Morning Brief: Work Begins On Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, ED Grills Karti Chidambaram; Over Three Million Join EPF In Six Months

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news and views brief for today.

Work Begins On Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link

Work on the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, a 22-km-long sea-link connecting Mumbai with its satellite city Navi Mumbai, got off to a start on 25 April with contractor conducting soil testing in the Nhava Sheva creek. The sea-link, on the drawing board since the 1970s, includes a 16.5 km long six-lane bridge over the creek and 5.5 km viaducts on land on either side. It will provide direct access to Navi Mumbai, Nhava Sheva Port, Mumbai-Goa Highway, Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The project’s cost has jumped from Rs 4,500 crore in 2005 to Rs 9,360 crore in 2013 and Rs 11,000 crore in 2014 estimates. Now, it is pegged at Rs 17, 800 crore. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency is financing 85 per cent of the project. Is likely to be completed by the first half of 2022.

ED Questions Karti Chidambaram For The Third Time In April

Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, was on Wednesday grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Aircel Maxis money laundering case for the third time this month. He was questioned for the first time on 10 April and the second time on 17 April. The case is related to a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval granted by his father in 2006. It has been alleged that a firm closely linked to him received Rs 26 lakh from Aircel just days after the FIPB approval was granted. The ED has said that it is looking into “the circumstances of said FIPB approval granted by the then finance minister”, adding that it was “wrongly projected as an investment of Rs 180 crore so that it need not be sent to the CCEA to avoid detailed scrutiny”. P Chidambaram had the authority to approve project proposals only up to Rs 600 crore and required the permission of the Committee on Economic Affairs for projects beyond that.

New Jobs In Non-Farm Sector? 3.11 Million Join EPF In Six Months

India added over three million workers to the state-run social security fund in February, after adding 604,557 in January, a report in Reuters says, hinting at the creation of new jobs in the non-farm sector. Data released by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) shows these workers joined the social security fund during the September 2017 to February 2018 period. To bring more workforce into the organised sector, the Modi government had announced earlier this year that the state would partially cover employers’ contributions to the EPF for three years. The government says it will cover an amount up to 12 per cent of employees’ salaries.

NHAI’s Plan To Float InVITs Halted By Finance Ministry

The Finance Ministry has halted the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI’s) plan to float infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) to raise money from the market for its Rs 5.97 lakh crore Bharatmala project, asking it to wait till other central public sector enterprises issue their InvITs. InvITs, made up of sponsors, investment managers, project managers and trustees, are used to pool money from investors to invest in assets that provide a cash flow over a period of time. Earlier, the Finance Ministry had ‘red-flagged’ NHAI’s idea to float bonds to raise Rs 3,000 crore to finance the Bharatmala scheme in February this year.

India, China May Resume Annual Military Exercise

The India-China bilateral military exercise, suspended after the 73-day military stand-off in Doklam in the second half of 2017, is likely to resume this year as the two countries look to ‘reset’ the relationship. The exercise, called ‘Hand-in-Hand’, may take place within the next 4-5 months in China and an announcement is expected soon. The issue was discussed during talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Beijing on Tuesday. This comes just days ahead of Prime Narendra Modi’s visit to China for an “informal” summit with President Xi Jinping to discuss the future course of relations.

Naga Accord In Final Stage

The Government of India and the Naga armed groups have finalised most parts of the peace accord which is likely to be signed before the monsoon session of Parliament. An agreement over the Naga demand for a separate flag for the state is the final hurdle that the two sides are trying to navigate. Once an agreement is reached on this issue, the final draft of the accord will be prepared. The signing of this accord will bring India’s oldest insurgency to a close. According to reports, the accord does not change the boundary of states; provides autonomous Naga territorial councils for Arunachal and Manipur; a common cultural body for Nagas across states; specific institutions for state’s development and the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

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