Government think-tank Niti Aayog is at an advanced stage of finalising three-year action plan and the 15 year vision document for the country, Parliament was informed on Monday.

It will also unveil a seven-year strategy document.

Government has decided to do away with the practice of preparing annual budgets on the basis of five-year plans from the current fiscal. Financial year 2016-17 was the terminal fiscal of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

“The three year action plan along with seven year strategy and 15 year vision document is at an advanced stage of finalisation,” Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

He said that in accordance with the National Development Agenda, the government had decided to formulate a Vision Document beyond March 31, 2017.

The vision document will have a 15-year perspective, up to 2030; a seven-year strategy paper for achievement of the Agenda (from 2017-18 to 2023-24) and a three-year Action Plan beyond March 31, 2017 for overall development of the country, he said.

Singh said consultations with stakeholders have been done by Niti Aayog including eminent economists, business editors, agriculture experts in the science, technology as well as innovation sector, experts in defence and internal security matters and states and UTs.

Fresh iron ore to the tune of 20 million tons was extracted during the financial year 2016-17, an indication that Goa's mining industry is getting back on the track.

The Supreme Court which is currently monitoring the iron ore extraction and has fixed a limit of 20 million tons per annum for the trade which was earlier embroiled in the controversy over largescale illegalities.

“The target of 20 million tons has already been achieved by the mine owners during the last fiscal which generated royalty of Rs.340 crores for the state,” Director of Mines and Geology Prasanna Acharya told PTI on Monday.
The industry players are hoping that the SC increases the ceiling on the export of the ore, he said.

The Directorate of Mines and Geology officials last week held a meeting with the mining firms to decide the plan of production and transportation for the current financial year 2017-18.

“An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court has recommended enhancing the production limit and the matter is before the apex court for consideration,” Acharya told the mine owners during the meeting, the minutes of which are available with PTI.

“Hence, it is the duty of the department and the industry to equitably distribute the production in eight months of the new financial year as mining activities are not carried out during the monsoon season from June to September,” he said assuring that the new maximum limit of production on lease to lease basis would be distributed shortly.

The SC appointed Expert Committee in its report submitted in 2014-15 has proposed that the fresh production limit can go upto 27 million tons.

Currently, there are total 44 mining leases that have commenced its operation this season. 

Actress Deepika Padukone, who runs the Live Love Laugh Foundation, has urged people to provide love and care to those suffering mental illness.

Having battled depression at an early stage in her career, the actress started the Live Love Laugh Foundation with the aim to create awareness, de-stigmatise depression and encourage those afflicted with mental health issues to seek help.

On World Health Day last week, Deepika joined hands with the Karnataka government to spread the message.

Talking about this, she said in a statement: "Depression can strike anyone regardless of their age, background or economic status. Unfortunately, those who suffer from depression and other mental health issues face prejudice and discrimination."

Recent initiatives by the government show that the authorities are committed to addressing and combating the imposing challenge that depression presents. I hope together we create an environment where people afflicted with mental illnesses feel comfortable, safe and loved."

After making her Hollywood debut with the film xXx: Return of Xander Cage earlier this year, the actress is busy with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historic period drama Padmavati, which also stars Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor.

Welcoming Canada's Ontario Assembly's decision to treat the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a “genocide", Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday said the widespread massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and some other parts  of the country in November 1984 was “most certainly a genocide of the community in vast numbers.”

Reacting to the Ontario parliament’s decision to treat  the 1984 massacre as a “genocide”, Badal said, “We are indeed grateful to the authorities and the people of Ontario for this very touching gesture of compassion and solidarity. They have called this shameful chapter by its right name and they deserve our thanks. Every Indian, except those guilty of this tragedy,  regards it as a genocide,” said Badal in a statement.

The former deputy chief minister also requested the Government of India to formally acknowledge this shameful massacre of Sikhs as “a brutal genocide.”“There is no doubt about this in anyone’s mind that the Congress planned and executed a genocide of the Sikhs in 1984. Senior leaders of that party holding top positions in the government of India actively facilitated,  directed and even participated in this gruesome genocide. Orders for this genocide had  come from the very top in the government," the SAD president said.

The entire world was shocked when the then Prime Minister (PM) Rajiv Gandhi publicly justified  this inhuman genocide  as “a natural reaction to the falling of a big tree (Indira Gandhi’s assassination). Another  PM Manmohan Singh later had to  apologise for this to the nation, said Badal.

The Ontario Assembly on Thursday has passed a motion that recognises the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India that killed over 2,500 people, as genocide. It was moved by Harinder Malhi, an MP from Brampton-Springdale district.

Flipkart-Snapdeal merger rumours have been buzzing around since last few days. The ongoing negotiation, for sale of Snapdeal to its larger competitor Flipkart, have been making employees nervous of losing their jobs due to consolidation. Now it's out, Flipkart is buying Snapdeal to strengthen its muscles in highly competitive e-commerce market.

The initiator of the talks is Softbank Corp, which is a Japanese investor in Snapdeal, wants US-based Tiger Global, the biggest investor in Flipkart, to consider a merger, according to media reports.

But what really triggered the talks? Is it just a process to lead the e-commerce industry? The answer is No.

Snapdeal has been struggling to sustain in the growing market since a few years.

“Over the last two-three years, with all the capital coming into this market, our entire industry, including ourselves, started making mistakes,” Snapdeal founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, said in a letter to their employees.

“We also started diversifying and starting new projects while we still hadn’t perfected the first or made it profitable,” they added.

Snapdeal has nearly one million customers on its site daily. The company posted losses of nearly Rs.3,000 crore in financial year 2015-16 which is double that of the previous year.

The deal could be profitable as rationalising infrastructure, generating operational efficiency, lower store expenses and savings in energy cost will give both the companies an opportunity to compete with other players in the industry.

Meanwhile, Flipkart has over 100 million customers and other troubles. The deal will give Flipkart an opportunity to fight with its direct competitor Amazon.

Amazon has managed to maintain its growth by providing a massive selection for the shoppers with low prices.

In online space, customer doesn’t care for the company but thinks of low price and better quality. To ensure long-term profits in the industry, the deal may be helpful for the companies to gain handsome profits.

India's largest e-commerce firm Flipkart has raised $1.4 billion from Tencent Holdings, Microsoft Corp and eBay Inc amid speculation that the online marketplace is in talks to take over smaller rival Snapdeal.

The biggest-ever fund raising by an Indian Internet firm values Flipkart at $11.6 billion, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The valuation was a decline from Flipkart's $15 billion reported worth in 2015.

Prior to the latest round of funding, it had raised more than $3 billion, mostly from international investors.
eBay will invest $500 million in Flipkart as the two firms will merge their operations in the country. As part of the deal, Flipkart will own and operate eBay's business in India when the deal closes later this year.

Besides giving Flipkart capital to fight competition from US Internet giant Amazon, the fund raising comes amid speculation that the homegrown e-commerce firm is in talks to buy out Snapdeal, which is backed by Japan's Softbank Group.

Launched by two former Amazon employees in 2007, Flipkart's biggest investor is US hedge fund Tiger Global. Its other investors include Accel Partners, DST Global and Baillie Gifford.

Earlier this year, Tiger Global appointed Kalyan Krishnamurthy as the chief executive of the 10-year old online marketplace to replace the position held by one of the company's founders.

As per industry watchers, the fresh funding may have come at a lower valuation but it is giving an indication of a turnaround under Krishnamurthy.

“This is a landmark deal for Flipkart and for India as it endorses our tech prowess, our innovative mindset and the potential we have to disrupt traditional markets,” Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal said.

The latest funding round is the largest in Flipkart's 10-year history as well as in the country's Internet sector, Flipkart said in a statement.

China's Tencent — which has also participated in this round — owns social messaging app WeChat and has investment in various Indian online companies like Practo and Ibibo.

For eBay, the deal would see Flipkart acquiring its buyers in India after the close of the transaction. Flipkart will continue to operate eBay.in as an independent entity.

“eBay and Flipkart have also entered into an exclusive agreement in which they will jointly pursue cross-border trade opportunities to make eBay's global inventory accessible to more India consumers,” eBay said in a statement.

With over 100 million customers, Flipkart owns fashion retailers Myntra and Jabong, logistics firm Ekart and payments app PhonePe.

The announcement comes at a time when Indian Internet companies have seen funding dry-up over the last few months as investors focus extensively on profitability and rationalisation of expenses.

Coupled with intense competition from deep-pocketed global rivals such as Amazon, companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal could face more heat in the coming days.

Flipkart and Snapdeal, like many other players, continue to report substantial losses as they pump in funds for building logistics infrastructure and marketing blitz.

Flipkart is also believed to be in talks to buy out Snapdeal that has SoftBank as a prominent shareholder.

The deal, if materialises, would mark the biggest acquisition in the Indian e-commerce space.

Gartner Research Director Sandy Shen said although India's e-commerce market is still at an early stage, the market is seeing signs of consolidation as scale is a key success factor in the business.

Flipkart has been and will continue to make acquisitions to increase scale and the next challenge is to strategise the path to a sustainable business model within a set timeframe, Shen said.

“Hopefully with the funding and expertise it is getting from the investors, it will be able to establish itself as a true market leader from both the technology and operational perspectives,” Shen added.

 A court here on Monday fixed April 24 to consider the CBI chargesheet against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and others in a disproportionate assets case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the chargesheet last month in the court of Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal.

The matter was fixed for April 24 as scrutiny of documents could not be completed.

Besides Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Lawan Kumar Roach, Vakamullah Chandrashekhara and Ram Prakash Bhatia have been chargesheeted in the case.

The CBI had booked the accused on the charge of abetment to crime and forgery under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI had registered the case on September 23, 2016, after a preliminary inquiry found that Virbhadra Singh, during his term as Union Steel Minister from 2009 to 2012, allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Virbhadra Singh had on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order that rejected his plea to quash the FIR in the case.

Virbhadra Singh, a veteran Congress leader, has challenged the March 31 Delhi High Court order that also vacated a Himachal Pradesh High Court order of October 1, 2015, restraining the CBI from arresting, interrogating or filing a chargesheet in the case without the court's permission.

Four Pakistani terrorists attempting to infiltrate the Indian territory were on Monday killed by the army in the Keran sector of Kupwara district in North Kashmir.

A spokesman for the Northern Command of the army said that four heavily armed terrorists in Pakistan army snow uniform were shot dead when they tried to infiltrate through the Line of Control (LOC).

The spokesman said that the area is being combed to ascertain whether any other terrorist was there. He said that the alerted troops detected a group of terrorists trying to infiltrate across the LOC and foiled the bid. The army in the valley has been kept on high alert because of the by-election and the violence that has broke out.

The infiltration attempt comes just few hours after the death of eight persons and injury to more than 120, including 100 security personnel, in the election related violence yesterday. Polling for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat is scheduled on 12 April.

Kulbhushan Jadhav, a former Indian naval officer arrested in Pakistan, will be hanged to death as he has been given the death sentence by the Field General Court Martial (FGCM) on Monday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a Field General Court Martial awarded the capital punishment and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had confirmed the death sentence.

Here is a sequence of events that led to Kulbhushan Jadhav's fate thus far:

Jadhav was arrested on 3 March 2016 in Balochistan's Mashkel area after he entered from Iran. He was accused by Pakistan of creating unrest in Balochistan and Karachi.

Jadhav was tried by FGCM under section 59 of the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) 1952 and Section 3 of the official Secret Act of 1923.

The Indian Government believed he was picked up from Iran. Despite repeated requests for consular access to Jadhav, Indian diplomats were not allowed to meet him.

India acknowledged Jadhav as a retired navy man, but denied that he was in any way connected to the government.

Jadhav's Indian passport was in the name of Hussein Mubarak Patel.

Islamabad alleged that Jadhav, who retired in 2013, was an active agent of India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

In March 2016, Islamabad released a video footage of Jadhav and said he revealed how India engineers violence and separatism in the restive province of Balochistan.

Jadhav joined the Indian National Defence Academy in 1987 and was commissioned in the engineering branch of Indian Navy in 1991.

After 14 years of service, he launched intelligence operations in 2003 and established a small business in Iran, according to sources.

(With inputs from agencies)

Punjab's opposition party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday said the killing of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere in November 1984 was "most certainly a genocide".

SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister, urged the government of India to "formally acknowledge this shameful massacre of Sikhs as a brutal genocide".

Reacting to Canada's Ontario Provincial Parliament's decision to treat the 1984 killings as a 'genocide', Sukhbir Singh Badal said the party is grateful to authorities and people of Ontario for this "very touching gesture" of compassion and solidarity. 

"They have called this shameful chapter by its right name and they deserve our thanks. Every Indian, except those guilty of this tragedy, regards it as a genocide," he said.

"There is no doubt that the Congress planned and executed a genocide of the Sikhs in 1984. Senior party leaders, holding top positions in the then government of India, actively facilitated, directed and even participated in this gruesome genocide. Orders for the genocide came from the very top in the then government," the Akali leader said in a statement here.

Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots in Delhi and some other places after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh bodyguards in New Delhi on October 31, 1984.

Harinder Malhi, member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament, moved a private member's motion in the 107-member house on Thursday last, which was passed by 34 votes in favour and five against.

India on Friday rejected the Canadian provincial assembly's motion that described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a "genocide".

"We have noted the passage of a private member's motion in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on April 6," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. 

"We reject this misguided motion based on a limited understanding of India, its Constitution, society, ethos, rule of law and the judicial process," he said.

"Our views have been conveyed to the government and political leadership in Canada."

There are around 1.2 million people of Indian origin settled in Canada and around 500,000 of them are from Punjab.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat called on his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath here on Monday – in the first meeting between the two BJP leaders.

The two Bharatiya Janata Party Chief Ministers were closeted for over 40 minutes, an official told IANS. The meeting went beyond the courtesy call and both discussed serious issues like the contentious division of properties that has been hanging fire for the past 17 years.

Both sides are hopeful that with the neighbouring states having BJP governments, the impasse will be resolved at the earliest. 

On a two-day visit to the state capital, Rawat said he was very optimistic that the long-standing issues between the two states will be resolved soon.

The issues that are yet to be resolved between Uttar Pradesh and the hill state of Uttarakhand are related to the irrigation department, rural development department, Panchayati Raj and Industrial Development. Uttar Pradesh is still retaining two guest houses, 36 irrigation canals, 214 hectare of land and 266 houses.
 

Hinting at Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann, Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos said the record European football champions' "doors are always open" for the best in the business.

There has been talk of the France star moving to Real with his adviser claiming last week that the Madrid heavyweights — along with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Barcelona — had asked about the 26-year-old's availability.

"We will see — to talk about future signings would be to give you many front page stories.

"He is a great player and has been showing that through these years. Madrid's doors are always open to the best players. I want the best players in my team, whether they play for the neighbours or live with my aunt," Ramos was quoted as saying by espnfc on Sunday.

Griezmann spoiled Real Madrid's plans to consolidate their lead at the top of the Spanish League table by scoring the equaliser in Saturday's 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Actress Swara Bhaskar, who has turned 29, says she spent her special day with her ailing maternal grandmother who is admitted to a hospital here.

Swara turned a year older on Sunday.

"Our whole family has been by my nani's (grandmother) side at this time. So there is no question of celebration, but it was really kind and thoughtful of all the staff and the doctors to get a cake for me and do a small cake cutting in the premises," Swara said in a statement.

"They are doing a tremendous job caring for my grandmother and our whole family is deeply grateful to them. We're all praying for her," she added.

Swara, who has recently delivered a powerhouse performance in Anaarkali of Aarah, will next be seen on screen in romantic comedy Aapkey Kamrey Mein Koi Rehta Hai, which has been directed by Gaurav S Sinha.

Going by the speculation that is doing the rounds in the telecom market, Finnish giant, Nokia, has collaborated with Bharti Airtel and BSNL to launch 5G network service for its customers in India.

As per media reports, for its comeback Nokia has signed memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with the two Indian telecom networks to rollout 5G services across India effectively. The introductory phase of the 5G network is expected to begin by 2019-2020.

The announcement came during the Mobile World Congress 2017, held between Feb-March.

“Thoughts behind these MoUs would be to introduce 5G here, and what are the steps required for the same, besides identifying applications to define the target segment, which will lead to a complete 5G strategy for telco,” Sanjay Malik, head of India Market, Nokia was quoted as saying by a national daily.

Confirming the partnership, Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman of BSNL said, "After 4G, the future is 5G and IoT, which is useful in the concept such as smart cities…The MoU will help BSNL to draw a framework for transition from the current network to futuristic 5G network."

In order to understand the requirement among India’s stakeholders on 5G, Nokia will set up an R&D centre in Bengaluru. Trials of field and content and application will start aorund 2018.

Nokia will soon too unveil new smartphone models-3310, Nokia 3 and Nokia. India is expecting the launch of 5G by 2019-2022. 

The Indo-Bangladesh ties will undergo “another transformation” if a pact on Teesta water sharing is inked, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Monday but is anxious over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's reaction to such an agreement.

Stressing that common water resources must act as a uniting force, she pitched for a comprehensive solution to sharing of waters of all common rivers between the two countries.

“We strongly believe our common water resources must act as a uniting force. A comprehensive, basin-wide solution with an in-built solution to water sharing of all common rivers holds key to our common future,” she said while addressing an event here.

On the Teesta issue, Hasina said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again reiterated his government's strong resolve to conclude the water-sharing treaty as soon as possible.

“Once it happens, the phase of Indo-Bangladesh relations will undergo another transformation,” she said.
In a lighter vein, Hasina said she does not know how Banerjee, who is reportedly not in favour of Teesta water sharing, will react to her submission about the pact.

“I don't know what 'didi' (Banerjee) will do. Had a talk with didi, she put forward something new. But Modiji has given the assurance that he is there to see what happens,” she said.

However, the Bangladesh PM said at least Banerjee offered her electricity from West Bengal. “Paani mangaa to electricity mila. Laykin electricity milaa achha hai kutch toh mila naa (we asked for water, she gave us power but at least we got something)” Hasina said.

While Modi has rekindled the hope for an early signing of the pact, Banerjee insisted that instead of Teesta, the government should look at other river systems to share water with Bangladesh.

The Teesta deal was set to be signed during the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh in September 2011, but was postponed at the last minute due to objections by Banerjee.

Teesta waters are crucial for Bangladesh, especially in the leanest period from December to March when the water flow often temporarily comes down to less than 1,000 cusecs from 5,000 cusecs.

Hasina also asserted that her government has comprehensively addressed India's security concerns which was a factor in building trust.

“We have put in place a multi-layered and effective bilateral security architecture with many dedicated joint institutional mechanisms for targeted and coordinated actions,” she said.

Observing that the journey towards peace and prosperity is put to peril by the rise of terrorism and violent extremism, she said threats from state and non-state actors tend to undermine efforts to integrate regional economies and societies and pitched for more concerted efforts to strengthen security.

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Bill, 2017, which seeks to declare certain IIITS established under public-private partnership as institutions of national importance, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Moving the bill, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the bill was introduced with a view to developing new knowledge in information technology and to provide manpower of global standards for the information technology Industry.

He also introduced the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which seeks to amend the landmark 2009 law.

It was a star-studded affair, when the who’s who of Bollywood gathered at Karan Johar’s residence to celebrate the arrival of his children Yash and Roohi. But what grabbed the attention was the arrival of Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Rajput.

Kareena was seen entering Karan Johar’s residence along with hubby Saif Ali Khan and was soon followed by her former boyfriend Shahid Kapoor and his wife Mira Rajput. Presumably this was the first time that Mira and Kareena were partying under the same roof.

Lately, the two of them were caught in a word-war where they did not say things to each other directly but it was evident that they were taking digs at each other. Both Kareena and Mira have an entirely different take on motherhood and their difference of opinion on the same became the talk of the town.

Surprisingly, both of them became mothers for the first time in 2016.

Shahid and Kareena dated for almost four years. Although their break-up saddened their fans, both the actors are happy in their personal as well as professional spaces.

While Kareena and Shahid share a cordial equation now, one can only wonder how Mira and Kareena would have reacted on meeting each other for the first time!