The Language, Art and Culture Department in Himachal Pradesh has stepped in to save a rare pictorial journey of natural and cultural bounty of the hill state from slipping into history.

Showcased at ‘Himachal Darshan’ photo gallery for free access to tourists and researchers by a Mandi based photographer, Birbal Sharma under the banner ‘Puratatva Chetna Sangh’ for 20 years, the pictorial treasure was set to become victim of development.

The gallery is situated at Bindrabani, four kilometres from Mandi towards Manali, on the left bank of river Beas.

It will be razed to pave the way for four-laning of National Highway-21 from Nagchala to Manali 2017, for which a notice (to vacate it in 60 days) has been served on 1 April.

And although, Sharma, 60, who has clicked pictures trekking to the toughest and inaccessible areas over four decades, is being given some compensation in lieu, he would have had no option but to dump the precious photographs in one corner.  

“The compensation doesn’t match the real cost for relocation. Otherwise also, it is difficult to re-establish the gallery, given the hassle involved in handling the massive material we have for display. It took me 15 years to develop it fully,” Sharma told The Statesman.

Sharma tried to save the gallery at the original place, representing to authorities against faulty procedures being followed to carve out four lane till Manali, but to no avail.

For him, however, the silver lining has come in the form of a letter dated 17 April by the Director, Language Art and Culture that offers to preserve his pictures in state museum and later display them at upcoming museum in Bantony Castle in Shimla.

“We will keep his photographs and display them by rotation in museums in Himachal Pradesh,” said Museum Curator at Shimla museum, Hari Chauhan.

Sharma has a collection of over one lakh photographs clicked over the last four decades from every nook and corner of HP.

‘Himachal Darshan’ gallery’ has over 350 of them on display, along with some antique tools and olden books.

His photographs on nature and life from inaccessible belts like Bara Banghal and Dodra Kwar (it now has a road), Chandernahan (origin of Pabbar River), Beas kund (origin of Beas River) and Kibber (the last village on Indo-Tibetan border in Spiti) trace and conserve the history and heritage of Himachal Pradesh. Many of these pictures are not found even in the state museums.

The gallery was recognised as a research centre by ‘Monument and Antique’ organisation under Human Resource Development ministry of the Centre in 2010.

“I gave my blood and sweat for this treasure. I am losing it.  But, the LAC department has given me some relief,” said Sharma.

Spanish football club Osasuna has been forced to make a one-off change to their wardrobe for Wednesday's La Liga match against FC Barcelona in the Camp Nou Stadium here.

The TV rights holder, Mediapro, has decided that both Osasuna's traditional shirt, which is red, and their away strip, which is dark green, are too similar to FC Barcelona's home colours of blue and crimson and could cause confusion for TV viewers, reports Xinhua news agency.

As a result the Pamplona-based club has had to come up with a one-off design in bright orange to wear for the match.

The club announced the decision on its website and will also be putting a limited edition for sale in the club shop.

Wednesday could see Osasuna become the first team to be relegated from the La Liga this season. 

Osasuna are currently bottom of the table with just 18 points, a defeat away against the league leaders coupled with a win for Leganes at home versus Las Palmas, would mean they would not be able to catch the side who are currently fourth from bottom.

A day after the Union government proposed an Aadhar-like unique identification (UID) number to be provided to cows to restrict their smuggling and keep a track on them, many took to Twitter and slammed the move, calling the government "gobarment".

The proposed UID would have details like age, breed, sex, lactation, height, body, colour, horn type, tail switch and special marks of the cow.

While some Twitteratti lashed out at the government, some questioned the timing of the proposal when major issues like Kashmir violence and Naxal attacks should be the focus.

"Instead of focusing on Kashmir, tackling Naxal problem, resolving agrarian crisis our sensitive govt is interested in Aadhar card for cows," one Twitter user wrote.

"38 #CRPF men killed in past two months, yet the CRPF doesn't have a chief. Who cares?#Aadhar for cows is far more important," another user said, while one tweeted, "Cows to get Aadhar like identities in India. It seems this government is seriously considering to take giant leap towards becoming 'gobarment'.

Some tweets questioned why other animals were exempt from the proposal:

"Wow! An compulsory mandatory universal unique Aadhar identification number for Cows with biometrics and hoofprints. y Goats n Sheeps exempt?

"Aadhar for Cows – Dog demands one for him too. I may have to approach Court. "Right to Equality" should apply? Fate of poor Indians."

Some even took a dig at Aadhar's privacy concerns.

"Aadhar card for cows in process now! What if their personal details are also hacked and easily accessible online like ours 😀 #Aadhar."

Providing the homeless with a home is not likely to prove a cakewalk for the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Punjab government which is in the process to draft a policy in this regard soon. 

The Congress government came to power with one of its major promises to provide house for all homeless members of scheduled castes (SCs). In a recent meeting with the officers Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh had initiated the process of allotting free houses for the homeless poor while directing the setting up of a committee. 

The Committee headed by the chief secretary will also work to formulate a legislation for regularisation of illegal colonies and transfer of ownership rights to the occupants.

"We are estimating that there would be around one lakh homeless families in Punjab. A review of Census data for verifying the homeless families both in urban and rural sectors will also be done. A policy will be formulated after the Committee's decision in this regard," additional chief secretary, department of housing and urban development, Punjab, Vini Mahajan, told The Statesman.

Meanwhile, Assistant Professor at Economics at Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Manoj Kumar Teotia said, "As per the Census data in 2011 there were a total of 46,714 homeless people in Punjab.

Out of this total figure, 28,340 were rural homeless and 18,374 were urban homeless. The figures are surly going to be high as there is not updated survey available at present".

In its manifesto, the Punjab government had promised to frame a policy focusing on removing poverty, promoting professional education and devolving more resources to persons or families belonging to scheduled casts.

"The mission is to ensure their social and economic up-liftment and to bring them at par, with other sections of the population," said a Congress leader.

Also, continuing the reservation act 2006 which was enacted by the then Congress government, the present state government  has also promised to ensure endowment of greater resources by giving free houses or 5 marla plots with financial assistance of Rs one lakh to eligible homeless SC's.

In another meeting with the officers Punjab CM had directed the town planning department to complete work on preparing master plans of all the cities in the state by the end of the current financial year. It was also decided to allot project-based no due certificate to promoters, in order to ease the real estate business in the state. 

Padma Shri awardee actress Shabana Azmi wants all children in the country to be fully vaccinated.

With the last week of April being celebrated as the World Immunisation Week, Shabana took to her social media account to spread awareness about vaccination and wants children to be immune as they "deserve to survive and thrive".

"Close to 89 lakh Indian children are not fully vaccinated. Let's fully immunize every child in India.Vaccines work. Increasing immunization access, community awareness is key to fighting vaccine-preventable diseases," the 66-year-old tweeted.

"Immunization, safe drinking water, hygiene, sanitation and breastfeeding are crucial for healthy children. World Immunization Week. Every child deserves to survive and thrive. Vaccination is a smart investment for a productive future," she added.

Versatile author Ruskin Bond's new offering is a memoir in which he extensively reminisces about the time he spent with his father.

"Looking for The Rainbow: My Years with Daddy" is scheduled to release on his birthday, May 19, and this is the first time he has dedicated a book to his father.

"This little book is a tribute to my father who, over a short period of time, did so much to make my life meaningful for me. I wish all the children could have a father like him," says Bond.

"I have written about him before, but never at length, and I thought it was time to thank him in the best possible way through a story woven around the events of those two memorable years. Once upon a time, in old New Delhi…," he says.

At the age of eight, Bond escaped his jail-like boarding school in the hills and went on to live with his father in Delhi. His time in the capital is filled with books, visits to the cinema, music, and walks and conversations with his father – a dream life for a curious and wildly imaginative boy, which turns tragic all too soon.

"For years, Bond has regaled and mesmerised readers with his tales. In 'Looking for the Rainbow', he travels to his past, recalling his favourite adventures (and misadventures) with extraordinary charm, sprinklings of wit, a pinch of poignance and not a trace of bitterness," according to publisher Puffin India.

Bond's first novel "The Room on the Roof", written when he was 17, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written a number of novellas, essays, poems and children's books.

He has also written over 500 short stories and articles that have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993, the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014.

Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, and grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. As a young man, he spent four years in the Channel Islands and London. He returned to India in 1955. He now lives in Landour, Mussoorie, with his adopted family.

The government on Tuesday started an awareness campaign on intellectual property rights (IPRs) in schools across the country.

The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) in collaboration with the International Trademark Association (INTA) are conducting these campaigns.

"Outreach and promotion is the first and foremost objective of the national IPR policy and is critical to shaping an IP environment that is conducive to fostering creativity and innovation," an official statement quoting Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Rajiv Aggarwal said.

The policy, released last year, is aimed at encouraging creativity and stimulate innovation in the country.

Aggarwal said the campaign in schools assumes significance as it is essential to nurture creativity and the ability to innovate from a young age.

A streamlined system is being worked out to conduct over 3,500 awareness programmes in schools, universities and in industries across the country including smaller and big cities as well as rural areas.

The campaign was kicked off at Kendriya Vidyalaya, RK Puram Sector 2.

The tug-of-war in the Rajasthan Cricket Association continued on Tuesday with a defiant CP Joshi faction insisting on holding the body's EGM on Wednesday despite the cancellation declared by RCA general secretary Sumendra Tiwari.

The 18 of the 33 District Cricket Associations, which claimed to have suspended president Lalit Modi and top three office-bearers, announced that they would go ahead with the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) as scheduled.

“We are moving the court and plead that once the election process is started, it cannot be stopped. Moreover it should be the call of the Election Officer to take a decision. How can the general secretary call off the EGM in which elections were to take place?” questioned an official from the Joshi faction.

“We would plead in the court that the election process should not be stopped and it should appoint new election officer and issue a fresh date for polls.

“Meanwhile, we would go ahead with the EGM and constitute a five-member committee to look after the affairs of RCA since top four officials have already been suspended in an EGM on Monday. We have the majority and we would prove it in the EGM,” he added.

Modi faction, however, rubbished the claims of suspension of its office-bearers.

With top lawyers at work, Modi has already approached the Apex Court against the decision of Registrar who had not ratified the amendments in the constitution of RCA.

“We are heading back to the days when RCA office was put under locks. We want to let these office bearers fight among themselves. The elections are due in November and before that we have to play our domestic season,” said a dejected state cricketer.

Actor Akshay Kumar says when he was new in the industry, he was only approached for action films and not for movies in which he could display his acting skills.

The National Award-winning actor says because of his stunts he became a go-to actor for action films.

"When I came to this industry, my first words were that I am a stuntman first, then an actor. For nearly 10 years, I only did action," Akshay told reporters last evening.

"Whenever someone used to make an action film, they would say 'take this guy called Akshay'. When it came to acting, nobody used to take me." 

In the 90s, Akshay was known for his action movies. He then gradually shifted to comedy and later to the romantic genre before eventually finding a space in the social dramas.

"I became what I am today because of action. I am thankful to all the stuntmen, fight choreographers. I did a lot of stunts myself but you (stuntmen) taught me," he says.

Akshay says in his career of nearly 25 years, he never got injured while performing a stunt, something for which he is very grateful to his stunt choreographers.

"Nothing like that has happened so far. All my bones are intact because my stunt choreographers have always been good.

"They took special care and I truly believe that a stunt choreographer is one who looks after the actor, stunt boys and makes sure the stunt gets completed safely," says the actor.

Akshay was speaking at an event of Movie Stunt Artists' Association.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) on Tuesday condemned the killing of 25 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh but objected to the term "red terror" for Maoist violence.

"The CPI strongly condemns the killings… in Sukma… Paying its respect to the jawans, the party conveys its deep condolences to their families," it said in a statement.

But it objected to the "attempt to term it as red terror". 

"There are several Left parties in Chhattisgarh including the CPI which are working in defence of tribal people. They do not agree with Maoists — politically and ideologically and also with their form of struggle."

The CPI said the governments (Centre and state) "need to do serious introspection in the larger context and perspective" to find out why it has been "failing to handle the situation in the region". 

"It is surprising to know that CRPF does not have a regular head and intelligence inputs. Otherwise such violence would have been avoided," the CPI observed.

On Monday, 300 to 400 heavily armed Maoists, including women, ambushed a Central Reserve Police Force contingent in a forested patch in Sukma in Chhattisgarh.

A motorman and guard of a suburban train on the Western line were suspended after they "forgot" to stop the train at the destination – suburban Malad station, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Motorman Jagdeesh Parmar and guard Deepak Prakash were suspended and further inquiry has been set up against the two, said Chief PRO of Western Railway Ravindra Bhakar.

However, the duo were not in an inebriated condition, he added.

Yesterday, the motorman piloting a Churchgate to Malad train did not stop the train at Malad station and took it straight to the Kandivili carshed, causing inconvenience to around 400 passengers, said the official.

The train left Churchgate at 10:50 AM and was scheduled to reach Malad at 11:33 AM. According to the time table, the train was to be taken to the carshed after passengers alighted at Malad, another official said.

"But, as per the motorman, he forgot to stop at the Malad station and directly took it the carshed," he added.

Interestingly, the Kandivili carshed is in the vicinity of the Kandivili station and hence the passengers got down at the carshed and came to the station, the official said.

A new book brings alive the life and poetry of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar as author Aslam Parvez weaves together the strands of the political, the personal, the cultural and the literary aspects of a bygone era.

Publisher Hay House describes "The Life and Poetry of Bahadur Shah Zafar" as an absorbing, authentic and exemplary chronicle – studded with rare nuggets of information and enthralling anecdotes – of one of the most tragic figures of history who was witness to the end of a glorious dynasty.

First published in Urdu in 1986, this book brings alive the life and poetry of Zafar (1775 to 1862), who presided over a crucial period in Indian history when the country was subjugated and became a colony of the fast-expanding British Empire.

This work is as much about the 1857 Rebellion as it is about Zafar, the reluctant leader of the rebels. The pages also evoke the captivating ambience of a period when formidable poets such as Mirza Ghalib, Sheikh Muhammad Ibrahim Zauq and Momin Khan Momin, apart from Zafar himself, came up with one creative gem after another.

The author also provides a vivid picture of Delhi during the last days of its cultural and literary splendour as the Mughal capital and as a custodian of Urdu literature and poetry.

Finally, he recounts, in a touching manner, how Zafar spent his last days in Rangoon (where he had been exiled by the British) – a lonely and forgotten individual – far away from his beloved Delhi and from the trappings of empire.

Argentina face an uphill battle to qualify for the 2017 FIFA World Cup without their suspended talisman Lionel Messi, according to Albiceleste legend Diego Maradona.

Messi has served one match of a four-game international ban for abusing an assistant referee in a World Cup qualifier in March, reports Xinhua news agency.

"With all due respect to the national team, I think that without Messi we are at risk of missing out on qualifying for the World Cup," Maradona told Radio Rivadavia.

"I would accept a playoff spot now, but Argentina are always capable of finding something extra."

Argentina are currently fifth in the South American zone World Cup qualifying standings with four matches remaining.

Only the top four teams will qualify automatically for the tournament in Russia while the fifth-ranked side will earn a playoff berth.

In Messi's absence, Argentina will play Uruguay, Venezuela and Peru. The Barcelona forward will return for the team's last qualifier against Ecuador on October 10.

Maradona, who almost single-handedly won the 1986 World Cup for Argentina, called for an end to comparisons between himself and Messi.

"I have finished my career. I enjoyed my time on the pitch. Now it's Messi's turn. There doesn't have to be any comparisons between us," the 56-year-old said.

A top body of Indian-American doctors has expressed shock and disappointment over the Trump administration's dismissal of physician Vivek Murthy as the US Surgeon General.

Murthy, 39, the first Indian-American appointed by the Obama regime as the Surgeon General, was dismissed last week to bring new leadership to the vital public health sector.

The American Association of Physicians of Indian-origin (AAPI) in a statement yesterday said it is "shocked and saddened" by the departure of Murthy as the US Surgeon General, to which he was nominated by the previous Obama Administration and confirmed by the US Senate.

"On behalf of the AAPI, I want to applaud the many contributions and initiatives of Dr Vivek Murthy, our AAPI member, in the healthcare sector in very short span of about two years since he became US Surgeon General in 2014," said AAPI president Ajay Lodha.

Murthy played a key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation.

Murthy's report on addiction released in November, had said that dependency on opioids and other substances must not be looked on as a "character flaw", and was the first publication from a surgeon general that addressed drug and alcohol addiction, the statement by AAPI said.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a statement said Murthy has been a dynamic and outstanding surgeon general and is an inspiration, not only to the Indian American community, but to the entire medical and healthcare community.

He said that from speaking out about the need for funding for public health crises to promoting physical fitness and walkable communities, Murthy worked tirelessly to improve the health of the American people.

"I've had the great pleasure of working closely with Murthy, including welcoming him to my district where we met with New York health leaders to discuss Zika, the opioid epidemic, and other key health priorities affecting my constituents," Crowley said.

Murthy is the second Indian-American to be fired by the Trump administration from a senior position. The first one was the US Attorney from New York Preet Bharara who was sacked after he refused to resign.

Legendary singer Elton John, who was hospitalised for a bacterial infection, is now comfortably resting at home.

He was forced to cancel his entire upcoming schedule for April and May performances at The Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas due to his health.

According to a statement from his representative, the musician contracted a "harmful and unusual" infection in the wake of his trip and tour in South America, reports eonline.com.

During his flight home, he became "violently ill" and was admitted to a hospital in London.

"After spending two nights in intensive care following by an extended stay in hospital, Elton was released from hospital on Saturday (April 22) and is now comfortably resting at home," the statement said.

John is expected to make a full and complete recovery. He will be back on the stage for his upcoming performance on June 3 in Twickenham, England.

John broke his silence on his health: "I am so fortunate to have the most incredible and loyal fans and apologise for disappointing them. I am extremely grateful to the medical team for their excellence in looking after me so well."
 

The Sebi board will meet on Wednesday to discuss stricter norms to check any flow of black money into the stock market through controversy-ridden P-Notes as well as initiate steps to allow mutual fund investments via e-wallets.

The markets regulator will also consider new norms for allowing options trading in commodity derivatives market, sources said.

Besides, rules are likely to be relaxed for registration of foreign investors and for common license to brokers to deal in equities and commodities.

The Sebi board will meet here tomorrow, its first meeting under the chairmanship of Ajay Tyagi who took charge of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on March 1.

Among a slew of reform measures, the Sebi board will also consider making it easier for banks and financial institutions to get shares of the companies they have exposure to by way of conversion of loan into equity — a move seen as a major boost to the steps for handling the bad loan menace.

The Sebi board will also take stock of long-pending investigations and cases, involving some big corporates, and will consider putting in place an internal guidance note for dealing with quasi-judicial matters.

Besides, it would also discuss the implementation of graded surveillance measures by the stock exchanges to check any manipulation of share price.

The regulator is also looking to allow investors to buy mutual funds worth up to Rs.50,000 through digital wallets to make it easier for investors to purchase these instruments, especially the youth.

In the run up to his first meeting as Chairman, Tyagi has been meeting various groups of stakeholders in the capital markets and some of these interactions are scheduled even tomorrow, through which he is looking to get a first-hand understanding of the issues faced in the marketplace and the expectations from the regulator.

In one of the major areas of importance, Sebi will consider new guidelines for dealing with offshore derivative instruments, commonly known as participatory notes (P-Notes), which have been long seen as being possibly misused for routing of black money from abroad.

While Sebi has tightened its norms repeatedly over the recent years to check any loophole, the government now wants the regulator to explicitly impose restrictions on resident Indians and NRIs from being 'beneficiary owners' of these instruments.

While Sebi has already put in place a mechanism for such restrictions, there was a view that the existing restriction are only in form of 'FAQs' of the norms and therefore the Finance Ministry has asked the regulator to impose this restriction through an amendment to the FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investment) Regulations in order to give greater legal sanctity.

Following Sebi's measures to check any misuse of P-Notes, the notional value of these instruments has declined over the years from 55.7 per cent of overall FPI investments in June 2007 to just 6.7 per cent in December 2016.

In recent months, the P-Note investments have fallen further, though there was a surprise uptick in the month of March — presumably due to it being the last month for availing of certain tax benefits for investments coming through some major offshore investment gateways.

There are also fears that P-Note investments may start coming from other jurisdictions like the US, France and the Netherlands after tightening of rules for inflows from countries like Mauritius, Singapore and Cyprus.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asserted that the government was giving top priority to addressing the issue of bad loans while acknowledging that the problem of non-performing assets was “adversely impacting” the Indian banking system.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations here, Jaitley termed the resolution of the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) as the “one very big challenge” going forward and the government's “top priority” at the moment.

He said the magnitude of the NPAs problem was that essentially it was about 20 to 30 big accounts.

“It's not a problem spread over hundreds of thousands of accounts…And it's not impossible for a large economy like India to resolve 20 to 30 accounts. So it's not an insurmountable problem. I think it's just persisted too long, but it's certainly adversely impacting us,” he said.

“So if you were to ask me, there are a series of reforms/changes which we've successfully made. This is one hurdle which we are now required to jump, and that's where our current focus is,” he said yesterday.

However, Jaitley said there was one constraint the government was facing.

“It's not a constraint on the leadership quality in the bank, but it's a constraint on the environment in which the bank bureaucracy functions. I have seen that the banks are not bold enough to take their decisions because…our anti- corruption law is still a pre-liberalisation law,” he said.
Jaitley emphasised that one of the fundamental flaws in the anti-corruption law has been that erroneous decision- making, which may be taking hair cuts in order to settle, gets identified as an act of corruption.

The parliamentary committee has unanimously recommended that this be corrected, he said.

“And this is at the final stage now. The recommendation of a larger consensus parliamentary committee has come. Hopefully, in the next session we will take this up,” he said.

“The bank bureaucracy is going to be — or, for that matter, any bureaucracy or a public servant dealing with economic decisions, then they can decide on commercial considerations rather than be constrained as to the future consequences of their action itself,” Jaitley said.

“So the decision between a possible commercial decision being treated as an act of corruption, I think that the law has to eliminate that possibility,” he said.

The Reserve Bank of India has come out with several guidelines and schemes under which the banks have been empowered, Jaitley said.
Outlining these schemes, Jaitley said there was an insolvency law in place and there was another action which the government has in the pipeline in order to resolve this.

“Essentially, it would also mean that the defaulting companies will have to find partners, will have to go in for either change of managements, they'll have to get investors. And some precipitative action will be taken. This may also involve some hair cuts by the banks, which would be a bona fide commercial consideration,” Jailtey said.

He noted that Indian banks, particularly public sector banks, have conventionally lent for both infrastructure and industry, rather than just retail lending.

“Now, during the boom period and thereafter, there was lending in several sectors. And because of the global downturn and those sectors being impacted, you found an adverse impact on some of those sectors,” he said.

Further, he stressed that as a combined impact of the GST, demonetisation and several other steps, the government has taken, revenues in India are increasing quite rapidly.

“In fact, in the last three years, despite global slowdown, India has consistently seen 15 to 18 per cent annual revenue growth, which is quite significant.

“And therefore, I do see over the next several years this revenue growth, particularly as the result of GST and the anti-evasion measures we've been taking, rapidly increasing,” he said.