Ranchi - The Pioneer

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he State Government and
Adani
Group
on
Wednesday signed memorandum of understanding for
investment of C15,000-crore
in Jharkhand to set up a 1,600
MW capacity thermal power
plant. The MoU was signed
between Chief Minister
Raghubar Das and Managing
Director of Adani Group
Rajesh Adani during the
‘Jharkhand Investor Summit’ at
the ‘Make In India’ event in
Mumbai. The proposed plants
will be set up in Godda and
Sahibganj districts of the state.
The Adani group would set
up 2X800 MW of thermal
power plant besides 1,000 MW
of solar power plant in the State.
Sources said the State
Government expects flow of
investment of over C62,000crore under various “Make in
India” projects of which the
biggest investment has been
confirmed by the Adani Group
which is likely to pump
C50,000-crore for power and
fertiliser manufacturing plant in
the State. Moreover, the state is
also getting an investment of
C2,000-crore from Vedanta
group to set up a steel plant.
Later in the summit, Das
reached out to the investors
assembled at the ‘Make in
India Week’ and invited them
to ‘Global Investor Summit’
that is likely to kick off in
November this year in Ranchi.
Das requested investors to take
interest in Jharkhand as he stated from the platform of
‘Jharkhand Investor Summit’
organised today in the ongoing
event at Mumbai that the State
is ready with environment conducive for investment.
Das apprised attendees
about various measures taken
by the State Government to
infuse confidence among
investors as he also shared a list
of achievements of significance
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he Supreme Court on
T
Wednesday ordered “status
quo” to be maintained with
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for investors that makes
Jharkhand suitable for long
term investment.
While inviting corporate
entities to the planned summit
Das said, “Jharkhand’s natural
beauty, abundant resources,
committed bureaucracy and
skilled labour will be ready to
welcome investors in the event”.
Das informed investors
about sectors that present ample
opportunity for investment and
the State government’s initiatives
taken during last one year to
improve on key areas that put
the eastern state among destinations worth exploring for
business prospects. He expressed
that the State is committed to
march ahead with the idea of
‘Make In Jharkhand’ patterned
on the concept of ‘Make In India’.
Das said “In last one year
Jharkhand has created a new
environment and prepared
itself according to the ‘Make In
India’ programme started by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. It is because of this
World Bank has given
Jharkhand rank among three
best places for ease of doing
business” and ease of doing
business is one time initiative
Continued on Page 2
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hief Minister Raghubar
C
Das today met famous
Bollywood personalities,
including Amitabh Bacchan,
Anupam Kher, Akshay Kumar
and discussed scope of film
industry in Jharkhand. Das
extended invitation to those
personalities to the film festival which is likely to be organised in April. While sharing the
film policy framed by the State
government, Das requested
the Bollywood stars to shoot
films in Jharkhand and assured 2WXTU<X]XbcTaAPVWdQPa3PbP[^]VfXcWUX[\bcPa0ZbWPh:d\PaPc9WPaZWP]S
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ften pulled up for dismal
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performance during the
first 15 years of its formation,
the State is now banking on
speedy economic reforms and
measures for a fruitful decade
henceforth. Mentioning about
some of the strides on that front,
Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Saryu Roy on Wednesday
admitted to poor show so far.
“As far as economy of the
State is concerned it can be said
in a better position but the
same cannot be said about
common people of Jharkhand
as well. Per capita income is still
low in the comparison of the
national average. Per capita is
Rs 916 in rural areas and Rs
1,894 in urban areas which his
38 per cent less than the
national average. About 37 per
cent population of the State is
below poverty line which is 15
per cent more than the national average,” said Roy while
replying on ‘Thanks Giving
Motion’ in the House.
The submission has come
just before the presentation of
the economic survey and
annual Budget for the next fiscal -- 2016-17. However at the
same time, the Minister also
mentioned about the measures
in the store for speedy growth.
“The State is growing at the
rate of over 7 per cent. If it goes
like that then growth rate of 10
per cent can be achieved in the
next 10 years. We tried to present the entire vision for this in
the address of the Governor. All
the important aspects of
growth and overall development of the State would be covered through the 10-point
agenda found mention into
that,” said the Minister.
He also defended ‘Yojna
Banao Abhiyan’ being conducted by the Government which
came under intense critsism
from the Opposition during the
debate. “The ‘Yojna Banao Abhiyan’ is basically an awareness
exercise that would attach people from the plan making exercise at village level. This is nothing to do with the power vested
into panchayati raj system and it
is not opposed to it,” said Roy.
Earlier the Leader of
Opposition picked up holes
into the step and several oth-
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Ranchi: Speaker Dinesh
Oraon termed a dreaded TPC
cadre Brajesh Ganjhu winning
panchayat samiti election at
Chatra a serious matter and
directed the Government to
look into the matter.
“It is a serious matter.
Why he was not arrested at
the time his filing nomination? You should tell police
for a report,” said the Speaker
reacting to allegations of
JVM’s Pradeep Yadav.
Yadav had charged the
police for acting in tandem
with the outlawed in the area
for the sake of extracting levy
and also mentioned about revelation of a mine operator
and media reports. Ganjhu had
won the recent polls on fake
name Gopal Singh Bhokta
and is still at large.
PNS
ers like current tour of the
Chief Minister along with battery of top officials to Mumbai
to take part into the ‘Make in
India’ summit.
“It is nothing but a flop
filmy show. You also presented a pack of lie in the form of
the Governor’s address which
is nothing to do with ground
reality and present no vision
for the future. You are heading
for nowhere and just reaping
what we had shown,” said
JMM’s Hemant Soren.
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or the first time after the
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imposition of Governor’s
Rule in Jammu and Kashmir in
the wake of Chief Minister
Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s
death in January, the BJP and
PDP resumed talks for
Government formation on
Wednesday. The BJP National
General Secretary Ram Madhav
arrived here in a chartered
flight and held an-hour long
meeting with PDP Chief and
MP Mehbooba Mufti at her
Gupkar Road residence.
No details of the one-toone meeting were revealed by
either party but the development is seen as a step forward
in breaking the deadlock in
Government formation.
Madhav arrived late in the
evening and straightway drove
to Mufti’s official residence.
The two leaders held closed
door meeting to discuss issues
related to stalemate in government formation. The PDP has
asked for fresh Confidence
Building Measures from the
central government even as it
has vowed to carry forward the
Agenda of Alliance, a roadmap
settled by the two parties before
entering into alliance on March
1, 2015.
The BJP is keen to reengage in the coalition though
it has not publicly reacted to
PDP’s fresh demands.
Madhav was authorized by
the BJP national president
Amit Shah on Sunday to hold
fresh talks with the PDP on
government formation. He was
instrumental in stitching the
alliance last year when he held
several rounds of talks with the
then PDP patron Mufti
Muhammad Sayeed and his
aide Dr Haseeb Drabu.
The state has been under
Governor’s rule after the
demise of Mufti on January 7
that led to a constitutional situation when his daughter
Mehbooba declined to take
oath immediately. Initially, the
PDP maintained that griefstricken Mehbooba was not in
proper frame of mind to take
oath, but later the party
revealed that it had serious
reservations on re-engagement
with its coalition partner in the
backdrop of the experiences of
the past 10 months.
Mehbooba said her father
was not treated well by the
Central Government. Sources
said Ram Madhav will brief
party leadership in New Delhi
before another round of talks
regard to any possibility of a
new government formation in
Arunachal Pradesh on a day
when the Union Cabinet
revoked President’s Rule in the
State.
The order by a five-judge
Constitution Bench came a
day after the same Bench on
Tuesday had refused to pass
any order restraining the
Governor from swearing in a
new Government in the State.
The change of mind seems follows the Cabinet decision to
revoke the Presidential proclamation of January 26 bringing
the State under Central Rule
and placing the Assembly in
suspended animation.
Senior advocates Fali
Nariman and Kapil Sibal who
appeared for Speaker Nabam
Rebia and former Chief
Minister Nabam Tuki pointed
out that following the revocation of President’s Rule, the
design of the Governor was to
install a rebel Congress MLA
facing disqualification as the
new Chief Minister.
Initially, the bench of
Justices JS Khehar, Dipak
Misra, Madan B Lokur, PC
Ghose and NV Ramana was
not inclined to pass an interim
order. In their view, it did not
make any difference if a person
remains in power for a week or
more till the final decision
adjudicates on the issues arising about the disqualification of
14 rebel Congress MLAs, the
decision of Governor to
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would be held with Mehbooba.
Sources said BJP wants
reestablishment of coalition
government in the embattled
state before the budget session
of the Parliament.
Earlier,
National
Conference Working President
& former Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah tweeted about the
unscheduled visit of BJP
national General Secretary.
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advance Assembly session and
his recommendation to impose
President’ Rule.
But Nariman argued that
the man to be chosen as the
next CM faces disqualification and his disqualification is
subject matter of the earlier
writ petition being considered
by the apex court. “We do not
want a situation where whatever we are hearing is preempted.”
Additionally,
Nariman pointed out that as
per
the
Presidential
Proclamation, the House is in
suspended animation. “The
moment it (Proclamation) is
revoked, the Chief Minister and
Cabinet are revived and this
CM cannot be dismissed by the
Governor when the Assembly
is suspended.”
Deciding to resolve the
disqualification pleas first, the
Bench was convinced to order
“status quo” to be maintained
by all parties in the case. It also
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directed the Secretary of
Arunachal Assembly to supply
all documents relating to disqualification proceedings
against the 14 rebel MLAs in a
sealed cover by Thursday. As
some of these documents are in
custody of Gauhati High Court
as well, the Bench directed the
Registrar General of Gauhati
HC to supply the same in
sealed cover by Thursday.
By calling the records, the
Bench wished to ascertain the
claim put forth by the rebel
MLAs that the notice of their
disqualification was not served
upon them. This later became
a ground on which a single
judge of Gauhati HC stayed
their disqualification. Senior
advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, who
appeared for the rebel MLAs,
said that the petition filed by
Speaker was not maintainable
as the interim order of the
High Court has not been challenged till date.
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he brutal murder of BJPT
RSS worker PV Sujith (27)
of Aroli in Pappinissery in
front of his parents by suspected Marxist killers late on
Monday night has once again
pushed Kerala’s politically turbulent Kannur district into the
grip of tension and panic.
After Tuesday’s shutdown
in three panchayats, called by
the BJP to protest against the
murder,
people
in
Pappinissery, Kallyasseri and
adjoining places were still
struggling to overcome the
shock the killing had given
them and the fear of possible
violence in the coming days.
“This incident was totally
unexpected,” said Ramesh
Nambiar, a resident of
Valapattanam
near
Pappinissery. “There was no
tension in the area and there
had not been any serious incident in recent times which
could have caused this. In fact,
Pappinissery has not seen a
serious incident of political
violence in the last five years,”
he said.
But that complacency has
evaporated all of a sudden
with Sujith’s murder. More
than the murder itself, it is the
way in which it was carried out
is what has shocked the people
most and stunned the police.
“That this happened in a
colony checkered with houses
perhaps shows the determination with which the killers had
come,” said a police officer on
duty at Pappinissery.
The killer gang of ten persons — BJP leaders say there
were 25 of them— barged into
Sujith’s poor home in Azad
Colony, Aroli after 11.00 PM
on Monday and started attacking him.
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Railways on Wednesday
Iwithndian
received a major infrastructure fillip
the approval for the construction
of six rail lines and a railway bridge to
cater to increased passenger and freight
needs. Chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, the Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its
nod for the construction in a 908-km
stretch costing over C10,700 crore.
The expansion includes doubling of
Hubli-Chickajur line, Wardha
(Sewagram)-Ballarshah third line, doubling of Ramna-Singrauli line, third line
between Anuppur-Katni, doubling of
Katni-Singrauli line and an additional
bridge, and doubling of Rampur
Dumra-Tal-Rajendrapul line.
The doubling of 190 km long
Hubli-Chickajur railway line is likely to
be completed in four years during the
13th Plan period and will cover
Chitradurga, Davangere, Haveri and
Dharwad areas of Karnataka. The
Pune-Miraj-Hubli-Bangalore route has
been identified for doubling, which will
improve rail traffic flow and boost overall development of the region.
The stretch is part of an important
rail link of passenger trains between
Mumbai and Bangalore and goods
trains to the ports at Mangalore. The
doubling of tracks between BangaloreTumkur and Arsikere-Chickajur has
already been completed on this link.
Doubling work between Hubli and
Londa — part of Hubli-Londa- Vascoda-Gama — is in progress.
Construction of the 132-km long
Wardha (Sewagram)-Ballarshah third
railway line in Wardha and Chandrapur
districts of Maharashtra is likely to be
completed in five years. The line capacity utilisation of the section is saturated and running of additional
Mail/Express and goods traffic over
causes delay in movement of the trains.
In order to attain the desired fluidity
and increase in the sectional capacity,
doubling of this single line section is very
essential from operational point of
view. Construction of 165-km-long
third railway line between Anuppur and
Katni in Madhya Pradesh has also been
approved at a cost of C1,595.76 crore.
The project is likely to be completed in
over five years spanning over the 12th
and the 13th plan period. Besides, the
ambitious 56-km long dedicated freight
track between Sasaram and Durgavati
of the Eastern Dedicated Freight
Corridor is also going to be commissioned shortly as the line is awaiting safety clearance.
Dedicated Freight Corridor
Corporation (DFCC) Managing
Director Adesh Sharma said after getting Commissioner of Railway Safety
clearance, the line will be commissioned
between Sasaram and Durgavati.
“While this will be first section of
the DFC to become operational, the
entire DFC will be operational by 2019.
Once the entire track is operational then
railway share in loadings will go up to
45 per cent from the current 36 per
cent,” Sharma said at a Press briefing.
Sharma said once the entire DFC
is operational the speed of freight
trains will go up to 75-km per hour from
the current 25 kmph. He said four addi-
tional freight corridors are being
planned to seamless movement of
goods in the country.
The entire DFC will have no level
crossings as there will be either ROB
(Railway over bridges) or RUB (Railway
under bridges) at crossings to facilitate
seamless movement of goods trains and
train protection warning system to prevent accident would also be in place.
Sharma also announced that five
multi-modal logistic parks including
one on the river front at Varanasi at an
estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore would
also be set up along the DFC spanning
across the country. The logistics hubs
are proposed to come up in Gujarat,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
Maharashtra.
The logistics parks would facilitate
the last mile connectivity in terms of
door to door services for customers
besides giving value addition including
packaging, retailing, labelling, transportation of the goods on the dedicated tracks.
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he matriculation and intermediate
exam
on
Wednesday started under tight
security arrangements. No
untoward incidents was reported from anywhere in the district on the first day. Foolproof
security arrangements have
been made for exams. The
district administration deputed static magistrates in each of
the examination centres while
there were zonal magistrates
who would look into the
smooth examinations.
The intermediate examination started at 2 pm and concluded at 5:15 pm. The matriculation exam also started today
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with music, but there were no
students in the centres of East
Singhbhum. The five centres
for matric-- two in Baharagora
and Potka each and one in
Chakulia stayed without students as they were no examinees for the paper today.
According to information, this year there are 24734
matric examinees who would
appear from 65 centres and
20286 intermediate students
at 24 centres in E ast
Singhbhum. The arts and
commerce students of intermediate however answered
their economics examination
and science students
answered the anthropology
paper today. The first papers
which were scheduled yesterday were postponed because
of the 48-hour Maoist bandh.
All the zones both in
matric and intermediate have
been deputed with zonal magistrates and continuous
patrolling. Section 144 was
imposed on all the examination
centres today and this will
continue for all days of the
examination. The matric
examination will conclude on
March 2 while intermediate
will conclude on March 8.
Mukesh Kumar Sinha, district education officer (DEO),
East Singhbhum said that the
department is hopeful for
improvement in the matriculation results as a result of its
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activities throughout the year.
Model question papers, extra
classes, and focus on weak
students was the success manta
adopted.
Another official said that
the number of centres has
been increased to provide students a better ambience to
answer their examinations to
reduce the risk of malpractices
for students. The intermediate
examinations too were peaceful on the first day.
With throbbing heart beats
and pulsating nerves students
of the city participated in the
examinations. Nervousness
ruled the campus as students
made last minutes revision
and discussions with their
classmates. A flying squad has
been constituted to keep a vigil
look on the examination
process.
DQdQ@_gUbci^SXb_^YcUc&'%=G
E^Yd"_V;Q\Y^WQ^QWQb`b_ZUSd
Jamshedpur: Tata Power
through its joint venture company Industrial Energy Limited
(IEL), has synchronised the
second 67.5 MW Unit of its 3
x 67.5 MW IEL Kalinganagar
project. This development
comes a week after the synchronisation of the project’s
67.5 MW Unit 1. With this, Tata
Power’s total generation capacity has increased to 9,100 MW
from the previous 9,036 MW.
The IEL Kalinganagar project is the 3rd unit of IEL after
two operating units of 120
MW (unit 5 & PH #6,
Jamshedpur) based on the mixture of BFG, COG, and LDG,
which is environment friend-
ly and efficient.
Speaking on this milestone,
Anil Sardana, CEO & managing
director, Tata Power, said, “It is
indeed an honour to announce
the successful synchronisation
of the 2nd unit of the 202.5 MW
IEL Kalinganagar-Orissa project. The technology used for
the project is environment
friendly and helps cut down the
greenhouse gas emissions as
compared to regular coal-fired
power stations. We remain committed to end-goal of supplying
clean and affordable power.
Also, it reaffirms our position as
largest integrated power company in India. Tata Power has
crossed 9,100 MW in generation, has 2.2 Million customers
in retail distribution and 3 coal
mines for security of fuel.”
PNS
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?=BQ A0=278
oming into defence of trouC
bled Baghmara MLA of the
BJP Dhullu Mahto, the
Government denied having
received any letter from the
Russian Embassy naming him.
The denial came in the
Assembly on Wednesday at
the time when the MLA is
under fire from all quarters for
allegedly seeking ransom from
an Indian associate of a Russian
firm working in BCCL’s
Dhanbad coal mine area.
The statement came when
JVM’s Pradeep Yadav mentioned about the allegations
labelled against the MLA in his
speech on ‘Thanks Giving
Motion’. “We can understand
overall law and order situation
in the State and situation of the
common man when an MLA
of the ruling party is indulged
into seeking ransom from an
investor. Whereas the CM with
his strong team is in Mumbai
to lure investors,” said Yadav.
On this, Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Saryu Roy
made strong objection and
interjected questioning about
the veracity of the said letter.
“The Government has not
received any such letter the
member is talking about.
From where and how the
member has got the letter
and whether the letter is genuine, I am not sure. He should
take responsibility of the
authenticity of the letter,”
retorted the Minister.
This churned heated arguments between the two and the
JVM leader defended his statement quoting media reports
and also the subsequent statements coming from Dhanbad
DC and SP. “I owe the responsibility of its authenticity that
the letter has been written to
the Chief Minister. Based on
that the DC and SP have been
told to probe into the matter,”
said Yadav. Roy, however, even
denied having directed the district administration for any
investigation into the matter.
The controversy snowballed
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?=BQ A0=278
fter exhibiting a vivid display of locally produced
A
merchandise from rural areas
in 25 States of India before the
denizens of Ranchi, the Khadi
and Saras Mela -2016 came to
an end on Wednesday.
Organised by Jharkhand
State Khadi and Village
Industries Board, the fair
offered its visitors handicrafts
and artworks from 500 artisans.
Ranging between furniture to
apparels and medicines to
home decoration, the Mela
was a jolly affair for buyers and
sellers alike.
Speaking on the conclusion
ceremony, Governor Droupadi
Murmu said, “Mahatma
Gandhi emphasised on making
the people of India self-dependent using khadi. Although
India is progressing economically, there is a substantial part
of the nation’s populace, which
is still not receiving the benefits of this growth. Fulfilling the
basic needs of this group is a
challenge for us and Mahatma
Gandhi’s ‘khadi and village
industries model’ can be very
helpful in this regard.”
Khadi, which used to be
identified with the Indian freedom struggle, has now emerged
as our national identity, she
added. “Khadi has become a
subject of national interest. It
holds the potential to employ
crores of artisans and workers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
has also called khadi a good
employment opportunity,” said
the Governor.
She further added, “The
PM has also supported the
increasing use of technology in
khadi. Successful use of solar
spinning wheel has increased
productivity with lessened
effort. This should be promoted by Khadi Board among the
people and provide them handholding support, if needed.”
Khadi can become the
means to improve the economic condition of many, given
that its products are manufactured as per the needs of the
market and at affordable prices,
said the Governor.
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when an Indian associate ‘DDPN Company’ of the Russian firm
‘IZ-KARTEX’—which works for
maintenance of four EKG-10
shovels at two sites of
Dhanbad— sent a letter dated
January 27 through Russian
Embassy addressing Chief
Minister Raghubar Das. In its
letter, the Russian consulate
general based at Kolkata had
alleged Dhullu Mahto for repeat-
APcP];P[k?X^]TTa
edly organising strikes and seeking monthly payment and jobs
for his 40 men and passing
threats to officials, which the
MLA denied outrightly.
L ater,
Mar xist
Coordination Committee’s
Arup Chatterjee also referred
to the allegation, saying that
the reported act of Mahto
had “punctured the balloon of
‘Make in India’ in the State
and other pro-investment
measures.” This brought the
BJP members on their feet,
which was also joined by
Dhullu Mahto himself. He
objected to the repeated mentioning of his name into the
case and again sought a probe
to clear the air.
A similar scene was also
created when Yadav, quoting a
probe report of IG Anurag
Gupta and DIG Tadasa Mishra
subsequently on the communal
clashes of Ranchi and
Hazaribagh, said that it had
named some rightwing organisations and indicated towards
grave police inaction. He also
demanded to set up an SIT on
the communal flairs.
The submission was
objected
by
Urban
Development Minister CP
Singh who termed it politically motivated and an act of
appeasement. He also questioned the genuineness of the
said report saying whether it
was the ‘final report’.
?=BQ A0=278
tudent association, Akhil
Bharatiya
Vidyarthi
SParishad,
on Wednesday joined
chorus against anti-India rants
that echoed on the campus of
Jawaharlal Nehru University
and asked for strict action
against students who allegedly talked about “bharat ki barbadi”. The student group handed over a six-point demand
note to Governor of Jharkhand,
Draupadi Murmu to forward it
to Home Minister seeking
actions against those people.
The ABVP questioned the
integrity of the prestigious university for allegedly becoming
a seat of anti-national ideology
and giving shelter to advocates
of naxlism, jehadi terrorism.
Hundreds of student under the
banner of the student association marched to Raj Bhawan to
express their anguish over the
disgraceful act that happened
on the JNU campus.
“No one has a right to
abuse the nation in the name of
freedom expression. Students
living in India and thriving on
the subsidy offered by India
should mould their behaviour
according to the Constitution of
India. We will teach lesson to
anti-nationals in the language
which they understand,” said
General Secretary of ABVP
Jharkhand, Yagywalkya Shukla.
The students marched
towards Raj Bhawan as part of
the ‘nation first’ programme
launched by the student association. National Secretary of
the ABVP, Aashish Chauhan
stressed on exposing elements
inclined towards weakening
India through activities that
threatens national security.
Few members of the ABVP
attempted to remove the barricading erected to keep them
at a distance from the
Governor’s house thus forcing
police to resort to mild force.
No one is reportedly hurt in the
incident even as the ABVP
office bearers sought an inquiry
into the incident.
The anger that spilled in capital is the result of the anti-India
rants unleashed by students during an event organised on hanging of Afzal Guru February.
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he civic bodies here have
started tightening belts
T
after the Steel City was ranked
66th in the recently conducted
nationwide survey ‘Swachh
Survekshan 2016’.
Concerned over the situation, Jamshedpur Notified Area
Committee (JNAC), Mango
Notified Area Committee and
Jugsalai municipality have
started making plans to
improve the rankings. Plans are
also being made to start charging penalty over littering.
Special commissioner
(solid waste management) of
Bruhat
B engaluru
Mahanagara Palike – BBMP
(Greater
Bangalore
Metropolitan Corporation),
Subodh Yadav today interacted with local urban bodies
officials including Jamshedpur
Notified Area Committee
(JNAC), Mango notified area
committee and Jugsalai
municipality. He suggested
that if situation arrives the
civic body must start taking
fine from the local people.
The
Bangalore
Metropolitan Corporation
senior official, who is on a day’s
visit to Jamshedpur to understand the best practices of solid
waste management carried out
by Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco,
asked the urban bodies officials
to first spread awareness
amongst people about importance of keeping not only their
house but also their surroundings clean.
Subodh Yadav said that
rather than imposing penalty
the residents and institutions
should be made aware of the
benefits of keeping clean their
houses and surroundings
through different mediums like
interactive events, plays and
banners. If these mediums fail
to evince the desired result then
there is no other option but to
charge penalty. The penalties
range from C100 for household
and C500 for institution for first
time offence. The fine can go
up to Rs 1 lakh. A strict mechanism was also the need of the
hour in the city.
Meanwhile an official of
Jugsalai Municipality on the
condition of anonymity said
that lack of adequate manpower and infrastructure are
posing hurdle. “In most of the
localities, there are temples.
After mass feast leftover food
are dumped in public place. It
has become a regular affair.
With limited workers’ strength,
we are not able to pay attention
to every corner,” he noted.
“Sanitation workers are
found not doing bush cutting,
de-silting of drains and lifting
of garbage regularly. If they are
herded to one place under
close supervision of top officials, a visible change can take
place,” said a businessman.
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he Central Coalfields
Limited (CCL) bagged
T
Excellence in CSR award at
Mumbai in
‘HR &LEADERSHIP
AWARDS 2016’ being organised by a national news channel at Taj Land Stand End
Hotel, Mumbai from 15th to
17th February.
CCL was represented by
Navnit Kumar, Sr. Manager
(Personnel) and Nishant
Rohila, Asstt. Manager
(Personnel) in the programme.
On this occasion the CCL
team highlighted the various
work taken up by the company under CSR activities and its
benefits to the community. In
the award function Minister for
Surface Transport, GOI, Nitin
Gadkari presented the
“Excellence in CSR” for their
excellent work in CSR to CCL.
This award was received by
Navnit Kumar and Nishant
Rohila Director (Personnel)
R.S. Mahapatro congratulated
all the employees and extended CCL family for this special
achievement.
CCL has been carrying
various CSR activities in command area of CCL as well as
Hq., Ranchi. In the field of
Education, Health, Self
Employment,
Skill
Development, Sports etc. for
the benefit of the society.
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s many as 28,000 women of
different 353 villages have
A
become the symbol of development. Under women selfhelp organisations, the women
have started many self
employments and are acquiring
the same positions as the male
members of society.
There are 2,540 women selfhelp organisations and by their
help, the women are making economical progress. The district
administration is also providing
all possible aids to these societies.
The women have started
poultry forms, vegetables production, soil worms manures
production, duck farming,
shoes making, mirror construction, solar light con-
struction and many more to
run their families. If any
woman needs money, she can
get it in loan with minor rate
of interest from banks. This
evoked the interest of saving
among the women.
According to sources the
number of women self help
organisations in Peshrar block
is 261, in Lohardaga block
316, in Kairo block 161, in
Bhandra block 310, in Senha
block 490, in Kuru block 577
and in Kisko block 425. DC
Manjunath says about these
groups, “District administration is all concerned to development of women and making them aware. Theses
groups would be given market facilities to encourage
their sells.”
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he Government would try
T
to pass certain important
legislation to give major thrust
to infrastructure development
and welfare projects as the
first phase of the Budget
Session unfolds on Tuesday.
Parliamentary Affairs
Minister M Venkaiah Naidu
expects that the three Bills —
Real estate regulation, the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy
and waterways — will be
passed with the support of
Opposition “on a priority basis.”
Talking to The Pioneer, the
Parliamentary Affairs Minister
said he hopes Parliament to
function efficiently as most of
the political parties have
strongly expressed against continuous disruption. He said
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
spent two hours 15 minutes on
Tuesday with all party leaders
to assure them that smooth
functioning of Parliament was
high on Government’s agenda.
The Minister said many
among the 31 leaders who
attended the meeting said that
with the Government willing to
discuss all issues of larger concern, there was no reason to
disrupt proceedings.
The Government would
inform an all-party meeting on
February 22 the details of legislative agenda for Parliament
that begins Tuesday and concludes on March 16.
He said the Budget on
February 29 would be “realistic “ and Government would
see that it invests more as private sector does not have much
leverage.
Asked about the resolution
of the stalemate on the GST
(Goods and Services Tax),
Naidu said Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley was in touch with
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Congress leaders like Anand
Sharma and Gulam Nabi Azad.
Answering another question on
the BJP increasing numbers in
Upper House, he said the
Government will have “more
comfort “ in the Rajya
Sabha .
On the ongoing incidents
in the JNU and controversies,
the Minister said some people
are trying to divert attention
and wanting “to derail economic agenda “ of the country.
“These are fringe elements
and I appeal to all political parties to not to give credence to
such elements, “ he said.
Naidu said all issues
including National Herald case
and JNU would come up for
the discussion in the first phase
of the Budget Session.
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s the revenue starts flowing
from the Swachchh Bharat
A
Cess levied from last November,
the Centre has set up Rashtriya
Swachhta Kosh (RSK) to deploy
fund to achieve the goals of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s ambitious programme,
Swachchh Bharat Mission
(SBM) in rural and urban areas.
The Union Ministry of
Drinking, Water and Sanitation
last week issued a gazette notification in this regard, announcing constitution of the Kosh.
“The need for setting up
the RSK was felt in view of
severe shortage of funds being
felt by the Centre for the
demand-driven flagship
scheme that aims to make the
country open defecation-free
by 2019,” said a senior official
from the Ministry. The SBM
consists of two missionsSwachchh Bharat Mission
(Gramin) and Swachchh
Bharat Mission (Rural).
As per the notification
issued by SBM Director Nipun
Vinayak on February 11, “the
proceeds of Cess thus transferred to the RSK will be
utilised as per the guidelines
and components of SBM(G)
and SBM(U) with due appropriation authorised by
Parliament.”
Also, says the notification,
the funds will be subject to
internal and statutory audit
will be distributed between
the SBM(G) and SBM(U) in
the ratio of 80:20 respectively.
utting aside the episodes of
P
tough posturing against each
other during the last one year,
India and Nepal hope to move
forward in their relationship.
However, while India will continue to pursue Nepal to carry
forward more amendments to
its new Constitution, there are
plans to work together on the
reconstruction of the country hit
by earthquake last year and
equip it with power plants. The
details of these will be finalised
during Prime Minister KP Oli’s
visit to New Delhi this weekend.
Oli will be in India from
February 19-24 to hold talks
with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and other political leaders.
This will be Oli’s first trip abroad
after taking over as Nepal’s PM
last year. He is bringing an allparty delegation along with him
to interact with a whole range of
Indian political groups and
recover the lost ground in India.
Oli’s first few months in the
office have been very turbulent
both internally and externally.
The country saw vociferous
protests by the Madhesis and
other minority group agitated
over the promulgation of country’s new Constitution and
forced a blockade from their side
to prevent essential goods and
petroleum products to reach
Nepal. Nepal at one point of
time tried to play the China card
with India and even anti-India
sentiments were heard. But the
On November 6 last year, in
order to augment the resources
for financing the SBM, the
Government had notified levy
of Swachchh Bharat Cess at the
rate of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services which came into
effect from November 15, 2015.
Effectively, the new rate of service tax plus Swachchh Bharat
cess is now 14.5 per cent.
As such, cess translates
into a tax of 50 paisa on every
one hundred rupees worth of
taxable services. The proceeds
from this cess is being exclusively used for Swachchh
Bharat initiatives.
To meet the needs for the
Mission, the Government in
December last year released
C2,400 crore as second
Supplementary Budget provision to be utilised by March,
end of this fiscal. “We don’t
know if this amount is the
Swachchh Bharat cess collected,” he added.
However, the Swachchh
Bharat Kosh (SBK) launched
last year, targetting collection of
funds from the India Inc is yet
to deliver expected results with
just around C500 crore being
received so far, said the official.
The SBK was kicked-off “to
facilitate channelisation of philanthropic contributions and
Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) funds” to achieve the
objective of improving cleanliness levels in rural and urban
areas, including in schools
under the SBM.
Using the donations, the
fund aims to finance activities
such as construction of new
toilets as well as repair and renovation of dysfunctional toilets
in rural areas, urban areas, elementary, secondary and senior
secondary Government schools
and anganwadis.
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aldives believes India’s
M
presence
in
the
Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group (CMAG), that
is working to resolve the political crisis in the country, will
help present the country’s
case better in international
forums.
Maldives
High
Commissioner to India,
Ahmed Mohamed, said having
an Indian presence in the
CMAG team that visited
Maldives last week will help the
country a lot. “India understands what is going on in the
Maldives and India understands what needs to be done,
“ he said.
The CMAG delegation was
in Maldives from 6 to 8
February 2016 to hold discussions with the Government,
Opposition political parties,
and other community leaders
and representatives on the current political situation in the
country. The delegation comprised of Guyana’s Vice
President and Minister of
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Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge,
India’s Foreign Secretary S
Jaishankar and Kenya’s Cabinet
Secretary for Foreign Affairs
and International Trade Amina
Mohamed. The next CMAG
meeting is scheduled for
February 24 with the main
agenda being how to strengthen democracy in the Maldives
and how the Commonwealth
could be involved in the
process.
The envoy asserted that
India-Maldives ties were on an
upward trajectory as manifested by the bilateral visits of ministers and top officials.
“What has been happening is
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bluff was called soon as nothing
substantial came from the
Chinese side to bail out Nepal
from its current crisis and Nepal
had to fall back to India.
While the Nepalese
Government blamed India for
causing economic blockade on
it, India always denied the allegations and counseled Nepal to
resolve its issues with protestors
in a peaceful manner. Nepal
recently brought two amendments in its Constitution to satisfy the protesting parties while
India feels there are unfinished
tasks in the Constitution and
more needs to be done. India has
also counseled the agitated parties to peacefully and patiently
deal with the situation. However,
while trying to bring on greater
inclusion in Nepal, India, at the
same time believes in keeping its
bilateral relations alive with it.
New Delhi is fully guarded
against the internal politics in
Nepal and keeping politics separate from the issue of
Constitution.
However, till that happens,
India would like to move forward with the neighbouring
nation in strengthening the
soured ties. The Indian government has advised business houses to invest in Nepal and even
told them that the crisis created
due to new Constitution will not
impact their business. India’s
security cooperation with Nepal
has remained robust and both
sides will like to strengthen that
further during Oli’s visit.
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period of seven years from the existing five years. The Department of
Personnel and Training (DoPT) said
that if the administrative Ministries
and other borrowing organisations
wish to retain an officer beyond five
years, they may extend tenure of deputation, where absolutely necessary
in public interest, up to a period not
exceeding seven years at a stretch.
The move comes after various
Ministries and organisations
approached DoPT for relaxation of
the five-year deputation tenure condition citing “exigencies “. DoPT has
now asked all Ministries that “no case
of extension shall be referred to it “.
“This shall be done with the
approval of the Minister of the borrowing Ministry or department concerned with which the officers are
administratively concerned, “ said the
DoPT.
Further, in cases where the necessity to have deputation tenures longer
than seven years is felt, the administrative ministries, departments or
borrowing organisations concerned
may amend the relevant recruitment
rules of such deputation post accordingly, after following the requisite
procedure.
“No extension of deputation
beyond seven years is to be allowed
unless provided in the relevant
recruitment rules of such deputation
post. It is reiterated that no case for
extension beyond five years shall be
referred to DoPT, “ said the directive.
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DoPT had last year issued a
directive and warned officers that
they may lose their job for overstaying on foreign posting. Some babus
had termed it as a harsh rule and
were allegedly lobbying for its revision, official sources said. In a related development, the Finance
Ministry recently issued guidelines
on foreign tours. Bureaucrats can go
on a maximum four overseas trips in
a year, as per the new norms.
In yet another administrative
reform to facilitate action against corrupt and non-performers, the Centre
has asked officers to maintain a confidential diary to record instances of
alleged corruption about their subordinates and details of action taken
on them.
The Department of Personnel
and Training (DoPT) has asked
supervisory officers to maintain the
confidential diary in which instances
which create suspicion about the
integrity of a subordinate should be
noted from time to time and action
to verify the truth of such suspicions
should be taken expeditiously by
making confidential enquiries
departmentally or by referring the
matter to the Special Police
Establishment.
he National Green Tribunal
(NGT) on Wednesday
T
issued show cause notice to
industries located on the
stretch from Haridwar to
Kanpur asking as to why they
should not be shut down for
polluting river Ganga.
The bench headed by NGT
Chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar directed industries as
tannery, paper and pulp, textile,
slaughter houses to clear their
stand on attainment of zero liquid discharge. It enquired on
the installation of online monitoring systems, current status
of these units and asked what
steps they have taken till now
to control pollution resulting
from their activities.
The panel questioned,
“Why we have not heard from
you (polluting industries) since
the past two years, even when
pollution of the river continues? “ The bench questioned
whether these industries have
got their trade effluent
analysed. “Why we should not
close down industries which
are running without consent
from the pollution board? “ the
panel asked. The next hearing
of the tribunal has been scheduled on March 7.
During the course of hearing, the counsel for slaughter
houses contended that they
were not discharging anything
into the river and in fact irrigating fields from their used
water.
To this the tribunal further
questioned on the kind of effluents being released into the
underground water by way of
irrigation. Without such analysis such an action is causing
water pollution directly, it said.
The green panel had constituted a committee to look into
the polluting industries located
along the banks of Ganga on
February 10. The committee was
asked to inform on the quantum
of sewage discharged by them in
the river.
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New Delhi: As American
space agency NASA looks
forward to sending astronauts to Mars, it has invited
the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) for a
possible international collaboration.
Several space agencies of
different countries are also
expected to attend the meeting in Washington next
month. “We are looking to
send astronauts to Mars. In
order to do that, you need
certain robotic missions to
begin with. Early next month,
there will be a meeting in
Washington.
PTI
n a move that is expected to
give a major fillip to the
Icountry’s
traditional medical
system, including yoga, across
the world the Union Cabinet
on Wednesday gave its
approval to a pact between the
AYUSH Ministry and the
World Health Organisation
(WHO) to promote the sector.
A meeting of the Union
Cabinet chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
approved the pact, which will
also help in long-term collaboration with WHO in facilitating awareness about AYUSH
systems of medicine through
education, skill development,
workshops and exchange programmes between AYUSH and
the UN body for capacity
building.
The Cabinet gave its nod
to the agreement for collaborative activities to be signed in
the area of traditional medicine
between the AYUSH Ministry
and the World Health
Organization in Geneva, an
?C8 Q =4F34;78
he Indian Medical
T
Association (IMA) on
Wednesday recommended
adopting Brazil’s Zika virus
awareness model to combat
dengue, which has emerged as
a leading cause of death in India.
Dengue’s incident is drastically higher in countries with
poor sanitation as compared to
the developed nations. Last
year, 97,740 cases were registered in Delhi, the highest to
be recorded in the city. The
subsequent death toll was 200,
said SS Agarwal, the national
president of IMA.
“IMA suggests that India
consider the model adopted by
official statement said.
The collaboration will
“facilitate advocacy and dissemination of information on
AYUSH systems amongst the
Member States, collaboration
with third parties for creating
synergies in implementation of
WHO Traditional Medicine
Strategy 2014-2023 particularly in the context of AYUSH systems,” it said.
The expenditure for carrying out collaborative activities
will be met from the allocated
budget under the existing plan
schemes of AYUSH Ministry.
The activities will start subsequent to the signing of agreements by the two parties as per
terms of reference.
As a first step in the longterm collaboration, India would
assign to WHO activities for
development of the its technical
documents and publications like
benchmarks for training in Yoga,
practice in Ayurveda, Unani
Medicine and Panchakarma,
said the statement.
This will help in better international acceptability of Indian
systems, it added.
Brazil to raise awareness on
Zika virus for its fight against
dengue. Educating and raising
awareness is an integral part of
the Brazil model. With the help
of the government and armed
forces, the society can be
informed about the causes and
consequences of dengue and its
preventive measures, which
need to be adopted, “ he said.
IMA Secretary General K
K Aggarwal said, “The transmission of dengue is actually
a cycle, if the person suffering
from dengue is bitten by mosquito, that mosquito gets
infected and goes on infecting
other healthy people and thus
the cycle continues. “
“A major factor that
results in the spread of the
virus is through travelling,
and with Delhi being the
nation capital, it is a constant
tourists hub all year long, “ he
said.
Brazil has deployed over
two million armed force personnel to fight the Zika disease. These have been accompanied by mosquito control
teams and community health
agents to help educate people
about how they can eliminate
mosquito breeding zones in
their neighborhood.
The teams have an ambitious target of visiting 30 lakh
homes in 350 cities to hand
people explanatory pamphlets,
Aggarwal said.
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n the backdrop of series of attacks in Patiala House
court premises, the Congress on Wednesday
Ialleged
“jungle raj “ is prevailing in Delhi and demanded immediate removal of Police Commissioner B S
Bassi who has raised many a controversy in the wake
of the JNU row.
“Delhi Police has become subserviant to the goondas of BJP. Commissioner of Police B S Bassi should
be immediately suspended and removed from the post
“, former Union Minister and party spokesman Ajay
Maken said. He said it is a
matter of distress to learn
that “Bassi is doing this to
show his loyalty to the political masters to land a key post-retirement job.
The Congress leader said that speculation is that
Bassi wants to become Information Commissioner
after his retirement which is due soon. “No post-retirement placement should be given to this Police
Commissioner “, he said.
He claimed that the violence witnessed in Patiala
House Court clearly indicates that Delhi Police has
been “taken over by “goondas “ of BJP. “
“Unfortunately, when on the Supreme Court’s orders,
senior advocates who were in Patiala House court, they
were also heckled by miscreants and police remained
mute spectators. Delhi Police is hand in gloves with
these miscreants and goondas of BJP “, he said.
Another party spokesman R P N Singh said what
was being witnessed in Delhi in the last few days was
“jungle raj “. He alleged that it seems that the government of India is being run by “goons of ABVP. “
“Lawlessness, goondaism and fear have become synonymous with the Modi model of governance “, Singh
charged. Both Maken and Singh served as MoS Home
in Manmohan Singh regime.
Congress’ chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala
tweeted “CP Bassi is insensitive and inert to violence
and lawlessness! Wonder if it’s a ploy for post-retirement Information Commissioner’s job? “
?=B Q =4F34;78
that the (India-Maldives) relationship has improved drastically as compared to what we
have seen in early 2013 or early
2014, “ he said.
“As we speak, the biggest
aircraft carrier of India is in the
Maldives and that is also a very
healthy sign of the relationship
we have, “ he said. Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya
along with its support ships
INS Mysore and INS Deepak
are on a four-day visit to the
Maldives.
Meanwhile, Maldives
ambassador hit out against
former president Mohammad
Nasheed and accused him of
misusing his visit to United
Kingdom to “deceitfully “ tarnish the reputation of the country. Nasheed is in London for
treatment after he was granted
30-day prison leave by the
Government to undergo an
urgent spinal cord surgery.
Nasheed has sought twomonth extension of his medical
leave in the United Kingdom.
The Yameen government is
still in the process of granting
him an extension.
?=BQ =4F34;78
he Centre has eased norms for
officers on foreign posting and
T
central deputation for a maximum
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n order to aid school education of the children of its
Imartyrs,
country’s largest para-
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military force CRPF has initiated a fixed-deposit scheme for
them apart from helping them
with money when they opt for
professional courses.
The Family Welfare
Association of the force
recently handed over Fixed
Deposit (FD) certificates of
C20,000 each to 182 such children whose parents (mainly
fathers) were killed in the line
of duty like anti-Naxal operations or counter-insurgency
tasks.
The FDs will be provided
to those children who are
studying in classes I-XII and
the maturity of these financial
instruments has been so timed
that they can get the money
once they attained the age of 18
years, a senior official said.
Also, the children who get
enrolled in higher professional courses will be given a
cheque for C30,000 each.
“Eight girls from families
of these martyrs were given the
cheques recently by the association. A total sum of Rs
38.80 lakh has been distributed
under the new scheme, “ the
official said.
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n an encouraging development for the Gujarat
Government, the fathers of
the jailed leaders of Patidar
Anamat Andolan Samiti
(PAAS) submitted a letter on
Wednesday saying that their
sons are ready to talk on compromise formula over ongoing
pro-quota agitation.
Fathers of the close aides of
I
22-year-old PAAS convener
Hardik
Patel:
Dinesh
Bhamaniya, Chirag Patel and
Ketan Patel, have submitted the
letter signed by their sons
(Dinesh, Ketan and Chirag) to
the Gujarat Chief Minister
Anandiben Patel. All the three
signatories are in Sabarmati jail
in Ahmedabad.
Jeram Patel, a community
leader associated with the
Umiya Temple revered by
Patels would mediate talks
between the State Government
and PAAS. As per the letter,
PAAS leaders would abide by
any decision reached between
the Government and the community panel headed by Jeram
Patel. Interestingly name of
Hardik Patel is mentioned in
the letter but it does not have
his signature.
“We have given authority
to Jerambhai Patel to have discussions with the State
Government on the issue of
reservations for Patels and
release of Patel leaders from
jails,” said the letter, adding that
the efforts of the State
Government to initiate process
of withdrawal of cases against
the young PAAS leaders and
hopefully the Government
would continue the same in
future and come to the amicable solution on the issue.
PAAS convener Hardik
Patel had written a letter to his
father last week in which he
insisted to continue pro-quota
agitation. He also claimed that
a senior bureaucrat had
approached him with an enticing offer of C1,200 crore and
key position in ruling party. He
urged his father not to capitulate to any such offer.
Two main groups PAAS led
by Hardik Patel and Sardar Patel
Group (SPG) headed by Lalji
Patel are agitating for reservation to Patidars in Government
jobs and educational institutions under Other Backward
Class (OBC) category. Patidars
are agitating for the purpose
since July last year.
The movement cost 11
lives after the mega rally at
GMDC ground in Ahmedabad
on August 25, 2015.
Even for the ruling BJP, the
agitation proved to be a costly
affair as the saffron party performed poorly in the polls of
local self-government bodies.
This is for the first time after
the gap of almost one and half
decades, BJP lost ground in
rural Gujarat.
5DKXOWRYLVLW83WRGD\DPLGSURWHVWV
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lready buoyed with the
A
victory in the Deoband
Assembly
bypolls
at
Saharanpur, Congress leaders
were further upbeat with the
visit of party vice-president
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday.
Rahul, who will attend a
Dalit Conclave is also likely to
informally launch the party
activities for the next Assembly
poll scheduled for early next year.
The leaders hoped that Rahul
visit will give further boost to
their campaign for regaining
power in Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, as the
Congress leader is visiting
amidst JNU controversy so in
apprehension of protest by BJP
leaders during Gandhi’s visit,
home department had already
made elaborate arrangements
to conduct the conclave peacefully and also to ensure that no
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untoward incident took place
during 13-kilometer long travel of Congress vice-president
from airport to the Party’s
headquarters in Mall Avenue.
Special
Protection
Group(SPG) has already
reached Lucknow while the
local police have taken up
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cche din’ appear to have
A
finally arrived for passport seekers in Uttar Pradesh,
Lucknow has issued the highest number of passports among
all cities in the country so far
in fiscal 2015-16.
With 13.37 lakh new passports issued in the state, India’s
most populous, 9.48 lakh are
from the capital, a record of
sorts, according to officials of
the Regional Passport Office
(RPO) here.
Major headway has been
made over the year in clearing
backlogs and reducing the
time taken to give necessary
clearances, including police
verification and appointments
for interviews.
Passport ‘melas’ ordered
by the ministry of external
affairs have been a great help,
officials said.
Hasan Warsi, an Aligarh
Muslim University student and
a resident of Lucknow, says he
had to go to Dubai for a college
education programme and he
got his passport “in a jiffy”.
“I had heard so much negative things about the passport
process and delays but was
pleasantly surprised by the
promptness,” Warsi told IANS.
RN Rai, the Regional
Passport Officer, said police
had been a major help as more
than 90 per cent verification of
passport applicants was completed within two weeks, thereby expediting an otherwise
long and often much criticized process.
“Credit must go to police
who fast-tracked the whole
process,” Rai added.
Of the 13.37 lakh passports
made in Uttar Pradesh, police
verification of 12 lakh was done
within the stipulated 21 days,
thus prompting early dispatch
and delivery of the passports.
And police seem to have
earned not only praise but
moolah too.
The external affairs ministry gives C150 for each passport verification. This has
turned into a windfall for the
Uttar Pradesh Police in the current fiscal when it raked in C19
crore, another record.
position at the venue. A mock
drill of the cavalcade from airport to the Congress office was
also done by the security forces
on Wednesday evening. With
intelligence reports of protest
by BJP and its youth wings during the visit of Rahul, the security forces have been put on
?C8
high alert.
Meanwhile, Congress has
put up more than 100 gates
and have covered the entire
route of Rahul with hoardings
and posters. Convener of the
programme and Congress
Rajya Sabha member P L
Punia told media persons here
on Wednesday afternoon that
the Party workers will be
given an arousing welcome to
Rahul and stages have been
erected at more than 50 places
on the route. Punia claimed
that the Deoband assembly
by-polls win has infused a new
energy among the Congress
workers and leaders and this
will be clearly projected during Thursday’s meeting.
C ongress has won the
Deoband Assembly seat after
a gap of 28 years.
Surprisingly just a day
before the visit of Rahul
Gandhi, an Allahabad court
had accepted a sedition case
against the Congress vice-president over his reported statement on JNU while another
court of Lucknow has sought
police report on a similar case
lodged against Rahul Gandhi
and Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal.
Rahul Gandhi will be
attending a political function in
Lucknow after a gap of four
years and after the programme,
he will leave for his
Parliamentary constituency
Amethi for the next two days.
2_eZ^ZXcR_eRXZeReZ`_
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n umbrella group
A
demanding an Inner Line
Permit (ILP) system in
Manipur resumed its antimigrant agitation on
Wednesday, and said workers
from outside the State who do
not have work permits will be
handed over to police.
“On the first day of
resumption of the campaign,
we pasted posters in many
parts of Imphal town asking
people not to sell land to the
migrants, hire them for construction and other odd
works,” said Khomdram
Ratan, convener of the Joint
Committee on Inner Line
Permit System (JCILPS).
“Our volunteers have
started checking the identity
cards of migrant workers.
Those who want to work in
Manipur should have work
permits from the labour
department. Those migrants
who have not done so shall be
handed over to the nearest
police station,” he said.
Police were present
during the campaign, but did
not interfere.
The JCILPS said it was
not happy that the Manipur
government has been silent
on enacting three bills to
Acts since they were passed
by the Legislative Assembly in
August last year.
The Manipur assembly
will have a short session from
March 13 to 19, and Ratan said
the group would be holding
agitations during the session.
Tribals in Manipur have
been opposing the three bills
describing them as “anti-tribal”. The government has been
maintaining that there is no
clause in the bill which is
against any community.
Violence er upted on
September 1 last year following the state government’s
adoption on August 31, 2015
of three landmark bills -Protection of Manipur
Peoples Bill 2015, Manipur
Land Revenue and Land
Reforms (seventh amendment) Bill 2015, and Manipur
Shops and Establishment
(second amendment) Bill
2015. The bills are pending
with the president.
Nine tribal youths were
killed in violence in
Churachandpur district.
Houses and properties of several elected tribal representatives were torched.
Ratan on Wednesday said
the JCILPS shall hold talks
with those against the bills and
he was hopeful that an understanding would be reached.
Even Nagaland Chief
Minister TR Z eliang,
who had recently come to
attend a festival in a hill district in Manipur, described the
bills as unconstitutional and
anti-tribal.
The Inner Line Permit
system is currently in place in
Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh
and Mizoram.
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274==08
ednesday turned out to
be a day of further setW
backs for the DMK, the principal Opposition party in Tamil
Nadu with the Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly ordering
the en masse eviction of the
party MLAs who squatted in
front of the podium demanding that certain comments
made by one of the AIADMK
MLAs be expunged.
The day also saw
Premalatha, wife of DMDK
chief Vijayakanth announcing
that there was no possibility of
a tie-up between her party
and the DMK. Speculations are
rife all over Tamil Nadu that the
DMDK led by Vijayakanth
may align with the DMK
though the former has refused
to open his mind about his
plans for the Assembly election.
The commotion in the
Assembly began with G V
Markandayan of the AIADMK
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making some remarks about
Sabarish Vedamurthy (49), the
son-in-law of M K Stalin, treasurer of the DMK, during the
debate on the interim budget.
The DMK members demanded the expunging of the
remarks made by Markandayan
for which Speaker Dhanapal
sought some time.
The agitated DMK members rushed to the podium and
were seen engaged in a heated
argument with the Speaker.
With the members refusing to
heed to his requests, the
Speaker summoned the house
marshals and ordered the en
masse eviction of the DMK
MLAs.
This
is
the
last session of the present legislature assembly which will
conclude on Saturday.
The DMK, which is yet to
recover from the shock created by the statement of M K
Alagiri, the estranged son of
party chief M Karunanidhi
that the party would not win in
the 2016 Assembly election,
was rattled by a declaration by
Premalatha, wife of DMDK
Chief Vijayakanth that her
party would not have any kind
of ties with the Dravidian
major. The whole of Tamil
Nadu is agog with speculations
that the Vijayakanth-led
DMDK may align with the
DMK. “How is it possible? We
all know that the DMK and the
Congress are the root causes of
corruption,” Premalatha told
journalists at Kancheepuram.
But she was quick to point
out that it was for Vijayakanth
to take the final call on the
issue. The DMDK has called
for a major one-day conference
of the party at Kancheepuram
on Saturday where Vijayakanth
is expected to announce his
plans for the upcoming
Assembly election.
Premalatha along with her
brother Sudhish wield considerable influence in the DMDK.
It has to be remembered that
Premalatha received special
compliments and congratulations from Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for her spirited and intense campaign during the 2014 Lok Sabha election. Modi waxed eloquence on
Premalatha and Vijayakanth
during the NDA meeting
which elected him as Prime
Minister. According to DMDK
insiders, the husband-wife
team is unlikely to burn the
bridges with the Prime
Minister as the leaders of the
saffron party are always in
communication
with
Vijayakanth.
GY^TR\_gY^WY^
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etermined to bring about
eople of Assam responded
total prohibition by 2023, Pwith “spontaneity and enthuD
the Kerala government on siasm” to Congress vice president
Wednesday launched a promotional campaign for 101
varieties of health drinks made
out of tender coconut water
and other products.
‘Subodham’, the initiative of
the Kerala government against
alcoholism and substance
abuse, will promote the healthy
drinks which will now be called
“magic drinks”.
On Wednesday, iced tea
was distributed at the launch of
the three-day International
Conference on Effective
Strategies for the Prevention of
Alcohol and Substance Abuse
(I-CON 2016).
Under the Subodham
initiative, the drinks are
not being promoted as a substitute for alcohol, but as
healthy retreats.
“More healthy drinks will
be introduced in the coming
days,” said seasoned chef and
USS Global CEO Srikanth
Manikoth, who has been
assigned to prepare the drinks.
K Ampady, who heads the
Subodham campaign, said they
will come out with 101 varieties
of drinks prepared mainly
using tender coconut water,
mint, cucumber, Indian sarsaparilla and milk.
“These drinks are intended mainly to cleanse the organs
of the human body. They will
be introduced gradually into
the market like we did with
‘Neera’,” said Ampady.
Neera is a sap extracted
from the inflorescence of various species of palms
including coconut. It is a nonalcoholic and nutritious drink
containing sugars, minerals
and vitamins.
Rahul Gandhi’s visit, which clearly indicates that the wind was
blowing in favour of the
Congress ahead of the assembly
polls, Chief Minister Tarun
Gogoi said on Wednesday.
Gogoi said the large turnout
of people at public meetings and
the ‘padyatra’ (march) by Gandhi
in Gohpur, Bihpuria, Titabor and
Sivasagar showed people were
supporting the Congress.
“Fed up with the false prepoll promises of the (Narendra)
Modi government to usher in
‘acche din’ and U-turns on
major issues concerning the
state, the people have rallied
behind the Congress, knowing
that it is the most secular, propoor and development-oriented party,” he said.
Gogoi said the Modi government has squeezed the flow
of funds by withdrawing the special category status, changed the
funding pattern of centrally
sponsored schemes and flood
management programme, suspended the North East Industrial
and Investment Promotion
Policy, reduced MNREGA, and
other pro-poor funds.
He said Modi had taken Uturns on all important issues like
pushing back foreigners, and the
land swap deal with Bangladesh,
which showed the central government’s “double standards”
to the fore.
“The people of Assam have
realised that they were hoodwinked into believing that the
prime minister would do something for them but he left them
in the lurch. This policy of double standards will go against the
BJP in the coming Assembly
polls,” he added.
Gogoi reiterated that the
BJP, knowing it was on a sticky
wicket in its bid to defeat the
Congress, entered into an
alliance with the Bodoland
Peoples Front (BPF), had a tacit
understanding with the All India
United Democratic Front
(AIUDF) and was inching
towards parties like the Asom
Gana Parishad (AGP).
“The BJP is nervous and
shaky and is trying to cobble an
alliance to defeat the Congress.
But the people will rally behind
the Congress as it has ushered
in development during the
past 15 years and give them a
fitting reply,” said the threetime Chief Minister.
“The Congress came to
power in 2001 when the state
was passing through the worst
period in its history. Law and
order had collapsed with development activities coming to a
grinding halt.
“Government employees
had to wait for months for their
salaries. My government had to
spend its first term putting the
state back on the rails. Now
employees receive salaries on
time and people move around
fearlessly even late at night,”
Gogoi said.
Gogoi reiterated that the
Congress will fight the polls
alone and not enter into pre-poll
alliance with any party.
“We will contest the polls
alone. The Congress will get a
majority and form the
Government on its own,” he said.
BP\\PZZPBPaPZZP9PcaP)1XVVTbccaXQP[UPXaQTVX]bX]CT[P]VP]P 0DQGRQDWHVH\HVHYHQ
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edaram and surrounding
areas in Warangal district
M
of Telangana on Wednesday
turned into a sea of humanity
with hundreds of thousands of
people thronging the place to
participate in SammakkaSarakka Jatra, the biggest tribal festival in the country.
The four-day festival, for
which the State Government
has pulled out all the stops to
make the flow of pilgrims
smooth, began on Wednesday
with the customary arrival of
Sarakka, tribal Goddess from
Kannepally village which was
placed on a platform. The
image of the goddess covered
in red cloths was brought in a
vessel laden with vermillion
and turmeric powder.
At the same time Sarakka’s
father Pagidigidda Raju and
husband Govinda Raju’s images
also reached Medaram and
they were also placed
on the sacred platform
this evening.
The festivities of the biennial festival will reach the peak
when the image of Sarakka’s
mother Sammakka comes from
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Chilalagutta village on the second day of the festival. The
occasion is celebrated in a
much grandiose manner with
the government and the police
officials also joining the frenzied tribal devotees to welcome
the deity.
Sammakka-Sarakka festival, in which the women pil-
grims carry jaggery over their
heads as an offering to the goddesses has grown in size and
popularity over the years in to
a massive celebration of tribal
culture and religious traditions. Since the formation of
Telangana,
the
State
Government has accorded it a
status of an official festival to
celebrate the tribal culture of
the region. Jatra is also seen as
a celebration of womanhood as
both the main deities are
women and women folk make
offerings like bangles, sarees,
jaggery and coconut. The men
folk perform the animal sacrifice as their offering. The festival attracts more than 10
million pilgrims from
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and
other states with the belief that
the spirits of the deities come
to Medaram during the sacred
days and bless them.
Sammakka and Sarakka
were in fact legendary warriors
from the Koya tribe who
fought against the Kakatiya
empire 800 years ago and
attained martyrdom.
While several cabinet ministers including law minister A
Indrakiran Reddy and
Chandulal were leading thousands of government and police
officials in supervising the
arrangements, the Chief
Minister K Chandrasekhar
Reddy will visit Medaram on
Friday and offer prayers and
fulfill his vows. The
Government has released
whopping 154.5 crore rupees
for making the arrangements.
Normally desolate and
dark forest and hilly area
around Medaram has
now turned in to an illuminated city and the nights have
turned in to day by the flood
light towers.
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he story of 26-year-old
Harish who died in a
ghastly bike accident on
Bengaluru-Tumakuru highway on Tuesday is heart-rending. Even at his death he
proved his worth and donated
his eyes sending a message to
the world of people who played
with their mobiles taking selfies and taking his picture
where his body was split into
two parts.
Harish who was lying in a
pool of blood after his body
parts were torn was still alive
and was pleading with the
public for help. People at the
spot were more concerned
about recording the visuals
on their mobile phones. None
of them bothered to even give
him a little water. But just a few
minutes after the accident
video grab spread like a wild
fire and social networking
apps like whatsapp were full of
pictures of the ghastly accident.
But Harish even at the
T
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time of dying asked the ambulance team to donate his eyes.
Within 5 minutes after his
words, Harish was rushed to a
nearest hospital where doctors
declared him brought dead.
Soon his body was shifted to
Narayana Netralaya where his
eyes were donated.
The deceased was a native
of Karegowdanahalli and was
working in a security agency as
cash loading officer in ATMs.
On Sunday, Harish had
marked a day’s leave to cast
vote for Zilla Panchayat elections in Gubbi.
The incident happened
around 9 am when Harish
was coming back on his bike
and in an attempt to overtake
the lorry, Harish collided with
the vehicle’s bumper on the
rear. The impact of the accident was such that the severed
lower half torso and lay strewn
on one side while his head and
upper torso lay in the middle
of the road.
Dr Bhujang Shetty of
Narayana Netralaya said “luckily he was wearing a helmet his
eyes were not damaged. His
eves will be donated to two
individuals. Sadly other organs
would not be harvested. What
a good gesture. His presence of
mind was amazing.”
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day after pro-Afzal Guru
slogans were raised in
A
Kolkata’s prestigious Jadavpur
University, two groups of students split along ideological
lines brought out rallies in
varsity campus on Wednesday
and vowed to go any distance
to preserve their ideologies
even as the Union Home
Ministry demanded a report
from the State Government on
the incident that took place
inside campus, sources said.
The members of a Left leaning students’ union on Tuesday
had — in support of JNU students — raised anti-India slogans
and fixed posters demanding
freedom for Jammu & Kashmir,
Manipur and Nagaland.
In an apparent domino
effect of the Tuesday’s incident,
a group of students from the
Engineering Department went
on rampage inside the
University campus targeting
the opposition group and tearing off posters and hoardings
and threatening to “take the
agitation to its logical end if the
anti-national elements did not
?=BQ ?0C=0
fter Chief Minister Nitish
Kumar supported arrested
A
JNUSU president Kanhaiya
BcdST]cb^U9PSPe_daD]XeTabXchWPSQa^dVWc^dcPaP[[hX]bd__^ac^U9=DbcdST]cbPcePabXchRP\_dbX]:^[ZPcP^]CdTbSPhTeT]X]V
pay heed to reasons.”
While a large number of students said they had not seen a
similar incident in the past, Vice
Chancellor Suranjan Das said
“there could be certain fringe elements that might have resorted
to some extreme acts, but that is
not the culture of Jadavpur
University. We encourage healthy
debates” but it will not allow anything that is unacceptable to the
nation as a whole.
“We are Indians and will
never tolerate slogans that
advocate its disintegration.
Those who will raise such slogans will have to pay dearly for
the treachery shown to the
mother land,” said one of the
students tearing down banners
that loudly demanded “Azadi
for Kashimr, Azadi for
Manipur, Azadi for Nagaland.”
Incidentally BJP leader
Rahul Sinha also chipped in on
Wednesday saying “those who
raise anti-India slogans should
be beaten up in public.”
Incidentally Nirjhar
Mukherjee, the student leader
who had led another group of
students on Tuesday said they
were never against Indian State
and were patriots like any
other Indian.
“Some fringe elements may
have given raised slogans but
we are against such slogans,” he
said adding what he demanded was an “Azadi or freedom
from intolerance.” He said
“before we are misrepresented
we must say that unlike what is
being said about us we want
freedom from this saffron
intolerance in Kashmir, in
Bihar, in Kerala in Manipur and
?C8
all other places.”
He said the slogans like
“Afzal bole, Azadi, Geelani bole
Azadi and Chinke lenge Azadi”
were raised by fringe elements.
A palpable fear pervaded
JU campus as the rival groups
of students flocked at various
corners to chalk out their
future plans. The police had
still not been called in to
restore normalcy.
=e]RQYcSbYRUc`b_dUcdQddQS[_^Z_eb^Q\YcdcY^4U\XY
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owing affiliation to
various media organisations
Jonournalists
Wednesday staged a strong
protest against the attacks on
mediapersons at the Patiala
House court in New Delhi and
demanded among other things
the arrest of BJP Delhi MLA
OP Sharma and removal of
Delhi Police Commissioner BS
Bassi from his post.
Displaying placards that
carried slogans like Stop Attack
on Journalists!’, ‘Stop Shooting
the Messenger’, ‘Arrest those
goon lawyers’, ‘Arrest OP
Sharma’, ‘Sack Delhi Police
Commissioner, the protesting
journalists walked from the
Mumbai Press Club to the
nearby gate of the historic
Azad Maidan. They later held
a protest meeting at the
Mumbai Press Club.
Apart from the Mumbai
Press Club (MPC), the other
media organisations that participated in Wednesday’s protest
were TV Journalists’ Association
and
Bombay
News
Photographers Association.
Among the journalists who took
part in the protest were Darryl
D’Monte, Nikhil Wagle, cricket
writer-commentator Ayaz
Memon and Mumbai Press Club
?=BQ A0=278
haratiya Suraj Dal (BSD)
leader PK Siddharth has
B
written to the Prime Minister
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president Gurbir Singh.
In a statement, the Mumbai
Press Club said: “We are
shocked and disturbed at the
attack on journalists on duty at
the Capital’s Patiala Court
premises by Men in Black
claiming to be lawyers, and
some goons led by BJP Delhi
MLA OP Sharma. The brutal
violence inflicted on scribes
that were reporting the court
proceeding related to the JNU
arrests involved dragging out
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ssar CEO Prashant Ruia
today congratulated the
ScRgVYVRce E
Government of Jharkhand for
reporters from the courtroom
and assaulting them. The temerity of attackers was so brazen
that they equated covering the
court proceedings against
Kanhaiya Kumar for sedition as
an “anti-national” act!”.
“The fact that journalists
were beaten up slapped and
kicked around for being in a
courtroom and for reporting a
sedition proceeding in the
Patiala courts, speaks volumes of
the extent that fascist elements
within the ruling party and
Government can go to snuff out
the right to legal defence. What
was most shocking though was
the complete and nonchalant
abetment of the police force at
the courtrooms that allowed
the journalists to be beaten
before them and who thought
nothing of arresting or restraining the attackers,” the statement
said, adding that the police
could have prevented the violence at the Patiala House courts.
suggesting specific changes in
the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) as it was
earning a bad name for unwarranted activities of some students across the country.
Sidhharth has suggested
that the university’s name
should be change to Sarvpalli
Dr Radhakrishnnan University
in order to change its political
culture. He has also suggested
that the seize of Left parties in
JNU must be brought to an end
and professors of JNU must see
reason.
The letter states that the
BSD has been observing the
occurrences at the JNU and the
controversy raging around
them. “The entire exercise of
hailing Afzal Guru as a martyr
combined with slogans wishing
disintegration of India with the
tone and tenor of sloganeering
was clearly intended to incite
disaffection and violence, and
therefore, seditious. The police
have taken very inadequate
action by arresting just one student, and yet all the professors
have gone on strike in support
of the students, and against
government action,” it reads.
“The BSD considers this
very unfortunate. …. However,
the BSD doesn’t favour shutdown of the university, but
strongly recommends measures to remove the near-complete control of the Leftist parties over JNU students and
teachers. …It is suggested that
it be re-named. Sarvapalli Dr
Radhakrishnan Universtiy.
This is likely to make the character of this university less
political and more academic.
Also, to end the seize of the
university by the Leftists, which
is detrimental to the growth of
free thinking, some professors, who are the ring-leaders,
should be transferred to other
Central Universities,” it states.
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?=BQ A0=278
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ndhra
Pradesh
Government has enhanced
A
ex gratia to the family of Siachen
braveheart Mushtaq Ahmad to
C25 lakhs from C5 lakh.
A cheque of the amount
was presented to Mushtaq
Ahmad’s family by the deputy
Chief
Minister
KE
Krishnamurthy in Parnapalle
village in Kurnool district after
his funeral last evening.
Mushtaq was one of the
nine Indian soldiers who died
in avalanche on Siachen, the
highest battlefield in the world.
Earlier the residents of
Mushtaq’s village had protested against the indifference of
the state government as it had
announced an ex gratia of C5
lakh. Pointing out that the
neighboring Karnataka
Government had announced
ex gratia of C25 lakh to Lance
Nayak Hanumanthappa who
also died in the same
accident, they too demanded
the same amount for
Mushtaq’s family.
The State Cabinet later
increased the amount and sent
the cheque with the deputy
Chief Minister who also hails
from Kurnool district. The
government has also promised
a piece of land to build a house
for Mushtaq’s family and a
Government job to one member of the family.
$IWHU1LWLVK/DOX
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enabling industry friendly environment in the State and making sincere efforts for removing
bottlenecks in setting up new
industries.
Speaking at the Investors
Summit in Mumbai Ruia said
that the State of Jharkhand has
been a leading example of the
spirit of this programme. He
congratulated CM Raghubar
Das for his exemplary leadership and for his government’s
support to urban and industrial
development in the State.
“It comes as no surprise
that Jharkhand state is ranked
3rd in India by the World
Bank, for ease of doing business. This achievement coupled
with the state’s vast natural
resource base and skilled manpower - makes it an ideal destination for infrastructure
development and industrial
investment,” Ruia said.
He went on to say that Essar
was one of the first private sector organizations to invest in various sectors of the state – power,
mining and services. “Our experience in the region has been
very positive and all our projects
are firmly on the path of
growth.This has been made possible by the Jharkhand govt’s
industrial investment schemes,
single window clearances, business friendly policies, and of
course the state’s enterprising
young workforce,” he added.
“Essar Power has com-
mitted over C 10,000 crore in
Jharkhand for setting up a
1200MW power plant at Tori
in district Latehar and for
developing the Tokisud coal
mines. The Govt. of Jharkhand
had granted all statutory clearances but it is unfortunate that
the coal blocks that were allotted as fuel source for this project were de-allocated,” Ruia
further said.
The Essar CEO informed
that the project is at an
advanced stage of completion,
with over Rs 5,500 cr already
invested on the ground and
they were awaiting fuel linkage
and are confident that the State
and central Government will
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support fuel requirement for
the project through the upcoming coal mine auctions and
linkages. Essar’s growth in
Jharkhand is a result of the
great support we have received
from the Govt. and the people
of the State, he added.
“Our community initiatives in Jharkhand, through the
Essar Foundation, are focused
in areas of public health,
women’s empowerment, children’s education, farmer welfare, and employment generation. Our teams work closely
with local authorities in setting
up health centers, medical
camps, ambulance facilities,
drinking water, school transport, and various skill development programs,” he said.
Kumar, RJD supremo Lalu
Prasad demanded his immediate release and urged the
Centre to constitute a
Parliamentary Committee to
probe the charges against him.
Lalu said, “Kanhaiya is son
of Begusarai, a son of Bihar, a
son of India and he cannot raise
anti-national slogans. The
entire episode should be investigated. The Parliament session
is nearing and the Centre can
appoint a Parliamentary panel
for probing the charges.”
Meanwhile, the rebel BJP
leader Shatrughan Sinha once
again took a line different from
his party and said Kanhaiya’s
arrest was wrong. In his tweet
he said the student leader did
not deliver anti-national speech.
The BJP leadership rose
against the Patna Sahib MP and
Bihar BJP president Mangal
Pandey said Sinha should
resign his Lok Sabha seat before
speaking against party line.
He said, “The Government
has taken a right decision
against Kanhaiya. If Shatrughan
Sinha has any objection he
should first resign from the
Parliament seat then speak
whatever he wants to say.”
BJP MLA Nitin Navin said,
“So far Shatrughan had been
giving anti-party statements
now he is issuing anti-national
statements and defaming Bihar.”
Union Minister Giriraj
Singh said case of sedition
should be filed against all of
them who raise anti-India slogan and favour Afzal Guru and
also against those who favour
such elements.
The RJD and JD(U) came
in favour of Shatrughan Sinha
and said he has taken a right
stand. “We are also against
falsely implicating Kanhaiya
by the Centre,” said Bihar
JD(U) president Bashistha
Narain Singh.
Lalu said the BJP-led
Centre in bid to hide its failures
has raised the issue of nationalism and communalising the
society. “The Centre has failed
on all counts and by raking up
communal issues wants to uplift
its sagging image,” he said.
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merica, the richest
democracy on earth,
can’t abide socialism. In
this year’s election, the
74-year-old Democrat
and presidential contender, Mr
Bernard Sanders, has done himself
no favours by calling himself a
socialist. President Obama,
approaching the end of his very
competent two terms in office, is
regularly reviled as a socialist, spuriously, but truth be damned.
African-American President
notwithstanding, racism is not yet
dead in America by a long chalk.
But being communist is thought of
as being worse than being AfricanAmerican. The jury is still out on
gender equality though.
That is why Mr Noam
Chomsky, the notorious linguist/
anarchist professor and Jewish
intellectual from MIT and Harvard,
with at least 100 books to his
name, is mostly regarded as antiAmerican and subversive by mainstream America. Overall, being
called a socialist/communist is
abuse in the US. Wish it were so
here! But in India, it is a proud privilege. So much so, that the very suggestion of dumping Leftist ideology in India, brings on an apoplectic outrage, and acute withdrawal
symptoms throughout the intellectual classes and the body politic.
The ideological clap-trap of
decades of failed policies has not
dented socialism’s appeal, both
among the masses, and a goodly
proportion of the classes. It is seen
as some kind of emetic and purge
for the venality and perniciousness
of capitalist ‘greed’; anathema to the
genetic memory and psyches of
many Indians, perhaps from imperial and feudal times.
But,
this
prolabour/farmer/poor rubric harnessed with contempt and hostility towards capital and the engines
of growth, is combined now with a
toxic love for the Islamic
terrorist/the murderous Maoist
and so on. It isn’t above undermining and sabotaging the very state it
lives in, insulting the military, combining forces with anyone who
wants to bring it down. The matter has assumed dangerous proportions with many opposition parties
supporting seditious elements in the
name of democratic freedoms.
And, it is being keenly watched by
the Pakistani ISI, the Khalistanis,
and other inimical forces.
Indeed, our highly subsidised
universities, crucibles of this us-andthem dichotomy, seem to compensate for their lack of intellectual
rigour with outpourings of what
Joseph McCarthy, the infamous
A
communist-hunting crusader in
America, called ‘dangerous radicalism’. It was McCarthy who coined
the phrase: ‘There’s a Red under
every bed’, to spur support for his
anti-communist crusade. That the
Soviets had been American allies
during World War II, being the first
to capture Hitler’s Berlin, was the
essential basis of the confusion.
Particularly, when the post-war
aftermath quickly cooled into Cold
War, the long night of the ‘Iron and
Bamboo Curtains’.
It may be serendipity that we
have an American film on freedom
of expression, political belief, patriotism and suspected sedition, showing in our multiplexes currently. It
is also a serious contender to win
an Academy Award or more this
year. Trumbo, the feature film —
there have been documentaries
before on James Dalton Trumbo,
Hollywood’s top screenwriter who
was jailed and blacklisted for his
political beliefs — has come at a
time when the tolerance debate has
been swirling and eddying between
Bollywood, the chasms of the political arena, the mainline and social
media spaces.
It looks like the socialists in
their bastions and their variegated
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political bosses in multiple political
opposition parties, are in mortal fear
of being turfed out by a resurgent
RSS/BJP combine. So they are
squealing blue murder to try and
thwart it. Will their efforts at mass
mobilisation to turn the clock back
succeed, or have they already gone,
kicking and screaming, into the
dustbin of history?
As in the America of the
1947-1975 period, when Trumbo
lived and worked, our democracy too is evolving, and groping its
way towards its true meanings. If
Trumbo succeeds as a metaphor
for India in transition, it does so
because of the tremendous native
talent of the subject, the real-life
screen-writer, that transcended
the prejudice, persecution and
opposition generated by his
political views.
Likewise, India, not by any
means an easy place to do business,
might nevertheless be worth taking
on for foreign investors, because of
its tremendous potential and steady
growth rates in the midst of an economically troubled world. After all,
many abroad do not understand
our pretensions and protestations of
secularism. They see India as an
obviously Hindu-majority — even
B>D=318C4
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majoritarian — state, and think it
is right that it be so.
The villain of the piece in
Trumbo, one of two actually, is cast
as the inquisitorial Congress House
Un-American
Activities
Committee. But, do we not need a
similar device here in India, to curb
the depredations of so many bold
‘anti-nationals’, openly preaching
and practicing sedition? The other
villain of the piece in the film is The
Motion Picture Alliance for the
Preservation of American Ideals, a
kind of Trump-like far-Right
Republican Party of Hollywood —
the RSS/BJP parallel perhaps. This
one, more localised than the country-wide commission, was backed
by the likes of the iconic John
Wayne, and powerful gossip columnist Heda Hopper, who boasted of
a readership of 35 million people.
Trumbo himself though was
that rare bird, an unabashed, if wellto-do ‘conviction’ communist, but
also a solid family man, with a doting wife and three supportive children. Trumbo was so good at writing scripts for movie hits that also
often won awards, that the big and
small studio bosses, couldn’t do
without him. So they accessed his
talents by the back door, even
when the front door was officially
closed to him. And this throughout
the period, from 1947 till the 1960s.
The real-life Trumbo won a
quartet of Oscars, for several legendary ‘best films’: Roman Holiday,
Spartacus, Exodus, The Brave One.
He also won a lifetime award, once
he could come out from behind the
arras, from The Screenwriters Guild
of America. For screenwriters to
dodge the boycott was one thing,
but sympathiser-actors like Edward
G Robinson had to buckle under,
retract, denounce and conform.
Typically, all the liberal support
melted away, once the commission
began to bite.
Finally, the persecution did
come off for Trumbo, when JF
Kennedy as President attended a
screening of Spartacus and allowed
that he liked the movie. Kirk
Douglas, the star and executive producer of the film, had already
defied the ban by attributing the
screenplay to Trumbo.
Bryan Craston, the anti-hero of
hit TV drama Breaking Bad, plays
James Dalton Trumbo. But director Jay Roach did sanitise the reallife Trumbo’s serious support for
Soviet-style communism. And
Trumbo was not alone in this. The
commission may not have been
fashionable, but it was definitely
needed, for the idea of a capitalist
America to succeed. That is why it
was only wound up in 1975.
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2:@\\UQTUb
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Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Breaching judicial limits”
(February17). Incidents like the
one by a judge of the Madras
High Court, CS Karnan, who has
‘stayed’ the Chief Justice of India’s
proposal to transfer him to the
Calcutta High Court, can land
highly esteemed institutions in
embarrassing situations. This in
turn opens up a Pandora’s box of
similar claims, thereby causing an
adverse bearing on the image of
Indian judicial system. I subscribe
to the view that this matter
should not be allowed to snowball into a major controversy as
it can have major repercussions.
Azhar Ali Khan
Rampur
E^TeUQTfQ^dQWU
Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Violence not justified”
(February 17). The editorial has
rightly advised to let law take its
own course with regards to the
affairs at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University. The violence witnessed outside the Patiala House
court is unfortunate and must be
condemned. The after-effects of
such incidents are deplorable.
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Delhi Police should be taking
action against the culprits. In this
connection, the Opposition,
mainly the Congress and the
Communist Party of India
(Marxist), is taking undue and
unjustified advantage by spreading division in the name of freedom of expression.
PN Saxena
New Delhi
2Q^^Y^WZ_[Uc
Sir — This refers to the report,
“Sardar jokes ban impractical:
Apex Court seeks suggestion”
(February 17). It is the absolute prerogative of the Sikh community to
decide whether the ‘Santa-Banta’
jokes should be banned or not. If
the sentiments of a community are
being hurt, then civility demands
that one should desist from making fun at the expense of a community. Such jokes need to be put to
an immediate end.
Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkata
@_gUbXe^Wbi
Sir — This refers to the article,
“Please, think before you protest”
(February 16) by Priyadarshi
Dutta. The writer has correctly
said that certain things can only
happen in India. It is disturbing
that the ‘martyrdom’ day of
Parliament attack convict Afzal
Guru was glorified at the JNU
campus days ago.
Even more distressing is the
fact that political parties, instead
of condemning this event and
supporting the Modi Government
in dealing with the situation,
used it for political gains. Only
god can save this country if politics degenerates to such a level
where politics is the be-all.
BP Srivastava
Noida
@Q[YcdQ^µc]Y^_bYdi
Sir — This refers to the editorial,
“Hope for Pakistani Hindus”
(February 16). Pakistan’s decision
to bring forth a Hindu marriage
Bill is welcome, but the ugly side
is that Hindus in Pakistan are constantly harassed and subjected to
violence. While the population of
Hindus in Pakistan has seen a
decline, the population of Muslims
in India has increased. Figures and
facts speak louder than words.
Ashok Kumar
New Delhi
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n Tuesday, Saudi Arabia
and Russia, along with
Qatar and Venezuela,
decided to freeze their oil
production at January
2016 levels, so as to stabilise oil prices,
which have plunged in the past two year
because of a supply glut. From a high
of $115 per barrel in 2014, prices were
down to $27 per barrel this January, and
if the markets continue to be so awash
in oil, it is possible that the prices would
go down to $20 a barrel.
The impact of this price drop on
oil-producing and exporting countries, which depend heavily on
petrodollars to fuel their economy,
needs no explanation. Indeed, the situation had become so dire that even
resource-rich Saudi Arabia was feeling
the pinch. This forms the backdrop to
Tuesday’s deal.
The deal is the first in 15 years
between members of the Organisation
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
and a country that is not part of the
cartel. The deal also gains significance
because the two countries leading this
agreement, Russia and Saudi Arabia,
are generally not on the same geopolitical plane. In fact, for months,
they have been competing with each
other in the oil market. While Riyadh
has recently stepped into Moscow’s
turf and sold oil to eastern Europe,
Russia has jumped Saudi Arabia in oil
exports to China. Outside the oil market, the two nations are also on opposite sides in the Syrian civil war.
However, while on paper the deal
seems like a major development, on the
ground, it may not be that big a deal
after all. There are two reasons for this.
Missing Pieces: The deal does not
O
include Iran and Iraq — yet. These are
the other major oil producers in the
world, and without their cooperation,
the supply side of the oil price mechanism cannot be controlled. Indeed, the
activation of the deal itself is pegged to
the assumption that the other players
will fall in line.
Iran: Having just been freed from
Western sanctions (following an agreement with the P5+1 powers on its
nuclear programme) which previously curtailed its oil exports, Iran, the
Opec’s the fifth-largest producer, is now
looking to leverage its proverbial black
gold so as to resuscitate its economy. In
the words of Iran’s Opec envoy Mehdi
Asali, it is, therefore, “illogical” to expect
the country to freeze production.
Indeed, oil production has already
been boosted, and by the end of
Iranian calendar year (March 20), it is
expected that production will reach a
record high of 5,00,000 barrels a day.
On Monday, Iran sent off its first
Europe-bound crude cargo in four
years. And over the next 48 hours, it
exported more than 7.1 million crude
barrels, setting a new record, according to the Managing Director of Iranian
Oil Terminals.
Still, on Wednesday, Opec president
Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, who is
also the Qatari Minister of Industry and
Energy, met with Iranian Oil Minister
Bijan Zanganeh to discuss a freeze by
Tehran. They were joined by the
Venezuelan Oil Minister and the Iraqi
Oil Minister. While Iran did not commit to a freeze, it still took a positive
stance on the issue. “The decision ... to
stabilise the market and prices for the
benefit of producers and consumers, is
supported by us,” Mr Zanganeh told the
official news agency after the meeting.
This means that while Iran may
have publicly dismissed the idea of a
production freeze for now, it may
eventually still agree to some sort of a
special capping arrangement. This will
be for two reasons — First, Iran too is
adversely affected by the low prices,
and second, it will only be able to
increase production overnight to a certain level; beyond that, it will require
large-scale, long-term investment, forcing its production abilities to plateau in
the meantime. Hence, if the other producers make a good enough offer to
Iran at the point, Iran is expected to at
least consider it in all seriousness.
Iraq: In the popular imagination,
Iraq may have been written off as
besieged by the Islamic State terror
group, but on the ground, it has made
some significant recoveries and simultaneously also ramped up oil production. In January, Iraq’s output was a
record 4.35 million barrels a day, and
the International Energy Agency estimates that this figure may still increase.
Sure, there are doubts about transporting the oil out of the country but even
then, Iraq remains a major player. For
now, Iraq is amenable to the deal and
can be expected to officially join in, if
the others also commit to a cap or a cut.
Inadequate measures: The second
reason why the deal isn’t going to be a
gamechanger is that even in a best case
scenario, with Iran and Iraq on board,
it is unlikely to change the oil price trajectory in a significant manner. This is
because the deal proposes a cap, not a
cut, in current production levels. In
other words, even if the deal is implemented, the market will still have a
over-supply of oil.
*HQHUDOZLWKDGPLUDEOHTXDOLWLHV
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uch has been written
and said about Lt
General JFR Jacob,
the Bangladeshi war hero, but
what little I have to add is from
my vantage point as a witness
to former diplomat and intellectual ML Sondhi’s friendship
with him. Although they were
good friends, ML Sondhi
addressed him as ‘General’
and spoke of him as ‘Jacob’.
The first time ML Sondhi
and I met Gen Jacob was in the
early 1990s, long after he had
retired from the military and
just prior to the normalisation
of relations between India and
Israel. We met, thanks to
Greville Janner, a British MP
who often visited India because
he had a sizeable number of
Gujaratis and Punjabis in his
Leicester constituency and also
because of his interest in furthering India-Israel relations.
While in service, Gen Jacob
could never visit Israel, but he
M
had many contacts over there,
via his family and community
abroad. However, ML Sondhi,
after having resigned from
Government service in 1962,
was free to visit Israel and campaign for normalisation of relations with the country.
One evening, Gen Jacob
and I were Janner’s guests at the
Taj Hotel at Man Singh Road
and it was in that relaxed atmosphere when Gen Jacob gave vent
to his great disappointment
with the Government which
failed to recognise, in any meaningful way, his contribution to
the victory of the Indian Army
in the 1971 war.
It was generally believed
that the Government had been
afraid of provoking Pakistan and
other West Asian countries by
drawing attention to the fact that
it was a Jewish (albeit Indian)
General, who was responsible
for defeating the forces of an
Islamic country.
ML Sondhi, deeply moved
by Gen Jacob’s story, became
determined to rectify this wrong
in one way or the another. Since
the Congress Government
remained shackled by its West
Asian posture, he looked for
options amongst opposition
parties in favour of India-Israel
normalisation. The Swatantra
Party had dissolved itself, but the
socialists and the BJP remained.
ML Sondhi suggested to
General Jacob that, as a first step,
he should join the BJP. With his
social background, the idea of
the BJP was somewhat alien to
the General, to say the least, but
being an eminently rational
man, after about three months
of cogitation, he finally overcame his inhibition.
On the eve of his publicly
joining the party, we had dinner with a very tense and nervous General, poised for a
decision which could either
make or break him.
Gen Jacob joined the BJP in
mid 1990s, and for some time,
the party used his services for
advice on defence matters.
Once the NDA Government
came to power in the late
1990s, ML Sondhi worked to
get Gen Jacob appointed as the
Governor of Goa, and later the
Governor of Chandigarh, and
in both assignments, Gen Jacob
played a memorable role.
In Goa, he was ranked as
one of the best Governors and
is remembered for his work on
conservation and environment,
for his refreshing speeches at
the opening of Assembly sessions and for telling off a certain powerful Gujarati businessman who came seeking
favours from him.
ML Sondhi felt that Gen
Jacob still had more to contribute to India’s polity. Since
Dalits, Sikhs, Muslims, women
etc were represented in politics
from northern and southern
States at the highest levels of the
nation, why not a Jew — a highly talented one at that?
At the time, APJ Abdul
Kalam was the President of
India, so ML Sondhi thought
of Gen Jacob as the Vice
President. He wrote a piece for
The Pioneer in June 2002, entitled, ‘The man who should be
Vice President’, which deserves
to be quoted as a summing
up of Gen Jacob’s character
and accomplishments.
ML Sondhi wrote, “Today,
Kalam is the man of destiny
and it will be widely hoped
that India under his presidency will be less prone to conflict. For the vice presidency,
I would suggest that Governor
JFR Jacob of Punjab can
become a man of destiny and
would be credible to not only
the Indian public, but also to
the world. If Kalam’s choice is
realpolitik at its best, General
Jacob’s choice will be per-
In this context, it in interesting to
note that most Opec countries, such as
Russia and Venezuela, are already
pumping record high levels of oil. They
are stretched to the maximum, and
would have had to slow down even
without a deal.
And then there is America’s shale
oil factor: To understand the US’s role,
one needs to go back a few steps.
Historically, the OPEC cartel has
managed to keep a strangle-hold on
oil prices because demand far outstripped supply. The shale oil boom
in the US, however, threatened to
change that dynamic. Opec responded by striking at the one major weak
point in the shale story: The relatively high-cost of production. The oil
cartel pumped up production and
deliberately depressed oil prices, hoping that American shale would
become unprofitable in comparison.
While the shale industry did feel
the pressure, the impact wasn’t as
intense as Opec had calculated especially as shale prices continued on a
downward path. Any let up at this point
in the Opec’s efforts to keep oil prices
low will give US shale companies just
the breather they are looking for to get
back into business.
Past experiences: A third problem
with any Opec deal is cheating. In general, Opec members are not particularly transparent with their production figures and this leads to mistrust within
the group. Non-Opec members are no
better either. The last time there was a
global deal of this sort — in 2001, when
Saudi Arabia convinced Mexico,
Norway and Russia to commit to production cuts — Russia went back on its
word and, in fact, raised exports.
WKLQN
QRZ
<037DA8B>=378
ceived as an Indian example of
Wilsonian idealism. Governor
Jacob, like Dwight D
Eisenhower, is a war hero and
will be perceived as playing a
new role as a man of peace.”
He added, “Governor Jacob
won the surrender of the
Pakistani forces in Dhaka by his
superiority of strategic manoeuvre and later showed his skill at
political conflict management in
Goa in his gubernatorial assignment. His record in Punjab, in
the context of the attendant
political strife in the State, has
been outstanding. Observers
have commented favourably
on his ability to structure politics in an information age. His
strategic and foreign policy
analysis at several intellectual
forums have been marked by
his acute understanding of how
Indian power can contribute to
a more stable regional system
and a more cohesive international order.”
5
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<D<108)With its new facility in
Gujarat expected to be commissioned early next year, auto
major Maruti Suzuki on
Wednesday said it will ramp up
production at its existing plants
in Gurgaon and Manesar to
meet rising demand.
“There may be some temporary shortage of capacity.
Gujarat is coming up next year,”
the company’s Chairman RC
Bhargava told reporters at the
Make in India Week here.
The company, which has
been witnessing double-digit
sales growth for the last three
years, will therefore have to
expand production at its
Gurgaon and Manesar plants in
the National Capital Region
(NCR), he said.
He said Maruti Suzuki will
end 2015-16 with sales of 1.45
million units, which is expected
to rise by 8-9 per cent to 1.55 mil-
?=BQ =4F34;78
SURGXFWLRQWRPHHWULVLQJGHPDQG
inance Ministr y on
We d n e s d ay s a i d t a x
F
exemptions cost exchequer
lion units next fiscal.
Bhargava also said that diesel
engines are being unfairly targeted in the debate on pollution.
Two-wheelers cause more
pollution than the four-wheelers,
but they are not targeted because
of their sheer number and political considerations, he said.
He also expressed reservation about the odd-even scheme
of the Delhi Government, saying
a measure like congestion tax is
justifiable but one cannot prohibit movement of cars.
?C8
about C2 lakh crore annually and it is necessary to
phase them out to provide a
level playing field to domestic manufacturing companies so that Make in India
can become a success.
“The focus of the Budget
should be on tax rationalisation and simplification.
The focus should be on
promoting growth, employment and in terms of giving
some sort of level playing
field to domestic manufacturers so that the Make In
India can happen,” Revenue
Secretary Hasmukh Adhia
said.
His statement assumes
s i g n i f i c an c e a s Fi n an c e
Minister Arun Jaitley is getting ready to unveil 2016-17
Budget on February 29.
Removal of tax exemptions, Adhia said, would
able the Government to
reduce income tax rate and
give a more fair deal to
people paying taxes.
“In direct tax, we are
losing about C1 lakh crore in
these exemptions.
The cause may be noble,
but it distorts the taxation
system. In case of indirect
tax also, we are almost losing C1 lakh crore because of
various exemptions given
for SEZ, EOU.
“... Had we not given all
these exemptions we would
have been able to probably
reduce the income tax rate
and we would have been
given a more fair deal to
people in paying the same
t h i n g ,” Ad h i a s a i d i n
Finance Ministry’s YouTube
channel.
The tax department has
already come out with a
draft roadmap for phasing
out tax exemptions, and the
final roadmap would be
unveiled in Budget.
“We cannot completely
eliminate exemptions... If
we are able to reduce the
number of exemptions, then
the amount we are losing in
exemptions we would be in
a better position to reduce
taxation rates...
“ E x e mp t i o n s c r e at e
inequity, it creates inequity
between the existing unit
and the new unit which is
availing the exemption and
it also creates inequity in
terms of smaller companies
and bigger companies,” he
said.
*RYWPXOOVDEDQNWRGHDOZLWKEDGORDQV
=4F34;78)The Government is
looking at a proposal to set up
a bank or a company to deal
with the burgeoning bad loans
of State-owned banks, even as
the views on the issue are “vertically divided”.
“We have discussed it (setting up an asset reconstruction
company), but you see the
problem so far is that opinions
are almost vertically divided on
the issue,” a senior Government
official told the news agency.
According to some
bankers, setting up a ‘bad bank’
would be a sound thing to do
given the current situation
where PSU banks are burdened
with mounting non-performing
assets (NPAs) or bad loans.
“As a concept it (bad bank)
is good. It has to be structured
in such a way that it efficiently
functions. It’s not a bad idea
given the current times,” Punjab
National Bank Managing
Director
Usha
Ananthasubramanian said.
Few bankers, on the other
hand, have also expressed the
concern that banks would tend
to shift their stressed assets to
such institution and it may
lead to laxity on part of the
lenders. Reserve Bank of India
Governor Raghuram Rajan had
said recently that there was “no
need” to set up a separate bad
bank to deal with stressed
assets of public sector lenders.
“In my mind the banks are
already trying work on their
balance sheets... Public sector
banks themselves have the
backing of the Government, so
there is no need to create a new
entity that has the backing of
the Government. The issue is
now to clean it up,” he said.
Rajan had also said that the
pricing of assets of a
Government-owned bad bank
could get entangled with the
Comptroller and Auditor
General or the Central
Vigilance Commissioner.
Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley had said last week that
the Government is considering
more steps to empower banks
to recover bad loans and the
problem will be contained soon.
“The bankruptcy law is
under active consideration. The
Government is also considering
some further steps to empower
banks to be in a position to
recover these monies (non- performing assets). I think it’s a
problem which will soon come
under control,” he had said.
Observing that there is a
problem of NPAs, he had said:
“These are the loans, which have
earlier in point of time given by
these banks and as a part of prudent policy it has been considered the balance sheets should
be transparent. The banks are
going to take all steps possible
to recover the loans from
debtors.”
He had said Reserve Bank
through various policies has
empowered banks to recover
NPAs. As on September, the
gross NPAs of PSU lenders have
increased to C3.01 lakh crore as
against C2.67 lakh crore in
March.
?C8
Adhia said removing the
exemptions would also help
in improving the tax: GDP
ratio which is currently
around 10 per cent.
“ There is a ne e d to
increase the tax: GDP ratio
but you also have to see the
capacity of people to bear
that kind of taxation burden.
If we simply rationalise
the taxation system and
remove the exemptions, I
am sure the tax to GDP ratio
can be enhanced substantially,” he added.
In order to attract foreign investment, Adhia said
there was a need to do away
with multiplicity of central
and state government levies
and the only solution to
this is GST. Goods and
Services Tax would usher in
an u n i f i e d i n d i re c t t a x
regime which will subsume
various levies like excise,
service tax, sales tax, octroi,
etc.
So far this fiscal, corporate tax collection has not
beenimpressive as corporate earnings are not very
robust. This has led to a
growth in direct taxes of 11
per cent as against 33 per
cent growth in indirect
taxes, he added.
He said the shortfall in
direct taxes to the tune of
C40,000 crore would be
made up by robust collection
in indirect taxes and the
total tax collection target
for the fiscal would be met
for the first time in five
years.
Adhia said the income
tax department is trying to
widen its tax base as currently 3.5 per cent of total
population pays the income
tax.
He said while about four
crore people file I-T returns,
another about two crore
people pays Tax Deducted at
Source (TDS).
Ad h i a s a i d t h e t a x
department is making efforts
to reduce litigations. At present 3.4 lakh litigations are
pending in direct taxes and
another 1.36 lakh are pending in indirect taxes.
In order to attract foreign investors Adhia said,
“We have to rationalise our
taxation laws, we have to
simplify them, we have to
have a predictability in tax
regime, a kind of certainty.
These are things which are
required when it comes to
taxation, then the investors
would be interested in coming to our country.”
3UDVDGVD\V*RYHUQPHQWWRRN
GHFLVLRQLQIDYRXURI9RGDIRQHDOVR
=4F 34;78) Rejecting
Vodafone’s criticism over the
C14,200-crore tax notice,
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad on Wednesday said in
the past Government had taken
decision in the “favour” of the
UK-based telecom giant also.
“I can only inform you that
in the past many decisions
have been taken by the
Government in the favour of
the company also. Decision on
the tax matter in Bombay High
Court, the Government did not
choose to appeal against that,”
Prasad told reporters when
pointed out that the telecom
major has taken a serious
objection to the notice.
The I-T Department has
issued Vodafone a reminder
over its C14,200-crore tax
demand and threatened to
seize assets in the case of nonpayment, a move the UK firm
said shows disconnect with
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s promise of a tax-friendly environment.
The Minister said in what
circumstances the notice was
issued and what were the
nuances, “I think revenue
department will explain that”.
The notice was sent on
Februar y 4 to Vodafone
International Holdings BV
seeking C14,200 crore in taxes,
which it says are due from its
$11 billion acquisition of
Hutchison Whampoa’s India
telecom business in 2007. The
matter is under international
arbitration.
Yesterday,
Revenue
Secretary Hasmukh Adhia had
tweeted: “The notice in
Vodafone case is a routine
exercise of sending collection
notice to all those whose dues
are not stayed by any Court”.
“The party (Vodafone) can
always approach assessing officer with a request to stay the
demand as per law. In case
assessing officer does not agree,
party can go to next higher
authority and get a stay,” he
tweeted further.
?C8
&DOOGURSV7HOFRVSHUIRUPDQFH 0bW^Z;Th[P]S=XbbP]_Pac]TabWX_WTPSX]Vc^fPaSbb_[XcbeX[[T
ZRUVHQVLQ-XO\6HSWHPEHUTWU
=4F 34;78) Performance of
mobile operators deteriorated
in terms of call drops during
July-September 2015 with
Aircel having a drop rate of as
high as 18 per cent in North
East and Orissa for 3G services, Trai has found.
The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) has
shared the performance data
for July-September quarter of
2015 and compared it with
preceding quarter of AprilJune.
As per the data, for 2G
services, the call drop rate of
Aircel was up to 17 per cent in
North East while that of staterun BSNL was up to 9.57 per
cent in West Bengal.
In terms of worst-affected
cells having more than 3 per
cent call drop rate for 2G services, Aircel’s performance
was lagging in 17 circles, staterun BSNL did not meet the
benchmark in five circles, Tata
GSM and CDMA in 15 circles
while Vodafone in two circles.
For 3G services, Aircel
was not meeting the 3 per cent
drop rate in 10 circles, BSNL in
three circles, Tata in five circles
and Vodafone in two circles.
All other operators, though,
reported call drops within the
prescribed limits of Trai.
In terms of overall call
drop rate of 2 per cent, most of
the operators met the benchmark barring Aircel in
Haryana and BSNL in three
circles for 2G services and
two circles for 3G services.
As per Trai parameters, the
call drop rate should not be
more than 2 per cent and for
worst-affected cells it should
not be more than 3 per cent.
“The performance has
deteriorated in this quarter as
compared to the previous
quarter in respect of call drop
rate and worst-affected cells
having more than 3 per cent
drop rate,” Trai said in Indian
telecom services performance
indicators for July-September
period.
?C8
=4F34;78: The 8-year-old partnership between Ashok Leyland
and Nissan is heading for a
break-up with the Japanese firm
serving termination notice for
one of the three joint ventures
they have formed together in
the latest flare-up between the
partners.
The development comes
after the Indian partner dragged
Renault Nissan Automotive
India Pvt Ltd (RNAIPL) to the
court over alleged violations of
contract agreement and flouting
of Export Promotion Capital
Goods (EPCG) scheme regulations.
In May 2008, Ashok
Leyland and Nissan had formed
three JVs -- Ashok Leyland
Nissan Vehicles Ltd (ALNVL)
for vehicles manufacturing;
Nissan Ashok Leyland Power
Train Ltd (NALPT) for making
power trains; and Nissan Ashok
Leyland Technologies Ltd
(NALT), which is a technology
joint venture.
The partners have invested
about C1,000 crore as equity
between then.
“The future of the partnership looks bleak. Already Nissan
has served a termination notice
for the technology joint venture.
There are lots of differences
between the partners,” a source
said.
When
contacted,
spokespersons of both Ashok
Leyland and Nissan India
declined to comment on queries
regarding the future of their
partnership.
It is understood that the
annual licensing fee to be paid
to Nissan by the NALT for using
Nissan technology is over C20
crore and over C2 crore is currently due.
Highlighting the implications of Nissan’s termination
notice for the technology JV, a
source said: “Ashok Leyland
won’t be able to use Nissan technology in any of the JV prod-
ucts.”
Another person in the
know of development said such
has been the breakdown in
their relationship that Nissan
nominee directors have not
been coming to board meetings
called by Ashok Leyland.
A source said while the
Indian partner is peeved at
Nissan for refusing to infuse
capital, the Japanese partner has
been asking for a sustainable
business plan to be discussed at
the Board level for all the three
JVs as they have been making
losses in the last five years.
Ashok Leyland is also not
happy with Nissan’s demand for
more royalty by way of adopting cost plus structure for the
successful light commercial
vehicle, Dost, but the Japanese
firm feels that it is only the
Indian firm that is benefiting
from the JV as Nissan’s sole
product Evalia from the JV
hasn’t worked, sources said.
Last year, Ashok Leyland
had announced that it has made
an impairment provision of
C214 crore out of total investment of C509 crore in the three
Nissan JV entities.
?C8
8`gecVde`cVdTfde`^dUfejViV^aeZ`_`_$UcfXd 3ULYDWHFDUULHUVVHHNOHYHO
=4F 34;78) Within days of
withdrawing customs duty
exemption on a host of life
s av i ng
drugs,
the
Government on Wednesday
restored exemption on three
of those drugs that are mainly used for treatment of hormonal disorders, growth failure and haemophilia.
The Central Board of
Excise and Customs (CBEC)
in a notification restored
import duty exemption on
three drugs -- Octreotide,
S om at ropi n an d A nt i Ha e m oph i l i c
Fa c tor
Concentrate (VIII and IX).
The drug Octreotide is
used to treat hormonal disorder, besides symptoms of
severe diarrhoea and flushing caused by cancer.
Somatropin is used to
treat growth failure in children and adults who lack
natural growth hormone. It
is also used to treat chronic
kidney failure.
A nt i Ha e m oph i l i c
Factor Concentrate (VIII and
IX) is a genetic bleeding disorder involving a lack of
functional clotting of blood.
Earlier this month,
Government had withdrawn
customs duty exemptions on
74 drugs, including life saving ones used for treating
cancer and HIV.
The move was criticised
as it would lead to a rise in
prices of essential medicines.
The government had defended it saying drugs removed
from exemption list were
capable of being produced in
India and such a move would
promote domestic manufacturing.
The medicines on which
customs duty was imposed
included the ones used for
treating kidney stones, cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy, life-threatening
heart rhythm disorders, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease,
bone diseases and antibiotic
to treat infections.
Besides, drugs used for
b a c te r i a l
i n fe c t i ons ,
leukemia, anaesthetic medication, human immunodeficienc y virus (HIV) or
hepatitis B virus cells, aller-
gies, arthritis, lupus and
ulcerative colitis were also
removed from the exemption
list, which originally had
about 300 drugs. Biocon
chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
had criticised the government move saying, “We
should exempt life saving
drugs from any kind of
levies. Because after all you
want affordable access and
that is what you are basically touting as your healthcare
mission then you know levying any kind of duty on life
saving drug does not resonate well”.
Minister of State for
Finance Jayant Sinha said:
“We are certainly following
the ‘Make In India’ practices.
There are many domestic
manufacturers that are capable of supplying all of that
drugs that are not of the
exempt list.
“And therefore no patient
in India is going to suffer anymore...Or have to pay any
more for the price which
they are paying right now
because the domestic industry is very much capable of
supplying all of those drugs at
very good prices”.
?C8
SOD\LQJILHOGZLWKIRUHLJQDLUOLQHV
=4F34;78)Private Indian airlines operators on Wednesday
urged the Government to
avoid alleged discrimination
against them in policy-making
and provide them a level playing field with the foreign and
new air carriers.
A delegation of airlines
operators, under the aegis of
Federation of Indian Airlines
(FIA), met Union Minister of
State for PMO Jitendra Singh
and sought Government’s
intervention to incorporate
some of their concerns while
finalising the National Civil
Aviation Policy, prepared by
the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Private Indian airline operators said it was essential to
avoid “discrimination” against
them and provide them a level
playing field with the foreign
and new airlines which had
started operations in India,
an official spokesperson said.
The delegation included
Aditya Ghosh, President of
Indigo; Narayan Hariharan,
Senior Vice President of Jet
Airways; Ajab Singh, CMD of
Spice Jet and Jeh Wadia,
Managing Director of GoAir.
In a memorandum, the
airline operators demanded
that they should also be kept
on board as stakeholders during the consultations before
finalising the new policy.
They complained that
while no other country in the
world allows substantial ownership and effective control of
its airlines to be taken over by
foreign airlines, India has permitted some airlines to operate despite being effectively
controlled by their foreign
parent.
The
memorandum
claimed that the FIA represents
90 per cent of the Indian airline industry and, therefore,
their views deserve to be heard
before finalising any policy.
The operators expressed
reservation over the proposed
auctioning of bilateral rights on
the ground that no country in
the world auctions its sovereign right to others.
The memorandum also
drew attention to the fact that
while, for the already operating domestic airlines, the con-
dition laid down by the Civil
Aviation Ministry is to serve
for at least 5 years and own at
least 20 aircrafts before applying for rights to fly abroad, the
new policy is said to exempt
the new airlines from this
obligation which will amount
to injustice towards the already
operating airlines.
The memorandum also
referred to the proposed clause
relating to the availability of
seats for a healthy and balanced growth, including the
backward and remotely connected areas, where these existing airlines have been operating, but the newly entering airlines may not be expected to
fulfil this requirement.
As far as the sector-wise
benefits, airlines already in
operation from India would be
at a disadvantage, because it is
they who came forward to
operate in sensitive areas
including Jammu and Kashmir
and the north-east.
The minister assured the
delegation that their concerns
would be put up before the
Ministry of Civil Aviation.?C8
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n a bid to increase the market
share of its non-carbonated
drinks, beverage major CocaCola India on Wednesday said it
plans to make its mango fruit juice
product ‘Maaza’ a $1 billion
brand (in retail sales) from India
by 2023.
“Since 1993, when we
brought Maaza into the CocaCola family, we have invested to
make it the largest juice brand in
the country,” Venkatesh Kini,
president of Coca-Cola India
said.
“As we embark on the mission of turning Maaza into the
world's first $1 billion juice drink
brand coming out of India, we
visualise the multiplier effect that
it can have on agriculture, and the
food processing sector. Only 20
per cent of the market has tasted
Maaza so far, and we have another 80 per cent to go,” he added.
The resource infusion behind
I
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Maaza is part of the $5 billion
investment plan of the Coca-Cola
Company and its bottlers in
India between 2012 and 2020.
The bottlers are setting up five
greenfield projects over the next
two years, in addition to 57 bottling plants that already exist, at
least 50 per cent of which will
have manufacturing lines for
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utting down the advance
notice period in OFS by
C
markets regulator Sebi has provided operational flexibility to
issuers while fully protecting
the interest of retail investors,
Disinvestment Secretary Neeraj
Gupta said on Wednesday.
Sebi had cut down advance
notice period for Offer For Sale
(OFS) to one day and allowed
retail investors to place their
bids a day later for such share
sales.
“We find, it (the regulatory
changes) will take care of some
of the operational issue which
OFS issue has been facing and
the process can be run efficiently. The interest of retail shareholders have been fully protected,” Gupta told PTI.
The Department of
Disinvestment has been
demanding for a long time
from Sebi that the advance
notice should be allowed till
evening of the day before OFS,
as the share prices of many
PSUs appeared to get hammered down due to longer
notice.
Currently, the listed companies need to give an advance
notice for share sales through
this OFS route two banking
days in advance, while the bids
need to be placed by retail as
well as non-retail investors in
a single day during market
hours.
Under the modified norms,
companies will inform the stock
exchanges about their intention
for sale of shares latest by 5 pm
a day before the day of the OFS.
While institutional investors
would bid on the first day, the
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anadian aviation giant
Bombardier announced on
C
Wednesday it was cutting more
than 10 per cent of its workforce as the company undergoes major restructuring
through next year.
The 7,000-job reduction
of the global workforce ‘will be
partially offset by hiring in certain growth areas,’ Bombardier
said as it released financial
results. Bombardier also
announced it has signed a $3.8
billion deal with Air Canada to
buy 45 CS300 jets, with options
to purchase another 30 planes.
Deliveries of the all-new aircraft will begin in 2019.
“With the signing of Air
Canada for the leading-edge
CS300 aircraft, we add a major
international airline customer
based in North America to
complement our orders in both
Europe and Asia,” Bombardier
president and chief executive
Alain Bellemare said in a statement. The company said it
posted revenues of $18.2 billion
last year, a 9.6 per cent drop
from the year before.
Bombardier started off building snowmobiles in 1942 and
grew into a multinational with
rail and aircraft divisions.
2dccX]VS^f]cWTPSeP]RT]^cXRT_TaX^S
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bidding for retail investors would
open on the second day. The settlement for the OFS would happen on the third day (T+3). T
refers to the day of the OFS.
“Transaction will continue
for two days and offers better
flexibilities. It's a good thing for
OFS scheme,” Gupta said.
Explaining the scheme,
Gupta said if the retail investors
portion remains subscribed, the
same will be alloted to the institutional investors. In the current
fiscal the government has
mopped up over C13,300 crore
through stake sale in 5 PSUs IOC, PFC, REC, Engineers India
and Dredging Corp - through
the OFS mechanism. But it is far
behind its disinvestment target
of C69,500 crore set for the current fiscal.
Sebi has been of the view
that retail investors need to be
given more time to arrange
funds to participate in the OFS,
which was introduced in 2012 as
an easy and faster route for sale
of shares by already-listed firms
to the public shareholders.
Maaza over the next few years, the
company said.
Non-carbonated drinks
account for about a third of
Coca-Cola revenues in India,
Kini said. Coca-Cola and its bottlers will invest in enhancing the
brand by launching affordable,
value for money juice packs,
expanding distribution and aug-
28;c^PdRcX^]
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NEW DELHI: The stateowned CIL is getting ready to
start auction of coal linkages to
the non-power sector, including steel and cement, either by
March-end or early April.
“We are looking to begin
the auction of coal linkages by
either March-end or early
April,” a Coal India (CIL) official said. The Government had
this week issued broad guidelines for the methodology of the
auction. The state-owned firm
will finalise the quantity to be
put up for sale after assessing the
requirements from various sectors such as steel, cement and
sponge iron, among others, the
official said.
PNS
he $11-billion domestic
auto component industry
T
on Wednesday took aim at the
Government's move to go for
more free trade agreements
(FTAs), saying it would only go
against its Make in India drive
and render the domestic industry uncompetitive.
“For Make in India, we
should be competitive. We
have not gained from any
FTAs,” Arvind Balaji, Joint MD
of Lucas TVS, and President of
industr y
body
Auto
Components Manufacturers
Association, told reporters here
at the ongoing Make in India
Week. “If you don't give a
level-playing field, we won't
achieve our full potential.”
The Government is in discussion with the EU and
Australia for FTAs. The country already has such trade pacts
with ASEAN. Because of the
FTAs, he said, raw materials
attract higher import duty
while imports of finished goods
have lower levies, thus making
the sector uncompetitive.
“Don't handicap us and ask
us to compete,” he said, assert-
?=BQ =4F34;78
?=BQ =4F34;78
xpressing concern over the
launch of a smartphone at
price as low as C251, mobile
industry body ICA has written to
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad to get into depth of the
issue, saying the rate could not be
below C3,500 even after a subsidised sale.
The Indian Cellular
Association (ICA) also said that
it is not appropriate for the
senior political and Government
leadership to be present at the
launch till the air around this is
cleared and it is not shrouded
under controversies. Noida-based
Ringing Bells is launching India’s
most affordable smartphone,
priced at C251, a move that is set
to disrupt the booming Indian
mobile handset market. The 3G
handset, Freedom 251, features a
4-inch display, Qualcomm 1.3GHz quad-core processor and 1
GB RAM, according to details
shared by the company. Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikkar will
launch the smartphone Freedom
251 later this evening.
nflation based on the
Iis likely
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
to remain in the 5.6-5.8
per cent range over the next
two months, Deutsche Bank
said in a research note, predicting that RBI would cut the
policy rate ‘one more time’.
According to the global
financial services firm, inflation
and growth worries for the
Indian economy still persist
and implementation of the
Seventh Pay Commission recommendations is likely to exert
pressure on fiscal finances of
the government -- both the
Centre and states.
“We expect CPI inflation to
remain in the 5.6-5.8 per cent
range over the course of the
next two months, in line with
RBI's near-term target, but
higher than what we had anticipated earlier,” Deutsche Bank
said in a research note.
As per official data, retail
inflation has been rising for six
straight months and stood at
nearly one and a half-year high
FTTg_TRc2?8
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of 5.69 per cent in January. The
Reserve Bank had projected
retail inflation to be around 6
per cent in January 2016 and
further lower at 5 per cent by
March 2017. On the Reserve
Bank's policy stance, the report
said RBI will still cut the policy rate one more time.
“We think RBI will consider all the nuances in the
national accounts data and find
enough justification to cut rates,
once the Union Budget is out of
the way in February-end," the
report said. RBI is slated to
come out with the first bimonthly policy review for 201617 fiscal on April 5 and will take
into consideration inflationarytrends and also macro data
for February before deciding on
its monetary stance. The
Central bank looks into mainly retail inflation numbers while
firming up its monetary policy
stance.
“We expect the government to settle for a higher fiscal deficit target (3.8 per cent of
GDP) in 2016-17, but lower
than the 3.9 per cent likely outturn in 2015-16. The inflation
trajectory will likely get affected by 30-50 bps due to the Pay
Commission impact, which
should still leave room for the
Central Bank to cut the policy
rate by at least 25 bps,” the
report said.
Beyond that, scope of further rate cuts would be strictly
data-dependent and would hinge
on the likelihood of RBI meeting the 5 per cent CPI target by
early next year, it added.
4]ScadbcSTUXRXcfXcWQXi^eTacPgPcX^])0bb^RWP\cT[[b6^ec
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sserting that a lot more
needs to be done to
A
improve the ease of doing
business in the countr y,
Assocham President Sunil
Kanoria on Wednesday said
there is ‘complete trust deficit’
among bureaucrats towards
businesses on tax issues.
Urging the Government to
simplify tax administration,
he said: “A lot more needs to
be done especially on the tax
side. Tax is becoming a challenge. Ministries, bureaucrats
are still not easing out. In
terms of tax administration
and making it more simpler.”
A lot more needs to be
done, Kanoria told PTI. "(It is)
the mindset change of bureaucrats of having trust in busi-
ness. There is a complete trust
deficit,” he said. His comments
follow the Income Tax department issuing a reminder notice
to Vodafone over its C14,200
crore tax dues, a move which
the UK firm said shows disconnect with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s promise of a
tax-friendly environment.
The Government, on the
other hand, defended its decision saying that the step is a 0bbTacX]VcWPcP[^c\^aT]TTSbc^QT
routine exercise. On mount- S^]Tc^X\_a^eTcWTTPbT^US^X]VQXi
ing non-performing assets bPhb0bb^RWP\?aTbXST]cBd]X[:P]^aXP
(NPAs) or bad loans of the
state-owned banks, Kanoria more in March (quarter
said they are set to rise sig- results),” he said. Asked if he
nificantly in the ongoing expects bad loans to rise,
Kanoria said: “Ya. It has to.
January-March quarter.
“To my mind, what we are Quantum I don't know, but it
seeing now in the December will be pretty large because the
results of banks is only a cur- approach is that you cut and
tain raiser. We will see a lot clean up.”
On whether he was in
favour of change in criteria for
classifying loans as NPAs, the
Assocham President said:
“Absolutely. At this juncture
when there is a systemic problem you need to look at how to
assess that and bankers will
have to differentiate between
genuine problems and people
who have done it in a wrong
manner.”
Kanoria said he met RBI
Governor Raghuram Rajan
and Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley recently to share his
concerns on the bad loans of
lenders. “Basically their perspective is they want the
banks to clean up. So that
will have a negative impact
on the economy.”
Earlier this week, RBI
Governor Raghuram Rajan
said he was not in favour of
stretching norms for non-performing assets (NPAs) or bad
loans as investors will not get
the true state of balance sheets.
He said it is useful to keep
the NPA norms constant and
by changing the definition of
bad loans will only ‘dilute and
obscure account’.
Asked whether this
approach of wanting the banks
to clean up was about the
government washing its hands
off,
Kanoria
replied:
“Absolutely. That is what my
concern is.” Major stateowned banks in the country
including SBI have been reeling under NPAs leading to
erosion of profits on account
of higher provisioning for
bad loans in the third quarter
of the current fiscal.
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ndia's current account
deficit (CAD) is likely to
narrow to 0.7 per cent of
GDP in the current financial
year from 1.3 per cent in
FY'15, owing to lower commodity prices, a Nomura
report says.
The c urrent account
deficit, which occurs when
the value of imports and
investments is larger than
value of exports, is expected
to narrow to 0.4 per cent of
GDP in Q4 2015 from 1.6 per
cent of GDP in Q3 2015, the
Japanese financial services
major said.
“For FY16, despite sluggish export volumes (weak
global demand) and rising
import volumes (stronger
domestic demand and REER
appreciation), we expect the
current account deficit to
I
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menting manufacturing to double Maaza sales by 2023.
“Coca-Cola and its bottlers
are therefore embarking on an
ambitious plan to accomplish in
eight years, what they haven't
achieved in the last four decades,”
the company statement said.
Coca-Cola and its bottlers annually procure 70,000 metrictonnes
of mango pulp worth C500 crore.
In 2023, if Maaza reaches its
target of $1 billion, Coca-Cola
estimates that it will end up
procuring over 1.4 lakh metric
tonnes of mango pulp annually,
worth nearly C1,100 crore, thereby helping over 1 lakh farmers.
Coca-Cola is also looking
at doubling sales of Minute
Maid, its orange flavoured
fruit-based drink, in the next
three years to C1,000 crore, Kini
said. Currently, Coke, 7up,
Maaza, Kinley, Sprite, and
Thumsup are among the CocaCola brands which have revenues of over C1,000 crore.
3@9Y^V\QdY_^]QiQd%&%(
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ing that manufacturing results
in value addition, which helps
the domestic economy, whereas cheaper import of raw materials has limited benefits. The
industry is believed to have
taken up the issue with the government. Asked about the
same, Union Heavy Industries
Minister Anant Geete said his
ministry interacts regularly
with other ministries, including the commerce ministry, but
declined to comment on this
matter. The auto industry body,
SIAM, had last year said the
proposed India-EU trade liberalisation pact would not benefit domestic automobile firms.
“FTAs with competing
countries do not benefit the
domestic automobile industry. It is against the concept
of Make in India for local
value addition and local
employment and as such,
completely built units (CBUs)
of vehicles and engines
should be kept in India's
negative list under India-EU
FTA,” SIAM had suggested.
It had said duty on cars in
the EU is only 10 per cent
against India's import duty of
60-120 per cent.
narrow to 0.7 per cent of
GDP from 1.3 per cent in
FY15, owing to lower commodity (particularly oil)
prices,” Nomura said in a
research note.
The report noted that
much of the weakness in
both exports and imports is
largely price-driven, owing to
low commo dity pr ices.
According to official figures,
India's exports contracted
13.6 per cent in January 14th month in a row - to $21
billion.
Imports too shrank 11
per cent to $28.71 billion
last month, leaving a trade
deficit of $7.63 billion as
against $7.87 billion in the
same month last year.
C omment ing on t he
trade data, Nomura said that
“external headwinds remain
strong as seen in falling nonoil export volumes. While
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import volumes have so far
been steady, January data
show signs of weakness.”
For the first 10 months of
the current fiscal, cumulative
exports declined by 17.65
per cent to $217.67 billion, as
against $264.32 billion in
April-January period of 201415.
As per the data released
by the Commerce Ministry,
imports dipped by 15.46 per
cent to $324.52 billion for the
10 months, leaving a trade
deficit of $106.8 billion.
In the July-September
quarter of the current fiscal,
CAD rose to $8.2 billion or
1.6 per cent of the GDP, from
1.2 per cent or $6.1 billion in
the April-June quarter.
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NEW DELHI: Wealthy investors seem to have
more faith in portfolio managers or advisory services as the assets under management of such
entities touched C10.24 lakh crore in the Indian
capital market at January-end. Assets base of
portfolio managers, who mostly manage investments or provide advisory services to High
Networth Individuals (HNIs), stood at C8.95
lakh crore in January 2015.
According to Securities and Exchange
Board of India, Assets Under Management
(AUM) of portfolio managers was at C10.24 lakh
crore at the end of January as against C10.41 lakh
crore in the preceding month. Portfolio managers individually handled assets worth
C7,92,019 crore for discretionary services,
besides C1,73,773 crore for advisory services and
another C57,886 crore for non-discretionary
investments during the period under review.
Of the total assets managed by portfolio
mangers, about C7.18 lakh crore was contributed by employee provident fund organisation (EPFO) or provident fund (PF), Sebi data
showed. Besides, the number of clients rose to
59,294 in January this year from 46,701 in the
year-ago period.
A portfolio manager is a body corporate who,
pursuant to a contract or arrangement with a
client, advises or directs or undertakes on behalf
of the client (whether as a discretionary portfolio manager or otherwise), management of a portfolio of securities or the funds of the client. PNS
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he cash-starved national
carrier has finally succeedT
ed in monetising its past headquarters -the 23-storey Air
India Towers -in the heart of
the megapolis with just one
floor being empty now and the
rental income touching C100
crore.
Most floors of the sea-facing 344 feet tall, centrally airconditioned building measuring 2,20,000 sq ft on the historic Marine Drive in the
Nariman Point area built in
1974, had been lying vacant for
many years even when the
flag carrier was headquartered
in the building.
In February 2013, the airline under the then chairman
Rohit Nandan decided to shift
its base to New Delhi. The
irony is that neck-deep in debt,
the airline with over C30,000
crore long-term aircraft purchase loans and over C30,000
crore in accumulated losses,
has been spending close to C90
crore a year to upkeep the
tower.
“We are left with just one
vacant floor now. We have
already rented out 8 floors to the
Income Tax department, and 4
floors each to State Bank of
India and the Service Tax
department. We are talking to
SBI for the remaining floor
and hope to conclude this as
well,” Air India general manag-
er for finance Kirti Rao told PTI
here on Wednesday. Each of
these floors have a carpet area
of around 10,000 sq ft and at
average price of C350 per sq ft,
the tower is worth around C900
crore. The company ruled out
selling the building, but only
renting it.
Rao said with this the airline has just two floors with
them in the tower. The rest of
the floors are occupied by TCS,
Director General of Shipping
and Bharatiya Mahila Bank,
which has half of the ground
floor. TCS has been the oldest
tenant on the building.
The Air India Tower had
the country's first escalator used
in the ticket booking area, an
underground two-layer parking
facility, high speed elevators
and fire-fighting equipment.
Each floor had a lease price of
C 2.50 per sq ft.
The asset monetisation plan
was part of the January 2012
bailout of the airline under which
it would be infused with over
C33,000 crore of taxpayers money.
As per the turnaround targets, AI
is required to rent, sell or re-develop its properties to gather revenues
of C5,000 crore in the next 10 years.
This includes 106 properties
across the country, as well three
in Tokyo and London. AI also has
land parcels in Hong Kong,
Nairobi, Mauritius, Mumbai, New
Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Kolkata
and Coimbatore, most of which
are yet to be sold or leased.
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resident Barack Obama
believes that Republican
P
front-runner Donald Trump
will not get to be his successor
since the American people, as he
put it, are “pretty sensible” and
recognize that the nation’s highest office is “not a reality show”.
“I continue to believe Mr.
Trump will not be President.
And the reason is because I have
a lot of faith in the American
people,” Obama said at a news
conference in California on
Tuesday, adding: “I think they
recognize that being President is
a serious job. It’s not hosting a
talk show or a reality show.”
“It seems like entertainment, and oftentimes it’s reported just like entertainment. But as
you get closer, reality has a way
of intruding,” he said, suggesting
that the presidency is too important to be left to a candidate without the right temperament.
Obama’s blunt remarks
came even as Trump, the New
York billionaire who hosted the
famous reality-TV show, The
Apprentice, continues to lead the
Republican polls nationally.
“As you get closer (to the
election), reality has a way of
intruding,” Obama said, before
reminding reporters that the
person who succeeds him will
have access to the nuclear codes
and the power to send young
people into battle.
Trump, sure enough,
promptly dismissed the Obama
comment, dubbing it “actually a
great compliment” from someone who has done “such a lousy
job as President”. He went on to
say that Obama was “lucky” not
to have faced him (Trump) during his 2012 re-election, saying
if he had run instead of Mitt
Romney, Obama would have
been “a one-term president”.
Obama, who was speaking
to reporters after a US-ASEAN
summit, came down hard not
just at Trump, but the whole
Republican field. While Trump
may have whipped up the antiMuslim and anti-immigrant
rhetoric, statements from other
Republican countries have been
troubling as well, he said.
“You’ve got a candidate who
sponsored a bill, that I supported, to finally solve the immigration problem, and he’s running
away from it as fast as he can,” he
said, referring to Senator Marco
Rubio’s volte-face on the subject.
µ4YZ_RUVa]`jd^ZddZ]Vd`_D4DZd]R_U¶
?C8Q 14898=6
hina has deployed longrange anti- aircraft missiles
C
on a disputed South China Sea
island, a media report said on
Wednesday, even as the
Communist giant downplayed
it as Western media’s attempt to
create “stories”.
Satellite images showed
two batteries of eight surface- to-air HQ-9 missile
launchers as well as a radar
system on Woody Island, part
of the Paracel Island chain in
the South China Sea, Fox
News reported.
The report comes even as
US President Barack Obama
called for “tangible steps” to settle territorial disputes in the
resource-rich region.
According to the images, a
beach on the island was empty
on February 3, but the missiles
were visible by February 14.
A US official said the
imagery showed the HQ-9 air
defence system with a range of
over 200 kilometres, which
would pose a threat to any civilian or military airplane flying
close by, the report said.
It is the same island where
a US Navy destroyer sailed
close to another contested
island a few weeks ago.
Woody Island is part of the
Paracels chain, under Chinese
control for more than 40
years also claimed by Taiwan
and Vietnam. The missiles
arrived on the island over the
past week.
China decribed the report
as media hype. “We believe this
is an attempt by certain
Western media to create news
stories,” Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi said.
Claiming that the development was largely civilian oriented and benefited the region,
Wang pointed to the construction of light houses, weather stations, and rescue and shelter
facilities for fishermen.
“All of those are actions
that China, as the biggest lit-
toral state in the South China
Sea, has undertaken to provide
more public goods and services
to the international community and play its positive role
there,” he said.
Wang said China’s construction of military infrastructure was “consistent with
the right to self-preservation
and self- protection that China
is entitled to under international law, so there should be
no question about that.”
The reported move by
China comes as President
Obama hosted 10 Asia-Pacific
leaders in California, many of
those concerned over China’s
recent activity in the South
China Sea.
The US will continue to fly,
sail and operate wherever international law allows, and will
support the right of all countries
to do the same, Obama said
yesterday, as he called for “tangible steps” to reduce tensions
in the disputed and natural
resource-rich South China Sea.
>QP\PUXa\^]Bd_aT\T2^dac]^\X]PcX^]
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ismissing Republican
objections, President
D
Barack Obama has vowed to
name an “indisputably” qualif ied nominee for the
Supreme Court Bench in
place of Justice Antonin Scalia
who died last Saturday.
“I am going to present
somebody who indisputably
is qualified for the seat and any
fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my
politics, would say would serve
with honour and integrity on
the court,” he said at a news
conference in California,
adding he would come up with
the nomination in “due time”.
Declining to say if he
would opt to nominate someone moderate enough to make
the Republicans change course
and schedule a vote, Obama
told a questioner: “You shouldn’t assume anything about the
6;>14
CA>CC8=6
D=?4024:44?4A340C7
C>;;A8B4BC>&8=<0;8
qualifications of the nominee
other than they’re going to be
well-qualified.”
Sri Srinivasan, the IndianAmerican judge who is projected by legal and media
circles as Obama’s top choice,
is also someone regarded as a
moderate with bipartisan
appeal as evidenced by the
unanimous 97-0 S enate
confirmation he secured in
May 2013 for his current
job as Judge on the US Court
of
Appeals
for
the
Washington DC Circuit.
Amid Republican asser-
tions that he ought not to be
making an appointment of
such far-reaching importance
in his final year in office,
Obama said: “I am amused
when I hear people who claim
to be strict interpreters of the
Constitution suddenly reading
into it a whole series of provisions that are not there.”
Your job doesn’t stop until
you’re voted out or until your
term expires,” he said, adding:
“I intend to do my job between
now and January 20th of 2017.
I expect them (the Senators) to
do their job as well.”
2WX]P^__^bTb
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he US will continue to fly, sail
and operate wherever interT
national law allows and will
support the right of all nations to
do the same, President Barack
Obama has said as he sought
“tangible steps” to lower tensions
in the South China Sea amid
flexing of muscles by China.
“We discussed the need for
tangible steps in the South China
Sea to lower tensions, including
a halt to further reclamation, new
construction and militarisation
of disputed areas,” Obama told
reporters on Tuesday at the end
of the first US-ASEAN Summit
in Sunnylands, California.
“We will continue to help
our allies and partners strengthen their maritime capabilities,
and we discussed how any disputes between claimants in the
region must be resolved peacefully, through legal means, such
as the upcoming
arbitration ruling under the
UN Convention
of the Law
of the
Seas,
which
t h e
parties
are obligated to respect and
abide by,” Obama said.
“Mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity,
equality and political independence of all nations by firmly
upholding the principles and
purposes of the Charter of the
United Nations, the ASEAN
Charter and international law,”
Obama and ten ASEAN leaders
said in a joint statement.
“Freedom of navigation
must be upheld, and lawful
commerce should not be impeded. I reiterated that the United
States will continue to fly, sail and
operate wherever international
law allows and we will support
the right of all countries to do the
same,” Obama said.
He said one of his main messages over the past two days has
been the commitment of the US
to ASEAN and its people. That
commitment is and will remain
strong and enduring, he added.
“With our strategic partnership, we have a framework to
guide our ties for decades to
come. Here at Sunnylands, we
agreed to a number of key principles, including the principle
that ASEAN will continue to be
central, in fact indispensable, to
peace, prosperity and progress in
the Asia Pacific,” Obama said.
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Seoul: China unequivocally
opposes the deployment of
the Terminal High Altitude
Area Defence (THAAD),
an advanced US missile
defence system, in South
Korea, vice foreign minister
Zhang Yesui said.
Zhang said this on the
sidelines of the seventh highlevel strategic dialogue between
the foreign affairs ministries of
China and South Korea,
Xinhua reported. Zhang said
the current situation on the
Korean peninsula was both
extremely complicated and
extremely sensitive.
China has always steadfastly sticked to the denuclearisation of the peninsula
and tried to maintain peace and
stability on the peninsula,
always having been committed
to solving the issue through
dialogue and negotiation.
China supports efforts at the
UN Security Council to agree
on a new and forceful resolution as soon as possible, he said.
“Sanctions are not an end in
themselves,” Zhang said. “We
still would have to find a fundamental solution through dialogue and talks.”
He said China was seriously concerned over the intention of Washington and Seoul
to hold talks on deploying
THAAD in South Korea.
Pyongyang launched a satellite-carrying rocket, which Seoul
sees as a cover for a long-range
ballistic missile, on February 7,
after conducting its fourth
nuclear test on January 6. The US
and South Korea said they have
decided to discuss the deployment of THAAD.
IANS
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N convoys delivering aid to
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thousands of besieged
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Syrians were due to set out on
BT]TVP[cWTaTVX^]P[ST_[^h\T]cbPXS
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Wednesday, but hopes for lasting peace dimmed the day after
?0:?>;824:8;;BB4E4=
Turkey called for a ground oper<8;8C0=CB8=B7>>C>DC
ation in its war-torn neighbour.
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Syria’s Government has
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approved
access to seven
Vd]QPcc[TQTcfTT]_^[XRTP]S
besieged
areas,
including the
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city of Madaya where dozens of
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people are thought to have
died from starvation, a spokesBD828341><14A:8;;B(
0CH4<4=<8;8C0AH20<? woman for the UN’s humanitarian affairs office said.
0ST])0bdXRXSTQ^\QTaPccPRZTSP
Speaking in Damascus,
\X[XcPahRP\_X]b^dcWTa]HT\T]
UN
envoy Staffan de Mistura
c^SPhZX[[X]VPc[TPbc]X]Tb^[SXTab
said aid convoys will be sent
\X[XcPahP]S\TSXRP[b^daRTbbPXS
today in what will be a test of
>10<0B44:BA4B>;DC8>= whether the warring parties
will allow in humanitarian
C><0A8C8<438B?DC4B
supplies. “It is the duty of the
AP]RW^<XaPVT) ?aTbXST]c1PaPRZ
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reach every Syrian person
0bXPWPbRP[[TSU^aaTb^[dcX^]^UcWT
wherever they are and allow the
aTVX^]³b\PaXcX\TSXb_dcTbPbcWTh
UN to bring humanitarian aid,”
R^]R[dSTSPbd\\XcX]2P[XU^a]XP
he said after meeting Syria’s
Foreign Minister Walid
5A0=244GC4=3BBC0C4>5
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Muallem. “Tomorrow we test
this,” he said yesterday.
Almost half a million people in Syria are in areas under
seige, according to the UN,
after almost five years of civil
war between Syria’s government and rebel forces. A Red
Crescent source said the first
convoys will head for the rebelbesieged Shiite villages of Fuaa
and Kafraya in the north, and to
Madaya and Zabadani, which
are encircled by the army.
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Tokyo: Japan successfully
launched a jointly developed
space observation satellite on
Wednesday tasked with studying
mysterious black holes, the country’s space agency said. The
ASTRO-H satellite, developed in
collaboration between the
agency, NASA and other groups,
is set to orbit at an altitude of 580
kilometres and observe X-rays
emanating mainly from black
holes and galaxy clusters.
The satellite was carried out
by the country’s mainstay H-IIA
rocket, which soared towards the
heavens from the Tanegashima
Space Centre in southern Japan
under mostly clear late afternoon
skies. The broadcast was nationally televised and the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency
said the satellite separated from
the rocket with no difficulty.
Black holes have never been
directly observed, but the
announcement on the first detection of gravitational waves earlier this month indirectly added
to the evidence that black holes
do actually exist.
AFP
05?Q 64=4E0
he
World
Health
Organisation
on
T
Wednesday released its initial
response plan to the Zika
virus outbreak, launching a
funding appeal for the $56
million operation.
The unprecedented outbreak of the virus, first discovered in Uganda in 1947, has
become a global concern, with
Zika now strongly suspected of
causing two serious neurological disorders, microcephaly
and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The UN’s health agency
said it needed $25 million to
fund its own response plan,
while an additional $31 million
would support the work of key
partners. “The strategy focuses
on mobilising and coordinating
partners, experts and resources
to help countries enhance surveillance of the Zika virus and
disorders that could be linked to
it,” a WHO statement said.
>]T^UU^daDB5!!bcTP[cWUXVWcTabU[XTb^eTa>bP]0Xa1PbTX]?hT^]VcPTZB^dcW:^aTP^]FTS]TbSPh
0?
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quake, but the base remains.
?C8Q :0C7<0=3D
=:^aTPbcP]S^UU
The Prime Minister was
Osan Air Base: Four US F-22
stealth fighters are flying over
South Korea amid growing
tensions following North
Korea’s rocket launch.
The high-tech planes capable of sneaking past radar
undetected were seen flying
near a US Air base near Seoul
on Wednesday. Pyongyang will
likely view the arrivals of the
planes as a threat as they are a
clear show of force against the
country. The United States
often sends powerful and
sophisticated warplanes to
South Korea in times of tension
with North Korea.
AP
epal Prime Minister KP
N
Sharma Oli Vice President
Nanda Bahaur Pun have pledged
to donate their one month’s
salary for rebuilding the historic
quake-hit Dhararaha monument
here. “Dhararaha is the symbol
of our unity and strength, it is the
identity of all Nepalis, so it has
to be reconstructed under the
fund collected from Nepali citizens,” said Oli.
Dharahara, also called
Bhimsen Tower, was a ninestorey, 61.88-metre-tall tower at
the center of Sundhara in
Kathmandu. Most of the tower
collapsed in the Nepal earth-
µ$IJKDQFKLOGUHQEHLQJ
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Kabul: The United Nations
today condemned all sides in
Afghanistan’s conflict for using
child soldiers, noting that while
Government forces have reduced
the number of under-age
recruits, insurgent groups continue to train large numbers of
fighters under the age of 18.
The Afghan Government
had made progress on the issue,
said Leila Zerrougui, special
representative of the UN
Secretary General for children
and armed conflict.
However, she added that
Afghan Local Police, who often
operate independently from central oversight and have been
widely criticised as unprofessional and corrupt, are major
perpetrators of child recruitment among Afghan forces.
Insurgent groups recruited
more children in areas where the
fighting is fiercest, she said. The
Taliban, who have been fighting
the government for over 15
years, mainly recruit children in
provinces bordering Pakistan,
she added.
0UVWP];^RP[?^[XRTfW^
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The border with Pakistan is
long and porous, and Pakistan’s
government has been accused of
protecting and supporting
Taliban fighters while using the
group to fight a proxy war.
The Pakistani authorities
have denied connections with
the insurgent group, and have
levelled similar accusations at
Afghanistan’s government. AP
speaking at launch of a campaign
to “I will construct Dharahara”
that aims to collect funds for the
reconstruction of the historic
monument commenced yesterday. Pun will also donate his onemonth salary for reconstruction
of Dhararaha.
Inaugurating the reconstruction process of Dharahara
at Sundhara yesterday, Oli
pledged to give his one month’s
salary for the citizen’s fund. He
also requested all Nepalis living
in and outside of the country to
donate fund for the reconstruction of Dharahara, Kathmandu
Post reported.
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London: Fresh footage of ISIS
supremo Abu Bakr alBaghdadi has surfaced, apparently showing the reclusive
terror leader making a rare
public appearance and talking
to children at a mosque in the
city of Fallujah. The images,
broadcast on a local Iraqi television channel, have not been
verified but appear to show the
extremist addressing a small
crowd of boys, The Times reported. A banner behind him
announces an ISIS-sponsored
Quran memorising competition, with prizes from Baghdadi
to be awarded to the winner.
Baghdadi, one of the world’s
most wanted men, rarely appears in public. The last time he
is known to have made a public appearance was in July 2014
when he led Friday prayers at
the Great Mosque in Mosul less
than two months after his troops stormed the city. PTI
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othing is too dramatic for
Manish Arora — be it the riot
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of colours in his collections, spec-
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he Fashion Design Council of India has
been, for the past few seasons, trying to
revive the traditional weaves of Benaras
by engaging top Indian designers directly with
the local weavers so that the designers could
guide them and show them how to set their traditional craft into modern designs.
It has just been a few days that the
Government has taken up the initiative to promote its Make in India campaign by organising a Make in India Week in Mumbai. FDCI,
too, proudly presented its Weaves of Banaras
where top designers from India not only showcased their work.
The much applauded event saw participation of Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Rohit Bal, Rohit
Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Rajesh Pratap Singh,
Namrata Joshipura, JJ Valaya, Ashish Soni, Arjun
Saluja, Anju Modi, Anita Dongre, Abraham &
Thakore and Abhishek Gupta. It showed clearly, how a modern interpretation by design
geniuses changes the innate structure and
architectural shape of an ensemble.
All this and more have set the ball rolling
and we looked at what more needed to be done
to make Indian fashion a global brand.
Thakore, from the designer duo Abraham
& Thakore said that we are on the way to becoming a global brand. “I mean, look at it. We are
being appreciated the world over for our craft,
designs and textiles. We have the Government
supporting us in all possible ways. That ways
we have a branding, too. It would not be very
long before we become brand India,” he said.
Samant Chauhan, however, feels that we are
yet to break certain stereotypes. “We have the
platform, its just that we need to push in more
of our own craft. Its great what FDCI is doing
by encouraging the Banaras weaves but there
are so many other crafts, too. We showcased the
best of our talents at Hong Kong and they had
the best craftsmanship from the country. Now
the world knows that we have the ability to do
quality and trendy stuff, too. I am just glad that
the Government is also giving a boost to the
fashion industry and I believe that we will soon
stand at par with global and international
brands,” he explained.
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The fact that Manish Arora was recently
honoured with the prestigious ‘Knight of the
Legion of Honour’ by the French Government
is proof enough of where Indian fashion is right
now. The designer said, “I am the first Indian
designer that France has recognised. Just that
says a lot about how far Indian fashion has come.
And we will only go forward from here.”
JJ Valaya said, “I choose to blend the magic
of Banaras with contemporary embroideries and
detailing for a signature Valaya look. That as
Indians, we are truly fortunate to have access
to such fine crafts. We have naturally inherited a legacy which most of the world can only
dream of.”
Arjun Saluja, who is also showcasing at the
event, said, “This eventually will help us push
hand woven fabrics in a mass direction and
hopefully globally as well.”
Namrata Joshipura added that for her, it is
an honour to be associated with the Make in
India initiative. “We believe that this show will
bring greater awareness of this wonderful
craftsmanship,” she added.
Anju Modi, fresh from the success of Bajirao
Mastani, said, “I am committed to revive and
promote Indian crafts across the world. At the
same time, this will benefit our weavers and
secure the Gandhian vision of helping weavers
in our villages to be self-sufficient.”
National award winner Neeta Lulla showcased her Paithani range which had flowing
lehengas, long kurtas, jackets, dhoti pants and
sarong skirts which had been embodied to perfection to bring out the richness of Paithani. She
said, “Paithani uses the ancient technique of
tapestry where multiple threads of different
colours along with gold and silver threads are
woven together to form a fascinating piece of
silk and has a special place in the life of women
who are the pillars of every family and society,”
she said, hinting at the point that there is a need
to focus on other Indian crafts, too.
All said and done, Indian fashion is well on
its way to greater heights, and going by what people at the top of their game predict, it will soon
emerge as a brand.
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s Shah Rukh Khan entered
the theatre, his ‘fans’ who
A
patiently sat for hours to get a
glimpse of the star, started
cheering and shouting his name.
In a matter of a few seconds the
whole theatre was echoing with
his name. Yes, this is what
usually happens when King
Khan decides to make a public
appearance.
The star was in Delhi to
launch the anthem song of his
forthcoming movie, Fan.
Before he visited the theatre
the actor paid a visit to his
alma mater Hansraj College
and was visibly excited as he was
presented his graduation degree
after 28 years. He exclaimed,
“Finally, I am a graduate now.”
At the launch, he made it clear
that the song was just made for
promotional purposes and will
not be featured in the movie.
The director of the film,
Maneesh Sharma, was also present at the event. Khan thanked
Sharma for making this film and
giving him an opportunity to
play a Delhi boy. “I am very
thankful to him (Sharma) for this
role because the time when I came
to Mumbai, I always wanted to
play a Delhi boy but I didn’t get
a chance,” said Khan. He also
shared that over the years, whenever he has seen actors playing a
Delhi boy he felt jealous. He
said, “Mujhe mauka nahi mil
raha hai (I was not getting a
chance).” He shared that though
he hails from Delhi, it was not
easy for him to play the part. “For
25 years I have been living in
Mumbai so I forgot the dialect of
Delhi, but I learned it easily and
quickly,” he pointed out.
Talking about the film,
Sharma said, “It is a great moment
for both of us (Khan and Sharma)
because we saw it on the big
screen for the first time. The idea
behind this song is to enjoy Shah
Rukh Khan in the avatar of
Gaurav, a huge fan of superstar
Aryan Khanna. So, this song is
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tacular ambience or the largerthan-life presentation of his collection. From India to London and
from Paris to the world over,
Arora’s works have created a niche
identity of their own owing to not
just the vibrant colours but also for
the extensive use of Indian craftsmanship. “My techniques are
Indian but my works are contemporary,” he prefers to put it.
An international fashion critic had once said about Arora, “He
has brought pink and yellow to a
land of black and white (referring
to Paris).” Therefore it did not
come as a surprise that the ace
designer was bestowed with the
Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur
(Knight of the Legion of Honour),
the highest French civilian distinction. According to the
Ambassador of France to India
François Richier, “The award
comes in recognition of Manish’s
inspired creations and his longstanding connection with France,
which is like a second home for
him. He is a pioneer in bringing
the fashion culture of both countries together with his exuberant
imagination. I am delighted to
confer this high honour on him.”
“It feels great to be acknowledged. You, know you can only
expect the French Government to
pick the best ones and honour
them. And think of the people
who have been bestowed with the
honour — JRD Tata, Satyajit Ray,
Amitabh Bachchan, Ravi Shankar,
Zubin Mehta and Shah Rukh
Khan. So I think I am in good
company,” said Arora minutes
before being honoured. In fact, he
is the first designer from India to
be recognised by the French
Government. “So I must have
done something good,” he laughed
and added, “The Indian
Government should recognise
fashion, too.”
For a boy from Malad, with
big dreams in his eyes, it was
indeed an emotional moment
— personally and professionally. He told us that the fact that
he was being recognised for his
contribution to fashion
in itself a proof of
how far Indian
fashion
has
c o m e .
“Personally,
it is a
numbing
feeling
because all
my life I have
done what I
have always
wanted to do,”
pointed out
Manish, who
applied
for
admission at the
N a t i o n a l
Institute
of
Fashion and Technology (NIFT)
when he got bored of his commerce classes in college.
His sheer determination and
love for the craft not only pushed
him forward but won him the
Most creative student of the year
Award at his final year presentation. It was a time when India was
beginning to understand the
nuances of fashion, following
exposure to the prestigious
London and Paris Fashion week.
While budding designers tried
hard to infuse western aesthetics
into their sketches, Arora stuck to
his roots and that is why everything came out, reflected India.
“I come from a land of
colours and drama and a place
where we are not shy to flaunt
them. So why should I try to
hide that? Moreover, India has
such great crafts that we do not
need anything else and that is
why I have always used those
crafts in my designs. Yes, I have
added some western aesthetics
to that to make it contemporary
but at the heart, it is Indian,”
Arora explained.
Not many would know that
for two seasons, Arora was
appointed the creative director of
Paco Rananne. When he walked
down the corridors of the place,
he had to pinch himself to
reassure that he was there.
“I believe the reason they
picked me was because I
was innately Indian. In
Paris, everyone around
me was trying so hard to
be like the other that they
ended up looking
similar. But I was
too focussed in
making my own
creations, to present my Indian
roots. I think
that made
me stand
out,” said
Arora who
m e n tioned
that time
spent there has
taught him the
way international fashion works.
“Apart from giving me a lot of
exposure
though,” he laughed.
dedicated to all his fans.”
When asked about the plot of
the film, the director said that it
was too early to talk about.
According to him, “We will discuss the content of the film when
the trailer is out. But as the title
suggests, it is a story of a fan,
Gaurav. It is his journey, where he
goes to Mumbai and meet his
ideal, Aryan Khanna.”
Khan added, “This film is
very special because it is not
only a beautiful story but is also
about the technology and visual
effect which have been used.”
Khan also shared his experience of shooting the film. He said,
“It’s awkward because Maneesh
had watched my movie closely. He had taken patches out of
my own films and then told me
that we have to do a particular scene and when I would do
it, he used to say ‘arey yaar
waisa nahi ho raha’ and I
would say ‘waisa kaisa? Aisa hi
toh kiya hai.’ So, I was trying to
do me as good as he thought I
was, after seeing the same
scenes which I had done 20
years ago. So it was very difficult. If I was doing a new scene,
and Maneesh would say that
it was not good then I would
have respect it but I was like ‘Yeh
toh maine hi kiya hai aur yeh to
maine aise hi kiya hai’ (I have
done this scene and I have done
it in a same way).”
He shared that while doing
this film, he was nervous. “I was
nervous as I was not being able
to do what I have already done
20 years ago which is really
shameful,” he wrapped up.
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omposite Regional Centre, Srinagar (J&K) functioning
under aegis of the Department of Empowerment of Persons
C
with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice &
ifteen years ago, shopkeepers in Mumbai used
to laugh at Nobel Hygiene’s salesmen when
F
they came to market adult diapers. “Will I wear
an adult diaper under my lungi?” they would say
with a guffaw. It took Nobel Hygiene’s founder
and managing director Kamal Kumar Johari six
months to sell a 25th of a container of 30,000
‘Friends’ diapers, the first Indian brand in this segment.
But Johari knew that there was a demand for
his product. That very day, he got a hundred calls
from people across the country, from Chandigarh
to Bengaluru.
Working professionals wanted diapers for
their grandparents, and doctors wanted to prescribe them to elderly patients. He began selling
a container a month, soon this doubled to two.
Today, apart from selling regular disposable
diapers for babies, Mumbai-based Nobel Hygiene
sells 25 containers of adult diapers a month across
India.
The person behind it Johari, 55, is a first-generation entrepreneur who came to Mumbai from
Varanasi in 1986 with a “suitcase and a wedding
ring”. He was a science graduate from Banaras
Hindu University who did his chartered accountancy in Mumbai. But Johari had one ambition,
“Growing up, I always wanted to do business,”
he says. And for 10 years, while he worked as a
chartered accountant, he kept an eye out for the
perfect business opportunity.
He got a shot at it in 1997, and started a small
business that offered product distribution services
to companies such as Beiersdorf (German personal care products giant that manufactures skin
care brand Nivea), Pepsi and Samsonite. A couple of years later, he was approached by a disposable diapers company that wanted to distribute
its product in Mumbai. He said, “I saw that all
its employees were leaving as the boss, a wealthy
akesh Gupta, GM, PNB participating as Panelist in “Innovative
R
Sanitation Financing Forum” an event
organised by the Ministry of Drinking
Water & Sanitation in collaboration with
World Bank, UNICEF and Water.org at
Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
The Forum was inaugurated by
Birender Singh, Union Minister,
Ministry of Drinking Water &
Sanitation in the presence of Gary
White, Founder, Water.org, Saraswati
Prasad, additional secretary, Ministry of
Drinking Water and Sanitation,
Amarjeet Sinha, additional secretary,
Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation, Dibyendu Sarkar, secretary
and commissioner, Swachh Bharat
Mission, West Bengal .
Gupta said that access to safe water
supply and sanitation are basic human
needs and rights. Inequities in drinking
water and sanitation availability are a
reflection of unequal development
within the country. The idea of not having a toilet is perhaps as outlandish to
many as the idea of not having a bank
account or not being insured or not hav-
businessman, was more interested in making
movies than selling diapers. Some employees suggested that I start my own diaper business, and
said that they knew the suppliers and sellers, etc.”
Johari jumped at the chance to diversify, and
in 2000, he used his personal savings of C50 lakh
to start Nobel Hygiene with two diaper brands,
Teddyy (for babies) and Friends (for adults). He
claims that Nobel Hygiene has been profitable
ever since.
For nearly a decade, he imported diapers
from Israel, Taiwan, Thailand and China and sold
them under his brands. He priced Teddyy at
about four to five percent lower than that of his
competitor and then market leader, Huggies.
(Today both brands are similarly priced at roughly C 500 for 48 small baby diapers on online marketplaces). By 2009, Johari decided to start manufacturing diapers to enforce high quality standards instead of relying on suppliers. Besides, by
then, “Any trader could go to Alibaba.com and
start importing from China”. That’s when he set
up a manufacturing plant in Nashik,
Maharashtra, and bought two $5 million Italian
machines.
Why it is a gem In 2010, after Nobel
Hygiene started manufacturing its own diapers,
it began making C20 crore in revenues. Today,
with five Italian machines at its Nashik plant, the
company’s revenues stand at C125 crore. It caught
the attention of Access India Fund in 2011, which
invested $11.5 million for an undisclosed stake.
“As a fund, we like first-generation, professionally qualified entrepreneurs,” says the private
equity player’s founder and managing partner,
Sangeeta Modi. “He (Johari) staked his entire net
worth...and you know he’s really passionate.”
Johari claims to be a leader in the adult diaper segment with a 50 per cent market share, and
the fourth largest seller of baby diapers after
Pampers, MamyPoko and Huggies.
“Initially, we used to see a 50:50 revenue split
between the baby and adult diaper range, but now
the baby diaper business is going ahead because
the market is growing at 25 per cent year-onyear,” says Johari, adding that only six to seven
percent of consumers in India use baby diapers
and that “80-90 per cent penetration will take 30
to 40 years”. A report from Nielsen pegged the
Indian baby diaper market (a subset of the total
baby care market) at C1,200 crore in 2013, growing at 29 per cent per annum.
In February 2015, CLSA Capital Partners
invested $10 million for “under a third” of
Access’s stake in the company, according to
VCCircle. (Johari refused to give details, but says
he continues to hold a majority stake).
5HIRUPVIRUWKHEHWWHU
rticle 17 of the Constitution of India
abolished ‘untouchability’, forbade its
A
practice in any form and made enforcement
of any disability arising out of untouchability
as an offence punishable in accordance with
the law. An Act of Parliament namely the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989,
which falls within the provisions of Article
17 of the Constitution was enacted for preventing atrocities against members of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, to
provide for Special Courts for the trial of
such offences as well as relief and rehabilitation of the victims of atrocities. The PoA
Act extends to the whole of India except
Jammu & Kashmir, and responsibility for its
implementation rests with State
Governments.
Despite the deterrent provisions made
in the PoA Act, continuing atrocities against
the members of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and
Scheduled Tribes (STs) had been a cause of
concern. High incidence of occurrences of
offences against members of SCs and STs
also indicated that the deterrent effect of the
PoA Act was not adequately felt by the
accused. It was, therefore, considered appropriate to strengthen the Act and make the
relevant provisions of the Act more effective.
Based on the consultation process with
all the stakeholders, amendments in the PoA
Act were proposed to broadly cover five
areas namely (i) Amendments to Chapter
II (Offences of Atrocities) to include new
definitions, new offences, to re-phrase
existing sections and expand the scope of
presumptions, (ii) Institutional
Strengthening, (iii) Appeals (a new section),
(iv) Establishing Rights of Victims and
Witnesses (a new chapter) and (v) strengthening preventive measures. The objective of
these amendments in the PoA Act is to deliver members of SCs and STs, a greater justice as well as be an enhanced deterrent to
the offenders. The Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities)
Amendment Bill, 2015 to effect amendments in the PoA Act as passed by the Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha and assented by the
President last year, has been notified as the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
ing any arrangements at all for old age.
He added that recent RBI policy
changes — bank loans up to a limit of
five crore per borrower for building
social infrastructure as part of priority
sector lending — have paved the path
of water and sanitation credit expansion
by banks and bank is keen to workout
products involving micro financial
institutions/self-help groups (SHGs)/
joint liability groups (JLGs) to have a
very positive effect on the funding into
the sector.
The Forum was attended by representatives from Ministry of Drinking
Water & Sanitation, Ministry of Rural
Development, State Governments,
World Bank RBI/NABARD/PSBs,
diplomats, senior government officials,
policy makers, industry, research and
academic institutions and extension
agencies.
Empowerment, Government of India organised a three-day special mega awareness cum assessment and distribution camp for
AIDS and assistive devices recently. Minister for Social Justice
and Empowerment, GoI, Thaawarchand Gehlot was the chief
guest for the event. Minister of State for Social Justice and
Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar also graced the occasion.
Speaking on the occasion of the 101st Mega Camp conducted by the Ministry in the past one and a half-year period,
Gehlot expressed his happiness over successfully organising first
such mega camp in Jammu & Kashmir and appreciated district collector Yasha Mudgal and the staff of composite regional centre, Srinagar, for braving the odds of nature to successfully organise this camp despite prevailing adverse weather conditions. This camp, which is also one of the largest social welfare camps ever to be held in the history of J&K witnessed a
houseful presence of PwD beneficiaries, who turned out in large
numbers at the Shawket Ali Stadium in the border district of
Baramulla. Announcing the establishment of a Drug de-addiction centre Gehlot said that a special cultural programme for
children with disabilities in Baramulla will be conceptualised
with support from Government of India. He added that children with hearing and speech impairment will be screened for
the innovative cochlear implant surgery and high end Assistive
devices manufactured by ALIMCO in collaboration with
Ottobock (Germany), will also soon be provided to needy beneficiaries in the border district though CRC Srinagar.
Krishan Pal Gurjar in his address appreciated the work of
various NGOs, Indian Army personnel, volunteers and departments like Indian System of Medicine (ISM) in J&K for wholeheartedly supporting this noble cause. He informed that nearly 1,200 people and children with disabilities will receive approximately 2,000 free-of-cost Aids and assistive devices over the
period of this three-day special mega camp.
Awanish Kumar Awasthi, joint secretary, DEPwD, under
whose supervision this hugely popular ADIP Schemes have been
successfully implemented, informed the gathering that the
Unique Disability Identity Card (UDID) Project will kick-start
from Baramulla District for the state of J&K. He added that
UDID project to be implemented this year will be another major
step of the government towards inclusion and empowerment
of the mega camp conducted by CRC Srinagar — in collaboration with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and other
National Institutes under the DEPwD witnessed the distribution of devices such as — BTE hearing aid (750), M R TLM
kits of NIMH (336), daisy player (24), crutches (300), braille
kit (100), MSIED kit (100), walking stick (50), wheel chair for
adult and child (120), low vision devices (100), smart phone
with keyboard (5), folding cane (10), smart cane (22), splint
C/Foot (20). The Department of Health Services J&K conducted
free medical check-ups/consultations with the Department of
Indian System of Medicine (ISM) J&K providing free medical
check-ups and medicine to the three-day camp will also play
an important role in spreading awareness about various services, schemes devised by the Central government for empowering the persons with disabilities and for their inclusion in the
mainstream.
MLA Baramulla, Javed Hassan Baig; MLA Gulmarg
Mohd. Abbas Wani, Brigade Commander Brigadier Yogesh
Chaudhary, Mir Bashir, Nodal officer, CRC Srinagar and senior
officials from district administration, Baramulla were also present on the occasion.
:=>FH>DAA867CB
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(Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment
Act, 2015 (No.1 of 2016), in the Gazette of
India Extraordinary, the date appointed by
the Central Government and notified in the
Gazette of India, Extraordinary.
A committee under the chairpersonship
of Union Minister for Social Justice and
Empowerment with members from
Ministries of Home Affairs, Tribal Affairs,
Law and Justice, Department of Justice,
National Commission for Scheduled Castes,
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
and three non-official members (two
amongst SCs and one amongst SC), which
was set up in the year 2006 on a recommendation of the Parliament Committee, to
devise ways and means to curb offences of
atrocities and ensure effective administration Acts of Parliament namely the
Protection of Civil Rights {PCR} Act, 1955
and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities ){PoA} Act,
1989, held a meeting recently at Vigyan
Bhawan, to review implementation status of
PCR and PoA Acts in States and Union
Territories. The meeting will be chaired by
Union Minister for Social Justice and
Empowerment and concerned Ministers in
the States and Union Territories along with
senior officers have been requested to
make it convenient to attend the meeting.
The members of the Committee as per the
present composition (at Annexure), have
also been addressed to attend the meeting.
The aforesaid meeting has a special
significance in view of amendments made
in the PoA Act as mentioned above. The
amended Act has cast a greater responsibility on the concerned State Governments
and Union Territory Administrations to
augment the infrastructure and human
resource for its implementation.
As such the Committee is likely to
deliberate on steps to be taken by the concerned States and Union Territories to
effectively implement provisions in the
amendment Act. The Committee would
also discuss issues related implementation
of the PCR and PoA Acts, as detailed in
the Agenda.
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three weeks' time.
"It's up to us to go and score at
Stamford Bridge, we will get chances and
we must take them," Blanc said.
Chelsea knocked out PSG in the quarterfinals two years ago and PSG won when
they met at the same stage last season —
with both ties settled on away goals.
PSG's preparations for the match
were rocked by a scandal involving
right back Serge Aurier, who was suspended by the club for insulting Blanc
and some teammates in an expletivefilled online video.
But Blanc's side came out with plenty of energy, with midfielder Marco
Verratti forcing a save from Courtois and
Brazilian winger Lucas shooting wide.
Chelsea's makeshift defense — missing injured center-halves John Terry and
Kurt Zouma — was often caught in two
minds, whether to sit back or push up on
their opponents.
Thankfully for the
visitors, left
back Cesar
Azpilicueta cut
out Di Maria's
truggling striker Edinson Cavani
came off the bench to score the
winner as Paris Saint-Germain
beat Chelsea 2-1 in a pulsating first leg
in the last 16 of the Champions League
on Tuesday.
Cavani, who has lost his place in the
side in recent weeks, latched onto a
superb pass over Chelsea's stretched
defense from winger Angel Di Maria and
slotted through the legs of goalkeeper
Thibaut Courtois from a narrow angle
in the 78th minute.
"I'm happy for Eddy. I've said it often,
because people doubt his scoring abilities, but he's always shown he can score
goals," PSG coach Laurent Blanc said.
"He was going through a very difficult
period and I hope that scoring this goal
gives him his confidence back."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic put PSG ahead
with a powerful free-kick in the 39th
minute, only for Chelsea to level on the
stroke of halftime with a rare goal from
midfielder John Obi Mikel.
Courtois made a string of saves to
keep Chelsea in contention heading
into the second leg, and Spanish winger
Pedro almost spoiled the home celebrations in injury time with a rasping drive
into the side netting.
"This is a very strong PSG, so I think
the performance of our players was very
good," Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink said.
"But we could have been more lethal in
the four or five counters that we made."
PSG is unbeaten in domestic competition since March and in all competitions since a 1-0 reverse away to Real
Madrid in the group stage on Nov. 3 - a
run of 23 games.
Still, Blanc's side could regret a host
of missed chances and Chelsea will
fancy its chances at Stamford Bridge in
S
❝
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elhi Waveriders crushed Kalinga
D
Lancers 6-0 to storm into the semifinals of the Hockey India League here on
Wednesday.
The semifinals and finals will be played
at the Astro Turf Hockey Stadium in
Ranchi over the weekend.
The first quarter started with Delhi
Waveriders making many circle penetrations. The response to the early attack also
came from the Kalinga Lancers when a shot
from the away team striker closely missed
the goal. Kalinga Lancer's defense was looking strong as they started predicting the
home team's moves and didn't allow them
to hold possession of the ball.
The away team started to put their
strides into the match with attacking
moves but none of them converted into a
goal. Delhi tried to make counter attacking moves but the Lancers defense held
strong.
The second quarter started with the
Delhi Waveriders looking to make inroads
give Benfica a dramatic 1-0 win over 10man Zenit St. Petersburg in the
Champions League on Tuesday, heading
home a free kick awarded after
Domenico Criscito was shown a red card
for the visitors.
Brazilian striker Jonas, Benfica's and
the Portuguese league's top scorer, netted
for the 26th time this season with a glancing header from a free kick in 91st minute.
That was awarded after Criscito
picked up his second yellow card of the
game for a foul on Andre Almeida.
Neither team really shone in the first
leg, last 16 game at the Stadium of Light
in Lisbon, though the win spared Benfica
what looked likely to be a goalless draw
and a tough time in Russia.
?B6_[PhTabRT[TQaPcT4SX]b^]2PeP]X´bV^P[PVPX]bc2WT[bTP^]CdTbSPhX]2WP\_X^]b;TPVdT
ndia on Wednesday began their campaign in Badminton Asia Team
IChampionships
in style with both men's
and women's teams posting victories
against their Singapore rivals to make it
to the quarterfinals.
Indian men made a clean sweep of
their five-match tie against Singapore, who
had lost to China two days ago. India,
China and Singapore are part of Group A.
Despite the absence of star player Saina
Nehwal, the Indian women registered a
comprehensive 5-0 win against Singapore
and also entered the quarter finals as the
Singapore team lost to Japan earlier.
Each tie comprises three singles
and two doubles matches.
India's rising shuttler Srikanth scored
a comfortable 21-16, 12-21, 21-13 win
over his Singapore rival Zi Liang Derek
Wong in the first Singles match. The
Singaporean tried to make matters difficult for Srikanth, but the world number
nine bounced back to have the last laugh.
It was almost a one-sided affair for
Ajay Jayaram in the second singles
against Singapore's Kean Yew Loh as he
went on to score a 21-11, 21-18 victory.
The 27-ranked HS Prannoy too
dominated his singles match against Zin
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Rei Ryan NG and clinched a 21-10, 2112 win.
India's doubles players too came up
with an attractive performance and won
the two doubles matches in the tie. Manu
Attri-Sumeeth Reddy beat Yong Kai
Terry Hee-Kean Yew Loh 21-15, 21-14.
The other doubles pair of Pranaav
Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar trounced
Danny Bawa Chrisnanta-Hendra Wijaya
21-14, 21-13 in the second doubles.
In the women's category, India's PV
umbai made their first Ranji
Trophy final in three seasons
M
even though they were denied an
in the do-or-die battle and the first opportunity came in the 18th minute and
Rupinder Pal Singh converted the penalty
corner. The golden opportunity for the
Lancers came in the ending moments of the
second quarter from a penalty corner but a
beautiful save by Devon Manchester stopped
Mortiz Fuerste from levelling the score.
The third quarter started with the
Waveriders pressing hard to extend the lead
and was awarded with a penalty corner in
the 33rd minute which was put into the
back of the net by Rupinder Pal for his second goal of the match.
Delhi looked at their attacking best and
the striking duo of Mandeep Singh and
Talwinder Singh penetrated the circle with
finesse, creating a passing opportunity for
Harjeet Singh which was tapped into the goal
by Simon Child. The goal extended the lead
to 4-0 in the 34th minute for the Waveriders.
The fourth quarter started with Kalinga
Lancers looking to bounce back. The first
penalty corner opportunity for the away
team came in the 49th minute but the home
team goalkeeper again denied them the
chance to score. Delhi capitalised on a
missed penalty corner by the away team
and Parvinder Singh made them pay with
a field goal to take the score to 6-0 in the
56th minute.
The first semifinal will be played
between Jaypee Punjab Warriors and Delhi
Waveriders and the second between
defending champions Ranchi Rays and
Kalinga Lancers.
;8B1>=) Jonas scored in added time to
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"I think the big regret tonight is conceding this goal right on halftime,"
Blanc said. "I was quite angry about that.
We gave the ball away four or five times
before their goal."
While Ibrahimovic scores for fun, it
was Mikel's seventh goal in 361 career
club appearances.
Chelsea's gleeful support chanted
"You're not singing anymore" and from
the restart, Chelsea could have scored
again when Willian played in Costa. But
he opened his foot too much, allowing
Trapp to guess the angle of his shot.
Courtois was much busier, stopping
efforts from Di Maria and Ibrahimovic
and unlocking his giant frame to superbly
palm away Di Maria's curling shot.
But Cavani pounced to hand
Hiddink his first defeat since replacing
Jose Mourinho in mid-December.
"Of course a defeat is never a good
or nice feeling, but scoring away is
always good," Hiddink said. "We are still
in the race."
defense-splitting pass to Lucas as he was
breaking into the area.
But the visitors almost took a shock
lead in the 23rd only for PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to brilliantly push Diego
Costa's header onto the crossbar following left back Abdul Baba Rahman's
drifting cross.
PSG attacked next, but Ibrahimovic
— having done well to peel off his marker — delivered a poor downward header that startled Courtois only because it
was so weak.
Di Maria wasted another opportunity, but the breakthrough came after
Lucas was fouled by Mikel some 25
meters out, and Ibrahimovic's powerful
free-kick clipped Mikel's leg and wrongfooted Courtois.
Ibrahimovic's intense joy at scoring
was understandable, too, given that he
was harshly sent off during the first half
in the second leg last season.
But PSG's defense, so rarely tested in
the French league, paid the price for poor
marking when Costa rose brilliantly
above Ibrahimovic to flick on a corner, the
ball fell to Mikel and he blasted past Trapp.
❝
0?Q ?0A8B
outright win with fighting centuries
from Madhya Pradesh wicketkeeper batsman Naman Ojha and
Harpreet Singh on day five of the
semifinal here on Wednesday.
Madhya Pradesh, who needed to chase a mammoth 571-run
target in little more than four sessions, ended their second innings
at 361 for five with the game ending in a draw and Mumbai entering the final on the basis of first
innings lead.
They meet Saurashtra in the
final to played in Pune from
February 24.
Madhya Pradesh, starting the
day at 99/2, went on to frustrate
the Mumbai bowlers for 109 overs,
putting a much improved effort
than the first innings where they
managed 227 to Mumbai's 371.
Ojha (113), who started the
day on 14, ended up hitting his
15th first-class ton and the first
this season. His 185 ball effort
comprised 13 fours and a six.
He shared a 159-run stand
with Harpreet (105), who brought
up his second century of the season and ended the tournament as
his team's leading run-getter with
750 runs in 15 innings.
However, it was not enough to
stop 40-time champions Mumbai,
entering another final with contributions from Suryakumar Yadav
and Aditya Tare, who hit tons on
day four to take the team to 426
in their second innings.
Shreyas Iyer scored a 90 and
58 in the game with another
notable performance coming from
=P\P]>YWPX]PRcX^]PVPX]bc<?X]AP]YX
pacer Balwinder Sandhu, who
took five wickets in the first
innings of the match. Mumbai will
now face Saurashtra in Final.
Brief scores
Mumbai: 371 and 426 (Aditya
Tare 103, Suryakumar Yadav 115,
Abhishek Nayar 73; Ishwar Pandey
3/103) beat Madhya Pradesh: 227
and 361/5 in 109 overs (Naman
Ojha 113, Harpreet Singh 105).
?C80?
Sindhu, who is now ranked 12 in BWF
world rankings, gave a headstart to
India's campaign with a 21-17, 21-11 win
against Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang.
The Singapore shuttler, ranked 42,
put up a competitive show in the first
game of the match, but Sindhu had it easy
in the second game.
Sindhu, who demonstrated great
energy on the court, came up with some
delectable shots to clinch the match in
her favour.
PC Thulasi, ranked 111, too had a
great day in office with a comfortable 2116, 21-7 win against a low-ranked Hui
Zhen Grace Chua in the second singles
match. India's national champion in badminton Ruthivika Shivani Gadde, who is
ranked 131, did not have to sweat out
much either to tame her Singapore rival
Jia Min Yeo in the other singles match.
India's famed doubles pair of Jwala
Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa too proved
their mettle with a comfortable 21-18, 2116 victory over Shinta Mulia Sari-Wei
Han Tan.
Sindhu played in the doubles match
as well in the company of Sikki Reddy
and the duo trounced their Singapore
rivals of Jia Ming Crystal Wong-Jia Min
Yeo 21-8, 21-14 to make it a clean sweep.
Chief national coach Pullela
Gopichand expressed happiness over the
team's clean sweep. "It's a good win.
Hopefully, we will do better in the next
matches as well," he told.
In other ties of the day in men's category, Japan beat Sri Lanka 5-0, Malaysia
defeated Nepal 5-0, Indonesia humbled
Chinese Taipei 3-2 and Hong Kong
China trounced Philippines 4-1.
In Women's section, Thailand defeated Maldives 5-0 and Indonesia beat
Maldives 5-0.
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