BTown's Newbies share their intriguing messages for all the women out there this Women’s Day,

Pyaar Ka Punchanama Girl, Ishita Raj says, “It’s a blessing to be a woman. A woman has known less for the sacrifices she makes and the courage she equips. So let us not make anyone direct us to what we ought to do and let’s just celebrate being US. Shine and Rise!”

Love Aaj Kal 2’s Crush, Pranati Rai Prakash has the cutest message ever, "Dear Women, Be yourself- fiercely and unapologetically. Live free, give yourself the freedom and liberty, enjoy every moment. Make all your dreams come true. I think Women are amazing just the way they are”.

“83” Debutant, Aditi Arya is a youth icon, “A Very Happy Women's Day to all of you, in the last few years, we women have achieved so much, broken so many glass ceilings had the kind of opportunities which only women in past could dream of. There is soo much of the work to be done and it will take a team. This Women's Day, I want all of us girls to empower each other, to take a stand, cut out the absurd comments and just be there for each other”

Mirzapur’s Zarina, Anagsha Biswas’s golden words are here to stay, “Women let’s start this Women's day by Reshaping our Views Opinions and Judgements about other women. Let's be kind good and fair to our own gender. Let's give hypocrisy & jealousy a miss this time around.”

Kartik Purnima’s Lead, Poulomi Das is a sheer woman of substance, “I want to wish all of us Happy International Women's Day, Today we are everywhere where we wanted to be, doing everything we wanted to do. We were given this life because we are smart, strong and brave to live it. We know how to achieve our dreams, but in India as well as a lot of developing countries many women are not where they need to be. Education is the most important thing for us and secondly, our families support. It is my request that, Educate your girls, Support their dreams, talk to them more often. Women have the power to lead the Country. This Women's Day let us support equality!"

Yeh Rishte hai Pyaar ke’s Nidhi Mami aka Sangeeta Kapure is as adorable as on-screen, “Happy Women's Day to all the beautiful women, without you the whole world is incomplete, you make this world a better place to like, thank you soo much for bringing art and life to us.”

Radha Krishna’s Devaki, Falaq Naaz believes in making everyday special, “I believe every day is Women's Day, we don't need a specific day to celebrate it. We are in the 21st Century, where women are equally on the floor with men, there shouldn't be any sort of discrimination for them. Support their dreams and see how they fly."

These riveting experiences surely mark the Gap in Gender Equality and changes in these 25 years of Women Empowerment.

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The restaurant is located at Vasant Square Mall here.

The menu boasts of nutritious and high fibre grains like oats, whole wheat, multi grains, muesli and bran to make a delectable range of sandwiches, cookies, brownies, muffins, et al.

“Indian consumers are getting more and more health conscious and increasingly looking for healthier options. However, healthy and tasty options are not so widely available in India right now. Bagrry’s Health Café, therefore, seeks to fill this vacuum with its healthy, tasty and on-the-go offerings," Aditya Bagri, director, Bagrry’s India, said in a statement.

Bagrry’s QSR aims to revolutionise the fast food space with an all-day menu spanning across breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner options along with beverages.

Key offerings include Muesli pots, which offer individualised and personalised toppings which add to the health quotient; sandwiches and bagels which are made with multigrain options, whole wheat and added bran or oats; brownies and muffins, which are enhanced with whey protein, whole wheat and oats; cold pressed juices, green tea and slim coffee.

The brand aims to set up seven outlets by the end of the year at key locations in Delhi-NCR.

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State Chief Secretary S P Tucker, who inaugurated the event, said the government is keen on changing the British system of education, which churns out "clerks".

"The system also contributes less towards improving the state's human resources," a state government release quoted him as saying.

"PEMANDU will help Andhra Pradesh in thinking, planning and understanding how to fill gaps in a systematic way," he added.

It said that 130 participants from various departments, MSME manufacturing units, SHGs, stakeholders from the organised and unorganised sectors participated on the opening day.

During the first session, discussions were held on how the participation of women entrepreneurs and SHGs can be promoted to have a larger share in the economy by selling their products directly to the buyers, thereby achieving inclusive growth, it said.

The "lab sessions" would also discuss topics including performance management, project delivery and monitoring in the education and retail sectors.

Ravindran Devagunam, Director, PEMANDU said he is excited to be associated with the Andhra Pradesh government and that he is looking forward to being a part of the "lab sessions that will catalyse transformation in the state's economy".

Sanjay Gupta, CEO, AP State Development Planning Society expressed satisfaction on the stakeholders' interest to participate in the labs. He urged other NGOs, experts and stakeholders to be a part of the sessions, the release added.

The PEMANDU comes under Malaysian Prime Minister's Department for cooperation, a state government release issued in December had stated.

The two sides had signed an agreement for cooperation in areas of performance management and monitoring of public programmes, education and retail services.

The NITI Aayog had also signed an MoU with PEMANDU, under which the latter would work with the Centre in rolling out impactful and meaningful public sector initiatives in the national and state level, the release had said.

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New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presents national budget 2016-17 at the Parliament House in New Delhii on Feb, 29, 2016. (Photo: IANS/ Lok Sabha TV)

New Delhi, Feb 29 (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday gave relief to small tax payers, nudged the affluent to shell out more while focusing on the rural economy with much higher fiscal outlays, as he presented India's national budget for 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha.

He also said that people living in rented houses will be eligible for deductions of up to Rs.60,000 now -- up from Rs.24,000. He also said the ceiling of tax rebate for people with income up to Rs.500,000 per annum was being raised to Rs.5,000 from the present Rs.2,000.

But for larger tax payers, he said, the income tax surcharge of 12 percent at present was being hiked to 15 percent for incomes exceeding Rs.1 crore per annum. Suitable changes, Jaitley said, will also be made in customs and excise duty rates to push the "Make in India" programme.

"Tax evasion will be countered strongly," he warned.

Jaitley also said that the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 perecent of GDP for the current fiscal will be met, even as the target for next year has been fixed at 3.5. "Prudence lies in adhering to fiscal targets," he said.

But in a major departure from the past, where government expenditure could be demarcated between productive and administrative expenses, the finance minister said the classigication of plan and non-plan will be done away with from 2017-18.

The minister began his speech saying that India was a bright spot in the global economy in these difficult times. He later outlined his nine focus areas for this annual budget exercise in which rural development took the top slot.

"I am presenting the budget when the global economy is in crisis," Jaitley said in his first set of remarks, adding that India, despite the gloom in the world economy, was turning difficulties into opportunities.

He said India's growth has expanded 7.5 percent, despite slowdown in exports, even as inflation had eased, bringing big relief to the general public. He also said foreign exchange reserves were robust. "Indian growth is at an extraordinary high."

Jaitley said his budget will look at three pillars in right earnest: A prudent fiscal policy, raising domestic demand and carrying out reforms. He also said that farm, rural sector, infrastructure and social sector will be allotted more money.

"Recapitalization of banks also to be done during next fiscal year," he said, as much concern have emerged over the quantum of exposure of Indian scheduled banks in terms of gross non-productive assets, re-cast loans and write-offs, which amounts to Rs.9.5 lakh crore.

He said the nine pillars of this year's budget will be: agriculture, social programmes, rural development, education with skill development, infrastructure, financial reforms, policy reforms in terms of ease of doing business, fiscal discipline and tax reforms.

"A unified agriculture platform to be dedicated to the nation on the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Amebdkar," the finance minister said, amid applause from the benches.

He said the government had targeted agriculture credit of Rs.8.5 lakh crore in 2015-16, which was being enhanced to Rs.9 lakh crore in the next fiscal. He also said that Rs.19,000 crore will be allocated for rural roads development programme.

Overall, Rs.87,765 crore was being allocated for rural development as a whole.

At the same time, Rs.35,984 crore was being allocated for agriculture in the next fiscal. This apart, the outlay under the job guarantee programme was being enhanced to Rs.38,500 crore. These enhanced allocations are capable of transforming villages and towns, Jaitley said.

He said there was also the need to spread digital literacy in rural areas. In addition, Rs.8,500 crore was being allotted towards rural electrification, targeting 100 percent rural electrification by May 1, 2018.

Jaitley also assured that the government intended to double the income of farmers in five years, besides allotting Rs.35,984 crore towards welfare of farmers. The proposals also included universal coverage of cooking gas in the country, with a massive mission towards this aimed at the poor people.

In this regard, he said, the government appreciated the 75 lakh middle class and lower middle class families for willingly giving up cooking gas subsidy.

On health, he said, a new scheme will provide medical cover up to Rs.1 lakh per family,

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Rohtak: People from Jat community stage a demonstration to press for Special Backward Class (SBC) status in Rohtak on Feb 20, 2016. (Photo: IANS)

By Amulya Ganguli

Just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi described MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) as a living monument to the Congress's decades-old neglect of rural distress, the quota system is the fallout of, first, a similar prolonged failure in the fields of employment and education and, secondly, of political chicanery.

Haryana is bearing the brunt of these failures because of the violent agitation by the Jat community for reservations.

Originally envisaged as a gesture for a limited period to the Dalits and Adivasis who suffered social and economic deprivation for many centuries, reservations are now regarded as a pathway to easy official jobs and out-of-turn admissions to government schools and colleges by the backward castes.

In view of these advantages, which over-ride merit, the quota system has become a tool in the hands of vote-hungry politicians for buttressing their support bases.

The prime villain in this respect was prime minister V.P. Singh, who included the backward castes in the quota system in 1990 as a safeguard against being undercut by his rival, Devi Lal.

The Pandora's box was thus opened with more and more communities seeking the benefits of secure jobs in government offices and seats for their children in public educational institutions.

However, it is the stagnant economy and a moribund educational sector which fuelled the demand for preferential treatment. Had the economy prospered and a greater number of jobs been available, there wouldn't have been such a rush for reservations.

A buoyant economy would have created an atmosphere of wellness, encouraging greater public and private investment in the educational sector.

But the 2/3 percent Hindu rate of growth under the Congress's "socialist" regimes till 1991 ensured that the economy limped along, aggravating the unemployment problem and starving the academic sphere of funds.

The post-1991 era of liberalization did not bring about a dramatic improvement in the situation despite the much higher growth rate because the world had entered a period of automated technology where machines did the work of men. Hence the term 'jobless growth'.

Although more jobs were available than before in the services, real estate and infrastructure sectors, they were not enough to satisfy the growing demand, which was caused not only by a rising population but also the limited availability of agricultural land as the farming families grew in numbers.

Needless to say, it is not only the failures on the economic front which added to the appeal of reservations but also an official inability to enforce the population control programme.

The distortion which V.P. Singh introduced in the quota system was to include the relatively well-off, though socially backward, communities like the Yadavs of the Hindi heartland who had considerable clout in the countryside.

Now, the Jats who, like the Yadavs, are an influential group in the countryside are also clamouring for quotas in their favour. Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court described them as a "self-proclaimed socially backward class of citizens" while turning down the Congress-led central government's decision to confer the backward caste status on them before the last general election.

This warping of the system has recently been accentuated by the demand of the Patidars or the Patels of Gujarat for reservations despite being well-placed, both socially and economically.

But the worst example of the skewed nature of reservations was the demand by the Gujjars of north India for relegation from their present backward caste status to that of scheduled tribes or Adivasis.

The reason for this desire to retreat into the company of the Vanvasis or forest-dwellers, as the Adivasis are sometimes called, is the fear of the Gujjars that the entry of Jats into the backward caste category, which has been pending since 1999, will reduce their share of reserved jobs and educational opportunities.

As the judge of a commission which considered their demand said, "earlier the craze was to move forward. Now it is the opposite".

With even the "forward" groups like the Patels demanding affirmative action in their favour, it has been suggested that the quota system should be opened up to include not only the backward castes but also the economically weaker sections of the "forwards" as well.

However, perhaps the best course may be to abolish the reservations altogether, as Hardik Patel, the leader of the Patel agitators said, and let the various communities compete on the basis of merit and not the accident of birth.

Such a step will mean reviving the original goal of reservations which envisaged doing away with them a decade after their introduction in 1950.

The idea of scrapping the quota system has been floated by both proponents of a market economy, who favour a meritocracy, and social conservatives like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who wants a review of the system.

Irrespective of whether Bhagwat's views reflect the longstanding resentment of the upper castes over the bounties offered to the lower castes by reservations, there is little doubt that the quota system is out of place in an open economy with its emphasis on individual enterprise and not family background.

(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at amulyaganguli@gmail.com)

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Vijayawada, Feb 26 (PTI) Sand may henceforth be available free of cost for all construction activity within Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today suggested that sand be henceforth supplied free to all. He mooted the idea while reviewing the vexatious sand mining policy through a video-conference with Ministers and District Collectors here.

"The Chief Minister has in principle decided to supply sand free of cost. Detailed guidelines in this regard will be worked out and notified soon," Ministers P Narayana and P Pulla Rao said after the video-conference.

The Government was considering supplying sand without any restrictions, they said.

Steps would be taken that the free sand was not illegally shipped out of the state, they added.

Illegal sand mining had been thriving in the state for the past few years. The TDP Government, soon after assuming power in June 2014, entrusted the sand mining and selling responsibility to women self-help groups and introduced an online system.

But the system apparently failed as sand continued to be sold at exorbitant prices due to increased construction activity in the state.

Following this, the Government amended relevant mining rules many times in the last couple of years and also decided to review the policy as a whole.

The Chief Minister suddenly came up with the free supply idea today and reportedly told the Ministers and Collectors that Rs 200 crore income the Government was earning could be foregone as a "welfare measure", sources said.

Sand to be available free for construction within AP

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President Pranab Mukherjee. (File Photo: IANS)

Kochi, Feb 26 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that the Indian Penal Code (IPC) requires thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the 21st century.

Inaugurating the valedictory function of 155th anniversary of the IPC which was enacted in 1860, organised by Kerala's directorate of prosecution, he said there is no doubt that the IPC as a premier code for criminal law was a model piece of legislation.

"Nevertheless, it requires a thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the 21st century. The IPC has undergone very few changes in the last one 150 years. Very few crimes have been added to the initial list of crimes and declared punishable. Even now, there are offences in the Code which were enacted by the British to meet their colonial needs," he said.

There are many new offences which have to be properly defined and incorporated in the code, the president noted.

Stressing security of citizens and of property was an essential function of a state and achieved through criminal law, he said its mandate is to punish criminals and prevent recurrence of crime but it also "has to be a reflection of contemporary social consciousness and a faithful mirror of a civilisation underlining the fundamental values on which it rests".

Terming rule of law the cardinal principle of a modern state, he said this has to be upheld at all times, while law enforcing agencies, particularly police force, must fulfil their foremost duty of maintaining law and order, but also go beyond the role a law enforcing body and be a "proactive partner in growth and development".

"The founding fathers of our constitution had conceived inclusiveness, tolerance, self-restraint, honesty, discipline, respect and protection of women, senior citizens and weaker sections as essential ingredients of our democracy. Our police force must incorporate these features in its functioning," he said.

The president said public prosecutors play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law, and also called on them to play a more pro-active role in formulating crime control policies.

IPC needs revision to meet needs of 21st century: President

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No new schemes were announced or fresh taxes levied.

"To meet the plan commitment of 2016-17, I propose to provide Rs.57,905 crore for the state plan outlay. This is 16.96 percent increase over the last year," he said in the assembly.

"This budget proposes no new tax and announcement of no new scheme, this year being an election year. This is allocation for the full year and vote-on-accounts for four months on the expenditure the government will incur till new government is in place," he said.

The finance minister claimed that the Gross Value Added count of the state has grown by 12.02 percent as against the national growth figure of 7.3 percent, while the capital expenditure went up six times from Rs.2.225.75 crore to Rs.15,946.9 crore in the last five years.

The plan expenditure rose over three times from Rs.14,165.16 crore in 2010-11 to Rs.49,956.54 crore in 2015-16.

Mitra said for 2016-17, the budgeted total receipts were Rs 1,59,570.68 crore, and the expenditure Rs 1,59,573.68 crore.

The state tax revenue, however, was lower in the revised budget for 2015-16 that what was proposed in the original budget document. While the revised budget figure stood at Rs.42,919.66 crore, the budgeted amount was Rs.46,496.82 crore.

Mitra said the state's debt burden has gone up to Rs.3.04 lakh crore in the revised budgetary figure, as against the Rs.2.99 lakh core projected in the 2015-16 budget.

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Nellore, Feb 26 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh is set to become an energy surplus state as the Union Power and Coal Piyush Goyal will tomorrow inaugurate a 1,600 MW thermal power project that uses supercritical technology.

The state power generation-run project, which consists two units of 800 MW each, is located at Krishnapatnam in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore district.

Named after former Chief Minister Damodaram Sanjeevaiah and built at a cost of Rs 12,290 crore, the project will be inaugurated in the presence of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

The plant will supply 39 million units of power to the state every day, making Andhra energy surplus, according to Chairman and Managing director of AP Power Generation Corporation (APGenco) K Vijayanand.

"We are currently supplying 155 million units to the state and by March, we can supply another 20 MU. We shall henceforth not have any short-term power purchase agreement. In fact, we can now sell power to others," he told a team of visiting reporters at the project site this afternoon.

An agreement has been signed with Power Trading Corporation for the sale of 500 MW for a year from the plant.

Foundation stone for the third unit of 800 MW capacity will also be laid on the occasion.

"The third unit will be completed in the next three years while another thermal plant of 800 MW capacity will be built at the Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station in Vijayawada.

"Both will cost Rs 5,600 crore each for which necessary environmental clearance has been given by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests," Vijayanand said.

In a first in the country, the supercritical plant at Krishnapatnam gets water for its cooling towers through a specially-laid open channel from the Bay of Bengal, about 5 km away.

"The 175 metres tall cooling tower has been designed by a German professor to withstand heavy winds and cyclones that the region is prone to. A 200-acre green belt has been developed around the plant to protect the environment and it would be expanded," he said.

"Ash that is generated in huge quantities is a matter of concern for the villagers in the region but we have tied up with cement companies for supplying about three tonnes of fly ash daily. The residual ash (bottom ash) will be used for roads and other works," the CMD added.

Goyal to inaugurate 1,600 MW power plant in Andhra Saturday

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(Photo: IANS)

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday asked the central government to suggest ways and means to curb child pornography in its all forms as it ould not be allowed by invoking constitutional guarantee of liberty and freedom of speech and expression.

"Suggest ways and means so that these things are curbed. Innocent children can't be made prey to this kind of painful situations. Nation can't afford to carry on any experiment with its children in the name of liberty and freedom of speech," said a bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh.

The court said this as the government told the court that "as far as the child pornography is concerned, exercise has been undertaken and the central government shall come with the scheme so that appropriate directions in that regard can be issued".

The court said: "What is not permissible under Indian law must be curbed, it is matter of mechanism of doing it.

"Watching pornography or compelling watching pornography can't come with the freedom of expression, speech and thought."

As Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand tried to explain the difficulty that government faced in dealing with the issue, the court said that that watching pornography can't come with the freedom of expression, speech and thought.

Not being clear about the stand being taken by the government, the bench said it didn't understand their stand. "Are you supporting or opposing the plea" for banning child pornography, it asked.

At one point in the course of the hearing, the court sought to make distinction in pornography, obscenity and art saying that "everything that is obscene is not pornography".

"Some people will find the picture of Mona Lisa obscene, others may not," it said.

"Doing it for art purpose is different from some one doing for gains, business.."

Justice Singh said that government will have to draw a line. "You can block the child pornography websites. There has to be ways and means. What has United Kingdom done?"

The court recorded the submission by the senior counsel Vijay Panjwani appearing for the petitioner Kamlesh Vaswani that "watching pornography or being compelled to watch pornography in a public place can never come within concept of freedom of speech or expression or thought as enshrined under article 19(1)(a) of the constitution, for the freedom, as envisaged under the Constitution, is not absolute".

Directing the next hearing of the matter on March 28, the court allowed intervention by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers association seeking "strict measures to prevent distribution and access to pornography including measures regarding file sharing software".

Counsel Mahalakshmi Pavani and Sneha Lakita had further sought the adoption of "various measures towards improvement in the effectiveness of blocking child pornography on the internet and to take measures to eliminate child pornography".

Suggest ways to curb child pornography, SC tells Centre

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Addressing a press conference at the Assam Police headquarters at Ulubari, Sahai said police have so far seized 83 illegal arms including two AK 47 rifles, 810 rounds of ammunition, 47 grenades and 800 gms of explosives from different areas of the state.

"Most of these illegal weapons were seized from Bodoland territorial Areas Districts (BTAD) which consists four districts "Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Udalguri", Sahai said, adding along with the operation to seize illegal weapons, the process of deposition of legal arms had also been started.

He said Assam Police have so far executed 4,000 NBWs and there are 6,000 more such NBWs pending execution.

It may be mentioned here that election to the Assam Legislative Assembly is due in couple of months.

While according to the official records, more than 50 percent of the polling booths in Assam are considered as safe there are 8000 sensitive polling booths in Assam. There are 3,000 hyper sensitive booths in Assam, of which 1,000 are marked as critical.

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CRY, an NGO, also demanded new initiatives to fight hunger and malnutrition and increase immunisation coverage.

"With over 40 percent of child population below age five being stunted, focused investment needs to be carried out for altering the status of under nutrition," CRY said in a statement.

The total child budget had decreased from Rs.81,075.26 crore in 2014-15 to Rs.57,918.51 crore in 2015-16, said CRY.

The organisation also demanded improvement in the Mid-Day Meal scheme, investment of more resources in prevention of crime against children, and initiatives against child labour.

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Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting of the three-day session, Xinhua news agency reported.

Lawmakers passed a draft report on the work of the NPC Standing Committee. It will be submitted to the annual session after mild amendment based on the opinions of lawmakers.

Most lawmakers approved of the Standing Committee's work in the past year, Zhang said.

At the upcoming parliamentary session, the NPC Standing Committee will work with other NPC deputies to accomplish all tasks on the session's agenda, representing public concerns and holding the session according to frugality protocols, he said.

Lawmakers also approved the draft agenda of the annual session, a draft list of candidates for the session's presidium and secretary-general, as well as the list of observers at the session.

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Sukna: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during a press conference at Sukna of Darjeeling District, West Bengal on Nov. 5, 2015. (Photo: IANS)

Kolkata, Feb 26 (IANS) The West Bengal government will take over two closed iconic industrial units - engineering firm Jessop and tyre-maker Dunlop India, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Friday.

Addressing the West Bengal assembly, Banerjee said the government will bring a legislation for the purpose.

The legislation is scheduled to be placed in the house on Saturday.

The opposition has described Banerjee's announcement as an attempt to "hoodwink the people" of the assembly polls bound state.

"We have decided to take over Jessop and Dunlop. We will take steps in this regard, and will also bring a bill," Banerjee said.

The chief minister in this regard referred to the central government asking the Tea Board to take over the management of seven tea gardens owned by Duncan Industries in view of their deteriorating conditions.

Both Jessop and Dunlop are owned by the Kolkata-headquartered Ruia Group.

Contacted for comments, a Ruia Group spokesman said: "We are watching the developments." He refused to make any further comment.

Ridiculing the chief minister's announcement, leader of the opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra said she had no idea about how the takeover of a company was done.

"My apprehension is it is a conspiracy to deny arrears to the workers of the two companies. So far, no step has been taken to pay their dues. Even their provident fund and ESI amounts have not been deposited.

"Now suddenly, at the end of her tenure she has remembered the two companies.It it seems she does not know what takeover means. She is only trying to hoodwink the people," said Mishra.

He said the opposition was ready to extend all help to reopen the two companies.

"But now I have been told there is a business advisory committee meeting at 9.15 a.m. tomorrow (on Saturday) on the proposed legislation for taking over Dunlop and Jessop. If they want to bulldoze everything to get the bill passed, we will take a decision on our stand," said Mishra, of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

India's oldest engineering company, the 228-year old Jessop has in the past built iconic structures like the Howrah Bridge and the Vidyasagar Bridge over the river Hooghly.

Founded in 1788 as Breen and Company, the firm was re-christened Jessop in 1820. The central government took over its management in 1958 and then the company as a whole in 1973. Over the years, the company turned loss-making. In 2003, the government sold its 72 percent stake to Pawan Ruia, who heads the Ruia Group. Ruia turned it into a profit making business within a short time.

However, over the years, it fell into tough times.

Ruia ventured into the tyre industry in 2005 by buying DunlopAIndia Ltd from Manohar Rajaram Chhabria's family in late 2005.

Both of Dunlop's plants at Sahagunj in Hooghly district and Ambattur in Tamil Nadu are shut for quite some time.

The Ruia Group had tried to open both Jessop and Dunlop from time to time, but could not sustain the tempo for long.

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The state government has issued orders banning assembly of four or more people and blocked use of cell phones and internet in northern Gujarat on Sunday, Mehsana District Superintendent of Police Chaitanya Mandlik said on Friday.

The state saw sporadic incidents of violence last week.

The Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti has announced a women's rally in Mehsana city, which is the hub of the Patel community, despite the district administration having refused permission for it.

Mandlik said the prohibitory orders would be in place between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Sunday. Elaborate security arrangements were already being made on Friday.

The authorities in Mehsana have also denied permission for a women's conference that the Samiti has planned.

With no end in sight to the reservation issue, the Patels are trying to revive the agitation through a 'Patidar Ekta Yatra', which began in Saurashtra earlier this week.

At Umiya Mandir, a temple of the community in Jamnagar district, local convener of the Samiti Lalit Vasoya said the agitation had so far been conducted with Gandhian means, but take "the path of Shahid Bhagat Singh" if the government did not heed their demands.

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The total utilization of funds under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) during the current fiscal up to February 25 has been to the tune of Rs.1,746 crore, against a total utilisation during of around Rs.1,059 crore in 2014-15, said the statement after a meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here.

Panchayati Raj Secretary Deo Ranjan Kumar Singh informed that Odisha has come up to 8th position in utilization of funds under MGNREGS from its 12th position in 2014-15.

It has gone ahead of the leading states like Karnataka, Kerala and Maharastra during the current year, he said, adding total utilisation might touch Rs.2,000 crore by end of March 2016.

Padhi directed the departments concerned to bring more projects into the fold of convergence with MGNREGS, and asked them to formulate appropriate project proposals and scale up their activities at the ground level.

Around 6 crore man days have been created up to February 25 against the total man days of 5 crore created during 2014-15. The achievement in this indicator has crossed 85 percent, said the release.

Around 16.93 lakh households have been provided employment during this period which shows an achievement of 89 percent. Participation of women and ST/SC people in man days created has been 95 and 97 percent respectively, it added.

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(Photo: IANS)

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday asked the states' chief secretaries to inform the central government if they have put in place disaster management plan at the state and the district level coupled with making available the personnel to carry out the functions of the state and district disaster management authorities.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh asked the chief secretaries to tell the central government about the "detailed guidelines" framed by them for providing the standards of relief to the affected people by the disaster in the state.

The order came as it was told that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has written on Thursday to all the chief secretaries seeking the details of the guidelines for providing a standard of relief to the disaster affected people.

Giving the chief secretaries three weeks' time to send their replies, the court said a copy would be sent to it also.

The court order came in the course of the hearing of a PIL by lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking the enforcement of the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and special provisions for the widows and orphans of the victims of disasters.

Addressing the court, Bansal said that a decade after the act's enactment, there was no national disaster management plan and the statute's implementation was poor.

"Till date we don't have a national plan under the Disaster Management Act," he said, noting that similarly in the states too there was no state level or district level disaster management plan, despite they being statutorily mandated to put in place the disaster management plan and frame guidelines for providing a standard of relief to the disaster-affected.

Senior counsel Rana Mukherjee, appearing for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told the court that it only made the recommendations and they have no authority to enforce them.

The court directed the next hearing of the matter on April 5.

Furnish details of disaster management plans, SC tells states

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"We have to remain ready for the full spectrum of threats," said the army chief, according to DG ISPR Lt Gen Asim Bajwa.

The exercise involved large-scale integrated manoeuvres of infantry, mechanised, armoured, army aviation and Pakistan Air Force assets.

The scope of the exercise included offensive and defensive manoeuvres by the army to ensure complete dominance of the battlefield, in any conventional war scenario.

The formations and units involved were undergoing the exercises under strenuous field conditions for more than one month, and the final phase of the exercises along with the validation was underway.

"With our current achievements in the ongoing war against terrorism, and our standard of training for conventional warfare, Pakistan Army is the best army in the world," said Gen Sharif while expressing his satisfaction after the conclusion of the exercises.

The large-scale manoeuvres were being conducted by the XXX Corps and XXXI Corps, formations which are tasked with waging war in the deserts of Cholistan and the plains of Punjab, and holding the vital area which connects Pakistan's Punjab and parts of Kashmir.

The area is regarded as having critical strategic importance, and was the site of major battle in both the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars.

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Doctors who operated upon Mithilesh have now appealed for financial help for the second phase of surgery on him to restore his normal looks.

Mithilesh, who hails from Jamshedpur, was troubled by the tumour for the last two decades as he could not even eat properly due to the malady. And his socialising had been reduced to a bare minimum as he used to move around with a towel wrapped around his face to hide the tumour.

A team specially formed at the Narayana Superspeciality Hospital in Howrah removed a one-kg benign bone tumour - called osteoblastoma - from the left side of his face after a marathon 14-hour operation.

Experts in thoracic, anaesthesia, plastic and reconstructive and aesthetic dental surgeries and others chipped in to relieve the youth of his agony.

While the tumour was removed around seven months ago, doctors are now looking forward to restore his normal looks.

"The second phase of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery will try to restore Mithilesh's normal looks.

"Even though the hospital has offered to perform this surgery also free of cost on humanitarian grounds, pre-fabricated and customised implant required for the surgery itself cost around Rs.5 lakh. Funds need to be generated for the same," said Rajdeep Guha, the team's head and a neck surgeon who operated on Mithilesh.

"We appeal to large-hearted individuals and corporates to contribute for this noble cause that will transform Mithilesh's quality of life," said Rakesh Verma, facility director of the Howrah hospital.

"He had no social life and used to wrap a towel around his face. He couldn't eat and breathe properly and was nutritionally poor when he came to us," Guha said.

The turnaround for Mithilesh began when he attended a medical camp organised by the Brahmananda Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Jamshedpur, where he was assessed by a team of doctors from the Howrah hospital.

Given his economic background, the hospital offered to perform the surgery free of cost.

"I was in a lot of pain. I had also lost all hope of leading a normal life again. I wanted to study but couldn't because of the tumour. I have been troubled by the tumour since the age of six. I just wanted the tumour to go and the pain to stop," Mithilesh said.

Mithilesh, meanwhile, says his another unfulfilled wish is to build a house for his mother.

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"This college is a pioneer of modern education in Kerala and is the second oldest college in the country, after the Presidency College of Kolkata, to continuously impart higher education without a break. Starting with 40 students in its 1818 batch, it today has 2400 students, 150 teachers and 60 ministerial staff," said Mukherjee, who arrived earlier on Friday on a two day visit.

He read out the names of the illustrious old students of the college which included one of his predecessors, president K.R Narayanan, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, scholar diplomats K.M.Panikar and K.P.S. Menon, scientist E.C.G. Sudarshan, Justice (rtd) K.T. Thomas amongst others.

Going into the history of the college, Mukherjee said it was in 1813, Col. John Munroe, then dewan of princely Travancore, appointed a commission to inquire into the socio-economic conditions of Syrian Christians in the province and later appealed to the British government in Madras to initiate the process for starting a college in Kottayam.

"CMS College has been the source of strong currents of knowledge and critical inquiry that have moulded the scholastic and socio-cultural landscape of Kerala as well as propelled the state to the forefront of social development," he said.

Mukherjee however noted that there is little room for complacency as higher education is the key to making available a large pool of skilled manpower essential for our economic development.

"Our education system has to be geared up in terms of both quantity and quality. The demands of higher education in our country can be met only if private sector participates equally with the public sector institutions. The private sector has played a key role in higher education in many countries. Top international universities including Harvard, Yale and Stanford are the result of private sector efforts," he said.

He also lauded Kerala's achievements in the field of education and said that the time has now come for the state to show its mettle by becoming a world leader in this field.

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Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Y.P. Singhal said on Friday that the inquiry committee, headed by woman Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Rajshree Singh and comprising two women Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) Bharti Dabas and Surinder Kaur would probe the reported incidents.

Media reports said that the mass gang rapes took place in the early hours of Monday (February 22) and that up to 10 women were sexually assaulted by a group of nearly 40 hooligans during the Jat community's agitation or reservation.

The reports said that the women were pulled out of their cars, stripped and gang-raped in nearby fields. The victims later reached a nearby popular dhaba and sought help.

Media reports said clothes and undergarments of women were found strewn in the area but Haryana Police claimed that these could have fallen out from bags of the commuters who were stopped and chased away by the Jat protestors who set their vehicles on fire later.

Additional Chief Secretary P.K. Das told the media here on Friday that the state government was "very serious about this alleged incident and those found guilty would not be spared".

Das appealed to people to cooperate and provide information without any fear. "The identity of any informer would not be disclosed," Das said.

DGP Singhal denied that police personnel at lower level might be trying to keep a lid on the episode. It was alleged that local police officials told the women victims not to report the matter as nothing would be achieved out of it.

Asked whether the state Women Commission could get the issue investigated of its own, the DGP said: "Any statutory body did not require permission from the government."

Singhal said that if any of the victims of the mass gang rapes wanted to get in touch with the women officers, they would be available on their mobiles. He said that the inquiry team will go and record the statements of the victims wherever the victims were comfortable with.

"We want to get to the bottom of this matter. We have set up an inquiry committee of women officers who will be available in Sonipat. Victims, eyewitnesses or any other person having any information about the incident can contact the committee members," the DGP said.

Haryana Police and the state government on Wednesday denied any incident of "indecent behaviour" and rape of women in Sonipat during the recent agitation.

"Investigations conducted by the Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Devender Singh and Inspector General of Police Paramjit Ahlawat had found the allegations made in the report false and baseless," the DGP claimed earlier.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday took suo moto notice of media reports that some women, who were commuting on the Delhi-Ambala highway (NH-1), were stripped and raped by rioters during the violent Jat agitation for job quota.

Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi said the high court could not sit as a "mute spectator" to the reported incidents and that these needed to be probed by a "premier investigation agency".

The Haryana government also denied that some persons behaved indecently with some women who were travelling in cars near village Kurad in Sonipat district.

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The legislation was adopted after a second reading at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which started on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The government encourages and supports international cooperation on exploration, exploitation and surveys of deep seafloor resources, in addition to boosting joint efforts on environmental protection, scientific research and educational training, according to the legislation.

Exploration and development should be peaceful and cooperative, in addition to protecting the maritime environment and safeguarding the common interests of mankind, it stipulates.

China is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that international seabeds and their resources are the common property of mankind.

The legislation, which will come into force on May 1, also mandates the government to formulate plans and roll out measures to promote scientific and technological research and surveys of resources.

According to the law, the nation will protect the rightful interests of Chinese citizens and organisations in their search for resources and in deep sea surveys.

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Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. (File Photo: IANS)

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The government on Friday said it will not withdraw forces from the Saltoro range heights on the Siachen Glacier despite the human and financial costs, adding it needs to maintain its strategic positions.

"For strategic reasons, the position of Saltoro Range and the highest position we have... strategically, this area is very important for us to man. I know there is a price we are paying for it and I salute our brave soldiers. But I think we need to maintain these positions without hesitation," Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the Lok Sabha.

He was responding to a supplementary by AIADMK member B. Senguttuvan, who sought to know the strategic advantage for stationing Indian troops on the glacier.

"If we vacate these positions and if the enemy occupies them, it will be almost impossible and we will have to lose many more lives to recover them, as was the experience in 1984 when they were not fully occupied," Parrikar said.

"As far as Pakistan is concerned, I do not think anyone in the house will take their word for granted. So, we have to maintain our strategic advantage," he added.

The minister said that by using special cold weather equipment and upgrading continuous supply, the government had managed to cut down on loss of human lives, with the number of soldiers dying in Siachen pegged at around 10 per year.

"The number of losses has been brought down but you cannot totally conquer nature. This incident of avalanche (February 3) was a misfortune. No one could have predicted a complete wall coming down. So, except that, in the last four years, the number of soldiers who lost their lives in the glacier area has come down to an average of 10 per year," he said.

"During the last 33 years, we have lost a total of 915 personnel. This averages to around 28 per year," he added.

Parrikar assured the house that those who work in very difficult areas like the Siachin were properly compensated.

"Once the analysis of the VIIth Pay Commission is available with the defence ministry, which is under examination, we will be able to declare this. There will be an increase. We cannot predict it now as to how much it will be," he said.

Won't withdraw from Siachen: Parrikar

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The notice is returnable on March 4.

The apex court bench of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre also issued notice to three lawyers - Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma - for allegedly interfering in the administration of justice and wilfully violating the February 17 order of the Supreme Court.

While issuing the notice, the court asked counsel Prashant Bhushan - appearing for petitioner Kamini Jaiswal - whether it could look into the request for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) when the matter relating to violence in the Patiala House Court on February 15 and 17 was pending.

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested on sedition charge, was assaulted by some lawyers in the court on February 15 and 17. Some JNU students and journalists, including an IANS reporter, were also assaulted.

Addressing the court, Bhushan said hearing of that petition would take place on March 10 whereas the threat perception was increasing with every passing day.

Bhushan said it was only on February 25 that proceedings for the renewed police remand took place in the Tihar Jail complex because bringing Kanhaiya Kumar to the Patiala House court complex, as it should have been done normally, was not considered safe.

Bhushan told the apex court that notices to three lawyers would be served through the Bar Council of India since petitioner-lawyer Kamini Jaiswal did not have their addresses.

Pressing for a SIT probe, Bhushan said Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi sought to describe violence involving lawyers as a minor scuffle.

The court was told that the lawyers were arrested on minor charges and let off on bail soon thereafter.

"Did they (Bassi) say so in legal proceedings or in a general statement in the media?" asked Justice Chelameswar.

Telling the court that there was "no harm in examining the two pleas", Bhushan said the conduct of the lawyers was an "unprecedented threat to justice, rule of law and gross contempt of court".

He referred to the media reports of bragging and boasting by the three lawyers on camera in a sting operation, report of an eyewitness account of the violence by a judicial officer to the district and session judge and a report by the National Human Right Commission to back his case.

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"There is a widely held perception, both within the civil service and outsiders who interact with the government, that civil servants have in recent times become increasingly reluctant to decide issues quickly and firmly... this has consequences for the economy," the survey said.

The survey said it can be stemming from "gaps in capacity, training and specialised knowledge in dealing with certain kinds of economic issues" as well as rigorous "external oversight mechanisms".

However, the survey said, the most important reason for this non-decision making at bureaucratic level is "certain provisions in the anti-corruption law the way they have been used in recent years".

The survey recommended amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, a bill for which is pending in the Rajya Sabha.

"Good public administration and sound policy-making requires that public servants take decisions in public interest and, in particular, without fear or favour (a phrase which finds place in the oath of office for ministers)."

"There is a credible perception that well-intentioned but draconian legal provisions seeking to prevent decision-making with favour, seem to be resulting in decision-taking with fear. Some provisions of anti-corruption law seem to scare the honest without deterring the corrupt," the survey said.

Highlighting the shortcomings of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the survey said that in a bid to tighten the anti-corruption law, the new PCA added a provision in Section 13(1)(d)(iii) according to which a public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct if he/she, while holding office as a public servant, obtains for any person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage without any public interest.

"Because the definition does not include words like 'corruptly' or 'wrongfully', this offence has no requirement of mens rea or guilty intent - it is an 'absolute offence'.

"Since the law does not require the public servant to have had any improper motive, even a benefit conferred inadvertently is sufficient to be prosecuted. For example, suppose an honest public servant makes, in good faith, an error of judgement and undervalues an asset which is being disinvested," the survey said.

It also questioned whether public interest was served by this approach, and said "in tackling corruption, two kinds of error may arise - Type I error where the corrupt may escape; and Type II error where an innocent person may be falsely accused of corruption".

The survey said an "extremist approach" to reducing Type I increases the chance of a Type II error.

"From an economic point of view, the loss to the public from the Type II error and the policy and implementation paralysis it promotes, is far larger," the survey said calling it a "draconian section" which is hurting the public more than it is helping.

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This follows an official announcement that five police commandos who allegedly harassed some NSF members on February 14 have been suspended pending a departmental inquiry.

The police personnel allegedly detained the NSF members who were on their way to Ukhrul district to attend the seed sowing festival of the Nagas in Manipur. The NSF members were intercepted at Mantri Pukhri near Imphal.

Reliable sources told IANS that the union home ministry had instructed the Manipur government to initiate necessary steps against the police personnel.

On Thursday, Manipur's Home Minister Gaikhangam had informed the Assembly that the police commandos neither committed any excesses nor manhandled and detained the NSF members.

The minister implied that since nothing objectionable was done, the police commandos would not be pulled up.

If the NSF members had extended cooperation, the stand-off would not have taken place, he said.

Since the government refused to book the police commandos, the NSF "imposed" the ban from February 24 morning.

Additional Director General of Police C. Doungel sent a copy of the order suspending the police personnel to the NSF in Nagaland and urged it to call off the ban.

The ban was later lifted with the result that stranded trucks and buses could proceed towards Imphal effective Friday afternoon. The vehicle-documents which had been snatched from the drivers have been returned by the NSF activists.

The ban was condemned by all sections on the ground that it will stoke communal tension.

The All Manipur Students' Union, in a retaliatory move, banned the plying of buses from Nagaland in Imphal.

The ban caused the prices of commodities brought from Assam and other states to go up.

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New Delhi: Union Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari addresses a press conference in New Delhi, on Sep 22, 2015. (Photo: IANS)

Chennai, Feb 26 (IANS) A total of 150 projects, involving an outlay of around Rs.400,000 crore, have been identified under the Sagarmala project that aims at port-led development, according to the draft Sagarmala National Perspective Plan.

The draft Sagarmala National Perspective Plan was released by the Union Shipping Ministry recently.

"The Sagarmala National Perspective Plan envisages viable infrastructure investment worth Rs.4 lakh crore over the next ten years and industrial investment worth Rs.6 lakh crore," Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport, highways and shipping said in a tweet.

According to the draft perspective plan around 150 projects under four pillars-port modernisation, connectivity, port led industrialisation and coastal community development- have been identified executing which could mobilise an infrastructure investment of around Rs.400,000 crore.

The plan also projects an additional investment of Rs.7-8 lakh crore in the industrial and manufacturing sectors.

According to the draft perspective plan the Sagarmala projects could add $110 billion to India's merchandise exports.

The draft plan has identified 40 port modernisation projects and six mega port locations.

Under the connectivity pillar 65 projects and seven new inland ports have been identified.

The draft plan has identified 27 clusters (nine energy, five material and 13 discrete manufacturing) under port led industrialisation pillar and 10 projects under the coastal community development pillar.

According to the draft plan, globally ports generate significant economic pay-offs-jobs, investments, tax revenue and others.

The plan cities China on the manner it has leveraged its ports for export manufacturing leading to its economic prosperity.

According the shipping ministry, 12 projects have been identified for taking up under Sagarmala in fiscal 2015-16 out of which six projects have been approved and fund of Rs.90 crore has been released in three projects.

Ten additional projects have been taken up for detailed project report (DPR) preparation, 58 road projects and 23 rail connectivity projects have been submitted to Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Ministry of Railways respectively for consideration.

The perspective plans for 14 coastal economic zones are under development, the government said.

150 projects identified for port development

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"Heard girl raped in Murthal from Delhi. Please call 181 or come to my office. Full confidentiality and support assured. Please help nail culprits immediately," Maliwal tweeted.

Her comment comes after reports surfaced in the media of some girls having been raped by the Jat protestors who have been demanding reservations in jobs.

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"As per the Census report of 2011 the tribal population is 26 per cent, but I think the tribal population in the state is more than 32 per cent," Oraon told reporters here.

The Census was conducted in February when tribal people migrate to other states for farm work, he said, adding he had raised the issue with the Registrar General of India.

"Jharkhand tribals working in other states should be counted and added to the state's tribal population," he said.

Oraon expressed unhappiness over the way the tribal sub-plan fund is treated in Jharkhand, saying there is large-scale diversion of money to other purposes.

"In Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, the funds are transferred directly to tribal welfare department. Jharkhand should also follow the same system and set the targeted development of the tribal people."

The quality of education, health and other systems meant for the tribals were not functioning properly in Jharkhand, he said.

"The benefits of Food Security Act are not reaching the tribal people. More than 1,400 cases of atrocities on tribals, including matters related to land, are pending," he said.

The land of the tribal people was being transferred to non-tribal people despite the existence of two laws in Jharkhand, Oraon said.

"Tribals' mainstay is farming. About 57 percent tribals in Jharkhand depend on farming. On one hand, land is grabbed and on the other the irrigation facilities are not in good shape in the state".

Oraon expressed concern over declining population of 95 primitive tribes in the country and called for governmental intervention.

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"Very soon the central cabinet will give approval to include 18 castes of different states to be included in the ST category," commission chairman Rameshwar Oraon told reporters here.

A cabinet note in this regard has already been prepared and approved by the commission, he said.

After the approval of the cabinet, the proposal would go to the parliament as an amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders Act, he said.

Over the last three years, the commission has been making recommendations to the government as regards inclusion of communities into the ST list, Oraon said.

The 18 communities include two from Jharkhand: Bhokta and Puran.

"Bhokta is at present in Schedule Caste category and Puran does not belong to the reserved category," he said.

While Bhokta cummunity has a sizable population in the state, members of Puran cummunity number about 10,000.

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New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS)

The Economic Survey identified open defecation as a source of early life disease in India.

"Income constraints may not be the main determinants of open defecation. Evidence suggests that open defecation leads to child stunting, diarrhoea and environmental enteropathy. Households who do not defecate in the open have higher height for age scores," the survey said.

It also noted the importance of the mission in raising the profile of the problem of open defecation.

"In the last year alone, the government has built over 80 lakh toilets," it said.

However, "...the next challenge in rural India is behavioural", the survey added.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef joint monitoring programme, 61 percent of rural Indians defecated in the open in 2015.

80 lakh toilets built under Swachh Bharat campaign: Survey

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"Necessary arrangements have been made for making available subsidised rice to the priority group people through public distribution system from March 1 under the food security act," Mizoram's Food Minister John Rotluangliana said.

The central act provides for coverage of up to 75 percent of the rural population and up to 50 percent of the urban population for receiving subsidised food grain under targeted public distribution system, thus covering about two-thirds of the population.

Rotluangliana said that 706,296 people out of the total population of about 11 lakh would be provided rice at subsidised rate under the act while the remaining households could buy eight kg rice per month at Rs.15 per kg.

"According to the provisions of the act, majority of people living in rural areas and around 50 percent households of urban areas in Mizoram would be benefited," said the minister.

At least 9,814 tonnes of rice would be required every month to meet the needs of the beneficiaries of the act and other households, he said.

The Left Front government in Tripura was the first in the northeast to implement the act from September 1 last year. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim started to implement the Act in December last year. Meghalaya introduced it this month.

Two other northeastern states - Manipur and Nagaland - have made preparations to implement the act.

The deadline to implement the act has been extended several times. Now the central government has asked all states to implement it by April.

To implement the act, the entire targeted public distribution system has to be computerised and the ration card records digitised.

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“The Agartala doctrine is based on the critical role played by Tripura in India's foreign policy,” said Subir Bhaumik, editor of “The Agartala Doctrine: A proactive northeast in Indian foreign policy”, at the New Delhi launch of the book organised on Thursday by the Society for Policy Studies (SPS).

“Tripura's chief ministers played a proactive role in India's foreign policy,” he said.

Bringing together a rich mix of perspectives from academics and practitioners from South Asia, the book, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), provides a window for all those interested in understanding India's foreign policy vis-a-vis its neighbours.

According to the book, India's border states, especially those in the northeast, are now considered crucial to India's foreign policy in the South Asian region. It calls for a robust national doctrine to guide these states in tackling pressing issues and also helping them boost their economy by accessing opportunities beyond borders.

It constructs such a framework by exemplifying Tripura's not-so-well-known influence on India's foreign policy towards East Pakistan and then Bangladesh for more than half a century through the so-called Agartala doctrine.

According to Bhaumik, a veteran journalist and senior fellow with the Kolkata-based Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development (CSIRD), it was Tripura's first chief minister Sachindra Lal Singh who told then prime minister Indira Gandhi to “kick out” Pakistan from East Pakistan.

“Without the role played by Tripura's chief ministers, Bangladesh would not have been a reality,” he said.

Current Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's handling of the insurgency problem in Tripura is cited as another such example.

“I am commending Tripura's handling of its insurgency problem as a national doctrine for India's dealings with its neighbours,” Bhaumik said.

“Manik Sarkar tackled insurgency by raiding the camps of rebel groups across the border in Bangladesh,” he said. The camps included those of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF).

Last year, Tripura became the first state to remove the “draconian” Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) on its own with the logic that armed forces were not needed to tackle depleted ranks of local insurgents who could be dealt with by the local police.

Bhaumik said Sarkar did not want to have things in writing as the operations were secret and advocated the “doctrine of appropriate response” in dealing with neighbouring countries.

“We should have an appropriate understanding of our neighbours... Be nice to us and we will be extra nice,” he said.

Pointing out a little known fact that Agartala was only the third internet gateway of India after Mumbai and Chennai, he said landlocked Tripura was now looking to open a land-to-sea route via Chittagong port with the help of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali, who released the book at the function held at India International Centre, stressed on connectivity to boost relations between India and his country.

“Historically, India's northeast has been connected with East Bengal through rail routes and steamer ships as roads were not in good condition,” he said.

While rail connectivity continued till the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the steamer ship services got disrupted due to sedimentation of rivers, he said.

Observing that there was no lack of sincerity on Bangladesh's part in boosting connectivity with India, Ali said work was on to restore rail links and efforts to start new bus services on the Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata and Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati routes were initiated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh in June last year.

“Prime Minister Modi's Act East policy has taken connectivity to a new level,” he said, adding that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was committed to the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement signed last year.

Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary and chairman of Research and Information System (RIS) for developing countries, was of the view that economic development of the border areas was the surest way of ensuring security in the region and for that connectivity was the key.

He said the RIS was looking at connectivity through the northeast in three different aspects -- how to connect northeast with the rest of India in a better way; how to improve connectivity between the northeastern states; and how to connect the northeast with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal and China.

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The app will be used mainly to release major decisions by the State Council and publicise major policy documents. Information on activities of senior State Council officials will be available on the app, the China Daily reported.

The app will also serve as a channel for government affairs-related services and interactions with the public.

The app is managed by the General Office of the State Council, with the support of the English-language newspaper group China Daily.

It is available for downloading at the Apple Store, 360 Mobile Assistant, Baidu Mobile Assistant and the Tencent App Store.

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(Photo: IANS)

New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the Centre and Delhi Police on a plea seeking SIT probe into the assault on JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others by some lawyers at a court complex here on February 15 and 17.

The apex court bench of Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre also issued notice to three lawyers -- Vikram Singh Chauhan, Yashpal Singh and Om Sharma -- for allegedly interfering in the administration of justice and wilfully violating the February 17 order of the Supreme Court.

Kanhaiya Kumar and a few journalists were assaulted at the Patiala House Courts complex on February 15 and 17. The notice is returnable on March 4.

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