New Delhi [India], Mar. 27 : The Central government is not mulling to scrap Article 370, which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Minister of States for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said on Tuesday.
“There is currently no such proposal under consideration of the government,” read Ahir’s written reply in the Lok Sabha on the question of scrapping Article 370.
Ahir’s reply was in context with a written question from BJP MP Ashwini Kumar who had asked whether the government was considering of scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution.
The ruling BJP in its manifesto to 2014 general elections had promised to scrap Article 370.
Sydney, Mar 27 : Australia’s prime minister called for an end to sledging in cricket today, saying it was “right out of control” as he urged the sport to clean up its image amid a ball-tampering scandal.
Malcolm Turnbull described the cheating crisis in which captain Steve Smith admitted to masterminding a plot to change the ball’s condition during the third Test against South Africa on Saturday as a “shocking affront to Australia”.
He demanded Cricket Australia act decisively in investigating the incident. The governing body is expected to provide an update tomorrow.
Turnbull added that authorities needed to crack down on sledging — verbal abuse involving players on both sides — if it wanted cricket to “once again (be) held up as a role model”.
“I think there has to be the strongest action taken against this practice of sledging,” he told reporters in Canberra. “It has got right out of control … it should have no place (in cricket).
“The game of cricket … should be one that once again is held up as a role model.”
The Test series between South Africa and Australia was ill-tempered even before Saturday’s explosive admissions.
The first Test in Durban earlier this month was plagued by an ugly row between vice-captain David Warner and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.
CCTV footage showed Warner being restrained by team-mates as he appeared to lose his temper during a confrontation on a staircase as the players walked to their dressing rooms.
The incident was reportedly over a jibe about Warner’s wife Candice, with the Australian describing the remark as “vile and disgusting”.
Both players were punished for the bust-up with Warner fined 75 per cent of his match fee and De Kock 25 per cent.
The recent Ashes series was likewise marred by tensions between Smith and England bowler James Anderson, with umpire Aleem Dar having to separate the pair when the Australian was batting.
Anderson described the Aussies as bullies who overstepped the line ahead of the Adelaide Test, with Smith retorting that the Englishman was one of the biggest sledgers in the game.
New Delhi, Mar 27 : India will be ready with a full roadmap for 5G technology by June this year, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said today.
Terming 5G important for India’s massive “digitisation and digitalisation” efforts, Sundararajan said the government is working with all stakeholders including the industry, academia and startup community, to become a frontrunner in the area of 5G.
“A high-level forum on 5G which includes global experts, industry experts, IITs, IISc, has already commenced work and done a fair amount of deliberation. By June, India will have full roadmap ready on this,” she said addressing a COAI event.
The forum is deliberating on the vision, goals, and roadmap on 5G, and will also look at related areas of spectrum policy, regulatory regime, pilot programmes and the test bed, she added.
New Delhi, Mar 27 :The CISF had offered security consultancy services to 60 schools across the country and it has received responses from about half of them, the government informed Parliament today.
Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, said the paramilitary force has offered consultancy services to 60 schools/school chains.
Those offered the services include the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Society, Delhi Public School (DPS) society, Tagore International School Delhi, schools under the national capital territory of Delhi, Ryan International Schools, Podar Schools Mumbai, Doon School Dehradun, Rishi Valley School, Scindia School Gwalior, Mayo College Ajmer and Lawrence school Sanawar among others.
The minister said that a “response has been received from 29 schools”.
The Central Industrial Security Force started offering these services to schools in November last year in the wake of the killing of a student at a Gurgaon school.
The CISF security consultancy wing was raised in 1999 and it has provided its expert advise to over 150 organisations or institutions, including the IITs, IIMs, RBI and the National Police Academy in Hyderabad among others.
Chandigarh, Mar 27: Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today said the state government would soon convene an all-party meeting to deliberate on ways to check the menace of noise pollution caused by loudspeakers and public address system.
Intervening in a Calling Attention raised by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Aman Arora, the chief minister said the issue was a matter of grave public concern and warranted a serious discussion.
Expressing concern over the implications of noise pollution, the chief minister said the norms on the issue were being flouted blatantly, especially in the case of DJs at social functions, which result in inconvenience and disturbance to students.
The chief minister had earlier authorised Rural Development and Panchayats Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa to reply on the call attention on noise pollution.
However, sensing the gravity of the issue and responding to the AAP MLA’s insistence on a reply from the chief minister, Singh intervened to assure the House that his government would take inputs from various political parties and evolve a consensus on finding a permanent solution to the problem.
The chief minister pointed out that there were guidelines under the Noise Pollution Regulation and Control Rules-2000 issued by the Government of India and, in accordance with the provisions of the Punjab Instruments Control of Noise Act, 1956, comprehensive guidelines had already been notified for the regulation of noise/sound pollution.
Underlining the need to enforce these guidelines in letter and spirit, he said the authorities should strictly comply with these guidelines in the larger public interest.
New Delhi, Mar 27 : The Election Commission this evening set up a committee of senior officials to probe the leak of the poll schedule for Karnataka before it was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner earlier today.
The committee, which has been asked to submit its report within a week, would also suggest steps needed to prevent any such eventuality in future.
In a statement, the poll watchdog referred to a tweet by BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya in which he had put out the election date minutes before CEC O P Rawat actually announced the schedule at a press conference.
Malviya tweeted that polls would be held on May 12 and counting will take place on May 18. While he was correct about the date of polling, he got the counting date wrong which will actually take place on May 15.
“The Commission immediately directed that the matter be probed and necessary and effective action be taken. Accordingly, Commission has constituted a committee of senior officers of Election Commission to investigate the matter and give its report within seven days.
“The Committee would also suggest steps needed to prevent any such eventuality in future. The Committee set up by the Commission has already sought information from the concerned media organisations and individuals, the statement read.
It said Malviya, in another tweet, had attributed a news channel as his source.
In his press conference to announce the poll schedule, Rawat had described the leak as a “very serious” issue that merited a probe and “stringent action”.
He said people can conjecture but noted that as information has been “leaked”, the Election Commission will probe the matter and take “stringent action” both “legally and administratively”.
Some 300 million people worldwide are living with the deadly hepatitis B virus (HBV), but only one in 20 received adequate treatment, researchers reported Tuesday.
For expectant mothers carrying the virus — which can be transmitted to their children — that percentage drops to one in 100, they reported in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology medical journal.
If left untreated, HBV can cause serious diseases of the liver, including cancer.
An estimated 600,000 people die every year from hepatitis-B related liver diseases, making HBV a bigger killer than malaria.
A test for HBV has been available since the early 1970s, but only one in ten sufferers worldwide have been diagnosed.
The virus is highly contagious via infected blood or other body fluids, and is mainly transmitted from mothers to their infants, or between children.
There is no cure, but antiviral drugs have proven effective in coping with symptoms.
A vaccine against HBV became available in the early 1980s. Since 1992, the World Health Organization has recommended a first dose within 24 hours of birth, but only half of newborns are vaccinated that quickly.
“Most mother-to-child transmission occurs within days of birth, so the birth dose is vital,” said lead investigator Homie Razavi, a virologist at the Center for Disease Analysis outside Denver, Colorado.
“All children need to receive this life-saving vaccine at birth, not just half of them,” he said.
Of the 16 countries that account for more than 80 percent of infections among five-year-olds, only China has scaled up vaccines-at-birth to 90 percent. Half of these nations have yet to put such a policy in place.
To compile these statistics, Razavi and his team analysed data from 435 studies and canvassed the work of more than 600 national experts.
They concluded that 292 million individuals were living with HBV in 2016, or nearly four percent of the global population.
The virus is most common in east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where prevalence is as high as 12 percent in the Central African Republic.
China, India, Nigeria, Indonesia and the Philippines account for nearly 60 percent of all infections.
“This study details the inadequate focus and expenditure on HBV treatment,” Geoffrey Dusheiko of UCL Medical School and Kosh Agarwal from King’s College Hospital wrote in a comment.
“There is a need to raise awareness of HBV to the same level as that of HIV.”
New Delhi, Mar 27: Alarmed by cascading pollution levels, the Supreme Court on Monday proposed a roll out of BS6 fuel across 13 leading metros by April 1, next year.
A division bench, headed by Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur, said, the Centre may consult OMCs (Oil Manufacturing Companies) to reply to the proposal suggested by it.
Observing that at present, the diesel price was lower than petrol by only Rs 10 per litre, the apex court asked the Centre to file a detailed reply on the proposal for differential pricing of diesel for commercial, private use.
MOPNG (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas) confirmed that BS6 fuel will be made available in Delhi and NCR (National Capital Region) from April 1, next year.
Previously, the apex court in an earlier order had slapped 1% green cess on diesel vehicles with engine capacity of over 2000cc keeping in view the fact that pollution levels are increasing at an alarming rate.
The Supreme Court also asked the Union of India to reply on the proposal to extend green cess on small and medium diesel cars.
EPCA contended that diesel cars were not sufficiently taxed to deter buyers from profiting from lower oil prices. Diesel cars must be disincentivised as it was a polluting fuel, the EPCA submitted.
New Delhi, Mar 27: Charging the Narendra Modi Governemt with compromising the privacy of individuals by leaking user information on the Narendra Modi app, the Congress on Monday said the counter allegations by the BJP that the Opposition party was indulging in ‘data theft’ were an attempt to divert attention from the issue.
Talking to reporters here, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, ‘we have said repeatedly that the biggest assault on individual privacy has occurred under the watch of the Narendra Modi Government. Not only people’s money, but people’s privacy is also in question.
Even as startling revelations that the Narendra Modi app, run by the BJP is sharing data of millions of users with American companies emerge, the Modi Government mocks and flouts the ‘Right to Privacy’ with brazen impunity. While the Prime Minister’s Office, PMO India app, asks users to voluntarily part with their identity on 14 data points, the NaMo app asks for a sweeping access to 22 data points. The NaMo app records audio, video, contacts of your friends and family and even tracks your location via GPS. No wonder, Modi ji is like the ‘Bigg Boss’ who with brazenness likes to spy on Indians. The BJP whose IT (Identity Theft?) Minister does daily press conferences on the issue of data security and democracy, has much to answer to the people of India on the unscrupulous means by which Shri Narendra Modi’s personal app is accessing data and passing on data of more than 50 lakh Indians,’ he alleged.
Describing the BJP allegations that the Congress was indulging in ‘data theft’ through its mobile app, Mr Singhvi said. ‘the Modi Government is resorting to deflectionary and diversionary tactics. The Congress application had just 15,000 downloads against the 50 lakh Indians who downloaded the NaMo app. Also, the Congress application was discontinued as most of the users wanted to register offline.’
Accusing Mr Modi of misusing the Prime Minister’s position to build personal database with data on millions of Indians via the NaMo app promoted by the government, Mr Singhvi said, ‘Why does Mr Modi, in his own book ‘Exam Warriors’ urge you to download the NaMo app. Is he now planning to snoop in on minors? Mr Modi is misusing the Prime Minister’s position to build personal database with data on millions of Indians via the NaMo app promoted by Government. If as PM he wants to use tech to communicate with India, there is no problem in that. But use the official PMO app for it, not the NaMo app. This data belongs to India, not to Mr Modi.
Shockingly, data of atleast 13 lakh NCC cadets which include personal mobile phone numbers and email ID’s are being given to the Prime Minister’s Office for an interaction.’
Citing in this regard the report of a committee of experts appointed by the government on the issue of data protection, Mr Singhvi said, ‘importantly, a Government appointed Committee of Experts (CoE) to look into a framework for data protection, headed by Justice (retd) BN Srikrishna has made scathing observations in a paper released in November 2017, against the Government and has shockingly implied (according to the media reports) that the Modi Government is collecting personal data illegally. The committee, which is currently in the process of conducting consultations, has also considered the SC judgment on privacy, says in its paper “The public and private sector are collecting and using personal data on an unprecedented scale. While data can be put to beneficial use, unregulated and arbitrary use of data, especially personal data, raise concerns relating to centralisation of databases, profiling of individuals, increased surveillance and a consequent erosion of individual autonomy.”
Alleging that under the Modi Government, not only the personal data of citizens was under serious threat, but there were multiple reports of data breaches in banks, Mr Singhvi said, ‘astonishingly, under the Modi Government, not only the personal data of citizens is under serious threat, but multiple breaches in the banks. In an atmosphere where every single day there has been a bank fraud worth thousands of crores of rupees being reported, have resulted in one single question – how safe is our money in banks?
Banks and PSU’s have reported multiple breaches in recent past. A newspaper report on Monday said two online security experts have claimed that the Aadhaar database of two public-sector enterprises leaked select data and the vulnerability was fixed only a month after attention was drawn to it. This exposes their names, the 12-digit Aadhaar number and information of the services they have linked their Aadhaar card to. These services include bank details, policy details and other private information. This was corroborated by the UIDAI statement released on Sunday.
“It was left up there for more than a month — even though it had been reported to them directly,” claim the security experts. On February 23, 2018 a report had claimed that there was a data breach which had hit the the Punjab National Bank, whereby sensitive credit, debit card details of 10,000 customers were leaked. Quick Heal, a reputed software company in October 2017 had also claimed that there was a massive data breach in 6,000 government offices including banks. Earlier in 2016, as per media reports — 32 lakh debit/credit cards of various Indian banks were compromised. The worst-hit was the State Bank of India along with certain private banks.’
He also charged the present Government of breach of Aadhaar data of individuals.
‘In April 2014, the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had attacked Aadhaar and the UPA Government on its possible ‘security threat’. Life has now come full circle for the BJP. Just like numerous other issues, their blatant hypocrisy on Aadhaar is exposed. In January, this year, when a reputed newspaper in a sting exposed how 1 crore Aadhaar details can be accessed in just 10 minutes, by paying just Rs 500 in Chandigarh, the UIDAI had then filed an FIR against the reporter. Now the editor of the reputed media house has also been replaced.
We have seen it in May 4, 2017, when the Modi Government is on record in Supreme Court, accepting data breach in the Aadhaar scheme. Now the Attorney General in Supreme Court, while arguing that Aadhaar data remains safe and secure, says that the Aadhaar data remains secure behind a complex that has 13-ft high and five-feet thick walls, which is laughable and ludicrous, to say the least. On November 20, 2017, the UIDAI had accepted on record that –“More than 210 central and state government websites publicly displayed details such as names and addresses of Aadhaar beneficiaries”. Earlier too, ‘Centre for Internet and Society’, a Bengaluru-based organisation (CIS) in a study published on May 1, 2017, had found that data of more than 130 million Aadhaar card holders has been leaked from just four government websites. Therefore this is a serious issue. Clearly, neither our money, nor our Aadhaar details or our personal details are secure under the Modi Government.’
New Delhi, Mar 26 : La Nina, a phenomenon associated with the cooling of Pacific waters, will be neutral during this monsoon, raising hope for normal rainfall this year, a senior government official said today.
La Nina is widely believed to be good for monsoon while on the contrary El Nino, which is associated with heating of the Pacific waters, is seen to have a negative impact on it.
” The La Nina is currently moderate and it will turn neutral at the onset of monsoon and will continue to remain so during the season,” M Rajeevan, secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said.
The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), a phenomenon associated with the sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean, is also likely to be positive, Rajeevan said.
He, however, refused to comment whether the monsoon will be normal.
“There are several parameters that have to be looked into before giving a forecast of a normal monsoon,” Rajeevan added.
However, there have been years when there was an El Nino phenomena but the country still received a good monsoon.
The southwest monsoon is considered as lifeline of the country as it not only brings rains in the country where agriculture is a major contributor to the economy, but also fills up the reservoirs.
New Delhi, Mar 26 : The government organised a national conference on Down syndrome here today, to provide parents and families information about latest developments in education and skilling of people with the chromosome disorder.
A book, titled ‘Twilights Children’, based on the lives of persons suffering from Down syndrome was released on the occasion.
Down syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated with intellectual and learning disabilities. Delayed development and behavioural problems are often reported in children suffering from it.
“The objective of this conference was to provide excellent opportunities to the parents to obtain information about latest development in education and skilling of persons with Down syndrome. Moreover, assessment/screening sessions were also conducted for the children with it,” the ministry said in a statement.
The conference was organised by the National Trust, under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Seoul, March 25: Top officials from South and North Korea will meet next week on the countries’ border to prepare for the inter-Korean summit meeting planned for next month, the South said on Saturday.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said North Korea has accepted Seoul’s proposal to hold the talks on March 29 to discuss the date and agenda for the summit between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un of North Korea.
The Moon-Kim meeting would be the third inter-Korean summit, following similar meetings in 2000 and 2007.
On Thursday, Seoul notified Pyongyang via a border communication channel of its proposal for talks next Thursday on the northern side of the border truce village of Panmunjom, saying the South’s three-member delegation will be led by Cho.
“North Korea delivered its agreement via the border communication channel today, saying it will send a three-member delegation headed by Ri Son-gwon, chairman of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification,” the ministry said in a release, reports South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Brussels, Mar 25: The European Union (EU) has confirmed that its Ambassador in Russia has been recalled and expected to return to Brussels at the weekend, an Euronews report said.
It comes as the Russian deadline for 23 British diplomats is looming, over the UK spy attack.
A convoy of vehicles left the British Embassy in Moscow on Friday ahead of a Russian deadline.
The bloc’s leaders expressed their support for UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Theresa May, British Prime Minister said: “I welcomed the agreement last night from the EU Council, that they accepted, the agreed, the United Kingdom’s government’s assessment that it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attempted murder that took place on the streets on Salisbury and that there was no plausible alternative explanation.
Beijing, Mar 25: China has warned the US it will defend its interests on trade, Chinese state media says, after US President Donald Trump backed tariffs on Chinese goods.
The comments came in a phone call between China’s vice-premier Liu He and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the BBC News reported on Saturday.
Mr Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs on up to $60bn (£42.5bn) of Chinese goods, accusing China of intellectual property theft.
The move has rattled markets and stoked fears of a trade war.
New Delhi, Mar 25: One of the largest global asset management organisations, Morgan Stanley Investment Management said that there is no boom in the Indian Economy.
The true boom that we saw in India was between 2003 and 2007 which was last decade.
In an interview with CNN-News18 which will be telecast on Saturday night, Ruchir Sharma, Chief Global Strategist of Morgan Stanley Investment Management said, “That was the time when the global economy was booming and our exports were growing at 30 per cent a year.
Whether it’s the consumption of your goods or cement or construction or real estate, every single thing today is lower, the magnitude is the only thing by which it differs, by how much lower, like construction, real estate are really in the dumps.”
He further said, “What we have now basically is a sort of steady incremental story.
Pune, Mar 25 : For the first time in India, Psychometric test for working, self-employed and business women was launched in Pune with a view to assess their entrepreneurship skills before investing in a new venture, informed Dr Anant Sardeshmukh, Director General of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA).
In an interview to UNI, Dr Sardeshmukh said,”The objective of this test is to identify entrepreneurship characteristics among women and prepare for the development of the same. After the test, they can have a fair idea whether they can plunge in entrepreneurship and if there is any short coming. This clarity will further help them boost their confidence and morale. It will also help the Chamber to facilitate and guide the women interested in starting their business or even upgrade the established business.”
“This test, useful for working, aspiring and business women, will help them to find out whether they can be an entrepreneur. What entrepreneurial characteristics they have and what are minimum needs for development. This test measures abilities, orientations and personality factors. A development plan is prepared for the skills necessary for successful entrepreneurship,”he said.
This pilot project was launched to celebrate the ‘ International Woman’s day’ by MCCIA in association with Jnana Prabodhini last month with a view to give clarity, thus make choice about the career and to enhance various skills required for starting or running the different types of businesses. The test, takes three hours to complete, is available in written format in English and Marathi languages. Test report will be sent through an email after eight working days after the test is solved, he elaborated.
In this program, a person’s strengthes and weaknesses to do business can be chalked out. On that basis, weaknesses can be overcomed by various skilled developmental programmes of the MCCIA. “There is a huge demand for such test from all quarters of society for various types of businesses and our second batch is ready for testing this month,”he added
When asked about the necessity of such a programme, he said such initiative was the need of the hour as Indian economy is passing through a mixed phase. There are challenges of climate change (which include economic and social challenges) , pollution and employbility. The solution lies in excellence, innovation and entrepreneurship. The Chamber’s functioning is supported by value systems. MCCIA will help build the ecosystem for different stakeholders, he said.
He further informed this novel program was launched on the occasion of the completion of the one year of the Diamond grade Rating awarded to MCCIA in March 2017. MCCIA is the first “state level” regional Chamber to be accredited with the highest rating by the National Accreditation Board for Education and Training (which accredits Business Membership Organizations, Industry Associations and Chambers) under Quality Council of India (QCI) , Government of India.
The Accreditation process has been developed by the Ministry of MSME, GIZ (Germany), Quality Council of India and is based on and aligned to International Best practices, in Governance, Operations, Services, and Performance Measurement and Reviews. The rating is the Hall Mark of Quality, Credibility, and capability of the organization. This rating offers opportunities to link with national and international agencies, makes available loans to members from financial institutions at competitive rates and reduced processing fees, he informed.
Syrian rebel fighters on Friday left one pocket of battered Eastern Ghouta and reached a deal to quit another as the regime drew close to regaining full control over the key enclave after a more than month-long battle.
A blistering Russian-backed assault since February 18 on the last opposition bastion near Damascus had splintered rebel territory into three shrinking pockets, each held by different factions.
Damascus and its ally Moscow have implemented a “leave or die” strategy with deadly air strikes on the enclave as they look to end six years of opposition control.
State television said the town of Harasta had “been emptied of terrorists” after a deal that saw fighters from Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham and their families bussed to northwestern Idlib province, still largely rebel-held.
The evacuation extended regime dominance to over 90 percent of the bombed-out Ghouta enclave that the rebels have clung to through years of punishing government siege, a Britain-based war monitor said.
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces look set to expand their control soon over another key area after Islamist group Faylaq al-Rahman struck a deal to evacuate starting at 0700 GMT on Saturday.
The agreement will see a southern stretch of territory that includes the towns of Zamalka, Arbin and Ain Tarma cleared, while talks are under way over the third and final pocket, around Ghouta’s main town of Douma.
The withdrawal deal came after Russian air strikes using “incendiary munitions” hit the town of Arbin late Thursday, killing 37 civilians, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. AFP reporters saw similar munitions fall on Douma.
But Russia denied it was carrying out any such strikes.