INDIA, NEPAL SIGN POWER TRADE AGREEMENT

22102014

Oct 22,
India and Nepal have inked the Power Trade Agreement (PTA), allowing exchange of electricity and opening up new vistas of cooperation in the hydro-power sector.
Energy Secretary of India Pradeep Kumar Sinha and his Nepalese counterpart Rajendra Kishore Kshatra signed the agreement at a function held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Kathmandu yesterday. The two sides had agreed to sign the agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in August.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sinha said, the agreement will also provide a permanent forum for interaction between Indian and Nepal in the power sector. He said, there is also the provision of establishing a joint working group in the PTA to be headed by joint secretaries of the two countries. He said, the joint group will sit every six months and take up issues not only pertaining to the existing cooperation in power sector but also explore and identify new areas of cooperation.
The Nepalese Secretary said that the signing of the PTA was the result of our continuous effort since 2010

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BJP quagmire Uddhav tough negotiation,

22102014

BJP quagmire Uddhav tough negotiation, NCP unconditional support

Two Shiv Sena leaders Anil Desai and Subhash Desai, who arrived in Delhi last night, returned to Mumbai early this morning after holding talks with BJP’s central leadership about the government formation in Maharashtra. Sources said, the two leaders will meet party chief Uddhav Thackeray in the afternoon and brief him about the outcome of the meeting with the BJP leaders.

Anil and Subhash Desai were sent to Delhi last night by party Chief Uddhav Thackeray to hold discussions with BJP’s central leadership. Sources said, Thackeray may visit national capital to carry forward talks with BJP’s top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari yesterday admitted that his party has begun discussion with Shiv Sena on the government formation.

Earlier, BJP had deferred the visit of Home Minister Rajnath Singh who was chosen as a central observer for election of the leader of BJP Legislature Party. Party sources said, Mr. Singh will go to Mumbai after Diwali.

Official correspondent reports that BJP leaders have kept all options open including taking outside support from NCP and also taking Independent MLA’s on board.

BJP had won 122 seats in the 288-member State Assembly, falling short of the majority mark by 23 seats. Sena has 63 seats while NCP has 41.

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BJP’s central govt sounding hollow on corruption

22102014

From: Media Cell AAP <mediacellaap@gmail.com> Tue, 21 Oct ’14 7:15p

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

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Disturbing developments concerning multiple ministries raise serious doubts on the BJP central government’s stand on corruption, the very plank on which it had attacked the previous UPA government and promised ache din to the people of the country.

Following up its u-turn on the much hyped election promise of bringing back the black money stashed away in foreign banks within 150 days of coming to power, the BJP government is now looking for unjustified excuses for not revealing the names of illicit foreign bank account holders.

Last week it informed the Supreme Court that international treaties prevent disclosure of names, and now the finance minister said today (Tuesday) that the Congress party will be embarrassed when names of black money account holders will be revealed.

Could this be the reason behind BJP-led NDA government’s u-turn before the Supreme Court ?

Is this a matter between the BJP and the Congress ? Do the people of the country not have a right to know who looted them ?

Finance minister Mr Arun Jaitley is misleading the country by stating that the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed with Germany in 1995 is the obstacle in making public the names of illicit bank account holders.

The same argument was given by the UPA government before the Supreme Court in 2011, but it outrightly rejected it in its July 4, 2011 judgment in its para 56, stating :“We have perused the said agreement with Germany. We are convinced that the said agreement, by itself, does not proscribe the disclosure of the relevant documents and details of the same, including the names of various bank account holders in Liechtenstein.”

Apart from black money, the latest revelations about a defence contractor allegedly close to union minister General (retired) VK Singh being under the CBI lens, require a clarification from the minister on the issue.

The central government and the BJP, both, need to come clean on whether the former army chief is above doubt in murky dealings pointed out by the R&AW.

Somebody who has claimed to have fought against corruption throughout his career cannot remain quiet when skeletons seem to be tumbling out.

Adding to the ruling party’s discomfiture is the Karnatka High Court’s order stating that probe into land deals against BJP national vice-president Mr BS Yeddyurappa must continue.

All the above mentioned developments put a big questionmark on the BJP claims of providing a corruption free regime. (ENDS)

Regards,

AAP Media cell

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Categories : Politics, world News

Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2014 Details

22102014

Analysis of Criminal Background, Financial, Education, Gender and other details of MLAs

​Maharashtra Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 288 newly elected MLAs in the Maharashtra 2014 Assembly Elections.

 

Final Party Positions in 2014 Maharashtra Assembly Elections

Party	Seats
Bhartiya Janata Party	122
Shiv Sena	63
Indian National Congress	42
Nationalist Congress Party	41
Rashtriya Samaj Paksha	1
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen	2
Peasants And Workers Party of India	3
Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	3
Samajwadi Party	1
Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha	1
Communist Party of India (Marxist)	1
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena	1
Independents	7
Total	288

​Criminal Background

• MLAs with Criminal Cases: Out of the 288 MLAs analysed, 165 (57%) MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of 262 MLAs analysed duringMaharashtra Assembly elections in 2009, 136 (52%) MLAs had declared criminal cases against themselves. 
• MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: 115 (40%) MLAs have declared serious criminal cases including cases related to murder, attempt to murder, communal disharmony, kidnapping, crimes against women etc. Out of 262 MLAs analysed during Maharashtra Assembly elections in 2009, 86 (33%) MLAs had declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
• MLAs with Criminal Cases where Charges have been framed: Out of the 165 MLAs who have declared pending criminal cases against themselves, 51 (31%)have declared that the charges for these cases have already been framed by the court of law. 

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• MLAs with cases related to murder and attempt to murder: 3 MLAs have declared cases related to murder out of which two are from BJP and one is from Shiv Sena. 15 MLAs have declared cases of attempt to murder out of which 5 MLAs are from BJP, 2 are from NCP, 7 are from Shiv Sena and one is an Independent MLA. 
• MLAs with cases related to Crimes against Women: 11 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women out of these 5 are from BJP and 6 are from Shiv Sena. 8 MLAs have declared cases related to assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty (IPC Section-354). 
• MLAs with cases related to causing Communal Disharmony: 3 MLAs declared cases related to causing communal disharmony. These cases include promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony (IPC Section-153A) and Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class (IPC Section-295)
• MLAs with cases related to Robbery and Dacoity: 14 MLAs have declared cases related to robbery and dacoity. Out of these, 5 MLAs have been fielded by BJP, 6 MLAs from Shiv Sena, 2 MLAs from NCP and 1 MLA belongs to CPI(M). 
• MLAs with cases related to Kidnapping: 9 MLAs have declared cases related toKidnapping. Out of these, 3 MLAs are from BJP, 5 MLAs from NCP and 1 MLAfromfrom Shiv Sena.

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• ​Party wise MLAs with Criminal Cases: 74 (61%) out of 122 MLAs analysed from BJP, 48 (76%) out of 63 MLAs from Shiv Sena, 15 (36%) out of 42 MLAs fromINC and 19 (46%) out of 41 NCP MLAs have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. 
• Party wise MLAs with Serious Criminal Cases: 46 (38%) out of 122 MLAs analysed from BJP,35 (56%) out of 63 MLAs from Shiv Sena, 10 (24%) out of 42 MLAs from INC and 18 (44%) out of41 NCP MLAs have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.​

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Financial Background

• Crorepati MLAs: Out of the 288 newly elected MLAs, 253 (88%) are crorepatis.Out of 262 MLAs analysed during Maharashtra 2009 assembly elections, 174 (66%) MLAs were crorepatis. 
• High Asset MLAs: Out of the 288 newly elected MLAs, 80 (28%) MLAs have total assets worth more than Rs. 10 crores, 10 MLAs have total assets worth more than Rs. 50 crores and 4 MLAs have total assets worth more than Rs. 100 crores. The details of these four MLAs are given as follows:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Mangal Prabhat Lodha	Mumbai City	Malabar Hill	BJP	61,54,15,041	1,37,07,64,192	1,98,61,79,233 198 Crore+	Y
2	Azmi Abu Asim	Mumbai Suburban	Mankhurd Shivajinagar	SP	1,27,57,33,964	28,53,77,000	1,56,11,10,964 156 Crore+	Y
3	Jagdish Tukaram Mulik	Pune	Vadgaon Sheri	BJP	10,82,21,576	94,05,91,046	1,04,88,12,622 104 Crore+	Y
4	Hitendra Vishnu Thakur	Palghar	Vasai	Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	23,06,07,554	77,16,64,862	1,00,22,72,416 100 Crore+	Y

• Party-wise Crorepati MLAs: 104 (85%) out of 122 MLAs analysed in BJP, 54 (86%) out of 63 MLAs in Shiv Sena, 39 (95%) out of 41 MLAs in NCP and 38 (91%)out of 38 MLAs from INChave declared assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore. 

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• ​Average Assets: The average assets per MLA for Maharashtra 2014 assembly elections are Rs. 10.87 crores whereas the average asset for each candidate was Rs. 3.62 crores. In 2009 the average assets per 262 MLAs analyzed was Rs. 4.99 crores.

• Party-wise Average Assets: Among major parties, the average assets per MLA for 122 BJPMLAs analysed is Rs 11.67 crores, 63 Shiv Sena MLAs have average assets of Rs.6.90 crores, 42 INC MLAs have average assets worth of Rs.9.01 crores and 41 NCP MLAs have average assets of Rs. 11.82 crores.

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• MLAs with High Liabilities: A total of 87 MLAs have declared liabilities of Rs. 1 crore and above. Out of these 87 MLAs, 9 have declared liabilities of Rs. 10 crore and above. Top three MLAs with highest liabilities are as given below:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Total Assets(Rs)	Liabilities (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Mangal Prabhat Lodha	Mumbai City	Malabar Hill	BJP	1,98,61,79,233 198 Crore+	91,66,98,414 91 Crore+	Y
2	Hitendra Vishnu Thakur	Palghar	Vasai	Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	1,00,22,72,416 100 Crore+	18,77,91,503 18 Crore+	Y
3	Ashish Deshmukh	Nagpur	Katol	BJP	38,95,94,157 38 Crore+	18,10,14,470 18 Crore+	Y

• Crorepati MLAs with no PAN: 2 MLAs with total assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore have not declared PAN details. These MLAs are as follows:

S.No.	Name	District	Constituency	Party Name	Movable Assets (Rs)	Immovable Assets (Rs)	Total Assets (Rs)	PAN Given
1	Bhumre Sandipanrao Aasaram	Aurangabad	Paithan	SHS	48,03,960	10,89,27,061	11,37,31,021 11 Crore+	N
2	Padvi Udesing Kocharu	Nandurabar	Shahada (St)	BJP	55,54,538	1,32,46,730	1,88,01,268 1 Crore+	N

•  MLAs with High Income as declared in ITR*: 22 MLAs have declared total annual income of more than Rs. 1 crore. The top three MLAs with highest declared annual income are given below:

S.No.	Name	Party Name	Constituency	District	Total Asset (Rs)	The financial year for which the last income tax return has been filed by winner	Total income shown by winner in ITR (Self+Spouse+Dependent) (Rs)	Self income shown by winner in ITR (Rs)
1	Mangal Prabhat Lodha	BJP	Malabar Hill	Mumbai City	1,98,61,79,233 198 Crore+	2012-2013	34,66,82,610 34 Crore+	33,24,36,210 33 Crore+
2	Dilip Gangadhar Sopal	NCP	Barshi	Solapur	14,58,99,667 14 Crore+	2012-2013	9,85,15,762 9 Crore+	9,85,15,762 9 Crore+
3	Prashant Thakur	BJP	Panvel	Raigad	58,60,36,849 58 Crore+	2013-2014	5,61,37,139 5 Crore+	5,41,02,482 5 Crore+

*Total income includes income of self, spouse and dependents

• MLAs who have not declared Income Tax Details*: 24 (8%) MLAs out of 288 analyzed have not declared income tax details.* Some MLAs may be exempted from filing Income Tax Returns 
• MLAs with High Assets who have not declared Income Tax Details: 12 MLAs with assets worth more than Rs. 1 crore, have not declared Income Tax Details.

Comparative Analysis of Assets of Re-elected MLAs

• Number of Re-elected MLAs: Number of re-elected MLAs analysed in the Maharashtra Assembly 2014 elections is 108 
• Average Assets of re-elected MLAs in 2009: The average assets of re-elected MLAs in 2009 was Rs. 5.39 crores 
• Average Assets of re-elected MLAs in 2014: The average assets of re-elected MLAs in 2014 is Rs. 13.87 crores 
• Average growth in assets of re-elected MLAs from 2009 to 2014: The average assets growth of re-elected MLAs is Rs. 8.47 crores i.e. by 157%.

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​Other Background Details

• Education Details of MLAs: 126 (44%) MLAs have declared that they have an education qualification of 12^th pass or below while 154 (53%) MLAs have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.​

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• Age Details of MLAs: 151 (52%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 25 to 50 yearswhile 136 (47%) MLAs have declared their age to be between 51 to 80 years and 1 MLA has declared his age to be more than 81 years. 

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• Gender Details of MLAs: Out of 288 MLA analyed, 20 (7%) MLAs are women while 268 (93%)MLAs are men. In 2009, out of 288 MLAs, 11 (4%) MLAs were women.

​Regards,

Media and Journalist Helpline +91 80103 94248 Email:adr@adrindia.org

Maj.Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.) Head National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms 011 4165 4200, +91 88264 79910 adr@adrIndia.org, anilverma@adrindia.org

Prof Jagdeep Chhokar IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.) Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 99996 20944 jchhokar@gmail.com

Prof Trilochan Sastry IIM Bangalore Founder Member, National Election Watch, Association for Democratic Reforms +91 94483 53285 trilochans@iimb.ernet.in

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–

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