The NEWS you like - March 2015

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VOL.3 | ISSUE: 2 | MARCH 2015

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Coming up‌. Schools Mafia...

Private schools and aided schools are dictating terms to the school education department. They have been able to secure permissions to open new schools or renew the permission for existing ones without submitting the mandatory documents and no objection certificates. This startling fact came to light when a few RTI activists tried to get information under the Right to Information Act. The Public Information Officers of the district education department have exposed the identity of the RTI activist in an attempt to avoid providing information, while the information Commission officials are trying to save the PIOs of the education department. The News will bring you the shocking truth in a series of articles to be published in coming issues.

EDITOR’S DESK

VOL.3

ISSUE:2

MARCH

Editor SUDHAKARAN

2015

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Executive Editor SANDEEP BOHARA

Principal Correspondent D Bal Reddy Senior Correspondents G Srinivas Mallesh Babu

Reporters M.Praveen Kumar, A Kullayappa Mohsin Bin Hussain Al - Kasary A Ravi Kumar Photographers Surya, M Vijay S Sridhar, Shair Ali Baig Cover & Layout Subhash. K

General Manager Mohd Nizamuddin

Chief Executive (Marketing) Venkata K Ganjam (GK)

Central Marketing Office (TS) Hyd: 85208 54954, 90306 29615

Central Marketing Office (AP) Vijayawada: 85208 54954, 98491 76747 The News You Like Phone: 9701141377, 9848133363 E-mail: thenewscoordinator@gmail.com Website: thenews.co.in

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Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have created a history crushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP in an epic battle for the Delhi Assembly.

The Delhi based party swept 67 out of 70 seats in an unprecedented victory, effectively halting the so-called Modi wave. It will be personally embarrassing for the PM on whom the entire BJP campaign in Delhi was centred, and pose challenges to his government's agenda as it will now have to contend with restive allies as well as an emboldened Opposition.

BJP, which had swept Delhi in last May's general election and was tipped by pollsters only weeks ago as headed for a comfortable victory, was reduced to just three seats, not enough to even qualify for the post of the leader of the Opposition.

Its CM candidate Kiran Bedi, who joined the party weeks before the polls as the face for Delhi, lost in a BJP stronghold as did a host of senior functionaries, all of them vanquished by AAP's rag-tag army of mostly political newbies supported by an unlikely coalition of dalits, the urban poor, minorities, youth, small traders and also some parts of the middle and wealthy classes.

AAP received 54 percent of the total vote, up from 33 percent in May last year while BJP had 32.2 percent, down from 46.5 percent in the Lok Sabha elections. Kejriwal also voiced the anger among certain ranks of the BJP coining a new word – politics of arrogance.

The Delhi elections sent a strong message to the BJP in general and the PM in particular that single handed decisions would be successful only in the short run. Now, Narendra Modi and the BJP president Amit Shah need an honest introspection, while AAP must be careful on how it consolidates the victory.

Editor : Sudhakaran

The News You Like | March 2015

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Contents Be Alert! .....................................5 Interview.....................................6

City News .................................10 Telangana News........................15

Rave Party Organiser booked under PD Act

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700 Indians parked funds in Swiss bank

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Cops & Crooks .........................19

Crooked Cops ...........................24

Crime & Justice ........................26 National News ..........................28

Temple Politics .........................45

Political News...........................46 Business News .........................50 Cultural News...........................60

Spiritual News ..........................61

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Don’t Underestimate The Power of AAM AADMI

Global News .............................61

Google ’s U-Turn on porn

She Teams giving good result

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The News You Like | March 2015

BE ALERT!

Fraudsters on the prowl near Secretariat, one held

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D BAL REDDY

leuths of the Central Crime Station (CCS) of Hyderabad arrested a fraudster duping unemployed youth claiming links with the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister of Telangana and some other high ranking officials.

The arrested has been identified as 24-year-old Gundu Sadanandam of Warangal district. Police nabbed him outside the secretariat building and recovered cash Rs 2.8 lakh, two cell phones, three SIM cards and visiting cards printed in the name of IAS officer Narsing Rao, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Telangana.

Police said Sadanandam used to trick unemployed youth into his trap.

He used to claim that he was close pal of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Narsing Rao, an IAS officer and his personal assistant Prasada Rao. He collected several lakhs of rupees from unemployed youth promising them government jobs.

According to police, Sadanandam carried four cell phones – one in the name of Narsing Rao, another in the name of Prasada Rao and a third phone in the name of Sanjeeva Rao, while the fourth mobile phone he claimed belonged to him. Further, he got printed visiting cards in the name of Narsing Rao on which one of the cell phone numbers he used to carry was printed, police said.

After convincing his victims to deposit bribe money in a particular

bank account, the accused used to ask the victims to call Narsing Rao on his mobile phone provided on the visiting card, apparently an attempt to reassure the victims that they had paid the money to a right person. And whenever the victims called the mobile number on the visiting card available with them, Sadanandam himself used to speak to them posing as Narsing Rao. He had duped four persons of Warangal District after collecting about Rs 32 lakh from them, police said.

Interestingly, the economic offenses wing of the Central Crime Station has arrested as many as 15 fraudsters outside the Secretariat in three cases of job fraud. Police appealed to the unemployed youth not to fall prey to the brokers and middlemen.

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INTERVIEW

She Teams giving good results T

MOHSIN BIN HUSSAIN AL - KASARY

here has been a very good response from the people, particularly from females for the ‘She Teams’ concept launched by the city police, said Swati Lakra, Additional Commissioner of City Police.

“We have launched ‘She Teams’ on October 24, 2015 with a motto of providing safety and security to women. As many as 100 teams consisting of one each Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector or Head Constable, two police constables and one woman constable have been formed,” she said.

Swati Lakra said, “The teams functioning in plain clothes carry discreet cameras. The functioning of the She Teams is supervised by me with the assistance of deputy commissioner, additional deputy commissioner and monitored by three assistant commissioners of police.”

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Hot spots like bus stops, railway stations, colleges, women hostels shopping malls, parks, cinema theatres have been identified and the teams move in the area, catch the eve teasers, video record wherever possible, produce before officers for counseling along with their parents and cases are booked depending on the nature of stalking, the additional commissioner said.

As many as 113 persons were caught by the She Teams of which 57 were produced before the special metropolitan magistrate court concerned. The court has sent 10 among them to two to three days in prison, while some were imposed with fine.

According to Swati Lakra, people ranging from 15 to maximum 68 years were caught by the She Teams in various cases. However, majority of the respondents were aged

The News You Like | March 2015

between 17 to 45 years and most of them were students.

The additional commissioner says there has been a very good response from the people, particularly from women in bringing cases of eve teasing to the notice of the police. She also said that She Teams have visited 45 colleges, especially those colleges where eve teasing cases have been reported, as part of awareness campaign and confidence building measure. Further, the She Teams have visited 35 ladies hostels, seven welfare hostels and 15 working women hostels as part of awareness campaign.

Counseling would be given to eve teasers in the presence of their parents if they

are minors. A panel of professional psychologists has been prepared for the purpose. The counseling sessions are giving good results as drastic change has been noted in the behavior of the eve teasers, Swati Lakra said.

The additional commissioner appealed to all the citizens to give information regarding incidents of eve teasing and assured that the names of the informants and the victims would remain confidential.

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FOCUS

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CITY NEWS

City police go hitech, get Wi-Fi connectivity

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THE NEWS BUREAU

ll the police stations and units in Hyderabad city police have come under Wi-Fi zone as part of making Hyderabad a smart city. The new facility turns all the police stations and different units of Hyderabad police into a virtual single office.

Commissioner of Hyderabad Police launched the Wi-Fi facility recently. With this, all police stations

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– law & order and traffic, women, all officers of city armed reserve, city security wing, special branch, task force, assistant commissioners of police, deputy commissioners of police have been equipped with Wi-Fi routers connected through high speed internet connectivity that enables a virtual single office, according to a release issued by the city police.

The objective of providing Wi-Fi facility in work areas is to improve collaboration between staff within and

The News You Like | March 2015

across the department by accessing internet simultaneously thereby leading to better decision making, meet the deadlines, sharing of data/information, access to department business applications and systems remotely and improving communication, the release said.

Citizens reaching the police stations can share the data stored in their devices with Police required for investigation or any other purpose using Wi-Fi facility, the release said.

FOCUS

SUTIRTHA BHATTACHARYA

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ON CIL PRIORITIES

THE NEWS BUREAU

utirtha Bhattacharya, a 1985 batch IAS officer of Telangana cadre, assumed the charge as Chairman-cumManaging Director of the Coal India Limited recently. Prior to this he was CMD of the Telangana based Singareni Collieries Company Limited since May 10, 2012.

Bhattacharya took over the mantle of CIL from Dr A K Dubey, Additional Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Coal who was holding the additional charge as Chairman CIL since June 26, 2014 after the post was vacated by S Narsing Rao. A Physics graduate from Presidency College, Kolkata Bhattacharya has vast and varied experience across different government sectors and positions. He was collector and District Magistrate of Prakasham District. As Principal Secretary, Energy, Government of AP, Bhattacharya’s prime concern was to ensure quality power supply at reasonable price to all consumers in the state.

Soon after assuming the charge, Bhattacharya had a meeting with the Directors of the company and also had a video conference with the CMDs of the subsidiary coal companies on the pressing issues and priorities of the company.

Prioritizing his immediate goals

Bhattacharya said,“Ramping up coal production and increasing coal supplies are immediate focus areas.

We would be diligently following the setting up of three important railway lines in the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Odisha which would help in unlocking huge coal reserves and increasing coal supplies”. He further said, “Coal India plays a pivotal role in the country’s energy scenario apart from having a

significant economic and social presence. To lead such a company is a privilege and I look forward to meeting the challenge with help and support from all strata of the employees”.

Speaking of Coal India’s role as a corporate citizen, Bhattacharya said that Coal India is actively pursuing the ‘Clean India Initiative’ announced by the government recently, by providing hygienic sanitation in schools and in the households of underprivileged by constructing individual toilet facilities. To connect with the employees is an important management function and the welfare of the employees is a priority concern of the company, Bhattacharya added.

Coal India has an ambitious production programme in the ensuing years and forging a strong bond and employee welfare is very important to achieve this. The employee welfare amenities like proper housing, sanitation, health and educational facilities would receive high importance. CIL strives hard to create a conducive work environment. CIL is further strengthening its functional grievance handling mechanism for a contented work force at Corporate and subsidiary level and taking advantage of IT, registration of grievances has been enabled through e-platforms on CIL website.

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COVER STORY

Union budget favours investment and job creation THE NEWS BUREAU

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Union Finance Minster Arun Jaitley presented his first full-year budget in the Parliament, which is aimed at high growth with proposals to boost investment and benefits to common people.

"India is about to take off," Jaitley said as growth would accelerate to 8-8.5 percent in the financial year starting in April. “The world is predicting that this is India's chance to fly."

Jaitley announced a monetary policy overhaul, a bankruptcy code and the creation of a public debt management agency. The finance minister spoke about job creation and infrastructure building.

"Budget indicates our commitment to ensure that development of Eastern and Northeastern parts of India gets an impetus and drives future growth. I congratulate FM for doing an excellent job in respecting aspirations of The News You Like | March 2015

the States and at the same time delivering on National priorities," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after Jaitley's speech. "From housing for all, jobs, health, education & total electrification, FM laid down goals to be achieved by 2022, India's Amrut Mahotsav," he added.

Jaitley said the government was committed to tracing black money stashed abroad and a comprehensive new law will be framed to track it.

"On black money, a new structure including e-filing and tracking down is our abiding commitment," the finance minister said. He said a

"comprehensive new law to track black money" would be framed. He also said there will be rigorous imprisonment of 10 years under black money law.

The finance minister said a benami property transaction bill will be brought to tackle black money transactions in real estate. On direct tax, Jaitley reduced corporate tax to 25% over four years from a current 30 percent, with a view to boosting spending and job creation.

"Individual taxpayers can benefit up to Rs 4.44 lakh from fresh exemptions," Jaitley said even as he skipped income tax slab changes.

This is due to hike in exemption limit of health insurance and contributions to pension scheme. Transport allowance exemption was increased from Rs 800 to Rs 1, 600 per month.

Budget Highlights

Social security systems for all poor and an affordable insurance policy for the poor is also being promised. Measure to bring in more equity. Atal Pension Yojana will provide defined pension according to contribution ; 50 percent contribution to be from the government.

Infrastructure outlays for roads and railways go up. Investment in infrastructure will go up by Rs 70000 crore in 2015/16 over last year.

Rs 1,000 crore corpus for establishing a mechanism to facilitate startups. Gold monetisation scheme to allow investors to earn interest in metal account. Also says an alternative sovereign gold bond to replace physical gold. Jaitley also proposes to work on developing Indian gold coin which carries the Ashok Chakra to help recycle gold available in country.

Employees EPF contribution may become optional.

Different types of foreign investment and replace them with composite caps.

Another Rs 1,000 crore committed to the Nirbhaya Fund.

Jaitley proposes increase in Visa on Arrivals to 150 countries from its current 43 in an attempt to boost tourism.

Dispute of resolution bill to be set to see that stuck projects can be unlocked.

AIIMS (All India institute of medical sciences) to be set up in J&K, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, HP and Assam. Indian Institute of Managements in J&K and Andhra Pradesh.

India ups defence budget to Rs 2,46,727 crore.

Corproate tax reduced to 25 percent from the current 30 percent over the next four years.

Black money law shall be implemented by next year: Foreign Exchange Management Act and Money Laundering Act will be amended in relation to confiscation of assets. • Custom duty reduced on 22 items.

Replacement of wealth tax with additional 2 percent surcharge on super rich ( those earning above Rs 1 crore in a year).

Pan Number quoting made compulsory for transactions more than Rs 1 lakh.

Service tax has been raised from 12.3 percent to 14 percent.

Clean energy cess increased from Rs 100 to 200 per metric tonne of coal to finance Green Energy Fund.

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TELANGANA NEWS

Son of Soil is the chief of Singareni Collieries

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THE NEWS BUREAU

1997 batch IAS officer and native of Telangana, Nadimetla Sridhar has become the new chief of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).

Sridhar took over as the chairman and managing director of SCCL recently replacing Sutirtha Bhattacharya, who has become the head of Coal India Limited (CIL).

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called Sridhar to

his office and informed him about the decision to appoint him as the CMD of the SCCL. He asked Sridhar to develop SCCL spread over four districts as a strong organisation.

Rao said he was happy to appoint a son of the soil as the Chairman of Singareni Collieries. He was also complimented by Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma and Principal Secretary (CMO) S. Narsing Rao on his elevation. Sridhar thanked the Chief Minister for keeping faith in him to take up the new responsibility.

A native of Metpally in Karimnagar district of Telangana, Sridhar did his engineering in Electronics and Communications from OU Engineering College.

Sridhar has the experience of working as District Collector of Warangal, Krishna and Anantapur districts, Special Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office, Director of Ports at Kakindada, Project Officer of ITDA at Utnoor, Joint Collector of Nellore and Sub-Collector at Rajahmundry.

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Cops from 21 countries visit Telangana DGP office

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THE NEWS BUREAU

team of 47 foreign police officers from 21 countries visited the office of the Director General of Police, Telangana State on February 26. The team is in India as part of 12 week training programme at National Crime Records Bureau, New Delhi.

Additional Director Generals of Police Sudeep Laktakia,

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Satyanarayan, Inspector General of Police, Training, K Sreenivasa Reddy and other senior police officers welcomed the team.

The team reached Hyderabad as a part of study tour to the SVP National Police Academy, Forensic Science laboratory and Telangana State police Academy.

The team includes officers from Afghanistan, Botswana, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Indonesia,

The News You Like | March 2015

Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lithuania, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, ElSalvador and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Director General of Police Anurag Sharma and other senior police officers briefed the team about the functioning of State Crime Records Bureau, Finger Print Bureau and also explained them about the functioning of specialized units like Grey Hounds.

WOMAN OF COURAGE

Pushpa subrahmanyam, the courageous IAS officer

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THE NEWS BUREAU

nternational Women's Day is celebrated in many countries around the world on March 8.

It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political.

“Make it happen” is the theme of International Women’s Day – 2015 for greater awareness of women’s equality, for more women in senior

leadership roles, for equal recognition of women in the arts, for growth of women owned business, for increased financial independence of women, for more women in science, engineering and technology and for fairer recognition of women in sport.

In this backdrop, it would be apt to know about the courageous woman IAS officer of 1985 batch, who was kidnapped by the dreaded naxalites in her initial days of service. She is none other than

Pushpa Subrahmanyam, now the joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Handloom and Textiles at New Delhi.

Pushpa was only 26 years old when she was kidnapped along with six other senior officials on December 27, 1987 The Naxalites asked everyone to raise their arms, made a cursory search for weapons, took away the ignition keys of the jeeps and led eight top officials into the forest. The rest were told to return to Gurtedu and wait there till the Government released their "comrades" who had been arrested recently.

Those detained were: S.R. Sankaran, 53, principal secretary to the Government; M.V.P.C. Sastry, 37, collector. East Godavari district; V.M. Manohar Prasad, 36, officer on special duty, Girijan Coffee Development Corporation; T. Vijaya Kumar, 31, project officer, Integrated Tribal Development Agency; R. Subramanyam, 25, sub-collector, Rampachodavaram; and S. Narsing Rao, 29, assistant collector, Kakinada; T Radha, 33, joint collector of East Godavari district and Pushpa, 26, the only woman among the captives and sub-collector of Rajahmundry district. All except Prasad were IAS officers.

The only woman officer, who was young, did not lose cool. Instead, she behaved in the jungle as if nothing had happened. Soon, the

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naxalites asked T Radha and Pushpa to leave the jungle with a task of carrying a message to district police chief D T Nayak asking him to arrange for the release of the eight Naxalites arrested on December 15.

The two soon drove down to Rajahmundry, nearly 140 km away, to inform Nayak. Alarm bells started ringing in the state capital at midnight and a three man committee was set up to coordinate strategy.

After much deliberation, the government decided to release the naxalites arrested by the police.

And Pushpa had to go back to jungle to get her colleagues released from the clutches of naxalites. She was accompanied only by a small team of police personnel in plain clothes but she did not hesitate a second despite knowing the risk involved in the operation.

Pushpa had to face another bitter experience in the year 2011 when the Andhra Pradesh High Court sentenced her along with another IAS officer to 15 days imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 each in a contempt of court case.

The case was filed by a councilor of Nalgonda town and Pushpa was the former principal secretary of municipal administration.

Though disappointed, the courageous IAS officer fought the legal battle and finally proved her case that she was not at fault.

Now, she is on central deputation posted in the union handloom and textiles ministry while her husband Reddy Subrahmanyam is joint secretary with the union ministry of rural development.

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FORM IV

Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper (The News You Like) to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February 1. Place of publication

: Rangareddi

3. Printer’s Name

: Ramya Sree

2. Periodicity of its publication : Monthly Nationality

Address

: Indian

: H.No.11-38, Pragathi Nagar, P&T Colony, Saroor Nagar,

Dist Rangareddi – 500 060.

4. Publisher’s Name Nationality

Address

: Ramya Sree : Indian

: H.No.11-38, Pragathi Nagar, P&T Colony, Saroor Nagar,

Dist Rangareddi – 500 060.

5. Editor’s Name Nationality Address

: Payam Sudhakaran : Indian : H.No.334,B, Prajay Sai Gardens, Keesara Mandal, Dist - Rangareddi, A.P

6. Names and addresses of : individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one per cent of the total capital I, Ramya Sree, hereby declare that the particulars given above

are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: 1-3-2015

The News You Like | March 2015

Sd/-

Signature of the Publisher

COPS & CROOKS

Hyderabad cops bust kidney transplantation racket

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THE NEWS BUREAU

kidney transplantation racket headed by a doctor and having international ramifications was bust by the sleuths of west zone task force team of the city police.

The kingpin of the racket has been identified as 60-year-old Dr Hirdesh Saxena of Shiridi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

Along with him, police arrested K Raghavender aka Dr Sanjay Kapoor, A Ashok, Sanjay Kumar Jain – all residents of Hyderabad.

While Raghavender and Ashok worked as agents in Saxena’s network, Sanjay Kumar provided passports for the gang. Police seized nine passports, connected medical reports, computer, laptops and cell phones from the accused.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Saxena has a vast network of agents and sub-agents in different parts of the country.

Through his network, Saxena identifies the people in need of kidney transplantation by scouting the dialysis centers in different parts of the country. Similarly, the network of agents keep an eye on the people in dire need of money and get ready to do anything. The agents will lure the people in dire need of money to donate their kidney in return for attractive amount of money, police said.

The luring becomes easy for the agents because some of the agents

and sub-agents themselves had sold their own kidney in the past, police said. The person who agrees to sell his kidney would be given Rs 5 lakh if the transplantation takes place.

What more! Saxena has a tie up with another racketeer named Ram Kumar of Chennai and the gang has chosen safe places for transplantation.

The transplantation would be carried out either in Sri Lanka or in Iran.

Ones the buyer and seller of kidney are identified, the gang begins its work of arranging passport if it is not already available either for seller or buyer, at a cost of Rs 50,000. The agent arranging the kidney seller would be paid a commission of Rs 3 lakh.

Then Saxena would arrange visit visas for the seller and buyer of kidneys and they are taken to designated hospitals either in Sri Lanka or Iran for the transplantation. In all, those seeking kidney transplantation would have to shell out little over Rs 30 lakh, police said.

According to police, Saxena has been in to the illegal trade for quite some time and as many as 10 kidney sellers, called donors in medical terminology, were sent to Sri Lanka and

Iran in the last one year. Police said people as young as 21 are getting lured into selling their kidneys because of various problems including unemployment and other personal issues.

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Auto consultant held for phishing

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THE NEWS BUREAU

n auto consultant from Hassan district of Karnataka state has been arrested by the sleuths of Central Crime Station (CCS) of Hyderabad on charges of cheating unsuspecting people by way of phishing and online fraud.

The arrested has been identified as Mohammed Saif aka Saifullah.

Police seized Rs 2 lakh in cash, one laptop along with a data card, three mobile phones, as many as 17 SIM cards of different mobile service operators and two debit cards from the accused. A search is on for his associate Govinda Raju, police said.

According to police, the accused used to visit regularly the website

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consumercomplaints.in, wherein aggrieved consumers post their details, collects the details of the prospective victims. Then he would call the prospective victims posing as the official of the particular organization against which the prospective victim has a grievance.

During conversation, the fraudster makes the victim to part with vital information such as ATM card details, date of birth, expiry date of the car, CVV number and PIN number assuring them quick service.

Within no time, the fraudster would transfer the money from the account of the victim to Airtel Money, MPaisa or some bank account of a known person, police said.

If the fraudster fails to win the confidence of the victims, he would

The News You Like | March 2015

at least make them visit a website www.bankingrbi.com and make the victims furnish the bank credentials, OTP etc., which he would later copy using the phishing software and siphon off the money. According to police, the accused created the website by purchasing the domain for Rs 2,000 through online, which appears like an authenticated website.

The accused destroys the SIM card and the mobile phone used in the commission of every fresh offense so as to destroy the evidence.

He had cheated around 300 people in this manner. Further, he has teamed up with Santosh Yadav of Bihar and Anil Srivastava of Jharkhand, who are also into committing similar offenses, police said.

Rave Party Organiser booked under PD Act

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THE NEWS BUREAU

yberabad police have detained a notorious criminal involved in immoral trafficking and organizing rave parties under the PD Act. The detainee, Dilip Jain of Old Bowenpally in Secunderabad has wide contacts in Mumbai and Kolkata and arranges women for obscene dances at rave parties organized in private farm houses on the outskirts of Hyderabad, where illegal activities such as consumption of drugs, liquor and prostitution takes place, police said.

According to police, there are about 300 farm houses and resorts in Cyberabad police Commissionerate

limits spread over an area of 3700 Sq. Kms. Despite issuing strict instructions to the Resorts and Farm House owners from time to time to keep a close watch on the activities in their properties, same people are continuing to use the discreet places for illegal and anti social activities.

Despite several cases booked against him, Dilip Jain is continuing his illegal activity in a brazen manner which is creating public disorder. His continuing activity in trafficking of women and his continuous illegal activities are spoiling the minds of youth, resulting in deterioration of values among general people and thereby disturbing public order and tranquility, police said.

Dilip Jain’s acts have been

prejudicial to the maintenance of public order. Further, his acts have been adversely affecting the maintenance of the public order and peace in the locality. Public order and confidence cannot be restored unless Dilip is kept out of the society for a considerable period by detaining him in the prison, police said.

Therefore, Cyberabad Police Commissioner C V Anand invoked Preventive Detention (Andhra Pradesh Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Boot Legers, Dacoits, Drug Offenders, Goondas Immoral Traffic Offenders and Land Grabbers Act, 1986) against Dilip Jain.

Cyberabad Police have decided to crack the whip against some other organizers, pimps and resorts.

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Cyberabad cops arrest fraudster

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THE NEWS BUREAU

he special operations team (SOT) of Cyberabad police has arrested a notorious fraudster B Vinod Kumar of Prakasam district.

Police said the 34-year-old fraudster had cheated several unemployed posing himself as Director General of Door Darshan and collected huge amounts from his victims promising them government jobs.

According to police, the accused had created a mail ID in the name of doordarshan.newdelhi99@gmail.com

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and contacted the victims through internet and phone posing himself as Director General of DD. He lured the victims saying recruitment was underway and asked them to send their resumes to the mail ID. The accused also morphed his photo showing himself standing beside VVIPs attending some function.

The accused had collected little over Rs 14 lakh from different victims and prepared fake appointment letters along with identity cards, canteen cards and air tickets for Delhi to give joining report.

The victims grew suspicious after

The News You Like | March 2015

they received mails containing the appointment letter, cards and air tickets and verified with Door Darshan, Ramanthapur only to discover that they had been duped.

Subsequently, the victims approached the accused seeking their money back, but the latter threatened the victims with dire consequences.

Police said the accused was arrested earlier for similar offenses in three different police station limits and non-bailable warrants are pending against him. Police recovered a computer, printer and incriminating documents from his possession.

Tollywood-Drug mafia connection exposed yet again

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THE NEWS BUREAU

he unholy nexus between drug peddlers and members of the Telugu film industry has come to light yet again with the arrest of an upcoming director and his friend, who is into promotion and marketing of newly released movies.

Along with the duo, police arrested four Nigerians while two other Nigerians are absconding.

Police recovered 90 grams of cocaine, 400 grams of ganja packed in 40 packets of 10 grams each, six mobile phones, weighing machines

and Rs 10,000 in cash from the accused.

The arrested include Rotimi Olusola Kehinde, Samson Ebuka, Uzor Promise Chukwudi, Attoh Bosha Kelvin – all natives of Nigeria and previously booked in drug cases.

Along with them, police arrested a film director Anugu Shushanth Reddy and Panasa Ravi Kumar, who is into promotion and marketing of newly released movies. Two other accused Victor and Patric aka Phillips are absconding, police said.

According to police, they received a tip off that a drug deal was going on near Jubilee Hills Check

Post and conducted a raid. The drug peddlers and the two Indians were nabbed during the raid. The peddlers disclosed to the police that they get the narcotics supplies from Mumbai and Goa.

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UP Police refuse to woman 'raped by h

CROOKED COPS

Culprits thrash victim in public because they had ruling Samajwadi links

Photographs taken during the assault show a group of men dragging the woman by her arms and legs, and a woman trying to muffle her screams

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24-year-old woman was dragged onto the streets by her legs and thrashed in public view, after she refused to the demand of her employer to become a surrogate mother. The assailants tore

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up her clothes and even tried to kidnap her. But sensing the crowd becoming restive, they threw her out of their car. The incident took place early February in the Meerut city of Uttar Pradesh. The battered victim was discharged from a private hospital a week later. The state police

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were in continuous touch with her for five days - but only to protect the hoodlums, who have links to the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP).

The victim even showed police officers some shots taken from the mobile phone of a bystander as proof of the assault. But the police\ registered a case only after the students of Meerut College took to the streets to protest against their inaction.

After the student protest, SSP S.S. Baghel ordered the arrest of five suspects. The accused have been booked under various sections of the IPC, including 376 (rape) and 364 (kidnap with intent to murder).

The victim, a law student at Meerut College, used to work as manager at Ankur Guest House in Jagriti Vihar. Subhas Bharati, the guest house owner, has rented out the building’s ground and first floors to Dr Timur Alam, who runs a private hospital, Aman Clinic, there. Timur is known for organising several programmes for the SP in the district.

The victim told the police that Bharati had reserved the guest house’s room numbers 109 and 111 for himself and had frequently raped

o help her boss her there. While she was on duty on February 3, Bharati raped her again and said he wanted her to be a surrogate mother, she told the police.

“I had been suffering in silence because I have no other source of income to support my family since my father’s death two years ago.

While I was still crying in the room on February 3, Bharati, Timur and their aides forcibly took me inside the operation theatre and did something to me.

They were talking about using me for a test tube baby. But when I started shouting, they beat me up and dragged me onto the streets,” she claimed.

Circle officer Swarnjeet Kaur said a case had been registered at Medical Thana and Dr Timur, Bharati, Mohammad Murtaza, and two nurses were sent to jail. “The victim’s statement will be recorded before a magistrate. We will also probe the role of police in suppressing the case initially,” said Baghel. After the news spread, the right-wing organisations decided to highlight the issue.

Balraj Dungar, a Bajrang Dal leader, said all the accused belonged to Samajwadi Yuvajan Sabha, a youth wing of the SP. He said constables Pratap Singh and Virendra Kumar had reached the scene of the assault but did nothing to save the woman.

“They just stood there and watched the drama. Later, they tried to pressure the girl to compromise with the criminals. But now we will take up her case and give her security,” he said. Dungar also claimed that nine persons were involved in the incident but the police were still not ready to touch four of them.

The assailants tore up the victim's clothes, and allegedly tried to kidnap her

It has been claimed that as many as nine people were involved in the incident - but that several are being protected by the police.

The victim, a law student at Meerut College, says she was ordered to act as a surrogate mother The News You Like | March 2015

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CRIME & JUSTICE

Cop who swallowed bribe money convicted

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Sub-Inspector of Police, who had swallowed bribe money to conceal evidence and escape from the AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) was convicted a couple of weeks ago.

ACB officials said the SI, R Chandra Kiran Reddy was caught while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 4000 from the complainant when he was posted at Humayunnagar police station. The SI demanded the bribe to favour the

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complainant in a criminal case.

However, the SI sensed the impending danger of being arrested by the ACB as soon as he collected the bribe and tried to escape from the police station by boarding a moving bus. Also, he swallowed the tainted bribe money to wipe out the evidence. But the SI was taken to Osmania General Hospital where the tainted currency notes were removed from his stomach and produced the same as evidence.

During the trial, the SI was found guilty and sentenced to undergo

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rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for demanding and accepting the bribe amount from the complainant. He was also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for abusing of his official position and obtaining pecuniary advantage. In addition to that he was also sentenced to simple imprisonment for a period of ten days and to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 for attempting to conceal the evidence by swallowing the tainted bribe money, ACB officials said.

Former CBI chief could face prosecution

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t appears the former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Ranjit Sinha’s woes have not ended with his retirement.

The Supreme Court has said it would take a final stand on a demand for his prosecution and the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe his role in the alleged scuttling of the coal scam probe and reported attempts to help several accused after hearing petitioner Prashant Bhushan and the CBI in detail. A visitors’ diary at Sinha’s residence allegedly revealed that he

had entertained some coal scam accused and Coal India officials who were allegedly close to some of the accused. “We will take a decision on whether to consult the special public prosecutor on the issue after a detailed hearing,” a Bench headed by Justice Madan B. Lokur said.

As the hearing began, Bhushan’s arguments were opposed by the CBI and Sinha’s lawyer, who said insinuations were being made on the basis of documents, including internal official notes which, according to theapex court’s May 8, 2013 order, cannot be shared.

The CBI also said it must be revealed how the documents had

come into the hands of others.

Bhushan said the court could ask the special public prosecutor for the coal scam cases to examine the relevant documents, as was done in the 2G spectrum cases.

However, the CBI said the entire effort was to derail the probe. The entry register of Sinha’s residence handed over to Bhushan by a “trusted whistleblower” - showed that a Coal India official, Mithilesh, met Sinha “three or four times a day” in a period of 50 days.

The register also showed that Congress MP Vijay Darda and son Devendra Darda, both accused in the scam, also met Sinha several times.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Soldiers leaving CRPF over poor living conditions

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oor living conditions in camps, lack of leave, and tough work schedules in conflict areas are taking their toll on the country’s largest paramilitary force, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The CRPF is plagued by an attrition rate that jumped 62 per cent as morale in the ranks appear to be at an all-time low. On average, the CRPF saw almost 20 exits a day in 2014, as 6,700 personnel prematurely discarded up their uniforms. It marked a sharp increase from 2013, when 4,186 personnel had quit.

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What’s even more alarming is that the numbers of those leaving have been increasing over the past few years. This comes as the number of personnel seeking alternative avenues has come down in other central paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force and the Indo Tibetan Border Police.

The CRPF has been losing men at a steady rate because of pathetic living conditions. According to data compiled recently, 30,297 people left the CRPF in the past eight years over lack of basic facilities like proper toilets in many camps in Maoist-hit areas. This means that on average, three men have been quitting daily

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since 2007.

The increasing attrition rate is a worrying factor and finds mention in a report on high stress and poor working conditions. CRPF Director General Prakash Mishra said: “Improving working conditions for the force is a top priority. We are working on a rotation policy that will allow some rest to jawans posted in high-intensity areas.”

On the other hand, there is also a view that not all are leaving because they are unhappy. Moreover, they cannot be stopped if they are getting better opportunities. Former officers who have been part ofthe paramilitary forces feel the CRPF’s

expansion over the years hasnot kept pace with infrastructural demands.

Prakash Singh, former director general of the Border Security Force, said: “No proper accommodation, lack of mobile connectivity and poorbasic supplies are issues that need attention. There are no peacepostings. All this can take a toll on the rank and file.”

The CRPF report on high stress

levels due to tough working conditions was submitted to the home ministry in September 2014. It said that the CRPF personnel are not able to fulfil social obligations like attending marriages, deaths and other ceremonies in the immediatefamily and society.

“This creates a sense of isolation, hampers proper matrimonial alliances and ostracises them from

society. The constant separation from family only compounds the problem,” the report said.

It also said that the poor living conditions make the personnel vulnerable to diseases and behavioural issues.

Sources say continuous operations in the Maoist zone and casualties in the past few years are also the factors behind the attrition.

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Economic growth likely to be 8 percent

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he Economic Survey for 2014-2015 forecasts a growth rate of over 8 percent for the financial year 20152016. However, farm output growth is likely to lag behind at 4 percent. It calls for quality public expenditure and a shift away from public consumption.

The survey, tabled on the floor of the Parliament on February 27, has been prepared by the finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian on the state of Asia's third-largest economy.

The growth estimates of over 8 percent are the basis of the new GDP (gross dometic product) calculation formula. Economic growth at market prices is expected to be between 8.1 and 8.5 percent, it said. As a consequence there is scope for big bang reforms now.

"The Economic Survey indicates that a clear political mandate for reform and a benign external environment now is expected to propel India on to a double digit trajectory. Indian economy appears to have now gone past the economic slowdown, persistent inflation, elevated fiscal deficit, slackening domestic demand, external account imbalances and oscillating value of the rupee," the survey said.

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The survey further says that the government should ensure expenditure control to reduce fiscal deficit. So expenditure control and expenditure switching is key for government to achieve its fiscal deficit target. India must adhere to medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3 percent of the country's GDP. Overhauling of subsidy regime would pave the way for expenditure rationalization. The governments are expected to borrow over the cycle only to finance investment, and not to fund current expenditures. The survey says short-term targets should be set accordingly. Outlook for external sector is perhaps most favourable since 2008 financial crisis.

On employment the survey has shown that the cause for concern is the deceleration in the compound annual growth rate of employment during 2004-05 to 2011-12 to 0.5 percent from 2.8 percent during 1999-2000 to 2004-05 as against growth rate of 2.9 percent and 0.4 percent respectively in the labour force for the same

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periods.

Survey says that skill development and employment are the major challenges faced by the economy today. Dearth of formal vocational education, lack of variation quality, high school dropout rates, inadequate skill training capacity, negative perception towards skilling, and lack of industry ready skills even in processional courses are the major cause of poor skill levels of India’s workforce, it said.

Expressing serious concern over stalled projects, it suggested revitalizing public private partnership model of investment.

SPECIAL FEATURE

Dr Chandrapal Singh is new chairman of KRIBHCO

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ajya Sabha member Dr Chandrapal Singh Yadav was elected as the Chairman of world’s premiere fertilizer producing cooperative, Kribhco (Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited). Yadav, who was till now Vice-Chairman of Kribhco, will replace Vaghjibhai Rugnathbhai Patel as Chairman of the cooperative.

"The members of the cooperative unanimously elected Yadav as

Chairman," the cooperative said in a statement. The earlier Chairman Patel will become the ViceChairman. Yadav is a well-known Cooperator and dynamic farmer leader. He has been on Kribhco board as director since May 1995.

Born on March 19, 1959 in village Dakor, Jaloun District, Uttar Pradesh in a family of freedom fighters and agriculturists, Yadav holds M.Sc., B.Ed., L.L.B. and Ph. D degrees. He came into limelight as a student leader in 1981, when he became President of Bundelkhand

College, Jhansi.

He started his career as a college lecturer in 1984. Subsequently, Yadav emerged as a popular Kisan leader. In 1996 he was elected as MLA in the UP Assembly. He was later elected Chairman of the U.P. Cooperative Marketing Federation (PCF) and Bundelkhand Vikas Nigam.

Yadav was elected from Jhansi and became Member of Parliament in 2004. He has been on the Board of several cooperative organizations of National and International levels. On

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Board of Directors

Dr. Chandra Pal Singh, Chairman Mr. Vaghjibhai Rugnathbhai Patel, Vice-Chairman Dr. Bijender Singh, Director Mr. V Sudhakar Chowdary, Director Mr. Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, Director Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh, Director Mrs. Shailajadevi D Nikam, Director Mr. Pareshbhai R. Patel, Director Mr. N. Sambasiva Rao, Managing Director Mr. RK Aggarwal, Operations Director Mr. Rajan Chowdhry, Finance Director

March 18, 2010, he was elected as President of National Cooperative Union of India for a term of 5 years.

He has been a front line leader of the Cooperative Movement for over two decades and devoted his life to the cause of farmers, dalits, poor and down trodden people. He has richly contributed to the cooperative movement at national and international fora.

A widely travelled person, Yadav has visited England, France, Sweden,

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Holland, South Korea, South Africa, Japan, Mexico, Hong Kong, Brussels and many other countries on study tour as a cooperator and farmer. He takes keen interest in sports, culture, cooperative and agriculture development.

His contribution towards training, education and capacity building for cooperatives has been praiseworthy.

His very elevation to the position of President, NCUI is a tribute to his deep rooted commitment to the

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upliftment of under–privileged sections of the society.

Yadav has been taking special interest in the development of new and innovative techniques of increasing productivity in the agriculture sector. He is associated with various educational and social organizations.

Being son of the soil, the Cooperative Movement looks towards him with lot of expectations in his new role.

Food production needs to be increased by 70%

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ajya Sabha member and president of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) Dr Chandrapal Singh Yadav has said that food production has to be increased by 70 percent in the wake of rising population.

He was delivering welcome speech at the 15th annual meeting of Asian Farmers Group for Cooperation (AFGC) co-hosted by JA Zenchu and NCUI in the second week of February at NCUI Headquarters in New Delhi.

Around 25 members from India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam participated in this meeting.

Extending a warm welcome to all the guests and members of AFGChe said that the 15th annual meeting of AFGC has been convened due to

sincere and continuous effort of JA Zenchu and other members of AFGC for taking up the various policy issues of agricultural development.

Pointing out that UN has been giving importance to agriculture and agriculture cooperatives, he said that 2015 has been proclaimed as International Year of Soil. He further said that globally, amongst the 300 largest cooperative, 30 percent are from agricultural cooperatives and they are playing important role in organizing the farmers.

Yadav further highlighted the role of cooperatives in sustainable development, gender equality, health care and food security. On the importance of agriculture cooperatives in India, he pointed out that attracting youth to agriculture activities, more particularly the cooperatives is a big challenge for

countries in Asian Region. He pointed out that JA Zenchu collaboration for NCUI educational field project in Bilaspur is based on sustainable parameters and has provided a good income level to the rural poor.

The main theme of the meeting was “Role of Agricultural Cooperatives and Farmers Organizations in Attaining Food Security through Sustainable Agriculture". While first sub theme of the Conference was “Role of Agricultural Cooperatives and Farmers’ Organizations in Preserving Sustainable Soil", the second subtheme was related to “Role of Agricultural Cooperatives and Farmers Organizations in Promotion of Production of Nutritious Crops and Enlightenment of Consumers to shift to sustainable food habit".

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KRIBHCO launches neem coated urea

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nion Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, H N Ananth Kumar has launched the neem coated urea, developed by the world’s premiere fertilizer producing cooperative, Kribhco (Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited).

The launching programme was held recently at Hebbal in Bengaluru. Union Minister for Law & Justice, D V Sadananda Gowda and Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh were the guests of honour, while Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir presided over the launching ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Ragha Mohan Singh emphasised on the

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maximum use of neem coated urea for increase of production and reduction in production cost. He further said that ‘neem’ coated urea is helpful in reducing the pollution of water, soil and air.

Singh said that India have to import about 70 lakh ton of urea

every year, which affects the foreign exchange. He further said that plants cannot absorb nitrogen found in urea to its maximum extent as a result a large component of it goes waste.

By increasing the utility factor of nitrogen through ‘neem’ coated

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urea, the consumption of urea can be reduced, he added.

Kribhco has developed neem coated urea, by mixing ‘neem’ oil in urea. It is a true make in India product. It is eco-friendly, cost effective and efficient. Use of neem coated urea due to higher nitrogen use efficiency can also eliminate import of urea resulting in huge foreign exchange savings.

Additionally farmers also get advantage of better yield, less pest attack due to less nitrogen application through neem coated urea which also ensures better NPK use ratio and balances fertilizations.

Increasing nitrogen use efficiency means reducing the ground water nitrate pollution as well as air pollution by ammonia gas thereby creating healthy environment in rural areas.

NATIONAL NEWS

Jan Dhan Yojana creates Guinness record

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he Narendra Modi government has earned Guinness Book of World Records entry for opening the maximum number of bank accounts in the shortest possible time under the government's flagship financial inclusion scheme, Jan Dhan Yojana.

In its citation presented to finance secretary Hansmukh Adhia, the Guinness Book said: "Most bank accounts opened in one week as part of the Financial Inclusion Campaign is 18,096,130 and was achieved by the Department of Financial

Services, Government of India from August 23 to 29, 2014.

The Guinness Record authorities officially acknowledged it with a certificate to Union finance minister Arun Jaitley. Altogether, 11.5 crore accounts have been opened under Jan Dhan Yojana in less than five months.

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana has exceeded the enhanced target of 10 crore and covering 99.74 per cent of households, "Most of India today is included in the banking system," Jaitley said. More than Rs 9,000 crore has been deposited in the Jan Dhan accounts.

The programme envisages universal access to banking facilities.

Eventually, it is to be expanded to financial literacy, access to credit, insurance and pension facility for the whole population. On the issue of non-operational accounts, he said that direct benefit transfer will make

sure that nonoperational accounts are made opeartive in coming times.

The main features of the scheme include Rs 5,000 overdraft facility for Aadhar-linked accounts, RuPay Debit Card with inbuilt Rs. 1 lakh accident insurance cover. Account holders under the scheme are to get life insurance cover of Rs. 30,000 an additional benefit announced by the Prime Minister when the scheme was launched.

The government set a steep target, Jaitley said, and it also had a 99 percent strike rate on offers to open bank accounts. The state governments too, cooperated in the scheme, contributing to its success, he said. Those left out now are living in Maoist-affected areas, or places which have poor connectivity, the minister said.

The next challenge before the government is how to make these bank accounts operational, since now, only 28 percent of the new accounts are in use, he said.

Announced by the Prime Minister during his Independence Day speech and launched soon after, the scheme is a national mission to bring every household under the financial radar.

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700 Indians parked funds in Swiss bank

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global leak, revealing tax evasion through banking giant HSBC’s Swiss branch, corroborates claims made by Arvind Kejriwal in November 2012 that more than 700 Indians, including

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some of the top businessmen, had parked funds in the European tax haven.

So, after fresh revelations made by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in collaboration with more than 50 media houses around the world,

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Arvind Kejriwal said that he stood vindicated. He said the names revealed in Swiss leaks were first brought into the public domain by him on November 9, 2012.

In a series of tweets, Kejriwal demanded that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA Government should

proceed against the HSBC officials to extract more information about the Indian account holders. “Why doesn’t BJP Government act against HSBC officials? They will spill the beans. US did precisely that,” Kejriwal tweeted. In 2012, Kejriwal’s revelation was considered only to be a tip of the iceberg.

Details of HSBC’s 1,195 Indian clients holding some Rs 25,420 crore have been released by Washingtonbased ICIJ and the Paris-based Le Monde newspaper. The fresh data has broadened the scope of investigation being carried out by the Indian Government to trace black money in the foreign banks.

The French authorities had shared 628 names with the Indian Government in 2011. The Swiss branch of HSBC had Indian NRIs, diamond traders and businessmen as its clients during 2006-07. Many of the names in the fresh list are the same as those revealed by IAC. The Swiss leaks have names of around a lakh of HSBC clients from some 200 countries around the world. Indians ranked 16th in terms of the money held by them in the HSBC account; Switzerland led the pack with $31.2 billion. In terms of the number of account holders, India is placed 18th with 1,668 customers.

Account holders from countries like the UK, Venezuela, the US and France are ahead of Indians in terms of money held by them. The Swiss leaks are based on the data provided by a former HSBC employee Herve Falciani, who faced the heat for getting hold of the crucial information. Falciani handed over the data to the French government in 2008.

Three types of internal bank files were accessed from different years.

A majority of the accounts pertained to the period 2006-07. With the ICIJ’s Swiss leaks hitting the headlines after a global release, HSBC admitted lapses in its screening procedures that allowed accounts to be opened with full secrecy about the customers.

“We acknowledge that the

compliance culture and standards of due diligence in HSBC’s Swiss private bank, as well as the industry in general, were significantly lower than they are today,” HSBC said.

The statement added: “The bank has taken significant steps over the past several years to implement reforms and exit clients who did not meet strict new HSBC standards, including those where we had concerns in relation to tax compliance.

"As a result of this repositioning, HSBC’s Swiss private bank has reduced its client based by almost 70 per cent since 2007.”

Meanwhile, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the black money case said most account holders in the so-called fresh list brought out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists are old and legal action will be taken against whichever new names have surfaced, after verifying facts.

“Most of them are old names which we already have and some of them are new names of account holders. There are not many new names”, SIT chairman Justice (retd) M.B. Shah said. “Definitely, the scope of investigation will be widened due to the new names. We will have to identify those names and scrutinise them. We can’t take action not just on the basis of news reports,” he said.

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Milk adulterators likely to get life imprisonment

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he union government has informed the Supreme Court that it has formed a high-level committee to consider whether or not to make the offense of milk adulteration punishable by life imprisonment.

The government agreed with the view of the court that the present penalty of six months in jails was hardly a deterrent for the menace, which is most common in Delhi and

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Uttar Pradesh. An affidavit in the court

by Rakesh Nayal, a senior official in the Union Health Ministry said the panel, headed by R K Jain, secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority and representatives from Food Safety and Standard Authority of India will take a decision within 45 days. The court had on December 12, 2014 taken serious exception to the Centre’s refusal to amend the law to make the offence punishable with life term. “What are you doing about it?

In March we had given an ultimatum to the Centre to inform us if you are amending the law and we are now in December,” the

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Bench said when Anurag Tomar, the lawyer for the petitioner in the PIL, pointed out the delay.

“After perusing the reports submitted by various states, primafacie we are of the opinion that milk is being laced with white paint, caustic soda, detergent, shampoo, urea, starch and blotting paper and the practice is going unabated.

"The Centre must come out with necessary amendment to the Act with all seriousness to curb adulteration. We hope the Government will take appropriate decision during the winter session of Parliament,” the court had said.

The Bench had earlier said it would be foolish to go lightly on adulterators just because no grievous illness or death has been reported immediately after someone drinks milk laced with such poisonous substances.

“The poisoning in the body is gradual and once it happens people think they are afflicted with cancer and nobody blames milk. Are you waiting for them to add cyanide in milk? Only then instant death will be caused for you to take action,” the court had said.

The Bench suggested an amendment to the law after the Uttar Pradesh government said they faced a hurdle in prosecuting adulterators under the IPC and seeking their life imprisonment after the Allahabad High Court ruled in 2010 that the IPC cannot be invoked when the FSSA should prevail.

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nion Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu unveiled a five-point programme on reforms and governance while presenting the railway budget for 2015. For a change the minister resisted the temptation to announce new trains or extension of services in his budget for 2015-16. He also did not increase passenger fares.

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This is perhaps the first time in many years that the railways have not announced any new train in the budget. The minister however assured his colleagues in parliament that he will take requests from all MPs over the next few days and review them before announcing any new train.

He announced the operating ratio target of 88.5 per cent for the next fiscal. Operating ratio is the amount of money spent to earn every Rs 100

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and is a key indicator of railways financial health. The operating ratio target for the current financial year was 91.8 per cent.

Prabhu said his ministry will work on five key “drivers of action� – adopting a medium term perspective planning including a new White Paper; building partnerships with PSUs and funding agencies; Leveraging funding opportunities including Pension Funds; revamping management

Five-point programme on reforms, governance practices and systems; and setting standards for governance and transparency.

The rail ministry will spend over Rs 8.5 lakh crore over the next five years in a host of areas including capacity augmentation, moderniza tion, passenger amenities and safety but will not hike passenger fares, Prabhu announced, highlighting the political sensitivity associated with tinkering with railway fares.

Prabhu also announced a slew of passenger facilities including mobile application for complaints, water vending machines in major stations, CCTVs cameras in some long-distance trains and EMUs. The railway minister also announced that surplus coaches from trains which are running on low capacity will be rationalised and added on lines which have high density.

Meanwhile, the daily passenger

capacity of Indian railways is projected to increase from 21 million to 31 million in the next one-year, while freight capacity is expected to jump 50% from 1 billion tonnes to 1.5 billion tonnes. Freight rates were, however, hiked in general barring high-speed diesel which was lowered by 1%. Rates were hiked by 0.8% for LPG, kerosene, 0.8% for iron & steel; 2.7% for cement, 10% for urea and 6.3% for coal.

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Highlights of the railway budget

Passengers can choose meals: ecatering introduced in 108 trains.

Food can be ordered through IRCTC website while booking tickets 138 to be a nationwide helpline number for railway-related queries ‘Operation 5 minutes’ being launched so that passengers can buy unreserved tickets in five minutes Special focus on cleanliness campaign, new department set up for the purpose Replacement of 17,000 more toilets with bio-toilets to be undertaken this year All India 24 X 7 helpline No 138; Toll free No.182 for security complaints 67% more funds allotted for passenger amenities Book a ticket 120 days in advance (currently it is 60 days) SMS alert service to inform about the upgraded arrival & departure timings Mobile phone charging facilities on general class will be introduced Surveillance cameras on select mainline and ladies compartments On-board entertainment on select Shatabdi Trains Providing facility of online booking of wheelchair for senior citizens Will increase quota of lower berths for senior citizens Facility of self-operated lockers will be made available at all railway stations 24 to 26 coaches in certain

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identified trains, more general class coaches Folding ladders to be introduced to climb upper berths in coaches Railway cleaning to be outsourced Lifts and escalators planned at major stations for easy movement of passengers To introduce AC services on Mumbai suburban network All newly manufactured coaches will now be Braille-enabled Speed on 9 corridors to be increased from 120 kmph to 160 kmph Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Mumbai journey will be completed overnight due to speeding of services Open wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations; proposal to revamp

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the station re-development scheme Satellite railway terminals in major cities - 10 select stations System of online application to be extended to all levels of recruitment 2015-16 planned budget at Rs 1.11 trillion E-procurement value chain being expanded Railways to move to paperless ticketing, to introduce hand held device for TTEs Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected by mid-2015 Railways propose to move from preventive to predictive maintenance

TEMPLE POLITICS

VHP threatens mass campaign over Ram Mandir

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The makeshift Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh

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he Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has set a deadline of May 2015 before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to decide the long pending Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid issue and threatened mass campaigns if the issue was not resolved.

Sharad Sharma, VHP spokesperson for Ayodhya affairs said, “Modi has come to power because the BJP raised agendas of development and national growth.

We didn’t want to disturb the government in the beginning. It was decided at a meeting of VHP leaders and important saints that the Centre

should be given one year to take the country on the path of development and fulfill its other promises made to the people during the election campaigns.

"The saints will hold a meeting with the PM after May 2015 and demand that a law be enacted in Parliament to pave the way for construction of the Ram temple at the same site.”

Sharad Sharma alleged that some people with no locus standi have been trying to show interest in the case. “We understand the eagerness of Hashim Ansari, the oldest surviving plaintiff from the Babri Masjid side. He keeps raising trivial issues out of sheer frustration. Now

and then, he takes the help of Akhara Parishad chief Mahanth Gyan Das and comes up with a bizarre plan.

Every time, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav or his representative meets him and Ansari peacefully returns to his ivory tower. We really don’t care about his gimmicks.”

Ansari and Gyan Das have sought time from the PM for a meeting while claiming that they have reached a compromise formula on the Janma Bhoomi-Masjid issue after discussions with major saints of the country.

Additional Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh Zafaryab Jilani, who is also a counsel for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board which looks after the related case of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, said, “The VHP is part and parcel of the case because its leader represents Ram Lala Virajman in court. There is no possibility of arriving at a compromise formula without involving the VHP.” The Allahabad High Court, in its 2010 judgment, had ordered to trifurcate the disputed 70 acres of land and give the makeshift temple area to Ram Lala Virajman while handing the Chabutara and Sita Ki Rasoi to Nirmohi Akhara, besides an unspecified one-third portion to the Sunni Central Waqf Board.

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POLITICAL NEWS

Candidates with criminal records Should be banned from politics THE NEWS BUREAU

The recent Supreme Court verdict holding that the election of a candidate who concealed their criminal past from voters would be void is another step to fighting the criminalisation of politics.

But experience over the years has shown that voters have failed to get

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past the criminal-politician nexus, and it’s time to completely bar tainted people from entering electoral politics.

The government should seriously consider long-pending proposals for an amendment in the law to bar people facing criminal trials from electoral politics, as arming voters with information on the criminal past

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of candidates has failed to check the criminalisation of politics.

On the contrary, statistics show that the entry of tainted politicians continued to increase even after 2002, when the Supreme Court made it mandatory for candidates to file affidavits declaring criminal antecedents.

Taking note of the problem, the

Law Commission in its 244th report last year supported long-pending proposals to amend the law to disqualify candidates from the stage of framing charges by court rather than from the stage of conviction as it exists today.

The commission noted that the 2002 Association for Democratic Reforms judgement, which sought to arm people in the fight against criminalisation of politics, had neither deterred the tainted nor adversely affected their prospects of a win.

The participation of tainted candidates in the electoral process has been on the rise since the 2004 parliamentary elections. And what is more ominous is the fact that their presence in Parliament is also increasing.

An NGO report based on disclosures made in affidavits by MPs elected to the Lok Sabha in the last general elections reveals that 34 per cent MPs elected in 2014 had criminal cases pending against them.

The 2014 law panel report records the figure at 30 per cent in 2009 elections (i.e. the 15th Lok Sabha) and 24 per cent in the 2004 elections. A noticeable increase since the 2002 judgement!

The law panel reports that the position was no different in state elections, and the success rate for tainted candidates was higher.

Against this backdrop, the government needs to seriously consider taking the legislative route, as the task of cleansing politics cannot be left to voters for reasons more than one. Besides, leaving the job of law-making to the judicial interpretations for long has its own limitations.

Though the court made affidavit by candidates mandatory in 2002, it subsequently held that a nomination could not be rejected for allegedly “furnishing wrong information or concealing material information”.

be rejected.

With non-disclosure not being a ground for rejecting nomination, the court in its latest judgement took another step towards fulfilment of the object of the 2002 judgement by holding that concealment would render an election void.

What makes a law necessary is that the judicial decisions come into play when the voters’ ‘right to know’ is violated, and not when a voter makes a wrong choice. There is no bar on a voter choosing a tainted candidate, or on tainted candidates (other than those disqualified on account of conviction) contesting elections.

Besides, voters can be manipulated in other ways than by concealment of information. It is not something that governments are unaware of. At the local body level, some states have barred people with more than two children, or illiterates, or those with low literacy levels from the fray rather than leaving it to the choice of voters.

The constitution-makers also did not want to allow voters to choose whosoever they wanted.

With the affidavit being a mere formality, candidates started fulfilling the mandate by filing blank affidavits. On a petition by Resurgence India, the court last year sought to fill the gap by clarifying that nominations accompanied by affidavits with blank columns could

“I think the House will agree that it is desirable that a candidate who actually wishes to serve in the legislature should have some higher qualifications than merely being a voter,” Dr B.R. Ambedkar had stated in the Constituent Assembly.

Courtesy: Governancenow

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FOCUS

New evidence shows coconut oil is good for health

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BY DR D M VASUDEVAN

he health and nutritional benefits of coconut oil have been recognized for centuries. In India, coconut tree has been considered from time immemorial as “Kalpavriksha”, literally meaning “a tree that bestows all boons”.

However, in recent decades, many health organizations advise against the consumption of high amounts of coconut oil due to its high levels of saturated fat. In the 1980s, a conspiracy has been made to convince the public that coconut oil contributed to the increase in rate of coronary heart disease. However, in recent years, many researches are proving that coconut oil is not harmful to health.

About 60 years back, it was found out that coconut oil contains saturated fatty acids. It was also experimentally proved that saturated fats will lead to atherosclerosis. So, people equated coconut oil with heart diseases. However, about 20 years back, it was proved that coconut oil, although contains saturated fatty acids, they are of special variety called short chain and medium chain fatty acids. It is to be emphasized that the fats that cause heart disease are saturated fats with long chain fatty acids.

By giving coconut oil, scientists found no statistically significant alteration in the serum levels of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or LDL cholesterol from the baseline values.

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They also noted a beneficial effect of adding the coconut kernel to the diet.

In studies with neonatal pigs, the feeding of coconut oil did not in any way altered their blood lipid composition.

At Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India, we have analyzed the fatty acid composition of the plaques taken from diseased arteries. A total of 71 samples of plaques were analyzed, of which 48 persons were using coconut oil and 23 persons were using sunflower oil routinely.

Plaques did not contain significant amounts of lauric acid or myristic acid (fatty acids from coconut oil). Instead, palmitic acid and stearic acid (long chain saturated fatty acids, present in other oils) were the main ingredients of these plaques. Fatty acid content of plaques from coconut oil consuming group and sunflower consuming group were the same. Thus plaques

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from coronary artery do not contain fatty acid from coconut oil. This evidence clearly shows that coconut oil does not have any action on plaque formation or heart disease.

Overweight is a major health problem in developed countries, and it is becoming so in India too.

Overweight increases the risk for osteoarthritis, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and early death. The usual advice given to overweight individual is to reduce food intake, particularly fat intake. However, on such a diet, the person will feel hungry and feel depressed. In such circumstances, they stop the dieting and end up in rebound weight gaining.

Coconut oil has an advantage in these types of settings. Overweight person taking coconut oil, containing medium chain fatty acids, gradually over the months lose weight effortlessly Replacing long chain fatty acids with medium chain fatty acids result in a decrease in body weight and a reduction in fat deposition. However, as explained before, the medium chain fatty acids will be immediately utilized for energy purposes, and will not be deposited in the body. This will help to reduce weight.

Coconut oil inhibits various microorganisms including bacteria, yeast, fungi, and enveloped viruses.

Coconut oil-treated wounds healed much faster, as indicated by a decreased time of complete epithelization. Coconut oil was found to reduce the protein loss in hair.

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Alok Shriram, president of PHDCCI

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THE NEWS BUREAU

lok B Shriram is the president of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry – 110 year old national chamber based in Delhi having offices in 13 states and union territories. PHDCCI has over 48,000 members directly and indirectly and serves the interests of the MSME sector.

Alok is the deputy managing director of DCM Shriram Industries Limited, a part of the Shriram Group.

The group is a 125 year old Delhi based conglomerate started by Lala Shriram, a doyen Indian Industry.

DCM Shriram Industries Limited (DSIL) is the flagship company of the DCM Shriram Industrial Group, born in 1990 upon restructuring the erstwhile DCM Limited by combining several units of the DCM Group namely Daurala Sugar Works, Daurala Organics, Shriram Rayons, Hindon River Mills and Daurala Food and Beverages. He is also the chairman and managing director DCM Hyundai Limited.

Born on November 30, 1960, he is the son of late Lala Bansidhar (grandson of Lala Shriram). Alok B Shriram is the second of three brothers (Tilak Dhar, Chairman and Managing Director, DSIL and Madhav Shriram, whole time director, DSIL). After completing his education from Mayo College, Ajmer and Shri Ram College of Commerce,

Delhi University, he joined the family business in 1980.

He was in various industrial units all over India (having been posted in Delhi, Agra and Hyderabad) including textiles, fans, air conditioning, glass products, engineering goods and industrial fibre.

Alok holds several key positions on various regulatory and professional boards. He is the former president of the National Association for Quality and Reliability, a member of CII, AMFI and life member of the textile association of India. He was on board of governors of IP College for women. He is also a member of the prestigious Rotary Club of Delhi Midtown and a Paul Harris Fellow.

Alok is a serious gold aficionado and a passionate photographer. He is an eager traveler and a happy foody.

He lives in New Delhi with his wife and two children.

The diverse businesses and manufacturing capabilities of DSIl include production of sugar, industrial alcohol, power, drug intermediates and auromatic chemicals. Rayon tyrecord and textiltes for tyre reinforcements.

DHL focuses on engineering products and manufactures DNV approved off-shore cargo handling units and other marine and nonmarine cargo boxes, cribs and handling units. The group holds trading house status and exports products to USA, Europe, Japan, Korea, Africa and other countries of Asia.

Additionally, the group supports and runs the Dr Bansidhar School, Shriram Institute of Industrial Research Institute and Shankar Shad Indo-Pak Mushaira.

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BUSINESS NEWS

TRAI goes for cut in roaming charges

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THE NEWS BUREAU

fter announcing panIndia mobile number portability, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has proposed cut in roaming tariffs. “Through the Amendment Order, the Authority intends to reduce the ceiling tariffs for national roaming services,� the TRAI said in a statement.

It means mobile subscribers can look forward to lower charges as TRAI has proposed a sharp cut of about 35 per cent for making calls and up to 80 per cent for sending messages while roaming. From Re 1 per minute the TRAI has proposed to cut down maximum charges that can be imposed on outgoing local calls during roaming to 65 paise per minute.

On STD call rates during roaming the proposal is to reduce it to Re 1 per minute from Rs 1.5 per

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minute. For incoming calls the rates are proposed to be halved. The regulator wants charges to be 45 paise per minute instead of 75 paise.

On SMS during roaming it says the charges should be maximum 25 paise. Local SMS should be charged a maximum of only 20 paise compared to Re 1 that can be levied at present.

A final order on these proposals will be issued after the comments are received from stakeholders by March 13. Meanwhile, the TRAI has ordered mobile number portability anywhere in the country from May 3.

Mobile number portability (MNP) currently allows consumers to change their service provider while retaining the same number only within a telecom circle, which in most cases is limited to a particular state.

Once the pan-India MNP kicks in, a subscriber who shifts from Delhi to Bangalore, for instance, will be able to retain the same number

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while selecting a different service provider. Apart from facilitating the pan-India portability, the TRAI has made some changes in the porting process as well. In case a postpaid subscriber defaults in paying bill which was due to the donor operator (previous service provider) from whom the subscriber has ported out, the donor operator has to give a notice within 30 days of the due date of payment of its outstanding bill.

After a lapse of 60 days from the due date of payment of the outstanding bill, the donor operator will not be entitled to raise nonpayment disconnection requests.

The recipient operator in turn will give a 15-day notice period for making such payment failing which the outgoing services of the defaulting subscriber will be debarred for 15 days. In case, the subscriber fails to make payment within 15 days, the number will be disconnected permanently by the recipient operator.

Congratulations On Being Elected As The Chairman & Board of Directors of KRIBHCO

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Mukka Rammurthy President

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Dr Chandrapal Singh

MP

Chairman, KRIBHCO

Ravulapally Ramulu Secretary

Congratulations on being elected as the Chairman & Board of Directors of KRIBHCO Dr Chandrapal Singh

MP

Chairman, KRIBHCO

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DEALERS: MCF, IPL, PPL, CFL, MFL, KRIBHCO, NFCL, TRANSPORT CONTRACTORS STOCK POINT Opp: Venkateshwara Theatre, Door No.21/452/Z/75C, Bypass Road, Nandyala- 518 501, Dist: Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh Phone: 08514-242843, 245492 Mobile: 94408 06943, 99493 55843 The News You Like | March 2015

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FOCUS

NSIC, fostering the growth of MSEs

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THE NEWS BUREAU

ational Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) is an ISO 9001-2008 certified Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) is a Mini Ratna company and has been working to fulfill its mission of promoting, aiding and fostering the growth of small industries and industry related micro and small enterprises in the country.

Over a period of five decades of transition, growth and development, NSIC has proved its strength within

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the country and abroad by promoting modernization, upgradation of technology, quality consciousness, strengthening linkages with large medium enterprises and enhancing exports - projects and products of MSE sector.

Since its establishment in 1955, NSIC has been carrying forward its mission to assist small enterprises with a set of specially tailored schemes designed to put them in a competitive and advantageous position. The schemes comprise of facilitating marketing support, credit support, technology support and other support services.

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Senior Branch Manager, NSIC, Hyderabad, K Srinivas, who is taking care of branch operations in Telangana, elaborated various schemes for the growth and development of Micro and Small Enterprises.

NSIC operates a single point registration scheme, wherein the micro and small enterprises registered with the district industries center (DIC) are eligible for registering with NSIC. By registering with NSIC, MSE units would be eligible to get benefits such as issue of tender sets free of cost, exemption from payment of earnest money deposit and advance

intimation of tenders issued by the DGS&D, Srinivas said.

Further, NSIC runs raw material assistance scheme aimed at helping micro and small enterprises by way of financing the purchase of any raw material. This gives an opportunity to MSEs focus better on manufacturing quality products.

Srinivas further said that NSIC participates in bulk global tender enquiries and local tenders of central and state government and public enterprises on behalf of MSE units. It is aimed at assisting MSEs with ability to manufacture quality products. This assistance has enabled large number of MSE units to compete for the orders which are normally out of reach of the individual units because of the bulk requirements.

Information today has become almost as vital as the air we breathe.

We need it every minute of our working lives. With increase in competition and melting away of international boundaries, the demand for information is reaching new heights. NSIC, realizing the needs of MSEs, is offering one-stop infomediary services that provide

information on business, technology and finance and also exhibit the core competence of Indian MSEs, he said.

Also, NSIC participates in selected international and domestic exhibition and trade fairs every year and facilitates the participation of micro and small enterprises by providing subsidies and concessions in stall rental, air fare and freight etc, Srinivas said adding that NSIC organises buyer-seller meets by inviting the large buyers like railways, BHEL, defence establishments and other PSUs and MSE units on a single platform and arrange one to one business meetes, thereby enabling the micro and small enterprises to supply to the government sector and gain knowledge in the policies, purchase procedure adopted by them.

Srinivas said NSIC undertakes export of industrial projects of micro and small enterprises to other countries on turnkey basis. Further, NSIC has tied up with several commercial banks in India and abroadfor sanction of term loans and working capital facilities for micro and small enterprises.

NSIC is also operating a performance and credit rating scheme

through empanelled agencies which entitle them the benefit of liberal credit terms from commercial banks.

The credit rating also improves the market image of the micro and small enterprises in domestic and international market. NSIC provides subsidy of 75 percent on the fee charged by the credit rating agencies, Srinivas said.

NSIC, Hyderabad has also undertaken various projects under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative like supply and installation of R.O. Plants for providing safe and hygienic drinking water in various backward villages in the state of Telangana. Each plant can cater to the needs of around 3000 people, wherein the ground water is purified to make it safe for drinking, Srinivas said.

NSIC officials can cantacted at The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd(A Governament of India Enterprise)., 203, Sri Dattasai Complex, RTC Cross Roads, Hyderabad- 500 020. Tel: (O) 04027615761, 27622515, Fax: 040-27617777, e-mail: nsichd_hyd@dataone.in, website: www.nsic.co.in

The News You Like | March 2015

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BUSINESS NEWS

NLC gets energy conservation award

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THE NEWS BUREAU

he Neyveli Lignite Corporation, a Navratna public sector undertaking, has bagged the “National Energy Conservation Award-2014” for its power saving measures adopted in Mine-I. The award was presented by Union Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goal to NLC Chairmancum-Managing Director B Surender Mohan on the occasion of the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations organised in New Delhi.

Energy is conserved through optimisation of the conveyor operation, which, in turn has enhanced productivity.

Mine-I has the capacity to yield 10.5 million tonnes of lignite a year.

Mine-1 began operation in 1957 and ever since its conveyor system had been suitably modified, depending upon the land availability and other operational constraints. As the mining of lignite would move on, the length of the conveyor ought to be accordingly adjusted.

With alacrity the NLC officials had judiciously pruned the length of the conveyor and the number of drive heads, and, reduced the height of the lift (as the lignite ought to be lifted from the pit head to the ground surface for delivery at the thermal

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power stations) so as to save energy.

Thus, a total length of 6.68 km of conveyer, 15 drive heads and 30-m lift were dispensed with. Prior to the conveyor modifications the specific energy conservation for excavating lignite in Mine-I was 34.04 KWHr per tonne of lignite.

Now, power consumption has been brought down to 25.65 KWHr per tonne of lignite and through such efforts 40 million units of electricity valued at Rs 13.49 crore was saved a year.

Adding yet another feather in the cap of NLC, the Institution of Engineers (India) awarded B Surender Mohan, CMD, NLC with the “Best Industrial Relations Award” during the 29th Indian Engineering Congress at Hyderabad.

The award was presented by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana ESL Narasimhan in the presence of Ashok Kumar Basa, FIE, President, the Institution of Engineers (India) and Dr L V

The News You Like | March 2015

Muralikrishna Reddy, PresidentElect, the Institution of Engineers (India).

The award was instituted by the Institution of Engineers, India for the best all round performance in formulating best industrial policies, practices and maintaining good industrial relationship.

Also in the same function Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, Neyveli was recognized with the “IEI Industry Excellence Award 2014” for the Business excellence and industry practices in manufacturing and Processing– (CategoryTurnover of Rs 1000 Crore and above) and it was received by Surender Mohan, CMD from Narasimhan.

NLC donates relief fund to three states

Pained over the Hudhud cyclone devastating Andhra Pradesh and causing extensive damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of livelihoods, the NLC donated Rs 1 crore for AP cyclone victims.

Chairman and Managing Director B Surender Mohan, presented the cheque to Chief Minister N Chandrabadu Naidu at the Secretariat. The company has also contributed Rs 50 lakh to the Odisha Government and Rs 1 crore to the Jammu & Kashmir Government towards CM Relief fund.

Dept of posts, NSE and others in race to set up banks

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THE NEWS BUREAU

s many as 72 applications for small finance banks and 41 applications for payments banks were received by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the traditionally conservative RBI is taking big steps to bring in niche banking.

The last date for making applications for licensing of small finance banks and payments banks closed on February 2 and the RBI has released the list of applicants which shows Department of Posts, NSE (Stock Exchange), big corporates like Ambanis and Birlas seek entry into banking business.

Tech Mahindra, Videocon Group and NSE are also in the race to open newly created niche category of payments and small finance banks. As many as 12 individuals like ex-Fino Managing Director Manish Khera and V Balakrishnan former CFO of Infosys have applied under small finance bank category.

Six applications for Payments Bank were submitted by individuals like Kishore Biyani of Future Group, M G George Muthoot chairman of Muthoot Group and Dilip S Shanghvi MD of Sun Pharma.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has managed to get SBI as

partner for banking operations. Sunil Mittal-promoted Bharti Airtel has tied up private sector Kotak Mahindra Bank for payments bank.

Besides, Janalakshmi Financial Services Private Limited, India Infoline Ltd, Department of Posts and Aditya Birla Nuvo also applied for full-fledged banking licenses.

Small finance banks will primarily

undertake basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to unserved and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities.

Payments Banks would be allowed payments and remittance services through various channels.

However, such banks cannot issue credit cards or undertake lending activities.

Two external committees would evaluate applications based on fit and proper criteria and other parameters stated in the guidelines.

The EACs for small finance banks and payments banks will be chaired by former RBI Deputy Governor Usha Thorat, and Nachiket Mor, Director, Central Board of RBI, respectively.

Members of EAC for small finance banks include M S Sahoo, Secretary, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, M S Sriram, IIM Bangalore and M Balachandran, chairman, National Payments Corporation of India.

The EAC for Payments Banks would have three members - Roopa Kudva, former MD of Crisil, Shubhalakshmi Panse, former chairman & managing director, Allahabad Bank and Deepak Phatak, IIT Bombay.

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NMDC gets six awards for CSR Activities

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THE NEWS BUREAU

MDC’s stakeholder friendly activities especially in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Activities and Environment Management have been recognized

by Greentech Foundation.

NMDC has been conferred with three awards in the CSR Category at

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the fourth Annual Greentech CSR Award – 2015 and three awards in the Environment Category at the 15th Annual Greentech Award – 2015.

Pradip Kumar Satpathy, Director (Production) received the awards on behalf of NMDC from Bhaskar Chatterjee, CEO of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Corporate Affairs in presence of K

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Sharan, President, Greentech Foundation at the award function held at Kolkata recently.

Speaking on the occasion, Satpathy said that these awards are the recognition of NMDC’s path breaking and focused efforts in the areas of CSR and Environment Management and NMDC will continue to make similar efforts in a sustained manner.

One more feather in NMDC cap

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THE NEWS BUREAU

MDC has been conferred the much coveted ‘Golden Peacock’ Award for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for 2014 during the Golden Peacock Awards Nite conducted at Mumbai.

The award has been presented to NMDC in recognition of its path breaking and focused efforts in the area of CSR. The award was received by Rabindra Singh, Director (Personnel), NMDC and Mahesh Shah, Independent Director, NMDC. Rajashree Birla,

Chairperson, Aditya Birla Center for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, Aditya Birla Group presented a Shield and Citation in the presence of the Rt. Hon. Baroness Verma, Minister of Energy and Climate Change, Govt. of United Kingdom.

The News You Like | March 2015

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CULTURAL NEWS

FCI organises Cultural Competitions-2015

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THE NEWS BUREAU

n a bid to promote sports and culture, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has been giving equal importance for sports and cultural events along with regular work.

The Regional Sports Promotion Committee of the FCIs Hyderabad Regional Office under the aegis of Zonal Sports Promotion Committee of FCIs Chennai Zonal Office has organised All India FCI Inter Zonal Cultural Competition-2015 at Indira Priyadarshini Auditorium in

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Hyderabad recently.

The cultural competitions were inaugurated by the Executive Director (Personnel) Dr D Bhalla, while Executive Director (IR-L) Sushil Nagpal was the Guest of honour. AP Region General Manager A Rajagopal welcomed the dignitaries, participants, judges and audience.

Six teams consisting of 96 artists from six zones - North, West, East, South, North-East Zone and FCI Headquarters competed in Drama, Dance, Solo singing and Instrumental music competitions

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exhibiting vibrant talents. The presentation of cultural talent by FCI artists from the nook and corner of the country were widely appreciated by all.

The two-day cultural extravaganza was packed with high energy cultural performances by the artists of Food Corporation of India.

The cultural event came into a ceremonial conclusion on the second day. Executive Director (South) & President ZSPC, Chennai, R D Nazeem, was the Guest of Honour for the valedictory session.

SPIRITUAL NEWS

E

BY YOGI ASHWINI

Om is the essence of Brahmand

ver thought about it…

What was there when there was no creation?

Imagine a time when there was no time. Time too was created. After time came OM in the form of Dhwani, sound. Before this OM existed as pure divinity, sukshma iti sukhshma. It was a void, it was silence, it was complete.

Om poornamadah poornamidam poornata poornam uddachyate poornasya poornamaadaya poornameva vashishyate, goes the sloka. That is, infinity plus infinity is infinity, infinity minus infinity is infinity, infinity multiplied by infinity is infinity and infinity divided by infinity is also infinity. Indicative of that, OM has everything in it. Now to get an experience of OM you can...

Look up the night sky, fix your gaze at any one point and without shifting your gaze start rotating from right to left. After a while stop, close your eyes and stare at point internally…What was your experience? What you experienced inside you is just an iota of OM. Om, from which creation began, and to which everything will eventually return.

Om is not a mere sound, it is the essence of Brahmand (creation), also called the Brahm naad. Om came after time, and so in a sense, it is

bound by time, and yet independent of it. To understand this, listen carefully when a Guru chants Om. You will notice that it is a continuous loop of countless small Oms. The continuous Om is eternal, the smaller Oms being bound by time representing the temporary aspects of physical creation. Each of us is an Om, which has the potential to become a continuous Om, under the sanidhya of a Guru. That, in fact, is the route to moksha, to reality.

The experience of Om lies not in musical-cds, television programs or

social gatherings, it is a one to one relationship between the Guru and the shishya. At many a places you might have read or learnt about om Om as A-U-M, the sounds of ‘a’, ‘ooo’ and ‘mmm’, very few know of the fourth component of om which is silence. The continuous loop of Om has all four of these, including silence, for creation is a sum total of opposites. Om in being the essence

YOGI ASHWINI

of creation is also just that, a sum of sound and silence, of light and dark, of night and day, of real and unreal, of temporary and eternal, of purush and prakriti…The dual aspects, purush and prakriti, unite to give form to creation.

The chant of Om, holds in it the phenomenal power of creation, giving form to your thoughts, but for the Om to have this effect, it must be chanted right under the guidance of your Guru.

While different mantras have their effect in different centers of the body, the vibrations of Om are felt in each and every cell, from mooladhar to agya, from toe to the head. And as the being progresses on the path of sadhna, his/her Om starts approaching the frequency of the eternal Om. The subtler is a being or energy, the closer it is to Om. A prime example of this is surya, or sun. You might be surprised to know, that the sun too emits the sound of Om and it is the source of shakti to all beings on earth. This has been validated by the researchers at Sheffield University, UK, who recorded the sound the sun.

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GLOBAL NEWS

’s U-Turn on porn

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THE NEWS BUREAU

eb search giant, Google has done a Uturn on its plans to crack down on pornography, after bloggers complained that they need to publish explicit photographs in order to express their identities.

Recently Google told people who publish explicit videos and images on its Blogger platform that it would hide their posts from public view if they didn’t clean up their act. It gave them a month to delete any offensive posts, or face having their accounts made private so that they could only be viewed through the author’s own account.

Many of the people who post explicit material said they needed to express themselves, and complained that Google would be erasing collections of explicit material that they had built up over the course of ten years.

Google responded that it would revert to its previous policy, which allows bloggers to publish offensive sexual images and videos as long as they are placed behind a page warning viewers that it is adult content.

“We’ve had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities,” the company said.

“So rather than implement this change, we’ve decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn.”

The web search giant will only ban content that is illegal, or has been published without the consent of the people it features. It had never threatened to ban nude photographs that offered ‘substantial public benefit’ on artistic, educational or scientific grounds.

The company’s Blogger platform does not account for every blog on the internet. However, it includes accounts ending in ‘blogspot.com’, a free service with millions of users.

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