NEWS

The government has approved extending a guarantee of Rs 30,600 crore to the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) to help clear the banking sector’s stressed assets of around Rs 2 lakh crore in a time-bound manner. A total of Rs 90,000 crore of stressed assets, against which banks have made 100 per cent provisions in their books of accounts, will be transferred to NARCL in the first phase.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said most of the big-ticket NPAs (Non Performing Assets) will be transferred to NARCL, thereby cleaning up banks’ balance sheets and freeing up growth capital for them to support economic activity. “…this will result in banks’ balance sheets and books being cleaner, transparent, they will now be able to stand on their own and do business. They have proved it because banks are going out and raising resources (from the market),” she said.

Ahead of next year's Gujarat Assembly elections, as many as 24 members, including 21 who debuted as ministers, were inducted into the Bhupendra Patel-led ministry. The BJP discarded all ministers in the previous Vijay Rupani-led regime. This new-look ministry is expected to make a significant impact ahead of the 2022 state polls, according to political observers.

With the fresh inductions, which include two women, the strength of Patel's ministry has gone up to 25. The ministry formation exercise has tried to balance caste and regional representation. The positive and negative aspects of the new experiment can be understood in the following key points:

After picking Patel, a Patidar community leader as the CM, the BJP has given berth to six Patidars and OBCs each, four from scheduled tribes, three from scheduled castes, two each from among Brahmins and Kshatriyas and one member from the Jain community.
Like the CM Patel, who is considered close to Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, the new cabinet minister Rishikesh Patel and minister of state with independent charge Jagdish Panchal, are also considered close to the former Gujarat CM. 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rode to power in Delhi promising free electricity and water, has made a similar promise in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly elections are due early next year.

In a series of announcements made in Lucknow on Thursday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that if voted to power, the AAP will provide 300 units of free electricity to domestic consumers, waive pending “inflated” bills and ensure a 24-hour power supply in Uttar Pradesh.

The AAP has made similar promises in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa where Assembly polls are due early next year.

“I want to tell the voters of Uttar Pradesh that with their power to vote, they can end the days of high electricity bills. Vote AAP to power and within 24 hours, all residential consumers will get free electricity up to 300 units. All farmers, irrespective of how big or small, will get free electricity,” Sisodia, who was accompanied by AAP MP Sanjay Singh, told mediapersons at a press conference here.

At a time when several BJP-ruled states are witnessing change in leadership, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur's second visit to Delhi in a week has triggered speculation of a similar change of guard in the hill state, which will go to polls next year. 

However, the party sources, as quoted by The Indian Express, said that Thakur was recalled to Delhi to discuss the party's preparations and strategy for the upcoming bypolls in the state.

Thakur had visited the national capital last week to formally invite President Ram Nath Kovind and other Union Ministers for an event to mark the golden jubilee of the statehood. However, his return to Delhi on Tuesday sparked rumours that he was summoned by the leadership to discuss a change of guard in the state.