Many colleges, institutions affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla are yet to provide information revealed the progress report of All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE).

In press release issued on Wednesday, AISHE, Nodal Officer Joginder Singh Dhiman said that the information was to be provided to portray the status of higher education in the country under the Ministry of Human Resource Development’s endeavour to conduct an annual web-based All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) since 2010-11.

The progress report of AISHE portal reveals that many of the colleges, institutes affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla have not yet uploaded the data on the AISHE portal, he added.

The survey covers all the institutions in the country engaged in imparting of higher education and the Data is being collected on several parameters such as teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, and infrastructure, he added.

Indicators of educational development, such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure will also be calculated from the data collected through AISHE.

He disclosed that these are useful in making informed policy decisions and research for development of education sector.

The process of collecting information, data for the survey for the years 2016-17 is in progress and the final deadline date by the government of India for uploading the information pertaining to your institute in the form of DCF-II in the web portal of AISHE has been set as 13 April, 2017.

He has asked all the Principals of the Colleges are hereby requested to complete the task of uploading the Data Capture Form (DCF)-II and III well before the last date through the Nodal Officers of the college, institute appointed by them.

Congress members in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday targeted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and pressed for a privilege motion against him over the Lokpal issue.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and another party member K C Venugopal raised the issue of Privilege Notice moved by the latter against Jaitley and pressed Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take a decision.

The Speaker said she will come back to them after Kharge wondered "why are you avoiding it?"

Venugopal said Jaitley had told the House that the Lokpal Bill is with a Standing Committee while the fact is that Parliament has passed it and the President has given his nod as well.

"It is beyond privilege," he said.

Jaitley was present in the House but did not speak.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said both the Congress leaders are well-versed with the rules governing privilege notices. "In due course it will be taken up.

The trailer of one of the most anticipated documentaries – I Am Ledger – is out. The documentary shows rare footages of the legendary method actor – Heath Ledger. The trailer delves into his life behind the camera. Interestingly, even the release date of I Am Ledger coincides with the actor’s birthday.

The posthumous Oscar winner, who passed away in 2008, before releasing of his final movie The Dark Knight, can be seen laughing, playing with cameras, shooting his own videos and even playing guitar in the newly released trailer.

The documentary includes interviews with Ledger’s friends, family and relatives, musician Ben Harper, model Christina Cauchi, actor Ben Mendelsohn, director Ang Lee and Heath’s own sister Kate Ledger, who recalled his life moments, while the trailer showcases Heath’s own interviews too.

Model Christina Cauchi, whom Heath dated back in 2000-2002, told actor’s passion for films as she says, “There were always cameras around — a video camera or a Polaroid camera or the film camera.”

On his acting skills, director Ang Lee says, "Even as the supporting actor, he will steal the whole show. That's the power of Heath Ledger.”

The documentary features Ben Harper’s song, Happily Ever After in Your Eyes, which Ben composed in 2005 on Heath Ledgers’ special request for his then newly born daughter.

Ledger, who played remarkable role of Joker in 2008 Nolan’s directed Batman film The Dark Knight, will always be, remembered for giving new lives to characters by acting so passionately.

There are masterpiece films, such as 10 things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale, Candy and Brokeback Mountain, which are hard to imagine without his contribution.

The documentary will be released at Tribeca Film Festival on April 23 and will be aired on Spike television on May 17.

An NCP member on Wednesday expressed concern over high vacancy of judges in various high courts of the country, saying the people were fast losing confidence in the system due to inordinate delays in delivery of justice.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Majeed Memon, who is also a noted lawyer, said the provision of speedy and inexpensive justice to the people was the solemn duty of the State in coordination with judiciary.

Citing figures of vacancies in different high courts of the country, the NCP member said in totality, the sanctioned strength of judges was 712 and vacancies were almost 300. He said there were 40 lakh pending cases in various courts.

"People are fast losing confidence in our judicial system due to inordinate delays in delivery of justice," he said.

Vacancies in various high courts and backlog of pending cases in various courts was a matter of serious concern for administration of justice, he said.

According to him, non-filling up of vacancies and non- sanctioning of increased strength of judges in various high courts was the main cause of growing pendency of cases.

"Law Minister has been heard saying that we have had record appointments this year. That will not do," Memon said, adding that the number of judges have to be proportionate to the ever-growing number of justice seekers.

"Why is the sanctioned strength not periodically revised? … Will the Law Minister explain why these vacancies are not filled up with the sense of expediency to improve the justice delivery system," the NCP member asked.

In his special mention, Rajeev Chandrasekhar raised the issue of environmental and ecological degradation in Western Ghats.

Ronald Sapa Tlau (Cong) raised the issue of 1305 Hindi teachers in Mizoram who have been on hunger strike since February 28 as they have not been paid salaries for 10 months.

They are also seeking continuation of their employment.

Tlau said the people from Northeastern states have huge problems in speaking Hindi and Mizos have the least knowledge.

Referring to insurgency, he said the propaganda of insurgency was to "teach hatred for Hindi and Hindu" and they were becoming "successful in many ways".

"Today some change has taken place in Mizoram. The change is for the positive," Tlau said, adding that many young people want to learn Hindi and join the national mainstream as by the virtue of culture, ethnicity and habit, they are very close to the far eastern countries.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi appreciated the Congress member for raising the issue and said the Centre will consult the state government to resolve the problem.

Coming down heavily on the BJP, on a day when the RSS and its right wing affiliates held Ram Navami celebrations across West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the party for "appropriating festivals" and accused it of insulting the 'Om' symbol by using it in political rallies.

"Do not hold Ram Navmi programme claiming the festival to be your exclusive thing. Do not try to incite unrest. For thousands of years, various religious organisations have been carrying on Ram Navmi rallies," she said at a public rally.

"There is no connection with the BJP.A Party is planting flags and placing 'Om' symbols. You can sit at home and chant 'Om'. How can they (BJP) use religious symbols in political rally?

Is 'Om' your zamindari? Is it your party's symbol ? Everybody chants 'Om'. Who has given you the right to insult the 'Om' symbol? Go to Election Commission and get the symbol then. They are using God's names in party rallies," said a fuming Banerjee.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for resorting to politics of divisiveness in Bengal.

"In UP, they (BJP) talk of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' and in Bengal they play divisive politics.. they want to divide the Hindus-Muslims… the Sikhs-Christians.

"One day if the Banerjees say that they have no relation with Chatterjees… if the tribals will say we will not live with Hindus… so on and so forth…. what will happen? Everything will shatter to pieces. The country will not remain united," she said, adding Basanti Puja was always celebrated in Bengal.

"Haven't we done Basanti puja? Is it something new? You should check. Basanti puja is the predecessor of present day Durga puja," she added.

Basanti Durga Puja is the celebration of Durga Puja during the spring time. It is a huge celebration in the eastern parts of India and especially in West Bengal. Basanti Durga puja coincides with the Vasant or Chaitra Navratri celebrations.
 

Ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy statement on Thursday, Indian equity markets continued their bullish trend and closed Wednesday’s trading session at record highs.

The NSE Nifty ended at record-closing high, up 27 points or 0.30 per cent at 9,265. The BSE Sensex closed 64 points or 0.21 per cent higher at 29,974.  

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices jumped 0.5 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Realty index closed with the biggest gain, up 4.1 per cent. Consumer Durables (up 2.4 per cent), Telecom (up 1.8 per cent), Capital Goods (up 1.5 per cent) and Auto (up 1.1 per cent) indices were other notable gainers. IT and Teck indices declined 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

On Monday also, the NSE Nifty had closed at record-closing high, up 69 points or 0.75 per cent at 9,243. The BSE Sensex had closed 290 points or 0.98 per cent higher at 29,910. Indian eqiuty markets ramined shut on Tuesday on account of Ram Navami holiday.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Adani Ports (up 4.5 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (up 4.4 per cent), Reliance Industries (up 3.2 per cent), L&T (up 2.2 per cent) and HUL (up 1.8 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: HDFC (down 2.8 per cent), Coal India (down 1.7 per cent), Infosys (down 1.4 per cent), Asian Paints (down 1 per cent) and ITC (down 1 per cent).

Asian markets ended with mixed moves. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index lost 0.9 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 0.6 per cent, Korea’s KOSPI index fell 0.4 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 per cent.

European markets opened with marginal gains. FTSE 100 and CAC 40 gained 0.3 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively while DAX index slipped 0.1 per cent.

Back home the Rupee closed 15 paise higher at 64.87 against the US Dollar.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday launched a new Saenuri Party, pledging to revive a bona fide conservative movement that would vindicate the former leader.

The preparatory committee for the establishment of the Saenuri Party held an inaugural ceremony here and appointed two representatives of a civic group as the co-chiefs, Yonhap news agency reported.

The former ruling Saenuri Party recently changed its name to the Liberty Korea Party. The word Saenuri was adopted by Park when she was the party chief in early 2012.

"The Liberty Korea Party and the Saenuri Party will compete for a free democracy as they are from the same roots," Representative Kim Jin-tae from the former ruling party said in a congratulatory message.

The Park loyalists, mostly elderly voters in their 60s or older, have held rallies against the impeachment and arrest of the former leader.

They have demanded the nullification of the impeachment and the release of Park after the constitutional court's March 10 rule.

Park was taken into custody for 13 charges including bribery, abuse of power and the disclosure of confidential information.

During the ceremony, Park supporters waved national flags and the Stars and Stripes together as seen in the past demonstrations hosted by rightist civic groups.

According to Xinhua news agency, the party members said they decided to enter the political mainstream as their protest rallies were of no use. They planned to make efforts to get the former President released.

The party has no lawmaker now. Even pro-Park lawmakers are affiliated with the Liberty Korea Party.

Tamil TV actress Nandhini's husband, Karthikeyan, reportedly committed suicide.

In a shocking turn of events, Karthikeyan consumed poison and reported dead on Monday. He left behind a suicide note where he blamed his father-in-law for his action.

The body was found on Tuesday morning by a lodge employee in Virugambakkam.

He suspected something wrong as Karthikeyan had not come out of his room for a long time.

Currently, the police is investigating the matter.

Nandhini said that he was involved in corrupt business practices. When she confronted him, he threatened to commit suicide and that is why her parents took her home with them.

She also said that Karthikeyan had an extra marital affair.

“Nobody, including my parents, knew about this incident so far. The girl he was involved with allegedly had also committed suicide.

“The police had arrested him. But, I didn’t tell anyone. I told others that he had gone to Dubai. All the secrets that I had buried in my heart are now coming out because of him,” she said, adding she kept offering him money from her earnings.

The 32 year-old Nandhini is famous for her role of Myna in Saravanan Meenatchi and is also one of the most popular comedians in the Tamil TV industry.

The two of them tied the knot after a short love affair but troubles started brewing in their married life.

Tamil TV actress Nandhini's husband, Karthikeyan, reportedly committed suicide.

In a shocking turn of events, Karthikeyan consumed poison and reported dead on Monday. He left behind a suicide note where he blamed his father-in-law for his action.

The body was found on Tuesday morning by a lodge employee in Virugambakkam.

He suspected something wrong as Karthikeyan had not come out of his room for a long time.

Currently, the police is investigating the matter.

Nandhini said that he was involved in corrupt business practices. When she confronted him, he threatened to commit suicide and that is why her parents took her home with them.

She also said that Karthikeyan had an extra marital affair.

“Nobody, including my parents, knew about this incident so far. The girl he was involved with allegedly had also committed suicide.

“The police had arrested him. But, I didn’t tell anyone. I told others that he had gone to Dubai. All the secrets that I had buried in my heart are now coming out because of him,” she said, adding she kept offering him money from her earnings.

The 32 year-old Nandhini is famous for her role of Myna in Saravanan Meenatchi and is also one of the most popular comedians in the Tamil TV industry.

The two of them tied the knot after a short love affair but troubles started brewing in their married life.

Already up in arms to build pressure on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign after the CBI filed charge sheet in Delhi High Court, the BJP on Wednesday said it would decide the future course of action after Bhoranj by poll (slated for 9 April).

Talking to mediapersons, state BJP's chief spokesperson and Nahan MLA, Rajeev Bindal said that it is for the first time in country that a CM who has been charge sheeted in corruption case in the High Court is sticking to power to misuse government agencies.

“In the last four years, the chief minister has only adopted tactics to delay the proceedings in the case by using all means to save his post. Singh has all along ignored the interests of the general public and development of the state as his entire focus has been to save his chair by hook or by crook,” he said.

Bindal said the leadership of the Congress party at the Centre and in the state seems to be indecisive on the issue and that’s why no decision has been taken against Virbhadra Singh on this issue.

“The allegations in corruption case against the chief minister are backed by strong evidence but still Singh is blaming BJP for the action and calling it vendetta politics,” he said.

The BJP leader said after each action against him by the investigating agencies, Singh has blamed them for political vendetta. “It seems all the agencies, CBI, ED, Income Tax department and anybody proceeding against him are wrong. And only chief minister and his coterie is right,” he said.

He said a section of Congress is eagerly awaiting Singh’s ouster to stake claim to the chief minister’s post. “The general public who are suffering due to the inefficiency of the government, are now fed with the neglect of basic necessities,” he said, adding no one in the government is ready to take blame for failure of government to ensure development of Himachal Pradesh.

When asked about BJP’s repeated demand to dismiss the Congress government and holding of fresh elections, Bindal said, “It is the right of the opposition party to oppose wrongdoings of the government and seek its dismissal for failing to cater to the needs of state.

Already up in arms to build pressure on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to resign after the CBI filed charge sheet in Delhi High Court, the BJP on Wednesday said it would decide the future course of action after Bhoranj by poll (slated for 9 April).

Talking to mediapersons, state BJP's chief spokesperson and Nahan MLA, Rajeev Bindal said that it is for the first time in country that a CM who has been charge sheeted in corruption case in the High Court is sticking to power to misuse government agencies.

“In the last four years, the chief minister has only adopted tactics to delay the proceedings in the case by using all means to save his post. Singh has all along ignored the interests of the general public and development of the state as his entire focus has been to save his chair by hook or by crook,” he said.

Bindal said the leadership of the Congress party at the Centre and in the state seems to be indecisive on the issue and that’s why no decision has been taken against Virbhadra Singh on this issue.

“The allegations in corruption case against the chief minister are backed by strong evidence but still Singh is blaming BJP for the action and calling it vendetta politics,” he said.

The BJP leader said after each action against him by the investigating agencies, Singh has blamed them for political vendetta. “It seems all the agencies, CBI, ED, Income Tax department and anybody proceeding against him are wrong. And only chief minister and his coterie is right,” he said.

He said a section of Congress is eagerly awaiting Singh’s ouster to stake claim to the chief minister’s post. “The general public who are suffering due to the inefficiency of the government, are now fed with the neglect of basic necessities,” he said, adding no one in the government is ready to take blame for failure of government to ensure development of Himachal Pradesh.

When asked about BJP’s repeated demand to dismiss the Congress government and holding of fresh elections, Bindal said, “It is the right of the opposition party to oppose wrongdoings of the government and seek its dismissal for failing to cater to the needs of state.

Vivo India has rolled out the Matte black V5Plus limited edition phone that will sport VIVOIPL logo engraved at the back of the phone. 

The VIVOIPL limited edition smartphone was launched to celebrate the first decade of the Indian Premiere League in the country. The limited edition smartphone will be available from April 10 on Flipkart, modern trade outlets and Vivo exclusive stores only. Its price in India will be announced around the same time.  

Currently available in gold colour, the 4G LTE Network device features a 13.87 cm 5.5 FHD display with Corning Gorilla glass and runs on Funtouch OS 3.0 operating system based on Android 6.0 and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Octa-core CPU.  With 20 MP Dual Front Camera and 16 MP Rear Camera, it is run on 4 GB RAM/64 GB ROM backed by 3055 mAh  Battery.

“The idea behind the launch of limited edition phone was to offer our consumers with not just the phone but an experience they can cherish for a life time. We have given strictest attention to the design and feel of the phone and
our focus is to offer an exclusive experience to the cricket crazy audience," Vivek Zhang, CMO, Vivo India, said.

How many times did you have a strange feeling or saw something and wondered if you had a word to describe it? Even the English dictionaries seem to be devoid of words to define such feelings. Turns out there are, in fact, words around the world that could help you express exactly what you are feeling. And no, they are not in English! Here is a list of words for feelings that does not exist in English.

Pena ajena: Ever felt embarrassed that your friend got humiliated? How do you show that feeling? Well, Mexicans have a word for it. It is called Pena ajena.

Cafune: This one is interesting and it is for the romantics out there. Ever seen couples running hands through their lovers’ hair? There’s a word for it. It is called Cafune and its Brazilian!

Gigil: Seen a baby and got an overwhelming feeling to pinch it? What about a teddy bear? If it has been impossible for you to express that feeling we have the word for you – Gigil and its Filipino.

Verschlimmbesserung: This one is a long one and that too German. Verschlimmbesserung means a supposed improvement made worse.

The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers plan to continue their uphill effort to exhume the House GOP's all-but-buried health care bill.

But the party seems adrift and divided for now over how to reshape it to attract enough votes to muscle it through the chamber.

White House officials and leading legislators plan to resume talks today.

They huddled for two hours in a Capitol basement meeting room. But they failed to cut a deal on a White House proposal to let states seek federal permission to drop coverage mandates that President Barack Obama's health care law slapped on insurers.

The White House offers got an uneven reception earlier from GOP moderates and conservatives. That dimmed prospects they could salvage one of their leading legislative priorities.

The Monetary Policy Committee, headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, began its 2-day meeting on Wednesday amid experts saying that the central bank is likely to hold the rate tomorrow while unveiling the first bi-monthly review of 2017-18 in view of hardening inflation.

Rising interest rate in the US provides sufficient indication that benchmark policy rate of the Reserve Bank of India is not going to go down but may increase in the future depending on domestic and external factors, experts said.

They were of the view, however, that RBI could announce some measures including standing deposit facility (SDF) to absorb additional liquidity in the system following demonetisation, announced on November 8, 2016.

According to various informal estimates about Rs.14 lakh crore has come back into the banking system.

HDFC Bank chief economist Abheek Barua said RBI is likely to keep the repo rate unchanged in its upcoming monetary policy review.

“In our view, the main focus of the central bank is likely to be on liquidity absorption in order to signal a neutral policy approach and for gaining additional headroom to intervene in the currency market,” he said.

This will be the fourth bi-monthly policy based on the recommendations of the 6-member MPC.

The government nominees on the Committee are Chetan Ghate, professor at the Indian Statistical Institute; Pami Dua, Director, Delhi School of Economics and Ravindra H Dholakia, professor at IIM-Ahmedabad, while RBI nominees are the Governor, Deputy Governor in-charge of monetary policy Viral A Acharya and Executive Director.

“I think that RBI will hold on to the interest rate in the upcoming policy,” Kotak Mahindra Bank Vice Chairman Uday Kotak told PTI.

Going forward, he said, the tinkering could be plus or minus 0.25 per cent depending on the evolving condition.

According to the head of another private sector lender, the central bank may not change rates on April 6.

In the last policy review on February 8, RBI had kept key interest rate on hold at 6.25 per cent.

Patel had said he would wait for more clarity on the inflation trend and impact of demonetisation on growth before making change in the key policy rate.

Wholesale inflation soared to a 39-month high of 6.55 per cent in February while retail inflation inched up to 3.65 per cent due to rise in food and fuel prices, leading to speculation that RBI will keep interest rate unchanged again in its April policy.

“Although the CPI inflation is likely to significantly undershoot the March 2017 target, we do not expect a repo rate cut in the upcoming policy review in April 2017, with the Monetary Policy Committee firmly focused on the medium term target of 4 per cent,” rating agency Icra's Managing Director Naresh Takkar said.

Crisil said that sharper-than-expected fall in inflation over the past few months has already started correcting as remonetisation gains currency and food price pressures could build anew if El Nino disrupts the south-west monsoon this year.

“To boot, core inflation, which has been sticky, could edge up if domestic demand. Given the predicament, we foresee CPI inflation averaging 5 per cent in fiscal 2018, 0.3 per cent higher than in fiscal 2017,” it said.

Monetary policy might have to clearly articulate the glide path to the 4 per cent CPI target in the medium term, it said.
Also, while fiscal policy and structural reforms, will be as crucial to quelling incipient inflation, it will take time for the benefits to work through an enduringly lower inflation,” it said.

Apart from the challenge of getting inflation down to 4 per cent, which was flagged by the RBI Governor at the last review, one of the biggest factors influencing the analysts seems to be the shift in the policy stance to neutral.

“The RBI surprised with a shift to a neutral stance in February. Rates will remain on hold at Aprils review,” analysts at Singaporean lender DBS said.

In Patel's first policy review as RBI Governor in October, which was also the maiden review of the MPC, the repo rate was reduced by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

Since then, the repo rate has been retained at 6.25 per cent. However, RBI has cut repo by 1.75 per cent since January 2015.

The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday staged a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex, protesting the slashing of interest rates on PPF and other small savings schemes.

TMC members of both the Houses raised slogans against the Centre's move which they said would hurt the common man and added that no action was being taken against the defaulters of non-performing assets (NPA).

They demanded withdrawal of the decision to cut interest rates on small savings schemes.

Senior TMC MP Saugata Roy also raised the issue during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier launched an attack on the Centre on the issue, claiming that the decision would lead to mushrooming of chit funds.

TMC had also organised a rally on the issue in Kolkata on April 3.

The government on Wednesday introduced separate bills to constitute a commission for the socially and educationally backward classes — to be known as the National Commission for Backward Classes — and to repeal the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.

Both the bills were introduced by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot in the Lok Sabha.

The National Commission for Backward Classes was constituted under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 to examine the requests of inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in the lists and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists.

The new bills will pave the way of constituting a commission for the socially and educationally backward classes, which will have a constitutional status.

According to the bills, the commission will consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other members. They will be appointed by the President.

The commission will probe and monitor matters relating to the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes under this constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the government to evaluate working of such safeguards.

The Cabinet gave its nod to the formation of the new commission in a meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.