Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday condemned the Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, saying "thoughtless violence will never succeed in weakening our resolve to fight forces of extremism".

"My sincere condolences to the families of CRPF personnel martyred in the attack in #Sukma. We salute the sacrifice & courage of our bravehearts," tweeted Gandhi.

"This thoughtless violence will never succeed in weakening our resolve to fight forces of extremism," his next tweet read.

Hundreds of Maoists on Monday massacred at least 26 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2010.
 

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftion Monday said the prime minister appears amenable to holding talks with stake holders in a bid to arrest the deteriorating situation in the Valley.

However, she cautioned, that "an atmosphere needs to be created" for a dialogue.

"Talks cannot happen amid stone pelting and firing of bullets," she told reporters after a 20-minute meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence.

At the meeting, she invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's policy on Kashmir, and said the thread should be picked up from where he had left off — an apparent suggestion for talks with separatists.

"The prime minister has an intention of holding talks after the situation becomes normal," Mehbooba told reporters.

Kashmir is in the grip of increased violence since the April 9 by-poll for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. The security forces are under intense pressure as they are faced with almost daily protests and stone-pelting.

The army and the CRPF have received some praise for showing restraint under provocation, and also come under criticism, especially after a video showed a civilian tied to a jeep as a human shield as it drove through the streets to avoid being attacked.

"Talks are the only option," Mehbooba said."How long can you have a confrontation?"

"Talks with Hurriyat (Conference) had taken place when Vajpayee ji was the Prime Minister and L K Advani ji was the Deputy Prime Minister. We need to start from where Vajpayee ji had left, otherwise there is no scope of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir improving," she said.

"Modi ji said he is following the footsteps of Vajpayee ji. Vajpayee ji's policy was reconciliation, not of confrontation," Mehbooba added.

Referring to the increase in stone-pelting incidents in the Valley, she said there were some young people who were "disillusioned" while some were being "instigated", often through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp.

Rising tensions between the coalition partners, the PDP and the BJP, over the handling of the security situation in Kashmir also came up at the meeting.

The coalition also came under strain when the PDP lost a seat in the recently held MLC polls when an independent MLA voted in favour of BJP candidate Vikram Randhawa, leading to his victory.

"Whatever happened should not have taken place. But this is an internal matter and we will resolve it with the BJP," she said.

She also raised the Indus water treaty issue, saying it was causing a huge loss of Rs 20,000 crore to the state.

Mehbooba said the prime minister assured her that efforts would be made to see how the state would be compensated for this.

The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said the situation in Kashmir would be discussed in a meeting of the Unified Command tomorrow.

The GOC-in-C Northern Command, GOC 16 Corps, GOC 15 corps, DGP J&K, IG BSF, IG CRPF, senior officers of the IB and RAW and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh will also participate in the meeting in Srinagar.

The Supreme Court on Monday transferred to the National Green Tribunal the over two decade old PIL relating to ever-increasing pollution of river Yamuna.

Saying that there could not be two parallel jurisdictions dealing with the same issue, the bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud said: "We are of the view it is not appropriate for two parallel jurisdictions to look into the matter."

Transferring the PIL, the bench in its order said that in the event, the NGT finds some legal hurdles, it can move the top court and same would be processed by its registry and listed before the court. 

It said that Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar would act as an amicus curiae in the matter.

Chief Justice Khehar said: "It has gone for 23 years. Hugh money has been spent, nothing has happened. Something has to be changed to get it moving."

The transfer of the matter came as the Solicitor General told the bench that the NGT too was hearing the same matter and there should not be parallel hearing. 

Urging the court for an audit of the money spent on cleaning River Yamuna, he said that huge amounts have been spent with contributions from the Central, Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh governments.
 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday warned of launching a "movement" if the MCD exit poll results, which have predicted a BJP sweep, come true.

The AAP was born out of a movement and it will not hesitate to go back to its roots, Kejriwal said, addressing a gathering of poll observers at his residence two days before the counting.

"If such results come then it proves that manipulation has happened, like in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Pune, Mumbai, Bhind and Dholpur. We are the product of a movement. We are not here to enjoy the pleasures of power. We will return to movement," he said.

Kejriwal said more than win or loss, he was more bothered about the "unabated tampering of EVMs" across the country and "betrayal".

He cited alleged instances of the AAP getting barely two votes in villages in Punjab, "even in places where people booed the Akalis out".

"There is a colony in Sanjeev Jha's constituency (Burari) where there was 100 per cent voting in the municipal polls.

But if they show 50 per cent vote for the BJP then it makes one doubtful," he said.

The meeting was also attended by senior party leaders including Ashutosh, Kumar Vishwas and MLAs. It came against the backdrop of a fallout between Kejriwal and Vishwas.

"The survival of the AAP is not just to win a few states, it is important for the country. Minorities are in difficulty and fear, people cannot travel with their livestock. To stop their false nationalism, to keep alive the real questions of this country raised at the Jantar Mantar, the AAP has to survive," Vishwas said.

AAP Delhi Convenor Dilip Pandey told PTI that the MCD poll results could be "rigged" and the ground for it was being prepared by "floating" exit polls predicting a BJP sweep.

"If this (BJP sweep) is what the exit polls are saying, it is clear that the EVMs have been tampered with and these fake exit polls are being put out to prepare a ground for the rigged results," he said.

Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam said according to the feedback of the observers, most AAP supporters had turned out to vote in large numbers despite heat wave conditions yesterday.

"So in this case if there is any manipulation then what we have been saying will be validated," he said.

Two exit polls have predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in the MCD polls giving over 200 of the 270 wards, where the election was held, in the saffron party's kitty.

The election was postponed in two wards due to the death of candidates.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the government has taken as a "challenge" the killing of CRPF personnel by Naxals in Sukma in Chhattisgarh.

"We have taken the attack as a challenge," he told reporters here.

Singh described the incident as "sad and unfortunate".

"It is a very sad and unfortunate incident. I will talk to Chief Minister Raman Singh for more details," he said.

Earlier, Singh asked Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir to travel to Chhattisgarh to take stock of the situation.

"Extremely pained to know about the killing of CRPF personnel in Sukma. My tributes to the martyrs and condolences to their families," Singh tweeted.

At least 26 CRPF personnel were killed and six wounded in Sukma district today, the deadliest attack by Naxalites targeting security forces this year.

The Indian Air Force on Monday inducted its frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft into the 221 Squadron, 'Valiants', at its base in Punjab, enhancing the IAF's capabilities, an official release said.

Su-30 MKI is a state-of-the-art all-weather multi-role fighter jet capable of undertaking varied air combat and ground attack missions. Developed by Russia's Sukhoi, it is built under licence by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

The induction of Sukhoi fighter jets at a frontline base close to the India-Pakistan border will act as a force-multiplier for the defence forces.

The Western Air Command chief, Air Marshal C. Hari Kumar handed over documents pertaining to the first Su-30 MKI aircraft to Squadron's Commanding Officer, Wing Commander H.S. Luthra, during the induction ceremony. 

Daljeet Singh, Chief Executive Officer, MiG Complex, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, was also present.

The 'Valiants' was formed as an offensive fighter squadron in February 1963 at Barrackpore (West Bengal). It was then equipped with Vampires, Spitfire, Hurricane and Su-7 aircraft.

Su-7 aircraft dominated the East Pakistan's skies in support of the Indian Army's blitzkrieg advance in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war. 

Later, the squadron was equipped with MiG-23, the Russian swept-back wing fighter bombers, which were the first to fire at the enemy during the Kargil War of 1999. 

The squadron flew MiG-23 aircraft till 2009.

Northeast India's sixth and largest Information Technology (IT) hub was inaugurated here on Monday to boost employment and e-governance besides to export software technology.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, accompanied by IT and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director General Omkar Rai inaugurated the IT hub, set up at a cost of Rs.50 crore.

Sarkar said that this IT hub would help to create employment opportunities for the IT educated youths and to further extend the e-governance to the door step of people.

Rai said that it would help the state to bring famous IT companies of India to set off their business and services taking the facilities of this newly set-up IT hub.

According to Rai, the STPI, under the union Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology, shared technological knowledge with the state government to set up this hub, sixth of its kind in northeast India and largest such hub in the region.

"This IT hub would help India to export software technology," he added.

Chakraborty said: "The globally standard IT hub would provide much needed impetus to the upcoming IT and IT services based industries creating huge job opportunities.

"Tripura last year got the award from the central government for its performance in IT and e-governance. Many e-governance based facilities and services already extended up to gram panchayat level in Tripura."

Noting people are getting various certificates and documents from their panchayats or blocks concerned through the e-district scheme, he said that over 30 lakh people, or 80 per cent of the state's 37 lakh, are now using mobile phones leading to an IT boom.

Principal Secretary, Industries and Information Technology, M. Nagaraju said that in the new IT hub, ready-to-use incubation space would be available for start-up companies, aspiring entrepreneurs, Indian and multi-national companies as per their requirements.
 

Banks may have to take "haircuts" – swallow losses – as one of the measures to resolve the sector's problem of non-performing assets (NPA) and this is a top priority for the government, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here Monday.

Speaking at the Council for Foreign Relations, Jaitley said that after having successfully implemented measures for growth, NPAs in the banking sector was "one big challenge" that was adversely impacting investments in India. "This is a hurdle which we are now required to jump."

To resolve the problem, he said "some precipitative action may be taken and this may involve some haircuts by the banks, which could be (on the basis of) bonafide commercial consideration".

There were several measures in the pipeline to resolve the NPA problem, he said.

"Essentially, it would mean that the defaulting companies will have to find partners, they will have to go for change of management, they will have to get investors," he said.

Overall, he said the issue was confined to 20 to 30 big accounts and "it is not a problem spread over hundreds or thousands of accounts" and given the size of the Indian economy, it is possible to deal with the NPAs.

Jaitley blamed the anti-corruption law from the pre-liberalisation era of the 1980s as one of the factors that hindered a resolution of the NPA problem.

"One of the fundamental flaws in the law has been that erroneous decision-making, which may be taking haircuts to settle gets identified a corruption," he said. And this has made the banking bureaucracy defensive in tackling the NPA.

He said that a parliamentary committee has approved changes to the law so that bureaucrats "can make decisions on commercial considerations than be constrained as to future consequences of the action itself."

He said he hoped Parliament would take up the reforms in the next session.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah will commence a 15-day "Vistaar Yatra" (party expansion tour) from Tuesday from Naxalbari in West Bengal, the party announced on Monday.

Speaking to reporters at the party headquarters here, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that Shah would commence his yatra from Naxalbari booth number 93, and would touch base with party workers, people from all sections of society, panchayat representatives and the local intelligentsia.

"Our party President is of the opinion that when we do any organisational work and put forth our expectation of workers, it is incumbent upon the leadership to lead by example," Irani said.

Apart from Bengal, Shah will cover the states of Odisha, Telangana, Gujarat and Lakshadweep during his 15-day tour.

She said that 3.68 lakh BJP workers across the country had volunteered to take part in the "Deen Dayal Vistaar Yojana" for 15 days, "leaving all your political and personal obligations behind and dedicate full time to organisational activities and expansion".

"Our party chief is carrying the Prime Minister's message of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and the message of 'garib kalyan' (welfare of poor) to a booth historically known to ask through violence uprooting of the Indian state and Constitution," Irani said.

On the reason for choosing Bengal to commence the expansion tour, Irani said that in Bengal, the "BJP workers are facing violence and hardship and he (Shah) wants to stand up with them".

She said that besides Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the other areas of focus for the party's expansion.

Taking a dig at the Congress, Irani said on the one hand there is a party "going through a crisis whose workers are looking out for its leader, while on the other hand, there is a party (BJP) which is winning election after election but not relying on its past glories and paving its way for future".

"And to pave the way for future, our party President is connecting with the party workers at the booth level to expand the party's base," she said.
 

The Central government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that the Aadhaar card was made mandatory for getting subsidised food grain through the Public Distribution System as this was not reaching the poor.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra was further informed by the government that around 2.33 crore ration cards, used to get the benefits under the PDS scheme, turned out to be fake.

PDS is mostly misused in the country so Aadhar card was made mandatory, said the government. 

The government's response came on a public interest litigation filed by NGO Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan which sought quashing of the Centre's February 8 notification that made it mandatory for beneficiaries to possess Aadhaar cards for purchasing subsidised food grain under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

The notification is applicable in all states and Union Territories, except Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir.

The plea said due to the notification's implementation, people are being deprived of their rightful entitlement under the NFSA and it violates the Constitution's Articles 14 and 21.

Buyers of ration under the NFSA, who do not possess the Aadhaar cards, or are not yet enrolled for it but are desirous of availing subsidies under the NFSA, are required to file applications for Aadhaar enrolment by June 30.

The plea said in October 2015, a Supreme Court interim order had allowed for voluntary use of Aadhaar and ruled that no citizen can be denied a service or subsidy for its want as it sought directions to enforce what it said was the fundamental right to food to Delhi residents, particularly the poor and vulnerable groups dependent on subsidised food grain distributed by the Delhi government through the Public Distribution System.
 

The Supreme Court on Monday fixed a timeline for recruitment of police personnel including Sub-Inspectors, head constables and the constables in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Setting the time line for the filling up the vacancies spread over four years, the bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said that for any breach of the time line indicated by the top court, the officers concerned shall be held liable.

Approving the road maps, the bench made it clear that the Chairman of the Police Recruitment and Promotion Board "shall not be changed midstream" once the recruitment process has commenced from the issuance of notification till the holding of the exam.

The order passed on Monday separately in respect of the six states would see recruitment of 19,396 Sub-inspectors (direct) and Inspector (on promotion) and 1,02,619 constable in Uttar Pradesh.

The top court by its April 17 order had asked the Home Secretaries of the six states to be present before it with the road map for filling the vacancies. It had also said that it would monitor the filling of the vacancies.

The court asked the Home Secretaries of Bihar and Jharkhand to come again on Monday as it found that their response was inappropriate.

Karnataka gave a road map by which they would fill all the vacancies by 2019.

In the course of the last hearing of the matter, the court was told that six States that head large vacancies included Uttar Pradesh (150,679), Bihar (34,532), Jharkhand (26,307), West Bengal (37,325), Karnataka (24,388) and Tamil Nadu (19,804).

Saying that it would monitor the filling-up of the vacancies, the court had said that in the first instance it would focus on Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand , West Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
 

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday condemned the Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh, which left at least 26 troopers dead.

"Strongly condemn attack on CRPF personnel in Chattisgarh; condolences to families of deceased and prayers for injured," the President said in a tweet.

Hundreds of Maoists massacred at least 26 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2013.
 

A security guard at late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's Kodanad tea estate in Nilgiris district was murdered and another injured in an attack by unidentified persons, said police on Monday.

According to police, a group of unidentified persons fatally attacked security guard Om Bahadur while injuring Krishna Bahadur who also tried to stop them in the incident which occurred on Sunday night.

According to the police, the investigation is on.

Jayalalithaa had used the tea estate as her holiday retreat.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday expressed sadness the killings of CRPF troopers in an ambush by Maoist guerillas in Chhattisgarh's Sukma.

"Saddened at the tragic death of CRPF jawans in Sukma, Chhattisgarh. Strongly condemn violence. My sympathies with the bereaved families," Banerjee tweeted.

Hundreds of Maoists on Monday massacred at least 26 CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district in the bloodiest attack in the state since 2013.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the government as the Aadhaar numbers and bank account details of millions in Jharkhand were compromised, terming it a "shocking breach of privacy and security".

"Shocking breach of security that has left lakhs of innocent citizens extremely vulnerable," said Gandhi on his official Twitter account, posting along with it an article in a national daily reporting the news.

"I am proud that we took the lead on Aadhaar, but let's not compromise a great initiative by turning a blind eye to major privacy and security concerns," he added.

The Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, and addresses along with names of more than a million people were compromised by an error on website, maintained by Jharkhand's Directorate of Social Security. 

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has given the go-ahead for setting up an Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), as part of the Intelligence Wing, to break the nexus flourishing between militants and gangsters in the state’s prisons.

The state government is also mulling an effective law, such as the Punjab Control of Organised Criminals Act (PCOCA), to deal effectively with the terror spread by organised criminal gangs, most of which have been operating in the state for the past five to seven years with strong political patronage.

This was disclosed here on Monday by a spokesperson in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), who said the ATS would have the mandate to act both against terrorist or militant outfits and criminal gangs.

In addition, the Union Home Minister, on a request from the CM has already agreed,tentatively, to provide two Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) companies to ensure security at the high-security/sensitive jails where hardcore terrorists and gangsters are lodged. These additional companies will remain at the prisons for at least six months, said the spokesperson.

At his meeting last week with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Amarinder had raised concern about the growing nexus between militants and gangsters, pointing out that jail staff had been receiving constant threats from such elements. 

Revealing details of the police crackdown on terrorists and gangsters, launched across the state on the directives of the CM, the spokesperson said since March 16, when the Amarinder government took over, as many as 16 dreaded gangsters had been arrested.

The police crackdown has also led to the busting of two terrorist modules, leading to the arrest of four militants, the spokesperson disclosed.

The CM ,said the spokesperson, had issued strict directions to the police and intelligence agencies in the state to come down heavily on all criminal gangs in the state. As of March 15, 2017, there were 22 organised criminal gangs operating in Punjab, with 240 gang members, of which 137 gangsters were lodged in various jails of the State, the spokesperson further revealed. 

As per official data, 12 category ‘A’ gangsters, and 10 category ‘B’ gangsters, are still absconding.

These criminal gangs, many of which are patronised by political leadership, have been involved in inter-gang rivalry killings, contract killings, extortion from real estate developers, drug smugglers, land-grabbing, kidnapping for ransom and other serious crimes, including drug and arms smuggling.

Over four crore subscribers of the retirement fund body EPFO can now make down payment and pay EMIs from their EPF accounts to buy homes.

The subscribers of the the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will be able to withdraw up to 90 per cent of their accumulations in their PF account for purchase of homes.

The EPFO has amended the scheme by inserting a new paragraph — 68 BD — to the Employees' Provident Funds (EPF) Scheme, 1952, to enable a subscriber to make down payment to buy homes and pay EMIs through the EPF account, a senior official said.

The official said, "Since the labour ministry has issued a notification for the purpose, the scheme stands amended."

Under the new provision, an EPF subscriber being a member of a co-operative or housing society with at least 10 members can withdraw up to 90 per cent from the fund for purchase of a dwelling house or flat or construction of a dwelling house and acquisition of site.

It also provides that monthly instalments for repayments of any outstanding payment or interest may also be paid from the amount to the government, housing agency, primary lending agency and banks concerned.

However, the withdrawal facility from the PF account will be available to only those PF members who fulfil the conditions prescribed. One, the member applying under this window should have contributed to the fund for at least three years.

The facility will be available only once to every member during his or her lifetime.

The rule applies to all those who together with their subscriber spouse have at least Rs 20,000 in their accounts.