Surveillance videos of a woman making multiple early morning trips to stuff paper inside an absentee ballot drop box prompted Connecticut election officials Wednesday to open an investigation into possible fraud in the mayoral primary in Bridgeport, th...
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Wednesday, 20 September 2023
US Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates At 22-Year High
The US Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to keep interest rates at a 22-year high, while forecasting an additional rate hike before the end of the year to bring down inflation.
The Fed's decision to keep its key lending rate between 5.25 percent and 5.50 percent gives policymakers time to "assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy," the central bank said in a statement.
After 11 interest rate hikes since March last year, inflation has fallen sharply but remains stubbornly above the Fed's long-run target of two percent per year -- keeping pressure on officials to consider further policy action.
On Wednesday, the Fed said economic activity had been expanding "at a solid pace," while noting strong job gains and a low unemployment rate.
A recent string of positive economic data has raised hopes that policymakers can slow price increases without triggering a damaging recession.
Alongside its interest rate decision, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) also updated members' forecasts for a range of economic indicators, as well as expectations of future monetary policy.
FOMC members left the median projection for interest rates between 5.50 percent and 5.75 percent, keeping alive the possibility of another quarter percentage point hike before year-end.
They also lifted expectations for interest rates next year by half a percentage point, suggesting the Fed anticipates rates will have to stay significantly higher for longer in order to lower inflation to target.
FOMC members more than doubled the median projection for economic growth this year as well to 2.1 percent, from 1.0 in June, and sharply raised their forecast for next year.
The prediction for the unemployment rate in 2023 was lowered slightly from June, suggesting the jobs market is faring better than hoped, while the expectation for headline inflation was increased slightly.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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Court Orders Probe Agency To Reply To Naresh Goyal's Plea Challenging Arrest
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its affidavit in response to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal's plea challenging his "illegal" arrest in a money laundering case linked to bank loan default.
Goyal, in his plea, claimed his arrest was illegal as it was done without following provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and also challenged orders of a special court which had sent him to the ED custody first and thereafter to jail under judicial remand.
When the plea was taken up for hearing on Wednesday by the HC, advocate Hiten Venegaonkar, appearing for the central agency, sought time to file their reply affidavit.
Senior counsel Amit Desai, appearing for the 74-year-old businessman, urged the court to grant a short date for hearing and pointed to his client's advanced age.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Gauri Godse then said it has to give the other side time to respond.
"He (Goyal) can file for bail. That liberty is there... ED may challenge this plea (filed by Goyal in HC) on maintainability itself," Justice Dere noted.
The bench posted the matter for hearing on October 6 by when the financial crime-fighting agency has to file it affidavit.
Goyal is currently in judicial custody and lodged at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai after arrest in the money laundering case linked to an alleged fraud of Rs 538 crore at Canara Bank.
The septuagenarian businessman, who once operated India's top private airline, was arrested by the ED on September 1 and produced before a special court which remanded him to custody of the central agency till September 14.
On September 14, he was remanded to judicial custody for two weeks.
Goyal, in the plea, said his arrest was arbitrary, unwarranted and done without the ED following proper procedure. He sought to be released immediately.
The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Jet Airways, Goyal, his wife Anita and some former company executives of the now grounded airline in connection with the alleged Rs 538-crore fraud at Canara Bank, a government lender.
The FIR was registered on the bank's complaint which alleged that it sanctioned credit limits and loans to Jet Airways (India) Ltd to the tune of Rs 848.86 crore of which Rs 538.62 crore was outstanding.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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Tuesday, 19 September 2023
West Point sued over using race as an admissions factor in the wake of landmark Supreme Court ruling
After 12 years without an execution, South Carolina says it has secured drugs to resume lethal injections
Monday, 18 September 2023
Iran's president denies sending drones and other weapons to Russia and decries US meddling
Canada expels top Indian diplomat as it investigates whether India is linked to slaying of a Sikh activist
Former Missouri police officer who shot into car gets probation after guilty plea
States Shifting To Old Pension Scheme Major Step Backwards: RBI Article
States reverting to the old pension scheme is a "major step backwards" and may take the fiscal stress of states to "unsustainable levels" in the medium to long term, according to an article by RBI staffers.
The article by Rachit Solanki, Somnath Sharma, RK Sinha, SR Behera and Atri Mukherjee said the cumulative fiscal burden in the case of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) could be as high as 4.5 times that of the New Pension Scheme, which was implemented over a decade ago as part of pension reforms.
The views expressed in the research paper are not that of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Recently, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have announced reversal to the OPS from NPS, the article said.
The OPS has Defined Benefits (DB) while the NPS has defined contributions, the article said, adding that while the OPS has a short term allure, the same poses challenges in the medium to long term.
"...short run reduction in states' pension outgo which may be driving decisions to restore OPS, would be eclipsed by the huge rise in future unfunded pension liabilities in the long run," it said.
"States' reverting to the OPS would be a major step backwards and can increase their fiscal stress to unsustainable levels in the medium to long term," the article warned.
The immediate gain for states shifting back to the OPS is that they will not have to spend on the NPS contribution of the current employees, but in the future, the unfunded OPS is likely to exert "severe pressures" on their finances, it said.
States will save only 0.1 per cent of GDP in yearly pension outgo by reverting to the OPS till 2040 but would be required to incur an average additional increase in pension expenditure by 0.5 per cent of yearly GDP post 2040.
It said several developed economies with DB schemes in the past have faced rising public expenditure due to the rising life expectancy of its citizens, and the changing demographic profile and rising fiscal costs have compelled several economies around the world to re-examine their pension schemes.
"Any reversion to the OPS by the states would be fiscally unsustainable, though it may result in an immediate fall in their pension outgo," the article said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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Couple, 2 children and 3 dogs found shot to death in suburban Chicago home
Sunday, 17 September 2023
Los Angeles Dodgers clinch 11th NL West title in 12 years with 6-2 win over Seattle Mariners
Search on for a missing Marine Corps fighter jet in South Carolina after pilot safely ejects
World War I-era plane flips onto roof trying to land near Massachusetts museum
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