Telugu Desam Party leader YS Chowdary who resigned from the Union Cabinet on Thursday ruled out the possibility of his outfit breaking away from the National Democratic Alliance despite their differences on granting Andhra Pradesh special category status PTI reported.Chowdary who was the minister of state for science and technology and earth sciences and his TDP colleague Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju resigned from their positions in the Union Cabinet on Thursday. They met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed in their resignations on Thursday evening.Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday announced that Telugu Desam Party leaders would resign from the Union Cabinet hours after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the state could only get a special package not special category status.Chowdary on Thursday compared the decision to an unfortunate divorce and said the two TDP leaders had to resign from their Cabinet positions because of unavoidable circumstances . He clarified that the party will continue to be part of the NDA but no leader will take up any ministerial position at the Centre. We are stepping down as ministers but our president Chandrababu Naidu has said we will continue to be part of the NDA he told reporters. When they are in responsible positions they will have to balance such things and during the process of balancing they will have to face such situations. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated unscientifically. Those who did it say this even today and it needs corrective action he said. That is what we are requesting now. Aviation Minister and TDP MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju s resignation letter to PM Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/DXFbagSzWs ANI (@ANI) March 8 2018 With 16 MPs in the Lok Sabha the Telugu Desam Party is the NDA s third-largest constituent in the Lower House and its only southern ally.The TDP s decision came after weeks of protests by legislators from Andhra Pradesh demanding special category status for their state. The Budget Session of the Parliament has been repeatedly adjourned over their demand. The lawmakers had also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of not allocating enough funds for Andhra Pradesh in the Union Budget this year.States with special category status are entitled to higher funds from the Centre than other states. Although Andhra Pradesh does not qualify for the additional funds former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had promised five years of special category status to Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation. Although the BJP had said it would extend the special status to 10 years this has yet to happen.
HYDERABAD: Former minister and Telangana Telugu Desam Party politburo member Motkupalli Narasimhulu has come out openly in favour of an alliance between the T-TDP and the TRS in Telangana for the 2019 polls. Narasimhulu on Friday said N Chandrababu Naidu should tour Telangana to strengthen the T-TDP. He blamed Revanth Reddy for bringing disrepute to Naidu through the infamous cash-for-vote scam. Most of the TDP leaders who were given political life by the party s founder NT Rama Rao are now in TRS. It would be a tribute to NTR if T-TDP allies with TRS he said. tnn
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha failed to transact any legislative business for the fourth consecutive day today as members from parties including NDA ally Telugu Desam Party AIADMK and Trinamool Congress continued their protests on various issues.Members from the TDP AIADMK TRS and TMC trooped into the Well with many holding placards and raising slogans.While the TDP was demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh the AIADMK sought immediate setting up of Cauvery River Management Board.AIADMK members were also seen holding placards of Dravidian movement founder Thanthai Periyar. Members from the TRS were demanding an increase in quota.Amid the noise Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the Supplementary Demands for Grants seeking Parliament nod for additional cash spending of Rs 85 315 crore.As the House met for the day Speaker Sumitra Mahajan extended greetings on International Women s Day being celebrated today and also read out a message.Soon after members from Trinamool Congress Telugu Desam Party TRS YSR Congress and AIADMK trooped into the Well raising slogans.Members from opposition Congress who have been protesting vociferously over the Rs 12 700 crore fraud at PNB were also on their feet.TMC members also continued to press the government to respond on the fraud case in which Letters of Undertaking (LoU) were allegedly fraudulently issued by one branch of PNB to diamantaire Nirav Modi.Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar requested the Speaker to continue with the Question Hour. We are ready to discuss irregularities in the banking (sector) the minister said.Under Rule 193 a discussion on alleged systemic irregularities in banking sector over the years and its impact on Indian economy was scheduled for today in the House.As the protests continued Ms Mahajan adjourned the proceedings till noon and thereafter for the entire day.TDP leader and Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju was not present in the House even though it was the question day of the ministry. However Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha was present. CommentsDisappointed over the Centre not granting special status to Andhra Pradesh the TDP had late last night announced that the party s two ministers -- Raju and YS Chowdary -- would resign from the central government.The protesting members were wearing stoles of their party colours. While TDP members were sporting yellow stoles and T- shirts with picture of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu those from TRS donned pink scarves. AIADMK members were wearing stoles in hues of white black and red.
In the politicking around the Punjab National Bank fraud allegedly perpetrated by the billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi essential details have become muddled. The barrage of often-contradictory articles about raids by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate and recovery of the jeweller s assets has not helped. With the Narendra Modi government s attempts to blame everyone but itself nobody is any wiser about to what is being done if anything to contain the damage to India s banking system. The central characters in the unfolding tragicomedy meanwhile are playing cat-and-mouse. While Nirav Modi reported to be living it up in New York after fleeing India has all but refused to return his loans estimated at Rs 11 400 crore the PNB has accused him of laundering money and directed him to come up with a repayment plan . (What it could possibly do if he does not oblige is not known.)Here then cutting through the noise is a primer on the fraud and what is being done about it. What s the PNB fraud?On Valentine s Day the PNB informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had detected fraudulent and unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 11 400 crore at its Brady House branch in Mumbai. The share price of the country s second-largest public sector bank immediately plunged 9.81% dragging down shares of other public banks as well. Over the following week PNB s shares fell 28%.The fraudulent transactions involved PNB officials handing out Letters of Undertaking to companies associated with Nirav Modi allowing him to access massive foreign exchange loans that were completely unsecured.What has the government done about it?On January 28 the PNB had complained to the CBI about the fraud. The agency in turn approached Interpol to issue a notice for locating Nirav Modi his wife Ami brother Nishal and uncle Mehul Choksi all of whom had left India early in January. Soon after the Indian government suspended the passports of Nirav Modi and Choksi. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not spoken about the fraud Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sought to pass the buck. A question for managements itself is whether they were found lacking? And on the face of it the answer seems to be yes they were he was quoted as saying by The Economic Times. They were also found lacking in being able to check who among them was a delinquent. Speaking at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Association of Development Financing Institutions In Asia and the Pacific on February 20 Jaitley asked What were the bank s auditors doing? If both internal and external auditors have looked the other way and failed to detect the fraud then chartered accountants must introspect. It was left to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to publicly articulate the government s position. She tried to throw the fraud at the Opposition s door by suggesting the wife of Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi was a shareholder in a realty firm that had leased premises to a company associated with Nirav Modi.Curiously the government has opposed petitions in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored enquiry by a Special Investigation Team into the fraud. Attorney General KK Venugopal argued that an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation was already underway so there was no need for another one. The court directed the government to file a reply and adjourned the matter to March 16. Indeed the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate have been quite active raiding properties associated with Nirav Modi and Choksi sealing stores and seizing everything from luxury cars to boxfuls of imported watches. There were reports of the agencies recovering Rs 5 100-crore worth of Nirav Modi s assets but they appeared to be of doubtful veracity.The CBI has booked Nirav Modi for fraud and arrested five officials of companies associated with him and Choksi Vipul Ambani and Arjun Patil of Firestar International Kapil Khandelwal of Nakshatra Group Niten Shahi of Gitanjali Gems and Kavita Mankikar the authorised signatory of three companies accused of fraud. It has also arrested three PNB officials Gokulnath Shetty a deputy manager at Brady House branch Manoj Kharat who operated the SWIFT financial messaging system and Rakesh Jindal head of the bank s Brady House branch from 2009 to 2011 and currently general manager of credit at the bank s head office in Delhi. They had issued Letters of Undertaking without getting proper approvals and without making entries in the core banking system the software used to support a bank s most common transactions and which acts as a record keeper Mint reported quoting the PNB s complaint.On Friday the Enforcement Directorate issued fresh summons to both Nirav Modi and Choksi asking them to appear before it on February 26. Replying to an earlier summons Nirav Modi had informed the agency he could not appear before it because his passport had been suspended reported PTI. What has the PNB done?In a letter to the PNB on February 15 a day after the bank acknowledged the fraud publicly Nirav Modi claimed the bank s overzealousness had hampered his ability to clear his dues. The erroneously cited liability resulted in a media frenzy which led to immediate search and seizure of operations which in turn resulted in Firestar International and Firestar Diamond International effectively ceasing to be going-concerns he wrote according to PTI. This thereby jeopardised our ability to discharge the dues of the group to the banks. Replying to the letter on Thursday PNB accused Nirav Modi of laundering money. You were getting LoUs issued illegally and in an unauthorised way through few bank officials The Economic Times quoted the bank as having written. At no stage such facilities were extended by our bank to the three partner firms. When these illegal activities surfaced they pointed out towards apparent violation of FEMA and money laundering aspect. It also asked Nirav Modi to come up with a plan to return the money. Your commitment and undertaking for sparing of the total liability was not backed by providing upfront amounts and timelines the bank said in its letter NDTV reported quoting PTI. However should you have any concrete and implementable plan do revert. Separately in a clarification to stock exchanges the bank claimed it had followed all lawful avenues available to us as per law of land to recover our dues .The bank has now appointed the auditor Pricewaterhouse Coopers to investigate the alleged fraud The Economic Times reported asking it to collect evidence against Nirav Modi and quantify the bank s losses from the alleged fraud.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday for the fourth day in a row as members of the Telugu Desam Party an ally of the National Democratic Alliance continued to disrupt proceedings over their demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh. The Lok Sabha was adjourned at noon after protests by the TDP members and by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs from Tamil Nadu calling for a Cauvery management board to be set up.The Rajya Sabha was first adjourned till 2 pm. It reconvened only to be adjourned soon after amid sloganeering and protests. However unlike the Lower House the Rajya Sabha managed to have a one-hour discussion with members speaking about the achievements of women in India and ways to ensure their development on the occasion of International Women s Day. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked that it was nice to see the House cutting across party lines for the discussion. However the discussion did not lead to any concrete plans.In the Lok Sabha Telugu Desam Party legislators stormed the Well of the House waving placards and shouting slogans. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananthkumar requested the Speaker to continue with Question Hour even as protests continued in the Lower House. We are ready to discuss irregularities in banking sector he said. However when the commotion continued Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the proceedings till 12 pm. When the House reconvened the uproar continued and the session was adjourned for the day. The demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh also prompted YSR Congress MPs to protest outside Parliament. Meanwhile AIADMK legislators staged a demonstration in front of Mahatma Gandhi s statue inside Parliament premises demanding the formation of the Cauvery management board.Delhi: TDP MPs protest inside Parliament premises over special category status to Andhra Pradesh pic.twitter.com/tKNTOyPq9f ANI (@ANI) March 8 2018 Delhi: YSR Congress MPs protest outside Parliament over special category status to #AndhraPradesh pic.twitter.com/GqZE9wVeP2 ANI (@ANI) March 8 2018 Delhi: AIADMK MPs stage protest in front of Mahatama Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises over #Cauvery issue (formation of Cauvery management board) pic.twitter.com/PDrLyEttw6 ANI (@ANI) March 8 2018 Broken alliance?On Wednesday Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said the Telugu Desam Party has asked its legislators to resign from the Union Cabinet. The Bharatiya Janata Party has failed to reach out to the TDP on the special category status issue the chief minister said adding that the party will take a decision on the alliance soon. On Thursday afternoon two TDP MPs Union aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju and YS Chowdary met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and handed over their resignations. The TDP however said it will decide soon whether it will leave the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
14:02 (IST) Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day
New Delhi: HighlightsBJP s alliance troubles are threatening to spread to Bihar JDU now mirroring Andhra Pradesh s demand for special status Earlier the Bihar chief minister had also sat on a protest in Patna The BJP s alliance troubles are threatening to spread to Bihar with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar s party mirroring Andhra Pradesh s demand for special status.Two ministers of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are set to quit the central government and two BJP ministers have already left the Naidu government.Now Nitish Kumar s Janata Dal United has pressed for special status which ensures a vast infusion of central funds into a state. Bihar cannot progress without special status. We support Andhra Pradesh s demand. Today Andhra Pradesh is at the same place where Bihar was after its bifurcation. All the resources have gone to Telangana said Janata Dal United leader KC Tyagi.Nitish Kumar has repeatedly demanded special status for Bihar and has also appealed directly to Prime Minister Narendra https://journals.fotki.com/kkflipkart/flipkart-offers/ Modi. Even after achieving double digit growth rate during the last many years we are still behind the national average on major developmental parameters - poverty line per capita income industrialisation and social and physical infrastructure the Chief Minister wrote in a letter to the PM in May last year.Earlier the Chief Minister had also sat on a five-hour protest in Patna.In July Nitish Kumar dramatically walked out of the grand alliance with Lalu Yadav s RJD and the Congress and reunited with his party s 17-year-old partner BJP. Since then he has often talked about special status for his state. CommentsSpeaking on the demand by team Nitish Kumar Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who is also from Bihar said: Nitish Kumar s government has been demanding special status for Bihar for long and we ve got a special package which is monetarily as beneficial as special status. But despite this some people aren t satisfied and to them I will just say that India can only grow in NDA s regime. Last evening Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said the Centre was happy to give Andhra Pradesh funds but special category status as demanded by Mr Naidu was not possible.
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