google ad

google ad

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Marriage sacred, concept of marital rape cannot be applied in India: Govt - Hindustan Times

The government told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday the concept of marital rape cannot be applied in the country since marriage was treated as a sacrament or sacred in the Indian society.

The government's stand came against the backdrop of the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women recommending to India to criminalise marital rape.

"It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, including level of education, illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament," Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary, minister of state for home, said in a written reply to question from DMK MP Kanimozhi.

Kanimozhi had asked the home ministry whether government will bring a bill to amend the IPC to remove the exception of marital rape from the definition of rape; and whether it is a fact that UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against women has recommended to India to criminalise marital rape.

She had also said that according to United Nations Population Fund that 75% of the married women in India were subjected to marital rape and whether government has taken cognisance of the fact.

Marital rape refers to unwanted intercourse by a man with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent.

Chaudhary said the ministry of external affairs and ministry of women and child development have reported that UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women has recommended to India to criminalise marital rape.

"The Law Commission of India, while making its 172nd Report on Review of Rape Laws did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape by amending the exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code and hence presently there is no proposal to bring any amendment to the IPC in this regard," the minister said.

It may be recalled that the Justice J S Verma Committee set up in the aftermath of the Delhi gang-rape incident to suggest changes in the criminal law had recommended that the exception for marital rape be removed from the Indian Penal Code(IPC).
    
"The fact that the accused and victim are married or in another intimate relationship may not be regarded as a mitigating factor justifying lower sentences for rape," the Verma Committee had said.
    
However, the government did not accept the recommendation.
    
The Parliamentary standing committee on Home in its report on the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 agreed with the view of the Home ministry that criminalising marital rape would weaken traditional family values in India, and that marriage presumes consent.
    
It said accepting marital rape as a criminal offence could lead to "practical difficulties".
    
The decision to exempt marital rape has also been fiercely opposed by women's groups.

( With PTI inputs)

Train pe charcha: Rahul's PR timing is perfect but will it win Punjab for Cong? - Firstpost

Chandigarh: It was an image makeover exercise alright. And for a change neither the Congress nor Rahul Gandhi made a mess of it. The fact that BJP chose to launch a personal attack on him after Rahul visited the grain markets in Punjab, dodging the questions he raised on the plight of farmers should be a matter of satisfaction for both.

So what was different this time? The party kept it simple, unostentatious. Congress refrained from allowing the personality of the Gandhi scion overwhelm the issue on hand. Farmers had their space with Rahul without local Congress leaders falling over each other to be seen close to him. If there was a bigger message to be conveyed to people, the party did it subtly.

Perhaps it was a deliberate move at providing a contrast – BJP’s mascot Narendra Modi’s flamboyant, overconfident approach to the easy-going, straight from the heart one from Rahul. He did not fly to Punjab. He didn’t even take the ‘elite’ Shatabdi Express. Instead, he travelled in the general bogey of the ‘ordinary’ Sachkhand Express to  interact with the Punjabis. He was dressed simply. During the journey, he was photographed talking with fellow passengers. He even held a child in his lap. This seemed to go well with the co-passengers and the media. He got down from the train at Ambala station and continued the rest of the journey to Punjab by road.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. PTI

He appears to have got the timing right. Earlier, he would have been ridiculed for putting up a show of simplicity. This time it’s different; there’s  context. When he visited Dalit houses earlier or spent nights in homes of the poor, it was more of a private matter. The farmers’ issue makes his trips across the country more politically meaningful. It also helps that he is in the opposition. It allows him more elbow room to operate.

Political analysts in Punjab say the Congress deliberately planned all this in a simple manner to project Rahul as a leader of the masses and make farmers the new constituency of the party. By strongly opposing the land acquisition ordinance, the party has made its intention clear—farmers’ issue will be the stepping stone to the revival of the party and its leader. The Congress vice president, who is going to Vidarbha in Maharashtra to meet the farmers, plans to set off on a country-wide padyatra to protest against Modi government's alleged ‘anti-farmer’ policies.

Will it help the party in the state? Yes, they say. The Congress had lost the farmer connect all these years and the state is facing a serious agrarian crisis. The Akali Dal-BJP government has seen a sharp slide in popularity over the last few years. This is the best time for the party to rebuild the old equation with farmers. However, everything depends on whether the party is sincere with its intent or is it just a one-off event like it had been in case of Rahul’s image-building exercises earlier.

Of course, it has to settle the bitter factional rivalry between Capt Amarinder Singh and Partap Singh Bajwa. The former, a mass leader, had made an adverse remark about Rahul’s leadership qualities, preferring Sonia Gandhi instead to lead the Congress. He was not even informed about the vice-president’s visit to Punjab. He could spoil the party’s revival plans.

Speaking to Firstpost, Pawan Jain, a senior party leader from Haryana said, “The Akali-BJP’s government is on its last leg. The AAP has been a failure in the state. The Congress is the only alternative left to the people of Punjab. I am happy Rahul Gandhi is taking a lead in all important matters of the party now and making good public contact. This will help the revival of the Congress.’’

AAP under attack on Tomar's fake law degree, police report on farmer's suicide - Press Trust of India

29 Apr 2015, 23:18 HRS IST

|

Sensex falls 170.45 pts to end at 27,225.93; Nifty drops 45.85 pts to close at 8,239.75Govt hikes import duty on sugar to 40 pc from 25 pc: Food Min Ram Vilas PaswanGovt has reduced Excise duty on Ethanol: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan in LSLok Sabha adjourns amid noisy scenes after Rahul Gandhi's attack on govt for not procuring foodgrains from Punjab farmers and govt's counter-attackCabinet approves payment of Rs 1,000 minimum monthly pension in perpetuity for EPFO pensionersIn a relief to farmers, govt relaxes norms on moisture content in grains: sources after Cabinet meetingUnion Cabinet clears 100 Smart City projects; Old housing projects initiated by previous govt also cleared: official sourcesI will raise voice for farmers on every platform: RahulSensex down 108 pts ahead of Apr derivatives expiryRupee down 13 paise against dollar in early tradeOil prices down in Asian trade

Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Skip Navigation LinksHome National

Russian spacecraft fails International Space Station mission - Financial Times

Space administrators were forced for the second time in six months to abandon an attempt to resupply the International Space Station after a mishap left an unmanned Russian supply craft spinning uselessly in space.

The decision came on Wednesday after Russian controllers failed to establish contact with the Progress 59 cargo craft after it reached space following a successful launch on Tuesday from Kazakhstan.

The failure follows the destruction of a previous resupply module last October when the Antares rocket due to carry it to the International Space Station exploded on a launch pad in Virginia.

Although Nasa, the US space agency, stressed that astronauts aboard the space station had enough spare supplies to survive through the second mishap, the incident underlines the fragility of the technology being used.

“Docking has been called off for the Progress 59 spacecraft,” Nasa said in a statement on Wednesday. “Russian flight controllers are continuing to assess the vehicle and what the plan going forward will be. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

Both Wednesday’s mishap and the launch explosion on October 28 in Virginia involved technology associated with Russia’s cash-starved space programme. Ronald Grabe, an executive of Orbital ATK, the company that operated the October 28 flight, said two weeks ago that the explosion appeared to have resulted from excessive wear in one of the Antares rocket’s engines. The rockets use old engines produced for Russia’s abortive space shuttle programme.

The latest mishap appears to have happened as the resupply craft separated from the upper stage of the rocket, which had carried it from Kazakhstan, leaving the craft spinning in orbit. The US Air Force’s Joint Space Operations Centre said it had observed an “anomaly” following the launch, that the craft was spinning 360 degrees every five second, and that there were 44 pieces of space debris around it.

This video screen grab taken from NASA, American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are interviewed at International Space Station on Wednesday, April 29, 2015. Kelly and Kornienko told The Associated Press during the interview, that flight controllers have given up trying to command the cargo carrier. The unmanned vessel began tumbling shortly after its launch Tuesday from Kazakhstan. The cargo ship contains 3 tons of food, water, fuel, clothes and equipment for the six station residents. Kelly says everything and everyone on board should be OK, even without this shipment. But he says it's still unfortunate. Kornienko calls it "a big concern." (NASA via AP)

American astronaut Scott Kelly (left) and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko

The debris suggests there was either a collision between the separating stages or an explosion.

“We will continue to monitor the situation and work with our government [and] international and industry partners, to ensure the safety of the astronauts onboard the ISS and [to] provide for the long-term safety, sustainability, security and stability of the space domain,” Lt Gen Jay Raymond, the centre’s commander, said.

The US staged a successful resupply mission to the space station on April 14, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Dragon spacecraft to the outpost. However, the US has had no independent means of sending crew to the space station since the space shuttle

Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute, said the failures showed the US had allowed its civil space launch capabilities to become “fragile”.

“Our ability to get to space has become attenuated,” Mr Thompson said.

The crew on the International Space Station is currently made up of three Russians, one Italian and two Americans. Among the Americans is Scott Kelly, an experienced astronaut spending a year in space as part of an experiment comparing him with his twin brother Mark, a former astronaut who is remaining on earth.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Foreigners stay back in Nepal to help in relief works - India Today

Villagers wait in the rain as an aid relief helicopter lands at their remote mountain village of Gumda, near the epicenter of Saturday's massive earthquake in the Gorkha District of Nepal, Wednesday, April 29, 2015. Photo: APKathmandu is slowing beginning to rise from the rubble. For the last four days market places have been completely shut but on Wednesday they opened their shutters to assess the damage and begin anew. Luckily for Nepal, many of the foreign tourists have decided not to cancel their holidays and return home. They want to stay back to help rebuild Nepal.

For over 100 hours now tourists have stayed indoors in their hotel rooms but today they gingerly started venturing out. Some to take out cash from the ATMs, others to take a stroll. They may have been scared till now, but they are determined to stay and help Nepal.

Many foreign nationals have made Kathmandu their home. They are now appealing to tourists not to get scared by the catastrophe on Sunday, since things have started returning to normal.

For the shop owners of Nepal, the earthquake struck at the worst possible time of the year -- bang in the middle of the peak tourist season. For them it's going to be a long walk to normalcy.

For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at http://ift.tt/1aKMnw7
For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिए आजतक.इन पर आएं.

NCP will vote against land ordinance in Rajya Sabha: Pawar - Zee News

Mumbai: NCP President Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said his party will not support the land ordinance in its present form as it does not favour removal of several crucial clauses and will vote against it in the Rajya Sabha.

"I have spoken to a number of political parties who are opposed to the ordinance. The government may bulldoze it in the Lok Sabha based on its majority in the Lower House. But the picture will be different in the Rajya Sabha. The NCP will vote against the ordinance in the Upper House," Pawar told reporters here.

He said the Government has appointed Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari as the pointsman to hold dialogue with the Opposition to support the ordinance's passage in the Parliament.

"I have known Gadkari to be polite and open for dialogue. But the language of the letter he has written to all Opposition members asking whether they don't want development and water to farmers as well as defence projects smacks of arrogance of power. It is not the language of dialogue," Pawar said.

The letter is based on the brief he has got from his political bosses, Pawar charged, adding that he has not replied to the letter.

Pawar recalled that the Land Acquisition Bill passed in 2013 was drafted by a committee headed by him.

"All suggestions by the then Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were incorporated and the Bill was passed unanimously. Why was a decision made to scrap the Act and bring amendments," he asked.

"The NCP will not support the land ordinance in its present form as it does not favour removal of several crucial clauses," Pawar said.

He said that his party is opposed to the removal of social impact assessment and consent clauses, dilution of the provision of period of five years of return of unused acquired land and the clause that multi-crop irrigated land can also be acquired.

Rahul Gandhi targets PM Modi in Lok Sabha, BJP hits back - Daily News & Analysis

"Our Prime Minister is touring across the country, but he should also go to Punjab and see farmers situation," Rahul said.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday once again raised the issue of farmers in the Lok Sabha targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP has promptly hit back at Congress VP. 

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Rahul said, “Farmers are crying in mandis; they are in pain and your minister (in Haryana) says farmers who are committing suicide are cowards, criminals. Your government did not help, farmers suffered; you stopped their bonus, farmers suffered. They cannot even sell their produce.

He further added, "Your government says "Make in India" hona chahiye... hamaari sarkaar, aapki sarkar, but not farmers' sarkar”. 

“The Indian Prime Minister is in the country for some time. He should visit Punjab too and listen to the farmers. Do farmers not "Make in India?" If a farmer suffering from losses is compensated, then it is your gain, not ours. You should procure grain from mandis as soon as possible,” he added. 

BJP MP Shanta Kumar today said that Congress was using the plight of the farmers to relaunch Rahul Gandhi and that the party was opposing the land Bill "for the sake of opposing".

"Congress is using the present plight of the farmers of the country to relaunch Rahul Gandhi, who is back from a two months absence. The farmers of the country, who are at present in a bad condition due to long negligence by the governments and unpredicted weather conditions, is being misused by the opposition," he said.

Earlier in the day, vowing to raise voice for farmers platform, Rahul Gandhi said government should take into account their concerns and not just extend monetary assistance. "I will raise the voice and pain suffered by farmers and atrocities on them on every platform," said Rahul.

12:54 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Lok Sabha adjourns amid noisy scenes after Rahul Gandhi's attack on govt for not procuring foodgrains from Punjab farmers and govt's counter-attack.

12:28 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal hits back at Rahul Gandhi.

12:15 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Rahul Gandhi speaks in Lok sabha, targets PM Modi.

Rahul said, " PM should also go to Punjab and see farmers situation​."

12:10 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Congress and ruling BJP members were engaged in a verbal duel in the Lok Sabha today after the government objected to the practice of daily notices for adjournment motion given by the opposition members.

"Every day we cannot have an adjournment motion and discussion later," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed the notices given by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and others on the "tardy procurement" of grains.

12:03 IST Wednesday, 29 April 2015

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed the notices given by Congress leader.

PAR-SCHEDULE

Following is the Parliament schedule for today:

Lok Sabha:

- Discussion and voting on Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

- Appropriation Bill for introduction, consideration and passing and voting on Outstanding Demands for Grants in respect of Budget (General) for 2015-16.

- Bill for consideration and passing: The Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill, 2014.

Rajya Sabha:

- Bill for introduction:

The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill, 2015.

- Bill for consideration and passing:

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013.

- Discussion on the working of Law and Justice Ministry;

- Discussion on the working of the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry.

Unmanned Russian spacecraft 'plunging to Earth' - Daily News & Analysis

An official said the descent likely marked the end of the Progress spacecraft's mission although the Russian authorities will contact it again to make sure everything has been done to rescue it.

  • International Space Station Agencies Getty Images

An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft ferrying supplies to the International Space Station is plunging back to Earth and apparently out of control, an official said today.

"It has started descending. It has nowhere else to go," an official familiar with the situation said on condition of anonymity, speaking ahead of an official Russian space agency statement expected later in the day. "It is clear that absolutely uncontrollable reactions have begun."

The official said the descent likely marked the end of the Progress spacecraft's mission although the Russian authorities will contact it again to make sure everything has been done to rescue it. "We have scheduled two more communication sessions to soothe our conscience," said the official, adding it was hard to predict when exactly the vessel would fall back to Earth.

A Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress M-27M spacecraft with supplies for the ISS successfully launched on Tuesday but communication with the vessel was lost soon afterwards. A spokesman for the Russian space agency, Mikhail Fadeyev, declined immediate comment.

The loss of the Progress supply ship would be the latest embarrassment for Russia's space programme that has been recently hit by a series of mishaps. Russian officials said earlier that attempts to contact the spacecraft had been unsuccessful, raising fears it could be lost for good.

"There have been no improvements," a mission control spokesman said. The controllers had yesterday opted to change the flight plan and extend the vessel's journey to two days instead of six hours in a bid to fix the glitch. The mission control spokesman said a decision on the spacecraft's fate would likely be announced later in the day.

"It's the first time that we have such a combination of emergency situations." The ship had been scheduled to dock with the ISS, where the international crew of six people is awaiting the cargo, on April 30. The Russian space programme is renowned for having sent the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first sputnik satellite four years earlier, and remains a major source of national pride.

But more recently it has endured a series of setbacks, notably losing expensive satellites and a similar Progress supply ship in 2011. Deputy prime minister in charge of the aerospace industry, Dmitry Rogozin, who is currently in China, said he was in constant touch with the space agency. 

Also Read: US-Russian crew begins historic mission of year-long stay in space

The Latest on Nepal: Rescue Helicopters Ferry Quake Injured - New York Times

7:30 p.m. (1345 GMT)

The tiny hamlets clinging to the mountainsides of Gorkha District were ravaged by the earthquake. But lives were spared.

Entire clusters of homes are piles of stone and splintered wood. Orange plastic tarps now dot the cliffs and terraced rice paddies carved into the Himalayan land.

But the death toll in villages like Gumda was far lower than feared. The quake on Saturday struck at midday, and many people were working outdoors in the rural region in spring.

Of Gumda's 1,300 residents, five were killed in the quake and 20 more were injured. The official overall toll as of Wednesday evening exceeded 5,100 in Nepal, India and Tibet.

— Katy Daigle, Gumda, Nepal

___

7:15 p.m. (1330 GMT)

The United Nations is appealing for $415 million to provide for vital needs in Nepal over the next three months.

It intends to support government efforts in provide shelter, water and sanitation, emergency health, food, and protection.

The U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Nepal, Jamie McGoldrick, said the response to date was encouraging, but those efforts need to be maintained, especially in remote areas.

He noted that the coming monsoon season would like add a logistical challenge to relief efforts, adding to the urgency.

___

6:45 p.m. (1300 GMT)

Helicopters have rescued some 210 foreign trekkers and local villagers stranded in the Lantang area north of Nepal's capital.

The international trekkers were stranded in Langtang, a popular trekking route bordering Tibet, since the earthquake on Saturday that killed more than 5,000 people.

Government administrator Gautam Rimal said the trekkers and villagers were flown to the nearby town of Dhunche. But with landslides cutting off the roads from there to Kathmandu, the trekkers will have to trudge for at least four hours before they can board a bus to the Nepalese capital.

— Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

6 p.m. (1215 GMT)

The number of people missing after a mudslide struck a village in central Nepal appears to be lower than first thought.

The government had said Tuesday that 250 people were missing after a mudslide and avalanche hit the village of Ghodatabela near the quake epicenter.

Government administrator Gautam Rimal said on Wednesday, however, "We believe now there are only a few people who were swept by the mudslide."

Authorities withdrew the figure of 250 after getting more information from local residents, but Rimal didn't have an amended figure.

— Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

4 p.m. (1015 GMT)

Nepalese rescue helicopters are taking advantage of breaks in the rain to bring out the injured from remote mountain villages where aid is only beginning to trickle in, four days after the massive earthquake.

A rescue mission on Wednesday landed in the village of Darkha, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the capital, Kathmandu, and unloaded boxes of aid supplies. Nepalese soldiers disembarked and carried back on a stretcher the 69-year-old Ek Bahadur Thapa and others in need of treatment.

He suffered leg injuries and has had to wait for medical care.

The government says more than 10,000 people were injured.

— Upendra Mansingh, Darkha, Nepal

___

3 p.m. (0915 GMT)

The first 44 Spaniards who were stranded in Nepal have returned home on an air force plane with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo accompanying them.

The group is the first of some 127 to be evacuated by the government. About 500 Spaniards were affected by the earthquake and 103 have yet to be located. More than 20 were able to return by their own means.

A second Spanish plane was due to bring back another group of Spaniards as well as other European and Latin American citizens later Wednesday.

The quake occurred while Margallo was on an official visit to New Delhi.

— Ciaran Giles, Madrid

___

2:30 p.m. (0845 GMT)

In another sign of life inching back to normal, banks in Kathmandu opened for few hours Wednesday and stuffed their ATMs with cash. At the Standard Chartered Bank in the city, people are lining up.

"I needed money in cash so I can take my family out of Kathmandu. I want to be out of here for at least a few days," said Suraj Shrestha.

He wasn't sure if ATMs outside the city were dispensing cash and wanted to carry "as much as possible."

— Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

12:05 p.m. (0620 GMT)

About 200 people have blocked traffic in Kathmandu to protest the slow pace of aid delivery.

The protesters faced off with police and there were minor scuffles but no arrests were made.

One protester says they haven't received any relief.

"We are hungry, we haven't had anything to drink. We haven't been able to sleep. I have a 7-year-old child who is sleeping in the open. It's getting cold and people are getting pneumonia," he said.

He accused the government of not doing enough.

The death toll has climbed to 5,093 and more than 8 million people have been affected.

— Jerry Harmer, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

11:55 a.m. (0610 GMT)

Police in Nepal say the death toll from Saturday's earthquake has topped 5,000.

The Kathmandu police say 4,989 have died and another 10,260 people have been injured in Nepal.

The quake that was centered just outside Kathmandu also triggered an avalanche that killed at least 18 people at the Everest base camp.

Another 61 were killed in neighboring India and Bangladesh, and China's official Xinhua News Agency reported 25 dead in Tibet.

— Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

11:30 a.m. (0545 GMT)

Police have arrested dozens of people on suspicion of looting abandoned homes as well as causing panic by spreading rumors of another big quake.

Police official Bigyan Raj Sharma says 27 have been detained for stealing from homes whose owners moved out following Saturday's quake and powerful aftershocks.

The aftershocks have waned but people are still anxious, many preferring to stay out in the open. Sharma says another four people were arrested for spreading false rumors of an impending quake through social media and text messages.

— Binaj Gurubacharya, Kathmandu, Nepal

___

11 a.m. (0515 GMT)

The first aid shipments have reached Dhading district, close to the epicenter of the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

U.N. food agency emergency officer Geoff Pinnock says the distribution in remote quake-hit villages will start Wednesday, but cautions it would take time.

"Remember Katrina. It doesn't happen overnight," he said.

In Gorkha, the neighboring district to the west, five cargo trucks filled with rice, cooking oil and sugar stood on a grassy field in Majuwa village waiting for a helicopter from Kathmandu to take the supplies to the hardest-hit areas of that district.

The World Food Program also expects the delivery of high-energy biscuits, which will be send out to areas without enough water for cooking.

— Katy Daigle, Majuwa, Nepal

___

10:30 a.m. (0445 GMT)

A man pulled from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kathmandu more than three days after the deadly Nepal earthquake says he drank his own urine to survive.

Rishi Khanal tells The Associated Press that he had given up all hope of rescue as his lips cracked and his nails turned white. There were dead bodies around him and a terrible smell. But he kept banging on the rubble all around him and eventually this brought a French rescue team that extracted him after an operation lasting many hours.

He's now being treated for leg injuries at a hospital in the capital the day after French rescuers found him and brought him out from a collapsed hotel. He had been buried for 82 hours.

— Rishi Lekhi, Kathmandu, Nepal

Loading...

Retail loans prop up DHFL, lift net 15% to Rs 162.3 cr - Business Standard

Private sector mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance today reported a 15 per cent increase in net profit for the quarter ended March at Rs 162.28 crore, driven by a healthy rise in retail loans.

This pushed up net interest income by 30 per cent.

"Our net profit increased 14.95 per cent to Rs 162.28 crore for the March quarter as against Rs 141.17 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year," Dewan Housing said in a statement.

Gross NPA stood at 0.84 per cent while net NPA was zero, the company said.

Loan disbursements and sanctions rose to Rs 6,291.35 crore and Rs 9,386.85 crore, from the earlier Rs 5,743 crore and Rs 7,243 crore respectively, the lender said.

Total income rose 11.67 per cent to Rs 1,582.48 crore during the quarter from Rs 1,417.13 crore a year ago. The net interest margin of the lender stood at 2.89 per cent for the quarter as well as for the full fiscal, its chairman and managing director Kapil Wadhawan said.

Advances grew 10 per cent while sanctions rose 29.5 per cent, taking the total assets under its management to over Rs 57,000 crore, up 27 per cent, he said.

When asked about growth expectations, Wadhawan told PTI that it could be above 20 per cent this fiscal, adding that there is a lot of optimism in the market on the back of reduction in lending rates.

DHFL had reduced its lending rate by 10 basis points to 9.90 per cent earlier in the month to match its larger rivals like HDFC, SBI and ICICI Bank.

Over 80 per cent of loans are retail, he added.

When asked about branch expansion, he said there are no major plans as the company is sufficiently covered after adding 105 branches in the reporting year, taking its total outlets to 340.

Wadhawan said there is no immediate fund-raising plans too, as it is adequately capitalised. The company had raised USD 175 million through the special ECB window last in FY14.

For the full fiscal, its net income rose 17.45 per cent to Rs 621.29 crore while loan book outstanding grew 26.18 per cent to Rs 51,039.65 crore. Total income grew 20.41 per cent to Rs 5,981.64 crore.

Coal scam: CBI files chargesheet against Naveen Jindal, 14 others - Zee News

Coal scam: CBI files chargesheet against Naveen Jindal, 14 others

Pic Courtesy: -

New Delhi: Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal, ex-Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and 12 others were on Wednesday chargesheeted by CBI in connection with Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block allocation scam case.

Besides them, former Coal Secretary H C Gupta and five firms, including Jindal Steel and Power Ltd and Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, have also been chargesheeted in the case for alleged offences under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating) of IPC and under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar, before whom the charge sheet was filed by senior public prosecutor V K Sharma, said it would be taken up for consideration tomorrow.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand's Birbhum district in 2008 to Jindal Group firms-- Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL).

Six other individuals named as accused in the CBI charge sheet are -- Gyan Swaroop Garg, Suresh Singhal, Rajeev Jain, Girish Kumar Suneja, R K Saraf and K Ramakrishna Prasad.

Besides the 10 individuals, the firms chargesheeted in the case are -- JSPL, Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd, Gagan Infraenergy Ltd, New Delhi Exim Pvt Ltd and Soubhagya Media Ltd.

According to sources, the agency has alleged in the charge sheet that Jindal group firms had misrepresented facts to acquire the coal block in 2008.

In its FIR lodged in the case, CBI had alleged that Jindal group was shown favour by the Jharkhand Government which had dropped other firms from its recommendation for allocation of coal block in the state in 2007.

The FIR was categorical that Ministry of Power was against the proposal for allocating Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to JSPL and GSIPL.

JSPL, in a statement, denied the allegations made against it and its management and said it would take appropriate remedy in accordance with law.

"We are shocked to know from the media about filing of a charge sheet by CBI with respect to allocation of a coal block. The said allocation was made to the company on merits. During the course of the investigation the company and its officials fully cooperated with the authorities, and whenever asked, explained and provided all the supporting documents," it said.

In its FIR, the agency had alleged that, "Enquiry further revealed that Government of Jharkhand vide its letter dated June 20, 2007 recommended allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to three companies namely (1) M/s Lanco Infratech Ltd (40 percent), (2) M/s JSPL (30 percent) and (3) M/s GSIPL (30 percent).

"However vide its letter dated July 30, 2007, Government of Jharkhand changed its recommendation and recommended the allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal block to only the two Naveen Jindal Group companies i.E. JSPL (70 percent) and M/s GSIPL (30 percent)," the FIR had said.

It had also alleged in the FIR that both JSPL and GSIPL had misrepresented facts in its application/feed back form on the count of their preparedness in setting up their proposed end used plant as well the previous allocation of coal blocks to their group companies.

Regarding Rao, CBI had claimed that in order to influence the decision of the Screening Committee in favour of JSPL and GSIPL, the then Minister of State for Coal had written a note on July 27, 2007 to the Coal Secretary, who was also Chairman of the Screening Committee.

It had said that JSPL had submitted its application for coal block allocation in January 2007 to the Coal Ministry for securing few blocks earmarked for power sector, including Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block in Jharkhand for its proposed 1000 MW captive power plant to be set up at Patratu.

GSIPL had also submitted its application dated January 10, 2007 to the ministry for its 1000 MW independent power plant in Dumka district in Jharkhand, the CBI said, adding that the allocation letter was issued to the two firms on January 17, 2008, the agency had claimed in its FIR.

Rao, a former Congress Rajya Sabha MP, held position of Minister of State for Coal between 2004-06 and between 2006 and 2008.

PTI

First Published: Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 16:30

Govt clears air on testing method for oil, gas finds - Times of India

oil-gas_getty

The new policy would go a long way in easing the process of doing business for explorers and help in holding the next round of block auctions.

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday approved a clear policy for testing oil and gas flows to determine commercial viability of discoveries. ONGC and RIL would be major beneficiaries as disputes as six gas finds of each company have been stuck due to dispute over the testing method.

The new policy would go a long way in easing the process of doing business for explorers and help in holding the next round of block auctions.

the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a policy to allow development of a dozen contentious natural gas discoveries of Reliance Industries and ONGC worth Rs one lakh crore at current prices.

The policy, which gives companies options to either develop the finds at their own risk or perform DGH-prescribed conformity tests before developing them and recoup entire cost, will help monetise around 90 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas finds.

This will "settle the long pending issue with regards to 12 discoveries in five blocks pertaining to Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) (six discoveries) and Reliance Industries (six discoveries) but will also establish a clear policy for the future," an official statement said.

The 12 finds hold reserves of around 90 bcm of gas "which would be valued at over Rs one lakh crore at the current gas price of USD 4.66 per million British Thermal Unit (mmbtu) on Gross Calorific Value (GCV)," it said.

The policy will also help in bringing out transparency and uniformity in decision making as against case by case approach in the past.

The CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, allowed companies to either relinquish the blocks or develop the discoveries after conducting Drill Stem Test (DST) with 50 per cent cost of DST being disallowed as penalty for not conducting the test on time.

The cost recovery for carrying out DST would be capped at USD 15 million.

Alternatively, the companies will be allowed to develop the discoveries without conducting DST in a ring-fenced manner i.e. at their own cost. The expenditure incurred in developing these finds will be recouped only if the fields are commercially producible.

"If the contractor does not opt for any one of these options suggested above within 60 days of the CCEA approval then the area encompassing these discoveries shall automatically be relinquished," the statement said.
(Inputs from PTI)

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

7 more Indians die; 170 from 15 countries saved - Times of India

NEW DELHI: As the official death toll in Nepal crossed 5,000, the government on Tuesday said seven more Indians had died in the earthquake in the Himalayan country, adding to the six reported earlier. Apart from its massive ongoing Operation Maitri for rescue and relief, India has also begun a "big" evacuation effort through the road route.

Times cares: Reach out, aid Nepal

Complete coverage on Nepal earthquake

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar, briefing journalists on Tuesday, said, 170 nationals from 15 countries have been evacuated by air so far. 251 others were evacuated by the land route. "Our ambassador called on the Nepal PM and army chief today; both of them appreciated Indian assistance. A few more rescue and relief flights are plying today. Our engineering teams too are helping in the relief operations to keep the roads operational," Jaishankar said.

With roads having opened for traffic, Jaishankar said more people were being evacuated by road than air, which is affected by bad weather. "100 more buses are expected to leave from Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Approximately 4,000 Indians are being brought in 80 buses from Nepal. The bus route is probably the best way to return to India now, as it is the least affected by weather," he said.

As reported by TOI earlier, India is also using its serving and retired Gorkha soldiers as "eyes and ears" in Nepal to direct assistance in the quake-hit country. While the Indian Army has 28,000 serving Nepalese Gorkhas at present, it also has a vast community of around 1.25 lakh retired soldiers in Nepal.

Home secretary L C Goyal said three Union ministers would be visiting quake-ravaged Bihar. "Three NDRF teams have reached Nepal on Tuesday and three more teams will be reaching, making it 16 teams. According to inputs from the DG, SSB, 251 foreign nationals have entered India through land route," Goyal said.

Defence secretary R K Mathur said 342 Indians have been evacuated by the IAF, bringing the cumulative number to 2,865. "Three field hospitals with 45 beds are operational and surgeries have already started. 19 mountaineers have been evacuated from Lukala. We have sent cumulative relief material of 24 tonnes to the affected areas in the interiors of Nepal," Mathur said. The Indian Navy is also sending a medical team, with six doctors and 10 medical assistants, to the Himalayan country.

"We now have a better appreciation of the area after our helicopters have undertaken numerous sorties. An AN-32 aircraft of IAF also landed at Pokhara today (the first Indian fixed-wing aircraft to land there)," he added.

http://ift.tt/1pF5nBZ Jaishankar,Operation Maitri,nepal earthquake

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Philippine Woman Drug Convict's Execution Delayed - New York Times

CILICAP, Indonesia — A woman Philippine convict — one of nine people due to face a firing squad — has won a stay of execution, Indonesia's attorney general said Wednesday.

Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo did not comment on whether the executions of two Australians, four Nigerians, a Brazilian and an Indonesian man had been carried out as scheduled shortly after midnight.

Indonesia media reported that the eight had been executed, citing official though unidentified sources.

Brazil's foreign ministry confirmed the execution of a Brazilian.

Gunshots were heard around 12:30 a.m. local time (17:30 GMT) from Nusakambangan island where executions take place.

Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso had been arrested in 2010 at the airport in the central Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, where officials discovered about 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of heroin hidden in her luggage.

Prasetyo said Veloso was granted a stay of execution because her alleged boss has been arrested in the Philippines, and the authorities there requested Indonesian assistance in pursuing the case.

"This delay did not cancel the execution. We just want to give chance in relation with the legal process in the Philippines," Prasetyo said.

Mary Jane Veloso's mother, Celia, told Manila radio station DZBB from Indonesia that what happened was "a miracle."

"We thought we've lost my daughter. I really thank God. What my daughter Mary Jane said earlier was true, 'If God wants me to live, even if just by a thread or just in the final minute, I will live," Celia Veloso said.

"That's what she said and it became true. So I really thank God for this miracle that happened to my child," she said.

Michael Chan, the brother of Australian prisoner Andrew Chan, 31, who became a Christian pastor during his decade in prison, reacted with anger.

"I have just lost a courageous brother to a flawed Indonesian legal system. I miss you already RIP my Little Brother," Michael Chan tweeted.

Jakarta executed six drug convicts including foreigners in January, brushing aside last-minute appeals from Brazil and the Netherlands. More than 120 people are on death row, including 49 drug convicts.

The executions were widely condemned.

"The execution of these eight people for non-violent drug offenses will do nothing to reduce the availability of drugs in Indonesia or other countries, or protect people from drug abuse." Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the New York-based Drug Policy Alliance said in a statement.

"All it demonstrates is the savagery of which governments are capable," he added.

London-based Amnesty International called on Indonesia to abandon plans for further executions.

"These executions are utterly reprehensible," Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International's Research Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said in a statement.

"They were carried out with complete disregard for internationally recognized safeguards on the use of the death penalty," he added.

He said the prisoners were killed despite having at least two ongoing legal appeals. Some were reportedly not provided access to competent lawyers or interpreters during their arrest and initial trial, in violation of their right to a fair trial, he

Brazil's foreign ministry confirmed that Rodrigo Gularte, 42, was executed. The press officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of government policy.

Ambulances carrying coffins arrived Tuesday at a prison island and relatives paid final visits to their condemned loved ones as Indonesia announced it would execute the eight foreigners and one Indonesian man on drug charges, despite an international outcry and pleas for mercy.

The nine inmates were given 72-hour notices over the weekend that they would be executed by a firing squad, prompting a flurry of last-minute lobbying by foreign leaders. The United Nations has argued that their crimes — possession of heroin, marijuana or cocaine — were not egregious enough to warrant the ultimate punishment.

___

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano, APTV video journalist Joeal Calupitan and photographer Alberto Marquez n Manila, Philippines, and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Loading...

Raja Rajeswari is the New York City's first India-born woman judge - Times of India

NEW YORK: Raja Rajeswari has been sworn-in as a criminal court judge here by mayor Bill de Blasio, becoming the first India-born woman to be appointed a judge in the New York City.

Rajeswari, 43, who had immigrated to the US from India as a teenager, previously worked with the Richmond County District Attorney's Office for her entire career in several bureaus including Criminal Court, Narcotics, Supreme Court, and the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau, where she last served as Deputy Chief.

Rajeswari took the oath of office at a ceremony here on Monday along with 27 other judges appointed earlier this month to the Family Court, Criminal Court, and Civil Court, which are part of the New York State Unified Court System.

The mayor appoints judges to 10-year terms in the New York City Criminal Court and the Family Court within the city.

"To ensure New Yorkers have access to a fair, equitable justice system, we need judges who are qualified, honest and reflective of the people of this city," said Mayor de Blasio.

"With their wealth of legal experience, these appointees represent all five boroughs and all walks of life. From the first female South Asian-American judge in New York City to a former NYPD First Deputy Commissioner, these talented leaders truly reflect the diverse range of communities that make up our great city," he said.

The mayor said Rajeswari has an "extraordinary, extraordinary empathy for others."

He lauded her ability to speak in Indian, middle eastern and southeast Asian languages, saying she put her history as an immigrant and ability to speak all these languages to work, "helping to reach immigrants" in the Staten Island communities where she served as an Assistant District Attorney.

"And she saw as her mission to give them confidence in the justice process," de Blasio said.

Rajeswari had said in a report earlier this month that she is "honoured and humbled" by her appointment.

"It's like a dream. It's way beyond what I imagined," she was quoted as saying in the media report.

"For someone like me, an immigrant who comes from India, I'm beyond grateful," she said.

"I told the mayor this is not only my American Dream, but it shows another girl from a far away country that this is possible," Rajeswari had said.

Rajeswari has served in the district attorney's office for the past 16 years and has been the deputy chief of the Special Victims Unit for more than four years.

She has worked on cases involving women and children and said they are the ones that touched her the most.

Rajeswari said that she hopes to use her new position to improve the judicial system by encouraging interpreters to have more access to aid immigrants.

"I'm honoured to sit on a city bench and make Staten Island proud," she said.

http://ift.tt/VGJlUq Rajeswari,woman judge,criminal court judge

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Super Kings squeak home in thriller - The Hindu

A six was required off the final ball to tie this engrossing game of fortune swings. The battling Ryan ten Doeschate only managed a powerfully-driven boundary.

Amidst shouts of delight and relief from the home fans, Chennai Super Kings clinched a humdinger by two runs, overcoming holder Kolkata Knight Riders in an Indian Premier League duel at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. Chepauk continues to be a fortress for Super Kings.

The Kolkata side required 17 runs off the final over sent by the canny Dwayne Bravo. ten Doeschate (38 not out) missed scoring off the first three balls and then exploded with a six and a boundary. He could not, however, deliver the final punch.   

It was a night when M.S. Dhoni’s captaincy was spot on. His team defending just 134, the CSK skipper shuffled his bowlers and never lost that instinct to attack. The bowling had control, and fielding the intensity.

It was a testing surface for the batsmen. There was turn for the spinners, and some movement off the seam and bounce for the pacemen.

KKR lost skipper Gambhir early; the southpaw played away from the body to nick seamer Ishwar Pandey.

Robin Uthappa (39 off 17 deliveries) pulled and clipped tellingly, but slog-swept into the trap R. Ashwin set for him. The off-spinner was brought on in the sixth over, when the PowerPlay was still on. Ashwin bowled well, mixing his length and turning his off-spinners.

Ashwin injured

However, the wily off-spinner, who split his finger while fielding, will miss the next two matches.

CSK found wickets at regular intervals. Mohit Sharma has a deceptively sharp bouncer and Suryakumar Yadav’s top-edged pull was spectacularly taken by Bravo, running in from long-on. Yusuf Pathan was done in by Bravo’s clever change of pace. And Andre Russell was unable to beat Ravindra Jadeja’s throw from deep square-leg to ’keeper Dhoni.

Ashish Nehra and man-of-the-match Bravo made things hard for KKR in the final phase, striking telling blows.

Earlier, Faf du Plessis’s hard-earned unbeaten 29 was the highest score in a total of 134 for six, reflecting the CSK batsmen’s struggle.  

‘Hogg’ing the limelight

Age is just a number as Hogg showed in a young man’s format. The 44-year-old left-arm Chinaman bowler, still zestful and fit, delighted. The wily Australian varied his length, bowled above the eye-level one moment and employed the quicker one the next, used the crease and found two-way turn.

While his Chinaman deliveries — spinning into the right-hander — were enhanced by bounce, the wristy Hogg also used the wrong ’un — turning away from the right-hander — as a variation.

He tempted Smith to strike his stock ball by keeping empty spaces on the leg-side — a point, a cover, a sweeper-cover and a long-off guarded the off-side — and did defeat the batsman more than once with the ’wrong-un that caught the outside of the bat.

Smith survived, but succumbed to a Yusuf Pathan throw from third man.

Hogg’s first two overs, which went for just six, were crucial since the spell halted CSK’s momentum — the side was roaring along at 53 for one — after six overs.

The left-handed Suresh Raina was harried by Hogg’s deliveries spinning away before the lively and rhythmic Russell angled one across to find the edge. Before long, Dhoni was prised out by a Russell short-pitched ball.

Hogg returned to bowl magnificently in the 17th and 19th overs, using the wrong ’un to embarrass du Plessis and castling Jadeja with a delivery spinning into the left-hander.

His action under the scanner, Sunil Narine was not risked by the visitor.

Punjab train trip: Rahul's bid to shed scion's image - Chandigarh Tribune

Days after he trekked 20 km to the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today undertook a second class train journey to Punjab as part of his political revival strategy to look more like an aam aadmi and less like a Congress dynast.

A casually-dressed Rahul surprised his party strategists by suddenly deciding this morning to travel to Punjab to meet distressed farmers in line with the Congress offensive against the BJP government’s anti-agriculture policies.

A party leader told The Tribune, “His visit was undecided yesterday. But this morning, Rahul decided to go. There was no challenge for planning his trip because he decided to travel without reservation in the second class.”

Besides SPG guards, Rahul was accompanied by Lok Sabha member from Guna Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Moments after the Gandhi scion boarded the Sachkhand Express from New Delhi at 12.30 pm, images of him engaging with co-travellers, holding a boy in his lap, and conversing with youngsters went viral on the social media. What followed was a barrage of positive responses from Netizens, something the Congress has missed for some time since its Lok Sabha election loss.

“But things are beginning to look positive now. Rahul is clearly a changed man. He is more of himself and less inhibited. It’s good that he is going to the people because one accusation against us during the Lok Sabha polls was that we have become distant from the masses,” said a Congress leader watching Rahul’s transformation since his eight-week sabbatical ended on April 16.

Rahul, the Congress had said, was on introspection travel. Party men feel the introspection is showing.

“The rolling of sleeves has gone. Rahul has acquired an ease of manner. He is not conscious. He is being himself,” said a top party leader who has in the past criticised Rahul’s “now-on-now-off” brand of politics.

But the Gandhi scion is finally giving an impression that he’s fully into the Congress’ revival. Soon upon his return from the sabbatical, he has assumed from Sonia the charge of party’s anti-land ordinance and pro-farmer movement. His Punjab visit is an extension of that strategy and also a precursor to Rahul’s “kisan padyatra” to engage with farmers across India.

Rahul is working to shed the image of a political heir and positioning himself closer to the common man. His train journey comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Metro ride to Dwarka tells its own story about how important it has become for politicians to look like the “aam aadmi”. Mridula Mukherjee, a historian, said, “Rahul has always said that he is a political dynast, but he wants to end dynastic politics. He is making the right moves but must be consistent.”

Congress insiders, however, maintain that Rahul in the past also travelled like a commoner but is being noticed more because he is in the Opposition now.

Trinamool bags 71 civic bodies in Bengal, BJP 0 - The Hindu

The Trinamool Congress continued its winning streak by recording a thumping majority in 71 of the 92 civic bodies in West Bengal, the results of which were declared on Tuesday. The party wrested control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation by winning 114 of the 144 wards.

The Left Front managed to win five municipalities, establishing that it still is the main Opposition force. Despite the offensive it mounted, the BJP failed to win any civic body. The Congress won four. Twelve civic bodies have no clear winner.

In 2010, Trinamool won 66 municipalities. “The victory is an answer to all the slander and canards spread against us,” party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Senior party sources told The Hindu that the Trinamool was considering advancing the Assembly elections due in mid-2016.

For Trinamool facing serious allegations of corruption, even in the Saradha chit fund scam, the victory comes as a shot in the arm. What makes the victory sweeter for it is that the BJP has come fourth.

BJP suffers loss of face in West Bengal civic polls

Failing to come to power in any municipality in the West Bengal civic elections in which it set much store by, the Bharatiya Janata Party tried to put up a brave face on Tuesday by saying that its tally increased from 10 wards in 2010 to 85 in 2015.

BJP State president Rahul Sinha even sounded optimistic. “We challenge [Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee, we will meet each other in the 2016 Assembly election and will see how her party continues with such ‘goondaism,’” Mr. Sinha said referring to allegations of electoral malpractices.

The BJP has been in a desperate bid to emerge as a political alternative to the Trinamool, with party chief Amit Shah himself mounting an offensive.

“West Bengal civic polls have created history by being the most undemocratic elections … violence, intimidation, voter trauma, terrorisation of opposition candidates … have been its hallmark,” BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.

For the Left, the five municipalities won is much lower that the 25 it got in 2010. Even in the Kolkata Municipal Council polls, its tally plunged from 33 seats to 15. The Trinamool improved its performance from 95 to 114. The BJP managed to increase its tally from three to just seven, while the Congress’s plunged to five from eight.

Of the 2,090 wards in the State, the Trinamool won an overwhelming 1,425 wards, the Left Front 285, the Congress 186 and the BJP 85.

For the Left Front, the results of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation turned out to be a silver lining by winning 23 of the 47 wards, six more than the Trinamool. The Left Front contested the polls under the leadership of former Minister and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Asok Bhattacharya.

The Congress, which was grappling with defections to the Trinamool, maintained its dominance in its strongholds in Murshidabad, Malda and parts of Purulia district.

In the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the Trinamool won 34 seats in the State, the Congress four and the CPI(M) and the BJP two each. With political polarisation in the State, the BJP emerged third in 30 of the 42 constituencies and second in three. The party’s 16.8 per cent vote share put its ascendancy in the 2016 Assembly elections in the realm of the possible in a State where it never had a toehold.

The BJP and the CPI(M) have separately called for a bandh against the West Bengal government on April 30.

India rescuers enlarge Nepal operations to worst-hit areas - Daily News & Analysis

India on Tuesday enlarged its relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal to the worst-affected epicentre areas even as it began a "big" evacuation effort through the road route with 4,000 people scheduled to reach India tonight.

India on Tuesday enlarged its relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal to the worst-affected epicentre areas even as it began a "big" evacuation effort through the road route with 4,000 people scheduled to reach India tonight.

On the fourth day of the killer quake which has left thousands dead and affected millions in the neighbouring country, Indian rescuers from NDRF and Air Force planes have begun reaching areas beyond Kathmandu valley near Pokhara.

"We now have a better appreciation of the area after our helicopters have undertaken numerous sorties. We have conducted chopper operations to the affected areas outside Kathmandu today. A AN-32 plane also landed at Pokhara today," Defence Secretary RK Mathur told reporters during an official briefing of operation 'Maitri'.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, during the press conference, said a "big movement by roads" has been initiated and in the first phase approximately 4,000 Indians in 80 buses will be reaching India by tonight. The buses, after crossing the Indo-Nepal border, will termiate at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

"The bus route is probably the best route to come back home and we have made arrangements for the same along the border on the Indian side," he said.

The two secretaries, along with Home Secretary L C Goyal, said "a few more" rescue and relief flights have taken to the air today even as a number of buses and trucks carrying loads of relief material reached Kathmandu and after dropping these, picked up passengers on their way back.

"There has been progress in terms of relief going in," the Foreign Secretary said. Talking about Indian casualities, he said that bodies of six tourists from Assam have been handed over to their family members while seven more fatalities are feared adding 12 Indians were rescued by the Nepalese Army from Tamakoshi area.

Goyal said in India, 75 casualities and 450 injuries have been reported till now from affected states in the aftermath of the earthquake that hit the country and Nepal last Saturday.

"The maximum casualities of 58 have taken place in Bihar. No assistance has been sought by any other quake-affected state from the Centre till now. However, NDRF teams are working at these locations," he said.

Jaishankar said Indian Ambassador Ranjit Rae met Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and the Army Chief even as they thanked India for the swift action and help provided to the victims of the quake.

He added 170 foreigners from 15 countries were evacuated by Indian rescuers. Besides, 251 other foreign national have also reached India through the land border.

A total of 16 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are now present in the Himalayan nation who he said were working in close coordination with Nepalese authorities. These trained personnel will also be moved to operate in places closer to the affected areas.

Defence Secretary Mathur said 24 tonnes of relief material have been dispatched to Nepal even as 19 mountaineers were rescued by Indian personnel from the Lukla area. He said three field hospitals, with 45 beds, have been made operational there and even three surgeries have been conducted.

"382 Indians have come back today by the air route. In all, the Indian Air Force has ferried 2,865 passengers back home," he said.

Mathur said with the operationalisation of two air bases at Kathmandu and Pokhara, the IAF has got better options to undertake sorties even as this has "de-congested air space in Kathmandu".

"There is an old airport at Pokhara and we are using it now. We are now covering the worst-affected areas," he said. Jaishankar said it is expected that 100 more buses will go to Nepal from Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and after dropping relief material, they will carry passengers back. He added that Indian engineering teams were working to keep the roads open and clear them from debris that fell in the aftermath of the shocks.

NDMA Member-Secretary RK Jain said 249 phone calls have been received till now on its helpline number '1078'.

Nepal earthquake pushed part of India a few feet northward - Daily News & Analysis

Geophysicists have long monitored how fast the Earth's plates are moving, and it is known that the entire subcontinent of India is being driven slowly but surely underneath Nepal and Tibet at a speed of around 1.8 inches per year.

  • AFP

A part of India slid about one foot to 10 feet northwards and underneath Nepal in a matter of seconds during the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the neighbouring country on Saturday, a US scientist has said. 

"Saturday's slip took place over an area about 1,000 to 2,000 square miles over a zone spanning the cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara in one direction, and almost the entire Himalaya mountain width in the other," said Colin Stark, Lamont Associate Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. "A part of India slid about one to 10 feet northwards and underneath Nepal in a matter of seconds," Stark said.

"The rock (we call it the "crust", or more precisely 'lithosphere') below Bihar slid under Nepal along a zone from Bharatpur, through Hetauda, to Janakpur," Stark told PTI. "It's important to realise that all of northern India is sliding north under Nepal etc, all the time. The point is that the sliding takes place abruptly at different patches at different times," Stark said.

Geophysicists have long monitored how fast the Earth's plates are moving, and it is known that the entire subcontinent of India is being driven slowly but surely underneath Nepal and Tibet at a speed of around 1.8 inches per year, Stark earlier wrote in an article published on CNN website.

Over millions of years, the squeezing has crushed the Himalayas like a concertina, raising mountains to heights of several miles and triggering earthquakes on a regular basis from Pakistan to Burma.

"Saturday's quake was neither unusual nor unexpected, although it was larger than most," Stark said.

In the 81 years since the 1934 Bihar earthquake, which killed around 10,000 people, the land mass of India has been pushed about 12 feet into Nepal. "Think of all that movement getting stored in a giant spring lying under Nepal. The spring is stuck on a broad, rough surface which we call a fault plane," Stark said.

Sometimes, energy stored in the spring gets big enough to slip catastrophically, releasing all that pent-up strain and generating shaking strong enough to destroy buildings and kill people over a huge area, he explained.

The bigger the area that slips, and the larger the pent-up energy, the greater the damage. The death toll in Nepal's devas

Trinamool Congress secures massive victory in West Bengal civic polls ... - Zee News

Kolkata: Ruling Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday inflicted a crushing defeat on BJP and the Left scoring a a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), clinching 114 of the 144 wards and also winning 69 of the 91 civic bodies in districts across West Bengal.

The BJP, which was hoping to replace the Left as the main opposition in the KMC, failed miserably, managing to increase its tally from three to just seven seats.

Trinamool Congress sweeps KMC

The TMC, which in the last KMC polls had won 95 seats, increased its tally to 114 while the main opposition CPI(M)-led Left Front was reduced to just 15 from 33. Independents bagged three seats in the KMC.

The victory in the municipal polls, which was billed as the semifinal before the Assembly polls due early next year, will act as a shot in the arm for the TMC, which recently faced serious allegations of corruption, including alleged involvement of some of its leaders in the Saradha Chit Fund scam.

'Victory answer to Opposition's slander'

CM Mamata Banerjee took to Twitter to dedicate party's victory “to the people of Bengal”. She also asked party workers to stay away from victory rallies in the wake of Nepal earthquake disaster.

She tweeted that the party will “dedicate the victory to Rabindranath Tagore on 9 May through Rabi Pronaam across Bengal .”

Opposition routed

Congress, which was fast becoming insignificant in state politics, managed to win five seats, down from eight in 2010.

Although the TMC scored a big win, it got some blows too as several heavyweights bit the dust.
Chairman of the outgoing KMC board Sachidananda Banerjee, deputy mayor Farzana Alam of TMC besides prominent party councillor Paresh Pal were defeated.

On the part of CPI(M), the leader of opposition in the outgoing KMC board Rupa Bagchi was defeated by her nearest TMC rival.

Contrary to KMC, the results in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation showed the CPI(M)-led Left Front has managed to regain some of its lost ground capturing 23 of the 47 seats.

TMC bagged 17 seats in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, which was regarded as a prestige fight for TMC leader and state minister Gautam Deb and CPI(M) leader and former minister Ashok Bhattacharya.

The Congress won five seats while the BJP got two seats and an independent won one seat in Siliguri.

For the Left which suffered major electoral reverses in recent years, the victory in Siliguri Municipal Corporation came as a morale booster.

Apart from its big victory in the KMC, TMC showed impressive results in municipalities across the state.

The party snatched Sonamukhi in Bankura, Baduria, North Dum Dum in North 24-Parganas, Mathabhanga and Tufanganj in Coochbehar, Gayeshpur municipalities in Nadia from the Left and the Congress.

The Left Front won just five municipal bodies- Jangipur, Dinhata, Daihat, Siliguri and Taherpur-- whereas the Congress won five municipalities - Murshidabad, Kandi, Jhalda, Kaliagunj and Islampur. The BJP failed to win even a single civic body.

The fate of 12 municipalities is undecided as none of the political parties managed to get a majority.

Left Front calls for strike

The Left Front has called a 12-hour general strike and the BJP a shutdown across the state on April 30.

Several trade unions, including those affiliated to the Left Front constituents and the Congress, have also given the call for a general strike the same day.

However, Mamata Banerjee today warned that the administration will take strong action against those participating in the shutdown.

"In Bengal our stand is clear that there will be no bandh, no strike. We are against bandh and strike. Administration will take strong action against those who will go for bandh. We won't let them stop the growth of Bengal," Banerjee told reporters here.

"After seeing today's civic poll results they should withdraw the bandh. We have got more than two-third majority in Kolkata Municipal Corporation, while villages and suburban areas are also with us. We are with the people. There will be no bandh," she stressed.

Banerjee said trade unions had called a transport strike against the central government and asked "why suddenly a bandh has been called against us. The CPI(M) and BJP have become one and are now complementing and supplementing each other in Bengal," she charged.

Civic polls

The civic polls were held in 91 municipalities across the state on April 25 which recorded a voter turnout of 79 per cent. Voting for Kolkata Municipal Corporation took place on April 18.

Repolling at 36 booths in over five districts took place on Monday after reports of booth-jamming, booth-capturing, theft and damage of EVM machines from these booths during the April 25 polling.

Over 70 percent voter turnout was recorded in yesterday's repolling.

There are 7,636 candidates contesting for 1,946 wards of the 91 municipal bodies - one Notified Area, two Municipal Corporations (Siliguri and Chandannagar) and 88 municipalities - spread across north and south Bengal.

Airtel Q4 net profit jumps 30% mobile data revenue growth - Daily News & Analysis

Mobile data revenue for India though grew over 70% to Rs 2,324 crore, mainly led by increase in usage per customer and growth in data customer base.

Country's largest telecom company Bharti Airtel today reported a 30.5% jump in its March quarter's net profit at Rs 1,255 crore, buoyed by a robust customer growth and rise in mobile data revenue.

The Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company had reported a net profit of Rs 962 crore for the corresponding period last year.

Total revenue of the firm rose 3.6% to Rs 23,016 crore for the reported quarter as compared with Rs 22,219 crore in the year-ago period, Airtel said in a statement.

The company said changes in inter-connect usage charges (IUC) prescribed by regulator TRAI, effective March 1, have led to drop in gross revenue by Rs 144.5 crore in the current quarter with a marginal impact on net revenues.

On yearly basis, the net profit soared 86.9% to Rs 5,183 crore for FY 2014-15 as compared with Rs 2,773 crore in the previous fiscal.

Total revenue for the entire 2014-15 fiscal rose 7.3% to Rs 92,039 crore as against Rs 85,746 crore in the preceding year.

Net debt of the company stood at Rs 66,841.7 crore at the end of March 2015.

The company said consolidated mobile data revenues for the March quarter at Rs 3,085 crore grew by 59.1% year-on-year(y-o-y), uplifted by higher data usage and robust customer growth.

Mobile data revenue for India though grew over 70% to Rs 2,324 crore, mainly led by increase in usage per customer and growth in data customer base.

"The year has ended on a healthy note, with revenue growth accelerating to 12.1% in FY 2014-15, from 9.9% and 9.5% respectively in the previous two years," Bharti Airtel MD and CEO (India and South Asia) Gopal Vittal said.

The company said consolidated capital expenditure for FY 15 stood at Rs 18,668 crore.

Airtel said forex losses for FY2014-15 stood at Rs 2,153 crore as compared with Rs 1,242 crore in FY14.

Net interest cost was down by Rs 903 crore from Rs 3,595 crore to Rs 2,693 crore in FY15. 

Rahul's visit to Punjab, a political gimmick; BJP-SAD - Business Standard

BJP and its ally, Akali Dal which are in power in Punjab today attacked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over his visit to food-grain markets in the SAD-BJP ruled state terming it as a "political drama" and an attempt to target the Land Bill.

Union Communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress leader needed to study law and also realize that land acquisition was important for farmers too.

"I always say about Rahul Gandhi that he should do some homework and study law. Land is needed for all the purposes including irrigation facilities, construction of canals, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana," he said.

Akali Dal leader and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal ridiculed Rahul for returning after "two months holiday" and going to Mandi (market) for being able to raise questions in the Parliament.

"He has returned after two months of holiday but when there were rains and hailstorm he did not go to the fields or the farmers.

"He is going to the Mandi (food grain markets) so that he could raise the farmers' issues in the Parliament. For ten years his government was there what did they do for farmers and how many times he visited Mandis. These are all political drama it will have little effect," she said.

Several BJP leader reciprocated the same sentiment.

"He himself is admitting that he is doing politics on the Land Bill which is very unfortunate," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

Party leader Anurag Thakur said "for ten years the country suffered because of Congress's politics and unfortunately when the world is looking at India and its growth, they are doing politics with Land Bill."

Rahul visited Khanna and Gobindgarh in Akali Dal-BJP ruled Punjab today to take stock of the situation in the state's grain markets where farmers are finding it difficult to sell their produce after the recent unseasonal rains.

Replying to criticism of Rahul's visit, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that it was "sad if not laughable".

"This episode is sad if not laughable. First Narendra Modi and his government formulate anti farmer policies and then try to get it passed in the Parliament against its opinion. All over the country there is a movement (against Land Bill) and still they have the guts to term Rahul's visit as anti-farmer," Singhvi said.

googlead