India’s border security is “very fragile” and there are “several gaps” which need to be plugged, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has concluded in a report submitted on Tuesday.

The Committee headed by former Home Minister P Chidambaram studied the issue of capacity building for border security and found that some institutions were created for the purpose, but the government had maintained an “ambiguous approach” in strengthening them.

Commenting on infiltration and cross-border terrorism, the committee said more than a year had passed since the Pathankot attack, but its investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was not complete yet. No analysis seems to have been done into “the failure of the intelligence agencies to provide credible and actionable inputs regarding the attacks at Pathankot, Uri, Pampore, Baramulla and Nagrota”, the committee said.

These attacks exposed the deficiencies in the Indian intelligence agencies and the Home Ministry should instruct the NIA to complete the investigations so as to “identify the loopholes in the intelligence set-up in the border areas”, the committee said.

The committee has concluded that the huge rise in the number of infiltrations could be due to failures of the Indian Army and the BSF to foil some of them. The government must probe the vulnerabilities along the Line of Control that are being exploited by the infiltrators. As tunnels were becoming the major modus operandi for the infiltrators, the Government could explore taking help of countries which had developed tunnel detection systems, the panel said.

The Nagrota attack showed the attackers received guidance from the military establishment across the border, the committee said. The panel said besides staying on alert, the armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) campuses should have some degree of isolation from other habitations, trees could be cut for perimeter security, and boundary walls could be higher and better lighted.

The committee found that the “infrastructure” on the Chinese side of the India-China border was “far better than that on the Indian side,” and said India must strive to complete construction of all roads planned under Phase I by March, 2019.

India’s border security covers 7516.6 km of coastline and 15,000 km of land borders shared with seven countries. The major border security challenges included cross-border terrorism, infiltration and ex-filtration of armed militants and insurgents, narcotics and arms smuggling, illegal migration, left-wing extremism and separatist movements aided by external powers. The BSF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Assam Rifles comprise the Border Guarding Forces on six different borders of the country.

Referring to cattle-smuggling to Bangladesh, the committee said there was mass movement of cattle from all States towards West Bengal and Assam, and once the cattle reach the border, it is difficult to stop their movement. While other States have failed to check the mass movement of cattle, the West Bengal police had failed to intercept this movement. The Centre must strike at the roots of the “entrenched
nexus” to curb the menace, the committee said.

The Borussia Dortmund team bus was rocked by an explosion while en route to Signal Iduna Park on Tuesday and their UEFA Champions League game against Monaco has been subsequently been cancelled.

The official statement on the club website (www.bvb.de/eng) read:
“There was an incident shortly after the BVB Team Bus left the hotel en route to the stadium. The bus was damaged in two places, while a person sustained injuries and was taken to hospital. We will provide you with more information as soon as we know more."

Marc Bartra, the former Barcelona defender who is plying his trade with the Bundesliga giants, is the injured player, several media outlets have confirmed.

A tweet from Dortmund's official account read: "In the explosion, was injured @MarcBartra and is currently in the hospital. Good and quick recovery, Marc! #bvbasm"

The match has been rescheduled for Wednesday night, 6.46 PM CET (11.15 PM IST), an official statement confirmed.

A group of 32 National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, among them a few until recently unhappy with the BJP, have unanimously acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the country’s “most popular” leader since Independence.

This view came forth at the end of a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of the ruling NDA allies at the Centre, including the Shiv Sena, which recently fought against the BJP in the local body elections in Maharashtra.

In a resolution adopted by the NDA late Monday night the allies showered praise on the Prime Minister for his pro-poor welfare programmes. They attributed the BJP’s recent victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls to these poor-centric policies of the Central government.

The resolution read: “This mandate (state assembly poll results) has established Modi on the people’s mind as the most popular leader after independence.”

The NDA resolution underlined India’s emergence as a leading developing economy under Modi’s “extraordinary” leadership and economic experts and institutions have acknowledged it as a “great achievement”.

BJP president Amit Shah’s claim in the wake of the party’s landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand that it was an indicator of Modi’s growing popularity was echoed in the tone and tenor of the NDA resolution last night.

The Prime Minister has already sounded the bugle for the party’s preparations for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections soon after the assembly polls. BJP MPs have already been assigned to inform people about the NDA government’s plans and progamme.

The NDA meeting on Monday was an attempt to reaffirm the alliance’s unity in the aftermath of the heat and dust of the assembly polls and local body elections in some states. It came even as the Opposition anti-BJP-NDA forces rallied against the ruling combination as part of their joint strategy to take on the BJP-led alliance in 2019 and in states like Gujarat, where assembly polls are due later this year.

Three Delhi Police personnel, who had traced 77 missing or runaway children and reunited them with their families, were awarded by Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on Tuesday.

"The officers who have been awarded by Patnaik were Inspector Abhinendra, the station house officer of Vijay Vihar and his associates, Sub Inspectors Divya Mann and Anuj," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Rishi Pal.

These missing children who have been reunited with their families mostly resident of Budh Vihar Phase-I, Vijay Vihar Phase-I, Pal Colony, Sadar Colony, Mange Ram Park and other areas of west Delhi. Some are from Rohini in north Delhi, Pal said.

"Around 4 lakh people are living in Vijay Vihar area and mostly of them are running roadside stalls, working as labour in factories, as rickshaw pullers, fruit venders and other menial employment. Most parents work on daily wages to earn their livelihood.

"Being poor they do not have sufficient resources to bring up their kids properly. These circumstances work as contributory factors for their children to flee from their homes," he added.

Luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Tuesday said that its January-March 2017 sales grew by one per cent to 3,650 units, supported by strong sales momentum in the SUV segment.

"2017 began with a positive drive and we are confident of bettering our sales performance in the coming months," Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Roland Folger, was quoted as saying in a statement.

"With new product introductions coupled with the availability of the all-new long wheelbase E-Class, we are confident that our growth momentum continues," he added.

Australian minister Simon Birmingham on Tuesday awarded a three-year scholarship worth AU$1.1 million (Rs. 53,315,968.06) to 11 Indian students while leading a high-level delegation visit to the TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre (TDNBC) here.

The visit marked the celebration of the Indo-Australian academic and research alliance. The TERI Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre, the most advanced in the world, was inaugurated by the Indian and Australian Prime Ministers on Monday.

The scholarships are awarded to Ph.D students engaged in research programmes at the TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre. These students are currently enrolled at Deakin University under the Deakin India Research Initiative (DIRI), which was launched in India in 2009. DIRI builds on Deakin University's world-leading expertise in material sciences, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

While addressing the gathering, Education and Training Minister Birmingham said: "The TERI Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre facility is not incredible because we are commissioning bricks and mortar, it's incredible because of the brains, the students, the knowledge that is embedded within the facility, and the potential that they (students) are going to realise in so many different ways."

Under the program, each student is provided with a full tuition fee waiver from Deakin University up to an amount of approximately AU$100,000 for a period of three years. During the program, the students travel to Deakin University in Australia for a period of six to eight months during their Ph.D to work closely with their Deakin supervisor.

Elaborating on the scholarship programme, Vice Chancellor of Deakin University Jane den Hollander AO said, "The three-year scholarship programme is predominantly designed to equip the best of the talent with advanced research facilities. Under this programme, Deakin University and TERI will provide joint supervision to the students. TDNBC envisions meeting the demand for a global, skilled workforce in nanobiotechnology."

TERI Director General Ajay Mathur further added, "Within five years, the Centre aims to have a number of researchers, including Ph.D students, enrolled at Deakin. With its cutting edge technology at the disposal of these bright minds, this Centre will help India make a mark on the global map for building new capabilities and bringing new innovations in the field of science and technology."

Besides this, researcher's residences at TDNBC with an accommodation for 50 residents, was also inaugurated by the minister on Tuesday.

Motivated by Sanju Samson’s maiden IPL century, Delhi Daredevils’ impeccable bowling unit guided them to a thumping 97-run win over Rising Pune Supergiant in an IPL 2017 encounter at the MCA Stadium on Tuesday.

Captain Zaheer Khan and experienced spinner Amit Mishra claimed three wickets each, while pacer Pat Cummins joined in with two dismissals to power the Daredevils to their first victory of the season.

All-rounder Chris Morris, who contributed with a swift 38-run knock off just nine balls in the first innings, dismissed RPS opener Mayank Agarwal (20) with his right-arm medium fast bowling.

Spinner Shahbaz Nadeem took the scalp of Rahul Tripathi (10) to join the party.

In front of the home crowd, Pune suffered their second consecutive defeat of the season as earlier they lost to KXIP, that too miserably by a six-wicket margin.

Agarwal remained the highest scoring batsman in RPS line-up as they lost for of their batsmen for a single-digit score.

RPS' star campaigners Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni also failed to deliver as they lost their wickets cheaply for 10, two and 11 runs respectively.

Earlier, Delhi batsman Samson smashed his maiden T20 century to lift his team to a gigantic score of 205/4.

The 22-year-old batsman from Kerala slammed five sixes and eight boundaries in his 63-ball inspiring knock of 102 runs.

Delhi started with a slump as they lost both their openers Aditya Tare and Sam Billings cheaply for a duck and 24 runs respectively.

However, Samson built a foundation partnership stand (69 runs) with Billings for the second-wicket.

Rishabh Pant, who scored 57 runs in Delhi's last outing, scored causative 31 runs on Tuesday. He hit two sixes and boundary to excite the Pune spectators.

For Pune, spin duo of Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa claimed one wicket each, while pacer Deepak Chahar took the scalp of DD opener Tare.

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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat reached his  native village Khirasain in district Pauri, for the first time after assuming the top post, on Tuesday. The trip made the CM sentimental as it was the place where he was born and spent a major part of his life. The trip took Trivendra on a emotional journey of his childhood- the place where he used to play and fight with friends.  Thrilled villagers gave the CM a rousing welcome on his arrival on Thursday.

Trivendra last came to list village one and half year back. Khirasain is a small mountain village with a small population of about 60-70 persons. The village is located about 62 Kms from district headquarters Pauri. 

CM Trivendra Rawat announced many development projects for his village and region. Among it was a bridge connecting Khirasain, a lake on Nayar river, twice a month heath camp and speeding up work of Bharavgarhi drinking water project.

Trivendra Rawat said, “It is a great feeling to be among relatives and my villagers. Village play a big contribution in life of any individual. At this place I spent my childhood and grew up.” 

After one of their sons becoming Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Khirasain natives have started dreaming big. They are hopeful that many basic amenities will reach this remote village to make life of local residents comfortable.

The Centre is committed to ensure 24×7 affordable, quality and uninterrupted power, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said while inaugurating a rural feeder monitoring scheme here on Tuesday.

Goyal said the Centre has asked power distribution companies to devise a system so that consumers can be intimated about expected power cuts and their duration. They should also be intimated after the power cuts end. In this system, the consumer could also view real time power outages in any part of the country and lodge a complaint on power outages in his area, the minister said.

“I would like to urge all the states to join in this excellent initiative to be a part of this effort so that anywhere in the country, if there is a problem of power outage, the people know about it in advance. It will help save many lives in hospitals, help people better plan their lives,” the minister said.

Goyal said it would monitor the quantity and quality parameters of power supply in rural areas of the country. The entire data would also be hosted on National Power Portal (NPP) on real time basis and may be accessed by various stake holders through web services. In order to facilitate real time communication of faults appearing in power supply, the government has set December 2017 as the deadline to achieve cent per cent rural feeder monitoring by installing additional meters and modems on all feeders across the country, he said. These meters would be geo-tagged to pinpoint the cause and location of the fault and address it at the earliest, the minister said.

Parliament passed the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2017, seeking to prevent any injustice against HIV or AIDS infected persons on Tuesday with the Lok Sabha passing it. The Bill had got the Rajya Sabha's nod on 21 March.

Political party representatives cutting across party lines give their stamp of approval for the Bill that, among others things, seeks to make injustice against HIV patients a punishable offence with jail term ranging from 3 months to two years and fine or both.

In his reply to members’ submission on various aspects of the Bill and their suggestions, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda said the passage of the Bill marked a ‘historic’ day in the country’s fight against the killer disease that has assumed alarming proportions in India.

Though the Bill does not provide for free treatment for persons affected with HIV, Nadda during his speech said it would be provided to patients. In his verbal commitment the minister said: “We do not have to write this in the Bill…We stand committed [to free treatment for HIV positive patients).”

Earlier, while introducing the Bill, Nadda called it ‘progressive’ and people-centric. He said the bill would ensure an ‘aggressive strategy’ with accountability at the Central and state levels with provisions for mandatory testing and counseling for HIV patients by the government.

The minister said the Bill will also provide for screening of yet to be born children to ensure that the disease is not transmitted to children from HIV infected mothers. It would also make sure that rights of HIV children and persons over property is legally safeguarded.

Praising IPL debutant Rashid Khan's performance as a leg-spinner in the two games he played so far, Sunrisers Hyderabad chief coach Tom Moody on Tuesday said he was not surprised at the Afghanistan bowler's early success in the cash-rich T20 League.

"I am not surprised, and that's why we were keen to get him in the auction. I have seen him bowl a lot in the last 12 months. I was very impressed with what he's capable of doing. He and Mohammed Nabi are a couple of reasons why Afghanistan have grown as a cricketing team, said Moody ahead of his side's face-off against Mumbai Indians here tomorrow.

Moody pointed out that the two-way turn generated by Khan while disguising his bowling action, has been one of the reasons for him troubling the opposition batsmen.

"Generally, most leg-spinners turn it both ways and that's one advantage (with having leg spinners). The other advantage is if you are a spinner like Rashid and can spin both ways with ability to disguise which way it's going to turn, it makes it doubly difficult for any batsman, he said.

"It's one of the reasons that Sunil Narine, though he's not a leg spinner, is such a handful over such a long period of time. He turns it both ways, with mystery. Rashid has got a very good wrong one and he's also got a good leggie. He generally bowls a lot quicker than leg-spinners which suited Indian wickets. And obviously he has found some good form early, he added.

Khan has so far bagged five wickets in two matches which were won by SRH — against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Lions.

"He, like any spinner, is going to be challenged on smaller grounds, but the surface here offers something for spin; it bounces and turns a bit and he will relish the conditions. With T20 cricket there are going to be times you will be hit out of the ground; how you respond to that is most important, he replied when asked about how Rashid will cope up with bowling on small grounds like the Wankhede Stadium.

The two back-to-back wins has given the team a good momentum, Moody said, adding that he was not worried about his side's lack of success in the matches they had played at this ground in the past.

"If we can get some early wins on board in a tournament like the IPL, it's certainly goes in increasing the confidence within the playing group and also builds some momentum.

"What's happened in past is not relevant to what is going to happen tomorrow; it's a different team and a few different players. It's about time for it to be rectified and we would look forward to that being an additional challenge."

SRH will be boosted by the arrival of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman who is available for the game.

"He's reaching this evening. He will be fit and available and he is in our consideration for final eleven," said Moody.

Describing Yuvraj Singh as a "dynamic" player, Moody felt the swashbuckling batsman has sported a relaxed demeanour after joining the team midway through the last IPL after recovering from an ankle injury.

"Yuvraj missed the first half of tournament last year due to ankle injury. When he joined us I saw a sense of contentment with himself and with his game. He was relaxed and enjoyed the environment with Sunrisers.

"I think he's enjoying his cricket which is very important for any young or old player. When they are enjoying they are at their best. Yuvraj is content with everything, on and off field. He's in pretty happy place and obviously an important member of our side as he's such a dynamic player," said Moody.

Barcelona’s preparations for the El Clasico at the end of April took a major hit as the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Tuesday announced that star forward Neymar has been suspended for three games.

The 23-year-old Brazilian was sent off for two bookable offences in Barcelona’s 2-0 loss at Malaga over the weekend and with the match referee’s final report on the match to be analysed during the week, there were fears that the mercurial forward would be given an added suspension.

While his first yellow card was a deliberate attempt to delay Malaga from taking a free kick by tying his shoelaces, his second was a cynical challenge on a Malaga defender as he lost his cool after being on the receiving end of a few rough challenges.

With Real Madrid three points clear of Barcelona in the La Liga rankings, despite having played a game less, the decision to suspend Neymar for three games could not have come at a worse time.

Since the suspension applies to domestic competitions only, Neymar is free to take part in both legs of Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal against Serie A side Juventus.

The games he is set to miss are: Real Sociedad (16 April), Real Madrid (23rd April) and Osasuna (26 April).

While Barcelona are expected to appeal the decision, it is unlikely their appeal will be successful and they will just have to make do without the talented Brazilian for the aforementioned games.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Tuesday slammed Pakistan for awarding death sentence to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, terming it a "kangaroo trial" and "sham justice".

"I recall a statement by Sartaj Aziz in December 2016 where he said that there is not enough evidence against Kulbhushan. I think we should dig out the statement and carry that statement," said Chidambaram briefing mediapersons.

"Now, from a statement which says that there is not evidence to legally proceed against Kulbhushan to a death penalty given by military tribunal whose jurisdiction to try a foreigner is seriously in doubt, is a huge leap," he added.

Chidambaram slammed Pakistan saying: "I think the world knows that this was a kangaroo trial. His (Jadhav) trial never took place at all. And the so-called justice meted out to Kulbhushan is a sham justice.

"The whole nation condemns Pakistan for conducting this mock or kangaroo trial and inflicting the maximum penalty upon an admitted citizen, who according to reports, was perhaps kidnapped from a third country and not arrested in territory controlled by Pakistan," he added.

Chidambaram said: "We hope that good sense will prevail and that the death penalty imposed by this sham tribunal will not be carried out. This I am saying in the fervent hope and prayer that Kulbhushan is still alive."

Asked if this reflected a failure on the part of the central government, Chidambaram said: "That would be too strong a statement. I am sure they must have made efforts. I do not know. But if they have made efforts, I am sure they will tell Parliament what efforts they made.

Delhi Daredevils' batsman Sanju Samson smashed his maiden T20 century to lift his team to a gigantic score of 205/4 against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) at the MCA Stadium on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old batsman from Kerala slammed five sixes and eight boundaries in his 63-ball inspiring knock of 102 runs.

In the middle-order, DD all-rounder Chris Morris added swift 38 runs (not out) off just nine balls from last two overs.

Delhi started with a slump as they lost both their openers Aditya Tare and Sam Billings cheaply for a duck and 24 runs respectively.

However, Samson built a foundation partnership stand (69 runs) with Billings for the second-wicket.

Rishabh Pant, who scored 57 runs in Delhi's last outing, scored causative 31 runs on Tuesday. He hit two sixes and boundary to excite Pune spectators.

For Pune, spin duo of Imran Tahir and Adam Zampa claimed one wicket each, while pacer Deepak Chahar took the scalp of DD opener Tare.

The Group of Seven believes military intervention cannot end Syria's brutal civil war and that Russia should be involved in a political solution to the conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said on Tuesday.

"We don't believe that the military solution is the right one," Alfano told journalists after chairing a round of G7 talks in the Tuscan city of Lucca.

The Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan also attended the talks.

"There is the will by all parties (at the talks) to take forward a political, not a military process," Alfano stated.

Officials at the G7 talks agreed that including Syria's ally Russia in negotiations was crucial, Alfano said.

"Russia must not be isolated and on the contrary must be involved in the political transition process in Syria, in so far as this is possible," he said.

The G7 officials agreed that Russia must exert strong pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if it wants to end the more than six year long conflict, but stopped short of threatening Moscow and Damascus with more sanctions.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was due to fly to Moscow from Italy on Tuesday to hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, amid mounting tensions with Russia over the US missile strikes against a Syrian air base last week, days after a suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town in northern Syria that killed over 80 people.

During the G7 talks, Tillerson insisted the Syrian President could not play a part in the country's future, a position shared by the group.

"It is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end," Tillerson stated.

He also won support over the retaliatory strike in Syria, which he called "necessary as a matter of US national security interest".

At the start of the two-day conference, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged targeted sanctions against senior Russian and Syrian figures but the proposal failed to make headway.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that the government has no immediate plans of enacting a new law or amending existing laws to specifically deal with the attacks on journalists.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on the attacks on media persons, particularly in Bihar, Ahir said the government has no provisions for providing jobs to the kin of a murdered journalist.

"Right now there are no such plans," said Ahir in reply to a poser by Baijayant Jay Panda of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) if the government was planning to amend or modernise existing laws to deal with the growing attacks on journalists.

"We believe, the existing laws are adequate to protect all of us including journalists. Despite that, amendments are made in the laws and it is a continuous process. When such opportunity may come, there may be changes," Ahir said.

The Minister informed the house that in 2014 a total of 114 cases of attacks on journalists were registered and 32 persons were arrested in this connection. In 2015, the total cases registered were 28, and the number of persons arrested was 41.

"There is no provision in the country or in any state about the government providing monetary compensation or job to the kin of a murdered journalist. Such responsibility lies with the organisation which had employed the journalist," Ahir told Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Om Prakash Yadav.

Egypt's Parliament approved on Tuesday a three-month state of emergency, two days after church bombings killed at least 45 people.

The cabinet announced on Monday that the decision went into force from 1.00 p.m. on that day, but it required parliamentary approval according to the constitution.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared the measure in a televised address on Sunday following the attacks, Xinhua reported.

"This is only to protect our country and prevent any targeting of its capabilities," Sisi said.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has called for exceptional and firm measures to fight terrorism in Egypt in a statement he delivered at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

"It is clear Egypt is facing an unprecedented and a fierce terror attack that aims to undermine its stability," the premier added.

The approved state of emergency will sure give State institutions more flexibility in handling enemies of the homeland, Ismail told parliament.

On Sunday, twin suicide bombing at two churches in Delta province of Gharbiya and Alexandria province in northern Egypt killed at least 45 and wounded over 120.