Here's what Modi govt can do to avoid rural Gujarat-like drubbing in 2019

A big takeaway of the 2017 Gujarat state polls has been BJP's inability to hold on its rural seats in some parts of the state, though this hasn't been a uniform trend everywhere, general perception and ground reports do indicate that rural voters haven't been particularly kind to the party.

However, critics of this theory argue that if that was the case then BJP would have lost all the rural seats in the state, which also points to the fact that a particular community of farmers might have felt aggrieved with the party.

Nonetheless, agriculture in Gujarat hasn't been doing particularly well, mainly in the last few years.

Data sourced from the NITI Aayog website shows that in 2014-15 and 2015-16, the Gross State Value Added of agriculture, forestry and fishing dipped to a negative 0.48 per cent and 1.28 per cent, respectively.

This fall, though against the backdrop of over 26 per cent growth in 2013-14 and also two back-to-back droughts, indicated that the state's superlative performance in agriculture was showing signs of wearing off.

On top of that, the sharp fall in prices of main commercial crops in just concluded kharif harvest season and even before that aggravated the distress.

The prices of major commercial crops, particularly groundnut and cotton, have dropped below their state-fixed minimum support price (MSP) – the average mandi price of groundnut seed this month was around Rs 3,800 a quintal, as against the MSP of Rs 4,450, while cottonseed prices were also below the MSP of long staple cotton Rs 4,320 per quintal and also that of MSP of medium staple cotton Rs 4,020.
READ MORE

AI flight with aviation minister onboard delayed by 1.3 hours, 3 suspended

Three staff members were suspended and a warning letter was issued to the pilot of Air India after they reached late for their duty and delayed a flight by one-and-half hours with over 100 passengers onboard, including Minister of Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who faced the heat of the agitated passengers.

The incident came to light on Wednesday when the Air India flight from Delhi to Vijaywada was late by around 1.30 hours.

"The flight was scheduled at 6 a.m. from Delhi but after getting delayed for around 1.30 hrs it finally took off for Vijaywada. Air India took action against the three staffers who have been suspended and a warning letter has been issued to the captain for reaching the airport late," Air India Spokesperson GP Rao said while confirming the incident.

According to the Air India sources, the pilots had reported late for the duty leaving the waiting passengers furious.

The passengers then reached co-passenger Aviation Minister Raju, who was sitting in the business class section and was on his way to Vijaywada, asking him about the delay.

Raju immediately contacted the airlines security and asked the newly appointed Air India Chairman and Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola the reason behind the delay, after which appropriate actions were taken.

Gujarat polls: BJP might get a rude shock, says Yogendra Yadav

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could be in for a rude shock in the Gujarat Assembly elections, said noted political scientist Yogendra Yadav on Wednesday — a day before the last phase of voting in the state.

“There was a sharp swing against the BJP in the past few weeks,” and he said, adding: “Unless the trend is dramatically reversed, surveys lead to the same conclusion — defeat for the BJP.”

Yadav, a leader of the political organisation Swaraj Abhiyan with nearly two decades of experience as a psephologist, had based his projections on the data collected in three surveys since August by CSDS-ABP. He said the results if the Gujarat polls could be subdivided between urban, semi-urban, and rural areas.

Polling will be held for 93 seats on Thursday. The first phase of polling was held on December 9 for 89 of the 182 seats in the Assembly. The counting of votes is on December 18. Exit polls will be in after voting ends.

In a tweet, Yadav said the BJP was “on a solid wicket” in the 39 urban seats. “It can’t lose more than 10 seats [in urban areas].” In semi-urban areas, where it now has 36 seats, it might lose half.

Yadav forecast that the BJP faced a “steady downhill” in the 98 rural seats, where it had trailed the Congress in 2012 Assembly polls, and could now face a rout.

Income Tax dept launches new e-facility to link your Aadhaar with PAN

The Income Tax department has launched a new e-facility to link a person's Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number (PAN), a mandatory procedure for filing I-T returns now.

The department's e-filing website — https://incometaxindiaefiling.Gov.In/ — has created a new link on its homepage making it "easy" to link the two unique identities of an individual.

The link requires a person to punch in his PAN number, Aadhaar number and the "exact name as given in the Aadhaar card".

"After verification from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the linking will be confirmed. In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one time password) will be required," the department said in its advisory to taxpayers and individuals.

The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number and email of the individual.

It urged them to ensure that the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar are exactly the same, to ensure linking without failure.

"There is no need to login or be registered on e-filing website (of the I-T department). This facility can be used by anyone to link their Aadhaar with PAN," it said.

The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of income tax returns (ITR).

Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017.

The department, till now, has linked over 1.18 Aadhaar with its PAN database.

While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated card by the I-T department to any person, firm or entity.
READ MORE