No, they are not from the fashion industry. They know nothing about designs and the fashion world. But, working seeminglessly behind the screen, they are set to give new lease to fashionistas here in the City of Joy. And in return, they would receive a new life.

It's the first of its kind, and one to rejoice, the inmates of a correctional home in Kolkata are being imparted training for stitching costumes for fashion events.
"These people will make fashion wear and that will be sold from boutiques," said fashion designer Abhisek Dutta to PTI.

Workshops are being held to help the inmates of the Presidency Correctional Home. Most of the members are convicts and undertrials in serious crimes,Dutta said, adding that those having shown skill during the workshop will be inducted in the industry as weavers.

"My team is conducting workshop within the correctional home premises and we have already set up 24 state-of-the-art sewing machines," he said.

The correctional home authorities are extending all help toward the initiative. "The correctional home authorities had approached me to do something for the inmates when I had previously met prison officials at an event and that's how it all began," Dutta said.

The fashion designer is currently collaborating with West Bengal government-run Tantuja with his retail pretline.

"We had seen due to prejudices they do not get employment after coming out of prison. If they become part of our fashion industry by consistently working during their prison term and get remuneration, they can be inducted formally after release," Dutta said.

In another four-five year time, they will be called as 'Karigars', Dutta said, adding, "Those oriented to art have been selected after we saw their sketch."

"From my experience in working with them (correctional home inmates) in my cultural programmes, I know they have an aesthetic side which needs to be tapped and they should be allowed to come back to the mainstream of society," Danseuse-social activist Alakananda Roy told PTI. Actor Parambrata Chatterjee also pledged support to the initiative.

(With inputs from agencies)

The afternoon sun beats down with a fury as it melts the tar, parts of which stick to your shoes, suggesting that the Keshopur road which neatly cuts across the Khyala municipal ward has been freshly metalled.

In the adjacent Vishnu Garden ward, lanes and bylanes have been dug up as labourers lay new pipelines with sharp precision. And amid all the repair work, children scurry around open gutters in great excitement as hordes of houseflies feast on the heaps of garbage all around.

Vishnu Garden and Khyala, a mix of slum clusters and urban villages, are parts of the Rajouri Garden Assembly constituency, which is all set to choose its new MLA on April 9, a by-election necessitated by the resignation of AAP's Jarnail Singh to fight the Punjab state polls.

The Keshopur road has been hastily repaired a week before the polls after two years of relentless complaints, local trader Pankaj says, as a Bajrang Dal-led Ram Navami procession, headed by a two-time BJP councillor, rolls out from a local Shiva Temple, right opposite a mosque.

Amid cries of 'Hum hai Hindu babbar sher' (we Hindus are lions) and 'Matrubhumi ki raksha karne hum talwar uthaenge' (will pick up swords to protect the motherland) by youths actually brandishing swords, Raj Kumar Grover patiently explains how the procession is "apolitical".

"You see, I have been organising the yatra for nearly 20 years. And it has got nothing to do with my political affiliation. This is all the name of Lord Rama," the BJP leader says.

At this west Delhi constituency, the path to the voters' heart is clearly through its roads, most of them in dire need of repair.

Also, round the clock water and sanitation — issues that have been "ignored" by successive MLAs, residents complain.

Walk the narrow alleys of Vishnu Garden and a picture of civic neglect and crumbling infrastructure does not take too long to emerge.

The apathy is so complete that residents even seem to have stopped swatting the flies.

"They outnumber us by thousands so we have called a truce," Manoj, a local milkman, says in jest.

"Water and poor roads are the two biggest issues. The road leading to the Pacific Mall from Vishnu Garden has been dug up for the last year or so and despite several complaints, no one bothered to get them repaired. But as soon as the bypolls were announced, the metalling work started," says Pratiksha Luthra, a BPO professional.

Roads in Delhi are owned by multiple agencies, including the Delhi government's PWD and the civic corporations.

Parminder Kaur, an elderly resident of Vishnu Garden, stresses on the urgency to mend the roads, explaining how they turn dangerous for her and people of her generation once the sun sets, forcing them to stay closeted or venture out knowing the risks.

"The bumpy roads have troubled us for the last year or so. Travelling on the roads is a nightmare for aged persons like us. There is always a fear while you are walking that you might lose balance and fall. Even travelling in a cycle rickshaw or an e-rickshaw is scary on the bumpy roads," she says.

Jarnail Singh's "desertion" to fight SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal in Punjab's Lambi, where he eventually lost, has clearly miffed the locals and dented AAP's prospects to hold on to the Punjabi-dominated seat, which was once a Congress bastion.

"The area MLA deserted his constituency for Punjab and didn't take up the issues with the concerned agencies. Even water is a big issue. Water timings are irregular and many a time, the water that does come is pungent and not suitable for even washing clothes," Sumita, a housewife, complains.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address a rally on Thursday at the Vishnu Garden-Khyala area in support of the party's candidate Harjeet Singh, a local Sikh face, who completed his graduation from Delhi University and went on to establish a successful transport business.

AAP's Delhi in-charge, Ashish Talwar, says BJP and Congress workers were fully committed as long as the parties did not release the list of candidates for the upcoming municipal polls.

"But once the lists came out, infighting has broken out which will affect their campaigning for the by-election as well. But AAP workers are sorted," he says.

AAP had changed its Vishnu Garden and Khyala ward candidates as well, but Talwar rejects reports of any disquiet, saying those who had left have returned to the party fold.

On the other hand, Congress is banking on the clout of its candidate Meenakshi Chandela's family. Successive generations of the Chandela family have been in politics and enjoy considerable popularity in the area and the Congress hopes to register its presence in the 70-member Delhi Assembly through her.

The BJP-SAD combine has fielded veteran Manjinder Singh Sirsa, who had won the seat in 2013.

In the recently held Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee election, he had defeated the Congress-backed candidiate from the Punjabi Bagh ward.

Sanjeev Kumar, who owns a shop in a Vishnu Garden market, feels it is Sirsa who holds the edge.

"On the surface it may look like a three-cornered contest, but mark my words — the fight is only between the BJP and the Congress. Sirsa has an edge as he is a 'sardar' which will help him bag the Punjabi-Sikh vote. Plus he will be able to cash in on the Modi factor."

Railways have planned to redevelop about 400 'A-1' and 'A' category stations, including Delhi, with private participation, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said the Railways have advertised its plan for about 400 'A-1' and 'A' category stations which are generally located in major cities and important tourist destinations on 'as is where is' basis for redevelopment.

He said during Question Hour that the process has been started by inviting proposals from interested parties with their designs and business ideas.

Prabhu said the entire cost of the station redevelopment is to be met by leveraging commercial development of spare railway land/air space in and around the station.

"The process is designed to be completely transparent and to obtain best in class designs from developer. The programme is conceived to be cash-neutral to the Railways, rather it is expected to yield earnings for the Railways in the form of premium submitted by the developers," he said.

The Minister said as many as 1,253 railway stations have been identified for upgradation by the Indian Railways under the ongoing 'Adarsh station' scheme.

"Till date, 1,253 railway stations have been identified under 'Adarsh station' scheme, of which 1,022 stations have already been developed," he said.

The Minister said more stations may be considered for inclusion under the scheme whenever there is any proposal for further selection of more stations under this scheme, based on their relative importance and justification based on passengers handled there.

Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra feels a tweaker needs to have “quality” to be successful in Twenty20 cricket, a format which predominantly weighs in favour of a batsman.

Even though T20 is regarded as a batsman's game, spinners have unexpectedly asserted their dominance in the format and Mishra feels a tweaker needs to have variations in his armoury.

“Spinners play a very crucial part in T20. Besides stopping runs I always try to pick up wickets because it can put pressure on the opposition.

“You need to have quality to be successful as a spinner in T20. By quality, I mean you need to have variations and need to know when to use them. So I feel if you have quality you have more chances of becoming successful,” Mishra, who will spearhead Delhi Daredevils spin attack in IPL 10, said at a media session on Wednesday.

“You need to have a lot of variations. As a spinner you need to improve on your skills to control these hard-hitting batsmen,” he added.

Mishra said every year the IPL brings with it new challenges for bowlers, especially spinners.

“The most challenging is that every year in IPL you see new players, some of whom you might not have even seen. The challenge is to bowl against these new players.
“It becomes little difficult to bowl against these players because every year batsmen come up with new shots. The game is becoming faster every year. So the challenge is to manage yourself,” Mishra said.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who is a part of the current India Test team, and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem also agreed with Mishra.
“To stop power-hitting you have to be aware about everything. You have to be aware about the batsmen, you have to be aware about conditions. You have to read the game pretty fast. Every ball in T20 can win you a match. You need to outthink and outsmart a batsmen,” Yadav said.
Nadeem, who has been the leading wicket taker in domestic cricket for the last two seasons, added: “To be successful in T20 you need to outthink the batsmen. Line and length is very important. You need to deceive the batsman in air because a batsman will always try to score against spinners. The way batsmen come up with new shots, spinners too need to develop new balls, like carrom ball.”

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday inaugurated the new office of Central Board of Film Certification along with a host of other celebrities like Anupam Kher, Ramesh Sippy and others.

CBFC was facing space constraint in their old office in Malabar Hill, which has been there since 1950s. The board then moved a proposal for allocation of space in Films Division Complex in Peddar Road and got an office there on the ninth floor.

Bachchan was the chief guest at the event while I&B Secretary Ajay Mittal was the guest of honour.

Present at the inaugural ceremony were celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Mukesh Bhatt, filmmaker Abbas-Mustan, Sonu Sood, Vipul Shah, producer Sidharth Roy Kapoor, Boney Kapoor among others.

"The censor board has been very supportive to me and my upcoming film 'Maatr'. I was a chairman of CFSI (Children Film Society India) and my office was here too," Raveena told reporters.

Sippy quipped though the board has moved to a new office, filmmakers will continue with their complaints as and when they have any.

"I am happy that the board is now also going digital, ushering new changes. We all need that and it is a step in the right direction," Sippy said.

Amitabh Bachchan now has 26 million followers on microblogging site Twitter and the megastar thanked his fans for being by his side always.

Bachchan, who joined Twitter in 2010, expressed his excitement through a post and shared the news along with a picture of himself.

"And it has arrived…The magical figure of 26 million followers !! Thank you Twitter for my intolerance," Bachchan tweeted.

The 74-year-old actor is ahead of superstars like Shah Rukh Khan (24.2 million), Salman Khan (22.1 million), Aamir Khan (20.4 million), and Bollywood stars Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra, who have 17.9 million and 16.9 million followers respectively.

The National Award-winning actor is also active on other social media platforms like Facebook and blog.

India is likely to mandate use of domestic steel for government infrastructure projects to boost demand for local companies and check cheaper imports.

The Steel Ministry is likely to take to the Union Cabinet this month a proposal that seeks to provide preferential treatment to steel made in India in government projects.

It may also seek Cabinet approval for the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017 which seeks to double production as well as consumption and put forth strategies to overcome challenges like high input costs and financial stress facing the sector.

“We want to promote and encourage the growth of domestic steel industry and so we want that India-made steel should be given preference in government funded projects. A draft Cabinet note has already been initiated,” Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh said here.

He was addressing a national conference of secondary steel producers.

Asked whether the government plans to make it mandatory or on preferential basis, Singh said: “This should be taken on a preference basis. In government ministries and departments where the consumption of steel is more, like Railways, I want that on the preference basis, they should use steel made in India and it should be made part of the tender.”

Singh added however that steel which is not available in the country can be imported.

There would be a quantum jump in the steel consumption once the proposal is approved, he said, adding Railways, urban housing, shipping and national highways are big customers.

The government, he said, will spend Rs.4 lakh crore on infrastructure projects, which will boost steel demand.
On the new steel policy, Singh said: “We have already released the draft policy. We have also received feedback from stakeholders. We will include any good suggestions made by secondary steel producers. In this month only, we will send it to the Cabinet for approval”.
Through this policy, he said, the government plans to more than double the steel production capacity and per capita consumption from the present level.
In January, the ministry had released the draft policy to ensure that the steel sector follows a sustainable path of development in respect of augmenting capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 in environment friendly manner.

It is an effort to steer the industry to achieve its future potential and strategy to deal with various impediments like high input cost, availability of raw materials, dependency on imports and financial stress.

“India is going to become the second largest steel producer in the world by 2018,” he said.

Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma said the country's steel production is estimated to rise 11 per cent at over 90 million tonnes, while exports increased 57 per cent last fiscal.

Imports is estimated to have declined by 34 per cent, she added.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said the Maharashtra government will study the Uttar Pradesh model of farm loan waiver, amid growing demand from across the political spectrum to help the state's distressed farmers.

Fadnavis's statement, made in the state assembly, came in the backdrop of persistent pressure from the opposition Congress-NCP as well the ruling BJP and the Shiv Sena, for writing off the loans of farmers.

Seizing on the Uttar Pradesh scheme of waiving farm loans of Rs.36,359 crore announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday, Shiv Sena and BJP members demanded that the government in Maharashtra too come out with a loan waiver.

"We will study how Uttar Pradesh will raise such a huge amount," Fadnavis said.

He said he had directed the Finance Secretary to study how UP was going about with the debt waiver.

Referring to the high court directive to the Tamil Nadu government on farm loans issue in the wake of peasants' stir, Fadnavis said, "Decision of waiving farm loan is the prerogative of the government."

Fadnavis, however, targeted the Opposition for staying away from the House, saying they were roaming outside in name of 'Sangharsh Yatra'.

"But the Sena and BJP members' sentiments regarding farm loan waiver are genuine and the state government is positive to it," he said.

Fadnavis said, "We have asked the Centre for financial assistance. If we don't get help from the Centre, we are working on how a loan waiver (of Rs.30,000 crore) can be granted."

Earlier, as soon as the House assembled after a three-day break, Shiv Sena and BJP members were on their feet on the issue of farm loan waiver.

Shamburaje Desai (Shiv Sena) said recently two farmers had committed suicide at Wadgaon in Satara district since they were debt-ridden.

"If Uttar Pradesh can make a provision of Rs.36,000 crore to waive loans up to Rs.1 lakh, why can't Maharashtra do the same? Our financial condition is better than Uttar Pradesh.

The UP Chief Minister did not wait for the central government help," he said.

Desai said Rs.30,500 crore loan in Maharashtra should be waived before the Budget session ends on April 7.

Subhash Sabne (Sena) said farmers in Parbhani are planning to strike from June 1 by stopping Kharif sowing.

"If farmers strike and stop sowing, should we eat 'dhatura' (poisonous thorn apple)?" he asked.

Ashish Deshmukh and Sanjay Kute (both BJP) said the state government should go for a loan waiver to ensure there is no burden on the financial condition of the state and continue the investment in agriculture sector.

Singer Beyonce Knowles has released a new single Die with you in honour of her ninth wedding anniversary to rapper Jay Z.

The couple walked down the aisle on April 4, 2008. The singer released her single on an online music service website Tidal on Tuesday, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The music video features Beyonce singing near a piano along with home videos of her family. 

The singer has also curated an exclusive playlist titled IV Ever Ever for the website. 

The 63-track playlist starts with R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!'s Anniversary and features other romantic numbers from Sade, Robin Thicke, Lauryn Hill and Stevie Wonder.

Justice Indira Banerjee was sworn-in as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court here on Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao administered the oath of office to Justice Banerjee at a ceremony held at Raj Bhavan.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami was also present during the swearing-in ceremony.

Earlier, Banerjee (59) served as a judge in the Delhi High Court and her appointment came following the elevation of former Chief Justice of Madras High Court, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, to the Supreme Court in February.

Justice Banerjee enrolled as an advocate in 1985 and practiced both in the original and appellate sides of Calcutta High Court in all branches of law except criminal.

She was appointed permanent judge of Calcutta High Court in February 2002 and was transferred to Delhi High Court in August last.

Government has no plans to open new post offices in the country, Communication Minister Manoj Sinha said on Wednesday.

"There is no proposal for opening of new post offices in all villages in the country. New post offices are opened in villages subject to fulfillment of prescribed distance, population and income norms and availability of funds and manpower," he said during Question Hour.

Sinha said postal services are available all over the country through a network of about 1.55 lakh post offices and those villages which do not have post offices are served by nearby post offices.

In addition, Panchayat Sanchar Sewa Kendras and franchise outlets are also opened to provide basic postal facilities at gram panchayats and villages not having post offices, he said.

Earth is home to 60,065 species of trees, according to a new study of the world's plants that may help identify and conserve rare and threatened species on our planet.

Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in the UK compiled the tree list by using data gathered from a network of 500 member organisations.

The study showed that with 8,715 varieties, Brazil was the nation with the greatest number of tree species. The near-Arctic region of North America had the fewest number of species, with less than 1,400 – apart from the polar regions, which have no trees.

More than half of the species (58 per cent) were endemic in just one country, suggesting that they were vulnerable to potential threats, such as deforestation from extreme weather events or human activity.

About 300 species have been identified as critically endangered as they had fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the wild.

It was not possible to accurately estimate the number of tree species in the world until now because the data has only just been digitised, said Paul Smith, BGCI secretary general.

"A lot of the data is not readily available to the public.

The digitisation of this data, in effect, is the culmination of centuries of work," said Smith.

An important factor of the study is the geo-referencing of the tree species, which allow conservationists to locate individual species, Smith said.

"Getting location information, such as which countries do these these trees occur in, gives us key information for conservation purposes," Smithe told the 'BBC News'.

"That is hugely useful for us in prioritising which ones we need to do conservation action on and which ones we need to do assessments to find out what their status is," he added.

The research was published in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry.

The government on Wednesday allowed duty free import of raw sugar upto 5,00,000 tonnes to boost domestic supplies and check price rise amid production fall.

The duty-free imports will be allowed until June 12 under the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ), according to a notification laid in Parliament.

As per the government estimate, the country's sugar production is projected to drop to 22.5 million tonnes in the ongoing 2016-17 marketing year from 25.1 million tonnes last year because of drought.

The sugar production in India, the world's second largest producer and biggest consumer, is estimated to be much lower than the annual requirement of 25 million tonnes.

The BJP on Wednesday urged Lt Governor Anil Baijal for a time-bound inquiry into the Delhi government's decision to use public money for paying Rs.3.4 crore to noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, for fighting the defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vijender Gupta, also Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, met Baijal along with other BJP MLAs and submitted a memorandum demanding an inquiry.

He alleged the Delhi government had tried to "hide" the details of its decision by specifically ordering its departments not to send the concerned files to the Lt Governor's office. 

"Instead, they just sent a one page note to the LG for post-facto approval," Gupta said.

Gupta demanded criminal proceedings to be initiated against Kejriwal and others involved in what he alleged to be "criminal act of misusing public funds and the subverting constitutional procedure".

He also accused Kejriwal of misusing the post of the chief minister for personal gains.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Gupta said the Lt Governor had assured him that he was looking closely into the matter and had sent multiple reminders to the government to send the complete file.

The BJP on Tuesday slammed Kejriwal for reportedly fighting defamation suits filed against him by using public money.

Subsequently, Jethmalani declared that he would fight the case for free as he was keen on cross-examining Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who has filed the defamation case.

A six-year-old girl at a remote village in Kendrapara district displayed exemplary courage to save her playful mate from claws of death following attack by a furious estuarine crocodile.

The survivor Basanti Dalai, a class I student of a government-run primary school in Bankuala village undergoing treatment at a government-run hospital recalled the harrowing experience and thanked schoolmate Tiki Dalai for surviving from crocodile attack.

The victim sustained multiple wounds on her hand and thigh and is stated to be out of danger.

Both the girls were taking bath in the village pond on Tuesday when a crocodile leaped from the water and attacked Basanti all on a sudden.

However, she survived as her schoolmate picking up a bamboo stick dealt a blow on animal's head. The reptile which had clung onto the victim was jolted by the sudden attack and left the girl to slip into the water. She deserves praise for the brave act, said a local resident Pradip Kumar Das.

"The attack was so sudden that I had little time to react. The stick lying near the pond saved my friend," Tiki, who is also enrolled in the village school, narrated.

The state Forest department would bear the cost of treatment of the girl injured following crocodile attack.

Besides the department would also award compensation sum to the injured person s family as per revised rules, said Divisional Forest Officer, Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division, Bimal Prasanna Acharya.

Forest officials, however, are of the view that people are exposing themselves to crocodile attack by venturing into croc-infested water bodies.

"Forest department has taken several measures to save human and domesticated animals from preying crocs. Over two dozen riverside spots were identified as danger zones due to frequent sighting of reptiles in these places. Warning has been issued to people to avoid these troubled water zones. The bathing ghats which are vulnerable due to croc intrusion have been barricaded", said officials.

India is likely to mandate use of domestic steel for government infrastructure projects to boost demand for local companies and check cheaper imports.

The Steel Ministry is likely to take to the Union Cabinet this month a proposal that seeks to provide preferential treatment to steel made in India in government projects.

It may also seek Cabinet approval for the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017 which seeks to double production as well as consumption and put forth strategies to overcome challenges like high input costs and financial stress facing the sector.

"We want to promote and encourage the growth of domestic steel industry and so we want that India-made steel should be given preference in government funded projects. A draft Cabinet note has already been initiated," Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh said here.

He was addressing a national conference of secondary steel producers.

Asked whether the government plans to make it mandatory or on preferential basis, Singh said: "This should be taken on a preference basis. In government ministries and departments where the consumption of steel is more, like Railways, I want that on the preference basis, they should use steel made in India and it should be made part of the tender." 

Singh added however that steel which is not available in the country can be imported.

There would be a quantum jump in the steel consumption once the proposal is approved, he said, adding Railways, urban housing, shipping and national highways are big customers.

The government, he said, will spend Rs.4 lakh crore on infrastructure projects, which will boost steel demand.

On the new steel policy, Singh said: "We have already released the draft policy. We have also received feedback from stakeholders. We will include any good suggestions made by secondary steel producers. In this month only, we will send it to the Cabinet for approval".

Through this policy, he said, the government plans to more than double the steel production capacity and per capita consumption from the present level.

In January, the ministry had released the draft policy to ensure that the steel sector follows a sustainable path of development in respect of augmenting capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030-31 in environment friendly manner.

It is an effort to steer the industry to achieve its future potential and strategy to deal with various impediments like high input cost, availability of raw materials, dependency on imports and financial stress.

"India is going to become the second largest steel producer in the world by 2018," he said.

Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma said the country's steel production is estimated to rise 11 per cent at over 90 million tonnes, while exports increased 57 per cent last fiscal.

Imports is estimated to have declined by 34 per cent, she added.

Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd (TPREL) on Wednesday announced the commissioning of its 100 MW wind farm project at Nimbagallu in Andhra Pradesh.

The company had commissioned 36 MW wind capacity of the plant in December 2016, and on Wednesday announced the commissioning of the balance 64 MW, it said in a statement.

With this, the operating renewable portfolio of TPREL grows to 1,959 MW, comprising 907 MW wind, 932 MW solar and 120 MW waste heat recovery capacity as of today, it said.

The Nimbagallu wind farm is built with Gamesa's 2MW Wind-Turbine Generation (WTG) platform, it said.

TPREL CEO and Executive Director Rahul Shah said, "The commissioning of the 100 MW wind power plant in Andhra Pradesh marks a significant milestone in our drive to grow our portfolio of clean and renewable energy generation." 

"We are also developing another 100 MW solar plant at Anantapur Solar Park in Andhra Pradesh," he said.

TPREL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Power.