The state government has directed all the departments that include Irrigation and Public Health, Rural Development, Urban Development, Health, Municipal Corporation and other Local Bodies should work with close co-ordination to check spread of any case of water borne diseases such as Hepatitis-A or Hepatitis-E.

This was stated by Chief Secretary Vineet Chawdhary, while presiding over the review meeting with the senior officers of the state government on Thursday.

Chawdhary said that Standard Operation Procedure should be adopted by the IPH and Health departments to clean all the water tanks and reservoirs in the state.

He said that people should be motivated and urged to clean their private water tanks, as at times the water gets contaminated within the private tank itself.

It was of utmost importance to sensitise the masses about the precaution and preventive measures to be taken to check outbreak of any water borne diseases, he said. He said that for this Information, Education and Communication committee should be constituted with officers of IPH, Health and Municipal Corporation Shimla for preparing and implementing an effective media strategy to spread awareness regarding safe drinking water.

Chief Secretary said that emphasis should be laid on making the cleanliness of drinking water as a mass movement.

He said that Gram Sabhas should also be involved to educate the people to spread awareness in rural areas through its regular meetings. He said that people should also be sensitised through Giriraj weekly of the Information and Public Relations Department, keeping in view it reach in the rural areas.

He said that testing and sampling of water should be done aggressively and with latest equipment, besides effective working of all the six sewerage treatment plants in Shimla town must be ensured.
The IPH department and the Shimla Municipal Corporation must also ensure that there was no leakage in the sewerage and drinking water pipelines, as it was the major cause of water borne diseases, he added.

Horticulture minister, Mahender Singh Thakur on Tuesday directed the scientists and officers of the department to prepare nurseries as per the requirement of the particular area and the plants should be distributed to the farmers and horticulturists as per the climatic conditions.

The minister, who was presiding over the review meeting of Horticulture department emphasised to ensure the quality of plants to maintain the credibility of the department.

He stressed on preparing nurseries of various varieties of citrus fruits which were on the verge of extinction.

He said that the horticulture activities should be extended to all parts of the state.

He urged the scientists to make a master plan for the increasing green cover of the state. He also directed the departmental officers and officials to work with full dedication and fix targets for hundred days.
The minister directed to give priority to promoting floriculture and mushroom production as both these sectors had ample opportunities of employment.

Managing Director, HP Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) Dinesh Malhotra said that HPMC was hopeful of achieving an annual turnover of over 64 crore during this year. He said the state had five CA stores with storing capacity of 3,380 metric tonnes.

Besides, cold stores facility was available at Parwanoo, Jabli, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

Director, Horticulture Dr MS Rana informed that there were 568 registered nurseries in the state and the department would provide nine lakh plants of different varieties to the farmers during this year besides 20 lakh plants through private nurseries.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Jai Ram Thakur has urged the Central government to provide 100 per cent tax exemption to industries in the state for first five years and fifty per cent for next five years, besides making a provision of interest subvention of seven per cent for a period of seven years to promote industrial development in the hilly state.

He was speaking during the pre-budget meeting of Finance ministers of all states and Union Territories held at New Delhi on Thursday under the chairmanship of the Union Finance minister, Arun Jaitley.
The CM demanded subsidy or viability gap fund for operating flights and heli-taxi services on the pattern of north-eastern states to HP for assisting in tourism promotion as well as disaster management.

Thakur said the state had enormous possibilities for expansion of tourism activities and keeping this fact in view, there was a need to promote air traffic. He suggested that Union government should make an announcement regarding expansion of helipads of all state capitals from central budget besides making budgetary provisions at the Centre for expansion or construction of airports in hill states.He added that environment protection would be a priority of the state government.

Thakur suggested reducing the corporate tax rate up to twenty per cent for further industrial development. He said that entrepreneurs of the state were denied of the benefits of capital investment subsidy which ended in March 2017.

He added that although a special committee was constituted for preparing an extensive industrial policy for hill states yet no announcements have been made so far. He requested to continue central capital investment subsidy to the state till the new announcements are made. He also urged for restarting Freight Subsidy scheme and reimbursement of transport cost of about Rs Five crore at the rate of 75 per cent.

The HP CM requested to enhance import duty on apple as was announced in union budget 2018-19 so that interests of the horticulturists of the state were protected.

He also requested for enhancing sanctioning powers to state government under FCA ACT -1980 from 1 hectare to 5 hectare under PMGSY to speed up the works. He also requested to include areas above the population of 100 and below 250 under PMGSY to benefit more population in the state.

Thakur also urged the Centre to announce Disaster Mitigation Fund in the Union budget 2018-19 for the state as it falls under seismic zone IV and V.

Punjab Finance minister (FM) Manpreet Singh Badal on Thursday said the initiation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) and introduction of the debt waiver scheme in Punjab has affected state’s cash flow.

Manpreet Badal, was in New Delhi on Thursday to attend Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s pre-budget 2018-19 meeting with state finance ministers, said the Centre should increase state’s net borrowing ceiling from three per cent to four per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). He also urged that consent under Article 293 (3) of the Constitution should be given to Punjab for swapping of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) loans with low cost market borrowing.

During the meeting he also sought an all India farm debt waiver scheme on the pattern of Punjab, while calling for restoration of the 90:10 funding pattern under the RashtriyaKrishiVikasYojana (RKVY). He asked the Union government to provide more avenues to the states to determine priorities in Agriculture sector, besides the inclusion of Punjab under the special category for Border Area Development Programme. Badal stressed on the need for close co-ordination between the Centre and the states.

The FM also urged the Union government to provide a special grant of Rs 500 to celebrate the 550th Prakash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev. He added that Rs 100 Crore should be provided for academic, research and museum projects for observing the 550th year celebrations in a most befitting manner.

Raising concerns over the state’s natural boundaries with Pakistan, the FM urged that Union government should provide a special grant to line by studs and spurs in the rivers forming natural countries. To combat terror activities, the FM demanded a special package for purchase of equipment to modernise the police to counter anti-terrorism operations efficaciously.

Advocating the need to make states financially stronger, Manpreet Badal said that Union government should release the share of Central taxes on account of tax devolution of corporate tax and income tax on a monthly basis instead of four quarterly installments in 2018-19. He said it will help to avert severe impact on development works in the states, besides increasing fiscal stress.

Badal said increasing the RKVY ratio back to 90:10 from 60:40 would not only help in boosting Agriculture infrastructure, farm extension activities and diversification, but also in achieving the Union government’s vision of doubling farm income by 2022.

On the issue of farm debt waiver, the FM told the meeting that the Punjab government had taken the initiative to announce a loan waiver scheme to the extent of Rs 2 Lakh for all the marginal and small debt-stressed farmers of the state. This covers more than 60 per cent of the state’s farming community and will benefit almost 10 Lakh farmers with a financial outlay of around Rs 9,500 Crore.

Haryana government is mulling over approaching the Supreme Court for reviewing its decision wherein it has stayed ban on release of movie “Padmaavat” imposed by the governments in many states including Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Haryana Health minister Anil Vij said on Thursday that the state government would go for legal opinion in to the matter and could move the Apex Court with review petition.

Vij said, “I have not yet got the copy of the decision. After getting the copy, we would seek legal opinion and would move for the review of the decision if needed.” Another minister Kavita Jain also said that the Haryana government would mull over all the possibilities and review petition could be one of such options to be adopted by the state government keeping in view the concerns of the Rajput community that has been opposing the release of the film.

Keeping in view the sentiments of a large number of people who felt that historical facts had been distorted in the film, the Haryana Cabinet headed by Chief Minister ManoharLalKhattar on 16 January banned the release of the movie in the state. Notably, many Haryana ministers, including Vij and VipulGoel have been seeking ban on the movie in the state.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday alleged the Congress government was shifting teachers arbitrarily from middle schools.

In a statement here, former minister and SAD spokesman, Daljit Singh Cheema, said this would have a most adverse effect on education services in the state. He said the state government seemed to be playing with the future of poor students studying in the government schools with Punjabi and Hindi learning suffering the most.

Cheema said the education department had issued a letter by its district education officers in which the schools heads had been directed to shift their surplus staff to the schools facing staff crunch. The SAD leader said that though the department has used the word ‘surplus’, but the schools that were asked to shift their teachers only had the required strength of six teachers.

“Teachers of Science, Social Studies, Punjabi, Hindi, Arts and Craft and Physical Training Instructor (PTI) are required in every school.

The Capital is set to host the Ramayana Festival of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries at Kamani Auditorium, from 20 to 24 January this year. The five-day gala festival, to be organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, will witness the convergence of top cultural groups from all ten ASEAN member countries ~ Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, president of ICCR, said, “The event will feature performances by cultural troupes from all 10 ASEAN countries. Through the Ramayana, the festival will showcase spectacular choreography rooted in the performing arts’ traditions of South East Asia.

“India enjoys strong civilisational links with all ASEAN countries. Ramayana as it is performed in the various ASEAN countries is not only a reflection of the strong cultural and civilisational links we have with them but it is also a bond which is their common heritage and binds them to each other”, he added.

During the Festival, the ASEAN countries will present various episodes of the Rama story through nuanced interpretations and revelations. They will reveal the assimilation, indigenisation and re-interpretation the epic has undergone. After their performances in Delhi, Ramayana groups from across the globe will also be performing in Ayodhya, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Ramayana is one of the world’s longest epics. It is called the adi-kavya, the first of the poems. It has had primal influence on the faith, culture and art of India. Its exploration of the concepts of duty and righteousness permeated Indian philosophy and literature.

The epic inspired poets, painters, sculptors, dancers and musicians as well as millions of seekers of the spirit and of solace. The Ramayana, a multi-layered chronicle, wove ethics, devotion, wisdom and values into one extraordinary, narrative allegory. The Ramayana’s imagery and symbolism were so powerful that the epic easily made its way into the consciousness of people beyond India.

A Border Security Force jawan and a 16-year-old girl were killed in shelling at Indian posts and villages along the international border in Jammu district’s Arnia sector, provoking BSF Director General KK Sharma on Thursday to order his troops to retaliate with “full force and teach a lesson to the Pakistan Rangers”.

The BSF DG flew in here to take stock of the situation and lay a wreath on the body of A Suresh of the 78 Battalion who belonged to Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. Another BSF jawan, Dubraj Murmur, suffered a bullet injury on his left hand.

The killed girl was identified as Neelam Devi. She had come to her uncle’s home in Pindi village near Arnia. Three other civilians were injured.

Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked shelling at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and the exchange of fire was continuing well into Thursday.

Reports said the BSF in retaliation targeted positions of Pakistan Rangers in the Kundanpur and Chaprar villages of Sialkot sector.

Reports from across the IB indicated that two soldiers of the Pakistan Rangers and six others, including two women, were killed in the Chaprar sector in BSF firing. Two dead soldiers of the Rangers were seen being carried away in an ambulance, sources said. Pakistan has confirmed the killing of two women.

In Islamabad, Pakistan on Thursday summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh over the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” by Indian troops across the Line of Control which resulted in the death of two women, PTI reported.

Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal alleged that the Indian forces fired across the Working Boundary on Thursday in Sialkot sector, killing two women ~ 45-year-old Perveen Bibi and 20-year-old Ayesha ~ and injuring five civilians.

On Thursday, Pakistan Rangers were continuing to target Vikram, Sai, Trewa, Nikowal and Arnia villages. Some areas of the Samba district were also being targeted.
After the wreath ceremony, the BSF DG told media persons, “We can describe the situation on the IB as tense. Earlier, there had been firing along the Line of Control (LoC) and now they have started firing along the international border as well,” Sharma said.

“The martyrdom of A Suresh will not go waste,” he said. Terming his death as “unfortunate”, Sharma said the BSF constable was struck by a bullet which appeared to have passed through a small gap in his bunker.
In such war-like situation, one could describe it as an occupational hazard, he said.

“To avoid casualties due to sniper fire, we have provisions for bulletproof helmets and jackets for the troops, but even then many parts of the body remain exposed,” Sharma added.

Ace shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and H.S Prannoy will spearhead 20-member strong Indian contingent’s challenge in the Asian Badminton Team Championships to be held in Malaysia from 6 to 11 February.

Leading the charge in the men’s singles category will be the third ranked Indian in the world, Kidambi Srikanth and will have strong back up from H.S Prannoy, Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma who have proven that they can win against the best in the world on a given day.

In the women section,PV Sindhu will take the baton in her hands along with Saina Nehwal and Krishna Priya and Ruthvika Gaade will also watch from close quarters.

In the doubles Indian campaign will be led by the prodigious pairing of Satwik Sairaj/Chirag Shetty, World No. 32 Manu Attri/Sumeeth Reddy and Shlok Ramachandran/MR Arjun, while in the women section Ashwini Ponappa/Sikki Reddy will be handed the mantle and will be backed up by Prajakta Sawant/ Sanyogita and Rituparna Das/Mithila U K.

“After a very successful 2017 for Indian badminton on the world circuit, we want to start off 2018 by displaying our dominance in the Asian Badminton Team Championships,” said Badminton Association of Indiua (BAI) general secretary, Anup Narang.

“We were unfortunate to lose out in the knockout stages last year and with the current team we are confident of a good show and a podium finish,” he added.

In Vietnam last year, the Indian contingent started off on a winning note as they thumped Singapore 4-1. The only loss of the tie came in the first clash, where the mixed doubles pair of Sikki Reddy/Pranaav Jerry Chopra lost out in straight sets but the rest of the team were up to the task as they won the next four and set the tone for the team.

However, the Indians faced a powerful Korean team in their next group stage encounter and went down 1-4 to the eventual runners up of the championship. Nonetheless, with a win in the group stages against Singapore, they managed to make their way into the knockout phase where they couldn’t overcome Thailand in a close-fought encounter and lost 2-3.

Although, the tournament will be a close fought affair with the Chinese and the Japanese team among the other strong contenders going all guns blazing, the Indian contingent will be positive of a better showing this time around.

Without naming China or its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India on Thursday reiterated its objection to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project on the ground that it runs through the Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir which is under Pakistan’s illegal occupation.

“Connectivity projects should be consultative and consequent with the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said, Vijay Gokhale, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry who will take over as Foreign Secretary towards the end of this month.

He was responding to questions after his address at the 3rd ‘Raisina Dialogue’, organised by the External Affairs Ministry and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Gokhale, who was until recently India’s Ambassador to China and played a key role in resolving the Doklam military stand-off, replied in the affirmative when asked if the BRI would lead to the dependency of many small nations on China.

“If you have players who come and set a different set of rules, who set a different set of standards, where there are no standards, where there are weak rules and procedures, you automatically create infrastructure and ecosystem of dependency,” he added.

The diplomat said the issue was not whether Africa or any other continent would become dependent on any country but the issue was what the international community was doing about one country which was not following basic international rules on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“What is the rest of the world going to do to ensure that there is a certain rule setting and that the existing rule set is not disrupted because any one country or any group of countries decide its own set of rules and then proceeds,” he said.

Gokhale also raised questions about the methodology to be used while executing the BRI. “Is this process (of BRI) demand-driven, consultative? Does it allow a fair and open competition? Is the process built on multilateral frameworks that already exist and is the process consequent with principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity?” he asked.

The Goods and Services Tax Council on Thursday decided to slash the GST rate on 54 services and 29 items, including old and used motor vehicles, public transport buses run on bio-fuels, sugar-boiled confectionery and packaged water, but could not finalise measures for simplification of the GSTN returns.

The much-talked about demand for bringing petroleum products within the ambit of GST did not come up for discussion on Thursday. The issues will be taken up at the next meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told media persons after the GST Council meeting here.

‘Vibhuti’ (sacred ash), parts and accessories for manufacture of hearing aids and de-oiled rice bran have been exempted from GST while all types of old and used motor vehicles other than medium and large cars and SUVs will now attract 12 per cent instead of 28 per cent GST. Old medium and large cars and SUVs will attract 18 per cent instead of 28 per cent.

The rate on sugar-boiled confectionery, drinking water packed in 20 litre bottles, fertiliser-grade phosphoric acid, bio-diesel and drip irrigation system have been reduced from 18 to 12 per cent.

Tamarind kernel powder, mehendi paste in cones and domestic LPG supplied by private distributors will attract a reduced duty of five per cent instead of 18 per cent.

The exemptions from GST will, among other things, now apply to supply of services for providing information under RTI Act, legal services provided to government, local authority, governmental authority and government entity, transportation of goods from India to outside by air and sea, services relating to admission or conduct of examinations provided to all educational institutions, entrance fees for entrance examination and for transportation of students up to higher secondary schools.

GST has been reduced from 18 to 12 per cent on construction of Metro and monorail projects, while on tailoring services it has been brought down from 18 per cent to five per cent. Admission to theme parks, water parks, joy rides, merry-go-rounds, go-carting and ballet will now be taxed at 18 per cent instead of 28 per cent and on common effluent treatment plans services from 18 per cent to 12 per cent.

Jaitley said the decisions on changing the tax rates were taken on the recommendations of the fitment committee and the changes will come into force from January 25.

Talking about simplifying GST return filing, Jaitley said the Group of Ministers under the Council, officials of GST Network and Nandan Nilekani, Infosys Chairman, held a meeting on the issue. Infosys is the service provider of GSTN.

GSTR 3B return filing will continue and all buyers and sellers will continue to load their invoices.

Initially there will be 3B return and the supplier invoice would be adequate. The Council felt that once the GoM, IT Committee and Nandan Nilekani discuss the matter and formalise it, then it will be circulated among the ministers and approval will be taken during the next GST Council meeting.

The next GST Council meeting will be held via video conferencing soon.

The Council also reaffirmed that from January 15 e-way Bill system has started operating on a trial basis. “From February 1 inter-state e-way bill will be necessary. Fifteen states have said that from February 1, intra-state, they will also start e-way bill.”

The Finance Minister said the Council also reviewed GST collections. “So far we have been relying on unilateral declaration of traders itself. It is necessary to bring in some anti-evasion measures.”

He also said that the Composition Scheme was seriously discussed. “Collection was a matter of concern. Seventeen lakh dealers who have registered themselves at 1 per cent have only deposited Rs 307 crore in the first quarter. The scheme has not been enthusiastically responded. Most of the people have registered themselves below Rs 20 lakh. There seemed to be cases of under-declaration.”

He said that of the money collected under Integrated GST, a sum of Rs 35,000 would be provisionally divided between Centre and the states.

Bihar Finance Minister and deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the remaining Rs one lakh crore would be settled on a future date.

On direct collections, Jaitley said the government was way ahead of the direct with taxes growing at 18.7 per cent.

Asked about the Congress demand for inclusion of petroleum products in the GST, the Finance Minister said it did not come up on Thursday. It will be discussed in the next meeting, he added.

Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said that when the GST was brought in, there was a lot of hype that it will contribute to growth in GDP and tax collections but after eight months the GDP and revenue collections had actually come down.

Several Pakistan embassy officials were involved in terror funding in Jammu and Kashmir and the money was routed from that country via Dubai, the NIA has said in its charge sheet filed in a court on Thursday.

The 64-page operative part of the nearly 13,000-page chargesheet mentions that “some senior Pakistani embassy officials” gave money to Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Shah, for carrying out terror attacks, orchestrating violence, stone pelting and other subversive and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The allegations were also mentioned in 232 pages of witness testimony in the chargesheet.

Asked why the chargesheet did not mention names of any Pakistan embassy official, an NIA official privy to the investigation told IANS: “We have enough oral, circumstantial evidence and the testimony of several witnesses against several Pakistani embassy officials. As the investigation in the case is still on, their names were not mentioned.”

But the names might be revealed during the proceedings of the case, said the official on condition of anonymity.

The court is likely to take on January 30 the cognizance of the NIA charges against 12 accused, including seven Hurriyat leaders.

The NIA chargesheet, based on a case registered by the counter-terror agency on May 30 last year, revealed that “the illegal money was trasferred to the separatist leaders from Pakistan via Dubai”.

It named prominent Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, one of the accused, who allegedly was a conduit for transferring funds from Pakistan to Kashmiri separatists through business operations in Dubai.

“The money was also routed through fake and bogus companies floated in Dubai and remitted to the Hurriyat leaders in Jammu and Kashmir,” said the chargesheet.

Another NIA official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said LeT chief Hafiz Saeed — blamed for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack — and Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, both of who are now based in Pakistan, knew about “every transactions being pumped for terror acts in Jammu and Kashmir”.

At least one civilian was killed and five others injured in a hand grenade attack in a busy market in Pakistan’s Karachi on Thursday, a senior police official said.

Adeel Chandio, Senior Superintendent of Police in Karachi, told Xinhua news agency that unidentified assailants, riding a motorbike, hurled a hand grenade in Kharadar Market area and fled.

The attack allegedly took place after the shopkeepers refused to pay extortion money, said the police, adding that the identities of the dead and injured were not immediately known.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers reached the attack site and the victims were shifted to the Civil Hospital for emergency medical treatment.

Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal took notice of the incident and asked for a detailed inquiry report from officials to ascertain the facts related to the incident.

Grenade attacks in Karachi have fallen since Pakistani Ranger, a paramilitary law enforcement organisation, launched a targeted operation against miscreants in 2013 with an aim at eliminating targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion and terrorism.

The all-powerful GST Council on Thursday veered around the idea of making the GST return filing process simpler to ease compliance burden for small businesses.

The panel, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising representatives of all states, at its 25th meeting today decided to reduce tax rate on 29 items and 54 categories of services with effect from January 25.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Jaitley said the next meeting of the Council may consider bringing items like crude oil, natural gas, petrol, diesel, ATF and real estate within the GST purview.

In a bid to ease compliance burden, the Council veered around to the idea of registered entities continuing to file the return in GSTR 3B Form while moving to a system where supplier invoice captures details of the transaction.

The new process would be finalised in the next meeting of the GST Council after a written formulation is circulated to the states, he said.

The date of the next meeting of the Council has not yet been decided, he said.

Jaitley said the GST provision requiring transporters to carry an electronic waybill or e-way bill, when moving goods of over Rs 50,000 in value between states, will be implemented from February 1 to check rampant tax evasion.

As many as 15 states have decided to implement the provision for intra-state movements as well, he said.

After implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, the requirement of carrying e-way bill was postponed pending IT network readiness.

Once the e-way bill system is implemented, tax avoidance will become extremely difficult as the government will have details of all goods above the value of Rs 50,000 moved and can spot the mismatch if either the supplier or the purchaser does not file tax returns.

Alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail, was kidnapped from Chabahar in Iran by mercenaries at the behest of the ISI and was taken to Pakistan, Baloch activist Mama Qadeer has said.

In an interaction with Indian news channel CNN-News18 aired on Thursday, Qadeer claimed that Jadhav was abducted by Mullah Omar Baloch Irani, who is known to work for Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from Iran’s port city Chabahar.

Baloch got the information from the activists of ‘Voice for Missing Balochs’ — an organisation of which he is the Vice President — who he claimed witnessed the kidnapping.

“Kulbhushan Jadhav was kidnapped from Chabahar in Iran by Mullah Omar Baloch Irani. Our coordinators were there. ISI paid Mullah Omar crores of rupees to kidnap Jadhav,” Qadeer said.

Irani, Qadeer said, is infamous in Balochistan as an ISI agent and was known to abduct Baloch activists fighting Pakistani rule over the sprawling province.

Giving further details, Qadeer said Jadhav’s hands were tied, he was blindfolded and pushed into a double-door car.

From Chabahar, he was taken to Mashkel, a town on the Iran-Balochistan border. From there he was brought to the Balochistan capital Quetta and subsequently to Islamabad.

“We knew that Kulbhushan Jadhav was a businessman in Iran… The ISI declared that they caught Jadhav in Balochistan. In fact, Jadhav didn’t even come to Balochistan,” Qadeer added.

The answer key to the Patwari examination conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB) or Vyapam has been released.

The Vyapam Patwari exams were held from 9 to 31 December 2017. A re-exam was conducted on January 10.

Candidates who have appeared in the examination can analyse their performance from the answer key.

To check the answers, candidates will have to visit the official website of the MPPEB – www.vyapam.nic.

They will be able to download the MPPEB Patwari answer sheet for Set A, B, C and D in PDF format.

Finding the answer key is easy. All that a candidate has to do is search for the Model Answer Key – Patwari Recruitment Test – 2017 in latest updates.

The exams were for 9235 posts.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged exporters to focus on new markets and products.

Addressing a gathering after conferring FIEO Exports Excellence Awards 2018 here, Naidu said the country’s exporters should focus on new markets, products and sunrise products, electric and electronic items.

According to him, with the focus on setting up state-of-the-art seaports, airports, and highways connecting production centres to ports, exports should pick up faster and maintain a steady growth.

He said the Central government was giving greater thrust on development of infrastructure, agriculture sector and health sector.

Decisions like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are expected to have a positive impact in the coming years.

“I am aware of the initial difficulties that the exporters have been facing due to these steps. However, I am sure that the GST Council and the government have been quite responsive to such teething troubles and have been taking prompt action to address these concerns,” he said.