Global airline organisation IATA on Monday said that air passenger carriers should be allowed to continue the long-established overbooking practices.

"The airline business is unique in that once a flight takes off, the seats on that flight are no longer available for sale; it's a time-sensitive, perishable product," said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

"Through sophisticated revenue management systems that airlines deploy, they know the historical percentage of no-show passengers for any given route. As a result, airlines can, with a degree of certainty, overbook a flight considering the number of no-shows expected, thereby maximising the capacity available to customers."

IATA's comments on overbooking came after an incident in which a passenger was forcibly evicted out of US-based United Airlines flight.

The global airline association pointed out that some governments were considering regulations which would restrict the current practice of overbooking, where airlines, in some cases, book more passengers on a flight than the number of seats available.

"The airline business is highly marginal in nature; banning the practice of overbooking will reduce already-thin margins, and could reduce connectivity in turn," IATA said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the Central government had fixed prices for as many as 700 medicines for the benefit of the people as part of a comprehensive healthcare policy.

Inaugurating a Rs.500 crore multi-speciality hospital set up by diamond merchants of Surat, he also assured that the government would make sure that the doctors prescribe only generic medicines.

"This will break the monopoly of big medicine outlets," he added.

"In the benefit of poor people, the government has fixed the prices for as many as 700 medicines so as to ensure they can afford it," he said.

Modi claimed his government rightly understood the value of a healthy society and had been working tirelessly towards building one and after a long gap of 15 long years that it was his government that had come up with a good healthcare policy.

He added the government had given much required attention to preventive healthcare measures in the country by the Swachh Bharat mission, which is a part of promoting preventive healthcare habits.

He commended the people of Surat for adopting the habit of cleanliness in such a way that it could provide a good example for other cities to emulate.

Referring to the Rs.500 crore Kiran Hospital that he inaugurated, Modi said that more than the price paid for setting up such projects, it was the hard work that went behind it was important.

"Whether the medical facility is worth Rs.500 crore or Rs.5,000 crore, it is the family values and diligent efforts that have ultimately anointed it as a blessing for public," he opined.

"I wish no one falls into such a situation requiring hospitalization, but if in case the need arises, may he be cured completely so as not to visit a hospital-like place again, I pray," he added. 

The Kiran Hospital has been set up by philanthropic efforts of the diamond merchants of Surat, some of whom invdividually pitching crores of rupees. This is the only hospital in Gujarat with a facility for a helipad on its terrace.

Hours after the Enforcement Directorate said it issued notice to his son on charges of violating foreign exchange laws, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram asserted that the government could not "silence my voice or stop my writing" with "baseless allegations".

"The Enforcement Directorate has the habit of recycling allegations from time to time. Today's (Monday) press release by the ED is another example. The allegations in the press release are baseless, totally false and ridiculous," said Chidambaram in a statement.

"No notice has been served upon Karti Chidambaram so far. If a notice is received, a suitable reply will be sent. By targeting Karti Chidambaram with baseless notices, the government cannot silence my voice or stop my writing," he added.

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said it has issued notice to Vasan Health Care Pvt Ltd, its promoter Karti P Chidambaram and Advantage Strategic Consulting for violating foreign currency laws to the tune of Rs .2,307 crore.

Modernisation of defence equipment is the top most priority for the government, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday as he addressed the Army Commanders' Conference here.

The Defence Minister "complemented the senior military hierarchy" and said "whenever the challenges multiply or their nature changes, Indian Army has always outperformed itself", an official statement said.

The minister said modernisation of defence equipment is the topmost priority for the government, the statement added.

Army Chief, Gen Bipin Rawat, in his opening address emphasiaed that all "systems" were working well and complimented all those who are working on the ground.

He observed that Indian Army continues to hold a strong image and a professional reputation and asked all ranks to endeavour to further strengthen the same.

Top commanders of Indian Army are meeting in the national capital from April 17-22. The commanders will deliberate upon the prevailing security scenario, strategic and actionable issues to ensure an effective combat edge for the Indian Army.

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said India's services sector has been a key growth driver of its economy.

Inaugurating the third edition of the Global Exhibition on Services (GES-2017) at Rashtrapati Bhavan, he said that India can be a key partner for emerging services such as facilities management, event and exhibition, urban infrastructure and environmental services. 

The President said many of these services can be delivered from India to offshore locations, helping large cities manage their facilities optimally, facilitating hospitals in maintaining medical records or providing geospatial information.

He said that the services sector contributes the lion's share of India's GDP and represents its fastest-growing sector. 

"While India has emerged as the fastest-growing large economy in the world, its services sector outpaces its GDP growth rate and has been its key growth driver. India's share in global services exports has increased to 3.3 per cent in 2015. Our services exports are helping global businesses build their productivity and competitiveness, and are supporting jobs across the world," he said. 

The President noted that the global exhibition embraces 20 vital services sectors for special focus.

"While some of the services are traditional ones such as tourism and hospitality and retail, many of the focus sectors are new to India and the world, including space services, sports services and wellness services," he said. 

The President said that services trade is increasingly viewed as an instrument to create jobs, drive national growth and foster exchange of ideas, knowledge and technology and also contributes significantly to trade in goods including through supply chains and e-commerce. 

Trade in services can bring new benefits to the global economy at a time global merchandise trade is slowing down, he added.

Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar strengthened his grip over the Purple Cap as he claimed five wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday, to rule the top wicket taking bowlers' chart with 15 wickets from five matches.

Bhuvneshwar's heroics helped the defending champions beat Kings XI Punjab by five wickets to end the losing streak in the ongoing IPL 2017.

Chasing the target of 160 runs, Manan Vohra scored a stellar knock for KXIP, though missed a century by five runs. He scored 95 runs off 50 balls with the help of five sixes and nine boundaries.

However, Vohra's all effort went in vain as he couldn't find a strong support from the other end.

KXIP lost six of their batsmen for a single digit score, out of which Hashim Amla and Wriddhiman Saha were dismissed for the duck.

For Hyderabad, Sidharth Kaul, Mohammad Nabi, and Moises Henriques followed Bhuvneshwar's lead as they claimed one wicket each.

Spinner Rashid Khan took two wickets in the shape of David Miller (1) and Saha to join the bowling attack.

Earlier, SRH captain David Warner scored an ideal 70-run knock to take the team to a comfortable total of 159 runs.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha managed to hit 34 runs beside other batsmen who struggled to bat for long.

Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel were the leaders of the KXIP bowling unit as they took two wickets each.

Sandeep Sharma and KC Cariappa took the scalp of Nabi and Ojha respectively to join the celebration.

A day after the Telangana legislature passed a bill hiking the quota for backward Muslims from four to 12 per cent, the BJP said the move would create social tensions and called it a "black day".

BJP National General Secretary Muralidhar Rao said that the step is "against fundamental principles of democracy and unity of the nation". 

"The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government in Telangana under Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has hiked reservations for Muslims in the state from four per cent to 12 per cent in an unconstitutional manner," he said in a statement, adding that the state government has not "followed any scientific method in deriving the figure of 12 per cent given in the Bill". 

"The decision defies the laid down principles of affirmative action on reservation of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) based on social and economic factors. Muslims in Telangana have never faced social discrimination or economic deprivation," he added.

He accused the TRS of following in the Congress footsteps of playing "divisive, vote bank politics" and warned the TRS of meeting the same fate "as met by Congress at Centre and many states". 

The Congress has drawn up schedule of its delayed organisational polls with election of party chief expected to be completed by October 15, party sources said.

They said that Congress Working Committee could also meet by early next month to deliberate on a range of issues concerning the organisation and the electoral challenges. 

The Congress has been seeking extension of time to hold organisational elections since present term of party chief Sonia Gandhi ended in 2015. The Election Commission had asked the party to complete its organisational polls by the end of this year. 

Though some Congress leaders have been suggesting that party Vice President Rahul Gandhi should take over as party chief, there is no clarity on the issue.

There is a view in the party that Rahul Gandhi could be elevated as the party chief at the culmination of the organisational polls. But there is also a view that Sonia Gandhi may decide to continue at the helm in view of enormity of electoral challenges faced by the party. 

At a meeting of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, in November last year, the members had unanimously expressed their "strong sentiments" that Rahul Gandhi must take over as party chief and had decided to convey their viewpoint to Sonia Gandhi. 

Congress' Central Election Authority chairman Mullapally Ramachandran said that he had circulated tentative schedule of elections to state party units. 

According to the schedule, election to the post of Congress president will be held between September 16 and October 15. 

The CEA has also told the party units to complete the membership drive by May 15. 

As part of organisational polls, elections will be held to block Congress committees, district Congress committees, state Congress committees. AICC members will also be elected. 

The organisational elections will be followed by a plenary and its date has not been decided yet. 
Sonia Gandhi became party chief in 1998 and is the longest-serving president of the party. She was re-elected party chief in 2010 for a five year term. 

There is also talk of organisational revamp in the party. 
 

Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will review the progress of urban schemes in the eight states of Northeastern region in Guwahati on Tuesday.

He will also chair a meeting of 'Joint Hindi Advisory Committee' of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) ministries to review the use of Hindi language in official works in both the ministries and their offices.

The meeting is being held in the Northeast for the first time. The minister will also release a compendium of 2,500 frequently used words in both the ministries translated from English to Hindi to promote the use of language, an official release said.

The urban schemes to be reviewed include Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

The schemes relates to two ministries of Urban Development and HUPA in states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Under PMAY (Urban), HUPA ministry has approved construction of 99,940 affordable houses for urban poor in the eight states of Northeastern region during the last two years.

As many as 12 towns of Northeastern states have been included in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation for Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

The scheme aims to provide water taps to all urban households, besides expanding sewerage and drainage networks, and promoting non-motorised transport, among others.

Eight towns of Northeastern states have been included under Smart City Mission under which central assistance of Rs.500 crore is provided to each smart city over a period of five years.

The Congress on Monday said that allowing EVMs without VVPATs is a direct violation of the Supreme Court's order and asked the government to go back to paper ballots till they are installed.

It also slammed the government for being "disinterested" in installation of Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) in the EVMs".

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comment on Sunday that EVM manipulation charge was an fabricated issue, Congress said that "the government was scared because the fabrication and manipulation lie somewhere else and that is why they want to bury the issue".

"In 30 months this government has denied the Election Commission the funds to do any installation of VVPAT to accompany the 16 lakh EVMs that roughly exist against which 58,000 VVPATs is the total number. 

"The Election Commission, in its third letter, said they need Rs.3,000 crore now to be able to use VVPATs in 2019 elections. I have no doubt that for the future 30 months also the Election Commission will not get Rs.13 crore leave aside Rs.3,000 crore," said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

He asked if the government's going ahead with EVMs without VVPAT "is not a direct violation of the Supreme Court order – which in its order said it is 'indispensable' to have paper trail".

"Go back to paper ballots and when you have given the funds, installed the VVPAT, then come back with the EVM. What is the problem?" he said. 

"The Prime Minister said yesterday that there are many fabricated issues and one of them he raised was the EVM issue. I would remind him they are rightfully scared and fearful because the fabrication and manipulation may lie somewhere else and that is why they want to bury this issue deep."

Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar on Monday said the constant pestering of tourists by hawkers on the state's beaches has forced the state Tourism Ministry to come down on the menace.

Speaking to reporters, Ajgaonkar said groups of hawkers physically grab foreign tourists and don't let go until they buy their ware.

"Some hawkers… what they do is… five-six of them hold foreigners' hands and they don't let go. This message has to go to everyone," Ajgaonkar said.

The minister also said that tourism department personnel, including security guards and life guards, had been allotted areas on Goa's popular beaches in order to keep them hawker-free.

"I have told them that if hawkers are found, you will be suspended," Ajgaonkar said.

Goa attracts more than four million tourists annually, of which half a million are foreign nationals. 

To bring transparency and accountability in the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) projects launched two years ago, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday launched the Fund and Reform Tracker which is an application developed by the HRD Ministry.

The fund tracker will monitor RUSA projects from the minute they are sanctioned till their completion. The reform tracker, on the other hand, will be a sort of a report card of states with details of their higher education policies, plans and best practices. 

Javadekar said this interface will be available for the Central government, the state higher education stakeholders and institutional leaders, apart from thousands of vendors across India. Each will get a varied level of access to the application depending on their role and functionality.

The application will provide information on the fund allocation as per the Project Approval Board, the instalment-wise fund release by the Centre and the state, the institution-wise key project and vendors appointed among other things. It will give an overall picture of the scheme and the state-wise performance of the impact that the programme has made.

Opening batsman David Warner's 70 not out lifted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 159/6 in 20 overs against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League (IPL) contest at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Monday.

Hyderabad batted around their captain Warner (70 not out; 54b; 7×4, 2×6) as the others struggled on a slow wicket. Warner shared a crucial 60-wicket stand for the fourth wicket with Naman Ojha (34 off 20 deliveries).

At the start, medium pacers Mohit Sharma (2/25) Ishant Sharma (0/23) and Sandeep Sharma (1/35) bowled with tight line and length, giving no chance to Hyderabad openers Shikhar Dhawan and Warner to free their arms.

With the frustration of not making the most of the Powerplay overs growing, Dhawan edged a high bouncer from medium pacer Mohit Sharma and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha took a comfortable catch on the final ball of the fifth over, with Hyderabad at 25/1.

The new batsman in, Moises Henriques too struggled on a slow track as he played 15 deliveries, scoring nine runs before being stumped by Saha off a delivery from left-arm spinner Axar Patel, with Hyderabad at 50/1 in 9.2 overs.

Axar dealt another blow in his next delivery by forcing an edge of Yuvraj Singh (0) to Saha.

Warner, who was till then grinding out a 24-ball 20, was joined by Naman Ojha in the middle. Ojha decided to take the attack to the opposition and proved to be successful, especially against spinners Axar and K.C. Cariappa.

During his 20-ball 34-run cameo, Ojha hit two fours and six to give some sort of thrust to the Hyderabad innings. The partnership between him and Warner provided 60 runs in just 6.1 overs.

Warner mixed couple of fours with singles and twos to prop up the Hyderabad innings.

But Cariappa got rid of Ojha as the batsman jumped down the track and completely missed the length only to be stumped by Saha.

Warner continued to gather runs as he completed his 50 in 45 deliveries. But others continued to struggle at the other end. New batsman, Deepak Hooda (10) couldn't do much, while Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi scored just two in the three deliveries he faced in his debut.

Nabi's young compatriot, Rashid Khan plundered a six in the final ball of the 20th over to take Hyderabad to 159/6.

Brief scores: Hyderabad: 159/6 in 20 overs (David Warner 70 not out, Naman Ojha 33; Mohit Sharma 2/25, Axar Patel 2/33) vs Punjab.

Delhi Daredevils were left ruing  their luck as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) powered by  110-run fourth wicket stand between Manish Pandey  (69 not out) and Yusuf Pathan (59) scripted a dramatic 4–wicket victory to chalk out their third straight win and to stay put on the top of the IPL at Feroz Shah Kotla here on Monday.

Chasing a victory target of  169, KKR were tottering at 21 for 3 after 2.5 overs but daring rescue act by Pandey and Pathan changed the script and snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring 169 for 6  as the plot went horribly wrong for the hosts.

Delhi’s smugness at the crucial stage cost them the match, though there were some moments of make-believe excitement at the fag end  but  KKR could not be denied victory which they fully deserved.   

Pandey and Pathan took the Delhi bowling by the scruff of the neck and the hosts could do nothing but to watch match slipping out of their hands. They thrashed the bowlers all over the park to take the score to 131 in 12 overs they were together at the crease. Pathan hit two sixes and six boundaries off 39 balls while Pandey faced 49 balls to hit three sixes and four boundaries.

After Pathan’s departure, the visitors lost two more wickets but withy  Pandey at the crease they romped home without much do.

This was Delhi’s second defeat in four matches while for KKR fourth win in five matches.

Earlier Zaheer Khan had no hesitation to opt for batting after he won the toss and his openers Sanju Samson and Sam Billings gave Delhi Daredevils another blistering start.

Sanju Samson made his intent clear as he hit   Australian pace, Nathan  Coulter-Nile who had come in place of  Trent Boult for ten runs, including two boundaries,  in the very first over. On the other end, Sam Billings was a willing partner as he stepped p the run rate hitting Chris Woakes and  Umesh Yadav with impunity.

The two took the score past 50 in exactly 5 overs and in the process earned the distinction of being involved in plus 50 run partnership in successive matches for Delhi daredevils after a gap of nine years. Way back in 2008, this  sort of record was set up by Sehwag and Gambhir.

As Nile, Woakes and Yadav failed to check the flow of the runs, Gambhir turned to West Indian ‘mystery spinner Sunil Narine and the Caribbean did not disappoint his skipper as he bowled a tight over conceding only three runs.

Kolkata Knight Riders' Umesh Yadav then sent back Sanju Samson, who was also caught by wicket-keeper to leave Delhi at 63 for 2. Sanju chipped in with 39 off 25 balls hitting seven boundaries.

Shreyas Iyer and Karun Nair added 43- runs came for 3rd wicket in 5.2 overs before the Iyer got run out as New Zealander  Colin Grandhomme’s direct throw hit the stumps before he could cross the crease. .His 17- ball 26 included four hits to the fence. However, the stand enabled the hosts to cross the 100 run mark.
 

Nile claimed his second victim when he clean bowled Karun Nair (21,27 b, 1×4) to reduce Delhi to 110 for 4  in 15 overs. Before that Nair had survived a chance when Uthappa dropped him off, Sunil Narine.

Once again it was last five overs which saw Delhi middle order led by young Rishab Pant going on the rampage as hosts added 58 runs in death overs.

Rishab plundered 26 –runs off  Umesh Yadav’s fourth over to destroy his bowling stats. Before he came hard on Umesh, Pant hit  Kuldeep Yadav for a towering six over long off and then came Umesh to bowl his last over which he will remember for a long time to come.

Pant hit him for the maximum over mid on, then cracked a boundary and followed that with two huge sixes over backward square leg and long on and then end the over with a four. This was the most expensive over bowled by Umesh Yadav in IPL.

Nile ended Pant’s inning when he had the batsman caught by Gambhir at the point and Delhi score at that stage was 153 for 6. Pant’s blistering 38 came off 16 balls and included four sixes and two boundaries.

Nile would have got his fourth wicket in the same over but Chris Morris was twice dropped once by Umesh Yadav at long on and then by Gambhir at cover.

Woakes then ended his wicket drought by getting rid of Morris (16, 9 b, 3×4)in the last over as Delhi ended at  168 for 7.

Nile justified his inclusion claiming three wickets for 22 while Sunil Narine came up with an economical spell of  4 overs 20 runs and a wicket. Umesh Yadav was expensive as he finished with one wicket conceding 53 runs.

The Visitors chase started in a worst possible way. They lost their three top-order batsmen in three overs.  Gambhir did not go for any experiment and opened with Colin Grandhomme but the New Zealander disappointed. Zaheer Khan had him caught at deep square leg by  Sam Billings to make it five for one for the visitors.

The last ball of the second over saw  KKR losing their second wicket with the score reading 19 when Robin Uthappa (4) was snapped by wicketkeeper Rishab Pant.

The two- time champions  were in real trouble when they lost there in -form captain Gambhir (14, 12 b,2×4 ), who was caught by Angelo  Mathews off Zaheer Khan and the scoreboard read  21 for 3 in 2.5 overs. But at that stage script changed dramatically.

The Janata Dal United (JD-U) on Monday called for "wide ranging debates" on triple talaq, or instant divorce, in Parliament as well as state legislative assemblies, to build a consensus on the issue.

"In the context of recent ongoing debate over triple talaq, the JD-U is of the firm view that any change in the law must come through constructive dialogue between all the stakeholders," party spokesman KC Tyagi said. 

"Considering the multi-cultural and multi-religious nature of our country, the issues of triple talaq and the Uniform Civil Code should be put to wide ranging debates in Parliament as well as legislative assemblies and other forums of civil society," he added. 

He said that party President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in his letter to Law Commission has already said that JD-U welcomes any kind of positive changes in the polity and laws of the country, but it must be based on broad consensus rather than imposing it in an authoritarian way. 

Tyagi said that Nitish Kumar has also expressed deep concern over forceful imposition of the majoritarian views on the religious practices of minorities. 

"The party considers that the state must endeavour to bring in the Uniform Civil Code. However, it must be based on broad consensus rather than imposing it in an authoritarian way. 

"Any attempt to impose UCC without thorough consultations and consensus, especially with the minorities and various religious groups, could lead to social friction and an erosion of faith in the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion," he added.
 

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday sought the help of Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui for sending a delegation from the state to study the successful management of Hwang Ho river in his country.

At a meeting here on Monday evening when the Chinese envoy met him at his office, Sonowal said managing the Brahmaputra river was a big concern for the state and it would be benefited by learning from the Chinese how the mighty Hwang Ho river — the second-longest river in Asia — had been turned into a resource from a problem.

The Assam chief minister also told the Chinese Ambassador that the BJP-led central government was taking keen interest in developing the Northeast region as a major trade hub of south-east Asia under its Act East Policy and that opening of the historic Stilwell Road with the neighbouring country was high on the Centre's agenda.

It may be mentioned that Zhaohui urged the Sonowal to consider setting up ties with Kunming and Yunan province, as both these provinces are in geographical proximity to the state. He also extended an invitation to the Chief Minister to the Trade Summit to be held in Kunming in June this year.

Accepting his invitation, Sonowal informed the Chinese ambassador that the state government was going to organise a Global Business Summit in November this year and urged the Ambassador to facilitate participation of Chinese companies in the Summit in a big way.

Stating that the Guwahati-Kunming road connectivity would open up a huge opportunity for the region as well as the country to achieve high growth in trade and business, Sonowal said Chinese expertise in bullet trains and river dredging for plying big cargo ships in Guangzhou river would have to be mastered by India for achieving progress in these sectors.

Evincing interest in developing sports science and sport medicine with Chinese help for preparing world-class athletes in the state, Sonowal said that increased people-to-people contact and cultural exchanges would bring the people of Assam and China closer and facilitate an environment for growth and prosperity.

Referring to Chinese traveller and scholar Hiuen Tsang's historic visit to the state and region, the Chief Minister said the age-old ties between China and Assam must be revived for scripting the future growth story.
 

Upping the ante, Pakistan's army on Monday ruled out consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, days after India had made a strong case for the access to the Indian prisoner on death row.

Jadhav, 46, was awarded death sentence by the Field General Court Martial last week, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out.

"Under the law we cannot give consular access to Khubhushan who was involved in spying," Pakistan Military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters.

However, Indian officials in New Delhi maintained that there was no communication from Pakistan on the denial of consular access.

Pakistan has denied India's request for consular access to Jadhav over a dozen times in the last one year.

On Friday, Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale had met Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and demanded a certified copy of the charge-sheet as well as the army court order in the Jadhav case, besides seeking consular access to the retired Indian navy officer.

Addressing the media in Rawalpindi on Monday, Maj Gen Ghafoor said that Jadhav was involved in anti-state activities so he had to face court martial.

"It was duty of the army (to apprehend and punish him).

We have not compromised on it and awarded him punishment. We will not compromise on this issue in future also," he said.

He said all legal requirements were fulfilled in the trial of Jadhav which resulted in his conviction.

"The court martial is based on such evidence which cannot be refuted at any forum," he said.

He said the Indian man can appeal against the judgement in the army appellate court and then to the army chief against the decision of the appellate court.

The spokesman said the convict can also file an appeal to the Supreme Court and the president of Pakistan.

"We will defend his conviction at every forum," he said.

Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy."

The Pakistan Army had also released a "confessional video" of Jadhav after his arrest.

However, India denied Pakistan's contention and maintained that Jadhav was kidnapped by the Pakistan authorities.

India had acknowledged that Jadhav had served with the navy but denied that he has any connection with the government.