Lakhimpur Kheri incident: A brief timeline
Current Affairs
On October 3, several farmers gathered near the helipad at the Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri district, to protest against the new farm laws at the arrival of Keshav Prasad Maurya, Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, for a nearby event.
On finding that the minister will be arriving via road through a different route, the farmers started leaving. This is when three large SUVs came through the main road, and the first SUV ran over the protestors.
Claims by the parties involved
Protestors allege that the SUV that ran over the group belongs to Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra.
The minister has claimed that the incident was an accident as the driver lost control due to farmers throwing stones at the vehicle. The minister also claimed that Ashish was not present at the spot of the incident.
Eight killed in the violence
Two unverified videos have come forward. The earlier version of the video shows only the SUV ramming into the group of protestors, the latest version also shows farmers approaching the first car with sticks, allegedly to attack it. Neither video has been verified by the police yet.
The violence ended up killing eight people - four farmers, one journalist, the driver and two BJP workers who were in the SUV that ran over the group. Around 15 others were severely injured.
Two FIRs registered
At Tikonia police station, two FIRs were registered. One on a complaint by a local farmer against Ashish Mishra, and 15-20 others on charges including murder and rioting.
As per the FIR accessed by Hindustan Times, Asish Mishra was in the SUV that crushed the protestors and that he fired shots at the farmers, escaping into the sugar fields.
Another FIR was filed by Sumit Jaiswal, who was present in one of the three SUVs, against unidentified people for rioting, causing death by negligence and murder.
Opposition ministers detained
On Monday Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Lucknow Congress general secretary, was on her way to visit the families of the farmers who died in the violence on Sunday, when she was detained by the UP police.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh and Samajwadi Party leader, Akhilesh Yadav, were also stopped on their way to Lakhimpur Kheri.
As per media sources, political parties will not be allowed to reach the area till the situation is normalized.
Proceedings so far
On Wednesday, a team of forensic experts found two empty .315 bore cartridges from a vehicle that was at the protest site.
On Thursday, the UP government-appointed Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, retired Allahabad High Court judge, to head a single-member commission of the inquiry, giving him two months for the task.
The UP DGP has also constituted a nine-member committee to ensure transparency.
Ashish Pandey and Luvkush Rana, Ajay Mishra’s associates, were arrested on Thursday after police confirmed their involvement in the incident.
Ashish Mishra who was supposed to appear for questioning at the UP crime branch yesterday at 10 am has apparently not shown up so far.
A manhunt for Sumit Jaiswal has also been launched.
“Tell us who you have charged, arrested”
After two Uttar Pradesh-based lawyers filed a PIL seeking the top court’s intervention and CBI probe, the Supreme Court yesterday, asked the UP government to file a status report. The matter was heard yesterday morning.
Harish Salve will appear for the UP government.
So far into the hearing, CJI Ramana has made it clear that only the two lawyers and state counsel will be allowed to speak.
Farm unions meet yesterday
Frustrated over the fact that the prime accused of the case is still not arrested, four days after the incident, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) platform of protesting farm unions met yesterday at the Singhu border to decide the next course of action.
The immediate agenda of the meeting was setting a deadline for the arrest of Ashish Mishra and the resignation of Ajay Mishra.
How does the monetary policy affect you?
Finance
Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced that the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) stance will remain accommodative, and has kept the repo rate unchanged at 4%.
RBI Governor Shantikanta Das added that the policy stance will remain accommodative, as long as it is necessary to sustain growth on a durable basis while keeping inflation in the target range.
But do the changes in the monetary policy impact you? Yes!
Tools to control economic activity
The government has two major tools to control the economic activity
Fiscal policy
Monetary policy
Fiscal policy is how the government influences the economy by adjusting its spending in the economy and its revenues through tax rates.
Monetary policy is how the central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in India, influences the economy by making changes to the repo rates.
Repo rate
Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends short-term funds to banks and reverse repo rate is the rate at which the central bank borrows money from the commercial banks.
Thus, repo rate is the rate basis upon which the general rate of interest in an economy is decided i.e. the repo rate impacts the rate at which you get loans, the rate at which your savings accounts and other fixed interest investments earn interest.
Helps control inflation
Repo rate is one of the tools which the central bank of any country utilises to control inflation. A high repo rate means that banks will borrow less and thus money supply in the economy will decrease, whereas a low repo rate increases borrowing activity in the economy increasing the overall flow of money.
Similarly, a high reverse repo rate will also decrease flow in the economy as banks would make more money by lending to RBI, decreasing the money supply in the economy.
Fiscal policy
Fiscal policy has no specific target and has a major impact on government borrowing and spending whereas monetary policy has inflation as a target and impacts exchange rate and housing market.
The aim of these policies is ultimately to create an environment where growth is positive and stable, and inflation is stable and low.
How do these policies exactly work?
When the government wants to increase economic activity, it will increase government spending and reduce taxes, so that there is more cash flow in the market and increase demand.
At the same time, the RBI will reduce interest rates, making borrowing cheaper and thus increasing cash flow.
This stance of the policies is expansionary.
Similarly, the stance can be:
Contractionary - High taxes, low government spending and high interest rates to reduce the money supply.
Neutral - Things remain the same, neither are the policies stimulating or restraining the money supply.
Current stance in India
The pandemic has left most countries, including India, in a tough spot right now. The demand is low and inflation is high.
The current monetary policy is “accommodative”, meaning any increases to interest rates right now is unlikely and the stance will continue as long as the economy needs to be supported due to the pandemic.
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