Monday, July 2, 2018

State Wise Analysis of Election Expenditure and Vote Share

ADR and NEW have analysed the election expenditure and vote share of 4087 out of 4120 sitting MLAs. Analysis of Election Expenditure for Meghalaya and Karnataka have not been included in the above analysis as their data was not available at the time of making this report.
In 2014, as per the instructions from the Govt. of India, the Election Commission of India revised the election expenditure limit for candidates contesting for Lok /Rajya Sabha and Assembly elections. For Larger states, the limit for assembly elections was revised from Rs. 16 lakhs to Rs. 28 Lakhs, whereas for the smaller states, it was increased from Rs. 8 Lakhs to Rs. 20 Lakhs. It is to be noted that this report has been generated keeping the assigned expenditure limit during the year when the particular State Assembly Elections were held.              
Summary and Highlights
Analysis on the basis of election expenditure
v  MLAs from 11 states namely Kerala, Tripura, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Bihar have spent more than 50 % of the expenditure limit.
v  Among the States, which have gone for elections in the last 5 years (2013-2018), it has been observed that the maximum amount of expenditure by the MLAs has been done for the vehicles used for the campaign. They have spent only 5% on the campaigning through print and electronic media.
Analysis on the basis of Vote Share
v  None of the political parties/ alliances of political parties forming the government have won with more than 55% of vote share.
v  Arunachal Pradesh has the highest vote share i.e. 53.1% while Jharkhand has the lowest i.e. 31.2 %.
v  Besides Arunachal Pradesh, there are 4 other states namely Gujarat, Tripura, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh where the political parties/ alliances of political parties forming the government have won with more than 50 % of vote share.
Analysis on the basis of cases related to Electoral Malpractices
v  Out of 1356 MLAs with declared criminal cases, 128 have declared cases related to electoral malpractices such as bribery (171E), undue influence or personation at an election (171F and 171 C), illegal payments in connection with elections (171 H) etc.
v  Bihar has the highest number of MLAs i.e. 38 who have declared cases related to electoral malpractices, followed by 20 MLAs from Karnataka and 18 MLAs from Uttar Pradesh.
v  95(74%) out these 128 MLAs have won with more than 40 % of vote share.
Contact Details


National Election Watch/Association for Democratic Reforms

Media and Journalist Helpline

+91 80103 94248
Maj.Gen. Anil Verma (Retd)
Head
National Election Watch,
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011 4165 4200,
+91 88264 79910
adr@adrIndia.org,
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar
IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.)
Founder Member,
National Election Watch, Association for Democratic
Reforms
+91 99996 20944

Prof Trilochan Sastry
IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 94483 53285


Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95, C.L. House, 2nd Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049

Jalalabad blast kills 20 people

ISIS takes responsibility for Jalalabad blast in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of 17 Sikhs. the latest updates.
 – ISIS takes responsibility for Jalalabad blast in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of 17 Sikhs. 
Saleha Soadat journalist tweets, Afghanistan: A suicide bomber blew himself in Jalalabad city killing at least 20 people. Most of the victims were members of the Sikh & Hindu minority groups. Awtar Singh Khalsa, Sikh candidate for the October parliamentary elections also dead. Suicide bomber targets vehicle carrying members of the Sikh community in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, killing at least 19 and wounding 20. First major attack on country’s Sikh minority, another tweets.
Suicide bomber made an explosion hit the center of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, including several members of the small Sikh minority, provincial government officials said.
The blast, hours after President Ashraf Ghani had opened a hospital in Jalalabad, damaged shops and buildings around Mukhaberat square in the city, said governor’s spokesman Attaullah Khogyani.
A politician representing the minority Sikh community was killed in the blast. Officials said Awtar Singh Khalsa, who had planned to stand in October’s parliamentary elections, was dead.
Ghulam Sanayi Stanekzai, police chief of Nangarhar said the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber who targeted a vehicle carrying members of the Sikh minority who were traveling to meet the president. Officials said at least 10 of the dead were Sikhs.
Officials said the casualty total might have been even higher had much of the city not been blocked off for Ghani’s visit. He was not in the area when the blast occurred.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, the latest in a series to have hit Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar, where Daesh fighters have established a strong presence in recent years.
The attack underlined the fragile security situation in Afghanistan after last month’s brief ceasefire between government forces and the Taliban.
The three-day truce did not include Daesh, which fights both government forces and the Taliban and which has shown no sign of letting up its campaign of violence.

Accountability Court hearing Nawaz Sharif & family

The accountability court hearing the Avenfield properties reference against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family resumed the proceedings on Monday.
Nawaz and his family are facing three corruption cases in the accountability court after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) filed references against them in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Panama Papers case last year.
As the hearing went under way, the defence counsel for Nawaz’s daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (Retd) Safdar, Amjad Pervez, resumed presenting final arguments in the case.
During the hearing, the defence counsel will submit another exemption request on behalf of Nawaz and Maryam as the two are in London tending to Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.
The counsel will also submit an updated medical report of Nawaz’s wife detailing reasons for the former premier’s delay in returning to the country.
Previously, Nawaz’s counsel Khawaja Haris had presented final arguments in the case. The court has also summoned Federal Investigation Agency Additional Director Wajid Zia, who headed the Panama case joint investigation team, on July 3 for the Al-Azizia Steel Mills reference.
The trial against the Sharif family had commenced on September 14, 2017.
The corruption references, filed against the Sharifs, pertain to the Al-Azizia Steel Mills and Hill Metal Establishment, offshore companies including Flagship Investment Limited, and Avenfield properties of London.
Nawaz and his sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references whereas his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar are accused in the Avenfield reference only.
The two brothers, based abroad, have been absconding since the proceedings began last year and were declared proclaimed offenders by the court.
The court originally had a deadline of six months which ended in mid-March but was extended for two months after the judge requested the apex court.
Later, the deadline was extended twice more, with the new date falling somewhere around July 10 now.

WHY TO BLAME TRADERS FOR NOT ISSUING BILLS

01st  July, 2018
WHY TO BLAME TRADERS FOR NOT ISSUING BILLS. IT’S CONSUMER WHO
AVOID BILL DUE TO HIGHER TAXES
TRADERS UPBEAT ON ONE YEAR COMPLETION OF GST
SOUGHT SIMPLIFICATION & RATIONALISATION OF GST
Traders across the Country today observed GST Day on one year completion of GST in India under the umbrella of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).The one year completion of GST in the Country is having mixed reactions from traders who are the real carriers of GST. For initial six month the traders face several problems on account of glitches in GST portal as also repeated changes in the Rules but now the situation has improved but still traders feel that there is great scope for further simplification of tax structure-said CAIT.
CAIT National President Mr BC Bhartia & Secretary General Mr Praveen Khandelwal said strongly refuted the blame on traders that they do not issue Bills and avoid taxes. It’s an open fact that most of the times it is the consumer who avoid taking Bills as he don’t want to pay tax may be due to high rates. It’s necessary to educate consumers to pay taxes and tax rates should be brought down.
Both Mr Bhartia & Mr Khandelwal said that traders feel upbeat over availability of input credit, got rid from multiple taxes and multiple Authorities and virtually no interaction with the tax officials which has reduced corruption under GST. These features make GST a unique taxation system.
Mr Bhartia & Mr Khandelwal suggested that instead of monthly returns, quarterly returns be prescribed on Form 3B, refunds should be automatically processed to bank account of traders, e way Bill should be allowed only on inter-state sales and not intra-state transactions, only two slab of tax rates,  inter-state sales should be allowed in composition scheme, re-classification of goods, HSN code be made applicable only on manufacturers and not on traders are few of the steps which will make ease of doing business under GST. It will also be good if a GST Lokpal is constituted for disposal of grievances in a transparent & impartial manner. Items like Auto Parts, Cement, Paint , Marble should be taken out from slab of 28 % and be categorised under lower slab.

Andres Iniesta, announced retirement

Andres Iniesta, announced his retirement from international football after Spain’s shock defeat has played  world cups,2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018
Andres Iniesta,  gave Spain their first World Cup ever. You are irreplaceable. Legend
FIFA World Cup, which it did at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, the first time the team had reached the final.

  India’s external debt stands at about USD 530 billion at end March 2018

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India’s external debt stands at about USD 530 billion at end March 2018, recording an increase of US$ 58.4 billion over its level at end-March 2017. At end-March 2018, India’s external debt witnessed an increase of 12.4 per cent over its level at end-March 2017, primarily on account of an increase in commercial borrowings, short-term debt and non-resident Indian (NRI) deposits. The increase in the magnitude of external debt was partly due to valuation loss resulting from the depreciation of the US dollar against major currencies. The external debt to GDP ratio stood at 20.5 per cent at end-March 2018, higher than its level of 20.0 per cent at end-March 2017.

Major highlights pertaining to India’s external debt at end-March 2018 are presented below:

Ø  At end-March 2018, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 529.7 billion, recording an increase of US$ 58.4 billion over its level at end-March 2017
Ø  Valuation loss due to the depreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis major currencies (viz., euro, SDR, Japanese yen and pound sterling) was placed at US$ 5.2 billion. Excluding the valuation effect, the increase in external debt would have been US$ 53.1 billion instead of US$ 58.4 billion at end-March 2018 over end-March 2017
Ø  Commercial borrowings continued to be the largest component of external debt with a share of 38.2 per cent, followed by NRI deposits (23.8 per cent) and short-term trade credit (19.0 per cent).
Ø  At end-March 2018, long-term debt (with original maturity of above one year) was placed at US$ 427.5 billion, recording an increase of US$ 44.3 billion over its level at end-March 2017.
Ø  The share of long-term debt (original maturity) in total external debt at end-March 2018 was 80.7 per cent, lower than its level of 81.3 per cent at end-March 2017.
Ø  The share of short-term debt (with original maturity of up to one year) in total external debt increased to 19.3 per cent at end-March 2018 from 18.7 per cent at end-March 2017. The ratio of short-term debt (original maturity) to foreign exchange reserves increased to 24.1 per cent at end-March 2018 (23.8 per cent at end-March 2017).
Ø  Short-term debt on a residual maturity basis (i.e., debt obligations that include long-term debt by original maturity falling due over the next twelve months and short-term debt by original maturity) constituted 42.0 per cent of total external debt at end-March 2018 (41.6 per cent at end-March 2017) and stood at 52.3 per cent of foreign exchange reserves (53.0 per cent at end-March 2017)
Ø  US dollar denominated debt continued to be the largest component of India’s external debt with a share of 49.5 per cent at end-March 2018, followed by the Indian rupee (35.8 per cent), SDR (5.5 per cent), Japanese yen (4.8 per cent) and euro (3.4 per cent).
Ø  The borrower-wise classification shows that the outstanding debt of both government and non-government sectors increased at end-March 2018
Ø  Debt service payments declined to 7.5 per cent of current receipts at end-March 2018 

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