The government is set to issue an order banning the sale of national flags made of plastics, officials have said. The order comes after complaints of cheap plastic flags being found thrown away like garbage after events like Republic Day or Independence Day.

 

"We will soon issue the order banning national flags made of plastic," a senior Home Ministry official said.

 

In March, the Bombay high court had asked Maharashtra government to come up with a comprehensive policy to ensure a ban on use, sale and purchase of national flags made of plastic.

 

The central government had also informed the court that a proposal to ban manufacture of national flags made of plastic was pending.

 

"The government should come up with a comprehensive policy. Create public awareness. Like the national anthem and pledge are printed in school textbooks, a message about national flags can also be printed," the High Court had told the Maharashtra government.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hand over the control of Delhi Police to his government. 

Referring to the murder of a 19-year-old girl in central Delhi's Anand Parbat area, the Delhi Chief Minister said crime related incidents are on the rise and women do not feel safe in the national Capital.

"I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi with folded hands that the control of Delhi Police be handed over to us. He has to run the whole country. 

"I am not saying Delhi Police officials are wrong. They are very good people and are working but the system is bad. Even police officials themselves are frustrated with this and no improvement is happening," Kejriwal said while addressing a gathering at the inauguration of first 'Aam Aadmi' clinic at Peeragarhi relief camp in the city.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit too claimed that there were some "shortcomings" in the system. 

"There is some shortcomings in the system which is why it is not able to handle. Politicising it and blaming each other will not lead to solutions," Dikshit said, advocating for a commission to suggest necessary changes in the system.

Kejriwal said the recent murder was "shocking" but policing was not under the control of Delhi Government. "I went to Anand Parbat yesterday. People are too scared. There is no policing, no security in the area. The incident was shocking but you all know Delhi Police is not under our control," he said.

Actress Richa Chadha has termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "selfie with daughter" campaign as sweet, but feels problems faced by women cannot be solved by "selfie or anything like that." 

"It was a sweet initiative: was a good initiative... there is no harm, but I thought it is an urban initiative ... the initiative is meant for those who have smart phones with them," Richa said.

"The problems of the female - dowry, sexual harassment, eve teasing and others - cannot be solved by selfie or anything like that," she said.

Richa, along with Vicky Kaushal, Shwetha Tripathi and director Neeraj Gheywan, was in the city to promote "Masaan", which is slated to release on July 24 in the country. The film portrays the relationship between father and daughter amid troubled times. 

Asked about Bollywood films on father-daughter relationship she liked the most and how these were different from "Masaan", Richa said "Mili" and "Daddy" were two films that portrayed father-daughter relationship in a beautiful way.

"There is a very nice film called Mili - Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan were in it. It is quite a beautiful film ... Mahesh Bhatt's "Daddy" is also very nice which spoke about the problem of addiction. The portrayal of father-daughter relationship is very nice," she said.

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday hinted that two former ministers might be involved in the alleged bribery case involving a US firm over a water developmental scheme in the state.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had earlier in the day said he will demand a CBI inquiry into the allegations.

US firm Louis Berger has been charged with bribing Indian officials for several crores to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and Guwahati.

"Since the work was related to JAICA (Japan International funding project), then PWD Minister might be involved, but moreover since it is dealing with the financial approval for the project, there is likelihood that one more minister may be involved," Parrikar said, addressing BJP workers in Goa's Margao town.

"The incident happened when Digambar Kamat-led government was in power," Parrikar, former Goa chief minister said while refusing to name any minister.

Under attack in the wake of murder of a 19-year-old girl, Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi on Sunday said he will try to dispel "misconceptions" about functioning of his force during his meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Kejriwal had on Saturday slammed Delhi Police for "deteriorating law and order situation" and summoned Bassi for a meeting on the issue.

"I will definitely go and meet him and will exchange our thoughts...There is a possibility of him telling something useful to us and may be I will give him something which will make him informative towards policing because I have been working for 38 years in the department. 

"As a professional police officer it is my duty that I should remove any misconceptions about policing. I have a good opportunity with the meeting to clear misconception if any," he told reporters. 

AAP has been at loggerheads with Delhi Police over a number of issues and the party has stepped up its attack against it after arrest of its two MLAs. It has been accusing Delhi Police of bias against it saying its MLAs are being targeted under political pressure.

Food safety watchdog FSSAI is planning to set new quality standards for ice-cream and flavoured milk besides tightening the existing safety norms for milk and other dairy products.

The proposal comes after ban on import of Chinese milk and milk products last month due to presence of melamine for one year till June, 2016, following a recommendation from FSSAI. 

At present, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has norms for milk, paneer, ghee and butter, among others.

In the latest proposal, the regulator is working on setting more specific and stringent standards for fat content in milk.

"... there is need to further broaden the quality standards for milk and its products. We are working on that and it is likely that in next one month, will come up with draft of these standards," a source said.

The source further said that the authority is working on comprehensive norms for milk and milk products which will now also include ice-cream and flavoured milk, among others.

Welcoming the proposal to regulate domestic Internet call services provided by apps like WhatsApp and Viber, industry body Assocham has said that the government should expand the scope of regulation to all kind of communication services offered by over the top players. 

"While ruling that domestic calls by OTT (over-the-top) CS (communication service) players would be regulated, they have most illogically exempted both international VoIP calling by OTT CSPs as also all messaging by these players. This is rather bizarre," Assocham Telecom Council Chairman T V Ramachanrdan told PTI.

While a section of industry and public have criticised the panel's recommendation to regulate domestic internet calls as anti-consumer, Assocham has welcomed the same. 

IT sector body Nasscom has said that monitoring compliance of such recommendation would lead to breach of privacy.

Nasscom President and former telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar has said that whole exercise has come about how to protect revenues of telcos which should not be the objective.

Demanding that internet based messaging applications should be regulated, Ramachandran said that OTT messaging has virtually destroyed the telcos' SMS business and a level playing field is the highest priority.

With Japan invited to join the Indo-US naval exercise 'Malabar' after eight years, a similar activity with the Japanese Navy scheduled for later this year is likely to be called off.

Though no decision has been taken so far, defence sources said there was no point in doing a repeat exercise given the time and cost involved.

"A joint invite from India and US to Japan has been drafted. Japan will surely join the Malabar exercise scheduled for later this year. Hence, there is no point in doing a separate bilateral exercise with Japan soon after," the sources said.

The Malabar exercise is slated to be held in October in the Bay of Bengal. It is an annual training exercise conducted by Indian and American navies, which includes combat operations from aircraft carriers and other manoeuvres. 

Japan had last taken part in the Malabar hosted by India in 2007. However, a strong reaction from China against the inclusion of Japan and Australia in 2007 led to the exercises being kept largely bilateral.

Ahead of the Monsoon session, BJP chief Amit Shah today discussed with senior Union ministers the strategy to counter the opposition in Parliament and is also meeting party chief ministers Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, both of whom are facing controversy. 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje, whose alleged involvement in the Lalit Modi row has seen her being targeted by Congress, and her Madhya Pradesh counterpart, who is under attack over the Vyapam scam, will be presenting their side of the story to the party so that the government can effectively deal with the opposition, sources said.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad were among those who met Shah. 

Chouhan is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. 

The Congress has sought resignations of both Chouhan and Raje. It has also demanded that Swaraj quit for helping former IPL

boss Lalit Modi. 

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today said he will demand a CBI inquiry into the allegations of a New Jersey-based construction management firm bribing Indian officials for a water developmental project in the state.

Parsekar's reaction came in the wake of US firm Louis Berger being charged with bribing Indian officials for several crores to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and Guwahati.

"Since it is an international matter, Goa police can't investigate it. That is why the government has decided to write to Prime Minister and Union Home Minister demanding a CBI inquiry into it. Truth should be revealed to the people," the chief minister told reporters this morning. 

"When the contracts were awarded, Congress leader Digambar Kamat was the Chief Minister and Churchill Alemao was Public Works Department Minister. Now it should be revealed which minister took the bribe," Parsekar said.

The bribery of USD 976,630 for a Goa project by Louis Berger included payments to a minister, details of which have not been disclosed by the US Department of Justice. 

Two days back, the company agreed to pay USD 17.1 million criminal fine to resolve charges that it bribed officials in India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Kuwait to secure government construction management contracts.

In many senses, the mood in the States tells us about the direction of democracy in India. In a recent survey carried out in Kashmir Valley after the coalition government took over, we found a few surprising opinions.

Jammu & Kashmir held assembly elections in November-December 2014, soon after the BJP formed the government at the Centre in May. 

The elections witnessed an unprecedented turnout. 

The BJP swept Jammu region with 25 seats. Afterwards, the People's Democratic Party and the BJP, most unlikely of partners, came together to set up a coalition government.

In the Valley, the overwhelming agenda was to defeat the BJP, which the electorate succeeded in doing, with most BJP candidates losing their deposits. 

The post-poll BJP-PDP alliance, however, has been seen in far more pragmatic terms by the people.

A strange twist of fate or tactical disassociation? A man who based his work on the teachings of the RSS has been abandoned by the organisation while he is in the middle of a major corruption expose.

Anand Rai, a doctor from Indore, considered instrumental in blowing the lid off the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh, feels let down by the Hindutva organisation with which he had been affiliated since 2005. 

"If the Sangh can stand up for terror accused Pragya Bharti, who has brought public disgrace to the organisation, then why did it abandon me when I was exposing Vyapam?" asks Dr Rai.

The relation between him and the Sangh took a dramatic turn in 2013 when the Vyapam scam came to light and Dr Rai was projected as the key whistleblower. 

Following this, the Sangh distanced itself from him and stopped inviting him to its programmes and weekly workshops. 

Crimes against women are on the rise -- but so are the number of false rape cases women are filing against men. 

Men's groups are, predictably, up in arms. 

Is this just a backlash against women asserting their rights or does it reflect a more serious problem?

The death toll in the west Delhi building collapse rose to four today even as Delhi government ordered an inquiry into the tragedy and an FIR was lodged against unidentified persons.

According to police, Om Prakash (50) today succumbed to his injuries during treatment following the mishap last evening in the Vishnu Garden area of west Delhi. The three other deceased are all women while eight persons were also injured in the incident. 

A young girl is "still suspected to be trapped under the  debris" and rescue efforts are on at the site of the building

collapse, said Joint Commissioner of Police (West Delhi Range), Dipendra Pathak.

Delhi government, which has ordered an inquiry into the incident, accused the BJP-led MCD of failing to ensure compliance with safety standards, charges which the civic body denied.

"People have told me there was construction going on and the entire building has collapsed on one side due to which four people have died and eight others were injured," said Delhi PWD Minister Satyendera Jain.

"Whatever construction work was going on, MCD had full responsibility to stop it, which they should have done... The government has ordered an investigation, to be done by the DM of the area, and the report will be submitted within seven days," he said, adding that "strict action will be taken against the culprits".

Meanwhile, DCP (West Delhi), Pushpendra Kumar, said that an FIR "under Section 304 of IPC (causing death by negligence) has been registered against unknown persons in connection with the wall collapse". 

As AAP held the civic body responsible for the tragedy, the BJP-led SDMC refuted the allegations and claimed it was "seepage in the sewer line" that had "weakened" the foundation of the building, leading to its collapse.

A man who occasionally worked as a driver in Noida has confessed to sexually assaulting and killing 15 children in Delhi, National Capital Region and Western Uttar Pradesh since 2009, according to the police.

Ravinder Kumar, 24, was arrested on July 15 for the sexual assault and murder of a six-year-old girl. He was caught after a driving license found near the child's body led the police to one of his acquaintances, said the police.

The little girl had been left in a house that was under construction. Her parents had reported her missing on July 14 after she went to a field nearby at night to relieve herself. Her parents did not have a bathroom in their house.

"She had gone to relieve herself. She did not return. We went to the police station, they said you look for her and we will also search for her. Her body was found by our neighbour's son. I was not allowed to see her body," the girl's mother said.

A mild intensity earthquake measuring 4.0 magnitude on the Richter scale was recorded in Chamoli district and its adjoining areas in Uttarakhand on Sunday morning.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the tremor was recorded at 5:18 am at a depth of 26 kms.

Furthermore, landslides due to heavy rains have blocked several main roads in Uttarakhand region.

Highway to Gangotri and several links to Yamnotri have got blocked which has brought the traffic to a halt. Also, villagers in Mori and Uttarkashi used rope bridge for commuting after vitals roads were damaged due to heavy rains.

Besides this, cloudburst in Almoda was also reported on Sunday morning.

Seventeen Naxals, many of them hard core, surrendered before police in the last one month in Maharashtra's Naxal-hit Gadchiroli district, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Of the 17, 13 hail from Kotmi-Kasansur, which has been one of the most difficult Naxal areas for the police for last many years.

"We have opened a new police post at Kotmi in February and it has proved to be very effective," Gadchiroli Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil told PTI over phone.

"The surrender operations may gather momentum after first week of August, post 'Shaheed Week' observed from July 28 to August 3," the senior officer said.

Of the 17 naxals, nine carried a reward of over Rs 30 lakh on their heads. Of them, Irpa Kujur was involved in 18 violent offences including encounters, blasts, murders and waylaying of a truck carrying explosions.

During Patil's tenure as district police chief, 37 Naxals surrendered in 2014, and 24 have done so this year so far.

The government is likely to promulgate the land ordinance for an unprecedented fourth time after conclusion of Parliament's Monsoon Session, with no consensus still in sight on the contentious bill. 

The Joint Committee of Parliament headed by BJP MP S S Ahluwalia, which is looking into the contentious legislation, meanwhile plans to seek a two-week extension till August 3 to finalize its report.

Indications are that the panel is unlikely to come out with its report during the Monsoon Session and could seek further extension, making it necessary for the government to re-promulgate the ordinance once again. The ordinance was promulgated for the third time on May 31. 

Sources in the government see nothing unusual in the re-promulgation of the land ordinance. They said at least 15 ordinances have been promulgated twice or more. 

An ordinance, which has a life span of six months otherwise, has to be re-promulgated if it does not get the endorsement of Parliament within six weeks of the start of a session. Monsoon Session starts on July 21 and ends on August 3.