Air India privatisation welcome but clear salary dues first: Pilots

The proposal to privatise Air India is a welcome move but salary arrears should be settled first as promised earlier, fell pilots at the national carrier. Facing tough financial conditions, Air India had resorted to salary cuts in 2012. Since then, arrears have been accumulating even as certain section of employees accepted revised pay scales.

Source: The Hindu

 

Aadhaar not valid for travel to Nepal, Bhutan: Home ministry

Aadhaar is not a valid identification document for Indians travelling to Nepal and Bhutan, the Union home ministry has said. Indians can travel to Nepal and Bhutan–both countries for which they don’t need visas–if they possess a valid national passport or election ID card issued by the Election Commission. Moreover, to ease travel, persons over 65 and below 15 years can show documents with photographs to confirm their age and identity. These include PAN card, driving licence, Central Government Health Service (CGHS) card and ration card but not Aadhaar.

Source: Indian Express

Banks have no liability for loss of valuables in lockers: RBI

Do not expect any compensation for theft or burglary of valuables in safe deposit boxes of public sector banks as the locker hiring agreement absolves them of all liability. This bitter truth was disclosed in an RTI response by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and 19 PSU banks. Stung by the revelation, the lawyer who had sought information under the transparency law has now moved the Competition Commission of India (CCI) alleging “cartelisation” and “anti-competitive practices” by the banks in respect of the locker service.

Source: Times of India

 

Rs 10,247-cr retro tax: Cairn set up maze of arms to transfer Indian assets

UK’s Cairn Energy, which became the first company to face coercive recovery in retrospective tax action, had created a maze of subsidiaries in a span of just six months to transfer Indian assets, an event that led to a demand of Rs 10,247 crore as dues. According to documents accessed by PTI, Scotland-based Cairn Energy till 2006 held Indian assets, including the prolific Rajasthan oil fields, through nine Indian subsidiaries.

Source: Business Standard

Amazon’s food retail plan may get government nod in July

Amazon’s entry into the food retail business in India will move a step closer with the government set to issue the final certificate of approval to the company’s foreign direct investment (FDI) proposal in July, according to a senior official.  The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which had cleared the Seattle-based company’s proposal in April, will issue the clearance as the final authority on the matter after the abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

Source: Economics Times

Indian Railways to commence survey for world’s highest rail track at Leh

The Railways will kick off the final location survey of the 498-km long Bilaspur-Manali-Leh line at Leh in Jammu and Kashmir this week. Coming up at a high of 3,300 metres, the strategically important rail project is touted to become the highest rail track in the world, overtaking China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Source: Economic Times

Punjab farm loan waiver: Over 10 lakh farmers benefited from scheme, says CM Amarinder Singh

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said the Punjab government had waived crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh of farmers and this had benefited more than 10 lakh tillers in the state. “The decision will benefit marginal and big farmers. Moreover, the government has repealed Section 67 A of the Punjab Cooperative Societies Act, 1961, which provides for auction and kurki of a farmer’s land (auction of mortgaged land),” he said here. The waiver has benefited 10.25 lakh farmers and it has been decided to take over the outstanding crop loans from institutional sources of the families of farmers who committed suicide in the state, the chief minister said. “The state government has increased the compensation for crop damage from Rs 8,000 per acre to Rs 12,000 per acre, and has arranged for hassle-free procurement of grains at Punjab’s markets,” he said.

Source: Financial Express

Farm loan waiver stir: Scheme will have impact on fiscal health, says Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

A day after announcing a mega farm loan waiver scheme, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said it will create some “pressure” for the state’s finances for the next three-four years. “Looking at the economic condition of Maharashtra, the Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver will have its impact on the fiscal health of the state,” he said, addressing a function here. “It will create financial pressure on the economy for the next three to four years and it will not be an easy task (to handle this pressure),” Fadnavis said.

Source: Financial Express