Congress, others to move no-trust motion against government
New Delhi, July 17: The Congress party on Tuesday said it will bring a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in the monsoon session of Parliament and added that it is in talks with other opposition parties on the issue.
Going a step ahead, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Tuesday submitted a notice for no-trust motion. It asked the Lok Sabha Secretary General to include the no-trust motion in the list of business on Wednesday -- the opening day of the session.
Addressing the media, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said the party would raise several issues for discussion in the session such as mob lynching, woman safety, "misrule" in Jammu and Kashmir, dilution of SC/ST Act, attempts to abolish reservation in autonomous institutions and issues of farmers, unemployment and poor investments, besides special status to Andhra Pradesh.
He also criticised the government for allegedly ignoring rules in appointing heads of autonomous institutions, rising petrol and diesel prices, depreciation of rupee and "worsening" foreign policy.
"Yesterday (Monday), out of 17 opposition parties, 12 parties which were present in the opposition meeting agreed to move a vote of no-confidence against the government on these issues, apart from special status to Andhra Pradesh," Kharge told reporters.
"It will be brought after meeting and talking to all the parties. We are in talks with all opposition parties and trying to mobilise them," he added.
The senior Congress leader also accused the government of indulging in corruption during demonetisation and alleged that there was a scam in Ahmedabad District Co-operative bank accepting over Rs 750 crore -- highest among cooperative banks -- post the note ban announcement.
He also said that issues of black money and 50 per cent increase in Swiss Bank accounts will also be raised during the session.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah is the Director of the Ahmedabad District Co-operative, Kharge underlined.
A number of opposition parties had given notices for no confidence motion during the Budget session, but Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had rejected them all.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, accusing the government of not letting Parliament to function in the previous sessions (Winter and Budget), said: "It was not the Congress which was responsible for not allowing the House to function. It was the ruling party which did not have the will to allow the House to function."
"Government doesn't have the guts to face the public and the opposition because all promises they had made were falsehood," he added.
Azad said: "Government has to be very careful in its utterances. For the last few days, an atmosphere is being created across the country of dividing the nation. That is not in the interest of the country. There is a huge nexus between the ruling party and all those who are doing nasty things like lynchings all over the country."
The leader also said that EVM machines should be done away with and original system should be restored. He also raised concern over how leaders of opposition parties do not get a chance to raise various issues in Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha TV.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "Rising prices are slicing people's budget, but apathetic Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy in dividing people.
"In the last four years, people have witnessed price rise, rampant unemployment, reduction in savings, low growth, economy in turmoil and rising cost of living," he added.
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India should create strategic buffers to navigate 'most difficult' energy shock: CEA Nageswaran
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Saturday said India needs to create strategic buffers in the face of the "most difficult" energy shock that the country is facing amid the West Asia crisis.
Nageswaran also said the rising prices of fertiliser and petroleum products globally due to the crisis will make it challenging to achieve the 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal, while below normal monsoon and pass-through of higher energy prices could lead to "potential inflation spike".
He also said India has employment challenge emanating from AI, and there is a need to ensure that IT sector becomes more competitive and not lose jobs to AI, and instead create jobs that use AI within the IT sector or in other services.
Speaking at the ICPP Growth Conference organised by the Ashoka University, Nageswaran said the current account deficit (CAD) in the current fiscal could rise to over 2 per cent of GDP, from less than 1 per cent in FY'26.
"The ... priority for us is to create strategic buffers. This energy shock is the most difficult one compared to any other previous energy shock in terms of energy lost as a percentage of total global energy supply, not just oil, including gas.
"And we also need to use this occasion to think about other areas where we are vulnerable in terms of import dependence, nickel, tin, and copper. We need to build strategic buffers if we have to make a shot at manufacturing and becoming indispensable," Nageswaran said.
Since the beginning of the war in West Asia on February 28, crude oil prices soared to a four-year high of USD 126 per barrel on Thursday, from about USD 73 level before the war.
Stating that geopolitics will compel policymakers to be nimble and flexible and shed old model of thinking, Nageswaran said India is better prepared than many other countries to deal with the crisis because of the fiscal leeway that the country has due to lowering of fiscal deficit ratio to 4.4 per cent of GDP in FY'26.
Nageswaran said the West Asia conflict is more of a price shock than supply shock for India as the government is managing the supply side deftly.
"This particular conflict, which is going to be on a low simmer or a high flame situation, whatever it is, it is going to be there with us in some form or the other because the military conflict may be over, but the strategic conflict is well and truly alive. It will be so for some time," Nageswaran said.
He said the conflict has four channels of shock: price and supply shock, trade impact, sticky logistics costs and remittance shock.
India imports 60 per cent of its LPG usage and of that, 90 per cent flows through the now closed Strait of Hormuz.
Nageswaran said the pass-through of high global energy prices would have to be a "balancing act". He said some pass-through is already happening in commercial LPG, and the levy of export duty on diesel and ATF.
The government has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to shield customers from the impact of the rise in petroleum prices. "We are coming around to arriving at a certain modus vivendi with respect to burden-sharing between the fiscal policy side, inflation, households and the oil marketing companies. So it has to be a balancing act," Nageswaran said.
