Timeline Refresh
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion secretary Ramesh Abhishek said that the commerce and industry ministry has reviewed the action plan with all departments and has also discussed it with all stakeholders, including industry associations.
Based on the meetings, 'now we have a tentative revised plan which has been now proposed to various ministries and departments. We have requested them to examine the inputs received from the industry', he said.
"We have requested them to see whether, how and in what manner these Make in India action plans can be revised. We have also decided to do a kind of reality check on what has been achieved so far in the last two years," he told reporters.
The 'Make in India' programme was launched in September 2014 with an aim to make the country a global manufacturing hub and attract investments.
Goyal said on November 24, 2015, the Centre received a certificate from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited in Uttar Pradesh, declaring that the village has been energised.
On October 30, we received a mail from DVVNL that four villages of Hathras district have been electrified, which included Nagla Fatela, he said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while elucidating his governments achievements -- especially electrification of villages across India -- claimed: Brothers and Sisters, you will be surprised to know that at merely three hours journey from Delhi, there is a village called Nagla Fatela in Hathras region. But it took 70 years for electricity to reach there. 70 years, my brothers and Sisters! And therefore, I am introducing you to the work culture that we are following.
However, according to a report in the Indian Express, many of the villagers in this hamlet in Mahamaya Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh have been living without electricity.
Goyal said in November 2013, the UP government had submitted a list of un-electrified villages to the Centre which included Nagla Fatela. He also said that in December 2014, the Centre received DVVNLs letter which said this village is still un-electrified.
A chief secretary-level committee approved DPR (Detailed Project Report) on basis of which the Centre sanctioned funds (for electrification of the village), Goyal said.
Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup. The fighting has split the country along ethnic lines and driven it to the brink of collapse.
A peace deal signed between the government and rebels almost a year ago has so far failed to end the conflict. And last month, Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir's forces and those loyal to Machar.
The abuses now being probed by the UN -- specifically, a July 11 attack on the Hotel Terrain in the capital Juba --took place during these days of fighting.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said late on Tuesday that he was 'concerned about allegations that UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) did not respond appropriately to prevent this and other grave cases of sexual violence committed in Juba'.
He was referring to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, called UNMISS.
Ban said that in the July 11 incident one person was killed and several civilians were raped and beaten by men in uniform.
New Delhis formal response to Pakistani foreign secretary Aizaz Chaudhrys letter inviting his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to Islamabad for talks on the Kashmir issue was handed over to the Foreign Office by high commissioner Gautam Bambawale. New Delhi had ruled out talks solely focused on Kashmir.
The proposal for talks on the Kashmir issue was unveiled by Sartaj Aziz, advisor on foreign affairs to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, during a media briefing in Islamabad on August 12.
Three days later, the Pakistani foreign secretary called in Bambawale and handed over the letter inviting Jaishankar to visit Pakistan for talks on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has been the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan.
Speaker P Dhanapal ordered eviction of the DMK members by assembly marshals after they stood up and insisted on expunging the remarks even after he rejected their demand and asked them to cooperate for the smooth conduct of the House.
Later, the government moved a resolution suspending the DMK members for a week which was passed by a voice vote. Trouble erupted during the debate on demands for grants for the Housing and IT departments when AIADMK member S Gunasekaran, without naming Stalin, made some remarks about the 'Namaku Naame' programme undertaken by the DMK Treasurer in the run up to this year's assembly election.
During the 'Namakku Naame' programme, Stalin had extensively toured the state and interacted with people. The remarks about the programme triggered strong objection from the DMK members who wanted the Speaker to expunge them. Dhanapal, however, said the MLA had not made any pointed reference to anyone and therefore there was no need to expunge the remarks.
DMK Deputy Leader Durai Murugan said Namakku Naame was an initiative of Stalin and therefore the remarks refer only to him and sought their expunction. At one point, Stalin himself rose and said he was proud that Namakku Naamme had featured in an assembly debate. He also made some remarks which were later expunged by the Speaker.
Following this, the DMK members stood up and opposed the Speaker's action even as Dhanapal asked them to cooperate in the smooth conduct of the House.
Since the DMK members did not heed his repeated pleas, he summoned the marshals to evict the agitating MLAs.
Stalin, who was physically removed, staged a brief sit-in before being finally taken out of the House. The Speaker later said he had to resort to such an action as the DMK members did not heed his pleas for cooperation.
Leader of the House and Finance Minister O Panneerselvam then moved a resolution for the suspension of the DMK members for a week, which was passed by a voice vote in the AIADMK- dominated House. DMK has 89 members in the 234-member assembly.
Image: DMK leader MK Stalin is removed from the House after he staged a sit-in
Dipa created history last week when she became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for the final of the women's vault final. Opinions were divided after she broke the barrier - many thought she had already done enough but others still felt she had a genuine shot at a medal.
A final decision on the award will be taken tomorrow.
Also read: As I cheered for Dipa, a part of me wept too
MIA seems to be former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel.
The Bombay High Court, in August 2014, had directed the state government to issue a circular providing details of the restrictions. The matter was then taken to Supreme Court which put a stay on the high court ruling.
The matter once again surfaced after a city-based social worker Swati Patil filed a contempt petition against state government claiming that it was not following the Bombay High Court's orders.
Dr Heptullah will be the 18th Governor.
She had resigned from the Union Ministry on July 12, 2016 as she had crossed 75 years of age. V. Shamuganathan, the Governor of Meghalaya has been looking after the state of Manipur from September 30, 2015.
Manipur goes to polls in February next year.
Two soldiers and a policeman were also injured in the militant attack at Khwajabagh in Baramulla district which took place at 2:30 am, a police official said.
He said two soldiers and a policeman were killed in the attack and a massive operation has been launched to track down the attackers, who fled the spot.
Normal life, meanwhile, remained paralysed for the 40th consecutive day today in Kashmir where 63 persons have been so far killed in the ongoing unrest.
"Curfew has been imposed in Magam area of Budgam district where four persons were killed in security forces firing yesterday. Curfew also remained in force in Srinagar district and Anantnag town," a police official said. He said restrictions on the movement of the people have been imposed in the rest of the Valley.
IMAGE: Last rites of Commandant Pramod Kumar, martyred in the line of duty at Srinagar on 15 August was performed at his village in Mihijam, Dist Jamtara yesterday with full state honours.
Pakistan on Monday invited India for talks on Kashmir, saying it is the international obligation of both the countries to resolve the issue, notwithstanding Indias insistence that it would talk on contemporary and relevant issues in Indo-Pak relations.
Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria said in a statement that Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale was called to hand over a letter of invitation for talks.
The Foreign Secretary called in the Indian High Commissioner this afternoon [Monday] and handed over a letter addressed to his Indian counterpart, inviting him to visit Pakistan for talks on Jammu and Kashmir dispute that has been the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan, Zakaria said.
On the eve of Parsi New Year, President Pranab Mukherjee has extended his greetings to all his Parsi brothers and sisters. "On the auspicious occasion of the Parsi New Year, I convey my greetings and good wishes to all my fellow citizens, particularly my Parsi brothers and sisters. The Parsi Community of India has played a major role in the building of our nation and contributed immensely to the development of our country in various spheres, including industry, commerce, trade and education. The Navroz festival signifies the coming of the new and passing of the old. Let us spread goodwill on this day and work hard to make our nation united, secure and prosperous [sic]," Mukherjee posted on his official Facebook page ahead of the new year celebrations.
He even named the village in Hathras, called Nagla Fatela, and said, It takes only three hours to reach Nagla Fatela. But it took 70 years for electricity to reach there.
Modis official Twitter handle @PMOIndia tweeted a photo of a group of people allegedly sitting in Nagla Fatela village and watching his speech on a TV set. His tweet said, People of Nagla Phatela watching the Independence Day celebrations for the first time. More power to them. :)
An enthusiastic union power minister, Piyush Goyal, tweeted not one but several photos of people watching Independence Day celebrations claiming that they were in in the newly electrified villages.
On the ground, in the village, however, this statement came as a surprise to residents, who said the images were not from their village.
Villagers said that while poles had been set up and electricity metres installed in the houses but there was still no power supply
The village head of Nagla Fatela said, No programme was organised in our village. The picture with children watching the Independence Day programme does not belong to our village.
Faced with widespread embarrassment, the PIB today issued a clarification titled Electrification of village Nagla Fatela, Hathras facts at a glance. It read: Electrification of said village was proposed by the UP government under 12th plan of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was submitted through a state-level steering committee, headed by the chief secretary of the state on 13.11.2013. For this village, the DPR proposed connections to all households, including creation of infrastructure
South Koreas JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported on Tuesday that a high-profile diplomat in the UK defected with his wife and son to a third country. The BBC named the defector as veteran diplomat Thae Yong Ho, a counsellor at the North Korean embassy and deputy to the ambassador.
Quoting an unnamed source, JoongAng Ilbo said the diplomat embarked on a defection journey following a scrupulous plan and was in the process of landing in a third country as an asylum seeker.
It was not clear from the newspaper report whether the third country was the UK. The term is usually used in South Korean media to refer to a country which is neither North nor South Korea.
An official at the North Korean embassy in London would not confirm the defection, describing reports of the event as quite sudden. If it is appropriate to give a response, then you might hear about our response, the official told Reuters.
Further calls to the embassy went unanswered. Calls to Thaes mobile phone were redirected to a voicemail inbox.
Thaes reported defection follows a string of recent such flights by North Koreans, including 12 waitresses at a North Korean restaurant in China who defected to South Korea earlier this year.
The official, among those handling Kashmir affairs at the centre, alleged that much of the money from across the border has been routed to mid and senior-level functionaries of pro-Pakistan separatist groups operating in Kashmir like the Jammat e Islami and the Dukhtranan-e-Millat, headed by Asiya Andrabi.
The government, sources said, does not expect the unrest to die down soon. "With the kind of money being pumped in it is unlikely that protests will die down. The youth of the valley are being paid to continue with protests and attacking security forces," top government sources said.
Sindhu's stunning straight-game victory over formidable Chinese shuttler Wang Yihan on day 11 yesterday to reach the semis is the ideal morale boost for Srikanth as he confronts two-time Olympic champion Dan.
With the memorable win, Sindhu became the second Indian badminton player to reach an Olympic semifinal after Saina Nehwal achieved the feat four years ago. Sindhu's highly inspirational 22-20 21-19 victory over the current world no 2 and silver medal winner in London four years ago has boosted the country's sagging hopes of a medal from the Games.
The 21-year-old Indian now stands just a win away from assuring India an elusive medal at the Games.
"The committee observes that entire floodplain area used for the main event site i.e. between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain (on the right bank of river Yamuna) has been completely destroyed, not simply damaged. The ground is now totally levelled, compacted and hardened and is totally devoid of water bodies or depressions and almost completely devoid of any vegetation. "
The government's carefully considered twin decisions to fish in the troubled separatist waters of China first and now Pakistan also mark the culmination of a two-year-long ideological struggle in Modi's inner circle between an interventionist line in neighbourhood diplomacy and the continuation of status quo. Read more
While waters were receding in parts of southern Louisiana,other areas were seeing rising waters. The National Weather Service issued renewed flood warnings.
"We're seeing unprecedented flood levels as the waters move south," Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said at a news conference.
Officials said 40,000 homes have been impacted by the floods, and more than 8,000 people were in shelters.
More than 20,000 have been rescued or evacuated, they said.
A dozen parishes -- similar to counties in other states --have now been declared emergency disaster areas, up from four on Monday.
Waters were receding in some northern and western areas of the flood zone, while other areas were still in an active emergency, the governor said.
IMAGE: Residents use a boat to navigate through flood waters in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Photograph: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters
Stating that the ban was in force in the Hills as per Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) in 2003, District Magistrate Anurag Srivastava said that the administration has started its implementation from the Independence Day.
"It (ban on smoking in public places) was in place but the implementation was not done properly. Now on the directive from the Health department we started implementing the ban in the district from yesterday (on Monday)," he said.
Elaborating more on the ban, the DM said the sale of tobacco products to minors would be a punishable offence while sale of tobacco products would not be allowed within 100 metres of an educational institution.
"Not only the locals, this (ban) goes for tourists also. Anybody found smoking in public places will be fined Rs 200. And nobody will be allowed to sell tobacco-related products like cigarettes to minors below 18 years," Srivastava said, adding that manufactures of tobacco products should adhere to the norm related to warnings on packages.
As per the COTPA, failing of adhering to the norm related to warnings on packages, the manufacturer of tobacco products on first conviction can face up to 2 years of imprisonment or can be fined Rs 5,000.
It was the highest reported number of civilian casualties in the kingdom's south since a Saudi-led coalition intervened 17 months ago in Yemen.
"It killed four citizens and three residents," the civil defence spokesman in Najran city said of the rocket strike, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
He said emergency personnel were called at 5:00 pm after a report of 'a military rocket that had been fired from Yemen landing in Najran city'.
Social media video purportedly from the scene showed fires burning and the ground strewn with debris across a wide area.
Two men lay apparently dead, one with blood pouring from beneath his head, beside a pickup truck.
Image used for representation only.
"Najran is sad and hurt today," one local resident told AFP.
"We are worried but we are not afraid," he said, adding that the city has been targeted before. The rocket hit a busy industrial-commercial area where many garages are located.
"People of countries who live in glass houses should not pelt stones on others. In Balochistan, the Baluch organisations brought down the Pakistan flag and waved the Baluchistan flag, demanding freedom of Baluchistan from Pakistan against its highhandedness, inhumane behavior, human rights violations and no development since independence," president of local Shiv Sena unit, Ashok Gupta said.
"The region of PoK is a high casualty area for the civilians as the people of PoK have no rights and when they demand it they are beaten and killed by the Pakistani Army," he said.
"On the day of the Pakistani Independence, the people of Balochistan raised slogans against the Pakistan demanding independence from the terror haven Pakistan," Gupta said. He said Inter-Services Intelligence was 'supporting' and 'financing' people in Jammu and Kashmir to project Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani as a 'martyr'.
The visit comes against the backdrop of ongoing unrest in the Kashmir Valley.
"Army Chief is visiting 16 Corps HQS at Nagrota in Jammu and will hold an internal review on security," a senior officer said.
After the meeting with commanders in the region, he will fly back in the evening, the officer said.
The phone call of a bomb kept at Lal Qila (Red Fort) was received by police control room at around 4.15 pm. Teams of Delhi Police and security agencies rushed to the spot and searched the premises for the bomb, a senior police officer.
After search, nothing was found and the call was found to be a hoax at around 8 pm. The caller, who was reportedly mentally unstable, was identified as a resident of north east Delhi, he said.
The Rajghat was also sanitised by the police as a precautionary measure, the officer said.
However, no specific call about any explosives at Rajghat was received but the step was taken as a precautionary measure, he added.
Art of Living event 'completely destroyed' Yamuna floodplains, NGT told
Gujarat: 22 people arrested for attack on Dalits
Nawaz Sharif vows to support struggle of Kashmiri people
Going to Pakistan is same as going to hell: Parrikar
Army's Kashmir Corps commander briefs Governor on situation in the Valley
Indian Railways to run magnetic trains soon
Final goodbye to CRPF officer killed in Srinagar attack on Independence Day
M J Akbar rings the closing bell at Nasdaq
Read yesterday's commentary HERE