MUMBAI: Alarmed by the renewed spate of farmers' suicides - at least 32 since Sunday - Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan Wednesday appealed to them not to end their lives.

The chief minister said in a statement that the government is well aware of the plight of the farmers affected by the recent unseasonal rains and severe hailstorms which hit 28 of the state's 35 districts.

"I assure all my farmer brethren that we stand solidly behind you. I request that please don't be carried away by emotions or helplessness. We are doing our best to help you," Chavan said.

He pointed out that since the model code of conduct is currently in force, the state government is in the process of disbursing aid and relief as per the standing instructions.

Directions have also been issued to the concerned agencies to rush relief. Chavan also said he has met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other union ministers and sought aid of Rs.5,000 crore for the farmers.

"I also met the Election Commission officials and apprised them of the havoc wreaked in the state. The prime minister set up a high-level committee headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar with other ministers like Sushilkumar Shinde, P. Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and M.S. Ahluwalia, while a central team has completed its assessment of the damage," Chavan said.

Chavan's statement assumes significance in the wake of the recent threats by the farming community of Vidarbha to exercise the NOTA (None Of The Above) option during the elections if aid is not given before April 10.

In a related development, angry Vidarbha farmers plan to demand 10 percent representation in parliament and legislatures from BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who will launch his 2014 election campaign from Wardha Thursday.

"There is so much depression that some have gone to the main village square and hanged themselves publicly... VJAS and other NGOs console and counsel them, but they feel there is nobody in the government or politicians to take up their cause," Kishore Tiwari, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti chief, told IANS. - IANS

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today assured that his government is committed to provide relief to hailstorm-hit farmers in the state and appealed to them not to take any "untoward decision" that could harm them.

Chavan's statement comes in the wake of reports that several farmers have committed suicide in the hailstorm affected districts.

"As you all know Lok Sabha elections have been declared and the Model Code of Conduct has been enforced. Considering the magnitude of devastation, the government is trying its best to provide maximum relief to the affected farmers," Chavan said.

"Myself and my cabinet colleagues have toured the affected districts and discussed the compensation to be given at informal cabinet meetings. The state government has demanded a financial package of Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre and also apprised the Election Commission of India about the damage caused," Chavan said in an appeal to the farmers.

He said a high-level group comprising Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has been formed. A central team has recently completed its tour of the affected areas.

The state government has already given orders to the district administration to provide relief as per standing orders in case of a natural calamity.

He appealed to the farmers to have courage and the government will go all out to help them to come out of the distress. - PTI 

KUALA LUMPUR: Police in Malaysia are investigating whether Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, who flew the Malaysian Airlines passenger plane that went missing March 8, had practised landing on his home flight simulator at airports located in areas where the search is being conducted.

The Malaysian police have reconstructed Captain Zaharies' flight simulator and are trying to find out if there is a flight path on it where the missing MH370 might have flown, the Malaysian Star reported Wednesday.

A pilot trainer has said that the simulator in the captain's house could familiarise a pilot into knowing airports stretching from the southern part of the Indian Ocean up north to Kazakhstan.

The police might be looking for an unusual airport in his simulator, he added.

Shah had built the flight simulator himself in November 2012. The simulator can re-create almost 20,000 airports worldwide and all routes flown can be saved on a hard-disk. Many of the controls are simplified, but the simulator provides basic features that recreate some of what an actual pilot experiences. 

The police searched the house of Shah soon after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed last week that the plane was suspected to have been diverted deliberately.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished mysteriously about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur March 8.

The Boeing 777-200ER was initially presumed to have crashed off the Vietnamese coast in the South China Sea.

The plane was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6.30 a.m. the same day. The 227 passengers included five Indians, 154 Chinese and 38 Malaysians.

Contact with the plane was lost along with its radar signal at 1.40 a.m. when it was flying over the air traffic control area of Ho Chi Minh City.

As of now, 26 countries are searching for the missing jet. - IANS 

NEW DELHI: In order to create better facilities for taxpayers, the Income Tax department has created 56 new outreach centres across the country during this financial year.

The Aaykar Sampark Kendras (ASKs) or popularly known as computerised I-T offices, are a single-window mechanism for taxpayers for filing their returns, checking refunds and grievance redressal.

All these centres have at least one dedicated computer system with internet connection and a taxpayer can get a number of things done like resolving PAN card related enquiries, viewing of 26AS tax statement, checking refund status for e-filed returns and obtaining tax related circulars.

"Out of the total 59 ASKs which were proposed to be setup during financial year 2013-14, the infrastructure for setting up 56 new ASKs across the country has been completed," a senior I-T officer said.

A number of authorised Tax Return Preparers (TRPs) have also been deputed at these centres to help individual taxpayers with regard to their queries and filing of I-T returns.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), administrative authority of the I-T department, has already established 50 such ASKs in various cities.

These centres also have been provided with a dedicated desk for receiving PAN and TAN applications through authorised representatives of NSDL and UTIISL, the agencies which prepare these documents on behalf of the I-T department.

The ASKs, the official said, now have presence in all corners of the country with both metro and tier-II cities being included in the project. - PTI

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Russia remains a member of the G8 in response to reports saying it was booted out of the group after signing a treaty accepting Crimea as a part of the Russian territory, a German government statement said.

Earlier Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had reportedly said Western states agreed to suspend Russia's G8 membership.

Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, Merkel stressed that so far, only plans for the G8 summit in Sochi are being suspended, Xinhua reported.

"Apart from that, no decisions have been taken," Merkel added.

The G8 groups Russia and seven leading industrialised nations (G7), including the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain.

The G7 as well as the European Council and the European Commission issued a joint statement March 2, blaming Russia's position on Ukraine and declaring suspension of their preparations for a G8 summit scheduled for June in the Russian resort city of Sochi. - IANS

SILIGURI: BJP vice president and nominee for the Darjeeling LS seat, S S Ahluwalia today voiced support to the formation of a separate state of Gorkhaland.

"The BJP has always supported creation of smaller states as Jharkhand and Chattisgarh and was in favour of Telangana and so Gorkhaland should also be formed", Ahluwalia told reporters here.

Criticising the TMC government, the party nominee alleged that while it was not supporting the demand for withdrawal of cases filed against those during the Gorkhaland agitation, the ruling party members who were involved were being spared.

Claiming that the demand for a separate hill state was not against the constitution, Ahluwalia predicted the BJP alone will be capable to form the next government in the country. - PTI