LIVE! Now, Puducherry to pass anti-CAA resolution

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Sun, 02 February 2020

Now, Puducherry to pass anti-CAA resolution

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20:53 Now, Puducherry to move anti-CAA resolution

A resolution opposing the Citizenship Amendment Act would be moved in the assembly on February 12, Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy said on Sunday while dubbing the legislation as "ill-conceived".

The Congress-ruled Puducherry would be the fifth dispensation to adopt the course after the West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan assemblies passed resolutions against the amended citizenship law.

Launching a 'massive' signature campaign against the CAA, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register in the union territory, Narayanasamy said,""We will never give room for the CAA as it is ill-conceived and injurious."

The resolution condemning the Centre's initiative and also protesting against the CAA would be adopted on the floor of the territorial Assembly when it meets on February 12, Narayanasamy said.

"Come what may we will protest tooth and nail the CAA and will give no room for introduction of the Act in the union territory," he said.

The signature campaign has been announced by the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance which includes the Congress.

DMK president M K Stalin launched the initiative in Tamil Nadu.

Others who participated in the campaign here included the DMK legislator and convenor of the DMK (south) wing R Siva, PCC leader and PWD Minister A Namassivayam, leaders of the CPI, the CPI-M, VCK, DK and other parties affiliated to the alliance.

The signature campaign would go on till February 8. -- PTI

20:24 Gandhi's freedom struggle a 'drama': BJP MP

Former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anantkumar Hegde is in the news again for the wrong reasons, this time for attacking Mahatma Gandhi and calling the freedom struggle led by him a "drama".

He also questioned as to how "such people" come to be called 'Mahatma' in India.

While addressing a public event in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada said the entire freedom movement was "staged with the consent and support of the British".

"None of these so-called leaders were beaten up by the cops even once. Their independence movement was one big drama. It was staged by these leaders with the approval of the British. It was not a genuine fight. It was an adjustment freedom struggle," he said.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader also termed Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strikes and satyagraha a "drama".

"People supporting Congress keep saying that India got independence because of the fast unto death and satyagraha. This is not true. The British did not leave the country because of satyagraha," he said.

"Britishers gave independence out of frustration. My blood boils when I read history. Such people become Mahatma in our country," Hegde said in his concluding statement. -- ANI

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said when the provisions of Article 370, that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated, pain was felt by Pakistan and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also termed the Shaheen Bagh protest a "malicious attempt to disturb peace and normal life".

"When Article 370 was abrogated, pain was felt by Pakistan and Arvind Kejriwal," Adityanath said, addressing a rally in south Delhi's Badarpur.

Adityanath said in the Delhi elections, on one side there is the leadership of Narendra Modi for development and nationalism, on the other, there is the Congress and Kejriwal who "support divisive forces".

"The BJP is working with zero tolerance towards terrorism. But Kejriwal is busy with sponsoring and offering biryani in Shaheen Bagh," he said. -- PTI

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to Sir Ganga Ram hospital in Delhi, news agency ANI reports.

More details are awaited.

19:37 No intention to tax global income of NRIs: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that there is no intention to tax global income of Non-Resident Indians and only income generated in India will be taxed.

Following the budget announcement on Saturday there was confusion about the tax liability of NRIs on their global income.

"What we are doing now is that the income of an NRI generated in India will be taxed here. If he's earning something in a jurisdiction where there is no tax, why will I include that into mine that has been generated there.

"Whereas if you have a property here and you have a rent out of it, but because you are living there, you carry this rent into your income there and pay no tax there, pay no tax here ... since the property is in India, I have got a sovereign right to tax," she said in a post budget interaction with media.

"I am not taxing what you're earning in Dubai but that property which is giving you a rent here, you may be an NRI, you may be living there but that is revenue being generated here for you. So that's the issue," she added.

The Finance Bill, 2020 has proposed that an Indian citizen shall be deemed to be resident in India, if he is not liable to be taxed in any country or jurisdiction.

This is an anti-abuse provision since it is noticed that some Indian citizens shift their stay in low or no tax jurisdiction to avoid payment of tax in India, the finance ministry said in a statement.

"The new provision is not intended to include in tax net those Indian citizens who are bonafide workers in other countries. In some section of the media the new provision is being interpreted to create an impression that those Indians who are bonafide workers in other countries, including in Middle East, and who are not liable to tax in these countries will be taxed in India on the income that they have earned there. This interpretation is not correct," it said.

In order to avoid any misinterpretation, it is clarified that in case of an Indian citizen who becomes deemed resident of India under this proposed provision, income earned outside India by him shall not be taxed in India unless it is derived from an Indian business or profession, it added. -- PTI

19:32 Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa joins BJP

Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu Sasikala Pushpa, who was expelled from the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in 2016, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday in the presence of the party's national secretary, P Muralidhar Rao, and former Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan.

Inducting Sasikala into the BJP at a press conference in New Delhi, Rao, who is the party's in-charge for the southern state, described her as a "very aggressive, vocal leader in Tamil Nadu".

"Sasikala is a Rajya Sabha member and she has been a very aggressive, vocal leader in Tamil Nadu. Coming from south Tamil Nadu, she has also been a mayor of Thoothukudi, a port town, and has worked as the chief of the AIADMK's women's wing for the state," he said.

Sasikala's tenure in the Upper House of Parliament will come to an end in a few months.

She was involved in an altercation with a DMK MP in 2016 and was accused of slapping him.

Subsequently, the then AIADMK supremo and former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa had expelled her from the party.

At the press conference at the BJP office, Rao made the announcement of Pushpa's joining, saying it would be advantageous for the saffron party in Tamil Nadu.

"With the joining of Sasikala, the party's capacity to fight the coming assembly election will definitely gain further advantage," he said.

BJP's decision to induct Sasikala into the party highlights its efforts to strengthen its base in Tamil Nadu, ahead of the assembly polls in the southern state next year.

Despite its rise across the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saffron party has been unable to make much of a mark in the Dravidian state so far.

"In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is gaining in strength day by day. Our membership and penetration have increased in every district of the state. The appeal of Narendra Modi is enhancing the party's spread.

"A number of leaders, who have worked in different parties, have been joining the BJP and expressing their willingness to strengthen it under the leadership of Modiji. We have an ideological and political fight with the DMK and the Congress. As we have been fighting all over the country, the fight in Tamil Nadu is also getting sharpened day by day. Even in Delhi, Tamil people are now supporting the BJP," Rao said. -- PTI

Image: Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa joins BJP in the presence of party general secretary P Muralidhar Rao in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: ANI Photo

19:28 JK admin releases 4 politicians from detention

The Jammu and Kashmir adminstration on Sunday released four politicians from preventive custody in the MLA hostel, which has been temporarily converted into a subsidiary jail, officials said in Srinagar.

The three of the released politicians belong to the National Conference and one is from the PDP, they said.

The four have been sent to their homes and asked to remain confined within their residence for the time being, they said.

The leaders released are: Abdul Majeed Bhat Larni, Ghulam Nabi Bhat and Dr Mohammed Shafi (all National Conference) and Mohammed Yusuf Bhat of the PDP.

They were detained along with several other politicians, leaders, activists and traders after the abrogation of the Article 370 of the constitution on August 5 last year.

Among other prominent politicians who have been detained since the Article 370 move are NC leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and JK People's Conference leader Sajjad Gani Lone.

They have still not been released.

While senior Abdullah has been kept at his Gupkar house, his son and NC vice president Omar Abdullah has been detained at Hari Niwas.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who was lodged at Chesmashahi Huts, has been shifted to a government building in the heart of Srinagar.

The senior Abdullah was slapped with stringent Public Safety Act on September 17 which was renewed for a period of three months on December 16. -- PTI

Taking a dig at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar on Sunday said some people are interested in publicity and questioned the work done by the city government in the last five years.

The Janaat Dal-United chief was in New Delhi to campaign for party candidate S C L Gupta for the February 8 Delhi assembly polls. Gupta is contesting the elections from the Sangam Vihar constituency in south Delhi.

"Some people are more interested in publicity and advertisements. We don't do that," Kumar said without naming Kejriwal.

"Those who got the mandate to govern Delhi did nothing," he said.

The BJP is contesting the polls in Delhi in alliance with the JD-U and the Lok Janshakti Party.

Bihar being a poor state has done a phenomenal job in areas of education, electricity and health, and strengthening road and transport infrastructure, Kumar said.

BJP president J P Nadda and LJP leader Chirag Paswan were also present at the public meeting. -- PTI

The Delhi high court on Sunday reserved its verdict on the Centre's plea challenging stay on the execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

Justice Suresh Kait said it will pass an order after all the parties concluded their arguments.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the high court that there is a "deliberate, calculated and well thought of design" by the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case convicts to "frustrate" mandate of law by getting their execution delayed.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday demanded the Election Commission to ban Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning in the national capital over his alleged provocative speeches.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh also demanded an FIR against him for his remarks.

Singh told a press conference here that it has been 48 hours since the AAP asked the Election Commission time to meet them but it has not been granted.

"If the EC does not give us time, we will stage a sit-in in front of the ECI office on Monday," Singh said. -- PTI

Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor on Sunday said he is suffering from an infection and is undergoing treatment for it.

There were reports that the 67-year-old actor, who is in the capital to attend a family function, has been admitted in a hospital.

"I have had an infection which am getting treated. Nothing dramatic. Pollution got me I guess," Kapoor told PTI.

Multiple media reports claimed that the actor's son, Ranbir Kapoor, who was in Mumbai, rushed to Delhi to be with his father along with girlfriend Alia Bhatt.

Kapoor returned to India in September 2019 after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year.

The actor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film "The Intern", in which he will feature along side Deepika Padukone. -- PTI

Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar expressed surprise over the stock market reacting negatively on the budget proposals, saying investors probably expected some big bang reforms and ignored the initiatives towards investment and growth.

Kumar in an interview to PTI said the budget has done nothing wrong, and it has "ticked all the boxes".

Giving a thumbs down to the budget, the market benchmark Sensex logged its biggest single-day plunge in more than a decade, wiping out Rs 3.46 lakh crore investor wealth.

"I am actually quite surprised by the market's reactions yesterday, going down 1,000 points. I was trying to understand why did that happen," he wondered.

Kumar added that "... the budget does nothing wrong, it has got nothing anti-private investment or anti-private sector or anti-growth, the Budget is ticking all the boxes".

Probably, the market was expecting some big bang reforms that are associated with huge push for consumption as was witnessed in the aftermath of Lehman Brothers crisis in 2008.

"So my own thought was that market expected so called big bang reforms and by big bang reforms, normally everybody understands in India, a huge impetus for consumption. And I think the best example of that was in 2008 Budget which preceded the Lehman Brothers crisis," he said.

Pointing out that the UPA-1 gave lot of sops in 2008 budget because elections were due, Kumar said it had resulted in ballooning of the fiscal deficit to 6 per cent in 2009 from 2.5 per cent.

"If the market had expected that kind of consumption boost without any regard to fiscal discipline, it was not possible," he said adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was very clear that Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) target should not be breached.

"Therefore, if you notice, we used 0.5 per cent escape clause (under FRBM) and remained within that," Kumar stressed.

Asked if it is still possible to achieve USD 5 trillion target by 2024-25, the eminent economist said it is not an unreal goal and will be achieved.

"In the next 5 years, there is no reason to believe that you can't achieve that unless rupee depreciates out of the blue etc. If you do 6-6.5 per cent (growth) now(2020-21), and jump up to 7-8 per cent (growth) in remaining four years, you will achieve that, that's not an unreal target," he said.

Moreover, Kumar said, the Prime Minister has mentioned it as a inspirational target, more to drive the people together.

A court in Delhi sent Kapil Gujjar, arrested for firing in the air at southeast Delhi's Shaheen Bagh area during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, to a two-day police custody on Sunday.

Kapil was produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vijeta Singh Rawat.

On Saturday, he had fired two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, where anti-CAA protests are being held for over a month now.

After being overpowered by police personnel, Kapil had chanted "Jai Shri Ram" and said, "hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)," as he was taken into custody by the Delhi Police.

This was the second such incident reported from Shaheen Bagh in a span of three days.

A man had fired from a pistol on a group of anti-CAA protesters in the area on Thursday, injuring a student of the Jamia Millia Islamia University. -- PTI

17:50 Mumbai: 5 injured in ceiling collapse

Five persons, including a woman and her two minor children, were injured when the ceiling of a flat collapsed on them in Mumbai's suburban Andheri on Sunday morning, police said.

The incident occurred at around 11 am in Vishal Housing Society in Cama Park locality of the western suburb, an official said.

"Naziya Feeroz Sheikh and her two children Rehan (2) and Azan (4) were sitting in her brother's 7th floor flat when the ceiling came off, injuring all of them. Naziya's brother Rashid and another person Sadik received minor injuries," he said.

All the five were taken to Cooper Hospital in nearby Vile Parle and have been discharged, said Naziya's uncle Habib Ahmed Sayyed. -- PTI

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Sunday told the Delhi high court that there is "deliberate, calculated and well thought of design" by Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case convicts to "frustrate" mandate of law by getting their execution delayed.

Mehta told Justice Suresh Kait that convict Pawan Gupta's move of not filing curative or mercy petition is deliberate, calculated inaction.

Nirbhaya case convicts are playing with judicial machinery and trying the patience of the nation, Mehta said.

"There is deliberate, calculated and well thought of design to frustrate mandate of law," the Solicitor General told HC.

Advocate A P Singh is advancing arguments for convicts Akshay Singh (31), Vinay Sharma (26) and Pawan (25) opposing Centre's plea to set aside stay on execution of death sentence. The fourth convict is Mukesh Kumar (32).

The high court is hearing Centre's plea challenging stay on the execution of the four death row convicts in the case.

The proceedings are currently underway.

The 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, before being thrown out on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012 in Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

One of the six accused in the case, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail.

A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board and was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

The top court, in its 2017 verdict, had upheld the capital punishment awarded to the convicts by the Delhi high court and the trial court. -- PTI

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said second tranche of debt-based exchange traded fund is likely in the current quarter.

Sitharaman in her second budget on Saturday proposed to deepen the bond market and announced floating of a new debt ETF comprising primarily of government securities.

The first bond ETF launched recently was a great success.

"Debt-based exchange traded fund (ETF) recently put out by the government was a big success. Government proposes to extend this by floating a new debt ETF consisting primarily of government securities. This will give retail investor access to government security as much as giving an attractive investment for pension funds and long-term investors," she had said on Saturday.

On Sunday, she said the second tranche of Bond ETF is likely within the current quarter.

The Cabinet gave the approval to launch Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund or Bharat Bond ETF in December 2019. It was the first corporate bond ETF launched in India. -- PTI

16:24 Nirbhaya case: Delhi HC commences hearing

The Delhi high court on Sunday commenced hearing on Centre's plea challenging stay on the execution of four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

The proceedings are currently underway before Justice Suresh Kait.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is advancing arguments for the Centre.

The government has raised fund allocation for the Unique Identification Authority of India -- which issues biometric ID to residents -- by 17 per cent to Rs 985 crore for the next fiscal starting April 1.

In the current fiscal, the UIDAI was originally allocated Rs 1,227 crore when the Modi-2.0 government presented the Union Budget on July 5 last year. But the amount was revised downwards to Rs 836.7 crore, according to Budget 2020-21 documents.

The document did not provide reasons for the downward revision but it could be because of non-utilisation of all the funds allocated to the UIDAI.

The UIDAI is the nodal body for Aadhaar, an identity infrastructure for delivery of various social welfare programs and effective targeting of these services.

In December last year, the UIDAI had said that 125 crore residents of India have Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number.

"The achievement comes along with the rapidly increasing use of Aadhaar as the primary identity document by the Aadhaar holders. This is evident from the fact that Aadhaar-based authentication services have been used close to 37,000 crore times since inception," it had then said.

The UIDAI receives about 3 crore authentication requests every day. Also, it receives about 3-4 lakh Aadhaar update requests daily. -- PTI

A group of locals on Sunday staged a demonstration near the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protest site in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, demanding the removal of barricades from the road connecting Noida with Kalindi Kunj.

The protesters demanded that the people, who have been sitting on dharna there for over a month to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, should clear the stretch as the commuters are facing difficulties, police said.

Senior officers, including Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range) Devesh Srivastava and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal, are at the spot monitoring the situation to ensure no untoward incident takes place. -- PTI

India on Sunday temporarily suspended e-visa facility for Chinese travellers and foreigners residing in China in view of the virulent coronavirus that has killed more than 300 people, infected 14,562 others and spread to 25 countries, including India, the United States and the United Kingdom.

"Due to certain current developments, travel to India on e-visas stands temporarily suspended with immediate effect," the Indian embassy announced.

"This applies to holders of Chinese passports and applicants of other nationalities residing in the People's Republic of China. Holders of already issued e-visas may note that these are no longer valid," the announcement said.

"All those who have a compelling reason to visit India may contact the Embassy of India in Beijing or the Indian consulates in Shanghai or Guangzhou, as well as the Indian Visa Application Centres in these cities," it said.

On Sunday, India airlifted a second batch of 323 stranded Indians and seven Maldivian citizens from coronavirus-hit Wuhan city, taking the total number of people evacuated to 654.

Air India's jumbo B747 made two flights to Wuhan city - the ground zero of the coronavirus epidemic. In the first flight on early Saturday, 324 Indians were evacuated and on Sunday another 323 Indians and seven Maldivian citizens were flown back. -- PTI

The Mumbai University has called off midway its two-day training workshop meant for its senior officials being held at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini near Mumbai, apparently after a Congress leader objected to it saying the institute did not have expertise.

The workshop, which began on Friday at the Prabodhini at Uttan village in Bhayander of neighbouring Thane district, was abruptly called off on Saturday.

The university registrar communicated to the Prabodhini on Saturday the decision to wind up the training workshop.

Congress leader and former Lok Sabha member from Maharashtra, Rajeev Satav, had objected to the training session and raised the issue with Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant.

"Dear Uday Samant ji, I just received these papers. These are about how senior officers in Mumbai university are getting training in Rambhau Mhalagi Prabodhini. This organisation have no expertise," Satav, who is known to be close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, said in a tweet on Friday.

"I understand that you may not be aware about it, but I request you to stop this," he added.

Although there was no official statement from Samant, the university registrar on Saturday informed the minister that the training was cancelled with immediate effect.

After the workshop was called off abruptly, Satav tweeted on Saturday, "Dear Uday Samant ji, You swiftly acted upon my tweet and ensured that training of officers at Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini gets cancelled. This is an action in the

interest of state."

"This also underlines that our MVA government is people's oriented and dutiful. I wish you best," he added. -- PTI

The Congress on Sunday released its manifesto for Delhi polls, promising to implement unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000-7,500 per month and cashback schemes for water and power consumers, if voted to power.

Presenting the manifesto, Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra said the party will provide free power up to 300 unit per month.

The manifesto also committed to spend 25 per cent budget each year on fighting pollution and improving transport facilities.

An unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 for graduates and Rs 7,500 for post graduates per month will be provided under the Yuva Swabhiman Yojna, he said.

The Congress will launch flagship cashback schemes for power and water supply to benefit consumers saving these resources.

The party, if voted to power, will open 100 Indira Canteens to provide subsidised meals at Rs 15, Chopra said.

The Congress will challenge the Citizenship Amendment Act in the Supreme Court and demand the Centre to withdraw the law, if the win th election.

The party will also not implement the National Register of Citizens and the existing form of the National Population Register, if voted to power in Delhi. -- PTI

A security force jawan and four civilians were injured in a grenade attack by terrorists on Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Lal Chowk area of Srinagar on Sunday, police said.

Terrorists hurled a grenade on the CRPF personnel posted on duty near Pratap Park in busy Lal Chowk area of the city, a police official said.

The CRPF jawan and the four civilians injured in the explosion were shifted to a hospital, he said.

The loud explosion caused panic among the people, especially those who had come to the weekly flea market, also known as Sunday market, the official said.

Security forces have cordoned off the area, he added. -- PTI

Uttar Pradesh unit chief of Antarrashtriya Hindu Mahasabha Ranjeet Bachchan was shot dead in Lucknow on Sunday by unidentified assailants when he was out on a morning walk, police said.

Joint Commissioner of Police Naveen Arora said Bachchan's cousin, Aditya Srivastava, was also injured in the incident and their mobile phones were snatched by the attackers, one of whom fired on them.

The officer said while the 40-year-old Bachchan died on the spot after being hit by a bullet, Srivastava has received bullet injuries on his left hand.

"On Sunday morning, Aditya Srivastava informed the police that he along with his cousin had gone on a morning walk. They were coming from OCR building (Burlington Crossing) and were going towards the Parivartan Chowk in the city when a person, who had a shawl wrapped over himself, stopped them, snatched their mobile phones, and fired," Arora said.

He said as per initial information, Bachchan and his wife Kalindi Sharma were not in a cordial relationship and a case in this regard was registered in Gorakhpur. "This angle is also being looked into," he said.

He said the deceased was also associated with the Samajwadi Party previously and took part in cycle rallies of the party between 2002-09.

"As per his wife, the deceased later founded an organisation called Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha and became its national president," Arora said.

Arora said the police are also examining CCTV footage from the area and checking the background of the people whom Bachchan had any dispute with.

"As many as eight teams of the crime branch are working to solve the case," he said. -- PTI

Listing of insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation may be done in the second half of the next financial year, Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar said on Sunday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the budget 2020-21 on Saturday announced stake sale in LIC through an initial public offer in the next fiscal.

There are a number of processes which have to be followed for the listing and some legislative changes would also be required for the listing of LIC, Kumar said.

"We will follow the extant procedure for listing and for other things including the legislative changes it requires in consultation with the Ministry of Law and that process we already started ... listing in the second half of FY21 seems logical," he said.

Listing of LIC will bring in greater transparency, public participation and also deepen the equity market, he told PTI in an interaction.

Asked about the quantum of dilution, Kumar said, it could be 10 per cent but no decision has been taken so far.

The government aims to garner Rs 90,000 crore from the listing of LIC and stake dilution in IDBI Bank in the next fiscal out of total disinvestment target of Rs 2.10 lakh crore.

The government currently owns 100 per cent in LIC, while it holds around a 46.5 per cent stake in IDBI Bank.

"Listing of companies on stock exchanges discipline a company and provides access to financial markets and unlocks its value. It also gives opportunity for retail investors to participate in the wealth so created. The government now proposes to sell a part of its holding in LIC by way of Initial Public Offer (IPO)," the Finance Minister had said in her Budget speech.

Market participants are quite bullish about LIC and said it could be "IPO of the decade" akin to the Saudi Aramco listing.

The 60-year-old state-owned firm, LIC, is the country's largest insurer, controlling more than 70 per cent of the market share. The insurer has a market share of 76.28 per cent in number of policies and 71 per cent in first-year premiums.

LIC has many subsidiaries including IDBI Bank. It acquired controlling stake in IDBI Bank last year. -- PTI

Hitting out at the Centre over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said the "communal elements" today were using the British colonisers' strategy of disrupting people's unity by dividing them on communal lines.

He also said that while India's freedom struggle was against the colonisers, the current movement is against those who stood with the colonisers.

Vijayan was speaking at the 'Mumbai Collective' in Mumbai on the topic of 'National struggle against communalism'.

"In the past, our movement was against the colonisers, but presently our struggle against communalism is a movement against those who stood with the colonisers," he said.

"In the past, the colonisers tried to disrupt people's unity by dividing them on communal lines. Today, the communal elements are using the same strategy experimented by their masters," he said. -- PTI

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin on Sunday said terms the Union budget 2020-21 as "a statement for crorepatis" and offering nothing for the poor, downtrodden and the backward.

"Yesterday we heard Union finance minister presenting the budget. It was a two-and-half-hour speech but consisted nothing for poor, downtrodden and backward rather it was read out like a statement for crorepatis," said MK Stalin while addressing a public rally in Chennai.

"It was read out only for corporates, nothing to benefit people. It did not speak anything on the welfare of downtrodden, the problem of unemployment and how to address it. Rather it highlighted the public sector being handed over to private players," he said. -- ANI

Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said that the cabinet expansion would take place on February 6, with 13 MLAs taking oath of office.

"The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 am," Yediyurappa said.

Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined Bharatiya Janata Party from the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular, will take oath.

The cabinet expansion is on the cards for nearly two months ever since the BJP won the maximum number of seats in the December 5, 2019 bypolls and got a majority in the Karnataka assembly. -- PTI

After creating a buzz with her recent low-key marriage, actor and model Pamela Anderson broke off her marriage with movie mogul Jon Peters, just after 12 days of the wedding, reported Fox News.

The couple got married on January 20 in Malibu, California in a private marriage ceremony.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news of the couple's split on Saturday stating that the pair has decided to "uncouple."

"I have been moved by the warm reception to Jon and my union. We would be very grateful for your support as we take some time apart to reevaluate what we want from life and from one another," Fox News quoted Anderson saying.

"Life is a journey and love is a process. With that universal truth in mind, we have mutually decided to put off the formalization of our marriage certificate and put our faith in the process, "she added.

Fox News further quoted a source close to Anderson as saying, "She's known Jon forever, but she never lived with him, contrary to some reports. And until you live with someone... Well, let's just say Pamela asked for a break. She is heading back to her compound in Ladysmith, Canada, to be with her family."

According to Fox News, the couple did not have any official marriage license. -- ANI

The National Investigation Agency on Sunday morning carried out searches in connection with a case in which a senior Jammu and Kashmir police officer was arrested while ferrying terrorists outside the valley, officials said.

Multiple NIA teams fanned in various parts of south Kashmir and carried out the searches at some private offices and residences, they said.

The NIA had taken over the case in which Jammu and Kashmir's Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who has since been suspended, was caught in south Kashmir while ferrying two terrorists out of the valley on January 11.

The searches come days after NIA officers interrogated all the accused arrested in the case.

Besides Singh, the others arrested were: Syed Naveed Mushtaq Ahmed alias Naveed Babu, who is a self-styled commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, Rafi Ahmed Rather and Irfan Shafi Mir, who claims to be an advocate.

They were arrested from the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway near Qazigund in South Kashmir.

Later, Naveed's brother, Syed Irfan Ahmed, was also arrested on January 23 after he was brought from Punjab.

He was in constant touch with his brother and had asked him to look for an accommodation in Chandigarh where they could escape the harsh winters months of Kashmir.

Mir, who was driving the vehicle when they were caught by the police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged he was acting on the orders of his masters in Pakistan.

He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport. -- PTI

Air India evacuated 323 more Indians from Wuhan in China in its second special flight, which landed at Delhi airport on Sunday morning.

Earlier, a special Air India plane carrying 324 Indians landed in the national capital on Saturday.

Wuhan is the epicenter of outbreak of novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 300 people in China.

An Air India spokesperson said at 9.45 am, "323 passengers were there in the second special flight, which landed at Delhi airport just now." -- PTI

JUST IN: Second positive case of novel Coronavirus has been found, in Kerala.

The patient has a travel history from China.

The patient has been kept in isolation in the hospital; is stable and is being closely monitored.

More details awaited. -- ANI

08:46 US reports 8th case of coronavirus

The United States on Saturday reported eighth case of coronavirus after a youth returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan tested positive for the deadly virus.

The authorities have said that the Boston man sought medical attention soon after returning from Wuhan, which has emerged as the epicentre of the virus and has claimed more than 300 lives so far.

'We are grateful that this young man is recovering and sought medical attention immediately,' Monica Bharel, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said in a press release.

'Massachusetts has been preparing for a possible case of this new coronavirus, and we were fortunate that astute clinicians took appropriate action quickly,' she continued. -- PTI

08:24 Second batch of Indians airlifted from Wuhan

India has airlifted the second batch of 323 stranded citizens from China's coronavirus-hit Wuhan city.

Air India special flight carrying the second batch of Indian passengers on board took off from Wuhan at 03.10 am today.

The special flight will land in Delhi at 09.10 am.

Meanwhile, the death toll in China has jumped to 304 with the number of cases climbing to 14,380, Chinese health officials said on Sunday.

By the end of Saturday, a total of 304 people had died of the disease and 14,380 confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection had been reported in 31 provincial-level regions in China, the National Health Commission (NHC) said in its daily report.

All the deaths are in Hubei Province, according to China's National Health Commission.

Another 4,562 new suspected cases were reported on Saturday, said the commission. -- PTI/ANI

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