FARMINGDALE, N.Y.:  Cemtrex Inc. a world leading industrial and manufacturing solutions company, announced today that India’s willingness to ratify the Paris Climate Accord, as indicated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to U.S. President Obama during his recent visit to the White House, further strengthens the Company’s prospects of opening up worldwide markets for its VAMOX Greenhouse gas reduction technology. In April of this year the Chinese government strengthened its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions during the Chinese premier’s visit to the White House. The Company believes that these concrete efforts by India and China are potential catalysts for increased global demand for its existing methane (greenhouse gas) reduction technology, VAMOX. Cemtrex is one of only two companies in the world with the technology to supply this market.

So far, at least three dozen countries have said they will ratify the deal, and India’s participation will push the world over the threshold to ratification. “I think we are better-positioned than we ever have been to reach the goal of 55% of emissions and 55 countries by the end of this year, and I think this statement should provide significant additional momentum toward this global push,” said Brian Deese, Obama’s senior energy and climate adviser.

Cemtrex Chairman and CEO, Saagar Govil , commented, “We are delighted to see the world’s largest players working together towards improved climate control regulation and excited that VAMOX can play an important role in sustainability.”

Cemtrex is one of only two companies in the world with critical greenhouse gas reduction technology.

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – In late 2014, the knives were out for India’s central bank governor Raghuram Rajan.

Finance ministry officials were frustrated by his reluctance to cut interest rates to stimulate growth, and moves were afoot to ease him out of the job. Some were airing their reservations about Rajan’s hawkish stance in the media.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened a meeting of senior finance ministry staff that December to hear their complaints, said a person who was present.

At the end, the leader delivered a stern message: do not indulge in a public spat with the central bank.

The moment marked a turning point in ties between the heads of the newly installed government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Since then, Modi and Rajan have developed a close working rapport, government officials and people close to the governor say, and that could be crucial to the $2 trillion economy.

With Modi’s patronage, it is more likely the government will reappoint Rajan, whose three-year term expires in September, should he wish to stay on, the sources said.

That would allow him to try to revive India’s banking sector that has been smothered by distressed debt, which, in turn, is choking off economic recovery.

“Rajan will get another term and he will accept it,” said Arvind Mayaram, India’s former finance secretary who Rajan worked with closely first as the government’s chief economic adviser and then as RBI governor. “He is well entrenched in India’s political economy.”

A top government official said the decision rests with Modi and the leader has not yet said what he wants to do. Modi recently told The Wall Street Journal that Rajan’s reappointment would come up only in September.

The official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to discuss the matter with the press, added that the prime minister was “proud” of the RBI governor and that a campaign against Rajan would not affect Modi’s decision.

The prime minister’s office and finance ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Rajan, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, has not disclosed his plans, and did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

MODI’S SUPPORT IS KEY

Modi’s support would be important if the 53-year-old RBI chief is to get the big state banking sector to complete a cleanup of massive debts and force defaulters to pay up.

Banks making provisions for bad debt are reluctant to issue new loans, leading to criticism within the sector and complaints from smaller businesses and politicians.

Patronage from above will also help shield Rajan from lingering opposition within the ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a man known for his straight talking and willingness to question government policy and achievements.

As the personal understanding between Rajan and Modi appears to grow, some officials still resent him.

The fact that Rajan was appointed by the previous Congress government did not help him win friends in Modi’s BJP, and the former University of Chicago professor has been viewed by some with suspicion as a product of the West, not India.

BJP parliamentarian and economist Subramanian Swamy, one of those leading a campaign to remove Rajan, recently accused him of “wilfully and deliberately wrecking the Indian economy.”

The governor’s penchant for blunt commentary raises hackles.

Rajan’s appeal for tolerance late last year was perceived to be a veiled criticism of the government for appealing to the Hindu majority at the expense of minority communities, prompting Swamy to rebuke him for speaking like a “grandfather”.

Rajan recently compared India’s fast-growing economy to a “one-eyed king in the land of the blind”. Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman publicly censured his comments.

BONHOMIE

The first signs of growing bonhomie between Modi and Rajan came early last year, when Modi called Rajan the “best teacher” for explaining complex economic issues to him.

Days later, the governor returned the compliment, saying the teaching went both ways.

The prime minister backed Rajan in the monetary policy panel’s composition and blocking moves to strip the RBI’s authority to regulate government bonds and manage public debt.

Modi’s office also directed the finance ministry to pursue only those policies where there was agreement with the central bank, a former finance ministry official said.

The governor frequently visits New Delhi to meet Modi, a government official with direct knowledge said. But their meetings are mostly kept away from the public gaze.

Modi’s office declined a request to disclose the number and details of the meetings, saying the information relates to “economic interest of the state”.

Rajan had help from junior finance minister Jayant Sinha, a college friend and one of the more influential economic voices in the Modi government.

At the December meeting, Sinha told the attendees that the clashes were undermining the government’s credibility, the person present said.

A government source said that Sinha also facilitated meetings between Rajan and Modi to broker a compromise on thorny issues such as the composition of the new monetary panel. Sinha did not respond to a request for comment.

LEARNING ON THE JOB

Rajan may prove a more effective governor second time around if he gets the chance, say some RBI insiders and economists.

Although he fended off a market attack on the rupee early in his tenure, bankers, economists and his former colleagues said he was relatively slow to grasp how liquidity flows through the economy and how to fine tune it to meet his primary policy goal of taming inflation.

Under Rajan, the RBI forced banks to source limited short-term funds from cash-for-bond auctions rather than getting unlimited funds from the central bank at a fixed rate.

Banks complained the new system was forcing up costs and hampering the transmission of rate cuts to the real economy, said several bankers privy to the discussions with the RBI.

At first, Rajan publicly dismissed their concerns as “nonsense”. It was only after 16 months of pleading by banks that he finally revamped the RBI’s liquidity management in April, the bankers said.

A second stint is likely to see a more accomplished operator as the RBI tackles bank debt, tries to develop the bond market as a viable source of funding for companies and switches to a Western-style approach to decision making.

A new monetary policy panel will be formed later this year to set interest rates, something Rajan favoured to make the RBI more independent and introduce transparency to the process.

In a key victory for Rajan, draft legislation from the finance ministry that would have allowed the government to appoint more than half of the panel’s members was amended to split it evenly between government and RBI nominees.

Rajan will get the casting vote in the case of a 3-3 split.

Those who have worked with Rajan said his people skills and powers of persuasion will give him a big say on setting rates.

“WHY ROCK THE BOAT?”

Rajan continues to be lionised by foreign investors whose funds are needed to keep the Indian economy motoring ahead.

That was key in convincing Modi to defend him, while two off-cycle interest rate cuts in January and March last year also acted as a balm, a senior minister in the federal cabinet said.

The country has been ravaged by drought in the last two years and not enough jobs are being created to accommodate its rapidly expanding workforce, but India is the world’s fastest growing major economy and inflation is half what it was in 2013.

“The combination of Modi, (Finance Minister Arun) Jaitley and Rajan are delivering on the macro front,” said Gita Gopinath, an economics professor at Harvard University who knows Rajan well. “I really don’t see any reason to rock the boat.”

 (Additional reporting by Douglas Busvine, Neha Dasgupta, Suvashree Choudhury and Rupam Jain; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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By Rajesh Kumar Singh and Manoj Kumar

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a budget for the poor on Monday, announcing new rural aid and health programmes in a strategy shift that could boost his ruling party in coming state elections.

Presenting his third budget, Jaitley described Asia’s third-largest economy as a bright spot in a gloomy landscape and reiterated a forecast that it would grow by 7.6 percent in the fiscal year that is drawing to a close.

But he said the government wanted to ensure that the benefits of growth were more widely shared among India’s 1.3 billion people.

“We have a shared responsibility to spend prudently and wisely for the people, especially for the poor and downtrodden,” the 63-year-old finance minister, who wore a powder-blue jacket, said in his opening remarks to lawmakers.

The spending package for the 2016/17 fiscal year from April 1 marks a radical shift from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initial focus on investing in infrastructure in a bid to kick-start private-sector investment that remains weak.

Jaitley described his three priorities as: strengthening India’s firewalls by ensuring macroeconomic stability and prudent fiscal management; driving growth through domestic demand; and reforms to boost economic opportunity.

Key areas of policy focus would be farming, social reforms, infrastructure and recapitalising India’s banking system.

Modi’s landslide election victory in 2014 raised hopes he would draw a line under India’s socialist past, cut welfare and reduce the government’s role in business.

In its first two years in power, his government splurged on roads and railways at the expense of welfare programmes in the hope of creating economic stimulus.

Modi’s gamble was that infrastructure investment would yield dividends for the poor and the rural community. Four in 10 Indians rely directly on farming for their livelihoods, the government estimates.

Rising rural distress after back-to-back droughts and a recent heavy election defeat in a largely agricultural state have upset that calculus.

It has also left Modi’s nationalist ruling party open to attacks by the opposition, who use a Hindi phrase to deride Modi for leading a “suit and boot” government that only works in the interest of the rich.

Jaitley’s reeled off a list of $16 billion in measures targeted at the countryside, including spending on a job creation scheme, farmers’ welfare and building of rural roads.

He targeted a total of $130 billion in credit to farmers.

($1 = 68.7100 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by New Delhi and Mumbai teams; Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Paritosh Bansal and Simon Cameron-Moore)

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a budget for the poor on Monday, announcing new rural aid and health programmes in a strategy shift that could boost his ruling party in coming state elections.

Here are the highlights of Jaitley’s budget for the fiscal year that begins on April 1:

RURAL ECONOMY

* Rural jobs programme allocated 385 billion rupees ($5.61 billion) in 2016/17

* Farmer welfare budget in 2016/17 to total 359.84 billion rupees

* Rural road development to get 190 billion rupees in 2016/17

* Target of agriculture credit at 9 trillion rupees in 2016/17

* Interest subvention towards farm loans in 2016/17 at 150 billion rupees

($1 = 68.6700 Indian rupees)

(Compiled by Tommy Wilkes and Krishna N. Das)

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By Andrew MacAskill and Douglas Busvine

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Amid the clamour of unrest sweeping university campuses and the state of Haryana near New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided on a strategy that risks emboldening political opponents: silence is golden.

Advisers describe a leader who is on top of events, but who prefers not to get sucked into rowdy debate on India’s public square.

In recent weeks, thousands of students have protested across the country over the arrest of a student leader for alleged sedition, while anger among the powerful Jat community over caste-based job quotas spilled into deadly clashes in Haryana.

“He (Modi) believes that his popularity comes from being seen as a serious politician who gets on with his work,” said a leader of Modi’s ruling party, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He does not believe in giving a running commentary.”

An adviser said that Modi, 65, would instead give a sober assessment of recent unrest to parliament, which convened this week for its budget session in a climate of confrontation that is likely to further stall his ambitious economic reform agenda.

Modi’s reticence, also evident during floods last year and a high profile attack by militants in early 2016, has undermined the image of a decisive leader who swept to power in May, 2014, defeating a Congress government led by the taciturn Manmohan Singh.

“The silence raises questions about being on top of your brief,” said Milan Vaishnav, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“That conversation has begun: Modi is a person who we thought was a decider; a CEO-like leader. But if we are now getting signals that he is not necessarily the effective administrator we thought he was, that is becoming a problem.”

A new opinion poll showed Modi’s popularity holding up, while Congress has bounced back from its dire election showing of 2014, validating a strategy of blocking reforms and latching on to protests as they flare up.

If a general election were held now, Modi’s nationalist alliance would win, but with a sharply reduced majority. Congress would double its seat share, according to the poll for India Today magazine published last week.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM?

Modi’s silence on unforeseen events contrasts with his reputation as an effective communicator, through rousing speeches and social media, when broadcasting his vision of inclusive growth and development for India’s 1.3 billion people.

When he does retreat from public view, aides have been known to step in, not always with happy consequences.

After the arrest for sedition of Kanhaiya Kumar, a student leader in New Delhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh circulated a fake tweet that falsely suggested a campus protest had the support of a notorious Pakistani militant.

Delhi’s police chief showed no remorse when officers failed to prevent lawyers manhandling Kumar in court, while education minister Smriti Irani backed a decision to fly Indian flags, from 207-foot (63-metre) flagpoles, on campuses across the country as a reminder to “anti-national” elements.

Meanwhile, the unrest has revived Congress’ leader-in-waiting, Rahul Gandhi, who has joined students on the barricades and shows no signs of ending opposition to a key tax reform that has been blocked in parliament.

In Haryana, its chief minister fell foul of the powerful Jat caste, which turned to violence when he failed to meet their demands for affirmative action on jobs and education.

More than a week of protests killed 19 people, injured 170, destroyed businesses, paralysed transport and cut water supplies to metropolitan Delhi.

A spokesman for Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, said he was determined to address the legitimate demands of the Jat community, while those responsible for the violence would be punished.

“He will carry on. He enjoys the full faith and confidence of party leaders,” spokesman Amit Arya said.

At the weekend, rather than intervening, Modi blamed unnamed outside conspirators for “hatching conspiracies every day to finish and defame me”.

Leaders have echoed his rhetoric, with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday criticising “false propaganda, anti-government propaganda”.

“When Modi starts seeing a conspiracy in everything I think he is in serious trouble,” said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of “The Man, The Times”, a biography of Modi.

“It is an admission that he is not able to manage the thrust of his government. So he has to apportion the blame to someone.”

(Additional reporting by Rupam Jain; Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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