Nagaland Post www.nagalandpost.com
Vol XXIX No. 176
DIMAPUR, MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2019 Pages 12 ` 5.00
Plans on to make metro, bus travels free for women in Delhi: Kejriwal
Liverpool win Champions League title
Iran may hold talks if US shows respect: Rouhani
national, Page 5
sports, Page 12
international, Page 9
Former Cabinet Secy slams CAG Says CAG’s report on 2G, coal block allocations sought to ‘usurp’ govt role of policy making NEW DELHI, JUN 2 (IANS): Former Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi has slammed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for its reports on 2G spectrum allocation and coal block allotments, saying the auditing body had sought to “usurp” the government role of policy making and tried to enter the domain of policy making, which is not its remit. Referring to the report on 2G, he said, “It almost appeared as if the CAG wanted to exaggerate the figure of loss, treating the public as his audience rather than the PAC (Public Accounts Committee of Parliament) when he used the figure of 3G auctions held in 2010 to compute losses in licence given in early 2008.” “The CAG report in the 2G case raised questions that had serious implications for governance
Fuel prices slashed for the 4th consecutive day DIMAPUR, JUN 2 (NPN): State-run oil marketing companies slashed the retail prices of petrol and diesel for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday (June 2) across four metro cities. Following the daily revision in retail fuel rates, the price of petrol in all the metro cities decreased by 2-12 paise per litre while diesel became cheaper by 19-21 paise. Petrol prices were decreased in New Delhi by 12 paise to Rs 71.50 a litre on Sunday as against Rs 71.62 a litre on Saturday. Diesel in the national capital became cheaper by 20 paise to Rs 66.16 as compared with Rs 66.36 yesterday’s price. In Nagaland’s commercial hub- Dimapur, the retail prices of petrol and diesel are Rs. 69.36 a litre and Rs. 63.83 a litre respectively. In Kohima, petrol a litre cost Rs. 70.16 and diesel Rs. 64.44 per litre. Worth mentioning here is that the retail fuel prices in the national capital Delhi, are the cheapest among all metros and most state capitals owing to lower taxes. The fuel price is dependent on the global crude oil prices, rupee to US dollar exchange rate, global cues, fuel demand, etc.
B.K. Chaturvedi (File)
and its approach to audit,” Chaturvedi wrote in his book ‘Challenges of Governance: An Insider’s View’. “While the CAG was correct in pointing out the errors in the allocation of licences, he also raised the issue of presumptive loss, which was taken as loss to government revenue,” the retired IAS officer said about an issue that had created a huge political uproar during the UPA-II period and led to stalling of Parliament for weeks. Highlighting the “wide variation” in the audit body’s calculation of the market value of loss from Rs 33,000 crore to Rs 1.76 lakh crore in the 2G spectrum allocation, the former top bureaucrat wrote, “By computing presumptive loss as loss to the government,
the CAG tried to usurp the government’s role in making public policy.” Chaturvedi, who was the Cabinet Secretary from 2004 to 2007, said, “All losses are computed based on government policy when a decision is taken. It is prerogative of all governments to price their resources. This is part of public policy. Many pricing structures are, at times, below the market price. This may be necessary to stimulate economic growth or expand reach of services.” He said the government “clearly exercised a wise choice” by going for revenue-share and by pricing spectrum moderately, thus expanding the market rather than fixing prices at very high rates and “killing the golden telecom goose”. “The government decided against raising the spectrum charges for new licencees. The CAG felt that this was wrong and hence computed loss to the government based on the market value of spectrum. While doing so, he did not take a broad and more comprehensive economic view of the issue in assessing the policies of the telecom sector,”
said Chaturvedi, who also served as a member of the Planning Commission and 13th Finance Commission after his tenure of Cabinet Secretary ended in 2007. “By deviating from the time-honoured principle of computing losses to the government based on difference between the pricing fixed by the government and the price actually charged, the CAG, by arriving at a sale price he thought should have been fixed, brought in uncertainty to the auditing process, as the exercise involved discovering the market value of the telecom licences given in violation of the FCFS (first come first served) policy,” he said. The Padma Bhushan awardee of 2010 added, “Market access was changing fast and growing at the rate of about 40 per cent per annum in 2003-2010. The type of 2G services was quite different from 3G, which included data. So neither were the market conditions for 2010 comparable to that of early 2008, nor was the type of spectrum allotted, viz, 3G, comparable to the allocations made to new licences. And yet this was chosen as the estimate of loss.”
While targeting the government auditor, then headed by Vinod Rai, Chaturvedi said, “By moving into the realm of market value of telecom licences rather than sticking to the audited numbers of accounts, the CAG entered an area that needed a more comprehensive assessment than had been done before.” He wrote that if market value were to be assigned to the new licensees, the growth of the telecom market could take a different trajectory. “Wherever possible, the new players would try to recover the cost by focusing on value-added services instead of mere expansion. This could slow down growth and the access of common citizens to these services. The overall growth of the economy and governance benefits could be impacted. Thus a comparison of loss required a more comprehensive assessment, including economic impact in the two scenarios: one with the rates on which allocation was made and the other based on different market values identified and indicated by the CAG,” the former bureaucrat wrote.
GUWAHATI, JUN 2 (AGENCIES): North East India is expected to have a below normal monsoon this year, though rainfall over the country is likely to be normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted in its latest forecast. “Rainfall over the country as a whole for the 2019 southwest monsoon season (June to September) is most likely to be normal,” the Meteorological department forecast report issued stated. Monsoon is categorised as below normal if the Long Period Average (LPA) is between 90-96 per cent and classified as deficient if it is below that. Anything above 110 per cent of the LPA is classified as excess rainfall. “Region wise, the seasonal rainfall is likely to be 94 per cent of Long Period Average over North-West India, 100 per cent of LPA over Central India, 97 per cent of LPA over South Peninsula and 91 per cent of LPA over North East India, all with
a model error of plus or minus 8 per cent,” it said. “The monthly rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 95 per cent of Long Period Average during July and 99 per cent of LPA during August, both with a model error of plus or minus 9 per cent.” “There are also chances of not getting sufficient monthly rainfall in our State if the existing trend continues,” a weatherman based here said. The El Nino phenomenon, generally believed to have its impact on the monsoon, will continue during the rainy season. However, there is a possibility of these conditions turning neutral during the later part of the rainfall season, the India Meteorological Department said. El Nino is linked to the heating of the Pacific waters. The monsoon is likely to strengthen further and set over Kerala around June 6, reportedly five days after its normal onset date.
DIMAPUR, JUN 2 (NPN): Business Association of Nagas (BAN) on Sunday appealed to all “our NNPG brothers” to exempt Nagarun businesses from any kind of taxation and not just fresh entrepreneurs for the initial two years. Explaining that Naga entrepreneurs were mostly first-generation businessmen, BAN in a statement pointed out that they were few compared to the large number of non-local business community. “We face a tough time managing our businesses in the very competitive business environment,” it stressed. And with government jobs getting scarce, Nagas have no option but to venture into business for survival, the organisation pointed out. BAN emphasised that under such circumstances it was only logical that all Naga entrepreneurs were exempted from taxation. Meanwhile, BAN appreciated NSCN (I-M) for the latter’s commitment to take action against Nagas leasing the name of their business to non-Nagas and also assuring that agriculture products traded locally would not be taxed. The association further appreciated the commitment of NSCN (I-M) not to utilise the service of non-Nagas for collection of taxes.
compulsory from class 1. “The present education system already puts too much burden on the students. Let us not increase it,” Sarkar said. While maintaining that it was wrong to “impose anything from above”, Sarkat instead suggested that in non-Hindi speaking states, the Hindi speaking people should also learn the main regional language. “For instance, in Bengal, the Hindi speaking population should learn Bangla. This will help in the spread of regional languages as well as in national integration by upholding India`s core philosophy of unity in diversity,” he said. Another popular Bengali author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay took heart from the Central government’s assurance that there would be no imposition. “Imposing anything is not right. What language an individual should learn must be a voluntary decision,” Mukhopadhyay said. Meanwhile, Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das refused to comment, saying he has not
GUWAHATI , JUN 2 (AGENCIES): Along with the airports in major metro cities in the country, Airports in the North East which have been classified as ‘hypersensitive’ will have to install body scanners by March 2020. As per reports, the Centre has asked 84 airports of India which have been classified as sensitive and hypersensitive to install body scanners by March next year and the remaining airports to do so by March 2021. A total of 28 airports in the country are classified as hypersensitive, including those in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and in conflict areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. A circular issued by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to all Indian airports stated that body scanners have the capacity to detect both metallic and nonmetallic items hidden in a human body. It also stated that hand-held metal detectors and walk-through metal detectors cannot detect non-metallic items and explosives. According to the circular, passengers have to remove jackets, belts, shoes and metallic items before entering a body scanner.
Sand mining continues unregulated in Karbi Anglong
(L) A sand mining area in Karbi Anglong district and (R) Labourers seen loading sand on trucks along the highway. (Rupjyoti)
K Y M C
KO L K ATA , J U N 2 (AGENCIES): The ongoing protests over the imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu appears to have reached West Bengal now. A group of academicians and writers in West Bengal has warned the Centre against attempts to thrust Hindi in schools across the state on Sunday. Opposing the draft National Education Policy which calls for mandatory teaching of Hindi up to class 8, the Bengali academicians and writers said on Sunday that ‘’efforts to impose any language would meet with severe protests.’’ Prominent among those opposing the draft National Education Policy is former Rabindra Bharati University Vice-chancellor and renowned linguist Pabitra Sarkar. Sarkar told IANS that K Kasturirangan Committee`s suggestion with regard to mandator y teaching of Hindi would “put more pressure” on the students of primary classes. He said while students of class 6, 7 and 8 could be taught Hindi, it was not proper to make the language
read the complete draft. Dividing states into Hindi speaking and nonHindi speaking, the Kasturirangan Committee recommends the teaching of Hindi in non-Hindi speaking states in addition to the regional language and English. In the case of Hindi speaking states, the Committee suggests teaching of Hindi, English and one of the modern Indian languages from other parts of India. However, it has not specified what the modern Indian language would be. Tamil has been accorded a classical language status by the Central government. It may be recalled that top political parties in Tamil Nadu have strongly opposed the recommendations of the Kasturirangan Committee and warned that any attempt to impose Hindi by the Centre will lead to a language war. Warning the Centre, DMK president MK Stalin had said that the BJP government should not even think in their dreams about the three language policy.
IMD forecasts below normal Exempt taxes on Naga-run Centre asks hypersensitive airports rainfall in North East region businesses: BAN to NNPGs in NE states to install body scanners
This is it!
“Prices of fuel keeping changing everyday. How are we to fix hire charges?”
After TN, Bengal academicians, writers warn Centre against imposition of Hindi
BOKAJAN, JUN 2 (AGENCIES): Uncontrolled mining of sand and gravel from river beds and agricultural lands has assumed an alarming proportion in the hill district of Karbi Anglong. Urbanisation and construction boom has played a huge role in upping the demand for sand. The district of Karbi Anglong is criss-crossed with several downstream river and rivulets and sand mining here
has been an old practice. The KAAC floats tenders to mine sand from these river beds. However, a lot more than the prescribed limit of extraction is carried out in these rivers It needs to be mentioned that Karbi Anglong alone caters to the sand demand of Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland. The state of Manipur is also sourcing construction sand from Karbi Anglong. This
has escalated the demand and has spawned a thriving black market of sand here. The rising demand for construction grade sand and the unprecedented lack of job has pushed many tribal youths into this lucrative sand mining business. River beds and agricultural land with sand deposits have been scrapped and stripped bare by openly flouting all rules and regulations of sand mining. The practice
of using suction machines to pump out sand has of late made the matter worse. In the Balipathar area of Bokajan, unscientific extraction of sand from agricultural land using suction machines is a common phenomenon. This activity is carried out in board daylight under the nose of the forest department and the district administration. Machines operate round the clock as huge mounds of recently
excavated sand can be seen piled up along the NH 39 on a regular basis. This practice is allegedly carried out in connivance with the forest department. The department’s presence is limited to the highway and a few seizures periodically. However, on ground, the department has deliberately failed to enforce regulations and stop exploitation. This issue of illegal sand mining has also stripped the KAAC in terms of revenue. KAAC has failed to tap substantial revenue that is strilling through illegal sand mining. A truck load of illegally mined sand (400 cft) costs anything between RS 10 to 12 thousand at source depending on the quality. No forest royalty is paid on this quality of sand causing a severe loss of revenue to KAAC. Hundred of such trucks ply on the highway regularly.
Security screening of passengers at an airport.
The body scanner in addition to generating the image of the human body will also highlight areas which need to be checked thoroughly with the help of a yellow spot, the circular added. The circular claimed that the body scanners that have been designed using millimetre wave technology are safe for all kinds of passengers.
About 42% of India abnormally dry NEW DELHI, JUN 2 (IANS): About 42% of India is ‘abnormally dry’ which is around 6% more than last year, according to the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS). In the May 28 update of the real time drought watcher, the percentage of abnormally dry area increased to 42.61% from a week before (May 21) when it was 42.18%. The increase is 0.45% from April 28 when it was 42.16%. The situation was little better on February 27 when 41.30% area was abnormally dry. The dry index has worsened over the last year as 36.74% of the area in India was abnormally dry on May 28, 2018. There is an increase in the area under ‘severely dry’ category from 15.93% a week ago to 16.18% on May 28. Little less than 6% of the area is under ‘excep-
tionally dry’ category. Some of the worst affected areas are in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. The area under exceptionally dry category went up from 0.68% last year to 5.66% this year. The latest bulletin of the Central Water Commission on May 30 said that live storage of water in 91 reservoirs was 31.65 BCM which is 20% of the capacity. All eyes are now on the monsoon. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its second early forecast has claimed that it will be a normal monsoon but northwest India and northeast India are expected to have less than normal rains. The Long Period Average (LPA) of 96 is expected for the whole country which is the bottom of the scale (96 to 104). K Y M C