growing india: May 2017

Monday, 8 May 2017

Top Obama officials to testify on ‘poll meddling’

Alleged Russian meddling in last year’s U.S. presidential election is set to grab headlines on Monday, when former Obama administration officials — former deputy Attorney-General Sally Yates and former director of national intelligence James Clapper — testify before the U.S. Congress. AFP

Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Railway catering scam: 100gm curd for ₹972, refined oil for ₹1,241 a litre

A recent application filed as a second appeal under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by an activist has revealed that the Central Railway's catering department purchased certain food items to stock their warehouses at several times the maximum retail price.

After railway authorities failed to share information on purchase of food items sought in his RTI application, activist Ajay Bose filed a first appeal. The response to this revealed that each kg of Amul curd was purchased at an eye-watering ₹9,720. Mr. Bose had filed his query after learning that the catering department was running at a huge loss.

Monday, 1 May 2017

Chasing 161, Rising Pune Supergiant slumped to 42 for four in seven overs, 67 at the 10-over milestone, before Ben Stokes smashed his way to 103 not out off 63 balls, his first T20 ton, to guide his team home by five wickets, 167 for five in 19.5 overs. M.S. Dhoni’s departure 43 runs away from the target did not curb the England all-rounder as he plundered runs at will (seven fours, six sixes) to deflate Gujarat Lions at the MCA stadium in IPL-10.

Stokes blasted 50 off 38 balls (3x4, 3x6), defusing the crisis after Lions combo of Pradeep Sangwan’s swing and Basil Thampi’s pace made inroads in the first six overs. Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Manoj Tiwary fell forcing the pace. Dhoni stepped up the scoring rate with power-packed strokes, making room for shots off the square, but fell slogging.

Lions managed a fighting 161 in 19.5 overs after being asked to bat, losing steam in the last 10 overs (64 against 94 at the halfway mark).

Curious case of dip, rise in Indian seas

Scientists say such a ‘decadal swing’ in North Indian Ocean is unique and never observed in others

Global warming may be inching the oceans higher every year but researchers studying the seas around India report a paradox. From 1993 to 2003 — the first decade when satellites started to consistently track the rise and fall of ocean heights and global temperatures soared — the North Indian Ocean (NIO) sea levels fell. The NIO consists of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and part of the Indian Ocean up till the 5°S latitude. After 2004, sea levels began an unprecedented, accelerated spike till 2014.

Says the ground situation is not conducive to hold free and fair elections

The Election Commission has cancelled the Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll, saying the ground situation is not conducive to hold free and fair elections.

The bypoll, earlier slated to be held on April 12, was postponed for May 25 due to poor law and order situation.

The Commission, which issued the order late last night, said non-availability of sufficient number of security personnel was another reason to cancel the poll process.

The 10-page order said a fresh date would be announced later.

Govt. eyes 2 mn. jobs in mobile phone units

The government expects its ‘major new policy’ of phased manufacturing programme to create 2 million jobs and half a billion dollars worth of mobile manufacturing activity in the country over the next five to seven years, Electronics and Information Technology Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told The Hindu.

“The basic chipset (for mobile handsets) is, of course, imported,” she said. “But the rest of the manufacturing can happen in India. So the phased manufacturing program is our roadmap for the next ten years as to how value addition should happen in India. This is a very major policy declaration which we believe will incentivise large scale mobile manufacturing.”

The Centre will initiate fresh talks with Cupertino-based Apple which will now have to calibrate its plans to manufacture its iconic iPhones in the country, in line with a new phased manufacturing programme for mobile phones notified on Friday.

Amanatullah Khan resigns from AAP post

A day after accusing Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas of “plotting a coup” in the party, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan on Monday resigned from the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC).

Speaking to reporters after the PAC meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the party leadership was upset with both Mr. Khan as well Mr. Vishwas for airing their differences in public.

He said the PAC has accepted Mr. Khan’s resignation. “Arvindji is upset with both Kumar and Amanatullah. The PAC also discussed Vishwas’ absence from the meeting. Even he (Vishwas) has been giving interviews and releasing video. The party is also unhappy with this. “The chief minister and other party leaders are upset over statements given outside the party forum. If anyone has grievances, they can raise them with the party leadership,” Mr. Sisodia said.

The deputy chief minister said such developments were denting the party’s image and affecting the morale of volunteers, while “warning the party leaders not to air their grievances in public, but at appropriate party fora.”

Remaining defiant, Mr. Khan, however, said he stood with his remarks against Mr. Vishwas. “Kumar Vishwas is an RSS—BJP agent and Arvind ji will soon realise it. He (Vishwas) talks about disconnect between party volunteers and leadership, but he had invited (former Delhi Commissioner) B.S. Bassi and (National Security Advisor) Ajit Doval for his birthday party.

“It was Bassi, who had arrested AAP MLAs and workers under false pretext,” the Okhla legislator said.

In a major rejig last year,Mr. Khan had made it to the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), party’s top decision making body.

He had claimed that poet-turned-politician Vishwas was calling MLAs to his residence and coaxing them to rebel against Mr. Kejriwal or to join the BJP.

His allegations were ridiculed by senior AAP leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Biggest Lotteries in the World Come Knocking on India's Door

Could someone in India win such a huge jackpot prize? Unbelievably, people outside the United States can legally participate in these lotteries! Consider the story of M.M., a 37-year-old man living in Iraq, who got a phone call from theLotter a year ago telling him he'd won almost ₹45 Crores in the United States

- See more at: https://www.thelotter.com/play-powerball-from-india/?affid=252&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=Indiadoor3_EN#sthash.eCTcwqCA.dpuf

Did you know that you can play the American Powerball from India? Powerball is the most well-known lottery in the world, thanks to its record ₹10,000 Crores jackpot ($1.6 billion) awarded to three lucky winners in January 2016. - See more at: https://www.thelotter.com/play-powerball-from-india/?affid=252&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=Indiadoor3_EN#sthash.eCTcwqCA.dpuf

Did you know that you can play the American Power ball from India? Power ball is the most well-known lottery in the world, thanks to its record ₹10,000 Crores jackpot ($1.6 billion) awarded to three lucky winners in January 2016.

Could someone in India win such a huge jackpot prize? Unbelievably, people outside the United States can legally participate in these lotteries! Consider the story of M.M., a 37-year-old man living in Iraq, who got a phone call from theLotter a year ago telling him he'd won almost ₹45 Crores in the United States

It was a shock. At first, I thought it was a joke. I was driving in my car, I was going to the bank… so I get a call from the Lotter. I suspected I’d won something, but had no idea it was the jackpot

- See more at: https://www.thelotter.com/play-powerball-from-india/?affid=252&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=Indiadoor3_EN#sthash.eCTcwqCA.dpuf

Casteism, appeasement will end, says Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that the politics of casteism and appeasement will end while the agenda of development and devotion to the nation would sustain.

He was speaking at the two-day BJP meet which began in Lucknow.

“Politics of nepotism, casteism and appeasement will end, only politics of development and ‘rashtra bhakti’ (devotion to the nation) will sustain,” Mr. Adityanath said.

Apart from top BJP leaders including the party president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh state office bearers and hundreds of delegates are expected to participate in the two-day event.

SC orders Justice Karnan to be medically examined

A seven-judge Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar on Monday ordered controversial Calcutta High Court judge, Justice C.S. Karnan, to be medically examined by a board of doctors in a bid to confirm the possibility of the judge "feigning mental imbalance".

The order was prompted by Justice Karnan's recent 'purported judicial order' directing the CJI and seven Supreme Court judges to appear before him on May 1, 2017.

The order, Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi termed, was a "gross aggravation of contempt of the Supreme Court".

Justice Karnan passed the order in violation of the seven-judge Bench order on February 8, 2017 order directing him to refrain from judicial and administrative work during the pendency of the current contempt proceedings.

After a run of 76 years, BBC Tamil Radio to go off air

For K. Raja, a working professional, the BBC Tamil radio broadcast used to be the only source of information to keep himself updated on current affairs. “From the war in Sri Lanka to the Gulf War, our source of updates in the 1980s and 90s was the Tamizhosai BBC Tamil Radio service,” he recalled.

Nearly 76 years after it was started on May 3, 1941, the broadcast had its last show on April 30. The short wave transmission broadcast, which became a daily programme from 9.15 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. in the 90s, initially began as a weekly programme. The radio broadcast then became a bi-weekly programme in the eighties.

“For people in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka who were keen to know more about current affairs and international news in particular and wanted to listen to it in a language they were comfortable with, the Tamil broadcast was a staple. The radio broadcast was always known for its objective reporting of the Sri Lankan civil war and had a lot of listeners from there,” said Sampath Kumar, a former correspondent with the BBC.

Tihar electrical repair shop finds many fans

With mercury levels rising in the Capital, an electrical repair shop at Tihar Jail has proved to be a boon for the inmates as well as the administration.

Unlike previous summers, when fans would take a long time to be repaired by the Public Works Department, they are now repaired in a matter hours.

The shop was set up in jail no.1 three months ago. It’s run entirely by the inmates.

Satish Kapoor, who is one of the trainers, says minor repairs are carried out almost instantly at the centre and the ones that require motor winding (which is also taught at the centre) also don’t take more than a day. In the last two months, the shop has repaired 137 fans.

“Earlier, it would take three months to repair one fan, due to which the inmates would suffer. Sometimes, fans would return as late as the winter months, when those were not even required,” says a jail official.

Two soldiers killed as Pakistan violates ceasefire in Poonch's KG Sector

Two soldiers were killed and one another was injured in Pakistan Army's ceasefire violations in Poonch district’s Krishna Ghati sector on Monday morning.

A Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman told The Hindu that Pakistan resorted to heavy firing around 8:30 a.m. along the Line of Control (LoC). "They fired rockets and from automatic weapons in KG Sector," the spokesman said.

Of the three injured, BSF head constable Prem Sagar and Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) from the Army succumbed to their injures.

"Another constable from the BSF also sustained injury, but is out of danger," the spokesman said.

As ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion

Lyricist Mankompu Gopalakrishnan is one of the few people who knows why Kattappa killed Baahubali. But he is certainly not telling.As the much-awaited movie of the year Baahubali 2: The Conclusion reaches cinemas today in four languages, it is also a special occasion for all those who are associated with the Malayalam version of the movie, especially the singers and the lyricist.The multi-crore flick directed by SS Rajamouli has music by MM Keeravani. Five songs in the Malayalam version have all been written by veteran Gopalakrishnan. The singers are Vijay Yesudas, Shwetha Mohan, Yazin Nizar and Madhu Balakrishnan.Gopalakrishnan, a veteran in writing lyrics for dubbed movies, says that he is proud to be associated with the magnum opus. He had written the lyrics for Baahubali: the Beginning as well. He was in Hyderabad for over a month. During that period he saw the movie, and sat through the dubbing and recording.