SRINAGAR: The Centre on Wednesday said that work of rehabilitation, strengthening and four-laning of Banihal bypass has been taken up and is targeted to be completed by the end of current financial year.
Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, informed the Rajya Sabha that initially the project was delayed due to non-availability of land primarily on account of litigations.
He said now acquisition of land has been completed and work has been re-awarded as EPC contract.
He also said that detailed geological and geotechnical investigations have been conducted at the time of preparation of DPR for tunnels being constructed on NH-44.
Gandhinagar: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has pointed out several flaws in the financial practices of the Gujarat government and said there was a need to formulate a realistic budget based on the needs of the departments.
The “State Finance Audit Report of the CAG for the year ended March 31, 2022” was tabled on the floor of the Gujarat Assembly on Wednesday, the last day of the month-long budget session.
Pointing out that financial accounts of 2021-22 were “affected” as capital expenditure was overstated and revenue expenditure understated, the CAG said, “The state government needs to formulate a realistic budget based on the needs of the departments and their capacity to utilise the allocated resources.”
“An appropriate control mechanism may be instituted by the government to enforce proper implementation and monitoring of budget so that large savings within the grant or appropriation are controlled, and anticipated savings are identified and surrendered within the specified timeframe,” it added.
The national auditor observed that though departments demand additional funds for different schemes and activities; they “finally end up spending less than the original budget provision and the supplementary provision or parts thereof. As a result, the unutilised funds cannot be made use of”.
The CAG noted that some departments could not utilise more than 50 per cent of the original provision (Rs 50 crore or more), leading to savings of Rs 3,528.83 crore at the end of the year in 21 schemes.
As per the Gujarat Budget Manual-1983, rush of expenditure, particularly in the closing months of the financial year, is a breach of financial propriety, the CAG said.
However, the CAG report revealed that expenditures in March were significantly higher than that of other months during the financial year 2021-22.
In some cases, CAG noted that 50 per cent of the total expenditure for a particular work was spent in March, while nominal funds were spent in the three previous quarters.
The CAG also noted that under 124 sub-heads, 100 per cent expenditure (Rs 4,747.17 crore) was incurred in March 2022.
“Thus, contrary to the spirit of financial regulation, substantial expenditure was incurred by the state government at the end of the financial year, indicating inadequate control over expenditure and poor budgetary management,” it added.
The CAG found a major flaw in the allocation of funds by the Health and Family Welfare Department in running “HLT 29 Epidemics Diseases Programme” in the state.
Though non-communicable diseases (NCD) do not come under epidemics, a provision of Rs 50 lakh was made under HLT 29 for NCD in 2019-20, 2020-21 and in 2021-22.
“Similarly, a budget provision of Rs 20 lakh was made under HLT 29 for Thalassemia every year during 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 though it is not an epidemics/communicable disease. Provision for NCD and Thalassemia could have been made under the general planning instead of under HLT 29 epidemics,” said the CAG.
The CAG also pulled up the Finance Department over the issue of “non-submission of information as well as accounts regarding grants and loans paid to various institutions”.
“Non-submission of 4,563 Utilisation Certificates amounting to Rs 10,309.47 crore within the specified period not only weaken the financial accountability mechanism but also indicate failure of the departmental officers to comply with the rules and procedures to ensure timely utilisation of grant for the intended purpose,” it said.
Non-submission of accounts by autonomous bodies and authorities violated the prescribed financial rules and directives. These point to inadequate internal controls and deficient monitoring mechanisms of the state government, the report said.
The CAG further suggested that the “state government needs to institute a rigorous monitoring mechanism to ensure that the Departments comply with the prescribed rules and procedures regarding submission of utilisation certificates”.
According to the CAG, Article 205 of the Constitution of India states that no money shall be drawn from the Consolidated Fund except under appropriation made by law by the state legislature.
However, “excess expenditure of Rs 14,367 crore pertaining to the period from 2007-08 to 2011-12 and 2013-14 to 2021-22 had escaped legislative oversight, as it was pending regularisation as per Article 205”, the auditor noted, adding that excess expenditure over provision vitiates the system of budgetary and financial control.
The outlook for the global economy is likely to remain weak in the medium term amid heightened risks to financial stability, according to International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
“We expect 2023 to be another challenging year, with global growth slowing to below 3 percent as scarring from the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and monetary tightening weigh on economic activity,” Georgieva said on Sunday at a conference in China. “Even with a better outlook for 2024, global growth will remain well below its historic average of 3.8 percent,” she said.
“It is also clear that risks to financial stability have increased,” Georgieva said. “At a time of higher debt levels, the rapid transition from a prolonged period of low-interest rates to much higher rates — necessary to fight inflation — inevitably generates stresses and vulnerabilities, as evidenced by recent developments in the banking sector in some advanced economies.”
Policymakers have acted decisively in response to threats to financial stability, helping ease market stress to some extent, she said. But “uncertainty is high, which underscores the need for vigilance,” she added.
Georgieva also warned about risks of geo-economic fragmentation, which she said “could mean a world split into rival economic blocs — a ‘dangerous division’ that would leave everyone poorer and less secure. Together, these factors mean that the outlook for the global economy over the medium term is likely to remain weak,” she said.
Georgieva spoke during the second day of the China Development Forum in Beijing. The three-day annual event is a social mixer of politics and business, bringing together members of the Chinese Politburo with dozens of CEOs from Western companies like Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and Allianz.
“Fortunately, the news on the world economy is not all bad. We can see some ‘green shoots,’ including in China,” Georgieva said, adding that Beijing is set to account for around a third of the global growth this year.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
A financial disclosure form that now-Rep. George Santos was supposed to file in 2021 might have offered key insight into the embattled congressman’s finances at a pivotal point in his campaign. The problem: he didn’t file it.
The missing financial disclosure is the subject of an ethics complaint two New York Democrats filed against Santos earlier this year and part of a bipartisan House panel’s investigation into him. Though it was obvious at the time Santos had missed the deadline in 2021, the issue did not attract much attention until after he had been elected to Congress and a series of resume fabrications and paper filing snafus began to surface.
Still, Santos was far from the only one to not submit the filing. Dozens of candidates who should have filed financial disclosures over the past two election cycles avoided doing so, or filed the forms late without asking for an extension, according to a POLITICO review of House ethics disclosures and Federal Election Commission filings. In many cases, candidates did not file the forms until after advancing from competitive primary elections, meaning voters did not have access to information about their finances before casting their ballots.
The vast majority of candidates who failed to file the financial disclosures on time have not otherwise been accused of wrongdoing. In many cases, they are first-time candidates who may be inexperienced with the federal system. But the fact that such violations are rarely even flagged and penalties are essentially non-existent makes it easy for candidates like Santos to avoid disclosing key financial information, ethics experts say.
“The failure to have some appropriate but robust enforcement of these rules is really inviting them to be ignored,” said Meredith McGehee, a longtime ethics expert and veteran of several Washington nonprofits.
Following the allegations against Santos, other House members have introduced bills aimed at preventing him from profiting off his campaign lies and requiring future candidates to provide accurate information about their work histories. But there has been little reckoning over the lax enforcement of existing laws that aim to give voters transparency.
Santos, who recently filed paperwork to run again for reelection in 2024, is facing investigations from local and federal prosecutors but has denied that he broke any laws and has not been charged with a crime. Asked about the financial disclosures, Santos’ congressional office said it couldn’t legally comment on campaign matters. His personal lawyer, Joe Murray, said it would be “inappropriate to comment on an open investigation.”
Missing deadlines and missing forms
Congressional candidates are required under federal law to file a personal financial disclosure once they raise or spend more than $5,000 for a House election. In odd-numbered years, the form is due by May 15, or within 30 days of the candidate raising that amount, whichever comes second, although there is also a 30-day grace period before a candidate would be subject to a fine. In election years, the filing is due by May 15 or 30 days before a primary. (Late filings are subject to a $200 fine, with further penalties possible but rare.)
The requirement that candidates file financial disclosures dates back to a 1978 law that aimed to identify conflicts of interest and prevent members from using congressional office for personal gain.
Santos, who began raising money for a potential 2022 campaign in the immediate aftermath of his 2020 loss to then-Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), should have filed a financial disclosure in May 2021. That form might have provided information as to how the eventual congressman went from saying he had no assets in 2020 to reporting being worth millions of dollars in 2022, assuming he filed it accurately.
But Santos did not file a 2021 financial disclosure, according to the U.S. House clerk’s office. His 2022 disclosure was also not filed until September, after New York’s primary election and several months after the deadline, although Santos had not drawn a GOP opponent.
“George Santos is an easy scapegoat for larger institutional problems that Congress has neglected to deal with for many, many years,” said Donald Sherman, senior vice president and chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog that has raised concerns about Santos’ access to classified information. “The only question that remains is are they going to deal with him?”
The late 2022 disclosure and the lack of one in 2021 are now subject of an ethics complaint that Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres, both of New York, filed against Santos in January. They are among a number of allegations under review by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which voted unanimously to investigate Santos last month.
Under federal law, candidates can face a civil penalty or criminal charges over personal financial disclosures if they “knowingly and willfully” fail to file on time or file a false report. Such enforcement generally has happened only in the context of larger corruption probes.
‘They’re not going to deal with losers’
There are a host of reasons candidates may file forms late. The chief one cited by candidates is that they were unaware of the requirement. Campaign fundraising, which triggers the requirement to file a personal financial disclosure, is reported to the FEC, which is distinct from the congressional office where financial forms must be filed. Navigating the barrage of forms needed to run for Congress can be difficult for first-time candidates who may not have experienced staff, ethics experts acknowledged.
Many of the candidates who have failed to file financial disclosures are political longshots who do not make it near election. Of the more than three dozen candidates POLITICO identified who missed financial disclosure deadlines in either 2021 or 2022, the majority either lost primaries or were in general elections that would be decided by more than 20 points.
“The Ethics Committee tends to take the position that they’re not going to deal with losers because their jurisdiction is over members of Congress,” McGehee said.
But a few first-time candidates have been elected to Congress despite missing financial disclosures, including Santos and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), whose failure to file was first reported by Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 in January. Ogles ultimately filed the form a few days after the local news report, more than eight months after the deadline. Ogles also faces questions about the money he raised through a 2014 GoFundMe. His office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Ogles is not the only candidate to have filed the required forms after attracting scrutiny from their opponents or local media. For example, the Dallas Morning News reported last October that now-Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and her Republican opponent had both missed financial disclosure deadlines. Crockett, who would go on to win the election by more than 50 points in a heavily Democratic district, filed the forms in October after the newspaper inquired, and noted at the time that she had filed state financial disclosures that were more comprehensive than the congressional requirement. Texas’s early congressional primaries also complicate the deadlines for candidates in the state.
When candidates fail to file the disclosures, voters lose out on the ability to make the best informed decision, said Danielle Caputo, legal counsel for ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit watchdog group.
“It kind of defeats the purpose of being able to choose your representation if you don’t actually know who they truly are,” she said. “And financial disclosure reports are certainly part of the picture of who a person is.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Beirut: The Lebanese currency (LBP) has collapsed to 100,000 LBP per US dollar for the first time in history as the country’s financial crisis and political deadlock continues.
The value of the Lebanese currency lost 8,000 pounds from two weeks ago when it stood at 92,000 pounds against the dollar, reports Xinhua news agency.
In 1997, the pound was pegged to the dollar at 1,500 LBP to $1, and the two were convertible until October 2019.
On February 1, the Central Bank of Lebanon shifted its long-standing official exchange rate from 1,507.5 LBP to 15,000 LBP against the dollar, but is still well below the real value of the dollar.
Lebanon’s economists have been calling on authorities to elect a new President and form a new cabinet to end the political deadlock and allow the country to implement necessary reforms and stop the collapse.
Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Police CID has registered multiple FIRs against Margadarsi Chit Fund Pvt Ltd for a string of alleged irregularities, including diversion of depositors money into mutual funds and speculative markets for personal gain, an official said on Saturday.
Naming the chit fund’s chairman and media baron Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, company director Sailaja Cherukuri and the firm’s branch managers from various locations as accused, the CID termed the irregularities grave in nature.
Multiple CID teams swooped on Margadarsi branches in Visakhapatnam, Rajamundry, Eluru, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopeta and Anantapur, where searches are continuing.
“In view of the findings which are grave in nature, including the diverting of the subscribers money to mutual funds/speculative markets for their personal gains… the CID had immediately registered the cases and in pursuance of the FIRs, they commenced the investigation of the case,” an official said.
Non-payment of monthly subscriptions, illegal diversion of funds to the corporate office, non-disclosure of revenue and expenditure account and several other irregularities were named by the CID.
FIRs were registered on Friday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Section 5 of Andhra Pradesh Protection of Depositors in Financial Establishments Act and Sections 76 and 79 of the Chit Funds Act.
As the regulating power of chit fund businesses, the Stamps and Registration Department started its search of Margadarsi branches in October and November, 2022 along with other such firms.
The CID had also raided the chit fund company’s corporate office in Hyderabad for three days last December, where it unearthed collections from branch offices being funnelled into the corporate office for onward investment into mutual funds which are contingent to risks in the capital markets.
Rao is an influential media baron with interests in multiple businesses, including owning the famous Ramoji Film City in the outskirts of Hyderabad metropolis.
SVB’s failure is the biggest since Washington Mutual went under at the height of the 2008 crisis. | Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo
Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on Friday after a run on deposits drove the Northern California institution into insolvency, marking the largest bank failure since the financial crisis.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has transferred the bank’s deposits to a new entity in order to protect consumers. Policymakers including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had grown increasingly alarmed over the past 24 hours at the prospect of the bank’s failure.
That’s because nearly half of all Silicon Valley-backed startups and biotechs bank with the institution, which had roughly $175 billion of deposits as of the end of 2022. With $209 billion in assets, SVB’s failure is the biggest since Washington Mutual went under at the height of the 2008 crisis.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Mumbai: Maharashtra will implement a string of measures for the health, financial security of the girl child and women, and others, said Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis tabling the state Budget 2023-2024, here on Thursday.
In the ‘Lek Ladki’ scheme, a girl born to a family holding yellow or orange ration cards will get grants at birth, in school Std. I, VI and XI, and Rs 75,000 on attaining the age of 18.
Women will be given 50 per cent discount on ST bus tickets, the state will build 50 hostels for working women, and set up 50 centres under the Shakti Sadan Scheme to offer legal, health, counselling and shelter for victimised women.
ASHA Group volunteers and promoters honorarium will be raised by Rs 1,500 each, for Anganwadi workers it will be raised to Rs 10,000, for Mini-Anganwadi workers to Rs 7,200 and for Anganwadi helpers to Rs 5,500, besides filling up 20,000 vacant posts in the entire scheme.
The government will open 700 clinics in the state under the Hindu HridaySamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Aapla Dawakhana offering free medical tests, therapy and treatment.
Under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, the health cover amount is to be hiked from Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 5 lakh per annum, while the rate for kidney transplant surgery will be increased from Rs 2.50 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, said Fadnavis.
For those entitled to the Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojana and Shravanbal Seva Rajya Nivruttivetan Scheme, the financial assistance will be hiked from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 and the assistance will be paid in the first week of each month.
Under the ‘Modi Awas’ Gharkul Yojana, one million homes shall be built in three years for OBCs, for which Rs 12,000 crore shall be set aside.
Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty closed higher for a third session in a row on Wednesday as fag-end buying in banking, financial and oil stocks helped the indices rebound from early lows amid a bearish trend in global equity markets.
Covering-up of short positions by bears supported a late recovery in stocks and helped wipe off losses, traders said. However, a weak rupee against major rivals overseas weighed on market sentiment and restricted gains, they added.
In a largely subdued session, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 123.63 points or 0.21 per cent higher at 60,348.09 as 17 of its constituents gained and 13 declined. The barometer opened lower and stayed negative for most part of the trading session due to losses in Asian markets.
Fag-end buying in select index heavyweights helped the index to pare all the losses and settle in the green. During the session, the index touched a high of 60,402.85.
The broader NSE Nifty settled higher by 42.95 points or 0.24 per cent at 17,754.40. Nifty made a negative start and fell by more than 100 points during the day to a low of 17,602.25.
IndusInd Bank was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 4.75 per cent, followed by M&M, L&T, NTPC, ITC, Ultra Cement, Tata Steel, Maruti and SBI.
In contrast, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and Sun Pharma were among the losers, shedding up to 2.30 per cent.
In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge rose 0.61 per cent, and the smallcap index gained 0.28 per cent.
Among the sectoral indices, utilities rose 1.91 per cent, power gained 1.79 per cent, capital goods by 1.23 per cent, and auto by 0.95 per cent.
Realty, metal, consumer durable, IT and healthcare were among the laggards.
“Domestic equities opened gap down in line with global markets post the hawkish commentary from US Fed Chair Jerome Powell. But value buying at lower levels led the markets to reverse their losses and close in green,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd said.
The Indian equities despite negative global sentiment witnessed a sharp rebound from the lower end. The Nifty index remains in a buy mode as long as it holds the support of 17,500 on the downside where fresh put writing has been observed, said Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities.
“The global market has fallen back into the grip of uncertainty as the Fed chief signalled the possibility of a prolonged and faster rate hike, contradicting a dovish comment made by another Fed official last week.
“The market now anticipates a 50 bps rate hike, which has pushed the dollar index to a three-month high. However, a strong recovery was seen in the domestic market towards the end of the day, which kept the bulls on the move,” according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Going ahead, the market is likely to continue with its volatility till the next US Fed interest rate decision outcome (due later this month), where investors are now building in expectation of a 50-bps rate hike.
As per the Fed Chair, the ultimate rate hike is likely to be higher than previously anticipated given the stubborn inflation. Till there is clarity on the interest rate front, the market is likely to be volatile in a broader range, Khemka said.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong ended with losses, while Tokyo settled in the green.
Equity exchanges in Europe were trading with losses in the afternoon session. The US markets had ended significantly lower in the overnight session.
The rupee slipped 13 paise to close at 82.05 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday. International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.16 per cent lower at USD 83.16 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 3,671.56 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Hyderabad: The second meeting of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) under G20 India Presidency will be held in Hyderabad from March 6-7, a top official said on Friday.
The second GPFI meeting is expected to take forward the discussions on the development of important deliverables for the year including those on Digital Financial Inclusion, SME Finance and development of Financial Inclusion Action Plan 2023 which will guide the financial inclusion work for 2024-26, said Chanchal Sarkar, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Department of Economic Affairs.
The pre-events to the second G20 GPFI meeting are intended to exchange ideas and experiences with emerging economies of the Global South on leveraging new innovations such as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) including digital payments eco-system leading to enhancing digital financial inclusion, Sarkar told reporters here.
The meeting will be preceded by a Knowledge and Experience Exchange Programme for the emerging economies of the Global South to be held from March 4-6, said G20 chief coordinator Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
On March 6, a GPFI Symposium on Digital Innovations in Payments and Remittances will also be held for both G20 and non-G20 countries.
The first GPFI meeting was held in Kolkata from January 9-11 where members discussed and agreed upon the work programme and priorities for the year, Sarkar said.
The Knowledge and Experience Exchange Programme on advancing digital financial inclusion is expected to see the participation of Ministry of Finance and Central Bank representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jordan, Malawi, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Regional organisations, namely, the Asian Development Bank, the African Union Commission, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Arab Monetary Fund, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Gates Foundation, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and Smart Africa would attend.
Experiences and know-how from experts from India, including from the Ministry of Finance, Reserve Bank of India, National Payments Corporation of India, Unique Identification Authority of India will be shared to reflect the Indian experience in transforming the financial inclusion landscape by leveraging DPIs, he said.
This exchange programme will also enable non-G20 Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) to share their priorities, ideas and aspirations for advancing financial inclusion which will be useful takeaways for the G20 as it works towards developing a Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) for 2024-26, Sarkar added.
