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‘TN govt may get into reform mode after local body polls’

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Palanivel-Thiaga-Rajan

The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government may get into reform mode post the local body elections likely to be held by the end of 2021, say party leaders and industry experts.

“Though a white paper on the Tamil Nadu government finances spoke about the necessity to hike tax rates and other things for those who can bear it, the state budget that was presented was a usual one. Perhaps the state government may get into reform mode after the local body elections,” K.C. Palanisamy, former AIADMK MP and MLA, told IANS.

Palanisamy said the local body elections may be held before the end of 2021 or February 2022.

Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan after declaring ‘once in a generation reforms a must’ and ‘business as usual’ approach cannot continue while presenting the white paper on the state government’s finances, came out with a relatively populist budget.

As per the white paper, reforms/restructuring in state government undertakings, statutory boards, power utilities, mobilisation of tax revenues, mode of subsidy deliveries were on the cards.

“As a debutant Finance Minister, he might have taken a soft approach with his first budget which is an interim budget,” Palanisamy said.

Industry experts said Finance Minister Rajan’s budget is nothing but a status quo or an extension of the previous AIADMK government’s budget.

“The white paper set the expectation that the Finance Minister will provide a reform budget to reduce the state debt. One could agree that he needed more time to come up with the actual reforms but least expected was the transformation roadmap, a timeline,” Sriram Seshadri, Founder and Managing Partner, Disha Consulting and formerly Partner and Managing Director, Accenture India, told IANS.

According to him, a white paper lays down the problem, analysis, probable solution.

On the other hand, the government’s white paper laid out the problem statement which was well known and the expectations were there on reform proposals in the budget which surprisingly did not happen, Seshadri said.

“As an economist, I feel satisfied that the budget didn’t provide for any of the poll promises. For an economist the white paper gave an expectation that there would be a reform and transformation roadmap but the budget was disappointing,” he added.

According to him, nothing was there in the budget for beefing up the state revenues while the debt was increasing.

“Tamil Nadu will cross the debt of Rs six lakh crore mark by 2021 end. Only solace is during the budget discussions in the state Assembly, the Finance Minister has said some of the poll promises will not be met such as revising the old pension scheme for government employees,” Seshadri added.

He said if there is a reform agenda with the DMK government it has to be rolled out soon and not wait for the next year’s budget.

However, he agreed that the government will take some reform steps mainly targeted subsidies to poor sections of the society, refine the rules for ration cards and revenue optimisation initiatives like tax reforms.

“Already Tamil Nadu’s economy is the fourth largest in the country and will slip to fifth or sixth place soon. Hence, the state should regain the momentum, cut the red tape and enable ease of doing business both in MSME and large industries,” Seshadri said.

While the government’s popularity endures it should take some tough decisions to reduce government spending, disinvestment and make announcements to attract investment, he said.

“Sterlite Copper (copper smelter unit of Vedanta Ltd in Tuticorin) closure is one of the stumbling blocks for investors to invest in a big way because there is no guarantee to their investment. The government should enable reopening of Sterlite within the guidelines of the pollution control norms. Likewise closely monitor to optimize revenue on the natural resources, mining and sand. The government gets less than Rs 1,000 crore revenue whereas the potential is much higher,” he added.

However, the signs of change in the government are seen in the budget by not implementing its populist poll promises like Rs 1,000 per month dole to the female head of the family.

“Instead the government had decided to conduct a study to identify eligible beneficiaries. This move is new as in the past the state government used to disburse financial assistance for almost all ration card holders,” K. Puhazhendi, Director, Perfint Healthcare, told IANS.

Referring to Rajan’s statement that the governance will be data-based, Puhazhendi said the government can mine data available in its own departments/municipal corporations.

The smart ration cards are linked with Aadhar cards.

Puhazendhi said the government employees themselves form a big database so that undeserved subsidies can be stopped.

“Data on property taxpayers, land owners, vehicle registrations, power consumers, ration card holders, data about government employees, shops and business establishments, factories and other data are available with different departments,” Puhazhendi said.

The government can collate and gather from the people with help of door-to-door data gathering. This could be a starting point to build a database and target the subsidies and other government schemes, he added.

Stressing that the government’s focus should be on making each department, municipal corporations self-financing, Puhazhendi called for a freeze on government hiring and investment should be made in information technology systems to digitise the services.

It is high time the state government goes in for public-private partnership in the tourism sector. The state government owns several hotel properties which are in need of private investment and management.

Crime

Delhi Police arrest notorious cyber stalker in Palam

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CRIME

New Delhi, July 2: A 21-year-old man was arrested in Delhi’s Palam village for allegedly harassing a college student by creating fake Instagram accounts and using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate objectionable content.

The accused was persistently stalking and defaming the victim, a college-going girl, through multiple fake Instagram profiles, Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West District, said in a statement.

The complainant approached the Cyber Police Station, West District, on June 16, reporting that the accused was daily creating new accounts using her photographs, posting them with derogatory captions, and targeting her and her followers.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“In view of the seriousness of the matter, a dedicated team led by SI Priyanka was formed to identify and apprehend the accused,” the statement added.

A team of PS Cyber, South-West District, arrested the notorious cyber stalker and recovered the smartphone used in the commission of the offence, the statement read.

During the investigation, it came to the fore that the accused was impersonating a female using a profile picture taken from the victim’s public Instagram account, the police said.

The police said the accused further used AI tools to convert the images into sexually explicit content and uploaded these edited pictures through fake Instagram stories.

Despite efforts to mask his identity by not linking any accounts to verifiable mobile numbers or Gmail IDs, the cyber team used advanced technical analysis to track the suspect to the Palam area of South-West Delhi. Multiple raids were conducted before he was successfully arrested.

The accused, whose identity has been withheld, confessed to the crime during interrogation, the police statement read.

Further investigation is underway.

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National

Ashish Shelar Orders Timely Honorarium Disbursal And SOP Reinforcement For Senior Folk Artists

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Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar on Tuesday directed the department to re-communicate instructions to all District Collectors regarding the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for disbursal of honorarium to senior folk artists. He also instructed that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the prescribed timeframe.

A review meeting was held at Mantralaya to assess the remuneration process for senior artists, during which Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar issued key directives. The application process for this year’s honorarium disbursal began today.

Noting that several complaints are received annually regarding delays and inconsistencies, the Minister instructed the Director of Cultural Affairs to ensure time-bound redressal of all grievances. He emphasized that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the stipulated timeframe to build trust and transparency in the system.

Minister Shelar also pointed out that the formation of remuneration committees for senior artists is still pending in many districts. In light of this, he stressed the need to re-communicate the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all District Collectors to ensure uniformity and accountability in the implementation of the honorarium process across the state.

Deputy Secretary of the Cultural Affairs Department Mahesh Vavhal, Director of the Directorate of Cultural Affairs Bibhishan Chavare, Joint Director Shriram Pande, and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

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National

Ravindra Chavan, Trusted Lieutenant Of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Appointed BJP State Unit President

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Mumbai: Ravindra Chavan, known as a trusted lieutenant of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will take over as BJP’s state unit president on Tuesday.

The incumbent, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, will hand over charge at a party conclave in Mumbai. The mantle is being handed to Chavan, whose grassroots planning ensured BJP’s impressive electoral performance in Thane and the Konkan belt, with an eye on the coming elections to the local bodies, according to party sources.

Chavan was the only candidate who filed his nomination papers on Monday at BJP state headquarters in the presence of Fadnavis, Bawankule and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Arun Singh. Union minister Kiren Rijiju was present as the central observer.

Chavan represents Dombivali for the fourth term in the Assembly. He was a member of the Fadnavis cabinet between 2014 and 2019 and the Eknath Shinde-led government from 2022 to 2024. There was speculation of his elevation to the key party post started when he was denied a Cabinet berth after last year’s Assembly elections. He has been officiating as the working president of the state unit for the last few months.

The BJP is eyeing maximum number of municipal bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprising 8 municipal corporations. With the elevation of Chavan, known for his aggressive politics, BJP seems to be sending out a message to deputy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is likely to ask for lion’s share of seats for the civic polls. As an experienced leader, Chavan will shoulder his responsibilities with vigour and strength, Fadnavis asserted.

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