'This week we once again heard the prime minister and finance minister speak, at a recent media house event in the capital, about how well the economy is doing. The truth is nothing can improve our economic fundamentals till public investment is sharply increased. Manipulating statistics may help manage global headlines for a while, but cannot strengthen our economic fundamentals.
'Taking advantage of the skewed pricing policy of successive governments both at the Centre and at the state level, rice mill owners across India have been literally milling thousands of crores of rupees for themselves through the sale of paddy by-products left over from the rice they process for the public distribution system (PDS). The by-products of rice milling are bran, husk, broken rice and nooks which enjoy a lucrative market – giving millers high returns on something which they do not have to spend a single rupee to buy. They get them for free...
'The instant noodles brand launched by yoga teacher Ramdev has not obtained mandatory product approvals from the Food Safety and Regulatory Authority of India, officials said, even though Patanjali Atta Noodles packets display an “FSSAI licence number”. “Patanjali Atta Noodles has not got product approvals from us. The matter has been brought to our notice. We are pursuing it,” Ashish Bahuguna, FSSAI chairperson who also holds additional charge as its CEO, told The Indian Express...'
'There's no doubt over Pahlaj Nihalani's love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the Central Board Of Film Certification chief made 'Har Ghar Modi', for the Prime Minister, he has now come out with a new video called 'Mera Desh Hai Mahaan, Mera Desh Hai Jawaan'. Besides being available on YouTube, this five-and-a-half-minute music video — a paean to Modi and the policies he has instituted as PM — is reportedly playing in several cinemas at the interval point of Sooraj Barjatya's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which released on Thursday.
'From inflation to social sector spending to reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Delhi Economic Conclave has proved that Truth is dead... Truth would have also gone on to point to the soaring prices of pulses (with arhar dal selling at an unprecedented Rs. 200 a kg). Imagine that? Truth would have also dared to talk about what an ASSOCHAM report said (the report said that prices of brinjal, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes have become much costlier, while the prices of fruits have increased by 40-45 per cent).
'Two newspaper advertisements by the BJP in Bihar have been banned by the Election Commission, hours after leaders from the Nitish Kumar-led "Grand Alliance" complained to the election watchdog, accusing the BJP of promoting "lies and communal tension" in the state through its advertisements. The Election Commission, in a strongly-worded advisory to the Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Naik, has asked to ensure that the two advertisements aren't published in any newspaper from tomorrow till the elections in the state are over.
'Shiv Sena workers today assaulted and blackened the face of a Right to Information activist at Latur in Maharashtra's Marathwada region, after he "exposed" an illegal construction case. The activist Mallikarjun Bhaikatti had, through an RTI query, revealed that around 14,000 square feet illegal construction was carried out in a four-storeyed building and boys hostel on the Latur-Nanded road. Mr Bhaikatti had addressed a press conference at Latur yesterday to "expose" the illegal construction, police said.
'Amit Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims that when political leaders speak in public meetings, they often become "emotional" and that "their statements should not be taken with full stop, comma and all." How then should one understand Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated claim that BJP governments have never tinkered with reservations, during his election rallies in Bihar? His declaration that no BJP government has ever diluted the reservations policy nor will it do so in future, is as blatant an untruth as one can get, with or without commas and full stops...
'Suresh Rana said: “Now I will tell you the truth. We charged them with rape, but it wasn’t rape, it was consensual. We slapped a rape case against them to teach them a lesson."... According to various media reports, leaders from BJP, VHP and RSS are involved in what can be best described as the fight against Love Jihad. For the uninitiated, the term Love Jihad is used to describe the act of a Muslim man wooing young Hindu girls and then converting them to Islam.
'The senior Supreme Court lawyer, who was in Patna to lend his support to veterans fighting for OROP, said the BJP did nothing to bring back black money, and had it done so, it would have been able to meet the demands of ex-servicemen.
