1. law, govt and politics
2. government

English Daily
[email protected]
www.indianhorizon.org RNI No: Deleng/2013/51507
Published from New Delhi and Hyderabad
Volume No: 3 Issue No: 89
[email protected]
In memory of Dr Asima Kemal and Prof. Dr. Salim W Kemal
New Delhi, Friday, April 3, 2015
Congress chief meets rain-hit
farmers in MP, assures support
Pages 12 + 4 pull out (P16)
Lal Masjid case: Arrest warrant
issued against Musharraf
4
9
Over 350 return home from Yemen, wary of future
Briefs
Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee and
actress Tannishtha Chatterjee during a song
sequence from their upcoming film “UnIndian’
in Mumbai on recently. PTI
Jaishankar in
Nepal,supports
its stability,
prosperity
Kathmandu, April 2 (IANS) Visiting Indian
Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Thursday reaffirmed that India always stood for peace, stability
and development in Nepal and was ready to support the Himalayan nation’s effort to be prosperous, stable and peaceful.
He said this in separate talks with Nepal Foreign
Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey and Nepal’s
Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.
Immediately after landing in Kathmandu on
Thursday, Jaishankar held bilateral talks with Bairagi. Both sides reviewed the agreement signed
between Nepal and India in August 2014 during
the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and during the visit of India’s Minister for External
Affairs Sushma Swaraj.
New Delhi
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Sadar Bazar Market, near I.M.A Bhawan
Saharanpur (U.P.)(0132)271028,
M :-9897639786,9359188546,9368117718
Saharanpur Admission Office :
4407/3, New Bhagat Singh Colony, Behind DM Residence
Bajoria Road, Saharanpur UP-247001
Ph.:0132-6548036, 9045738000, 9045734000
Kochi/Mumbai,
April
2
(IANS) Over 350 Indians were
safely airlifted from strife-torn
Yemen, but the returnees on
Thursday were apprehensive
about their future and hoped
they would land jobs.
India sent its biggest plane,
the C-17 (Globemaster), to
evacuate its nationals, 190 of
whom landed in Mumbai on
Thursday while another 168
went to Kochi in Kerala.
Fighting has been going on
in Yemen since January 22
when the government under
President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi was ousted by Shia Houthi
forces. This has provoked the
recent military campaign by a
coalition of 10 countries led by
Saudi Arabia.
India has initiated a highly
coordinated operation to evacuate its nationals and around
350 people stranded in Yemen’s
port city of Aden were brought
out by Indian Navy Ship INS
Sumitra.
The returnees were happy to
be back home, but were con-
Evacuated Indians from Yemen boarding the India Air Force
C-17 Globemaster aircraft at Djibouti. PTI
cerned about their future. “We
are really happy to be with our
near and dear ones,” said a
nurse who was elated over her
safe return in Kochi. “The bigger
question is what will happen to
our future... We want a job, but
do not know where it will come
from, as we have families to
look after,” said the nurse.
The number of Indian nationals in Yemen, which was es-
timated around 14,000 in 2010,
declined to an estimated 5,000
by June 2011 following political
instability and violence in the
country. However, only around
3,000 Indians are registered
with the embassy in Sana’a.
Most of the Indians living in
Yemen comprise nurses, hospital staff, university professors, professionals, white collar
workers, IT professionals and
managerial and clerical staff in
the private sector. A vast majority of them hail from Kerala but
a few belong to other states like
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab,
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West
Bengal.
Kerala’s Minister for Diaspora
K.C. Joseph told IANS that they
are in constant touch with the
ministry of external affairs in
Delhi and with the Indian officials in Yemen and Djibouti.
“Diplomatic efforts managed
to break ice with Saudi Arabian
authorities to clear the way for
a free air zone to ensure our
flights land in Yemen and then
return through their air space.
“But talks with Iranian authorities are on as their permission is also required. There are
another 2,500 Keralites including nurses and teachers,” said
Joseph.
The
Kerala
government
has given a token amount of
Rs.2,000 to each of them.
Recalling the horror, a returnee said: “The situation in Ye-
Giriraj remarks: Sonia says narrow
mindset, BJP for ending row
Bhopal/New Delhi/Bengaluru, April 2 (IANS) Congress
president Sonia Gandhi on
Thursday dismissed union
minister Giriraj Singh’s “racist” remarks as stemming from
a “narrow mindset” even as
party members staged protests
while the BJP sought the matter to be closed as he had expressed regrets.
Gandhi, who visited Madhya
Pradesh to meet farmers whose
crops have been damaged in
the recent untimely rains, expressed ignorance about the
remarks.
“What did he say,” she asked
reporters in a brief interaction
during her visit, and after having been told, conveyed her
disdain.
“It is not appropriate to respond to or comment on people with such narrow mindset.
This is my answer,” Gandhi
said. Singh, who is union minister of state for micro, small
and medium enterprises, had
told reporters in Patna on
Tuesday that he wondered if
former prime minister Rajiv
Gandhi had married a nonwhite Nigerian woman, would
the Congress still have accepted her as its president.Singh,
who has caused embarrassment to Bharatiya Janata Party
earlier also, had to express regret over his remarks with the
party leadership conveying its
displeasure to him.
Sources said party president
Amit Shah had spoken to Singh
on Wednesday and pulled him
up over the comments.
Congress
leaders
have
strongly denounced Singh’s
remarks and demanded that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
should dismiss him and apologise to the nation.
Former union Minister Kapil
Sibal accused Modi of being
silent on Singh’s controversial
remarks. He said that it was
Activists of opposition Congress party’s women wing
burn effigy of Union minister Giriraj Singh over his controversial remark on Congress president Sonia Gandhi,
outside the BJP headquarters in Jammu on Thursday. PTI
part of BJP’s strategy that “intemperate comments” were
made, then someone from the
party conveys disapproval but
Modi remains silent.
He also took a dig at BJP over
the party’s good governance
pitch. “People of the country
will decide if there will be Giriraj or Ramraj,” he said.Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha
2AAP leaders suspended from
NE for backing Yadav, Bhushan
New Delhi, April 2 (PTI) In continuing purge of dissidents, AAP has
suspended two of its National Executive members from the party for attending a press conference held by
rebel leaders Yogendra Yadav and
Prashant Bhushan immediately after
they were expelled from the top echelons of the party.
The party sent the suspension notices to Uttar Pradesh leaders Rakesh
Sinha and Vishal Sharma Lathe for
openly coming out in support of Yadav
and Bhushan.
Incidentally, Sinha who is an
elected National Executive member,
raised questions over the way its internal Lokpal Admiral L Ramdas was
sacked and Bhushan was removed
as the chief of its disciplinary committee. Lathe had voted against the
resolution to sack Bhushan and Yadav from Political Affairs Committee
(PAC) on March 4.
Sinha and Lathe slammed the leadership for taking the punitive action
against them without giving them any
opportunity to explain their position.
Both the National Executive (NE)
members were present in a press conference held by Bhushan and Yadav on
March 28 after the duo was expelled
from the party’s top decision-making
body. A senior AAP leader said the
punitive action has been taken against
the two UP leaders of the party for at-
accused the BJP of being “casual and indifferent” on the issue
and said Singh was a “repeat
offender”.
“Despite his previous observation on the campaign trail in
2014 where he asked all nonNarendra Modi supporters to
leave India and go to Pakistan,
he was rewarded by a post in
the cabinet.
men is getting worse day by day
as there are frequent bombings.
Bombs were dropped around
200 metres from where I stayed.
The most affected are the children.”
Another returnee said: “Communications are also breaking down and then it becomes
tough for Indian Embassy officials to get in touch with Indians.”
Joseph said the state government will press the central
government to ensure that diplomatic talks are held to ensure
the return of Indians.
“Another tough ask is that
nobody knows how many Keralites are there in Yemen. But
the Kerala government will do
its best to see how best we can
help the nurses,” Joseph said.
He said his government will
look into providing jobs to the
nurses who have returned.
“There are practical difficulties to find jobs for around 2,000
nurses, but our government will
do everything possible,” said
Joseph.
PM Modi may
expand Cabinet on
April 08; Mehbooba
Mufti, Anil Desai
likely to be inducted
New Delhi, April 2 (AFP) Prime Minister
Narendra Modi may expand his Cabinet on
April 08, as per reports on Thursday.
PDP MP Mehbooba Mufti and Shiv
Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anil
Desai are tipped to be inducted into the
Union Cabinet.
Also, BJP’s Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who is
MoS in the present Cabinet, may be elevated
and Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla, the senior-most member of PM Modi’s
Council of Ministers, is likely to be dropped.
PM Modi had expanded his Cabinet for the
first time in November last year after assuming power in May 2014 wherein former Goa
chief minister Manohar Parrikar and former
Shiv Sainik Suresh Prabhu were given Defence and Railway portfolios respectively.
Total 21 new faces had been brought in at
that time.
Some reshuffle had also taken place then
with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley being given Information and Broadcasting, which was
with Prakash Javadekar.
All praise for RBI chief, Modi says Rajan is perfect,
explains complex economic issues in 3-4 slides
Mumbai, April 2
(IANS) Amid a widespread
perception
about
differences
between RBI and the
government, Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi praised Governor Raghuram Rajan
for being “perfect”
in explaining to him
complex economic
issues and said there
was similarity in
thinking on both the
sides.
Stating that Rajan
would explain implications of RBI’s
policies in “just
three-four slides”,
Modi also said that
he must have been a
very good ‘teacher’
in the past.
Rajan, who has
been Professor of
Finance at University of Chicago and
joined RBI as its Governor in September
2013, said on his part
that there has always
been a “constructive
dialogue” between
RBI and the government.
There have been
talks from time to
time about differences between the
central bank and
the government on
a range of issues including on inflation
and interest rates.
While the government and RBI have
always maintained
that there were ‘no
differences’
between them, some
proposals in this
year’s Budget indicated shifting certain functions out
of the central bank’s
ambit
including
on the public debt
management.
Indian Horizon, Delhi
Man held in Delhi with
heroin valued at Rs.20 lakh
New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) A 46-year-old man has
been arrested in Delhi with heroin valued at Rs.20
lakh in the international market, police said on
Thursday.Mohammad Ibrahim was arrested on
Tuesday from west Delhi’s Pitampura area where
he went to deliver a consignment of 200 gram of
heroin, police said.
“Ibrahim befriended drug traffickers in the
Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital,”
Joint Commissioner of Police Ravindra Yadav
said.“Ibrahim used to provide important
information regarding drug traffickers to police but
later he was lured to make easy money through the
drug business and started supplying heroin,” he
added.
Court frees man charged
with rape in Delhi
New Delhi, April 2 (PTI( A man, accused of raping
a girl on the pretext of marriage in 2010, has been
acquitted by a Delhi court observing that the alleged
victim had “enjoyed” his company for fun and had
a liking for him. Noting that the 18-year-old girl had
“freely exercised” a choice between resistance and
assent, Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain (ASJ)
freed Delhi resident Rocky of the charge of rape
under section 376 of the IPC while also saying that
there were inconsistencies and discrepancies in the
girl’s version. “The facts and circumstances of the
present case show that prosecutrix (girl) had liking
for the accused but not to the extent of marrying
him. She had enjoyed the company of the accused
for fun,” the court said. “So how can it be said that
there was promise of marriage and on account of
this misrepresentation, the prosecutrix had agreed
to have physical relations with the accused,” it
said, adding the girl had sufficient intelligence to
understand the significance and moral quality of the
act she was consenting to.
“Despite that she did not resist the overtures of the
accused and in fact succumbed to it. She thus freely
exercised a choice between resistance and assent,”
it said. The court noted that girl had given “different
versions” regarding the actual act allegedly
committed by the accused. “Inconsistencies and
various discrepancies have appeared. Further, there
are improvements in her testimony. It also suffers
from infirmities. So testimony of the prosecutrix
cannot be said to be of sterling quality and no
implicit reliance can be placed on her testimony,”
it said.
According to the prosecution, the girl complained
to the police in November 2010 saying that the man
was her neighbour and they were meeting each
other. She alleged that on October 9, 2010 when she
was returning home from tuition, Rocky met her and
proposed to her for marriage. After this he took her
to a room and established physical relations with
her on the pretext of marriage. The complainant said
she told her parents about it after which the man
and his father asked them not to file a complaint as
Rocky was ready to marry her.
Protests in Gurgaon demanding
justice for minor rape victim
Gurgaon, April 2 (IANS) People protested here on
Thursday on the busy Mehrauli-Gurgaon road,
demanding justice for a five-year-old girl who was
raped after being lured with the promise of a plate
of chowmein.The girl, who is under treatment at
Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, was kidnapped from a
function in Chakarpur and raped on March 29.
People also blocked traffic near Bristol Chowk,
and said the girl’s condition deteriorated as proper
care was not being given at the hospital.Gurgaon
Deputy Commissioner T.L. Satyaprakash, who
visited the spot, assured the angry people that
the girl would be shifted to Medanta the Medicity
hospital in the city.The protesters demanded the
suspension of Gurgaon’s chief medical officer, who
referred the girl to Delhi.They also demanded the
removal of inquiry officer Assistant Commissioner
of Police Dharna Yadav, who allegedly misled
the girl’s family saying that the arrested accused
was a mentally disturbed person.Police arrested
a 32-year-old man -- identified as Sharma Yadav
hailing from Bihar’s Madhubani district -- from a
park here.
2
City
Friday, April 3, 2015
DDC expresses concern about
solid waste management
New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) The Delhi
Dialogue
Commission
(DDC)
on
Thursday expressed concern on the issue
of solid waste management (SWM) at a
day-long conference held at the Delhi
Secretariat.In the conference, Ghazipur
land fill improvement and other such
vulnerable
land
fill
improvement
plans were recommended to the Delhi
government by the DDC.
The agenda of the conference, chaired
by DDC vice-chairman Ashish Khetan,
was to bring all stakeholders in SWM
on a common platform to discuss the
challenges and all potential solutions for
consideration of the Delhi government.
“The Aam Aadmi Party government wants
to encourage recycling by segregation of
bio-degradable and non-biodegradable
waste at the household level and also
find a solution to the problem of littering
or disposal of construction debris
in public places,” Khetan said.The
participants at the conference included
national and international experts on
waste management, MCD officials,
Waste to Energy Plant representatives
from Jindal Power Corporation, various
representatives of the Civil Society, the
Ministry of Environment and Urban
Development and experts in the area of
solid waste management.
The representatives of the waste
management community and non-profit
organisations working in the field of solid
waste management voiced their concerns
and opinions on the issue.
Formed under the leadership of Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the DDC
is meant to implement plans and fulfill
the promises made by the ruling Aam
Aadmi Party in Delhi.
Ministers and councillors race
for credit in Gurgaon
GURGAON, April 2 (Agencies) With the underpass
project finally cleared, elected representatives are
making a beeline to claim credit for it. No sooner than
the official release gave credit to local MLA Rao Narbir
Singh for convincing the chief minister to give his final
approval for the project, local MP Rao Inderjit Singh
staked claim and tried to underline the fact that it was
due to his efforts since July last year that the project got
off the drawing board.
“At last, the efforts of Haryana PWD (B&R) minister Rao
Narbir Singh bore fruits and his proposal to construct
underpasses at three junctions has been cleared”, read
the official statement.
A mail was sent to all media houses to this effect, along
with a copy of a faxed letter (dated July 25, 2014) that
had been sent to the ministry of road transport and
highways. It lists the announcement, as well as efforts
taken by Inderjit to improve road infrastructure along
the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
With MCG elections round the corner, Gurgaon’s elected
councilors, too, don’t want to be left behind in the race
to garner credit. Many of these councillors are hoping
they can claim they were first to demand the underpass
project, and that they had passed a resolution to this
effect in a House meeting last year.
AAP suspends National
Executive member from UP
New Delhi, April 2 (PTI) AAP National Executive
member Rakesh Sinha was on Thursday suspended
from the party days after he raised questions over the
way its internal Lokpal Admiral L Ramdas was sacked
and Prashant Bhushan was removed as the chief of
its disciplinary committee.Sinha, a party leader from
Uttar Pradesh, had accused the AAP leadership of
taking the decisions to remove Ramdas and Bhushan
in a hurry from the two crucial posts and without due
consultations of all members of the National Executive.
Sources in the party said that Sinha and another member
from UP, Vishal Lathe, had been suspended from the
party while an inquiry was pending.“They were part of
the press conference convened by Yogendra Yadav and
Bhushan after their ouster from the National Executive
on March 28,” said a party spokesperson.In a letter to
the party secretary Pankaj Gupta on March 30, Sinha
had questioned the sacking of Bhushan and Yadav from
the National Executive without referring the case to
the party’s internal Lokpal as per norms.“I would like
to bring to your notice that I came to know about this
meeting through some journalists who called to ask me
if I was attending the NE meeting.”
“I was surprised and thought that it must be a PAC
WCD Ministry detects fake NGOs
applying for funds under ‘STEP’
New Delhi, April 2 (PTI) In an alarming
revelation, the Women and Child
Development Ministry (WCD) has
found that nearly 90 per cent of around
1400 NGOs seeking financial grant
under a major training and employment
scheme were “fake”. Top officials in the
ministry said applications were invited
from NGOs to impart skill development
training to women in rural areas under
its Support to Training and Employment
Programme (STEP) which has a corpus
of Rs 30 crore.
“We had received 1400 to 1500
applications of which 90 per cent
are found to be fake. The scrutiny of
applications revealed that most of the
NGOs have applied multiple times
giving false names and details,” a
senior official told PTI.STEP is a major
programme being implemented by
WCD Ministry, aimed at providing
employability skills to women.The
official said that the ministry has
decided to upload the names of all the
fake NGOs on its website so that they
can be “exposed” and identified” by
other ministries as well.The last date of
submission of project proposals by the
NGOs for financial assistance under the
scheme for 2015-16 was March 31.
Applications have been sought by the
ministry from the NGOs after the scheme
was revised by WCD Minister Maneka
Gandhi to improve its implementation.
“The names will be uploaded on our
website soon. We want to expose them
for trying to cheat the authorities as we
have people who check each application
and are quick to spot fake ones,” the
official said.The ministry had earlier also
issued an advisory to all NGOs which
had applied for financial grants under
the scheme to impart training to women
in sectors like carpentry, plumbing,
electrical works and even construction
and IT.The STEP scheme has already
covered 24,037 beneficiaries in 2014-15
and 31,478 beneficiaries in 2013-14. The
number stood at 30,481 in the 2012-13.
ED attaches godman’s assets
New Delhi, April 2 (PTI) The Enforcement
Directorate has attached assets, including over
a dozen bank accounts and cars, of a self-styled
godman ‘Icchadhari baba’ in connection with
its money-laundering probe against him and his
associates for allegedly running a sex racket in
Delhi.The case dates back to 2010 when a Delhi
Police team nabbed the alleged kingpin of a sex
racket in the capital, Shiv Murat Dwivedi alias Shiva
alias Rajeev alias Swami alias ‘Icchadhari baba’,
when he was allegedly conducting a flesh trade deal
near PVR Saket cinema along with his accomplices.
The police subsequently pressed charges under the
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act against Dwivedi
and his associate Praveen along with half-a-dozen
girls, who were apprehended from the same spot.
Police lathicharge youth Congress workers while they staged a protest
outside a residential complex where Union Minister Giriraj Singh lives,
in Delhi on Thursday.PTI
meeting since I got no intimation and I had received an
SMS from your office on March 18 that there will be no
meeting before or after the NC meet.”“Your SMS saying
that it was an emergency meeting is well taken but it still
does not explain why I was not informed,” Sinha had
said in the letter. Sources said the decision to suspend
Sinha was taken in the National Executive meeting
held on Sunday.Interestingly, Sinha is one of the NE
members who had opposed the removal of Yadav and
Bhushan from the party’s Political Affairs Committee.
He had also walked out of the March 28 National
Council meeting when the two dissident leaders were
ousted from the panel.AAP leader Christina Samy from
Tamil Nadu tendered her resignation yesterday from
its National Executive over the removal of Yadav and
Bhushan, first from the PAC and then from the National
Executive.After the sacking of Yadav, Bhushan, Ajit Jha
and Anand Kumar from the National Executive and
following Sinha’s suspension and Samy’s resignation,
the strength of AAP’s second-most important decisionmaking body has been reduced to 16. “They were part of
the press conference convened by Yogendra Yadav and
Bhushan after their ouster from the National Executive
on March 28,” said a party spokesperson.In a letter to
the party secretary Pankaj Gupta on March 30, Sinha
had questioned the sacking of Bhushan and Yadav from
the National Executive without referring the case to the
party’s internal Lokpal as per norms.
Delhi seeks land for hospitals
New Delhi: Delhi government has sought
land at 18 sites in the city given to private
firms over 40 years for building hospitals
in vain. In a letter to Urban Development
Minister Venkaiah Naidu recently, Delhi
Health Minister Satyendra Jain asked
that the allotment of 18 sites, estimated
to be nearly 50 acres across the national
capital, be cancelled.
An official said in the last 40 years,
Delhi Development Authority (DDA)
had allotted 18 plots to private firms for
construction of hospitals, which were
to come up in three years of allotment.
But no construction has been done till
Man gets life term for murder
New Delhi, April 2 (Agencies) A Delhi court has sentenced a man to life
imprisonment for stabbing to death his colleague in Rohini in 2013.The accused,
Vishal Kumar, was working as a helper on a Tata 407 along with the victim, Madan
Lal, who was the driver. According to the prosecution, Vishal was the elder brother
of a man, who was married to the sister of the wife of the victim.Vishal was a drug
addict and allegedly had an evil eye on the victim’s wife, the prosecution alleged,
adding that, therefore, there used to be frequent quarrels between the accused
and the victim.On the fateful day, the younger brother of the accused had come
to the house of the victim. They were together enjoying drinks. Meanwhile, Vishal
came there in an inebriated condition and overheard the victim complaining to
the accused’s younger brother that Vishal was a drug addict and had an evil eye
on his wife.
Vishal immediately left the house of the victim abusing him. He came back after a
few minutes with a knife and started stabbing the victim, shouting at him that he
would teach him a lesson.The wife of the victim was an eyewitness to the incident
as she had seen the accused stab her husband.“Her deposition does indicate that
the accused was keeping an evil eye on her which was the cause of altercations
between the accused and her husband. It also indicates that the accused had
come to their house and there was an altercation between the accused and her
husband Madan Lal,” the court noted.The police had also recorded the statement
of the victim before his death and the court believed it.
NAME CHANGE
People protesting near Sikandarpur metro station demanding better
treatment of a five-year-old girl rape victim in Gurgaon on Thursday. PTI
date on these 18 sites.“DDA is supposed
to cancel the lease if construction is not
done in stipulated period,” Jain said in
the letter.He further requested Naidu to
hand over the land to Delhi Government
for construction of hospitals and
dispensaries.A senior official confirmed
that Delhi government had earlier sent
two letters to DDA in this regard.
“This is a clear case of land-hoarding.
Precious land is allotted in prime
localities of Delhi to non serious players.
They are waiting to sell the land. Citizens
of the city are deprived of health facilities
they deserve,” the official said.
I.Mohd.Imran Ali S/o
Mohm.Umar R/o A-791
SF Gali Pipal Wali,
Krishna Basti, Nabi
Karim
Pahar Ganj New Delhi 110055 have changed
my name
To Imran Khan for all
future purposes.
HC declines stay on
appointment of eight judges
New Delhi, April 2 (Agencies) The Delhi
High Court last week declined to stay the
appointment of eight additional judges in
the Hyderabad High Court, stating that
this was not the correct forum to decide
on the issue. A plea was filed last week
challenging the appointment of the eight
additional judges for the States of Andhra
Pradhesh and Telangana.Justice Valmiki
J Mehta, while asking the petitioner to
move the High Court for both the States
in Hyderabad, said,
3
Indian Horizon, Delhi
City
Friday, April 3, 2015
Swine flu toll climbs to 2,097 as
13 more people die
New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Thirteen more persons succumbed to swine flu as the toll from
the disease climbed to 2,097 while the number of those affected by the H1N1 virus
touched 34,351.According to the Union Health Ministry, the contagious disease has
till yesterday claimed 2,097 lives.The ministry said that the toll has?increased to 434 in
Gujarat, the state worst-hit by the swine flu menace which has reported a total of 6,535
cases of the disease since January.
Rajasthan has seen 423 casualties with 6,618 persons so far affected by the H1N1 virus
in the desert state.The toll in Maharashtra has risen to 422 with the state reporting
4,670 cases of swine flu while Madhya Pradesh has seen 305 swine flu deaths. The
number of cases registered in MP is 2,213.Karnataka has recorded 85 swine flu deaths
with the?number of those affected in the state now touching 2,813.Seventy-seven
persons in Telangana have succumbed to the disease, which has killed 53 people each
in the two neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana.
The toll in Jammu and Kashmir has risen to 19?after one person died in Kashmir while
Uttarakhand has?reported 12 casualties so far.West Bengal has seen 26 swine flu
deaths while, in Uttar Pradesh, 38 people have died due to the disease.Twelve people
have died of the disease in Delhi which has seen 4,245 cases of swine flu this year.
Andhra Pradesh has registered 22 swine flu deaths while?an equal number of people
have died in Chhattisgarh.
President Pranab Mukherjee with Trinamool Congress MLA and Tollywood
actor Chiranjeet during inauguration of the new building of Sarada Maa
Girls College in Barasat, West Bengal. PTI
Man found hanging in lock-up
New Delhi, April 2 (Agencies) A
52-year-old man, detained at a police
station in East Delhi in connection with
a domestic violence case, allegedly
committed suicide inside the police
station.The man, identified as Sushil,
was found hanging inside the lock-up
of the Shakarpur police station late
on Tuesday evening.According to the
police, he was detained on Tuesday
afternoon on the basis of a complaint
filed by his wife.
The police said that he was drunk
when he was brought to the police
station and he suddenly turned violent
and started banging his head against
the wall and hurting himself.
A police constable was also sent to
his home to inform about his violent
behaviour to his family.
“We had detained him on the basis
of his wife’s complaint. When he
was brought to the police station, he
was in an inebriated condition and a
constable put him in the police station
lock-up. After sometime he asked for
food from the constable. When the
constable went to him around 10 p.m.,
he was found hanging from the ceiling
using his pants,” a police officer said.
Dead upon arrival
He was taken off the ceiling and taken
to a nearby hospital where he was
declared dead upon arrival.
The Delhi Police are now investigating
the case. They have questioned
his wife who told them that he was
alcoholic and used to drink almost
every day.“Sushil’s wife told us that
he used to get drunk daily and then
beat up his wife,” the officer said.“We
do not find any other reason behind
his suicide apart from the fact that
he could have been scared of police
action.”Meanwhile, a magisterial
inquiry in the case has been ordered.
Luxury store Ekaani opens first
store in Delhi
New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) Luxury store Ekaani, a one-stop shop for gifting solutions from
foreign brands like Versace and Roberto Cavalli, has announced the launch of its flagship
store in the capital.Saurabh Garg with Minica Garg in association with Sunayana Chibba
hosted the launch of Ekaani in south Delhi’s Defence Colony area.
Ekaani is the latest venture by the renowned Brijbasi Group. The store brings best of
gifting solutions from various renowned luxury brands like Rosenthal, Versace, Roberto
Cavalli and Noritake.“It is a proud feeling to bring to India Ekaani’s flagship store. We are
happy to see wishes pouring. We promise to bring to people best of gifting solutions. With
globalisation and access to international gifting options, it was the right time for Ekaani
to expand its product portfolio and also bring this unique art to India,” store owner
Saurabh Garg said in a statement. Their gifting solutions comprise of silver plated gifts
sourced from various parts of the world. Be it silver plated and porcelain statues of Indian
gods, glassware from across the globe like crystal de Paris, Nachtmann, Riedel, or gifting
solutions from various renowned brands from across the world like Linea, Tia, Camilletti,
dinnerware and glassware from Rosenthal, Versace, Roberto Cavalli and Noritake.
Khattar okays Rs. 779 crore plan to
ease Gurgaon traffic
GURGAON, April 2 (Agencies)Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has given
an in-principle approval to three different integrated schemes worth around
Rs.779 crore. These projects will provide uninterrupted traffic flow on Rajiv
Chowk, Signature Tower and IFFCO Chowk Junctions at Gurgaon.
The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting of senior officers of various
departments on Wednesday.
The project report of the underpasses has been prepared by Delhi Integrated
Multi-Modal Transit System Limited.The Chief Minister gave approval to
the estimated expenditure of Rs.224 crore for Rajiv Chowk, Rs.248 crore for
Signature Tower and Rs.307 crore for IFFCO Chowk.The expenditure on the
proposed project will be borne by the National Highways Authority of India,
the National Capital Region Planning Board, the Haryana Urban Development
Authority and the Haryana Government.
Senior Congress Leaders and workers shouts slogans during a protest rally against
the Union Minister Giriraj Singh for his controversial remarks against Congress
president Sonia Gandhi at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Thursday. PTI
PHC woman employee alleges
molestation attempt by pharmacist
Workers threaten to expand
strike to North, South Delhi
Greater Noida, Apr 2 (PTI) A woman employee at a primary health centre has
accused a pharmacist of trying to molest her, police said today.The incident
took place on Tuesday when the woman had gone to a store to get medicines
and other goods and pharmacist Satish Kumar caught hold of her and tried to
molest her.On raising an alarm, he allowed her to go but threatened her with
dire consequences if she reported the matter to anybody.
She then complained to a PHC doctor and other senior medical?officers but
no action was taken by them following which the woman lodged a complaint
New Delhi, April 2 (Agencies) Municipal workers on
Wednesday threatened to extend their strike to South and
North Delhi, even as employees in East Delhi resumed work
after a five-day agitation for salaries.Apart from timely salary
payments, South and North Delhi municipal employees are
also demanding regularisation of jobs for contractual workers
and cashless treatment at government hospitals.Sources said
the representatives of about 40 unions will meet on Thursday
to decide the course of action.However, workers in some parts
of North Delhi started their protest on Wednesday. Delhi
Nagar Nigam Safai Mazdoor Sangh president Sanjay Sitara
said safai karamcharis in Karol Bagh, Civil Lines, Narela Zones
in North Delhi struck work on Wednesday.
“We are demanding timely salary payments and permanent
jobs for contractual staff. Sanitation workers in South
Delhi may also join us in the strike,” said Vikram Dikka,
a representative of North Delhi Municipal Corporation
employees’ union.Sanitation workers in the East Delhi
Municipal Corporation were on strike since March 27, but
most unions called off the stir on Tuesday after officials
agreed to their demands of cashless medical treatment and
regularisation of posts.
A union leader from East Delhi, Mukesh Gahlot, said though
EDMC workers had called off their strike, the employees
would support the agitation in other parts of Delhi.“All
unions, including sanitation staff and ward boys in hospitals,
are meeting on Thursday. We will take the demonstration
forward from there. We will throw garbage outside the homes
of the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister,” said Mr. Gahlot.
The EDMC resumed cleaning on Wednesday, with
spokesperson Y.S. Mann saying the situation had “returned
to normal”. Garbage that was dumped on streets as a sign
of protest was cleared and dhalaos were cleared of the
accumulated trash.EDMC commissioner Amit Yadav said all
154 auto tippers of Shahdara (North) Zone were deployed and
54 tractor trolleys were used to collect garbage. In Shahdara
(South) Zone, 43 trucks and eight loaders were deployed.
As of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the EDMC had picked up 2,000
metric tonnes of garbage and sent it to the landfill site at
Ghazipur.
today at Dankaur police station.
PUBLIC NOTICE
My client Sh. Om Prakash
S/O Sh. Gopi Ram R/o 45,
German Nagar, Najafgarh,
South-West Delhi- 110043
has disconnected all his
relation with his Son
Namely Ashish disowned
/disinherited all of His
movable/ immovable properties with immediate
Effect as he does not want
to do any work and not
Obey my. Client being a
quarrelsome nature.
Henceforth, anyone dealing
with him shall be on
His/her own risks and consequences,
I shall not Be responsible
for any respect,
(RAVI VATS)
Advocate
Chamber No. 410, 1st
Floor Tis Hazari Courts
PUBLIC NOTICE
I is hereby inform to the general public at large that my
client Sh. Kamla Devi W/o
Late Sh. Mannu Ram R/oH.No-262, Street No-1, Shiv
Colony, Rewari, Haryana
Have Debarred and disowned their son-in-law
Gaurav Mayal
s/o Shri
Krishan Mayal (Ex.D.D.P.O)
R/o Mayal Farm House near
Badopal
Nehar Village
Fatehabad Haryana From all
his moveable and immovable
properties and have severed
their relations from him and
he is not under the control of
my client. And my client is
not responsible for any of his
liability whether it was arise
on past, present or future. If
any person dealing with
above shall be doing so solely at his/her own costs and
risks and my client shall not
be in any mannaer.
VISHAL KHADIA
(Advocate)
Dwarka Court Complex-ND
Alleged drug trafficker
arrested
New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) An alleged drug trafficker
was arrested by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police
which also recovered 200 gm heroin worth Rs 20
lakh from him.The accused, identified as Mohd
Ibrahim (46) was arrested on Tuesday after police
received a tip off that he is supplying heroin in
Delhi/NCR and he would come near Bus Stand,
Guru Govind Singh University Ring Road, Delhi
to deliver a consignment of heroin to someone in
forenoon.“A trap was laid at the given place and
the accused was apprehended. On search, 200
gm of fine quality heroin was recovered from his
possession following which a case was registered,”
said a senior police official.During interrogation,
it was revealed that Ibrahim is an illiterate and
he has three children. His father used to sell kites
in the area of Chitali Kabar, Jama Masjid. He had
started garment business from a shop in the area
of Chitali Kabar, Jama Masjid.
Babus got BPL plots in
Gurgaon and sold them
for big profits: RTI
GURGAON, 2 (Agencies) Plots meant for below
poverty line (BPL) families in Mubarikpur, a
village in Farrukhnagar, have allegedly been
allotted to employees of government departments
and a bank executive, replies to several RTIs
have revealed. The 100 sq yd residential plots,
which were to be given to poor families for free
under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana
launched by the Haryana government in 2008,
are on prime land, located a kilometre from the
Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway.
“One RTI application revealed that a plot has
been allotted to an MCD veterinary department
employee. Another RTI revealed that a public
sector bank employee has been allotted the plot.
Many others, some with salaries of over Rs 4 lakh
per annum, have also benefitted,” said RTI activist
Sudhir Yadav, who filed the queries in various
government departments, after disgruntled
villagers brought the issue to his notice.
Under the scheme, nearly seven lakh BPL families
in villages across the state were to get residential
plots. Village panchayats were given the authority
to distribute the plots among poor families.
Records show 94 plots were allotted in 2011 and
another 21 in 2014. However, beneficiaries were
often not from eligible families, said Yadav.
A 33-year-old resident of Nirvana bought a plot
of land in Farrukhnagar in 2011. “I paid Rs 10
lakh (excluding paperwork charges) to a property
dealer in the village. Today, I am getting offers
of up to Rs 22 lakh,” the buyer said, requesting
anonymity. Yadav said this is not all. Documents
in his possession (copies of which are with TOI)
show some of the families that were allotted plots
in 2011 were again recipients in 2014.
Real estate agents said with land prices in the
city zooming, nearby villages have become
attractive for real estate prospectors. For
instance, around 80% land in Sultanpur, a village
near Farrukhnagar, has been sold to private
developers.
Pipe upgrade delay may spell water worries
this summer for Gurgaon
GURGAON, April 2 (Agencies) The upgradation work of a 20-year-old water
pipeline in HUDA’s zone 1 has been stagnant for more than a year and the delay
is likely to cause water shortage in over dozen areas in the coming summer
months.Officials said the pipeline was laid about 20 years ago with a width of
900mm. But due to corrosion and leaks from weather changes over the years,
colonies at the end of the pipeline have been receiving erratic supply. Worst hit
are sectors 21,22,23, Palam Vihar and Surat Nagar.HUDA decided to undertake
replacement of the 13-km supply line in zone 1 in December 2013 to improve
the situation. However, after an expenditure of Rs 8.5 crore over 15 months,
the work in several areas remains unfinished with no signs of the authority
completing it soon.
Zone 1 includes over half-a-dozen colonies in old Gurgaon, apart from another
15 sectors that are supplied treated water from the Basai plant.
HUDA has put up new pipes in areas where the old pipes were in a state beyond
repair. In others places they have placed new pipeline next to the old ones
without switching supply, an official said.
Jain community participate procession on the occasion of Mahavir
Jayanti in Patna on Thursday. PTI
Indian Horizon Delhi
Two security personnel killed
in encounter in Baramulla
Children wailing over the death of a policeman Mohammad Shafi
who was killed during an encounter at Tangmarg,at His Residence
in Pattan on Thursday.One Army Jawan and a Policeman were killed
during an encounter . PTI
SRINAGAR, Apr 2 (PTI): After killing an Army soldier and one police
personnel in Baramulla district in
north Kashmir on Thursday, police
officials said that the militants broke
the cordon and escaped from the
gun battle. Police officials said that
they are looking for the militants
Janata Parivar to meet on Sunday,
merger announcement likely
and are carrying out a cordon and
search operation of the area.“The
gun battle is over and we are conducting a search operation, and the
militants, two or three in number,
seems to have escaped from the
spot,” A police officer told.
According to the police, the encounter started at around 8 a.m. in
the morning when a joint team of
Army’s 29 RR, 52 RR and J&K police’s Special Operations Group at
Hardshoora are combing in Kunzar area of Baramulla district.“The
attack was based on specific intelligence inputs early in the morning and our joint team established
contact with the militants at 7.50 in
the morning,” Colonel Brijesh Pandey of the Indian Army said. “In the
gunfight, an Army soldier and a policeman of J&K Police counterinsurgency wing were killed. One civilian
was also injured in the gunfight.”
NDA is honouring those involved
in Babri Masjid demolition: SP
Rampur Apr 2 (PTI): Criticising NDA government’s move to
erect a memorial for late Prime
Minister P V Narasimha Rao, SP
leader Azam Khan said that the
Centre carries an ‘inclination’
to accord honour to those “involved in Babri Masjid demolition”.
The Union government’s resolve to erect a memorial for
late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao is an indication that
the government headed by
Narendra Modi carries an inclination to accord honour to a
person who was involved in the
conspiracy to demolish Babri
Masjid, he told media persons
on Wednesday. The leader also
came down heavily on the links
4
Nation
Friday, April 3 , 2015
between BJP and RSS.“RSS is
the root and BJP its branch and
the present government is being
run by RSS and Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP).
They are determined to award
honour to those who in-spite of
holding pivotal positions in the
then government were responsible for the demolition of the
historic monument.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani,
who happens to be one of the
main accused in the demolition
case was decorated with Padma
Vibhushan award,” he said.
The Uttar Pradesh minister
lashed out at CBI for “acting like
slaves of the Centre” and hailed
the recent Supreme Court verdict seeking response from ac-
cused BJP leaders in the Babri
Masjid
demolition.“Though
persons involved in murder,
loot, arson and sedition are
availing acknowledgements, it
is a matter of great relief that the
apex court has questioned why
those involved in the demolition should not be made accused,” he said.
The Supreme Court had on
Tuesday sought the responses
of veteran BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi,
union minister Uma Bharti and
16 others on a fresh plea against
a 2010 order of the Lucknow
bench of Allahabad High Court
dropping criminal conspiracy
charge against them in the Babri
mosque demolition case.
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): The six parties
of the erstwhile Janata Parivar could
announce their decision to merge into
one on Sunday following a meeting in
which the name of the new political entity and its symbol will be decided. The
new socialist entity will have a ‘Samajwadi’ tag, said sources in JD-U.
“All the leaders of the Janata Parivar
constituents will meet at Samajwadi
Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s
residence on April 5, where the name
of the new party, its symbol and pro-
grammes will be decided,” sources said.
The meeting is expected to be attended
by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,
JD-U chief Sharad Yadav, RJD President
Lalu Prasad and representatives from
Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party. Mulayam, whose SP
has the largest number of MPs among
the parties which have planned the
proposed merger, will be the chairman
of the new umbrella entity.The April 5
meeting will decide as to what would be
the election symbol of the new entity.
Policemen attacked in Bihar
for stopping ‘forced’ donations
Patna, April 2 (IANS) Six
police officials were injured
in Bihar’s Sheikhpura district on Thursday when a
mob attacked them after the
policemen objected to their
alleged forced donation
drive for organising a religious programme.A station
house officer was among
those injured in the mob
attack on the Chabda police station, a district police
official said. All the injured
were admitted to a hospital.
According to police, some
people were forcibly demanding donations from all
those passing through the
village road.
“After a complaint was
filed, police intervened and
detained some people and
stopped the forced donation,” the official said.Irked
the Goa government’s Power
Department, in the minister’s
own cabin for failing to respond
to a power cut.Pacheco, who
heads the Goa Vikas Party, was
sworn-in as a minister during a
cabinet expansion in November
last year after then chief minister
Manohar Parrikar was elevated
to the union cabinet.
On Wednesday, Parsekar
hinted at dropping Pacheco,
claiming that it was embarrassing to have a convicted minister in his 12-member cabinet.
Parsekar also said the final decision to drop Pacheco would be
taken after the minister returns
from Delhi.Pacheco arrived in
Goa from New Delhi on Thursday afternoon.
Chandigarh, April 2 (IANS) Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said compensation would be given to the farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorms within 30 days of submission of crop damage survey report.
Speaking to the media in Hisar, Khattar said unlike
the previous governments, his government would
act fast and give away cheques for the compensation
amount to the farmers within one month of submission of the Girdawari report.
“In view of the widespread damage caused to the
crops, the state government has already converted
crop loans into short-term loans payable over three
years. Besides, the affected farmers will also be provided loan for the next crop at zero rate of interest,”
he said.
Reports have suggested that damage to crops in
Haryana could be over 30 percent due to the recent
adverse weather.
49 schoolgirls allege sexual
harassment in Maharashtra
Mamata to hit the streets against Congress chief meets rain-hit
farmers in MP, assures support
land acquisition ordinance
Kolkata, April 2 (IANS)
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee will hit
the streets here on April 8
against the Narendra Modi
government’s
ordinance
amending the land acquisition law, the Trinamool
Congress announced Thursday.
Disclosing this at a media
meet here, Trinamool secretary general Partha Chatterjee said Banerjee, who
is also the party supremo,
would take part in the protest rally to be taken out
by the party from Moulali
to Gandhi statue on Mayo
Road.
Calling the acquisition
“draconian” and “kala ordinance” (black ordinance),
Chatterjee said: “We will
protest against it.”“Our
party chairperson will participate in the mega rally
in Kolkata against the ordinance. Similar rallies will be
held in every district of Bengal,” he said.
Chatterjee, also the state
education minister, said
the protesters would wear
black badges and cover their
mouth with a black cloth.
Calling upon the people
of Kolkata to participate in
the rally, he recalled that the
party had carried out movements against land acquisition in the past too.
The Trinamool had led a
farmers’ protest in Nandigram in East Midnapore district and Hooghly district’s
Singur in protest against
the then Left Front government’s bid to acquire farmland for industries between
2006 and 2008.Its popularity
graph went up after the protests and it came to power in
the state in 2011.
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill,
2015, which will replace an
ordinance promulgated by
the union government, was
passed by the Lok Sabha but
is facing stiff opposition in
the Rajya Sabha with even
some NDA allies coming out
against it.
Unable to have the bill
passed before the land acquisition ordinance lapses
on April 5, the BJP-led government has now prorogued
the Rajya Sabha and is likely
to repromulgate the ordinance.
Neemuch (MP), Apr 2
(PTI) Congress President
Sonia Gandhi today assured farmers in Madhya
Pradesh, who suffered severe crop loss due to the
recent untimely rains, that
she will fight for their rights
and ensure adequate compensation for them.
Gandhi arrived this
morning at the Neemuch
air strip to meet farmers in the district and
take stock of the damage
caused to the crops due
to unseasonal rains and
hailstorm in various parts
of the state recently.She
is also scheduled to visit
more villages later in the
day.The Congress chief
surveyed damaged crops
in Madavada by walking
nearly half-a-kilometre in
the fields.“Though we do
Congress president Sonia Gandhi meets hailstorm affected farmers in Neemuch, Madhya
Pradesh on Thursday. PTI
not have a government in
Madhya Pradesh, we are
with you. We will fight for
your rights and ensure that
you get due compensation,” Gandhi told farmers
during an interaction.
Farmers also showed
her ravaged Isabgol (psyllium husk) and other crops
and also narrated their
by the police action, hundreds of villagers protested
in front of the police station
and later attacked the officials.Villagers pelted stones
at the policemen and also
beat up some of them inside
the police station.
They also freed some villagers detained over the donation drive, police said.
Farmers to get
compensation within
30 days: Haryana CM
Goa CM ducks queries on
dropping convicted minister
Panaji, April 2 (IANS) Goa
Chief
Minister
Laxmikant
Parsekar on Thursday dodged
questions about removing a
minister, whose conviction was
upheld by the Supreme Court
earlier this week.Parsekar, who
was questioned by reporters on
the sidelines of a function at the
Police headquarters here, chose
to duck queries on Archives and
Archaeology Minister Francisco
Pacheco.
“I will speak to him in the evening,” Parsekar said.Pacheco, an
MLA from Nuvem, has a string of
cases against him related to extortion, assault, bigamy, money
laundering, etc, and was booked
in July 2006, for assaulting Kapil
Natekar, a junior engineer in
Currently each of the six constituents of
the erstwhile Janata Parivar has a separate symbol.
The wheel symbol of Janata Dal was
frozen in 1999 as the party was split into
JD-U led by Sharad Yadav and JD-S under HD Deve Gowda when the former
decided to join the then NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpyee.
The two parties were then allotted
separate symbols.Sources said what
while the new party’s name could be
either Samajwadi Janata Party or Samajwadi Janata Dal, the party is actively
considering the wheel symbol as well
as the cycle, which is currently the SP
party symbol.
ordeal. In the morning,
she met the rain-affected
farmers in Hingoria Fatak
village.
Gandhi has so far visited Jamunia Kalan, Bhatkheda, Maalkheda, Nevad,
Semli Chandrawat, Sarvania Maharaj, Morvan,
Madavada villages in the
district.
Akola Apr 2 (PTI): Two teachers of a government school here were booked on charges of
outraging the modesty of a woman, after as
many as 49 girl students accused the duo of sexually harassing them, police said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Rajan Gajbhiye
and Shailesh Ramteke were booked last night
under section 354(a) of IPC and Section 7 and 8
of Protection of Child from Sexual Offences Act
(POCSO) Act on a complaint filed by the principal of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalay, Ramavatar
Singh they said.
On Tuesday, the aggrieved girls had approached Maharashtra State Women Commission member Asha Mirge with their complaint.
According to the statement given by two of the
victims, the girls were being sexually harassed
for long by their Chemistry and Biology teachers on the pretext of not granting them marks in
Practical exams.The girls alleged that both the
teachers used obscene language, made sexual
advances and tried to make physical contact
with them following which they complained to
the Principal, who called an emergency parentsteachers’ meet on Tuesday after enquiring into
the matter.
Maharashtra beef ban: Police seek
3 Army personnel killed in
Arunachal Pradesh ambush ‘mugshots’ of cows from cattle owners
Policemen in action as Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)
shouting slogans during a protest against leaked question paper of Uttar
Pradesh PCS (pre)-2015 in Allahabad on Thursday. PTI
Itanagar Apr 2 (PTI): Three
Army personnel were killed
on Thursday and four injured
when suspected NSCN rebels
militants ambushed their vehicle in Arunachal Pradesh’s
Tirap district bordering Nagaland.
The ambush on the last
of the four vehicles of the
convoy took place around
6 AM at Tupi village along
Khonsa-Longding road, Tirap SP Ajit Kumar Singla said.
The personnel of the 4 Rajput
Regiment were on their way to
the camp at Longding in the
morning after a night halt at
Khonsa, about 530 km east of
here.“They were coming from
Tinsukia in neighbouring Assam in four vehicles. Most of
the personnel, who were on
leave, were returning from
their home state,” Singla said.
The injured have been
rushed to Army hospital. However, there were no casualties
on the other side, the SP said.
Army sources said the three
personnel were killed on the
spot.They said it is suspected
that one of the two factions of
NSCN -- IM and K -- was behind the ambush. The NSCN
faction led by S S Khaplang had
recently called off the ceasefire
with the government.
Mumbai Apr 2 (PTI): Police
in Malegaon have asked the
cattle owners to provide photographs of their cattle along
with details on them in view
of the new law that bans beef
trade in the state.
Malegaon’s Additional Superintendent of Police Sunil
Kadasne Tuesday held a
meeting with the cow owners
in the town and asked them
to provide proper information to police of their cattle
along with photos and guarantee letter - an undertaking
that the animal belonged to
them.The decision was taken
to maintain law and order in
the town in view of the enforcement of the new beef
ban law and also to prevent
miscreants from spreading
rumours, Kadasne told reporters yesterday.
Hence, those keeping cows
and calves are required to
register with the police along
with the animals’ photograph
for identification, the ASP
said.The meeting was attended by Nashik Additional Collector Ramchandra Pawar,
several locals and religious
leaders from Malegaon town.
In the first case registered under the new law, two persons
were arrested last month by
Malegoan police for allegedly
slaughtering calves.A case
was registered against three
persons and two of them Mohammed Rashid Akhtar
(36) and Abdul Ahad Mohammed Ishak alias Hamed
Lendi (28) - were arrested,
police said.Prior to the arrest,
police had raided a shack in
Azad Nagar area in Malegaon and seized two heads of
slaughtered calves and 150 kg
of beef.The Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, banning slaughter
of bulls and bullocks, was
enforced by the state BJP-led
government on March 4.
Indian Horizon, Delhi
Short Takes
Record Rs 7,678 cr
NABARD financing to
Kerala in 2014-15
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 2
(PTI): Southern Indian state of Kerala has received an-all time high
financing of Rs 7,678 crore from
the National Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development (NABARD)
during 2014-15, with agriculture
loans accounting for over Rs 5,300
crore.
Giving details of finance provided to the state, NABARD said
an amount of Rs.1,200 crore was
sanctioned from the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund for
creation of rural infrastructure.
An aggregate amount of Rs.5,348
crore was disbursed as agriculture
loans to the Kerala State Cooperative Bank, Kerala State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Bank and Kerala Gramin
Bank to support their lending operations to farmers, a NABARD release said here today.
Law students demand dismissal of
arrested professor
Puducherry, Apr 2 (PTI): Students of Government Law College
here today staged a demonstration
demanding the immediate arrest
of a Professor of Pondicherry University, who has been arrested on
the charge of sexual abuse of a minor girl.
The students, who abstained
from classes, held a demonstration
and volunteers of Puducherry Students Federation led by Swaminathan also joined the protest seeking
the dismissal of Professor M Madhialagan.
“This (suspension) is not a sufficient step. The professor should be
sacked as he had committed a very
serious crime which had tarnished
the image of teaching community,”
they said.
R V Pandit takes
charge as head of
Southern command
Kochi, Apr 2 (PTI): Rear Admiral
R V Pandit today took charge as
the new Chief of Staff of the Southern Naval Command, the training
Command of the country’s Navy.
Prior to this, he was Assistant
Chief of Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation and Intelligence) at Naval
Headquarters immediately after
promotion to the Flag rank, a Navy
release said.
The officer in his present capacity as the Chief of Staff of the command would be deputising for the
Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief
in the discharge of the training and
operational roles of the Southern
Naval Command, it said.
He was commissioned into the
Indian Navy in July 1984 and is
an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala,
Defence Services Staff College
(DSSC) Wellington, the College of
Naval Warfare (CNW) Mumbai, the
Royal College of Defence Studies (
RCDS), London UK.
Youth arrested for
smuggling gold
worth 1 crore
Kochi, Apr 2 (PTI): Customs Officers arrested a passenger, who
arrived from Dubai, for allegedly
attempting to smuggle gold bars
valued around Rs one crore at Cochin International airport here, police said today.
The gold, in the form of 30 biscuits weighing 3.5 kg and concealed, was seized when Customs’
Air intelligence Unit officials
checked the youth’s baggage on
suspicion, a release from the Additional Commissioner of Customs
office said.
The passenger, a resident of
Thamarassery in Kozhikode district of Kerala, attempted to pass
5
Nation
Friday, April 3, 2015
through ‘green channel’, which
is used by those with no dutiable
goods, it said.
“As a result of detailed scanning
of his baggage, 30 numbers of gold
biscuits, each weighing 116.600
grams, totally weighing 3.5 Kgs
were recovered,” it said.
Fishermen relieved as
dredging machinery
reaches Kundapur
Mangaluru, Apr 2 (PTI): Meeting
the long-pending demand of fishermen in the coastal area of Udupi,
a dredging equipment was brought
to Kundapur in the district, official
sources said.
The estuary and the fishing port
at Gangolli near Kundapur had
been filled with silt for long and
accidents were frequent in the region. Fishermen had been requesting the government for a dredging
machinery to avoid loss of lives in
such mishaps.
As per the government’s decision
to construct a breakwater there,
the dredging operations would begin soon.The dredging operations
would begin by April 5 and fishermen need not worry about their
routine fishing activities in the area
during the period, the sources said.
The dredging is scheduled to be
executed at Gangolli port, Gangolli
estuary, and Kody jetty.
2 youths killed in
road mishap
Virudhunagar (TN), Apr 2 (PTI):
Two engineering students were
killed in a head-on collision involving their two-wheeler and a bus
near Srivilliputur in the district today, police said.
The two riding the motorbike
were returning home when the
mishap occurred at Vanniyampatti.
Saravanan, studying in Dindigul
engineering college, died on the
spot, while Muhilan, doing engineering in a college in Tirunelveli,
was declared brought dead at the
government in Srivilliputtur, police said.
Five persons detained
under Goondas Act
in rape case
Namakkal (TN), Apr 2 (PTI):
Five persons who were arrested in
connection with the alleged rape
of a tapioca factory employee at
Nammagiripet have been detained
under the stringent Goondas Act,
police said.
The woman was returning home
from work on the night of March 16
with her paramour when the five
persons accosted her, beat her up
and allegedly raped her.
A special team formed by Namakkal Superintdent of Police
Sakthivel arrested them on March
17. They were booked last night
under the stringent Goondas Act
under which persons cannot come
out on bail for a minimum period
of one year.
Owner ordered to
demolish building where
plaster peeled off
Puducherry, Apr 2 (PTI): The
owner of an under construction
multi-storyed building, where cement plastering had come off,
scaring away workers, has been ordered by authorities to demolish it.
Official sources said the demolition order was served to the owner
last night by the Puducherry Planning Authority.
They said the cracks betrayed
the building’s unsafe nature and
that there was deviation from the
approved plan.
Residents nearby had yesterday
noticed cement plastering on one
pillar in the car parking zone of the
building, with nine dwelling units,
peeling off and informed police
and planning authority officials.
Giriraj row: BJP says
the matter is closed
B
engaluru, Apr 2
(PTI): With Congress stepping up
attack over the controversial
remarks of Union Minister Giriraj Singh, BJP today
said it considers the matter
closed as the minister has
expressed his regret.
“Giriraj Singh has clarified
his position. The matter has
ended and should not be
made an issue by our opponents. Giriraj Singh has
expressed his regret,” BJP
spokesperson Shahnawaz
Hussain told reporters in
the city, where party leaders
have converged for the National Executive meeting.
“The matter should be
considered as closed.? BJP
considers the matter as
closed,” he said.
Hussain was replying to
questions posed to him on
Congress’ protests against
Singh’s remarks against So-
nia Gandhi. The BJP leader,
however, evaded queries on
Congress? demand for sacking of the minister.
Congress and NSUI workers today staged a major
protest at a junction, about
a kilometre away from a
hotel where top BJP leaders
have gathered for the party’s
two-day National Executive
meeting beginning tomorrow. The protesters shouted
slogans Singh and burnt his
effigy. BJP chief Amit Shah
today addressed a meeting
of office bearers ahead of the
National Executive meet.
According to party sources, Singh was forced to express his regrets after a call
from Shah who made it clear
to him that “such language”
was not acceptable.
They said Shah called
Singh over telephone and
made it clear in no uncertain
terms that it was unbecom-
Questions over
whether Advani will
address BJP meet
Bengaluru, Apr 2 (PTI): The stage
is now set for the two-day meeting of
the BJP National Executive beginning
here tomorrow to finetune strategies
including on blunting the opposition
campaign on the land acquisition ordinance even as speculation mounted
over whether veteran leader L K Advani
would address the conclave.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here today joining party President
Amit Shah and others in a meeting of
the central office bearers to chalk out
the agenda for the meeting of the newly-
ing of a minister to use such
a language.
The minister has kicked
up a row with his remarks
asking whether Congress
would have accepted Sonia
Gandhi’s leadership had she
not been white-skinned.
“Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if
she was not a white-skinned
woman, would the Congress
have then accepted her (Sonia’s) leadership?” he had
told journalists on Tuesday.
To another question on
Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam allegedly making derogatory remarks against Union
Minister Smriti Irani, Hussain
said it would not be proper to
link both the issues and the
matter has ended as far as the
party is concerned. “Sanjay
Nirupam has been making
such statements. The people
already given him a befitting
reply,” he said.
constituted Executive.
Shah told the leaders about BJP having
become the largest party in the world after enrolling nearly 10 crore members.
The meeting discussed the two resolutions to be discussed by the Executive.
“The party leaders lauded the efforts
of the BJP President and all those involved in the membership drive and
in making BJP the largest party in
the world,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters about the
meeting.
The Land Acquisition ordinance that
is likely to be re-promulgated is one of
the important issues that will be discussed at the meeting when leaders will
attempt to evolve a strategy to counter
the vigorous opposition campaign.
No calling off strike
till Kerala meets
demands: truckers
Chennai, Apr 2 (PTI):
Transportation of goods to
Kerala was severely affected
today as the indefinite strike
by truckers, demanding
quick clearance of vehicles
at Walayar check post in the
neighbouring state, entered
the second day,
The transporters made it
clear to the Kerala government that the trucks will not
ply till such time their demands are met.
The trucks carry a variety of
consignments ranging from
vegetables, textile and electronics across Walayar, the
gateway to Kerala, everyday.
“Our demands must be
met and till such time our
strike will continue,” National Managing Committee member of All India
Motor Transport Congress
(AIMTC), N P Velu, told PTI.
Increasing counters at the
Walayar check post at Kerala
to ten from three, installing
scanning machines, a green
channel for goods like steel
and cement, parking lot, ba-
The first batch
of 168 Indian
nationals,
evacuated from
Yemen by Air
Force C-17
Globemaster
aircraft, arrive
at Kochi
International
Airport on
Thursday. (PTI
Photo)
sic amenities like drinking
water and toilets are the major demands.
Presently, sales tax authorities of Kerala take a minimum
of ten hours to a maximum of
fifteen hours to clear a single
truck at Walayar, he claimed.
“It happens nowhere else.
Across 1,268 border check
posts in the country, the average clearance time is about an
hour,” he added.
Stating that about 3,000 vehicles on an average “should
cross Walayar point,” he however said this often “does not
happen” as vehicles gets delayed at check posts.
“We face huge losses
stretching to several crores
of rupees a day and it is
the smaller trucks that get
cleared at relatively lesser
time,” Velu added.
Kerala authorities still use
“age-old” system to check
consignments by piercing the
bags with needle, he said, adding “we demand installation
of scanners which will ensure
quick clearance of vehicles.”
Adverse situation in
Yemen, says Kerala CM
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr
2 (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today
said the situation in the warhit country was not conducive for speedy evacuation of
stranded Indians, including
Keralites, as almost all airports there were closed.
“Practically all airports there
are closed. The airport at Aden
is the only one operating for
three hours a day,” he told reporters here quoting Indian
embassy officials in Yemen.
Explaining the adverse situation prevailing in Yemen, he
said: “Even a part of that airport is also reportedly occupied
by rebels and so it is doubtful
whether the evacuation process can be speeded up.”
The current plan was to
bring back the stranded persons through sea route and for
that Centre has informed state
that more ships would be sent
to Yemen, Chandy said.
However, indicating hitch in
that process also, he said as per
reports it was not easy to travel
from the places where the
stranded people reside to the
three sea ports in Yemen.
Majority of Keralites were residing over 500 km away from
the sea ports and to provide security for safe travel to the ports
was a major issue, he said.
Asked about the number of
Keralites in Yemen, Chandy
said though state did not have
any specific number, an estimate is that half of the more
than 4,000 Indians are from
Kerala. Chandy also said he
had written three letters so far
to the Prime Minister seeking
urgent steps for the evacuation
of Indians from Yemen.
Decision on demand for Chief
Whip removal on April 6: Chandy
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 2 (PTI): A decision would be
taken on April 6 on the demand of ruling UDF partner KC(M)
for removal of its dissident leader P C George from the post
of Government Chief Whip, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen
Chandy said today.
“The ruling UDF understands the sentiments of KC-M and
so a final decision will be taken on April 6 itself’, he told reporters here.
KC-M headed by state Finance Minister K M Mani had
recently submitted a letter to Chandy seeking removal of
George, also the Vice-Chairman of the party, from the Government Chief Whip following differences with him.
“I talked to Mani, who is not in town, over phone and discussed the issue,” Chandy said adding it was usual for the
Front to accept the suggestions of a Front partner.
Irritated by George’s public remarks against Mani, facing
bribery charges in bar scam after he presented the budget
on March 13, eight KC(M) legislators headed by Mani have
sought removal of George, MLA, and barring him from attending the liaison committee meeting of UDF.
Congress workers protest
outside Giriraj’s residence
Members of Youth Congress stage protest against the controversial remarks
on Sonia Gandhi by Union Minister Giriraj Singh in Bengaluru on Thursday.
(PTI Photo)
Bengaluru, Apr 2 (PTI):
Congress and NSUI workers today staged a protest
here, demanding dismissal of Union Minister Giriraj Singh for his “racist”
and “distasteful” remarks
against party President
Sonia Gandhi.
Singh had kicked up
a major row with his
remarks, wondering if
Congress would have accepted Gandhi’s leadership if she was not whiteskinned.
Congress workers assembled at a major junction, about a km away
from the hotel where top
BJP leaders have gathered for the party’s twoday National Executive
meeting beginning here
Karuna comes out in
support of 6 suspended
DMDK MLAs
Chennai, Apr 2 (PTI): Coming to the support of fellow
opposition party DMDK,
whose six MLAs were suspended for allegedly creating
ruckus in state Assembly last
month, DMK President M
Karunanidhi today urged the
ruling AIADMK to be “magnanimous and commute the
punishment. The AIADMK
should realise that it is not
proper in a democracy to run
tomorrow. The workers
shouted slogans against
Singh and burnt his effigy.
State Mahila Congress
chief
Manjula
Naidu
condemned the minister’s “racist” remarks
and said an apology from
him would not do and he
should be sacked.
The protesters were
whisked away by police.
the Assembly without the
main opposition party, and
be magnanimous and commute their punishment,” he
said. Karunanidhi said that
his party representatives in
the Privileges Committee had
argued against any further
punishment for the MLAs,
but they were ignored. The six
MLAs - V C Chandrakumar, R
Mohanraj, L Venkatesan, S R
Parthiban, C H Sekhar and K
Thinakaran - were suspended
on Tuesday for 10 days in the
next session and stripped off
their monthly salaries.
6
Indian Horizon Delhi
EDIT
Janata Parivar on verge of merger
Indian Horizon Delhi
Compulsions of all six parties are strong
BY INDER MALHOTRA
N
Friday April 3, 2015
It is high time that Muslims give up
sectarianism and become
one single cohesive group
The Arabs have now decided to do away with the help of the U.S.A
and reorganize their own resources to build up an Arab force to
meet the challenges that are responsible for creating trouble in the
Middle East, where a Shia minority exists. All this has been the result of Iran`s evolving strategy to arm this minority of Shias to create disturbance wherever they have a presence in Arab countries.
This is a new strategy and a new force, which operates outside Iran
for the protection of Shia minority groups. International law and
most civilized countries have been practicing the recognition of minority rights but, the strategy adopted by the Shia Arab minority is
to get their power recognized on the basis of armed force and the
help needed to implement this strategy is supported by Iran, both
by finance and armaments. The situation has become more acute
because of the attempts by Iran to acquire atomic power. Obama`s
policy has been wavering and the Arabs have lost confidence in U.S
strategy. Now, they have decided to have their own military command with the help and support of Sunni countries in the world and
even a country like Kuala Lumpur is keen on helping Saudi Arabia.
ECESSITY is the mother not of
invention alone. In this country,
in particular, it also breeds political unification or fragmentation as
the requirement may be. The compulsions of the six parties that are planning
to merge by April 20, when the second
phase of Parliament’s Budget session
begins, are so clear as to be visible even
to the most myopic of observers. Up to
May 16, 2014, each of these parties was
happy to operate on its own whether in
power or out of it.
They were badly shaken by what Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s followers are
still calling the “Modi tsunami”. Particularly shattered were Mulayam Singh
Yadav, supremo of the Samajwadi Party
that rules U.P., and Nitish Kumar of the
Janata Dal (United) who has been ruling
Bihar for a long time. It deserves a mention that these two very large states in the
Hindi heartland, between them, send to
the Lok Sabha 140 of its 543 members.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s overwhelming victory in both these states struck the
SP and the JD (U) dumb.
Since a number of byelections were
due, especially in Bihar, all concerned
realised that either they must unite or
they might be annihilated separately.
The bitterest foe of Nitish Kumar, Lalu
Prasad, the supreme leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, who had ruled the state
for ten years before Nitish ousted him,
became the Chief Minister’s firm ally.
Consequently, the two together did
rather well in Bihar and the BJP could
not repeat its earlier performance even
though Modi was in the saddle. So Lalu’s RJD is the third of the large parties
anxious to merge. Their relatively small
three allies included in the merger venture are the Indian National Lok Dal in
Haryana, the Janata Dal (Secular) — a
legacy of former Prime Minister H.D.
Deve Gowda now run by his son in Karnataka —and the Samajwadi Janata Party, a breakaway group from UP’s ruling
party. Their influence may be limited
of Islamic solidarity throughout the world and other countries are
likely to take advantage of it. We have been writing continuously
that the strategy of sectarianism evolved and intensified by any Islamic sect, is not in the interest of Islamic solidarity. Islam has been
suffering under sectarianism almost from the second generation
after the holy Prophet and the attempts to establish a Shia Caliphate on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean far away from Baghdad and
gradually moving towards Egypt and the Shias eventually made it
a center of the Fatimid Caliphate. This policy stymied the rising sun
of Islamic expansion in the Mediterranean and even through Turkey upto Geneva, the center of Europe. This strategy stimulated the
Christian Church throughout Europe to arm itself against the Muslims. Consequently, they isolated and occupied the Islamic state of
Spain by cheating Muslims into making a treaty of peace but after
they surrendered, they forced them to leave Spain. Even Turks were
not in a position to give them succour under these harsh conditions. This was the beginning of the crusades against Islam, which
ultimately was stopped by Salahuddin Ayubi, who was also instrumental in the demolition of the Shia Caliphate of Egypt, which was
but their enthusiasm is boundless. By
November last the move for unification
had been accepted by all the six parties.
What gave a big push to the idea is the
imminence of the assembly elections in
Bihar which must take place towards the
close of this year. The elections in U. P.
are due in 1917. Those in West Bengal
will take place earlier but Mamata Banerjee has shown no interest in the essentially northern phenomenon.
However, there are three factors that
make it reasonably certain that the merger plan will go through. First, everyone
knows that without unity it would not be
possible to keep the BJP at bay. Secondly,
there is no dispute over the leadership of
the new combination, which was one of
the several major reasons for the ignominious self-destruction of the Janata
that had come to power in the 1977 election almost entirely because of the nightmare of the Emergency.
Atal Behari Vajpaee, the then Foreign
Minister, had even declared that the people had “consigned Indira Gandhi into
the dustbin of history”. All the six partners know that Mulayam Singh has the
greatest clout and should be the leader.
His party’s election symbol, the bicycle,
will be the new party’s emblem. Its name
has yet to be chosen.
Thirdly, the Modi government has
lost some of its shine and is likely to lose
more, especially because of its ordinance
on land acquisition. It has already been
branded as “anti-farmer” and yet is being re-issued! Even so, there is no guarantee that heavy bargaining among the
stalwarts within the new combine will
not take place and damage the venture.
After all, Lalu Prasad has already told Nitish Kumar that when he returns as Chief
Minister of Bihar, the post of Deputy
Chief Minister must go to his daughter
who is ambitious enough to have falsely
claimed only the other day that she had
delivered a lecture at Harvard. Most analysts of Indian politics I have talked to
feel that a combined party of the six regional parties will surely materialise. But
the real question is how long it will last.
This question is pertinent because past
experience is far from encouraging. Ram
Manohar Lohia’s strategy of mobilising
the entire spectrum of non-Congress
parties — from the Jan Sangh to the CPI
(M) and call it Samyukt Vidhayak Dal —
gave it victory in eight northern states.
People joked that one could travel from
Calcutta (now called Kolkata) to Amritsar (whose name mercifully remains unchanged) without crossing a single inch
of Congress-governed territory. This glee
boomeranged.
For all eight non-Congress ministries collapsed under the weight of their
own contradictions rather fast. In 1971
the slogan of “Indira hatao”, coined by
an alliance against her, was smashed
to smithereens by her response: “Voh
kehtay hain Indira hatao; mein kehti
hoon garibi hatao”. No government rose
to power with such gargantuan goodwill
as did the Janata in the post-Emergency
poll. Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay
were defeated humiliatingly.
The Janata Party claimed to be a single
entity, not a coalition. But its mistakes
were many and these included their resolve to persecute Indira Gandhi and
Sanjay instead of prosecuting them for
their guilt of clamping the curse of Emergency on the country.
Ultimately, however, the Janata government collapsed under the unbearable weight of clashing ambitions of
its three top leaders — Morarji Desai,
Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram — in
thirty months. Indira Gandhi was back in
power spectacularly. V. P. Singh also rose
to power amidst huge public applause on
December 2, 1989.
Initially, a member of Rajiv Gandhi’s
Cabinet, he eventually became his nemesis. Thanks to infighting within his party
right from the start and his reckless decision to accept the Mandal Commission’s report, he fell in 11 months flat.
Few regretted his early departure. However, let us not prejudge the future of the
combination that is now in the making. It
would be better to wait and watch.
IANS
Qutb Shahi tombs to regain lost grandeur
This is likely to intensify further and the differences between ShiaSunni will keep increasing the conflict and this is not in the interest
Friday April 3, 2015
BY MOHAMMED SHAFEEQ
I
f Charminar is the symbol of Hyderabad, the Qutb Shahi Tombs along
with Golconda Fort are an integral
part of the city’s rich history and culture. A unique royal necropolis, Qutb
Shahi Tombs are a must on the itinerary
of visitors to the city. The Qutb Shahi
Heritage Park, as the entire complex is
called, has 72 monuments including
mausoleums of rulers of the Qutub Shahi dynasty (1518-1687) spread over 108
acres at the foot of the majestic Golconda Fort. Like many historic monuments
in this 425-year-old city, the tombs have
also been long neglected and face threat
from encroachers. The 16th-17th century necropolis is now getting a new lease
of life thanks to the Aga Khan Trust for
Culture (AKTC), which began the conservation work in November 2013.
For AKTC, a not-for-profit organization engaged in conservation of monuments in various countries, this is the
second conservation project in India
after Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi. “The
scale of the Qutb Shahi Tombs project
is enormous. Perhaps nowhere in the
world such a large-scale project was undertaken,” Ratish Nanda, project director of AKTC, told IANS. The complex has
40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, six ‘baolis’
(step-wells), a ‘hamam’ (mortuary
bath), pavilions and garden structures,
each with its striking grandeur and a
unique synthesis of architectural styles.
“There is no site like this anywhere in
the world. In one complex there is such
a huge diversity and architectural styles.
There are at least 10 monuments which
are of the scale of the Taj Mahal,” said
Ratish. The monuments in the complex
are a blend of Persian, Pathan and Hindu architectural styles and built with local granite and traditional materials.
AKTC had initially earmarked Rs.100
crore for the project. But Ratish said
the cost may exceed if there are more
discoveries like a 16th century wall enclosure they found during excavation at
one of the tombs. “The trust is committed to spending any amount of money
by raising the same from its donors or
its own money,” said Ratish.
Given the magnitude of the project,
he believes it may take 10 years to complete it. Before launching the project,
the multi-disciplinary team of experts in
2012 carried out exhaustive recording,
documentation, condition assessment,
surveys and research exercise to understand how the entire complex would
have originally looked. The project officials found that the task to restore and
retain the authenticity of the monuments is gigantic as plaster work of the
wall and dome surfaces had deteriorated due to dampness and water seepage.
The inappropriate application of 20th
century material like cement during the
earlier repair works disfigured the historical architectural character.
“We are using only lime mortar mix,
stone, wood and other traditional materials originally used in the construction,” said Rajpal Singh, chief engineer,
AKTC. Banking on its experience and expertise, the trust is carrying out the work
in a phased manner. At any given time,
75 percent of the complex will remain
open for tourists. Currently focussing on
the southwestern corner, AKTC plans to
complete conservation and restoration
of 30 monuments by 2016.
Besides involving 30 experts including historians, conservation activists
and architects, AKTC has hired master
craftsmen for the works, which are expected to generate over 300,000 mandays of employment. Project officials
say 80 percent of the cost is being spent
on master craftsmen. The project also
involves landscape restoration of the
core monuments zone as well as ecological restoration to revive ‘Baolis’, aqueducts and planting native trees.
Over the centuries the original landscape has been altered and disfigured
and as such today bears no resemblance
to the original builder’s intention.
“Our principal objective is to ensure
that these monuments survive for another 500 years,” said Ratish. “Once the work
is finished it will be like the Taj Mahal and
attract tourists from all over the world
and also improve the quality of life in Hyderabad,” he promised. The Telangana
government is also planning to tap Rs.85
crore announced in the union budget
for restoration of the tombs. The government proposes to use it for building site
museum, landscape garden and more.
“Our aim is to propose the tombs along
with Golconda Fort for UNESCO world
heritage site,” said B.P. Acharya, principal
secretary in the department of tourism
and culture in Telangana. The tag always
eluded the tombs despite their rich heritage, historical and architectural value.
IANS
then transferred to Turkish rule, which continued upto the end of
the First World War. This was the lowest ebb of Islamic prestige and
it gave rise to three Turkish groups known as the Moghul Turks in
India, the Safavi Turks who converted into the Shia sect in Iran and
the Turkish Caliphate in Turkey. Taking cognizance of this, all the
Muslims of the world must give up sectarianism because there is
no room for it in Islam. The Quranic verse “Vate Somu Bahablillahi
Jamia vala taffaraku,” hold on to Allah`s cord firmly and don’t allow
any differences among yourselves. Muslims must understand that
their internal differences are the main cause of their humiliation and
their prestige is adversely affected. It is not justified to project it into
sectarian groups who fight each other and weaken themselves. History has a good lesson for each Muslim community and it is high
time they gave up their worthless differences.
India to help in evacuating Sri Lankans from Yemen
I
ndia has acceded to Sri Lanka’s request to evacuate stranded Sri Lankans along with Indian nationals from
strife-torn Yemen, the Foreign Ministry
said here. There are reportedly around
75-100 Sri Lankan expatriates, including
students, in Yemen.
Due to the volatile situation in the
country, Sri Lanka is making arrangements to evacuate all Sri Lankans in Yemen, who are principally residing in the
capital Sanaa and other main cities, such
as Hodeida, Aden and Mukalla.
“The Government of Sri Lanka has
sought the assistance of the UN Office
in Sanaa and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Colombo
in the evacuation efforts,” the Foreign
Ministry said in statement yesterday.
“The Indian Government has promptly
acceded to the request of the Govern-
ment of Sri Lanka to bring the stranded
Sri Lankans along with Indian nationals
in Yemen, who are to be evacuated by air
and sea on special flights and ships respectively,” it said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the Sri Lanka Embassy
in Muscat, which is concurrently accredited to Yemen, is exploring all possible
avenues to ensure the safe return of the
Sri Lankans, the statement said. The Sri
Lanka mission in Muscat is in contact
with some Sri Lankans in Yemen, who
are directly monitoring the welfare of the
Sri Lankans in their present locations.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ajith P Perera, in his capacity as Acting
Minister, had last week instructed the Sri
Lanka High Commission in New Delhi
and the Sri Lanka Embassy in Muscat to
liaise with India’s Ministry of External Af-
fairs of India and the Indian Embassies
in Muscat and Sanaa to coordinate the
evacuation process, the statement said.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, too has issued directives to the
High Commissioner of Sri Lanka in Kenya and the Charge d’Affaires in Muscat
to go to Djibouti to support the operation
and coordinate with the Indian officials.
“The Ministry continues to closely
monitor the situation in Yemen and is
making every effort to ensure the safe
evacuation of Sri Lankans in Yemen back
home,” the statement said.
Saudi-led coalition warplanes have
been pounding Yemen’s Shiite rebels,
destroying missiles and weapons depots
and for the first time using warships to
bomb the rebel-held airport and eastern
outskirts of the port city of Aden.
Readers Response and contribution Welcome
IANS
7
OP-ED
Indian Horizon Delhi
Friday April 3, 2015
Cuba calling... but
are we listening?
The visit of the First Vice President of Cuba
was an opportunity for India to get to know
Cuba’s world view. India should focus its
leadership on a country and region that has
been low priority for too long
BY DEEPAK BHOJWANI
I
NDIA’S diplomatic agenda recently included an important but low-key visitor. On March 23, the First Vice
President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel met India’s President and Prime Minister, apart from holding talks with his
counterpart, Vice President M H Ansari, who had visited
Cuba in September 2013. In a region that evokes exotic images, Cuba stands out as a serious political example. Fidel
Castro ranks with the best- known global leaders. Popular
Indian familiarity with the largest nation-state in the Caribbean ends there, or perhaps extends to Cuban cigars.
Indian historians and analysts recall Fidel Castro’s visit
to Delhi for the Non-Aligned Summit in 1983 and his embarrassing bear hug of Indira Gandhi; Rajiv Gandhi’s visit
there in 1985; Manmohan Singh’s visit (for the Non-Aligned
Summit in 2006); perhaps even Jawaharlal Nehru’s call on
Fidel in Harlem, New York in 1961. Then there is the recent
thaw in Cuba’s relations with the US, marked by a historic
telephone conversation between US President Obama and
Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014, when they
agreed to work on the normalisation of bilateral relations.
Cuba became — and stayed — communist not because
of external pressure, as in Europe, but through an internal
process. The Cold War rivalry between the US and the USSR
enabled it to stand off the former with extensive support
and aid from the latter. With the Soviet Union gone, Cuba
got a lifeline from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a
soulmate of Fidel. The geopolitical scenario has since undergone radical transformation.
Today China, Russia, Brazil have a growing presence on
the island. The European Union is probably seeking a figleaf to jettison its 1996 “Common Position” that calls for
more gestures on human rights by Cuba before full normalisation of relations. François Hollande travels to Cuba
in May, the first- ever visit by a French President. Fumio
Kishida will make the first-ever visit by a Japanese Foreign Minister to Cuba in late April. To be fair to President
Obama, he had reached out early in his term to the Leftwing regimes in the region. He has had to contend with entrenched US political opposition to the New Left in Latin
America, personified by Hugo Chavez — and his nominee
Nicholas Maduro — in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia,
Rafael Correa in Ecuador, and others.
Cuba poses even bigger issues. Full normalisation of relations would require the repeal of the Helms-Burton Act
of 1996, which extended the territorial application of the
initial US embargo (Cuba calls it a blockade) to apply to foreign companies trading with Cuba, and penalised foreign
companies that allegedly “trafficked” in property formerly
owned by American citizens but confiscated by Cuba in the
1960s. Obama expects to meet Raúl Castro at the VIIth Summit of the Americas in Panama on April 10-11, the first Summit of the Americas — which commenced in 1994 — that
Cuba will attend. Cuba is trying to untangle its economy. It
has set up a special economic zone around the Mariel port,
45 km west of Havana, will modernise Havana airport and
several industrial plants, and has permitted small private
businesses. Cuba’s offshore reportedly stores several billion barrels of hydrocarbon deposits, a potential bonanza.
Prospecting has been slow and unsuccessful, complicated
by the embargo. Tourist arrivals, to this island of 10 million, went up to one million in the first quarter of 2015. US
companies have been allowed to provide telecom services,
the luxury cruise industry is waiting in the wings, and hotel
chains are gearing up for the boom.
Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermúdez, a university professor, became a member of the political bureau of the Cuban
Communist Party in 1997, long after Cuba left the Soviet
orbit. At 53, he belongs to the post-revolution generation
of Cuban leaders. Minister of higher education (2009-12),
he became one of the five Vice Presidents of the Council of
Ministers in 2012 . In February 2013, the Cuban National Assembly, which elected him First Vice President, also ratified
Raúl Castro in his post as President of Cuba for a second
five-year term. Castro declared he will not continue beyond
2018. This quelled speculation over the leadership transition to the next generation.
Diaz-Canel is clearly a lead player in the transition from
a closed economy to a more flexible system that recognises
the need for foreign involvement. Cuba’s Foreign Minister
Bruno Rodríguez, on a visit to India in May 2013, outlined
his government’s strategy. Cuba is determined to overhaul
archaic laws on taxation and salaries; eliminate dual currency; redistribute idle lands for cooperative and private
farming; and attract foreign investment in key sectors of the
economy. Sugar, rum and cigars will continue to be produced and exported. Tourism, biotechnology/medicine,
information technology will be the primary focus. India has
been invited to participate in these areas.
India’s relations with Cuba were close during the Cold
War. Thereafter the Cuban establishment, which emphasises solidarity, looked askance at India’s moves to integrate with an increasingly globalising world. India wrote off
Cuba’s debt of approximately $68 million in 2008. Trade has
been abysmally low ($37.93 million in 2013-14), economic
cooperation restricted to the extension of a few lines of
credit to modernise some Cuban industrial plants. Offers
of further credits, dating back almost a decade, have still to
be availed by the Cuban bureaucracy.
India financed a Centre for Excellence in Information
Technology in Havana. ONGC (Videsh) Ltd. was allotted
sizeable tracts in Cuba’s offshore in 2006, but exploration
was hampered by the US embargo, and financial constraints. The company shut down its office in Havana in
early 2014. The lack of engagement has much to do with
the lack of economic substance, partly due to the embargo,
but also restrictive and dilatory Cuban regulations. DiazCanel’s visit yielded an agreement to exempt diplomats and
officials from visas and talks touched upon India’s strengths
in IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology, sports medicine and
training, and human resource development.
COURTESY : GULF NEWS
T
he Arab League’s proposed Joint Arab Force
looks likely to be used to intervene in the failed
states in the Middle East, thus backing the important agenda of the majority surviving Arab powers to help restore working national governments in
the current failed states and stop the slide into increasing anarchy. This work has started with a series
of different coalitions that have been adapted to the
particular circumstances of the different countries
where Arab forces are engaged. The new force will
probably not replace the ad hoc coalition that has
been assembled to fight Daesh (the self-proclaimed
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Iraq as its
membership reflects the complicated political balancing that includes some Arab states in the Iraq
action but not others. It will probably not replace
the Qatari and Saudi efforts to support the US in rebuilding the secular Syrian rebels.
But the new joint force could supplement the ad
hoc coalition in Yemen fighting the Al Houthi rebels,
as the backers of the joint force all agree that the Al
Houthis need to be stopped. This week’s Arab summit in Sharm Al Shaikh defined the purpose of the
new joint Arab defence force as to be deployed at the
request of any Arab nation facing a national security
threat and that it would also be used to combat terrorist groups. The Joint force was not announced by
the Arab League Secretary-General, Nabeel Al Arabi,
but by the host, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al
Sissi, who used his closing address to tell the world
that the force would be set up. In his opening statement at the conference, Al Sissi had spoken of the
need to fight terrorism in Libya and to arm the Libyan
government, which has been interpreted as a hint to
where the force might get its first deployment orders.
The details of the force remain unclear, but the
structure and operational mechanism will be worked
out by a high-level panel under the supervision of
Arab chiefs-of-staff. But it does seem that it would
be made of troops permanently assigned to the Joint
force who would train together as a coherent unit.
This would make it far more effective than if it was
made up from units from different countries who
met annually to train together. Egyptian military
and security officials have said that the force would
be substantial and would consist of up to 40,000
elite troops backed by jet fighters, warships and
light armour and would be based in either Cairo or
Riyadh. Other commentators said it would be headquartered in Saudi Arabia. Al Arabi later announced
that the chiefs-of-staff would meet within a month
and would have an additional three months to work
out the details before presenting their proposal to a
meeting of the Arab League’s Joint Defence Council.
It is fortunate that the executive triumvirate of the
Arab League’s former, present and next chairs (Ku-
Arab force to
rescue failed
states
BY FRANCIS MATTHEW
wait, Egypt and Morocco) are all Sunni powers committed to the ideals of the new force.
The new Arab force is being hailed as a great example of the Arab world finally taking action to
defend itself and its ideals. But it will have to work
hard to avoid the fate of the previous Arab force that
got sucked into its local conflict with miserable results. It is easily forgotten that the Lebanese civil war
had led the Arab League to form the Arab Deterrent
Force in 1976 at the Arab Summit in Riyadh from a
‘token’ force into the Arab Deterrent Force of 30,000
troops of which 25,000 were Syrian.
But the Arab Deterrent Force had an unhappy
legacy as by 1979, the Sudanese, Saudi, Libyan and
UAE troops departed, leaving only the Syrians in
place, who remained in Lebanon after their mandate expired and became the Syrian occupation
that continued till 2005. The new force is likely to
be focused on restoring governments in countries
that are wracked by civil war. It is both an expression of a new Arab determination to sort out the
region’s issues themselves matched by a new sense
that relying in particular on the Americans to come
to the rescue will not work. The post-Iraq faltering
American military commitment to the region has
led to Washington’s refusal to act over the Syrian
government’s use of chemical weapons on its own
people, America’s minimal commitment in Iraq
and the Obama administration’s refusal to support
action in Libya, which have all helped build a welcome determination that the Arabs have to be able
to act on their own. In addition to restoring order,
the immediate context of the new Joint force is to
resist Iranian expansionism and some of the possible actions may be designed to reinforce an Arab
solution for Arab countries. But one glaring case
where the new force will not be used is the Arab
world’s longest struggle in Palestine. It is certain
that the new force will not be directed to march
into occupied Jerusalem, regardless of Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued
occupation of Palestinian territory. There are limits to the new Arab activism.
COURTESY : AL-JAZEERA
Northeast Asia’s shared destiny 'India needs to
step up research
W
in photonics'
BY CHRISTOPHER R. HILL
hen the foreign ministers of China, South
Korea and Japan convened in Seoul last
week to discuss potential cooperation on
a range of issues — from counterterrorism to air
pollution — it was the first time they had met in
nearly three years. But, beyond agreeing to hold a
trilateral summit at the “earliest convenient time”,
the key question that all three face remains unresolved: Will they manage to settle — or at least set
aside — their territorial and historical disputes in
order to advance their common interests?
China certainly hopes so, at least with regard to
its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), a
thinly veiled effort to promote and stimulate China’s construction industry. But, on this front, Japan
and South Korea were reticent, politely agreeing to
study China’s invitation to join the AIIB. Both countries recognize the implications of participating in
an initiative that undermines the Asian Development Bank and even the World Bank, though South
Korea has now announced its intention to join.
The AIIB is envisioned as a kind of throwback
development bank, one that launches infrastructure projects with little red tape and no consideration of social or environmental factors. But, if
the AIIB is to achieve its ambitious goals, which
include a modern recreation of the ancient Silk
Road trade route to Europe, China will have to
overcome more than its neighbours’ reluctance. It
will also have to contend with its citizens’ growing
impatience with grandiose visions.
For the Chinese public, massive collective endeavours are simply not as important as, say, sidewalks and buses that enable their children to get
to school safely. As China’s urban sprawl increasingly turns what once had been short, simple trips
into long, dangerous odysseys, managing such
demands is requiring a growing proportion of the
government’s attention. The Chinese authorities
are also struggling to cope with the conflicting impulses of their growing national-security state. In
recent years, China has taken most of its regional
relationships for granted, acting unilaterally in
ways that raised tensions with its neighbours.
China can repair these relationships – but only if
it can navigate the historical issues in which many
of today’s conflicts are rooted.
Given the depth of these issues, China’s longoverdue trilateral discussions with Japan and
South Korea must be about more than development cooperation or even counterterrorism. They
must aim to cultivate a sense that the three countries, however incompatible they may seem, share
a common destiny. Indeed, their futures will be
just as intertwined as their pasts were. The sooner
these countries’ leaders recognise this and take
responsibility for their common future, the better their chances of escaping, once and for all, the
conflict and resentment of the past. In this effort,
each country will have a role to play. For Japan,
the imperative is to continue to be an engine of
development as it builds a post-industrial economy that, given its aging and shrinking population,
is increasingly dependent on others. Already, Ja-
pan’s iconic brand names have become more internationalised than ever before.
Meanwhile, Japan’s political system, like many
others around the world, must reconcile domestic
demands with diplomatic relationship-building
— no easy feat, as rising nationalism raises suspicions among the country’s neighbours. Japan
must also meet the expectations of its more distant allies, especially the US, so that it can assume
a larger, more sustained role in global governance.
South Korea, as usual, is caught in the middle.
Historically, when China and Japan were not tormenting each other, they were tormenting Korea.
Given how deeply these experiences have affected
Koreans, they should be forgiven if they appear at
times to dwell excessively on old wrongs, especially those committed by Japan during Second World
War. But deep historical resentments should not
obscure the fact that South Korea is facing many
of the same challenges as Japan. Faced with demographic decline, it, too, is attempting to shift
towards a more internationalised post-industrial
economy. In this sense, the two countries have
much to offer each other.
China’s role is more complicated — not least
because of its apparent competition with the US
for regional influence. Indeed, though the US encouraged the trilateral meeting, it seems to worry
that successful cooperation would undermine
its ability to contain an increasingly powerful
China and protect its own interests in Asia. The
US should not be concerned. China understands
that it stands to benefit more from a dynamic and
prosperous US economy than from fishing rights
in the South China Sea or control of uninhabited
rocks and outcroppings in the East China Sea.
Clearly, this benefits America’s allies, Japan and
South Korea. They know that the US gives them
leverage in their dealings with China, not only in
discouraging its increasingly bold security posture,
but also in advancing mutually beneficial economic
and investment ties with their giant neighbour. In
short, cooperation among China, Japan and South
Korea is vital to secure their long-term shared future. But it can be effective only if they focus on the
right issues — and that does not mean the AIIB.
What these three countries, together with the US,
should focus on is mitigating the threat posed by
North Korea. To this end, they must address an issue that was left out of the latest discussions: The
American Thaad missile-defence system to protect
South Korea from rogue North Korean launches.
As it stands, the Thaad system is causing much
consternation in China. But it is under discussion
for good reason. Indeed, as South Korean media
speculated about whether the Chinese, Japanese,
and South Korean foreign ministers had discussed
the shield, a North Korean diplomat spoke proudly
of his country’s success in marrying a nuclear device to a missile. The timing of the boast was probably not intentional. Nonetheless, it was a useful
reminder of the North’s idea of regional relations
— and of why the “earliest convenient time” for a
trilateral summit cannot come soon enough.
COURTESY : GULF NEWS
BY SHARON THAMBALA
I
ndia needs to step up research in photonics, which
will help it solve several problems ranging from lack
of adequate communications in rural areas to reliable supply of water, says a pioneer in the realm.
Photonics is the marriage of light sciences or photonics with electronics. The entire Internet is based on optical technology and all the heavy lifting of the Internet
is through fibres buried in the ground and under the
oceans, says David Payne, director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton.
An acknowledged leader in the field, Payne says in
India it is being looked at in only some pockets. The
IITs have done quite a lot of work in photonics, which
is growing. But these "pockets of excellence" need to
expand. "India has been slow to get on the photonics
bandwagon," Payne told IANS at recently concluded
IIT-Roorkee's Cognizance festival. Payne said photonics has the potential to solve many of India's problems.
"It has solutions for water, energy, communication to
the villages and access to the villages" Payne says, adding that "it's almost essential now to do anything."
If the country has a problem like water leakages from
pipes, photonics can help detect such leakages and thus
help both conservation and reliable supply.
Research in the field saw hectic developments with
the invention of the laser in 1960s and now photonics even encompasses the optical fibres where light or
photons carries the information instead of regular wire,
where electrons do the work.
India also needs photonics as the country is the
world's largest importer of defence products, Payne
said. Target designators, range finders or smart weapons, all work with photonics. Photonics also has a role
to play in high energy physics, energy generation and
nuclear fusion.
"There are fibres on the International Space Station,
there are fibres on Mars, there are fibres on the Moon,
all doing sensing applications. The latest Moon Rover
and Mars Rover are firing lasers on the rocks and examining the plumes for analysing what it is made of. These
are some of the examples of the power of optics or photonics," added Payne. UNESCO has declared the 21st
century as the century of light; the last century was the
century of electronics which saw massive developments
in computers, laptops, microprocessors and software
among others, said Payne.
The present centure is expected to see big advancement in photons for communication and computers.
"There will be massive lasers for cutting and welding.
And creating the conditions at the beginning of the universe can only be done through lasers," he said.
IIT-Roorkee's annual festival Cognizance featured
Ajoy Ghatak, contributor to the field of optics and Bishnu Pal, scientist, Photonics Society of India, along with
Payne. The theme of Cognizance was "Photonizing I"
which IIT-R interpreted as individual empowerment
through the power of light.
IANS
The views expressed in these columns are the writers’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Indian Horizon or its management.-Editor
8
Indian Horizon, Delhi
Nation
News Brief
Medha Patkar to Visit
AP Capital Region Villages
on April 9
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): National Alliance of
People’s Movements (NAPM) has demanded that
the capital of the newly formed Andhra Pradesh
should be built mainly on Government lands and
on lands which are not under cultivation. It demanded that lands on which multiple crops were
gown should be exempted from the Capital region.
Addressing a Media meet at NSS here today,
NAPM State Convenor B Ramakrishnam Raju,
State President of Jana Chaitanya Vedia V Lakshamana Reddy and environmentalist Dr M Babu
Rao said that prominent social worker Medha
Patkar will visit the proposed Capital region villages where multiple crops are grown on April
9 and acquaint herself with the situation of the
farmers there. Same day evening she would address a public meeting at Penumaka village,
where former Minister for Agriculture Vadde
Sobhanadreeswara Rao, local MLA Ramakrishna
Reddy and other leaders of people’s organizations would speak.
They said that the A P Government should give
back the lands taken from farmers under threats,
if they ask for the same. They also said that concentration of all offices and power at one place,
that too in a developed area, might result in regional imbalance and regional agitations. They
demanded the Centre to give up attempts to
re-promulgate the 2013 Land Acquisition Ordinance, which aims at taking away the rights of
farmers, tenants and farm workers.
Naidu seeks people’s
support for building
New Capital
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): Andhra Pradesh chief
minister N Chandrababu Naidu today sought the
cooperation of all people in building up of new
capital for the state.
In a video conference with all districts from the
secretariat here, the chief minister said everybody
should contribute for development of the new
capital city. He said every state government employee should also contribute his one day salary
in every month for this purpose. At least a brick
should be contributed by every person, Naidu
said.
The chief minister said the name of new capital
city would be “Amaravathi” and directed officials
to work for achieving double digit growth.
NABARD sets up separate
TS & AP Offices
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): NABARD has set up
separate offices for the Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh States. On Thursday, it appointed VVV
Sathyanarayana as the Chief General Manager
of Telangana State NABARD and GG Mammen
as Andhra Pradesh NABARD Chief General Manager. NABARD has announced that loan target is
Rs. 14, 074 crores during 2014-15, but it has distributed Rs.16,183 crores. It also announced that
the loan target during 2015-16 is Rs.15, 232 crores.
AP Governor, AP CM
to attend Sru Seeta Rama
Kalyanostavam
Kadapa, Apr 2 (PTI): Governor of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana E S L Narasimhan and AP
CM Chandrababu Naidu are scheduled to participate in the Sri Seeta Rama Kalyanotsavam ritual
at Sri Kodanda Ramaswamy temple and offer
new clothes as well as pearls to the deities, official
sources said here today.
It may be recalled that the AP government had
announced earlier that the official function of the
Seeta Rama Kalyanostvam would be held at the
Sri Kodanda Ramaswamy temple in Ontimitta village.
Meanwhile, all arrangements have been made
to perform Sri Seeta Rama Kalyanotsavam amid
tight security at Ontimitta village of Kadapa district on Thursday night, official sources said.
The administration has made elaborate arrangements to cater to the needs of pilgrims,
besides deploying 3,200 police personal, police
sources said.
Two additional Superintendents of Police, 20
DSPs, 70 circle inspectors, 150 police sub-inspectors and 1,500 police constables have been
deployed besides home guards and head constables, police sources said.
100for100 Foundation to
organise ‘I RUN’
Hyderabad, Apr 3 (PTI): Not-for-profit organisation 100 For 100 Foundation will organise
event ‘I RUN’ on Sunday where participants will
be paid up for taking part in it and can voluntarily
contribute the prize money for various causes.
The run will be held at GMC Balayogi Stadium
at Gachibowli from 7 AM onwards on Sunday, the
Foundation said in a statement today.
In the ‘I RUN’, participants would be paid
based on the distance they complete, if one runs
for 100 metres, he or she will earn Rs 100. They
stand to win a maximum of Rs 2,000 for completing 2000 metres (two kms), it said.
“’I RUN’ is neither a race nor a charity run. Every participant wins here. Of course, there is a
mission and it’s to promote a healthy world and
a healthier soul,” it said.
The maiden event will have 100 participants.
The runner can simply take home the money he
or she earned or give to someone or some institution, organisation, cause one chooses, it added.
Interested participants will have to register
online on website www.100for100.in. Selection
of the candidates for run will be random and in
sponsored cases, it will be based on invitation,
the statement further said.
TS Secretariat employees
seek shift of AP staff
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): Telangana Secretariat Employees today urged their AP counterparts
to work in their own state and premises rather
than continuing to work in T region. The officials
and staff of the AP Government should pave way
for a favourable atmosphere to them to discharge
their duties in T region by shifting to their capital
region and offices, they demanded.
The Telangana Government should take immediate measures, lest we will have to take up another movement, they warned. They also raised
objection that AP officials and staff who ridiculed
and opposed bifurcation, are now overstaying in
their region. They also opposed the officials in finance department for trying to hold supremacy.
The TS Secretariat employees also found fault
with the staff for not willing to shift over to their
capital and offices. Even after nine months of bifurcation, the AP officials and staff are still working in our state, they contended. This is ridiculous
that the AP staff is reluctant to leave Telangana
Secretariat and other offices they are working in
their respective offices, they bemoaned. The AP
officials are deliberately overstaying in our secretariat only to defame TS Government, they deplored.
Three day Lok Satta N C
Meet from today
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): Lok satta party is
organizing its national council meeting for three
days from tomorrow here at Amirpet here. The
meeting would be at R S Brothers building on fifth
floor, according to a release here.
Party’s national president Surendra Srivastav
will preside over the function in which 150 representatives from nine states would participate.
The meeting would begin in the morning with
the speech of founder president Jayaprakash Narayan, said party’s national communication committee chairman Srinivas Alivilli.
On the first day of meeting tomorrow, Lok satta
party’s steering committee would meet in which
detailed discussion would be held on strengthening of the party and its organizational elections issues. Second day meeting would begin with paying tributes to Telangana martyrs at Telangana
martyrs memorial.
On the Final day, the party would take stock of
the political situation prevailing in the states particularly Telantgana and Andhra Pradesh. A strategy would be finalized for the elections to be held
in some states which would be released to media
on April 5, said Srinivas Alivilli.
MS welcomes Shabbir Ali’s
appointment as LoP
Hyderabad, April 2 (INN): Congress MLC MS
Prabhakar has welcomed the appointment of
Mohammed Ali Shabbir as the Leader of the Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council.
Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan
here on Thursday, Prabhakar said that Shabbir Ali fully deserved the post as he was among
the senior most leaders of the Congress party in
Telangana. He said Shabbir Ali was promoted as
Leader of the Party in Legislative Council so as to
give proper representation to the minorities. He
said while the post of TPCC chief and Opposition Leader in Assembly is being given to leaders
of Reddy community, a Dalit has been made the
party’s Working President. Therefore, Shabbir
Ali’s selection for the post of LoP was absolutely
justified.
Prabhakar also slammed a section of media for
publishing false and misleading reports about
MLCs not being happy over Shabbir Ali’s elevation to the post. He alleged that a section of media
has been carrying such stories only to mislead the
people to project the Congress party as a divided
house. He said all the MLCs have welcomed the
decision taken by the Congress High Command.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Tummala-Gadkari
agreed to develop
1018 km NH
RTC employees
strike notice
from Apr 16
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS):
Seeking a speedy decision on
their demand of hike in salaries
on par with state Government
employees in the two states who
are entitled to get 43 per cent fitment, APRTC employees today
warned of taking up strike from
April 16, if the management
failed to take a decision by 15.
The RTC employees forwarded a notice in this regard
to APSRTC Managing Director
giving him two weeks time on
salary hike. The employees will
be forced to go in for a strike
from April 16 if the management
failed to take a decision by 15,
the employees warned. Keeping
in view the 43 per cent fitment
offered by the Telangana Government which was also replicated by the AP Government,
the RTC employees are demanding a similar hike in their
salaries. Also the staff demands
immediate bifurcation of the
RTC assets, officials and staff.
The APSRTC management
should not ignore their demand
of salary hike, else they would
intensify their agitation into a
massive strike, they warned in
the notice handed over to the
MD on Thursday. ‘Ours is just
demand and there is also a need
for speedy bifurcation of the
RTC assets, officials and staff’
they pleaded.
In the wake of the RTC buses
going off the roads for the salary hike on Thursday causing
a lot of problem for daily commuters through RTC buses, the
employees demanded that the
management take a decision in
two weeks time. ‘Otherwise, we
will be compelled to take on to
the streets’ they warned.
Sudden Strike Causes Hardships to Students, Employees
The RTC buses went off the
roads abruptly today, and this
sudden strike created great difficulty for the common man.
With the RTC buses coming to
a halt, SSC students who have
to appear for the examinations,
employees and the teachers suffered a lot. Thousands of commuters were stranded due to
lack of buses.
Taking advantage of the situation, auto-drivers and private
vehicles have jacked up their
fares. At 11 AM, the RTC drivers
took out a rally to the RTC Bus
Bhavan in RTC Cross Roads.
SCR to run special trains
to Kakinada Town
Hyderabad, April 2 (INN): In order to clear extra
rush of Passengers, the South Central Railway will
run four special trains between Hyderabad - Kakinada Town - Secunderabad and Secunderabad
– Kakinada –Town - Hyderabad via., Nalgonda,
Guntur.
As per the schedule, the Train No. 07427 Hyderabad - Kakinada Town Special train will depart Hyderabad at 11:00 pm today i.e., 2nd April
(Thursday) and arrive Kakinada Town at 11:00
am on the next day. In the return direction, Train
No.07202 Kakinada Town - Secunderabad Special train will depart Kakinada Town at 06:30 pm
on 3rd April (Friday) and arrive Secunderabad at
05:10 am on the next day.
Enroute, these special trains will stop at Secunderabad, Nalgonda, Miryalguda, Nadikude, Piduguralla, Sattenapalli, Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru,
Tadepalligudem, Rajahmundry and Samalkot stations in both the directions.
Similarly, the Train No. 07201 Secunderabad Kakinada Town Special train will depart Secunderabad at 11:50 pm on 4th April (Saturday) and
arrive Kakinada Town at 11:00 am on the next day.
In the return direction, Train No.07428 Kakinada
Town - Hyderabad Special train will depart Kakinada Town at 06:30 pm on 5th April (Sunday) and
arrive Hyderabad at 06:00 am on the next day.
Enroute, these special trains will stop at Secunderabad, Nalgonda, Miryalguda, Nadikude, Piduguralla, Sattenapalli, Guntur, Vijayawada, Eluru,
Tadepalligudem, Rajahmundry and Samalkot stations in both the directions.
KCR working for
the rich: TDP
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS):
TDP polit bureau member Ravula Chandrasekhar Rao today
alleged that the TRS government is not bothering about
the poor people and it is work-
CII Andhra Pradesh welcomes
AP new Industrial Policy
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS):
CII Andhra Pradesh welcomed
the much awaited Industrial
Policy of Government of Andhra
Pradesh, which was announced
yesterday by the Chief Minister
N Chandra Babu Naidu.
The initiatives like 100 % reimbursement of stamp duty;
power cost reimbursement @
Rs.1 per unit to industrial units
for a period of five years from the
date of commencement of commercial production; 50% of net
VAT/CST/SGST reimbursement
max up to 7 years; introduction
of single window clearances to
the industrial units; besides others initiatives will be very useful
for industrial growth in the new
state of Andhra Pradesh.
Suresh Chitturi, Chairman, CII
Andhra Pradesh & Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Srinivasa Hatcheries Ltd. mentioned
that with the announcement
of the State Industrial Policy,
Andhra Pradesh is all set for accelerated industrial growth. “CII
and Government of Andhra
Pradesh are aggressively working on industrial promotion
ing in the interests of the rich.
Speaking to media at NTR
trust bhavan here, he said the
government is purchasing fortune cars and lands for rich
people whereas it is fleecing
the poor people by increasing
power tariff, toll gate fee and
VAT on petrol and diesel. The
AP Minister
complaints to Guv
on TS transport tax
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS):
The Andhra Pradesh Transport
Minister S Raghava Rao today
complained to the Governor
E.S.L. Narasimhan about the
Telangana Government imposing entry tax on transport
vehicles from Andhra Pradesh
coming to Telangana, with effect from April One.
The Minister called on the
Governor and explained to him
the difficulties being faced by the
transporters in the state. He told
the Governor that AP also could
impose the tax on vehicles com-
Hyderabad, April 2 (NSS): The Centre has accepted many state pleas, including development
of six state roads into national highways up to
1018 km and setting up of two dry ports in Telangana, according to Roads and Buildings Minister
Tummala Nageshwar Rao.
Addressing a press conference at Secretariat
here today, he said that union Surface Transport
Minister Nithin Gadkari agreed to the demand of
constructing two dry ports in the state to navigate the goods, containers through water ways
that will come up across the country. He said that
Nithin Gadkari agreed for inclusion of river Godavari in the forthcoming “Water Transport Bill”
to be placed in next Parliament session which includes a total of 101 rivers across the country. The
union minister has given an assurance to set up
two dry ports for which places will be found soon,
Nageshwar Rao stated. He said that Gadkari also
positively responded to their plea to connecting
Godavari River with that of Buckingham River to
ensure water transport to Chennai from Basara in
Adilabad district.
The Government will accord top priority to Dry
Ports which will play a key role in the state economy in near future, he said. As per Andhra Pradesh
Reorganization Act, existing state roads should
be connected to national highways by developing them to national standards, he said adding
that the total area of the state roads in Telangana
are comparatively less than that of the AP. Gadkari agreed to develop a highway from southern
Hyderabad connecting Shamshabad to Western
Nagapur for which land pooling was done. Efforts
made by the state government fructified as Gadkari agreed to most of the state appeals, he said.
through a series of domestic and
international road shows and the
announcement of the policy will
certainly add more value to these
road shows. CII will be eager to
work with the State Government
to meet the 2020 policy targets
of increasing the contribution of
manufacturing sector to GSDP to
15%; increase the contribution
of industries to GSDP; attract investment to the tune of two lakh
crores; and create employment
opportunities to the additional
10 lakh people ”, he said.
Chitturi also opined that the
planned industrial development is the need of the hour and
Government of Andhra Pradesh
is rightly following cluster based
approach and also by involving the private sector in the
development process. The infrastructure initiatives through
- Industrial Area Development
Authority, Industrial Corridors,
NIMZ at Chittoor and Prakasam,
Information Technology Investment Regions (ITIR) at Vizag
and Chittoor, Smart Industrial
Township, SEZ’s and Industrial
Parks are most welcome”.
TDP leader wanted to know for
whom the TRS government is
working. Taking a dig at KCR
government, Ravula said the
state government does not belong to a single party and it was
like a coalition government because MLAs and former MLAs
of other political parties were
ing from Telangana, but they
were exercising restraint.
Speaking to the media later,
Rao said that since Hyderabad
is the common capital for both
the States, it is not proper on
the part of Telangana to levy
the tax. He said the Telangana
government was acting in a
manner that caused hardships
to Telugu people.
The transport minister said if
the issue was not resolved, the
state government would take it
up with the Centre. It may be
recalled that a large number
of private bus operators from
Andhra Pradesh have suspended their services to Hyderabad
and other parts of Telangana.
made ministers in KCR cabinet.
Strongly criticizing the suspension of TDP members from
Telangana assembly, the TDP
leader said TRS government
deliberately acted on this issue
and it was afraid that TDP members may embarrass it by raising
public issues in the house.
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9
Gunmen attack university
in northeastern Kenya
Japanese Zen practitioners, “Komuso”, in traditional religious outfit
parade, playing the bamboo flute, or shakuhachi, as cherry blossoms
are in full bloom at Ueno park in Tokyo, Thursday, April 2, 2015. AP/PTI
Three policemen
killed in terrorist
attack in Iran
Tehran, April 2 (IANS) Three
policemen were killed in a terrorist attack in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan on
Thursday, Press TV reported.
The on-duty police officers
were killed when unidentified
gunmen opened fire at a tem-
porary police station, which
was set up for the Nawroz (New
Year) holidays in the city of
Hamidiyeh, a provincial deputy
police chief was quoted as saying.
Iran’s Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps (IRGC) had
claimed in April 2014 to have
busted a major terrorism and
sabotage network in Khuzestan
which is partially populated by
people of Arab ethnicity.
Nairobi, Apr 2 (AP) Gunmen attacked a college campus in northeast Kenya today, opening fire in
dormitories and killing at least 15
people and wounding 29 others,
witnesses said.
The attack bore the hallmarks of
a Somali Islamic extremist group.
Augustine Alanga, a 21-year-old
student who survived the attack
at Garissa University College, described a panicked scene as gunshots rang out outside their dormitory in the pre-dawn hours when
most people were still fast asleep.
The shooting became more intense almost immediately, he told
The Associated Press by phone.
The heavy gunfire forced some students to stay indoors as others fled
with gunmen firing at them.He said
he saw at least five heavily armed,
masked gunmen.“I am just now recovering from the pain as I injured
myself while trying to escape. I was
running barefoot,” said Alanga,
who was one of scores of students
who managed to escape through
At least 54 dead in trawler sinking
off Russia’s Far East
Moscow, Apr 2 (AFP) Rescuers were today
searching freezing waters off Russia’s Far
East after a fishing boat sank in the Sea of Okhotsk, possibly after a collision, with the loss
of at least 54 lives.
Some 132 people were on board the trawler Dalny Vostok when it went down, off the
coast of Kamchatka. Sixty-three people were
rescued alive. Fifteen people were still miss-
Suicide blast kills
at least 16 in east
Afghanistan:
officials
ing.Surviving victims were still awaiting evacuation to hospitals after a helicopter failed to
pick them up on the first attempt and had to
return to base for more fuel, an emergency
ministry spokeswoman said.
“Nine people are in a grave condition,
some are unconscious and some in a state
of shock,” said Tatyana Yukhmanova,
spokeswoman for the ministry in the KaKhost, Apr 2 (AFP) A suicide
bomber today killed at least 16
people and wounded around 40
others, including a prominent
Afghan lawmaker, in an attack
on an anti-corruption protest
outside the residence of the
governor of restive Khost province, officials said.The attack
Indian dies in Australia
after falling from balcony
Sydney, April 2 (IANS)
An Indian IT professional died on Thursday
after falling from the
third-floor balcony of an
apartment in this Australian city, police said.
Pankaj Saw, 29, an IT
analyst, was talking to
his wife in India on the
phone when he plunged
about 10 metres to the
ground at the apartments block in Macquarie Park about 1 a.m. on
Thursday, the Sydney
Morning Herald reported.
A New South Wales
police
spokesperson
said investigators believed the Indian national’s death was a result of
“misadventure”, and initial investigations sug-
Indian Horizon Delhi
International
gested there might have
been “some fault with
the balcony”.Saw suffered critical head and
internal injuries, and
died at the scene.
Saw worked as a systems support analyst for
an Indian IT firm, Tech
Mahindra, which has
offices in North Sydney
and Chatswood, and
carries out outsourcing
work for Optus.
His manager, Karen
Waller, said Saw had
only recently returned
from India after his marriage.
Saw is believed to have
returned to Australia on
his own, and was staying
with friends ahead of his
wife joining him in Australia at a later date.
barb-wire fencing.At the time the
attack started, morning prayers
were underway at the university
mosque, where students were not
attacked, he said.A mortuary attendant in the town of Garissa says at
least 15 people have been killed and
at some 60 were injured. The attendant saw the casualties arrive by
ambulance. He spoke on condition
of anonymity because he was not
authorised to speak to the press.
Some of the more serious wounded
were being flown to Nairobi, the
capital, authorities said.
The National Disaster Operations Centre said on Twitter that
three of four dorms have been
evacuated, with the gunmen cornered in one dorm.No further details were immediately available
and Kenya Defence Forces have
surrounded the area, journalists
said, impeding their access.Terrified students streamed out of
buildings, some young men shirtless, as arriving police officers hunkered down, taking cover.
mchatka region, which is taking part in the
operation.“Although they were wearing wetsuits, they suffered hypothermia because the
water temperature is around zero degrees
Celsius,” she told AFP.She said the rescue efforts would continue until nightfall at which
point they would be scaled down with the
search continuing with the use of projectors.Those survivors in the most serious
condition were to be taken by a helicopter
to Magadan, a city which lies 250 kilometres to the north in the sparsely populated
region.Others were waiting for a large depot
comes just a week after Washington announced it would not
be halving the 9,800 US troops
still in Afghanistan by the end of
the year, backpedalling on previous plans.
The Taliban, waging a deadly
insurgency since they were
ousted from power in late 2001,
Cairo Apr 2 (PTI): Jihadists in
Egypt`s Sinai killed 15 soldiers and
two civilians in attacks on checkpoints on Thursday, security officials said, the deadliest in months
despite a massive army campaign
against the insurgents. The gunmen, believed to be members of the
Islamic State group`s Egypt branch,
simultaneously opened fire with assault rifles and grenade launchers at
five checkpoints in the restive north
of the peninsula, the security officials said.
Medics confirmed 15 soldiers and
two civilians were killed in the attacks.Military sources said 15 militants also died in an exchange of fire
warned that the announcement
would damage any prospects
of peace talks as they vowed to
continue fighting.
“Today morning, a suicide attack was carried out by the enemies of peace and stability of Afghanistan at a rally in the city of
Khost, in which 16 people were
Western diplomat cautioned “the
conclusion is far from being imminent.” And German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier cancelled
a planned trip to the Baltics to stay
at the talks in Switzerland.In a sign
that eight days of negotiations may
be drawing to a close, Zarif said he
and EU foreign policy chief Federica
Mogherini would make a “joint declaration” to the press if everyone was in
agreement.
“But the text still has to be worked
on,” he said.
After 18 months of intense negotiations, the six world powers and Iran
are hoping to pin down the main contours of a deal to put a nuclear bomb
out of Iran’s reach.
The aim is to turn this into a comprehensive accord backed by specific
technical commitments by June 30
when an interim deal struck in November 2013 expires.After just a few
Egypt jihadists kill 15 soldiers
and two civilians in Sinai
but the toll could not be verified by
medics.It was the deadliest attack
in Sinai since suicide car bombers
and gunmen killed more than 30
soldiers at a military base in North
Sinai`s capital El-Arish in January, prompting Egypt`s president
to shakeup the military command.
The army has since claimed it killed
more than 170 militants in air strikes
and ambushes.
Thursday`s attacks suggested the
jihadists were still capable of conducting large scale attacks in broad
daylight despite a massive army
deployment.In a separate incident,
a mortar shell fell on a house east
of El-Arish, wounding three civil-
ians, police and health officials said.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis -- Partisans of
Jerusalem in English -- changed its
name last year to the Sinai Province
after pledging allegiance to IS, which
controls territory in Iraq and Syria.
The group, which has claimed
several sophisticated attacks in Sinai
and the Nile valley, now wants to
establish a province of the self-declared IS “caliphate”.After the army
ousted Islamist president Mohamed
Morsi in July 2013, militants claimed
a string of deadly attacks against
security forces which they claimed
were in retaliation for a deadly
government crackdown against Islamists.
Al Qaeda attacks Yemeni city,
frees 300 prisoners
Sanaa, April 2 (IANS) The
terrorist group Al Qaeda in the
Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) on
Thursday launched a massive
assault on al-Mukalla, the capital city of the eastern Yemeni
province of Hadramaut, and
freed 300 prisoners from the
central prison.Dozens of AQAP
fighters simultaneously at-
tacked six military positions and
several provincial government
offices, as well as three state
banks and the main provincial
prison, security force sources
told Efe news agency.The sources explained that the jihadis attacked the Republican Palace,
the local residence of the president when he is in the region,
with explosives, machine guns
and grenades.During the attack
on the central prison, four prison guards were killed along with
five prisoners and three assailants, according to the sources.
Dozens of the 300 freed convicts
are Al Qaeda members, including the group’s leader, Khaled
Said Batarfi, the sources added.
America’s
Golden State
of California
to have water
rationing
courses to reduce usage by
25 percent.
“It’s a different world,”
state Governor Jerry Brown
Brown said on Wednesday
as he issued an executive order asking cities and towns
across California to cut usage by about 325,000 gallons
over the next nine months.
Officially nicknamed the
Golden State for its clear,
golden coastal sunsets over
the Pacific, California, where
gold was discovered in 1848,
is home to America’s rich
and Hollywood stars.“We’re
in a new era,” Brown told
reporters. “The idea of your
nice little green grass getting lots of water every day...
that’s going to be a thing
of the past.”“This historic
drought demands unprecedented action,” he said
standing on a patch of dry,
brown grass in the Sierra
Nevada mountains that is
usually blanketed by up to
five feet of snow, according
to CNN.The action comes as
the Sierra Nevada snowpack,
which Californians rely on
heavily during the summer
for their water needs, is near
a record low.
Washington,
April
2
(IANS) Faced by its worst
drought in history, America’s richest state of California has imposed mandatory
water restrictions requiring
residents, businesses, farms
and even its expansive golf
ship with an onboard hospital to arrive.The
trawler, a 5,700-ton, 104-metre-long factory
ship designed to carry several dozen sailors
on fishing trips over several months, had a
multinational crew.
Russian investigators said it included 78
Russian citizens, 42 Myanmar nationals, five
from Vanuatu, three Latvians and four Ukrainians, without elaborating on the nationality of those who died.The bodies would be
brought to the port of Korsakov in the Sakhalin region, Russian agencies said, quoting
emergency ministry representatives.
‘’Progress’’ at Iran nuke
talks after all-night haggling
Lausanne, Apr 2 (AFP) Weary negotiators hoped to see the light at the
end of the tunnel today after talking
until dawn, but cautioned they were
still haggling over the last details to
clinch a ground-breaking Iran nuclear
deal.
US Secretary of State John Kerry
and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif talked through the
night, going line by line over their differences in a bid to seal the outlines of
a framework accord to cut back Iran’s
nuclear ambitions, diplomats close to
the talks said.
They made “significant progress,”
but there is no “final result yet,” Zarif
told reporters at the luxury lakeside
Lausanne hotel hosting the marathon
negotiations for the past eight days.
The six powers “have to examine
among themselves the results of the
negotiations. We don’t know yet the
result of those discussions.” But a
Friday, April 3, 2015
martyred, and 40 others were
wounded,” said Abduljabar
Naeemi, the acting governor of
eastern Khost province, which
borders Pakistan.Humayoun
Humayoun, a well-known
MP from Khost province, was
wounded in the explosion, he
added in his statement.
Yemen’s Houthis take Aden’s
centre in blow to Saudi campaign
Aden Apr 2 (PTI): Yemen`s
Houthi fighters and their allies
seized a central Aden district
on Thursday, residents said,
striking a heavy blow to the
Saudi-led coalition which has
waged a week of air strikes to
try to stem advances by the
Iran-allied Shi`ite group.
The southern port city has
been the last major holdout
of fighters loyal to the Saudibacked President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi, who fled Aden
a week ago and has watched
from Riyadh as the vestiges of
his authority have crumbled.
The Houthis, who took control of the capital Sanaa six
hours sleep, the six world powers -Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- were back
at the negotiating table.
The stakes were very high, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said,
adding that at issue was the question
of non- proliferation, and “Iran’s reintegration into the international community.”
Under the interim 2013 accord,
which has been extended twice and
which expires on June 30, Iran froze
certain nuclear activities in return
for minor sanctions relief.Success in
Lausanne would end a 12-year-old
standoff.
Failure may set the United States
and Israel on a road to military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive.The
White House said the talks were still
“productive” and progress was being
made.
“But if we are in a situation where
we sense that the talks have stalled
then yes, the United States and the international community is prepared to
walk away,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
Israeli forces arrest
Palestinian lawmaker
Ramallah/Jerusalem, April 2
(IANS) Israel on Thursday arrested a member of the Palestinian parliament in the West
Bank city of Ramallah, official
Palestinian sources told Xinhua news agency.
The Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) confirmed the arrest,
saying the lawmaker, Jarrar, is
“a leader in the terror organisation of the Popular Front of
the Liberation of Palestine”.
Jarrar is a leading figure
in the Palestinian organisation.According to Palestinian
sources, Israeli soldiers broke
into the house of Jarrar and arrested her.The soldiers seized
two laptops and a mobile
phone in the raid, the sources
added.
The IDF said in a statement
that Jarrar has “actively supported and encouraged terror
activities over recent months”.
“Jarrar’s detention is based
on substantial concerns for
the security and safety of the
region,” the statement said.
Israel is now holding 16 Palestinian members of parliament in prison; most of them
are Hamas representatives.
Also on Thursday, the IDF
announced that it has arrested
12 “wanted” Palestinians in
the West Bank.
months ago in alliance with
supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have
weathered eight days of air
strikes by a Saudi-led regional
coalition which aims to return
Hadi to power.
Residents of Aden`s central
Crater district said Houthi
fighters and their allies were in
control of the neighbourhood
by midday on Thursday, deploying tanks and foot patrols
through its otherwise empty
streets after heavy fighting in
the morning.It was the first
time fighting on the ground
had reached so deeply into
central Aden.
Lal Masjid case:
arrest warrant issued
against Musharraf
Islamabad,
Apr 2 (PTI) A
non-bailable
arrest warrant
was issued today against former Pakistani
dictator Pervez
Musharraf by a
court here for
repeatedly failing to appear in the 2007 murder
case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi.
An Islamabad district and sessions court judge
rejected Musharraf’s pleas for exemption from
appearance and issued the non-bailable arrest
warrant against the former president. The court
adjourned the hearing till April 27.71-year-old
Musharraf is living with his daughter in Karachi where he underwent a medical check-up
yesterday.
The case was registered against Musharraf for
the murder of the cleric and his mother during the Red Mosque operation of 2007. Ghazi
was killed when army commandos stormed the
mosque in the capital on Musharraf’s orders.
Musharraf was nominated in the case but he
never appeared in court, citing health and security reasons.The ex-army chief is facing a slew
of court cases after returning from five years of
self-exile in Dubai to contest the general elections in 2013 which he lost.
Musharraf is already facing murder charges
in the case of former premier Benazir Bhutto
who was assassinated in 2007. He is on bail in
the case.He has also been indicted in a high
treason case in March last year for suspending,
subverting and abrogating the Constitution and
imposing an emergency in Pakistan in November 2007, the first army chief to face such a prosecution. He has also been charged in the judges’
detention case.Musharraf came to power in a
bloodless coup in 1999, deposing then-prime
minister Nawaz Sharif.
Facing impeachment following elections in
2008, Musharraf resigned as president and went
into self-imposed exile in Dubai.
10
Business
Indian Horizon Delhi
Friday, April 3, 2015
Rajan ‘perfect’; RBI, government
think on similar lines: Modi
Mumbai Apr 2 (PTI): Amid a widespread perception about differences
between RBI and the government,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
Thursday praised Governor Raghuram Rajan for being “perfect” in
explaining to him complex economic
issues and said there was similarity
in thinking on both the sides.
Stating that Rajan would explain
implications of RBI’s policies in
“just three-four slides”, Modi also
said that he must have been a very
good ‘teacher’ in the past. Rajan,
who has been Professor of Finance
at University of Chicago and joined
RBI as its Governor in September
2013, said on his part that there
has always been a “constructive
dialogue” between RBI and the
government. There have been talks
from time to time about differences
between the central bank and the
government on a range of issues
including on inflation and interest
rates. While the government and
RBI have always maintained that
there were ‘no differences’ between
them, some proposals in this year’s
Budget indicated shifting certain
functions out of the central bank’s
ambit including on the public debt
management. Speaking at a function to mark 80 years of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI), Modi expressed
satisfaction over the role played by
the central bank under Rajan.
“There is lot of similarity between
the thinking of the RBI and government... This is absolutely essential.
As a representative of the government, I express my satisfaction. RBI
is performing its role and I congratulate Raghuram ji and his team,” he
said. At the same function, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley also congratu-
lated Rajan, his team and past RBI
Governors for their contribution
in making the country’s economy
resilient. Recalling his bi-monthly
meetings with Rajan, Modi said he
is “perfect” in explaining the implications of the policies and would
do so in just three-four slides. Modi
said he himself was not adept at understanding economic issues, but as
the Prime Minister he had to learn
and understand complex issues.
In his address, Rajan said: “There
has always been a constructive dialogue between the Government and
the Bank, informed by their respective time horizons and attitudes towards risk. “And history records that
successive governments have invariably appreciated the wisdom of the
Reserve Bank’s counsel.” Underscoring the need to nurture strong
institutions like RBI, Rajan said,
“Strong national institutions are
hard to build. Therefore existing ones
should be nurtured from the outside,
and constantly rejuvenated from the
inside, for there are precious few of
them.” Jaitley also lauded RBI’s efforts in improving macro- economic
conditions in the last eight decades.
“It is the professionalism and ability
of the central bank which has indeed
served the country well. We’re indeed
proud of its performance,” he said.
“Starting from 1935 till on Thursday
, a large part of the country’s sovereign functions rests on shoulders of
the RBI. From management of the
country’s monetary policy, inflation,
rates... (to) banking sector regulator,
manager of public debt... “These are
among the functions which RBI has
undertaken in this 80-year-long journey and performed them in a commendable manner.
Alibaba
finance
arm, Xiaomi
partner in
wearable
payments
Beijing: Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd`s finance arm and smartphone
maker Xiaomi Inc said on Thursday they will jointly develop mobile
payment systems using wearable
technology, a first for China`s major tech firms. Xiaomi and Ant Financial, an Alibaba affiliate which
includes China`s most popular
online payment service Alipay, will
enable the Alipay Wallet mobile
app to link with Xiaomi`s Mi Band
smart fitness bracelet. That will let
users smooth the process of making
payments, bypassing the need for
passwords. Although a small step
for an emergent technology tipped
to eventually replace wallets, the
partnership marks a milestone in
China where the function has thus
far been more pipedream than reality. The Alipay-Mi Band link will
be made available on the current
version of Alipay Wallet for Google
Inc`s Android mobile operating
system, which runs on handsets in-
cluding those of Xiaomi. The next
version will be compatible with
Apple Inc`s iOS. The encrypted link
will avoid potential security pitfalls of near-field communications
(NFC) wireless technology, which
has been criticised for potential
vulnerability to theft and cyber attacks. Apple will use NFC
to allow users to make payments on its Apple Watch,
to be released this month,
rather than on a phone.
Mutual funds near Rs 12 lakh cr
mark in FY15; add Rs 3 lakh cr
New Delhi Apr 2 :Mutual fund (MF) industry’s assets base has surged by nearly
Rs 3 lakh crore in 2014-15 to become a
Rs 12 lakh crore market, mainly driven
by a smart rally in the equity market. In
fact, the MFs’ assets under management
(AUM) hit a record Rs 12.02 lakh crore in
February itself. Fund houses are upbeat
about the industry’s performance for the
current fiscal (2015-16) as equity markets
are expected to continue their momentum, making the segment attractive, industry insiders said.
In 2014-15, the country’s 44 fund
houses together saw a growth of 31 per
cent in their asset base to Rs 11.88 lakh
crore at the end of March 31, 2015, according to data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi)
today. The AUM stood at Rs 9.05 lakh
crore in preceding fiscal and has been
on the rise since 2011-12. The growth
in asset base comes on the back of BSE
Sensex surging around 25 per cent in
the past financial year. “The impressive growth in asset base is due to improved stock market condition and
strong inflows in equity and ‘liquid’ or
‘money market’ segment,” said SBI Mutual Fund Chief Marketing Officer D P
Singh. “The number of investors has
also grown substantially in the past fiscal and a rally in markets and improving economic indicators are expected
to result in a much more broad-based
participation in 2015-16, especially
among retail investors,” he added.
However, Amfi’s decision to put one
per cent cap on upfront commission paid
to distributors may impact the sector, industry insiders said. MFs collect money
from investors and later invest the same
in various market segments, including
stocks, IPOs (primary market) and bonds.
Individually, HDFC MF continued to
retain its top spot with an AUM of Rs 1.62
lakh crore, followed by ICICI Prudential
MF (Rs 1.48 lakh crore), Reliance MF (Rs
1.37 lakh crore), Birla Sun Life MF (Rs 1.2
lakh crore) and UTI MF (Rs 92,751 crore).
The fiscal year, however, saw some exits
in the MF space. Those which have exited
include Daiwa, ING, Morgan Stanley,
Pramerica, Fidelity and Pinebridge.
Indirect tax
collection exceeds target
by Rs 4,000 cr in FY15
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): The collection of indirect taxes
has surpassed the revised estimates by Rs 4,000 crore to
reach Rs 5.46 lakh crore for the fiscal ended March 2015,
despite a slowdown in the manufacturing sector. The total collection as on March 31 is Rs 5,46,479 crore, based
on the provisional report as against revised estimates of
Rs 5,42,325 crore for 2014-15, an official statement said.
Revised estimate was Rs 82,577 lower than the Budget
estimate of Rs 6,24,902 crore for 2014-15. At many occasions earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that
the Rs 6.24 lakh crore indirect tax collection target for
2014-15 is challenging.
The provisional collections during the 2014-15 increased by 9.9 per cent as against the actual collections
during 2013-14, which was Rs 4,97,061 crore. Indirect
tax collection growth is linked to industrial output. The
growth in factory output, as measured by the Index of
Industrial Production (IIP), grew by 2.5 per cent during
April-January period of 2014-15, reflecting the slowdown. However, details of individual categories like
excise and customs are awaited but excess tax mobilisation would help the government in meeting its fiscal
deficit target of 4.1 per cent. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is keen to meet the fiscal deficit target set by his predecessor P Chidambaram.
Nudge staff to give up LPG
subsidy: PM to banks, corporates
Mumbai Apr 2 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday
asked banks and industrial houses
to nudge their employees to give
up subsidised LPG, saying if one
crore people surrender it, an equal
number of poor families would get
the benefit of this clean energy.
Modi had recently launched ‘Give
It Up’ campaign, asking well-off
people to surrender their LPG subsidy. Addressing the 80th anniversary of the Reserve Bank here, he
said so far about two lakh consumers have joined the initiative.
There are about 15.3 crore LPG
consumers in the country. “I believe that our banks should take all
their employees in confidence. Every bank should resolve that their
employees would give up the subsidy. All industrial houses should
decide that their employees would
give up subsidy,” Modi said. The
Prime Minister said that the government’s intention behind the
campaign is not to add to its coffers by saving on subsidy bill, but
to provide LPG cylinders, a clean
energy, to poor households who
use firewood for cooking. “Give
up voluntarily. If one crore people
give up this gas cylinder subsidy...
One crore poor families who burn
firewood, which leads to deforestation, carbon emission (and)
their children grow up in smoke...
The cylinder (subsidy) you give up
should reach to the house of that
poor,” he said.
Since the government started
the new scheme of direct benefit
transfer (DBT) for cooking gas, several persons opted out of the subsidy scheme. Modi also said that
DBT has brought transparency in
cooking gas subsidy which has also
checked leakages in the government support programme. Under the DBT, the subsidy amount
is directly credited into the bank
accounts of consumers even as
they pay full amount for LPG cylinder at the time of purchase. The
government has so far saved Rs
8,000 crore due to subsidy transfer
through DBT. Modi had recently
launched ‘Give It Up’ campaign,
asking well-off people to surrender
their LPG subsidy.
Addressing the 80th anniversary
of the Reserve Bank here, he said
so far about two lakh consumers
have joined the initiative. There
are about 15.3 crore LPG consumers in the country. “I believe that
our banks should take all their employees in confidence. Every bank
should resolve that their employees would give up the subsidy. All
industrial houses should decide
that their employees would give up
subsidy,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that the
government’s intention behind the
campaign is not to add to its coffers by saving on subsidy bill, but
to provide LPG cylinders, a clean
energy, to poor households who
use firewood for cooking. At present, consumers are entitled to 12
refills of 14.2-kg cylinders or 34
refills of five-kg bottles in a year
at subsidised rates. Public sector
oil marketing companies (OMCs)
have given an option to existing
LPG consumers to convert their
current domestic LPG connection
into a non-subsidised domestic
connection. Modi had recently
launched ‘Give It Up’ campaign,
asking well-off people to surrender
their LPG subsidy.
This can be done by submitting
a written request to the distributor
or electronically via www.MyLPG.
In. In 2015-16 Budget estimates,
petroleum subsidy has been
halved to Rs 30,000 crore, from
estimated Rs 60,270 crore, in the
current fiscal. Of Rs 30,000 crore
for next fiscal, Rs 22,000 crore has
been earmarked for LPG subsidy
and the rest is for kerosene.
Foreign fund
inflows hit record
Rs 2.7 lakh cr in FY’15
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): Inflows
from overseas investors hit a record high as they pumped in a
staggering Rs 2.7 lakh crore into
the Indian capital markets last
fiscal, which ended on March 31.
Foreign Institutional Investors
made a net equity investment
of Rs 1.09 lakh crore in 2014-15,
and a further Rs 1.64 lakh crore
into debt markets -- over Rs 2.73
lakh crore in all, as per the latest data with Central Depository
Services Limited (CDSL). This
was the highest net inflow by
FIIs since being allowed to invest
in Indian capital markets (equity
and debt) over two decades ago
in November 1992. The previous
high was in 2012-13, when the
net investment climbed to Rs
1.68 lakh crore.
These investors got re-christened as FPIs or Foreign Portfolio Investors in the current fiscal
under a new regulatory regime
that promises to make it easier for
them to invest in India. They have
emerged as the key drivers of the
market rally here and are likely to
remain so. The FIIs had made a net
infusion of nearly Rs 80,000 crore
into equity markets during 201314, while a record high amount
of Rs 1.4 lakh crore was pumped
in the preceding financial year.
This is the fourth time in history
that net FII inflows for a year have
crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark
and analysts are optimistic about
the current fiscal year as well.
However, they had pulled out
about Rs 28,000 crore from the
debt markets in the 2013-14. According to market analysts, foreign investors remained bullish
on the Indian equities and debt
markets throughout the fiscal
year 2014-15, mainly on account
of several reform measures taken
by the Central government. The
experts believe that the inflows
will remain equally strong or become even better in the current
fiscal in view of Parliament clearing bills related to insurance, coal
allocation and mining as well as
assurances in the Budget to revisit
controversial tax areas like General Anti-Avoidance Rule.
Right time for talks on
India-EU free trade pact:
Commerce Secretary
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): It is the right
time for European Union to resume
negotiations for the free trade pact
from the point where they were left in
2013, but if EU is “more ambitious”,
then there might be “some reservations”, a top Indian official said on
Thursday. “What is the point at which
EU will feel satisfied? In our perspective, we have already arrived at that
point and EU should (also) feel satisfied. If EU has more ambitions which it
believe should be satisfied now, (then)
we might have some reservations,”
Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said
here at a Ficci function. Besides demanding significant duty cuts for exporting automobiles to India, EU wants
tax reduction in wines/spirits and dairy
products as well as a strong intellectual
property regime (IPR) in the country.
On IPR, India has made it clear that
it would not go beyond its WTO obligations on the issue. In May 2013, India
and the 28-nation bloc had failed to
bridge differences over critical differences including data security and visa
liberalisation related matters. After that,
no formal round of talks have been held.
“We have not spoken for some time now
in a formal sense. Informally, we have
been getting messages through public
announcements that EU is interested in
taking up the process forward. This has
been said on our side that we find it very
interesting to pursue India-EU BTIA,”
Kher said. India has asked for ‘datasecure’ nation status, a tag which is crucial as it will have a bearing on Indian
IT companies wanting market access
in the EU market. India is among the
nations not considered as data-secure
by the EU. The EU law mandates that
European countries doing outsourcing business with countries that are
not certified as data secure must follow
stringent contractual obligations. This
increases operating costs and affects
competitiveness.
India and EU are negotiating Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement
(BTIA) that will include trade in goods,
services and investments since June
2007. Recently, the European Union
sought a political push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restart the stalled
talks for the agreement and had expressed readiness to adopt flexibility to
iron out differences on crucial issues.
Kher said the textile sector would be
one of the major beneficiaries of this
agreement among others.
RBI chief says banks too
exposed to infrastructure
Mumbai Apr 2 (PTI): The Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) chief said on
Thursday the country`s push to build
infrastructure should not come at the
expense of financial stability, adding
banks already had too much exposure
to the sector. Instead, Governor Raghuram Rajan said, India needed to
find new sources of funding for infrastructure so that debt levels remained
“moderate”. The comments, at a financial event organised by the RBI
that was attended by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, come as the government says it wants $1 trillion invested
in infrastructure in the five years to
2017, with half of the funding coming
from private companies.
“The nation has enormous financing needs in infrastructure, and far
too many of our banks already have
too much exposure,” Rajan said. “Big
corporate infrastructure players have
also taken too much debt. The required national push to finance infrastructure should not override financial stability, which is key to national
security.” Funding for infrastructure is
expected to pose a challenge to India,
whose banks, especially state-owned
lenders, continue to struggle with
non-performing loans.
The gross bad loans ratio at banks
could rise as high as 5.7 percent by
March 2016 from 4.5 percent last December, rating agency ICRA estimates.
Last year the central bank launched infrastructure bonds, allowing banks to
raise debt and use the proceeds to help
fund the government`s plan to provide affordable housing for all by 2022.
But issuance has been slower than expected due to low trading volumes in
secondary markets. The comments, at
a financial event organised by the RBI
that was attended by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, come as the government says it wants $1 trillion invested
in infrastructure in the five years to
2017, with half of the funding coming
from private companies. Still, the government is pushing ahead with its ambitious infrastructure initiatives, which
it sees as vital for economic growth.
11
Oil prices down in
thin Asian trade
Singapore, Apr 2 (AFP) Oil prices fell
in thin pre-holiday trade in Asia today
after a mixed US stockpiles report,
while talks over crude producer Iran’s
nuclear programme drag on, analysts
said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate fell 52 cents to USD 49.57
while Brent slipped 50 cents to USD
56.60 in late-morning trade. “Prices
have come off with thin volumes ahead
of the holiday tomorrow,” Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC
Markets in Sydney, told AFP. Financial
markets in major crude trading hubs
including Singapore, the United States
and Britain will be closed on Friday for
the long Easter weekend. McCarthy
said dealers are still digesting the latest US Department of Energy’s weekly
petroleum report released Wednesday.
The report, for the week to March 27,
showed another increase in inventories to a new record high of 471.4 million barrels. But it also revealed a slight
decline in US production of 36,000
million barrels per day, ending a long
climb to record output levels that has
contributed to the global supply glut.
“The decline in crude production does
give some hope that the state of oversupply can be brought under control,
and bring about a lift in prices,” McCarthy said. Talks between Iran and
world powers aimed at preventing
Tehran from getting a nuclear bomb
remain in focus, he added. “We are a
few metres... from the finishing line,
but we are well aware that the final metres are the hardest,” French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters, as he arrived late yesterday back in
Switzerland to rejoin the negotiations.
The United States, China, Britain, Russia, France and Germany hope a full
agreement, due to be finalised by June
30, will see Iran scale back its nuclear
capability, which would prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapon.
In return, the diplomatically isolated
Islamic republic, which denies wanting to build a bomb, is demanding the
lifting of sanctions that have strangled
its energy-reliant economy.
Flipkart makes
senior level
appointments
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): Online marketplace Flipkart on Thursday announced
a slew of appointments to its senior
leadership team. The firm appointed
Hari Vasudev as Senior Vice President
(Engineering, IT & Analytics) for Supply
Chain vertical. Vasudev will spearhead
the charter to build innovative supply
chain products and services enabled
by technology, focusing on key areas
such as robotics, mobile, IOT and data
sciences, the firm said in a statement.
Prior to Flipkart, he worked with Yahoo!
as VP & Center Head and played a key
role on a range of end-to-end consumer
products and various platform products in the consumer and advertising
domains. Flipkart appointed Anand KV
as the Senior Vice President Customer
Experience - (Commerce Platform) and
will work on driving the customer experience charter for the marketplace.
Business
Before Flipkart, he spent over 18 years
in the satellite broadcasting and Direct
To Home (DTH) satellite television industry across Middle East, Hong Kong
and India. The eCommerce firm also
announced the appointment of txtWeb
Co-founder Manish Maheshwari as VP
& Head of Seller Ecosystem. Maheshwari
will be responsible for driving key initiatives such as seller acquisition, enablement & growth and helping to beef up
the overall seller ecosystem team. Prior
to founding txtWeb, Maheshwari was
the Head of New Markets, Global Business Division at Intuit, a provider of software products for SMEs and retailers.
Max Healthcare
elevates Rajit Mehta
as MD and CEO
New Delhi: Max Healthcare has elevated Rajit Mehta as its Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer.
He was earlier working as Deputy
Managing Director of the healthcare
provider. Mehta has been associated
with the Max Group for more than 14
years and after being transferred from
Max Life Insurance (MLI) in April 2014,
was working as the Deputy Managing
Director of Max Healthcare (MHC).
“In his new role, Rajit will provide
strategic thinking, dedicated execution
and a sense of confidence to MHC as
the company pursues its growth goals,
explores organic and inorganic growth
opportunities and invests in new capabilities, while sustaining the already high
clinical outcomes,” Max Healthcare said
in a statement. Commenting on the development, Mehta said: “My aspiration
is to work closely with the shareholders,
the board, the leadership team of management and clinicians to take MHC to
even greater heights of sustainable success and accelerate the journey of building an institution that is truly admired
for its values and credibility by genuinely
serving the society.” Max Healthcare, at
present, has 12 hospitals with 1,900 beds
offering services in over 30 medical disciplines. Of this nine facilities are located
in Delhi & NCR and others in Mohali,
Bathinda and Dehradun.
Listed companies
need to have at least
independent woman
director: IiAS
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): To ensure
gender diversity in boardrooms, capital market watchdog Sebi should look
at having at least one independent
woman director in listed companies
over a period of time, according to
proxy advisory firm IiAS. The suggestion comes at a time when many listed
companies are required to comply
with the Sebi’s norm of having at least
woman director on their boards. The
deadline ended on March 31. “Sebi
must change the requirement, over
time, to having at least one independent woman director,” IiAS said on
Thursday . From April 1 onwards, all
listed companies are required to have
at least one woman director on their
boards as per a new Sebi directive, as
also under the Companies Act, 2013.
Indian Horizon Delhi
Friday, April 3, 2015
Sebi proposes including family
trusts, NBFCs in QIB segment
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): Markets
regulator Sebi has proposed including ‘systematically important’
NBFCs and some registered family
trusts in the Qualified Institutional
Buyers (QIB) category, a move that
will put such entities at par with
institutional investors like banks
and mutual funds. Further, the
market watchdog has suggested
that any other entity registered
with Sebi and having a minimum
networth of Rs 500 crore may also
be considered as a QIB. At present, QIBs are defined under Sebi
regulations as those institutional
investors, who are generally per-
ceived to possess expertise and
the financial muscle to evaluate
and invest in capital markets. The
existing QIBs include public financial institutions like scheduled
commercial banks, mutual funds,
foreign institutional investor and
venture capital funds.
In a new proposal, Sebi has said
that the definition of QIBs “may
be extended to include systematically important NBFCs as per
RBI guidelines and family offices/
trusts, subject to such family offices/trust registering itself as Alternate Investment Funds (AIF).” The
Securities and Exchange Board
of India (Sebi) has sought public comments till April 20 for this
proposal, which is part of a draft
paper on setting up an Alternate
Capital Raising platform for startups. The move is aimed at helping
such companies raise funds from
within India and stop their flight
to overseas markets. Under the
proposed alternate capital raising
platform, money should be raised
only from institutions and high
networth individuals by the newage companies having innovative
business model and belonging
to knowledge-based technology
sector. However, retail investors
ONGC plans to invest Rs
40,000 cr in KG oil, gas finds
New Delhi Apr 2 : Stateowned Oil and Natural Gas
Corp (ONGC) will invest
about Rs 40,000 crore in
bringing to production oil
and gas discoveries in its
Krishna Godavari basin
block KG-D5, Chairman
Dinesh K Sarraf said on
Thursday . ONGC is using cluster approach to
bring oil and gas finds in
the block KG-DWN-98/2
or KG-D5, which sits next
to Reliance Industries’ Bay
of Bengal block KG-D6, to
production by 2018-19.
“We plan to submit a
field development plan
(FDP) for the discoveries
by the second quarter. Total investment in eastern
offshore will be over Rs
40,000 crore,” he told PTI
here. This will be the single largest investment by
ONGC at one location. The
block is divided into Northern Discovery Area (NDA)
and Southern Discovery
Area (SDA). Estimated reserves of NDA are 121 million tonnes of oil in place
and 78 billion cubic meter
of initial gas in place, and
that of SDA are 80.9 bcm of
initial gas in place.
ONGC plans to develop
the discoveries in the block
in three clusters -- 14.5 million standard cubic meters
per day of gas for 15 years
from Cluster-1 comprising of D&E finds of NDA in
KG-D5 block and G-4 find
in the a neighbouring area.
Cluster-2A
mainly
comprises of oil finds in
NDA which can produce
75,000 barrels per day
(3.75 million tons per
annum), ONGC Director
(Offshore) Tapas Kumar
Sengupta said. Cluster
2B, which is made up of
four gas finds in NDA, envisages a peak output of
14 mmscmd of gas, with
cumulative production
of 32.5 bcm of gas in 14
years. “We are currently
going ahead with the development of Cluster 2A
and 2B as we do not have
all approvals for Cluster-1
discoveries,” he said.
Oil, he said, is planned
to be produced using a
floating production system
(FPSO). A floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating vessel that receives oil
from subsea, process it,
and stores it until oil can
be offloaded onto a tanker
or ship for transportation
to shore. ONGC plans to
drill 14 oil wells and 10 water injectors in Cluster-2A
and is expected to produce
31.5 million tons of oil in 15
years. “We plan to get first
gas by mid-2018 and first
oil by mid-2019,” he said.
Cluster-3 is the UD-1
gas discovery in SDA.
“UD-1 lies in water depth
of 2400-3200 meters and
there is no technology to
produce from such depths.
“We plan to submit a field
development plan (FDP)
for the discoveries by the
second quarter. Total investment in eastern offshore will be over Rs 40,000
crore,” he told PTI here.
This will be the single largest investment by ONGC
at one location. And so
Cluster-3 is presently not
being pursued for development,” he said. ONGC
and RIL won KG-D5 and
KG-D6 block in the first
round of auction under
New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2000.
RIL began production from
the oil discovery in KG-D6
in September 2008 and put
gas find on production in
April 2009.
would be restricted from investing in such companies. At present,
QIBs are defined under Sebi regulations as those institutional investors, who are generally perceived
to possess expertise and the financial muscle to evaluate and invest
in capital markets. The existing
QIBs include public financial institutions like scheduled commercial banks, mutual funds, foreign
institutional investor and venture
capital funds. The regulator came
out with this proposal after taking
into account suggestions made by
Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) of Sebi.
Jet Airways to provide
seamless travel to
Berlin, Dusseldorf
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI): Private carrier Jet Airways
on Thursday said its customers can now travel seamlessly to the German cities of Berlin and Dusseldorf
via its overseas hub Abu Dhabi. The Mumbai-based
full service carrier has entered into a code-share pact,
which comes into effect from this month with second
largest German carrier airberlin to offer these services. “We are pleased to commence our code-share
partnership with airberlin, offering our guests convenient flight connections to Berlin and Dusseldorf
via Abu Dhabi. We are confident that these flights
will prove to be popular amongst travellers between
India and Germany, not only for business purposes
but tourism as well,” Jet Airways Chief Commercial
Officer Raj Sivakumar said today.
Jet Airways, in which Gulf airline Etihad is a strategic
investment partner with 24 per cent stake has now 21
code-share partners and over a 100 inter-line partners,
the airline said in a release. While code-sharing allows an
airline to book passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to multiple destinations where
it has no presence, an inter-line pact allows an airline
to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated
by the partner airlines. When selling an inter-line ticket,
the operating airline’s own flight numbers are used. Jet
Airways operates 12 daily services to Abu Dhabi from 11
Indian cities. Under the pact, Jet Airways would place its
code (9W) on airberlin’s (AB) daily flights to Berlin (TXL)
and Dusseldorf (DUS) from gateway point Abu Dhabi.
“We look forward to welcoming travellers from India on
board of our airberlin flights from Abu Dhabi to the German capital Berlin and to Dusseldorf, the state capital of
North Rhine-Westphalia, which is one of the most powerful economic regions in Germany. “Our joint guests
will benefit from smooth flight connections and our outstanding product which we are offering on the ground
and in the air,” airberlin’s senior Vice-President.
Greece tells creditors it will
run out of cash on April 9
Greece has told its creditors it
will run out of money on April 9,
making an appeal for more loans
before reforms on which new
disbursements hinge are agreed
and implemented, but the request was rejected, euro zone officials said. The appeal was made
by Athens at a teleconference of
euro zone deputy finance ministers on Wednesday organised
to assess how far Athens still was
from meeting the conditions for
unlocking new financial aid.
Greece`s appeal echoed remarks by Interior Minister Nikos
Voutsis on Wednesday that the
country would have to choose
whether to pay back 450 million
euros to the International Monetary Fund on April 9th or pay
salaries and pensions. He said it
would choose the latter.
A government spokesman later
denied that Greece would miss
the IMF repayment deadline. But
the choice Athens said it would
face was repeated at the closed
teleconference with creditors.
Greece can get 7.2 billion euros of
new loans from the euro zone and
the IMF if it implements reforms
that the previous government
agreed would be the condition
for disbursement. The new government does not want to imple-
ment most of these measures
because they go against its election promises of ending budget
consolidation policies. It is now
negotiating a new list of steps that
would keep both sides satisfied.
The Greek representative on the
call said that a deal on the reforms
should not be a “post mortem” for
the country as “there is no way we
can go beyond April 9th”, euro
zone officials said.
He added that holding off with
new loans until a deal with creditors can be reached was unrealistic. But others on the call, including Germany, reiterated that for
Greece to get the reminder of the
240 billion euro bailout, Athens
would have to agree on the reforms and implement them and
there was no chance of releasing
the funds on April 9.
Euro zone officials pointed
out to Greece that it could manage its liquidity by tapping funds
of various entities in the Greek
general government and those
of state-owned companies, even
if it had to pass appropriate laws
to do so if necessary. But Greece
repeated that this would not be
enough to cover both the IMF
repayments and its wage and
pension obligations in April after next week. No resolution
was reached on the call regarding what would happen if the
talks continue beyond April 9.
Greece sent a more detailed list
of planned reforms to institutions representing the creditors
-- the European Commission,
the European Central Bank and
the IMF -- earlier on Wednesday.
But the list was work in progress
and far from satisfactory, representatives of the institutions said
on the call. Some policies, like
social measures, went in the right
direction, while others still lacked
detail or an estimation of how
much they would cost, they said.
Others still, like some measures on tax, the labour market,
a law to allow the payment of
tax debt in instalments or steps
to limit the autonomy of public
revenue administrations, went
clearly against earlier agreed
objectives, officials said. Fiscal
reform assumptions were far
too optimistic, some officials on
the call said. Euro zone officials
said on the call that even though
teams of creditor representatives have been in Athens for
three weeks, useful work went
on only in the last four days and
at this rate reaching a deal by the
end of April was impossible. He
added that holding off with new
loans until a deal with creditors
can be reached was unrealistic.
But others on the call, including Germany, reiterated that for
Greece to get the reminder of the
240 billion euro bailout, Athens
would have to agree on the reforms and implement them and
there was no chance of They said
creditor representatives were
struggling to get information on
the policy intentions of the Geek
government because Greek officials were sometimes unaware
of plans or not allowed to talk
about them. But the list was
work in progress and far from
satisfactory, representatives of
the institutions said on the call.
Some policies, like social measures, went in the right direction,
while others still lacked detail or
an estimation of how much they
would cost, they said.
Euro zone deputy finance ministers and the institutions representing the creditors will hold
further discussions on Greece on
April 8, but it is unlikely that a
deal could be reached by then, officials said. They said the aim was
to have an agreed list of reforms,
including their impact on the
Greek budget by the week of the
next meeting of euro zone finance
ministers on April 24 in Riga.
CRICKET WORLD CUP 2015
Let s know more about it
12
12
Indian Horizon Delhi
Indian HoriFriday, April 3, 2015
Saina in quarters,
Prannoy, Kashyap lose in
Malaysia Open
Kuala Lumpur Apr 2 (PTI):
World No.1 Saina Nehwal
reached the quarter-finals
while men’s singles shuttlers
H.S. Prannoy and Parupalli
Kashyap suffered crushing
defeats in the second round
of the $500,000 Malaysia
Open Superseries Premier at
the Putra Stadium here on
Thursday. Olympic bronze
medallist Saina registered
a facile 21-13, 21-9 win in
30 minutes against Chinese
qualifier Xue Yao in the
second round of the women’s
singles event.
In the last eight stage, the
25-year-old
Hyderabadi,
who currently trains under
Vimal Kumar in Benagluru,
will face World No.15 Sun
Yu. The Chinese worked
hard for her 21-17, 20-22,
21-17 victory over Malaysian
Beiwen Zhang. Prannoy, who
jumped three places to be
14th in the World rankings
on Thursday, lost 15-21,
14-21 in 52 minutes to fivetime World champion Lin
Dan of China. World No.17
and Commonwealth Games
champion Kashyap received
a 10-21, 6-21 thrashing in
35 minutes at the hands of
reigning World champion
Chen Long of China. In
another heartbreak for India,
leading
Indian
women’s
doubles pair of Jwala Gutta
and
Ashwini
Ponnappa
lost 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 in 58
minutes to the Indonesian
pair of Nitya Krishinda
Maheswari and Greysia Polii.
In the quarter-finals, World
No.1 Chen will face Kento
Momota, who crushed Hu
Yun 21-6, 21-9.
India to submit bid for 2024
Olympics to IOC, claim sources
New Delhi Apr 2 (PTI):
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is setting his sight
on the right track in order
to revive sports in India
and
Gujarat’s
capital
Ahmedabad
could
be
pitched in for a bid for the
2024 Olympics. According
to sources, there have
been
developments
of a formal plan being
worked upon to host the
Games
in
Ahmedabad
when the International
Olympic Committee (IOC)
president Thomas Bach,
Has time come for
an Indian coach to
replace Fletcher?
MUMBAI Apr 2 (PTI): “He gives space
and time to the player. He’ll have a chat
with him, the players speak to him like
he is their friend.” This was veteran
opener Virender Sehwag’s assessment
about coach Sanjay Bangar’s impact on
Kings XI Punjab. The franchise made it
to their maiden IPL final last season.
A low-profile person, but a brilliant
man-manager, Bangar has now been
with the Indian team since August last
year, and the word is that both he and
the fielding coach R Sridhar have made
a crucial contribution since they were
added to the set-up. With Duncan
Fletcher’s contract having expired after
India’s semifinal loss to Australia in
the ICC World Cup, should the BCCI
mandarins again look for handing the
reins of the side over to a foreigner? If our
coaches have shown the potential to do
a good job, why not give them a chance?
“Absolutely. There is no question about
it. There are a lot of advantages with
having an Indian coach. The foreign
coaches only know about the 15 players
who are part of the squad. They have no
idea about fringe players and in fact are
wary of them. Whereas, an Indian coach
would have seen a player, who has been
selected into the Indian team, earlier in
domestic cricket, and that really helps,”
says former India skipper and chief
selector Dilip Vengsarkar. “If an Indian
is good, why not? There is nothing wrong
in it. It is not necessary to have a foreign
coach all the time,” agrees ex-India
stumper Kiran More, who too has served
as chief selector. Team India’s batting
coach Sanjay Bangar describing Ajinkya
Rahane how to do it at team’s practice
session. When John Wright was hired
as the India coach by the BCCI 15 years
ago, it was thought that a foreign coach
would help the team evolve into a more
disciplined outfit, bring in a new training
regimen and be free of bias when it came
to judging the merit of a player. While
the results have been encouraging since
Wright, Greg Chappell, Gary Kirsten and
then Fletcher took charge in this period,
a few critical issues cropped up too.
meets Narendra Modi for
a scheduled official visit
next month. Going by
reports it is expected that
the discussion between
the two dignitaries will be
based on the dates and
hosting the mega event.
Modi has already made it
clear that he wants to work
at the grassroot level to
make India a powerhouse
of sports and this certainly
will be a great step towards
that goal.
Sources also confirmed
that
sports
secretary
Ajit Mohan Sharan has
already had a word and
held discussions with key
IOC officials in this regard.
Though sports officials
still haven’t confirmed any
of the happenings. Brazil
will host the 2016 Olympic
Games while Japan’s capital
city Tokyo will play host to
2020 Summer Games. The
‘Expression of Interest’ to
bid for 2024 Olympics has
already started and India
look eager to ply its trade in
submitting a bid.
The other countries who
have shown their interest
and had already sent their
bids to the IOC to host the
Games are Italy’s Rome,
Germany’s
Hamburg
and USA’s city of Boston.
Kenya’s Nairobi, Morocco’s
Casabianca, Qatar’s Doha,
France’s Paris and Russia’s
St.Petersburg are all in
contention to bid for the
greatest sporting event of
the world. The National
Olympic
Committees
(NOCs) will have to send
the name of their ‘Applicant
Cities’ to the IOC latest by
September 15, 2015 to set
the process in motion for
hosting the Games.
No complaints to
make against anyone:
Mustafa Kamal
New Delhi Apr
2 (PTI) Mustafa
Kamal,
who
on
Wednesday
tendered
his
resignation
from the post of
ICC
president,
said that he was
stepping down on
personal grounds
and had no complaints to make
against anyone, according
to an International Cricket
Council (ICC) press release.
Kamal had announced his
resignation in a brief talk
with the media in Dhaka
over the Cricket World Cup
trophy
presentation
snub
and was critical of the role of
ICC chairman N Srinivasan,
who presented the trophy to
a victorious Australian team
on Sunday, but in a letter to
the ICC he backtracked on
his earlier outburst, in which
he had threatening to expose
“mischievous” designs of some
people who had denied him the
“constitutional right” to hand
over the World Cup trophy.
In his resignation letter to
the ICC Chief Executive David
Richardson, Kamal stated,
“Let the game of cricket under
the leadership of ICC touch
the hearts and minds of every
cricket lover.” The former
Bangladesh
Cricket
Board
chief was very vocal over a
controversial no-ball decision
during World Cup quarterfinal match between India
and Bangladesh, accusing the
on-field umpires of biasness.
In
response
to
Kamal’s
comments, Richardson had to
clarify that Kamal’s comments
were very unfortunate but were
made in his personal capacity.
The incident took an ugly turn
when Kamal quit after the
World Cup trophy was handed
over to Australian captain
Michael Clarke by chairman
Srinivasan in the final which,
according to Kamal, should
have been awarded by him.
Liverpool’s Sterling going nowhere: Rodgers
LONDON
Apr
2
(PTI):
Liverpool manager Brendan
Rodgers declared on Thursday
that Raheem Sterling will not
be leaving the club at the end of
the season after talks over a new
contract broke down. Sterling,
20, has two years left to run on
his contract and is believed to
have rejected a new deal worth
£100,000 ($148,320, 137,710
euros) per week -- a significant
improvement on his current
£35,000-a-week salary.
He said in a BBC interview on
Wednesday that he would not
address his future until the end
of the campaign, but Rodgers is
confident the England
forward will still be at
Anfield for the start of
the 2015-16 season.
“Concentration
should be on his
football,” Rodgers told
a press conference on
Thursday.
“If his ambition is to
win trophies, that’s aligned with
what we do here. Raheem has
two and a half years left on his
deal and he’s not going anywhere
in the summer.”
Rodgers
revealed that the interview with
the BBC had not been sanctioned
by the club, but echoed Sterling’s
wish that he will be left alone
to concentrate on his football.
“There was no permission from
us,” Rodgers added. “He will
learn we all make mistakes in life,
especially when you are young.
“I think the kid has tried
to put off all talk a b o u t
Kevin Pietersen `not on England
radar`, says Peter Moores
London Apr 2 (PTI): Kevin
Pietersen isn`t on the radar
for an England recall, coach
Peter Moores told reporters
on Thursday as his squad
prepared to fly out to the
West
Indies.
Incoming
England and Wales Cricket
Board (ECB) chairman Colin
Graves has suggested that
Pietersen may yet be able to
resurrect his England career,
having been frozen out of the
national set-up a year ago.
The South Africa-born
batsman agreed a return to
Surrey last week in a bid to
enhance his chances of a
recall, but Moores says that
his entire focus is on the three-
Test series in the Caribbean.
“For me, Kevin`s not on this
trip, so I don`t need to focus
on Kevin at all,” Moores
contract and money. For now
hopefully the focus will be on
football. “Liverpool are one of
the superpowers of football and
if the owners don’t want to sell,
they don’t have to.” Sterling
described reported interest in
him from Arsenal -- Liverpool’s
opponents this weekend -- as
“quite flattering”, but the London
club’s manager Arsene Wenger
was reluctant to discuss the
matter. “Raheem Sterling is a top
player, everybody in the country
knows that now. He is a very
important player for Liverpool of
course,” Wenger told his weekly
press conference on Thursday.
ICC World Cup 2015
is biggest ever on
Indian television
MUMBAI Apr 2 (PTI): With 635 million
viewers, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
turned out to be the most watched event
in the history of Indian television. The
cumulative reach of the tournament, till the
semifinals stage, reached an unprecedented
635 million with every second Indian tuning
in to watch the biggest extravaganza of cricket.
A record 309 million Indians (TAM Panel
CS4+ extrapolated to the universe using a
standard conversion factor) tuned in to watch
India’s semifinal clash with Australia on their
televisions, as the two best teams in the world
battled for a berth in the World Cup finals.
The pivotal game was the most-watched
cricket match of the ICC Cricket World Cup
Jwala Gutta slams sports ministry for leaving her out of TOP scheme
NEW DELHI Apr 2 (PTI): India’s
ace doubles shuttler Jwala Gutta
on Thursday slammed the sport
ministry for ignoring her for the
Target Olympic Podium (TOP)
Scheme, saying that she did not
deserve such a treatment from the
government after all the struggle
she had faced to bring laurels to the
country. Jwala, a bronze medallist
along with Ashwini Ponnappa in the
2011 World Championships, said
that she was disappointed to have
been left out of the scheme despite
being a top shuttler all these while.
“I just read news about Ashwini and
my names not being there in TOP
scheme. The only support we had
was of Govt of India and now that
also seems bleak. The players who
are already having lot of corporate
support are in the list and Ashwini
and me not considered. I don’t
know what more to be done. I am
kind of tired, kind of disappointed,”
Jwala said. “If we speak its called
cribbing and if we don’t we will be
just left out. We have struggled so
much to just play doubles even after
the performance which was never
expected but continuously being
discouraged like this by association
and now the govt. How else are we
suppose to motivate ourselves?” she
asked. The TOP scheme identifies
medal prospects from a few sports.
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