'Shameful, condemnable': Rahul slams police action against protesting BPSC candidates in Patna
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Thursday condemned the police action on protesting Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) candidates in Patna and claimed that the NDA government is "resorting to lathi-charging students" to hide its own failures.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also slammed the BJP over the police action, saying the ruling party's only vision is to save its chair and whoever demands employment is oppressed.
In a post in Hindi on X, Rahul Gandhi said, "I had said in Parliament that in the same way that Eklavya's thumb was cut off, the thumbs of the youth were being chopped off by paper leaks."
"The latest example of this is Bihar. BPSC candidates are raising their voice against the paper leak and demanding cancellation of the exam. But to hide its failure, the NDA government is instead resorting to lathi-charge on the students," the former Congress chief said.
"This is extremely shameful and condemnable. Playing with the future of students will not be tolerated. We are with them and will fight to get them justice," he said.
Chaos erupted during a protest in Patna on Wednesday over the alleged leak of a question paper of the December 13 combined preliminary exam conducted by BPSC, prompting the police to baton charge job aspirants.
Job seekers claimed that several protesters were injured during the police action but a senior officer denied the charge.
"Lathi charge on youths who had their hands folded is the height of cruelty. In BJP rule, youths demanding employment are beaten with sticks. Be it UP, Bihar or Madhya Pradesh - if youths raise their voice, they are brutally beaten," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on her WhatsApp channel.
"It is the government's job to think about the future of the youth of the world's youngest country and make policies for it. But the BJP only has the vision of saving its chair," she said.
Whoever demands employment is oppressed, the Congress MP added.
The Congress had condemned the police action on job aspirants, while Independent MP from Purnea Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav called for a Bihar bandh on January 1, 2025, if the December 13 combined preliminary examination is not cancelled.
The police registered a case against protestors in connection with Wednesday's incident. The protesters claimed that several job seekers were injured in the baton charge, which the police denied.
Video clips of the police action against job aspirants went viral on social media with some showing personnel chasing and beating up protesters, including women.
PTI could not verify the authenticity of the video clips.
Protesters were seen raising slogans against the BPSC officials and demanding the cancellation of the December 13 combined preliminary exam.
The job aspirants have been demanding the cancellation of the preliminary examination of the BPSC and have requested the commission to announce a fresh date for the test at the earliest.
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What to know about possible impact of Japan's rate hike
Tokyo (AP): The Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate to a 30-year high on Friday in a widely anticipated move that could rattle world markets.
The two-day BOJ policy meeting wrapped up with the 0.25 per cent hike in its benchmark short-term rate. That took the policy rate to 0.75 per cent, its highest level since September 1995.
In a statement, the central bank said the decision was unanimous and that it expected to raise rates further if there are no major changes in the outlook for the economy.
The 0.75 per cent rate is still low by most standards, but the BOJ has kept that rate near or below zero for years, trying to pull the economy out of a deflationary funk. Since the pandemic, most other central banks, like the US Federal Reserve, have raised rates to counter spiking inflation and then begun cutting them to help their slowing economies recover momentum.
Japan's own economy contracted at a 2.3 per cent annual rate in the last quarter, but improved business sentiment and price pressures have led the BOJ to relent and raise rates. Here are some things to know about its decision.
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Japan's interest rates rise while other countries' fall
Since Japan's economic bubble burst in the early 1990s, the central bank has kept borrowing costs low to encourage more spending by businesses and consumers.
Lower interest rates have also helped the central bank manage the country's massive national debt, which amounts to nearly triple the size of the economy.
As Japan's population has aged and begun declining, its economy has slowed and that led to deflation, or falling prices due to weak demand. Even with cheap credit, investment has lagged, stunting economic growth.
In early 2013, the central bank launched what was dubbed a “big bazooka” of monetary easing, cutting interest rates and purchasing government bonds and other securities to help channel more money into the economy.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the benchmark interest rate was at minus 0.1 per cent. The BOJ only began raising it in 2024, the first hike in 17 years, after inflation stabilised above its target of about 2 per cent.
A weaker Japanese yen has pushed inflation higher
The Japanese yen has weakened against the US dollar and many other major currencies. That has raised the cost, in yen terms, of imported food, fuel and other items needed to keep the world's fourth largest economy running.
The strong appetite for investing in dollar-denominated shares of companies linked to the artificial intelligence boom has also pulled money out of the yen and into dollars.
So inflation has risen faster than wages, squeezing household budgets and raising costs for businesses.
Higher interest rates are expected to raise the value of the yen against the dollar as investments flow into Japan seeking higher yen-denominated yields. Friday's move would signal the central bank's intention of continuing to “normalise” its monetary policy with further rate hikes next year.
“The BOJ's stance towards rate hikes reflects the fact that inflation is becoming entrenched," Kei Fujimoto, a senior economist at SuMi Trust, said in a commentary. “If drivers such as a further depreciation of the yen accelerate inflation going forward, it is possible that the pace of rate hikes will also increase accordingly.”
The dollar is worth about 156 Japanese yen, nearly twice its level in 2012 and near its highest level this year.
World markets are bracing for impact
Even small changes in interest rates can have a big impact on markets. A rate hike in Japan would undermine an investment strategy known as the “carry trade.” That involves investors borrowing cheaply in yen and then using that money to invest in higher paying assets elsewhere.
Any such major shift is likely to reverberate across world markets. Carry trades are lucrative when stocks and other investments are climbing, but losses can snowball when many traders face pressure to sell stocks or other assets all at once.
A rate hike also is expected to crimp demand for other assets, including cryptocurrencies. Reports last week that the BOJ would go ahead and raise rates caused the price of bitcoin, for example, to drop below USD 86,000. The original cryptocurrency had bolted to record highs near USD 125,000 in early October.
Risks for Japan
Judging the timing and scale of changes to interest rates and other monetary policies are the biggest challenge for central banks, given the time it takes for such moves to ripple throughout the real economy and financial markets.
Like the Federal Reserve, Japan's central bank struggles to balance the need to boost business activity and create jobs with the imperative of containing inflation.
The BOJ held off on raising rates earlier given uncertainties over how US President Donald Trump's tariffs might hit automakers and other exporters. A deal setting US duties on imports from Japan at 15 per cent, down from the earlier plan for a 25 per cent rate, has helped ease those concerns.
BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda has indicated he believes wages will continue to rise in Japan as companies compete for a shrinking pool of workers, helping to support growth.
Market watchers will be watching closely to see what Ueda says Friday about the outlook for future rate increases.
