Raghuram Rajan Behind India's Declining Growth, Says NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar
New Delhi sep 03: With Indian medium and small scale enterprises registering a 100 percent growth in loan defaults and non-performing assets surging on a year-on-year basis, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar laid the blame on former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, stating that his policies led to industries not receiving credits from banks.
“It is a continuation of a trend of a declining growth, and why was this growth declining, it was declining because of the rising NPAs in the banking sector. When this government came into office that figure was 4 lakh crore, it rose to 10.5 lakh crore by the middle of 2017 because under the previous RBI governor, Mr. Rajan, they had identified mechanisms to identify stressed and non-performing assets which is why the banks stopped giving credit to industries,” said Kumar on Monday.
He was responding to a question on why the growth had slowed down post demonetisation. He said the slowdown was not due to the decision to scrap old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes but because of Rajan's policies. "There was already a declining trend in the economy. Starting from the last quarter of 2015-16, the growth rate had come down for six successive quarters," he said.
The banking sector crisis in India can be identified by Punjab National Bank (PNB), India’s second-largest state-owned lender, posting its financial results for the first quarter of 2018-19. It reported a net loss of Rs 940 crore.
In June 2018, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cautioned in its Financial Stability Report that things would worsen before they become better. In March 2018, gross non-performing advances of all scheduled commercial banks stood at 11.6 percent of gross advances. The RBI outlined what it expected to happen to them a year hence in three scenarios. At best, it projected gross NPAs of 12.2 percent (baseline scenario); at worst, 13.3 percent (severe stress scenario).
“Especially in the case of small scale business, their credit actually shrank. There was a negative growth in the years. Even for the large industries, their growth shrank to 1.5 percent to 2 percent and in some quarter even negative. This has been the highest deleveraging of India’s commercial sector in the country’s economic history. Never had we seen such a continuous year after year of deleveraging of credit. This has been the primary reason for falling growth. The current government ramped up the public capital expenditure for the very raseon,” added Kumar.
For the first quarter of the current financial year, investments grew at 10 percent, lower than the 14.4 percent in the last quarter of the preceding financial year, benefitting from a 27.4 percent rise in the central government’s capital expenditure in the first quarter.
Courtesy: news18.com
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Karnataka govt directs municipal corps to regulate, prohibit pigeon feeding
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government has issued directions to municipal corporations across the state to regulate and prohibit feeding pigeons in public places, citing serious public health concerns.
Deputy Secretary to Government V Lakshmikanth has written to the Urban Development Department requesting it to issue directions to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) and all municipal corporations to take immediate steps to implement the measures.
In an official note dated December 16 issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department and released to the media on Wednesday, the department said uncontrolled feeding of pigeons in public places has resulted in large congregations of birds, excessive droppings and serious health concerns, particularly respiratory illnesses linked to prolonged exposure to pigeon droppings and feathers such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis and other lung diseases.
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"The commissioner, the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the Commissioners and chief officers of other municipal corporations shall take necessary action to mitigate the causes of dangerous disease spread by pigeon and enforce specified guidelines in their respective jurisdiction," the note said.
According to the department, these include a prohibition on feeding pigeons or causing pigeons to be fed in areas where it may cause nuisance or pose a health hazard to the public. Pigeon feeding shall be permitted only in designated areas in a controlled manner, subject to certain conditions.
"The designated areas may be selected in consultation with stakeholders. The responsibility for upkeep of the designated areas and compliance to the directions shall be taken up by some charitable organisation or an NGO. The feeding in designated areas shall be permitted only for some limited hours in the day," it said.
The note further stated that authorised officers of local authorities shall issue on-the-spot warnings and may impose fines for violation of the order, or lodge complaints to prosecute offenders under Sections 271 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It also directed local authorities to conduct public awareness campaigns, including the display of signboards, banners and digital messages, explaining the health hazards associated with pigeon droppings and feathers, the content of the regulatory directions and penalties for violations, and alternative humane methods of bird conservation that do not endanger public health.
