing Chinese investments in Bangladesh. It was also discussed due to the fact that regional free trade arrangements, like South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), have become dysfunctional. Later, an expeditious commissioning of a joint study on the prospects of entering into a bilateral CEPA was devised during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in October 2019. The original timeline for completion of the joint study was September 2021. In addition, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bangladesh visit in March 2021, the two countries had agreed to enhance trade and the joint statement underscored the need for the removal of non-tariff barriers, need for predictability of trade policies, regulations and procedure, visit of a high-level team from Bangladesh from March 1-4, 2022 after a Joint Study Group (JSG) for examining the feasibility of the CEPA submitted its recommendations.

Understanding Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

The proposed CEPA between Bangladesh and India has three dimensions, namely trade in goods, trade in services, and investment. The main target of the proposed CEPA is to reduce the huge trade gap between Bangladesh and India and open up new economic opportunities including connectivity, new market and cooperation and partnership. Moreover, the CEPA is planned to resolve the issues and challenges of anti-dumping duties and rules of origin through the perspective of multi-modal connectivity and deepening of cooperation in the context of the sub-regional cooperation. It recognizes the significant benefits of bilateral economic and commercial ties.

According to an official statement released by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the CEPA will incorporate a variety of issues of mutual interest, including the development of railway infrastructure, port infrastructure, Border Haats, regional connectivity through Multi-Modal Transportation, Harmonization of Standards, Mutual Recognition Agreement. Further, the agreement is looking forward to step up cooperation in new areas such as green technologies, renewables, and IT and digital platforms under CEPA. A CEPA will also strengthen the scope of investment as it includes the new areas and ways of cooperation. It will give a significant boost to two-way trade. In addition, the agreement is focusing on four areas for strengthening India-Bangladesh partnership which include: a) connectivity and maintaining uninterrupted supply chain, b) joint production of defence equipment, c) exploring potential areas of investments and d) joint manufacturing of vaccines and other medicines.

Benefits of CEPA

Trade in Services Investment Trade in Goods Connectivity and supply chain Joint production of defence equipment Exploring investments Joint manufacturing of vaccines and other medicines Focus Areas of CEPA The specific benefits of CEPA may be identified in the following section. Firstly, in the backdrop of growing bilateral trade, the trading regime between the two countries, including imports, exports, related rules and regulations will get new momentum as the agreement has instruments to work jointly on trade, supply chain and production. If the CEPA is operationalized, bilateral trade potential would be USD 40 billion. India’s strong exports in services and Bangladesh’s exports in goods are a good cause to have a CEPA. Bangladesh Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi asserted CEPA is very important in the long run, for expansion of trade and commerce. After the withdrawal from RCEP, India is looking forward to make several bilateral FTAs with neighboring countries.

Secondly, the agreement will boost up bilateral and sub-regional connectivity that Bangladesh is championing in its policy initiatives. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rightly asserted that “Connectivity is productivity”. The CEPA will produce a cluster of connectivity which will shape the future trade through the Asian Highway Network routes (AH-1 and 2), BBIN, BCIM and BIMSTEC connecting India and Bangladesh at the Petrapole-Benapole, Fulbari-Banglabandha and Dawki-Tamabil points, and a new rail link between Akhaura (Bangladesh) and Agartala (India), among others. The agreement will ease personal, passenger, and cargo vehicle travel across the borders once fully implemented. This will be most visible in bordering areas of Bangladesh where the price of goods could decrease by more than 4.5 per cent. More trade and transit will inspire new economic activity that will raise income and lowers costs for businesses and consumers.

Connectivity facilities will have some trickle-down effects on other connectivity projects in the region. For instance, the BIMSTEC Conclave of Ports agreement linking Thailand’s Ranong Port with ports in Chennai, Vishakhapatnam, and Kolkata, a BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement and a BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement will bring more than 2 billion people – 22% of world’s population-together into an economic region. It will pave the way for concluding FTAs and PTAs with other neighboring countries of South Asia when Bangladesh is embarking on signing FTAs with Bhutan. Reports suggest that Bangladesh is planning to conclude trade agreements with Thailand and Nepal.

Thirdly, the agreement will create new venue for cooperation and partnership and open up opportunities for joint production hub and creating uninterrupted supply chain. When the production hub and supply chain will be materialized, then it will create new market for both the countries and the investments will get a new boost in coming days. Bangladesh has already set up three Special Economic Zones for Indian investors and Indian companies are investing in various sectors including telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, FMCG and automobiles sectors in Bangladesh. These are seen as offering a significant backdrop to the more intense bilateral engagements in trade and investment that India and Bangladesh are chalking out through the CEPA. In addition, a thriving CEPA will support Indian Northeast states to have access to Bangladesh for chemical fertilizer, raw jute and jute manufactures, frozen fish and readymade garments (RMG).

Fourthly, as Bangladesh prepares for its dual graduation journey (middle-income graduation and LDC graduation), the agreement will be important to harness the potential opportunities by addressing the attendant concerns and leveraging the initiatives. Fifthly, CEPA will generate revenues for both Bangladesh and India as the connectivity and trade along territorial and maritime borders will increase. Sixthly, increased level of exchanges of goods, people and services due to the free movements will increase flourish tourism and other industries which have effects on employment generation and human capital development in Bangladesh and India. The joint production of pharmaceutical items and defence equipment will yield immense benefits for Bangladesh and India as both the countries have great pharmaceutical bases and expertise.

What is to be done?

Some measures may be suggested for the implementation of CEPA. Firstly, to reap the benefits of any economic partnership agreement, infrastructural conditions are crucial as these are the foundations of connectivity, trade and exchanges. CEPA is equally linked to the issue of infrastructure and connectivity to streamline the logistics challenges. Secondly, informal trade between the two countries should be reduced to formalize economic relations between the two countries. Thirdly, connectivity schemes should be continued through materializing transport networks. Fourthly, tariff and non-tariff barriers and rules of origin should be removed to fully explore mutual benefits. The dumping and antidumping of jute, lack of formalization of customs, time consuming approach of loading and unloading at no man’s land should be addressed. Fifthly, appropriate measures should be taken to support the sectors facing the competition from Indian companies. Modernization of bureaucracy, trade facilitation and customs efficiency in Bangladesh and India must be improved.

Sixthly, legal barriers may also pose challenges. As per the WTO regulations, all border duties and restrictive restrictions must be eliminated covering at least 90 per cent of trade in goods with partner countries and service must cover substantially all sectors (under Article XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of GATS) to conclude an FTA. Seventhly, to fully harness the benefits of a FTA, one country should have diversified export items that can balance the trade volume. Notably, apparel constitutes more than 80 per cent of country’s total export and it is mainly exported to developed countries. Moreover, there is little demand of apparels in Indian market. Therefore, diversification of export products is a pre-requisite of achieving success in the proposed CEPA. Lastly, domestic compulsion and internal political dynamics should not pose any challenge to implement CEPA. Throughout 2018 and 2019, special interest groups lobbied against India joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. It might be a challenge in harnessing full spectrum of economic benefits from CEPA.

The CEPA will be a game-changing agreement given the economic and geographical potentials between the two countries. From trade to connectivity and socio-economic to infrastructural arena, the agreement may bring forth profound sense of cooperation and partnership as Bangladesh and India are both embarking on economic development and connectivity schemes. Constructive steps must be undertaken towards triangulation of trade, transport, and investment connectivity to develop the production networks and establish the backward and forward value chains that serve the interests of trade, business and commerce–both bilateral and beyond. Moreover, a time-bound road map is needed to take advantage of the emergent window of opportunity. (ANI)