At least one person was killed and 11 others injured in a live grenade accident at a high school on Monday, police in the Russian republic of Dagestan say.

The police said in a statement today that they detained a teenager who brought the grenade to school in the rural area in Russia's North Caucasus.

At least three teenagers are in intensive care. The police in Dagestan called it an accident but the circumstances of the explosion were not immediately clear.

Following two separatist wars in neighbouring Chechnya, an Islamic insurgency spread to Dagestan where shootouts between the militants and police are almost routine occurrences and the illegal ownership of weapons is high

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday expressed apprehension that the MCD poll results, slated to be declared on April 26, could be "rigged" and the ground for it was being prepared by "floating" exit polls predicting a BJP sweep.

The Election Commission "deliberately" used old electronic voting machines (M1 and M2 models), even though new generation M3 machines were at its disposal, AAP Delhi convenor Dilip Pandey claimed and termed the MCD polls, held yesterday, as the most "mismanaged" election ever.

However, the poll watchdog maintained that all the EVMs were tamper-proof and the latest variants had additional features such as 'tamper detection' and 'self diagnostics'.

"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.

"Lakhs of generation 2 and generation 3 EVMs were available with the Election Commission which were VVPAT equipped. But, generation 1 machines were deliberately used to ensure that the VVPATs (voter-verifiable paper audit trail) were not used," Pandey told PTI.

The VVPAT-equipped EVMs dispense a paper slip which helps a voter confirm that his vote has indeed gone to the candidate of his choice.

Asked about the party's expectations in the MCD polls, a senior AAP leader, on the condition of anonymity, admitted that it was not confident of pulling off a huge victory but claimed that the exit poll predictions were "highly exaggerated, if not absurd".

"I am not saying we will win all the three corporations.

But, from the feedback we have received, it would be a travesty if the exit poll predictions turn out to be true.

There is no BJP wave and our campaign on sanitation and corruption did create an impact," he said.

According to the EC, the 'tamper detection' feature makes an EVM inoperative the moment anyone tries to open it, while the 'self diagnostics' feature checks its hardware and software every time it is switched on.

Two exit polls have predicted a landslide victory for the BJP in the MCD polls with 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.

Three Indian warhips today reached the Toulon Naval Base in France for a three-day visit, in continuation of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment in the Mediterranean Sea and West Coast of Africa.

"The warships, INS Mumbai, Trishul and Aditya, were warmly received by the officials of the French Navy at Toulon Naval Base in coordination with the Indian Embassy," an official spokesperson said.

The visiting ships are a part of the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command and the Task Group is headed by Rear Admiral R B Pandit, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet, who is flying his flag on the guided missile destroyer, INS Mumbai.

"On completion of the visit at Toulon, the bilateral exercise Varuna between the Indian Navy and the French Navy is scheduled from April 24 to 30. The Varuna series of exercises began in 2000 and have grown into an institutionalised form of interaction between the two navies," the official said.

The last such exercise was held off the Indian coast, the spokesperson said in a statement here.

"The warships' visit to Toulon seeks to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen the existing bonds between India and France," he said.

"The visit of Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, to France, coinciding with the visit of the Indian Navy ships to France and conduct of the exercise Varuna, amply demonstrate the Indian Navy's engagement with the French Navy," he said.

Luthra is scheduled to visit the French frigate FNS Auvergne, a French nuclear submarine unit, as well as an underwater weapons facility. He would also call on senior official in France, including Vice Admiral Charles-Henri du Che, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Sea Area (CECMED).

"With the establishment of the strategic partnership with France in 1998, there has been significant progress in all areas of bilateral co-operation including defence, nuclear energy and space. A high level committee for defence cooperation between the two countries at the level of Defence Secretaries met in Paris in 2015. Bilateral exercises such as Garuda, Shakti and Varuna have been a regular feature between the two nations," he said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said the government has taken up the H-1B visa issue with the United States, but it is not discussing the problems of individual IT companies.

"We are certainly talking with the US administration on H-1B visas. However, I am not talking on each of these firms," she told reporters here.

She was responding to a query about the US accusations that top Indian IT firms, including TCS and Infosys were unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy.

The minister said India has raised the issue of change in the H-1B visa policy and "not on specific companies".

As regards H-1B, after due discussions, an understanding was reached between India and US on issuance of these visas and India is raising the issue of proposed changes announced by America.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already raised the issue of restrictions on H-1B visa twice with the US as India fears the curb would impact the movement of Indian IT professionals to America.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order for tightening the rules of the H-1B visa programme to stop its 'abuse' and ensure that the visas are given to the 'most- skilled or highest paid' petitioners, a decision that would impact India's USD 150 billion IT industry.

The Indian IT industry has expressed serious concerns over this as these visas are mainly used by domestic IT professionals for short-term work in America.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. Indian technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year for their US operations.

The US market accounts for about 60 per cent of the revenue of the Indian IT industry.

Reforming the H-1B visa system was one of the major election promises of Trump. As per several US reports, a majority of the H-1B visas every year are grabbed by Indian IT professionals.

India accounts for the highest pool of qualified IT professionals, whose services go a long way in making American companies globally competitive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday condemned the killing of 24 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Chhattisgarh by Maoists and expressed pain at the great loss.

Modi termed the act as "cowardly and deplorable" and said that the sacrifice of the personnel will not go in vain.

"We are proud of the valour of our CRPF personnel. The sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain," the prime minister tweeted.

Reaching out to the bereaved families of the personnel, Modi wrote: "Condolences to their families. May those injured in (the) attack recover at the earliest."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also took to Twitter and said he was "extremely pained" by the killings.

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

Singh said he had spoken to state Home Minister Hansraj Ahir, who "will take stock of the situation".

Modi also said the government was monitoring the situation in Chhattisgarh closely.

The attack took place at Sukma district at around 12.25 PM between the Burkapal-Chintagufa area of the worst Maoist-affected district in south Bastar area of the state.

The jawans are from the 74th battalion of the CRPF. Earlier this year, the Nxals killed 12 CRPF personnel in the region.

Bicycle was the first human transport to be officially introduced in 19th century. Since then, this classic mode of transportation has evolved with emerging ideas, invention, innovation, design and technology.

Apart from being a mode of transport, cycling is good for health as it help burn calories and has environmental benefits. The more you cycle, the more you gain. Some of the environmental benefits are reduction in air and noise pollution, traffic congestion, save fuel and money too.

In view of its benefits, many have started taking to cycling and cycle sharing has become a popular concept that has garnered appreciation and been replicated in many countries now. The cycle sharing progamme first began in Europe way back in 1965. Since then over 1,000 cities in over 50 countries across five continents have picked up the public cycle sharing system.

At present, China has the largest number of cycle sharing programmes. Cities like Hangzhou, Taiyuan and Shanghai are popular among tourists and locals for having bike stations with clone to one lakh fleet of cycles.

What about Delhi?

Owning a bicycle in India was once a sign of great pride and status. The percentage of riders has significantly gone down. To revive this outgoing trend, cycle sharing concept too was introduced in India with support from the Urban Development Ministry. Mysore is the first city to begin cycle sharing system in 2009 in 28 locations. Then cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Indore, New Delhi, Rajkot, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Vadodara too followed suit.

Talking about national capital, Delhi in 2001 had 0.96 million households (37 per cent) owning bicycles, as per Census 2001. To give a fillip, Greenolution, a cycle provider company along with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) introduced ‘hire-a cycle’ scheme at the Vishwavidyalaya metro stations in 2007. The number of riders is average.

“On a daily basis, we have 10-15 commuters coming to pick cycles from our docking stations, but the number is higher at the Vishwavidyalaya metro station due to presence of students and Delhi University,” one of the Greenolution members said.

In 2015, the first Public Bicycle Sharing scheme (PBS) by Greenolution and DMRC was launched for wider commuters in the capital. There are eight PBS stationed in eight metro station. The charge for using the cycle is Rs. 10 per hour.

“We have docked 20 bicycles each at seven metro stations and 27 cycles in Vishwavidyalaya metro station. The other stations are Neb Sarai, Dwarka Sector, Saket, Hauz Khas, Akshardham, Shastri Park and MG Road,” said Greenolution.

“As requested, Greenolution in two months is going to open bicycle sharing dock inside the premise of IIT-Delhi,” it added.

Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd, a joint-venture company of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, has cycle sharing stations along the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) Corridor in the name of GreenBIKE.

As per a DIMTS document, GreenBIKE has 50-60 customers daily who come to take cycles on hire from their docks. They are given cycles for two-three hours.

Going by recent news, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning to build new 50 stations.

Interestingly, Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning & Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are working on a comprehensive plan to implement the non-motorised transport (NMT) in West and South Delhi. The policy aims to install 400 stations with 5,500 cycles in entire West Delhi by 2017 and 590 stations with 8,000 cycles in entire South Delhi by 2018.

Life insurance behemoth LIC has introduced two endowment assurance plans for individuals having Aadhaar card.

While the Aadhaar Shila is a plan exclusively designed for women, the other scheme Aadhaar Stambh is meant for men. Absolute amount assured on death under Aadhaar Stambh is 100 per cent, whereas for Aadhaar Shila it is 110 per cent of basic sum assured.

These plans offer a combination of protection and savings and provide a lump-sum amount at the time of maturity for the surviving policyholder and financial support for the family in case of death of the policyholder, a Corporation statement said on Monday.

The maturity benefit under both the plans will be the sum assured with loyalty additions if any, it added. Total basic sum assured under all policies issued to an individual under this plan shall not exceed Rs.3 lakh.

This plan is available to standard healthy lives from age 8-55 years, without any medical examination. The maximum age of maturity is 70 years and the terms available are from 10 to 20 years.

In case of death during first five years, the sum assured on death shall be payable. However, in case of death after completion of five policy years but before the date of maturity, the sum assured on death and loyalty addition, if any, shall be payable.

The sum assured on death is defined as the highest of 10 times of annualised premium or the absolute amount assured to be paid on death.

Rebate on tabular premium at 2 per cent for year mode and 1 per cent on half-yearly mode is available while quarterly, monthly (through NACH), salary deductions are other modes available.

An optional benefit of accident benefit rider is available by payment of additional premium. Loyalty addition is payable on certain conditions.

In addition, these plans also take care of liquidity needs through auto cover as well as loan facility.

State-owned SBI and realtors' body CREDAI have signed an agreement to provide loans at a concessional rate to builders as well as customers for affordable housing projects.

SBI and CREDAI have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate and work towards the development of the real estate sector, specifically through the affordable housing and green housing projects.
The duration of the agreement is for a period of three years, State Bank of India (SBI) said in a statement.

“We have signed an MoU with CREDAI. We will be providing 10 basis points concession to home buyers and 10-35 basis points to CREDAI's developer members,” SBI Managing Director (National Banking Group) Rajnish Kumar told PTI.

He said SBI is a major player in home loans segment with 25 per cent market share.

Earlier this month, CREDAI had announced that its members are launching 373 affordable housing projects comprising 2.33 lakh units with an investment of over Rs.70,000 crore.

SBI, the countys largest bank and mortgage lender, will support CREDAI as their national banking partner and provide loans at concesssional interest rate towards construction finance.

“The lower cost of interest to builders will further reduce the cost of apartment. I hope developers will pass on this benefit to consumers,” Kumar said.

For consumers, SBI has launched an exclusive tailor made scheme for affordable housing, 'SBI Hamara Ghar', which will ease the process and enable maximum number of consumers to avail home loan for these projects.

"This initiative will help millions of home buyers fulfil their dream of owning a home. In the long run, it will give a
boost to the real estate industry and economy as a whole, elevating the citizens from aspirants to actual home owners,”
Kumar said.

CREDAI President Jaxay Shah said: “Rebate on construction finance by SBI will be instrumental in facilitating a more affordable ecosystem which will lower the construction costs and enable the developers to pass on the benefits to the consumers.

SBI and CREDAI have also tied up for development of green real estate projects.

The bank will be providing an interest concession for the construction of green projects and also a processing fee waiver for home loans under SBI Green Home Loans.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla on Monday backed former India football team captain Baichung Bhutia's comment on the northeast no more being a nursery of the game but a leader, saying it's not only his state but also Manipuri and Assam that have come of age at the national level.

Ecstatic at the performance of Aizawl FC, who are on the cusp of becoming the first club from the northeast to bag India's premier domestic football tournament — the I-League — in their maiden season in the top division, the chief minister said he is "proud of his boys".

"I subscribe to Baichung Bhutia's idea. The North-East is no more a nursery now, it's a factory. It's not only Mizoram but the entire ortheastern region. Manipuris, Assamese are very good footballers," he said.

After beating Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan 1-0 in their previous game on Saturday, Aizawl FC are only a draw away from the I-League title.

Aizawl are at the top of the 10-team I-League table with 36 points from 17 matches. Mohun Bagan slipped to the second place after Saturday's defeat with 33 points from 17 matches.

Even if Aizawl earn a draw against fellow northeastern club Shillong Lajong FC in the last game of their I-league campaign on Sunday, they will claim the title. 

In case of a defeat, they will have to hope that Chennai City FC beat Mohun Bagan in Sunday's other game.

"Naturally I am very happy. My boys have won the Santosh trophy also. This is not something they have done for the first time. Everybody back home will feel elated, today football is a major bread-earner to many Mizo boys, who are associated with the top clubs in the country," Lal Thanhawla told IANS here on Monday.

"I am very proud of the boys and I compliment the owner of Aizawl FC — Robert Romawia Royte — who has spent a lot of time, money and energy, of course under the umbrella of the Mizoram Football Association (MFA).

"It's indeed a victory for Mizoram. How other states feel I don't know. But the entire northeastern states are one entity. If one state becomes successful in one project or venture, then the whole northeast is happy. If any of my neighbouring states succeeds in achieving something, I will naturally be happy," he added.

Commenting on the infrastructure his government has provided overcome the various hindrances of being a hilly state, he said: "We have laid six astro-turf grounds for football and another one is coming up, two hockey grounds and indoor stadiums at all major district headquarters."

"When I returned to office in 2008, I was very fortunate to have a dynamic sports minister in Zodintluanga. He is the backbone of all this infrastructure. We have boxing halls in all the district headquarters."

Elaborating his government's effort in nurturing talent at the grassroot level, Lal Thanhawla, a former sportsman himself who represented undivided Assam in various tournaments across several sports, said: "Earlier hockey used to be the No.1 sport in the state but currently it is football. Sociologically this will encourage various other boys and even girls — my girls are playing very well. Even girls football is being organised by the Mizoram FA both at the high school level and primary level."

"We are focussing on the grassroot level, which is the formative stage for any budding professional. Even my own grandson, aged 12 years is very regular in grassroot football organised by Mizoram FA.

"The MFA is constructing another big ground in Sairang. The MFA has already procured the land. I have helped them with money to flatten it after that FIFA will contribute in getting the astro turf there," he added.

Asked whether football can be the binding force for society, he said: "Cricket is very popular in this country, in the same way football has been very popular since a very long time."

"But I remember we never had any good ground, whenever we used to venture out of Mizoram, we used to profit by playing in all the good football grounds.

"I played against all the district associations of undivided Assam, we were one of the districts. I used to lead a football team in the inter-district tournament. I represented undivided Assam in hockey too during my high school and college days," he added.

The five-time Chief Minister further said that the other ortheastern states are financially sound than his state and he can only provide moral support to them.

"We are no one to support them, we can give them moral support. The other states in the North East are financially better off than Mizoram and they can do on their own. Mizoram is such a place where you require crores of rupees for construction of a single football ground unlike in the plains," he said.

Actress Raveena Tandon has batted for safety of women and says that steps need to be taken aggressively against those who are guilty of harassing women.

The actress on April 22 shared a clipping of a newspaper and captioned it: "To some of those who found 'Maatr' queasy… That was the intention, to disturb. But below is harsh reality. Time to Act. Maneka Gandhi BJP."

Politician Maneka Gandhi, who is the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, said: "Yes, Raveena Tandonji. I am also as appalled by such incidents. We are working to change the mindset through a number of initiatives."

To which Raveena replied: "Yes ma'am. law amendments, steps need to be taken aggressively. Fast track courts, non-bailable offences, eg set in conviction if proved guilty."

Raveena's latest release Maatr highlights the failure of the judiciary to deliver justice in crimes against women. 

It has been shot in Delhi and Haryana. The film, directed by Ashtar Sayyed, also features Hasan Malik, Madhur Mittal, Divya Jagdal, Shailender Goyal, Anurag Arora, Saheem Khan and Rushad Rana in key roles.
 

Owing to the five years of commitment and hard work by Prabhas, director SS Rajamouli has gifted him something interesting to cherish forever.

The actor was presented a Baahubali armour, sources close to the actor said.

Rajamouli has been of the opinion that Baahubali has reached the heights due to the undivided dedication by Prabhas. The director believes no other actor could have shown the level of commitment to the film, the way Prabhas did. 

Speaking of the same, Rajamouli was quoted as saying earlier, "Show me one actor who can spend more than three years on a character he believes in. Prabhas and I became very close after we worked together for the first time in Chatrapathi, and we used to spend a lot of time together. Thank you Prabhas for being my friend,” he said, adding, "I can't think of anyone else for Bahubali but Prabhas."

According to sources, Prabhas had spent nearly 600 days filming for the Baahubali franchise, with the actor refraining from signing any other film over the tenure of five years while shooting for the magnum opus project. 

Prabhas also sustained his Baahubali look over the years and maintained his long locks to further deliver Rajamouli with continuity during the filming of the two-part franchise. 

Directed by Rajamouli, the movie stars Prabhas in the titular role in addition to Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah Bhatia, Anushka Shetty and Satyaraj in pivotal roles. 

The film is slated to release on 28 April,

Want to stay mentally healthy in old age? Stimulating your brain by going to university or taking on leadership roles at work may help, a new study suggests.

The research led by University of Exeter in the UK used data from more than 2,000 mentally fit people over the age of 65.

Researchers examined the theory that experiences in early or mid life which challenge the brain make people more resilient to changes resulting from age or illness – they have higher "cognitive reserve".

The analysis found that people with higher levels of reserve are more likely to stay mentally fit for longer, making the brain more resilient to illnesses such as dementia.

"Losing mental ability is not inevitable in later life.

We know that we can all take action to increase our chances of maintaining our own mental health, through healthy living and engaging in stimulating activities," Linda Clare, Professor at the University of Exeter, said.

"It is important that we understand how and why this occurs, so we can give people meaningful and effective measures to take control of living full and active lives into older age.

"People who engage in stimulating activity which stretches the brain, challenging it to use different strategies that exercise a variety of networks, have higher Cognitive reserve'," said Clare.

"This builds a buffer in the brain, making it more resilient. It means signs of decline only become evident at a higher threshold of illness or decay than when this buffer is absent," she said.

The research team analysed whether a healthy lifestyle was associated with better performance on a mental ability test.

They found that a healthy diet, more physical activity, more social and mentally stimulating activity and moderate alcohol consumption all seemed to boost cognitive performance.

"We found that people with a healthier lifestyle had better scores on tests of mental ability, and this was partly accounted for by their level of cognitive reserve," said Professor Bob Woods of Bangor University in the UK.

"Our results highlight the important of policies and measures that encourage older people to make changes in their diet, exercise more, and engage in more socially oriented and mentally stimulating activities," Woods said.

The study was published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Desi girl Priyanka Chopra earned love and appreciation all across the world. With the end of Quantico season 2, she is all set to play NASA’s Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla.

Priyanka will be seen in a biopic based on late astronaut Kalpana Chawla. The film was announced as a project without mentioning any names.

"The film will be mounted on an international scale. A new production company, Getway, is likely to produce the biopic,” sources close to the actress said.

The film will be directed by debutante Priya Mishra.

As a part of preparation of the film, Priya met Kalpana’s parents several times.

“I was last heading a TV channel creatively and post 2011, quit to pursue filmmaking. This is one of the two scripts that I have written,” she said.

Kalpana was the first Indian woman astronaut in space. She hailed from Karnal, Haryana. She spent 31 days, 14 hours and 54 minutes in space, but died as the space shuttle Columbia exploded in the second expedition along with six other crew members in February 2003.

Following routines from a very early age may have many benefits. A new research suggests that regular bedtimes, mealtimes and limited screen time may be linked to better emotional health in pre-schoolers, and that might lower their chances of obesity later.

"This study provides more evidence that routines for preschool-aged children are associated with their healthy development and could reduce the likelihood that these children will be obese," said lead author Sarah Anderson of The Ohio State University in the US.

Researchers evaluated three household routines when children were three years old — regular bedtime, regular mealtime and whether or not parents limited television and video watching to an hour or less daily. 

Then they compared those to parents' reports of two aspects of children's self-regulation at that same age.

Lastly, they investigated how the routines and self-regulation worked together to impact obesity at age 11, defined based on international criteria. 

The research included 10,955 children who are part of the Millennium Cohort Study, a long-term study of a diverse population of children born in Britain from September of 2000 to January of 2002. 

All three household routines were associated with better emotional self-regulation — a measure based on parents' responses to questions such as how easily the child becomes frustrated or over-excited, showed the findings published in the International Journal of Obesity.

Those children with greater emotional dysregulation were more likely to be obese later.

"We saw that children who had the most difficulties with emotion regulation at age three also were more likely to be obese at age 11," Anderson said.

researchers also found that the absence of a regular preschool bedtime was an independent predictor of obesity at 11. 

Obesity risk increased even when children "usually" had a regular bedtime, as opposed to "always." The risk was greatest for those who had the least amount of consistency in their bedtimes.

Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali? The curiosity to know the answer has made it hard on the fans to wait for Baahubali 2.

Not only this, another reason that has left people wondering is the uncanny resemblance of Baahubali characters with the famous TV series Game of Thrones.

George R R Martin and SS Rajamouli thought about the characters and may be he did not think about the resemblance or is there a catch?

Ned Stark was killed in the first season of GoT but the similarity with Amrendra Baahubali is questionable.

Jon Snow has quite a resemblance with Mahendra Baahubali.

Including the need for power and sadistic instincts of both, Bhallala Dev and Ramsay have quite a lot in common.

Devasena and Daenerys Targaryen are determined to ascend their rightful throne, if needed they can also be ruthless.

Both Kattappa and Davos are loyalists who serve nothing but the throne.

Avantika and Ygritte are free spirited, feisty and both are women nobody must underestimate.

Sivagami and Cateyln Stark hold an important role as leaders, decision makers, protectors, warriors and mothers.

Do you also think that these similarities are for real?

The Centre on Monday said it is not imposing Hindi on anyone but promoting it like other regional languages.

"We are not imposing Hindi but promoting Hindi like any other language," Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.

Rijiju is the minister incharge of the Department of Official Language.

His comments came in the backdrop allegations levelled by certain quarters that the Modi government is trying to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.

DMK leader M K Stalin has accused the Centre of trying to relegate people who don't speak Hindi, to second-class citizens and of pushing the country into becoming "Hindia".

The controversy was generated after President Pranab Mukherjee accepted the recommendation of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language that all dignitaries including the president and ministers, especially those who can read and speak Hindi, may be requested to give their speech/statement in Hindi only.

The president has accepted several other recommendations, including making announcements on board aircraft in Hindi followed by English

In order to protect consumer rights in the real estate sector, the Punjab government's department of housing and urban development on Monday launched various SMS services to provide necessary information to its consumers. The new services have been launched after Punjab's chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh asked the department to prioritise consumer affairs over all other matters.

As per the new move, applicants of the new schemes will be able to know the status of their applications through regular updates sent by the department. "As on date 5,85,470 SMS passing on the said information have already been sent to the allottees which will help them avoid their visits to various offices in the department", an official spokesperson said.

He further said that all the new services provided in Right to Service Act 2011 through this SMS facility will be cover under this move. "The service provides for informing the consumers, allottees about the payments due seven days prior to the due date.

Payment alerts on the due date, acknowledging the payment, reminder if payment not received, information about diary number and date of the documents received will also be provided under this module", he said. Adding to this, acknowledgement of document submitted at single window counter, information about documents dispatched to the allottees, acknowledgement of application received in new schemes and communicating result of the draw of lots and property number will also be available, he said.

The spokesperson also said that the department is in the process of issuing an appeal to its consumers or allottees so that they should get their mobile numbers registered along with their property details to avail this SMS facility. Spokesperson said that presently, the service has been introduced for Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and would be shortly extended to all development authorities in the state. "The SMS service will promote rapport with the consumers and will add transparency in the existing system. This will also promote government's reach to a common man", said the spokesperson.