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Hate speech: Owaisi seeks four days to appear before police
JMM withdraws support to Munda government |
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APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
Dhule riot toll rises to 4
Krishna, Deora made CWC permanent members
Tiwari disputes DNA result
PM condoles death of philanthropist
Saffron smuggler held
Pricing, regulation key to water mgmt: Montek
Court orders registration of case against Raj Thackeray
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013
Kerala wants its own airline
7 CRPF men killed in encounter with Maoists
‘Guns not a solution to tackle Red rebels’
Asaram in soup over Delhi rape remarks
Tattapani hot baths set to be history, courtesy Kol Dam
Swami Vivekananda suffered from 31 ailments: Book
Kalmadi withdraws SC appeal
Assembly Poll
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Hate speech: Owaisi seeks four days to appear before police
Hyderabad, January 7 Owaisi, whose inflammatory public speeches had triggered outrage across the political spectrum, returned to the city in the early hours today from London where he reportedly underwent treatment for intestinal injuries sustained in an attack by his rivals over a land dispute here in April 2011. Following court directions, three separate cases have been registered against Owaisi, who is the MIM floor leader in the State Assembly, under IPC Sections 121 (waging or attempting to wage war against the Government of India) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs). The 42-year-old politician, known for his rabble rousing speeches and aggressive approach, was given a hero’s welcome by a large number of MIM workers and supporters when he arrived at the airport. He was taken in a rally to his Banjara Hills residence in what is being seen as a show of strength. Expecting a huge crowd, the police made elaborate security arrangement at the airport. Owaisi was supposed to appear before the police at Nirmal in Adilabad district today and in Nizamabad tomorrow following notices issued to him for his alleged “hate speeches”. However, a team of lawyers, representing the MLA, met the police in Nirmal and put across the request, seeking four days time to appear before the police. Later, the police sent a team of doctors to his residence to ascertain his health condition. Owaisi is the younger brother of MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. The video of his speech, delivered in Nirmal on December 24, has gone viral on social networking sites, recording more than 80,000 views on YouTube. It shows him making provocative remarks against Hindus in crass language. Meanwhile, Nirmal town, about 200 km from here, observed a shutdown today following a call given by the BJP to protest against Owaisi’s inflammatory outbursts. The BJP leaders demanded immediate arrest of the MIM legislator and disqualification from the Assembly. Owaisi’s elder brother and MP Asaduddin Owaisi made it that his brother would not run away from the law. “My brother will abide by the law. We are not against Hindus. We are against the BJP and Congress,” he said, seeking to downplay the political fallout of his brother’s hate speech. The political observers attribute MIM’s aggressive posturing to its eagerness to spread its influence beyond Hyderabad. After several years of cosy relationship with the ruling Congress, the MIM recently ended its alliance with the ruling party. It is said to be gravitating towards the YSR Congress Party headed by the jailed MP YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. “The MIM senses an opportunity in the run-up to the 2014 general elections to grow into a pan-Andhra Pradesh party, with footprints in the old Nizam dominion,” said a political analyst Dr K
Nageswar.
BJP Bandh Nirmal town, about 200 km from
Hyderabad, observed a shutdown today following a call given by the BJP to protest against Owaisi’s inflammatory outbursts. The BJP leaders demanded immediate arrest of the MIM legislator and disqualification from the Assembly Tough posturing Political observers attribute MIM’s aggressive posturing to its eagerness to spread its influence beyond Hyderabad. After several years of cosy relationship with the ruling Congress, the MIM is said to be gravitating towards the YSR Congress Party headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
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JMM withdraws support to Munda government
Ranchi, January 7
JMM leader and Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the decision taken at the party's executive committee meeting was "unanimous" and taken after talking to several BJP leaders, including its Jharkhand affairs in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan. Late tonight, a meeting of BJP's state core committee, including Pradhan and senior leader Yashwant Sinha, was on to discuss the development. “After a series of meetings, JMM has decided to withdraw support to the (BJP-led) government,” Hemant Soren told the media here after the party's executive committee meeting. JMM chief Shibu Soren said the party would hand over tomorrow a letter conveying to Governor Syed Ahmed its decision to withdraw support to Munda government. In the 82-member state Assembly, the BJP and the JMM have 18 members each and the Munda government enjoys the support of six members of All Jharkhand Students' Union, two of the JD(U), two independents and one nominated member who has voting right in trial of strength. Opposition Congress has a total 13, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (P) 11 and the Earlier, Munda met JMM chief Shibu Soren and discussed the political situation in the state. The JMM has put before the BJP ‘over phone’ certain issues, including the “ruling by rotation”. The 28-month limit for ruling by BJP, according to the tribal, party ends on January 10. Relations between the BJP and the JMM have come under strain since Chief Minister Arjun Munda, in a written reply to a letter from JMM on January 3, rejected that there was an agreement between the two parties on "rotation of power" after 28 months in office. The JMM, however, insisted there had been an agreement to share power. Hemant Soren had in a letter to Munda on December 25 asked him to clarify BJP's stand on the issue. Hemant Soren said “if the BJP considers them (the issues) positively, then the JMM can even consider its withdrawal of support”. He said the issues are: “a senior BJP MP from Santhal Pargana has been giving baseless statements against the JMM leadership, which is intolerable. There is no coordination in the alliance”. The BJP had earlier downplayed Soren’s threat to withdraw support to the coalition government, saying it was the democratic process that mattered and no compromise would be made with principles and promises. “The government (in Jharkhand) is not a major subject. The BJP had taken the responsibility to ensure that there is a democratic process in Jharkhand along with the JMM and the AJSU. There was a common minimum programme, and the Chief Minister Arjun Munda has just clarified it in his letter two days before,” Dharmendra Pradhan said in New Delhi.— Agencies
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APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES
New Delhi, January 7 A three-member Bench, headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, dismissed the PIL filed by an NGO, Suraj India Trust, observing that it did not have the locus standi to raise the issue. Earlier, a two-Judge Bench had referred the PIL to the CJI as it had to be decided by a larger Bench. Senior counsel AK Ganguly, appointed as amicus curiae to help the court in the case, had framed 10 issues. The collegium system has been in practice since the 1993 ruling of a nine-Judge Bench of the SC in a case titled Advocates on Record Association versus Union of India and others. Attorney General GE Vahanvati had contended that a two-Judge Bench could not examine the correctness of the judgment of nine judges. The AG also questioned the locus standi of the petitioner for seeking review of the SC verdict. Nevertheless, the AG agreed on the need for reviewing the SC judgment that heralded the system of collegium, comprising senior-most judges of the SC or the HCs. According to the amicus curiae, 10 issues had arisen from the PIL. These included as to whether the 1993 SC verdict and a similar apex court judgment in 1998 amounted to amending Article 124(2) of the Constitution that did not provide for the collegium system. Another aspect was the legality of amending the Constitution through a judicial verdict as this could be done only by Parliament under Article 368. Under the Constitutional mechanism, SC and HC Judges had to be appointed by mutual discussions and consensus between the judiciary and the executive. The petition also raised the question as to whether “consultation” in Article 224 meant “concurrence”. Under the present system, the President appoints the HC and SC judges on the advice of the collegium. But the amicus curiae had raised the query: “Whether there was any convention that the President is bound by the advice of the Chief Justice of India, and whether any such convention (assuming there was one) can prevail over the clear language of Article 124(2)?”
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Dhule riot toll rises to 4
Mumbai, January 7 The Machchibazar (Fish Market) and adjoining Madhavpura neighbourhoods are under curfew. According to sources, over 100 persons, including policemen, received injuries in the riot. Seven injured have been admitted to hospital in a critical condition, the police said. The police said the riots broke out after a youth got into an argument with a food stall owner over payment of some eatables. Subsequently, the owner of the stall and his employees thrashed the youth who returned with a group of people and attacked them. The skirmish soon resulted in a free-for-all with members of two communities hurling stones at each other.
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Krishna, Deora made CWC permanent members
New Delhi, January 7 Krishna, who resigned in November last year as External Affairs Minister, and Deora, who stepped down from the Union Council of Ministers and made way for his son Milind’s entry into the higher echelons of decision-making in the government, were nominated by Congress president Sonia Gandhi as permanent invitees. Chief of the Congress media committee Janardan Dwivedi announced the decision this evening. This takes the number of members to 18, including Jagmeet Singh Brar of Punjab and Gulchain Singh Charak, in charge of party affairs for Punjab. Krishna, who is a key figure in the party’s scheme of things in his home state of Karnataka, made way during the last reshuffle of the Union Cabinet along with Ambika Soni. Both have been drafted for party work with the former being tasked with the responsibility of preparing papers on international affairs for the brainstorming “Chintan Shivir” from January 18 to 20 in Jaipur. That Sonia chose Krishna to draft the papers was seen as a mark of his contribution to the foreign policy of the UPA-II. Deora has been an important part of the Congress setup in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country. The inductions come barely 10 days ahead of the Jaipur summit where the top brass will collectively take a view on the direction the Congress should take in the years ahead. The last such brainstorming session was held a decade ago in Shimla, where the Congress altered its political line and accepted coalitions as a reality as against Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, in 1997 when it read coalitions as a “transient phase”.
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Tiwari disputes DNA result
New Delhi, January 7 “I am going to challenge the veracity of the DNA report. The results can be true only in one out of one million tests,” Tiwari contended through his counsel Bahar-u-Barqi before the court of Justice
Manmohan.
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PM condoles death of philanthropist
New Delhi, January 7
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Saffron smuggler held
Bangalore, January 7
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Pricing, regulation key to water mgmt: Montek
New Delhi, January 7 Referring to negative effects of the present system of farming and related activities in rural areas on the GDP, he said: “If I am a farmer with a powerful pump, I will be able to extract a lot of water but my additional production (of grain) will be at the cost of others. Use the price system so that people do not misuse, but it is very difficult. When you have a water regulatory authority it will ensure that you don’t have a situation where most of the water is used by a few individuals or in a small portion of land,” he said at the release of a Greening Rural Development in India report. In India, where water is a state subject and therefore controlled by the respective state governments, it is an issue with deep political and sociological undertones. Free power and water are doles given by states, including Punjab and Haryana, and any attempt by the Centre to regulate water is fought tooth and nail. Recently at the National Water Resources Council, most states, including Punjab, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, thwarted the Centre’s attempt to put in place an over-arching framework on water laws and rejected all attempts for establishment of a water tariff system and regulatory authority. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, for instance, expressed strong reservations over the establishment of a water tariff system, fixation of criteria for water charges, statutory empowerment of water users associations, pricing of electricity and establishment of a Water Regulatory Authority as envisaged under the draft. The long-awaited draft National Water Policy, 2012, was finally accepted with the PM’s assurance to uphold states’ Constitutional rights over water management.
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Court orders registration of case against Raj Thackeray
Bettiah (Bihar), January 7 Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Manoj Kumar Singh of West Champaran district issued the order on a complaint filed by an advocate against the chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The CJM ordered the town police station to register a case against Thackeray under CRPC 156 III (police officer's power to investigate cognisable case). The lawyer alleged that the MNS chief through his provocative statement threatened the national unity and integrity. — PTI
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Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013
Kochi, January 7 Kerala, that has 2.28 million overseas Indians of whom 2.3 million are in the Gulf region alone, received Rs 49,695 crore in overseas remittances last year. At the opening session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2013, a seminar on the NRIs in the Gulf saw political leaders eulogising Gulf-Malayalee symbiotic relationship and highlighted steps being taken by both the Union Government and the state government for the welfare of the NRIs. Overseas remittances on an average benefit each Malyalee household Rs 63,315 per annum. Each household in Kerala that has an emigrant have better quality houses and higher educational qualifications. Kerala has been one of the first states to have an independent department to look after its ever growing population of the NRIs. Besides the grant of voting rights following an amendment to the Citizesnhip Act a couple of years ago, Kerala has also extended the voting facility to NRIs in the local bodies and panchayat elections. Several schemes like safer repatriation of large population of Indians in the Gulf during the turmoil in the Arab world in 2011, the Union Government now plans a pension scheme for them. This will be in addition to the Community Welfare Fund that has been put at the disposal of the Ministry of Overseas India Affairs to look after overseas Indian workers in distress. Similar funds are also being made available to the Indian missions abroad. Various welfare schemes apart, many of the participants at the inaugural session were critical not only of the long procedures that were preventing benefits being given to overseas workers in distress but also multiple increase in fee for consular services, including the grant of landed permits. They wanted such hikes to be withdrawn. At times, the community leaders attending PBD here maintain that they contribute money from their pockets to help workers in distress than waiting for the Indian missions to complete inordinately long formalities. The number of Malyalees in the UAE was officially quoted at 8.83 lakh while in Saudi Arabia it was 5.74 lakh. Incidentally, Le Meridian, the venue of the PBD 2013, belongs to an NRI from the Gulf. Dr P. Mohammed Ali, Managing Director, Galfar Engineering and Contracting Company, narrated his success story at a book launch ceremony last evening. He said that how he made inroads into the construction industry after landing in the Gulf in 1970. Today he was the moderator at a special session on skill development. Though Gujarat and Punjab have very large population of overseas Indians, their absence at the opening session was conspicuous. It may be one reason that all speakers at the NRIs in the Gulf session often resorted to their mother tongue to the dismay of the rest of the delegates and a section of the media coming from other parts of the world.
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Kerala wants its own airline
Kochi, January 7 Intervention of the Union Government was sought to resolve the long standing dispute between the Kerala Government and Air India over the start of Air Kerala for better connectivity between Kerala and the Gulf nations. Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs V Ravi said the Centre would try to sort out the issue on priority. At present there are over 2.02 million Malyalees in the Gulf. Delegates from the Gulf also expressed their unhappiness over shortage of staff in Indian missions abroad in general and the Gulf in particular. They demanded posting of additional staff so as to cope with increased workload related to consular and passport services besides authentification of documents, including affidavits. Here the demand was mainly for posting Malyalee speaking additional staff in the Gulf. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy while responding to the demand of voting rights in local bodies and panchayat elections to NRIs said issues would be raised at the next session of the Assembly as the state government had already decided to amend the Peoples’ Representation Act and the Kerala Panchayats’ Act.
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Budget curbs will hit IAF overhaul, says Air Chief
Phalodi (Rajasthan), January 7 Browne, who was on a visit to Phalodi Air Force Station near Jodhpur, told reporters that the IAF is on a modernisation spree on various fronts and this has been possible "due to generous sanctioning of the budget by the government and its full utilisation". However, he said, the "curtailment (of budget) will affect modernisation of the Air Force. We will take up the issue with the government in order to work out some solution." The government has imposed around five per cent cut in the Rs 1.93-lakh-crore defence budget in view of the economic slowdown following which key deals like procurement of 126 multi-role combat aircraft are likely to be pushed to the next fiscal. The Ministry of Finance recently conveyed to the Defence Ministry that there would be a cut of around Rs 10,000 crore. "We look forward to complete modernisation of the IAF by 2022," Browne said, adding that the pace will be affected by the curtailment of budget. Browne was on a visit to Phalodi Air Force Station where he formally inducted the 5th helicopter unit of the upgraded MI-17 V5, a medium-lift chopper. The 6th unit of this helicopter will be deployed in Eastern Command at Hashimara air force base in Assam. "Contract has been signed for 59 more such helicopters," he said. Referring to Phalodi station as strategically important considering its location on western border, the air chief said that the station is being developed expeditiously. Browne said that in the upcoming air exercises, Iron Fist and Live Wire, it will a base for fighter detachment and will play a crucial role Indigenously developed fighter Tejas will also be participating in this exercise Iron Fist for the first time. "This helicopter squadron will now be permanently based on Phalodi base and very soon fighter squadrons will also be deployed here, which will strengthen our position in the western sector," he said. — PTI
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7 CRPF men killed in encounter with Maoists
Latehar (Jharkhand), January 7 Jharkhand Director General of Police G S Rath told PTI that nine/ten other personnel from both CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguar were injured in the gun battle with the Maoists near Katila locality of Amuatikar village of the district. The CRPF had rushed to the spot after police got information that several Maoist guerrillas, including those from outside the state, had assembled near the place. The encounter broke out when the Maoists from a hill-top fired on the security personnel. Units drawn from the 112 and 134 battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and state police were out to conduct an anti-Naxal operation when the attack took place. The security forces have consolidated their positions now and some causalities have been inflicted upon the Naxals too, a CRPF official said in New Delhi. —
PTI
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‘Guns not a solution to tackle Red rebels’
Jaipur, January 7 "Those who are in power are responsible for the issue of Naxalism. It can not be solved by force deployment, but by social reform and change in policies," Singh said here. Calling for urgent steps to deal with the challenge in wake of the increasing expansion of Naxals, Singh, however, said the issue could be resolved only through wide-ranging reforms and not by force. "When CRPF Jawans were killed in an ambush laid by Naxals in Chhattisgarh in 2010, the Centre sought my suggestion over possibility of deployment of Army but I declined because this issue can be solved only by social reforms," he said. He said factors like injustice on part of the machinery compel people to support Naxals as they start seeing a solution to their problems in the methods used by the ultras. The number of districts affected with Naxalism was 50 in 1990 and now has increased to around 270, Singh said, underlining the need for urgent attention towards the issue. General Singh said that ever since his retirement, he has made 'reclaiming India' his mission and objective. "I read a book in which the author described democracy of the country as kleptocracy, which he explains as a government of the thieves, for the thieves and by the thieves. When scholars are having such a view, I made 'reclaiming India' my objective," he said. "After retirement, I began to associate like minded people to work together for reclaiming India. I chose to do constructive work to give back to society instead of going to clubs or enjoying golf because I love my people and I want to give them whatever I can," VK Singh said. Recalling initial days of his career, Singh said becoming Army Chief was not his ambition and he wanted to reach upto the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as his father had retired from this rank. Singh further said while being in service, he never compromised with self-respect and self-esteem. "One thing that some armymen do not understand is that a soldier is dedicated to the nation, not to a particular government. This is the reason why army is roped in when other civil arrangements fail," he said. Singh also laid emphasis on electoral reforms to curb graft, and said corruption was more rampant in civil institutions than in Army. — PTI
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Asaram in soup over Delhi rape remarks
Ahmedabad, January 7 “The Bapu has shamed entire Gujarat with his comments,” a demonstrator said. In his address to followers recently, Asaram had said when the girl encountered six drunk men, she could have pleaded with one of them for mercy by calling him her brother. “She should have taken god’s name and held their hands and feet.” Bapu, once close to the BJP, particularly veteran leader LK Advani, has been in the thick of controversy ever since the mysterious death of two pre-teen cousins in his ashram school on the bank of the Sabarmati at Motera four years ago. Though he commanded a large following in Gujarat, the mysterious death of the boys had caused severe dent in his popularity and many people supported the indefinite fasts launched by the deceased boys’ fathers demanding police action against him. This forced the Narendra Modi government in the state to constitute a judicial inquiry commission to probe the deaths.
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Tattapani hot baths set to be history, courtesy Kol Dam
Tattapani hot springs are a major attraction on the Shimla-Mandi tourist
circuit. Tourists visiting the renowned Naldehra golf course from Shimla make it a point to visit the
hot springs. Tourists who make a beeline for Tattapani to experience the hot spring baths run by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) can no longer enjoy the luxury as the state-run corporation has shut down all six hot baths at Tattapani. This comes after the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) acquired the submergence zone from Sunni and Tattapani townships to Kasol for the dam. The Department of Tourism has made no arrangements to revive tourism on the circuit ever since the closure of its
unit there. Tourists arriving at the HPTDC unit at Chindi, a hill station in the district, have also been facing inconvenience as the corporation is no longer providing a halt for its guests at Tattapani. While a private hotelier has relocated his hot spring bath outside the submergence zone, the HPTDC has failed to relocate its facility to ensure a steady footfall
of tourists. “We have closed the Tattapani unit as the entire area falls in the submergence zone of the Kol Dam project,” says an HPTDC manager. The corporation doesn’t have additional land at its disposal, he adds. AK Nanda, general manager of the Kol Dam project, says they have relocated the hot spring baths on the higher side of the submergence zone and compensated all stakeholders, including the HPTDC and the Public Works Department. It is not the end of hot spring baths as these can be tapped for tourism, he adds. Yogesh Behl, general manager, HPTDC, says they are willing to develop the hot spring baths but do not have adequate land. “We will take up the matter with the government,” he adds. The hot springs gained popularity in the 1980s when tourists started flocking to Tattapani for spas after making a detour down the Sutlej on rafts between Tattapani and Sunni
townships.
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Swami Vivekananda suffered from 31 ailments: Book
‘The Monk as Man’ by renowned Bengali writer Shankar lists insomnia, liver and kidney diseases, malaria, migraine, diabetes and heart ailments as some of the 31 health problems that the Swami faced in the course of his life. Shankar describes Swami Vivekananda’s health problems using a Sanskrit quote ‘shariram byadhimandiram’, the body is the temple of diseases. Ironically, Vivekananda used to emphasise greatly on physical strength and is known for the shocking statement ‘Better to play football than read the Gita’. One of the perennial problems that Vivekananda lived with was chronic insomnia and in a letter to Shashi Bhushan Ghosh dated May 29, 1897, he confided “I never in my life could sleep as soon as I got into bed.” The previous year, Vivekananda seemed to have written to his ‘dhira mata’ (Sara Bull) from New York complaining about his lack of sleep. “My health has nearly broken down. I have not slept even one night soundly in New York since I came ... I wish I could go to the bottom of the sea and have a good, long sleep.” It is also known that Vivekananda used to suffer from diabetes like his father and at that time suitable drugs were unavailable. He narrates that in the summer of 1887, Vivekananda (whose real name was Narendranath Dutta) had fallen very ill due to overstrain and lack of food. During this period, he also suffered from gallstones, and acute diarrhoea. Later, during the same summer, he came down with typhoid and problems in the urinary tract. “Narendranath’s abdominal pains were a source of great anxiety,” Shankar says. Shankar wonderfully chronicles the various medical problems Swami Vivekananda faced during his stint as a wandering monk in the country and across the world, and why he cut short his journey in Cairo, Egypt, to return to India. It was to French operatic soprano Rosa Emma Calvet that Vivekandanda had declared in Egypt that he would die on July 4. “Swami Vivekananda’s eyes filled with tears. He said he wanted to return to his country to die, to be with his gurubhais,” Shankar wrote. The fateful evening of July 4, 1902, Vivekananda passed away following a third heart attack, completing 39 years, five months and 24 days. — PTI
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Kalmadi withdraws SC appeal
New Delhi, January 7 A Bench headed by Justice HL Dattu allowed him to withdraw the appeal on the ground that the IOA election had already taken place. Pointing out that Kalmadi had remained as IOA president for more than 12 years, the maximum period allowed, the HC had said that if he “still wants to continue,” he should justify it within two weeks. Kalmadi had challenged this in the SC, contending that the HC had no jurisdiction to oust an elected official of an autonomous society.
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Meghalaya CM’s wife, brother get Cong ticket
Guwahati, January 7 The list of Congress candidates for all 60 Assembly seats as announced by the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) doesn’t have the name of incumbent Community and Rural Development Minister Salseng Sangma and four other sitting Congress legislators - Samuel Sangma, Abdus Saleh, Nehlang Lyngdoh and Stanly Wiss Rymbai. Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma is contesting from Ampati LAC in Garo Hills. — TNS
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The firebrand Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is in the eye of a storm over his alleged “hate speech”, today sought four days time to appear before the police in Andhra Pradesh, citing ill-health.
In a new twist to the tussle for power between the two allies, Jharkhand's ruling coalition partner JMM today decided to withdraw support to the Arjun Munda-led BJP government in the state, pushing it to a minority.
India continues to be the top beneficiary of overseas remittances as its foreign exchange reserves are expected to swell by $69.9 billion this financial year. Starting with $430 lakh in 1975, overseas remittances have been swelling at a rapid pace benefiting mainly Kerala, Gujarat and Punjab, the home states of majority of nearly 25 million overseas Indians. These remittances are in addition to the foreign direct investment (FDI). However, Punjab and Gujarat are far behind Kerala in overseas remittances.
Jaipur, January 7
New Delhi, January 7
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia says pricing of water and rationing by regulation are the most effective tools to stop the gross misuse of water resources, even though they are very difficult decisions.
Mandi, January 7
Kolkata, January 7