Pakistan on Thursday urged India to respect the importance of Jinnah House in Mumbai, which a BJP legislator said should be demolished.

The Foreign Office said the Indian government needed to respect the "importance" of the historical residence.

"We have clarified our position on the Jinnah House to the Indian government," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said.

On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Mangal Prabhat Lodha demanded that the Jinnah residence should be demolished and a cultural centre built in its place.

Lodha said: "The Jinnah residence in south Mumbai was the place where the conspiracy of (India's) partition was hatched.

"Jinnah House is a symbol of the partition. The structure should be demolished," he said.

Jinnah, who lived for years in Mumbai, was once a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and is credited with the formation of Pakistan.

Veteran actress and social activist Shabana Azmi says change should be reflected through mainstream cinema as films are a vital medium of communication.

"Films are a very important medium of communication and I do think if change is to happen in society, then it must be reflected in mainstream cinema because if you are only going to talk about different characters within the parallel cinema or independent cinema, then you are preaching to the already converted," Shabana told over phone from Mumbai. 

The need of the hour, as she pointed out, is "to bring these concerns particularly about the women's equality into the mainstream".

The Padma Shri awardee is glad top actresses of Bollywood are willing to take that step. 

"I am particularly pleased that this is something that the top female stars of today are taking very seriously and are willing to go that extra mile to work in the film that is significant to say about women," she added.

Praising Bollywood actresses like Vidya Balan, Kangana Ranaut, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor Khan, the 66-year-old actress says all of them have been contributing to the cause of women empowerment and she thinks that is helping a great deal. 

"I grew up in a family that believed that art should be as an instrument for social change, and my film 'Arth' by Mahesh Bhatt more than 30 years ago continues to be a film that many women claim that they derive inspiration from. I think this is a very healthy trend," added the multiple National Film Award winner. 

On the acting front, Shabana is gearing up for the release of ther forthcoming film Sonata, directed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Aparna Sen. 

Sonata, releasing on April 21, is adapted from the eponymous play by award-winning playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar. The film is the psychological exploration of three unmarried women facing a mid-life crisis.

The English drama revolves around three friends: Aruna Chaturvedi, a professor essayed by Aparna Sen, Dolon Sen, a banker portrayed by Shabana and Subhadra Parekh, a journalist played by Lillete Dubey.

Taking part in the proceedings in Gujarat Assembly, BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday took a dig at the Congress, saying elections were won not by creating ruckus in the House but by winning people's hearts.

Shah, a member of the House representing Naranpura constituency in Ahmedabad, also asserted that the BJP will win the coming assembly polls in the state, due later this year.

After making the hard-hitting speech in the House, Shah made a courtesy call on the opposition leader Shankarsinh Vaghela.

"You cannot win people's mandate by creating ruckus in the House. To win the mandate, one must win people's heart," Shah said in the Assembly.

"The BJP won all the elections here from 1990 to 2016. And, we will win the 2017 polls with more than 150 seats," he said during an hour-long speech."

Shah's assertion came while supporting a resolution brought by BJP's Ketan Inamdar, urging the state government to take forward the development agenda of the BJP.

In his speech, made in the absence of Congress members who were suspended for protesting over M B Shah Commission report, the BJP chief said that the "journey of development" will continue even after 2017 and 2019.

"Our hunger for development is still intact. This journey for development will continue even after 2017 and 2019," said Shah.

"Before 1995, the people of Gujarat were suffering due to large-scale corruption, lawlessness and shortage of electricity. After Narendra Modi took over in 2001, we transformed this state. Now, the entire world talks about Gujarat model," he said.

Earlier in the day, Speaker Ramanlal Vora suspended Congress MLAs for the first session.

But later, Shah met Congress leader Vaghela. After the meeting, which lasted for about half an hour, Vaghela termed it as a "courtesy call".

"It was a courtesy call by Shah, who had come here to attend the assembly session. No political issue was discussed," Vaghela added.

When asked if there was any indication of advancing the state polls, Vaghela said, "There were no indications of early polls, as I understand, but nothing can be said of these RSS people."

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and state BJP chief Jitu Vaghani were present during the meeting that took place at Vaghela's chambers at the Assembly building.

Vaghani also said it was a courtesy call.

"As our national president was here he wished to meet Vaghela and they met," he said.

Shah also attended the lunch hosted by Assembly speaker Ramanlal Vora for the MLAs.

Shiv Sena MPs on Thursday met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan over the ban on party's Member of Parliament Ravindra Gaikwad, imposed by airlines since his brawl with an Air India official last week.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Shiv Sena member of the Rajya Sabha Sanjay Raut came down heavily on the airlines, accusing them of behaving like "mafia" and "dictators" and also said that the MP would apologise only if Air India tenders an apology first.

Sources, meanwhile, said that the party has asked Gaikwad not to attend the proceedings of Lok Sabha till the issue is resolved.

"Airline companies are behaving like mafias and goons. They must see what is happening under their chairs," Raut said.

"There is an FIR against the MP and the MP has also filed a counter-FIR. So far, even the probe has not been completed and they have banned him (from flying).

"Terrorists can fly in their airlines, corrupt people can fly, underworld dons can fly, but an MP — a common man — can't fly. This is a new kind of dictatorship of the airlines, or someone else," Raut said.

"If this is being done under some pressure, it will not last for long."

Asked about the meeting with the Speaker, Raut said: "We told the Speaker that this is a democracy. If there is such dictatorship, one day the airlines will even ground the Prime Minister and the Lok Sabha Speaker."

Asked if the government was being soft and supporting the airlines, the MP said: "I will not say anything right now… I will speak only when the time comes."

"I will also reveal the links of owners of airlines, which are said to have links in Dubai, Pakistan and where the money is going… all will come out."

Asked whether Gaikwad regretted his behaviour, Raut said: "Will Air India show any regret? They should start (by apologising). Who started bad behaviour? They started it. Have they descended from the sky?"

The Lok Sabha member from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, 57-year-old Gaikwad last Thursday abused and assaulted a 60-year-old Duty Manager of Air India, and hit him with a slipper because he had to travel Economy Class though he had an open Business Class ticket. The flight was an all-economy one.

Following the incident, he was banned by Air India from flying and subsequently, other private airlines also refused to fly him.

The Shiv Sena has raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and has also given notice of a privilege motion, which is presently under consideration of the Speaker.

A sum of Rs.5,000 Crore would be spent on development of Haryana during next three years with the assistance of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), of which Rs.1,200 Crore would be spent on development of 600 villages.

Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare minister Om Prakash Dhankar on Thursday said that Rs.3,120 Crore would be spent for the development of villages in the state during the financial year 2017-18. This amount is 56 per cent more as compared to the amount spent for the same purpose in the current financial year.

Reiterating the commitment of the state government towards strengthening the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the minister said that the limit of funds to be spent by the Gram Panchayats on development works had been doubled from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.20 lakh.

In spite of obstacles created by the opposition parties and the matter going to the court, the Haryana government implemented reforms to ensure election of only educated representatives to the PRIs in place provisions to enhance their powers, he added.

He said that apart from this, arrangements have been made for separate funds for Zila Parishads and Block Samitis, and Gram Sachivalayas are being established in all villages to provide all services under a single roof.

Tripura Opposition parties on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar after the apex court upheld the High Court's order to terminate the jobs of 10,323 government teachers.

Trinamool Congress announced the launch of a state-wide agitation from Friday to highlight the state government's "irregularities in giving jobs to 10,323 teachers" and to press for its demand for resignation of Chief Minister Sarkar and Education and Law Minister Tapan Chakraborty.

"We also demand publication of a white paper detailing the government jobs provided in Tripura since 2014. An all-party meeting must be called by the state government to discuss the issue and how to deal with the situation arising out of the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday," Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sudip Roy Barman told reporters.

Accompanied by Tripura TMC President Ashish Kumar Saha and other leaders, Barman alleged that to "acquire political mileage the Left Front government provided the teachers' jobs illegally".

Demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Bharatiya Janata Party's state unit President Biplab Kumar Deb and observer (Prabhari) Sunil Deodhar also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister and Education and Law Minister in a joint media conference. 

"It is now proved that the Left Front government in Tripura gave jobs to 10,323 teachers through corruption and irregularities," Deb told reporters.

Terming the Supreme Court's order as "inhuman", the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) also demanded a CBI probe in the matter. 

"The Supreme Court's order would directly affect the lakhs of people and students in Tripura," the CPI-M, the dominant partner  Opposition parties in Tripura demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the recruitment process after the Supreme Court upheld the state High Court order terminating the jobs of 10,323 government teachers.

Trinamool Congress on Thursday announced launch of a statewide stir from Friday to highlight the state government's "irregularities in giving jobs to 10,323 people" and to press its demand for the resignation of Chief Minister Sarkar and Education and Law Minister Tapan Chakraborty.

"We also demand publication of a white paper detailing providing government jobs in Tripura since 2014. An all-party meeting must be called by the state government to discuss the issue and how to deal with the situation arising out of the Supreme Court judgment on Wednesday," Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sudip Roy Barman told reporters. 

Accompanied by Tripura TMC President Ashish Kumar Saha and other leaders, Barman alleged that to "acquire political mileage the Left Front government provided the teachers' jobs illegally".

Demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), opposition Bharatiya Janata Party state president Biplab Kumar Deb and observer (Prabhari) Sunil Deodhar in a joint media conference demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister and Education and Law Minister. 

"It has now been proved that the Left Front government in Tripura gave the jobs to 10,323 teachers through corruption and irregularities," BJP leader Deb told reporters.

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the dominant partner of the Left Front government, in a statement termed the Supreme Court's judgment as "inhuman".

"The Supreme Court's order would directly affect the lakhs of people and students in Tripura," the CPI-M statement said.

In a major setback to the Tripura government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tripura High Court order terminating the jobs of 10,323 teachers but allowed them to continue in their jobs till December 31.

The Court also asked the Tripura government to initiate a fresh recruitment process by May 31 and complete it by December 31 in compliance with the obligatory qualifications as mandated by the NCERT (National Council for Educational Research and Training).

The Supreme Court order came on three special leave petitions filed before it separately by the Tripura government, aggrieved job seekers and terminated serving teachers.

Tripura Law and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said in Agartala that the state government would take its next course of action after receiving the certified copy of the Supreme Court judgment and after the return of Chief Minister from Chennai on Friday.

"The government will stand by the serving teachers. The court did not find any irregularities in giving jobs to these teachers. The Tripura High Court only challenged the state's three-and-a-half decade old employment policy," Chakraborty told IANS on Thursday.

"We have given some jobs according to need based and considering the economic conditions of the families of the serving teachers, but the court opposed these criteria," the Minister added. 

A division bench of the Tripura High Court, comprising then Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Gupta (now elevated to the apex court) and then Justice Swapan Chandra Das (retired on March 16) had passed the order on May 7, 2014 and asked the state government to frame a new employment policy within two months.

Tripura's Left Front government recruited 1,100 post-graduate and 4,617 graduate teachers in 2010 and 4,606 under-graduate teachers in December 2013.of the Left Front government, said in a statement.

In a major setback to the Tripura government, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Tripura High Court order terminating the jobs of 10,323 teachers but allowed them to continue till December 31.

"A Supreme Court division bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit upheld the Tripura High Court's May 7, 2014, order terminating the jobs of 10,323 government teachers. However, the Supreme Court allowed them to continue in service till December 31," Tripura Law Secretary Data Mohan Jamatia told IANS over phone from New Delhi.

The apex court also asked the Tripura government to initiate a fresh recruitment process by May 31 and complete it by December 31 in compliance with the obligatory qualifications as mandated by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The Supreme Court order came on three special leave petitions filed before it separately by the Tripura government, aggrieved job seekers and the terminated teachers.

Tripura Law and Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty said in Agartala that the state government would take its next course of action after receiving a certified copy of the Supreme Court judgment and after return of the Chief Minister from Chennai on Friday.

"The government would stand behind the serving teachers. The court did not find any irregularities in giving jobs to these teachers. The Tripura High Court only challenged the state's three and a half decades old employment policy," Chakraborty told IANS on Thursday.

"We have given some jobs based on need and considering economic conditions of the families of the serving teachers, but the court opposed these criteria," the Minister added.

A division bench of the Tripura High Court, comprising of then Chief Justice Deepak Kumar Gupta and Justice Swapan Chandra Das (since retired), passed the order on May 7, 2014, and asked the state government to frame a new employment policy within two months.

Tripura's Left Front government recruited 1,100 post-graduate and 4,617 graduate teachers in 2010 and 4,606 under-graduate teachers in December 2013.

Despite having third lowest sex ratio in the country, Punjab government failed to utilise Rs.5.45 crore allocated under the Centre's flagship 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' (BBBP) scheme for the girl child during the past two years.

According to the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report tabled in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday, out of Rs.6.36 crore released by the Centre to the state government during 2014-16, only Rs.0.91 crore was utilised up to March 2016.

Launched in January 2015, BBBP is a 100 per cent Center sector scheme to address the issue of decline in child sex ratio in 100 gender critical districts. As many as 20 of 22 Punjab districts have been included in the programme.

The report said the Union women and child development ministry noted that sex ratio at birth (SRB), one of the targets of the scheme, decreased in six Punjab districts — Barnala, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Sangrur, SAS Nagar (Mohali) and Sri Muktsar Sahib — in March 2016 as compared to 2014.

"Delayed release of funds, short utilisation of funds, non-compliance of guidelines, non or short conducting of required task force meetings indicated lack of monitoring of the scheme which could further adversely affect implementation of the scheme," the report said.

It said due to infrequent state task force meetings, while implementation of the scheme was affected in 11 districts, the scheme could not be started in nine districts.

"Audit also noticed that in four of these districts, the SRB was not only declining, but was also less than overall SRB of State–892 as in March 2016," the report said. Barnala's SRB in 2014 was 836, but it dropped to 821 in 2015. Likewise, Ferozepur's SRB was 871 in 2015 as against 895 in 2014.

Gurdaspur's SRB was 851 in 2015 as against 889 in 2014 while Sangrur's SRB dropped to 832 in 2015 from 863 the previous year. Mohali (SAS Nagar), too, reported a fall in SRB, which came down from 956 in 2014 to 923 in 2015.

According to the 2011 Census, the number of females per 1,000 males in Punjab stood at 895. Only Haryana (879) and Jammu and Kashmir (889 female) had worse sex ration than Punjab.

Hockey fans in Haryana get a treat as Himachal Hockey announced on Thursday that Rohtak will host the seventh edition of the National Senior Women Hockey Championship in April 15-22.

The Himachal Pradesh state hockey team will also be participating in the tournament.

Himachal Hockey president Vidya Stokes said that the selection trials for the state team will be conducted at Govt. Sec. School, Majra District, Sirmour on April 2, 2017.

Railways announced ex-gratia payment of Rs.50,000 in case of grievous injury and Rs.25,000 for those with minor injuries in the Mahakaushal Express derailment on Thursday.

While the UP ADG (Law and Order) Daljit Chaudhary said 52 passengers were injured in the mishap, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said 21 were injured, including one seriously.

Railways has ordered an inquiry into the derailment of the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakaushal Express in the wee hours of Thursday near Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh.

Prima facie, a crack in the rail tracks seems to be the cause of the derailment.

The mishap disrupted rail traffic on the route with services of 14 trains disrupted, railway officials said.

Kochi-headquartered Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) is set to open a new regional research centre in Digha, West Bengal, aimed at fulfilling research and development needs, an official said on Thursday.

This is the 11th regional research centre of the CMFRI — the largest fisheries research institute in the country under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), said an official release here.

The new centre will focus on assessing important commercial marine fish stocks of West Bengal, including hilsa, a popular variety in the region, the release said.

CMFRI Director A. Gopalakrishnan said that though sporadic research has been carried out on in West Bengal and Odisha, a focussed approach was lacking.

"CMFRI has been developing fisheries management plans for each maritime state. The management policy guidelines are being designed in such a way that helps in scientific management of marine fisheries for each state," he said.

The hilsa is showing a drastic decline and the new centre will focus on research activities for the conservation and sustainable harvest of the species.

The centre will also provide advisories to the West Bengal and Odisha governments on the optimum number of fishing vessels and the option for managing fish stocks.

Samajwadi Party MP Naresh Agarwal on Thursday said Rajya Sabha members like cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and actress Rekha should resign if they were not interested in attending the house.

He was pointing to the continued absence of the nominated Rajya Sabha members. 

"We have been yearning to see the presence of the nominated members. They never come to the house. The entire session is over but we haven't seen them, be he Tendulkar or film actress Rekha or the others," said Agarwal in the Rajya Sabha. 

"If they are not coming, this means they have no interest in attending (Parliament). If they don't have interest, then they should resign," he added. 

Both Rekha and Tendulkar have earlier too faced criticisms for their dismal attendance in the house. 

Besides Rekha and Tendulkar, the 12 nominated members to the Upper House include Olympian boxer M.C. Mary Kom, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and businesswoman Anu Aga. 
 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced that Rajeev Shukla will continue as the IPL chairman for the fresh season starting April 5, 2017.

Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (COA), led by Vinod Rai, is currently looking after the functioning of the Indian board.

There were speculations of a new name to be announced as the chairman, though COA decided to retain Shukla, who has been the IPL chairman for past two seasons.   

However, the COA had earlier barred Shukla, along with other BCCI officials, from attending the IPL auction in Bangalore. The 57-year-old still managed to attend the players’ auction.

High housing loan interests and reluctance to borrow are dissuading Indian buyers who have to dig into savings to own a house, a study has revealed.

There is significant demand for affordable housing amongst the younger age (25-44 years) in smaller towns than in metros and mini-metros, the study conducted by India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC)-Kantar IMRB showed.

“Housing sector is poised for a higher growth, especially in affordable housing segment by the Housing-for-all by 2022 Mission and infrastructure status accorded by government, apart from various other measures,” Sriram Kalyanraman, MD&CEO, National Housing Bank said at the launch of the report.

Around 38 per cent respondents said that interest rates are too high while equal number of respondents cited lack of savings and unwillingness to borrow as constraints to own a house.

Higher property rates (32 per cent) and insufficient loan availability (32 per cent) are among other factors deterring home buying plans.

“High dependence on personal savings to pay down payment for first-time home buyers also delaying home ownership,” the report said.

Asked about progress on Housing-for-all, Kalyan said a lot of private developers have launched projects under affordable housing apart from government lending and loan subsidies.

“The full data has to come from private sector. Once we take it, I think we will surely be in line with Housing-for-all by 2022,” he said.

He said there is a lot of aspiration in terms of demand for small-sized houses of about 500 square feet presently.

With demonetisation, it seems property prices are coming down because alternative currency has gone out, he said.

“So prices are bound to come down. It has also helped a lot of customers, there is more transparency to buy houses in Rs.15-20 lakh segment,” he added.

The report says that almost half of millennials (46 per cent) in India live with parents, than in rented (31 per cent) and self owned homes, reflecting their financial dependence.

“There is a gap in the market. These can be managed to a large extent by mortgage guarantee backed loans. With availability of higher loan to value (LTV), Indian home buyers can achieve their home buying dream by not relying solely on personal savings,” Amitava Mehra, IMGC CEO said.

The survey was conducted in two phases with a sample size of about 4,100 respondents from metros, mini metros and towns who have either home loans or have applied for it. They were divided into 25-34, 35-44 and 45-55 years age groups.

Despite weak Asian and European equity markets, Indian bourses extended gains for third-straight session and closed Thursday’s trading session on a higher note. Hopes of Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation on time also boosted investors’ sentiments.

The Lok Sabha cleared four key GST Bill on Wednesday which was tabled by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday. The Union government wants to implement the Bill from July 1, 2017.

The Sensex at the BSE closed 116 points or 0.39 per cent higher at 29,647. Meanwhile the NSE Nifty ended at record closing high, up 30 points or 0.33 per cent at 9,174.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices jumped 0.4 per cent and 1 per cent respectively.

On Wednesday, the Sensex at the BSE had closed 122 points or 0.41 per cent higher at 29,531 and the Nifty at the NSE had ended 43 points or 0.47 per cent up at 9,144.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: Adani Ports (up 5.8 per cent), HDFC Bank (up 2.5 per cent), Bharti Airtel (up 1.7 per cent), Gail (up 1.3 per cent) and Reliance Industries (up 1.2 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: ONGC (down 1.3 per cent), Coal India (down 1.3 per cent), Tata Steel (down 1.1 per cent), Axis Bank (down 1 per cent) and Infosys (down 0.7 per cent).

The Rupee was trading one paisa down at 64.91 against the US Dollar.

Actor Arbaaz Khan and his wife Malaika Arora separated after 18 years of marriage and the two remained reconciled with each other. Meanwhile, speculations and assumptions were made about their split.
 
Speculations were rife that Malaika’s extra marital relationship with actor Arjun Kapoor led to their split, but the news turned out to be untrue. There were also rumours of Arbaaz dating a foreigner, but the actor never confirmed any news of it. Amid everything, Arbaaz kept his personal life hidden from the prying eyes of the media.
 
Now, the actor has finally broken his silence. In an interview to a leading daily, Arbaaz spoke about his relationship but did not reveal the details about his new girlfriend . “I am dating, yes. But we are not… As of now, there is still a long way to go,” the Dabangg actor said on being asked about his relationship status. When inquired whether he was dating the woman in his Instagram pictures, the actor said, “Which one? If you are talking about the one in Yellow, she is just a friend. She is somebody who I meet when I go to Goa. She owns a restaurant.” Is she a Romanian? “No, that’s another girl — Alexandria. That’s my friend,” Arbaaz confirmed.
 
Arbaaz shares a cordial relationship with his estranged wife Malaika. Recently, the duo were spotted at Malaika’s mother’s birthday party. When asked to comment on it, the actor said, “My association with Malaika’s family is as long as my association with Malaika. We have a child together, and there are the grandparents, uncles and aunts. And whatever the reasons for our parting, they have never influenced our equations with the families. They have kept it to themselves as this is the personal decision between the two of us. They have not asked us to get back together."

The curtain comes down on Indian Planning as the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) concludes on Friday, ending the story that began with the 1951 launch of the First Five-Year Plan, formulated by the Planning Commission, newly set up under a Government Resolution on March 15, 1950.

Although the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) through another Government Resolution on 13 August, 2014, the 12th Five Year Plan was allowed to have its run up to 31 March, 2017.

The 12th Plan’s theme was “Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth,” after the 11th Plan’s theme of “Inclusive Growth.” The theme of every Five Year Plan was given by its Approach Paper approved by the National Development Council (NDC), headed by the Prime Minister, and including all Chief Ministers. The Approach Paper laid down major targets of the Plan, key challenges and the approach to be followed to achieve the objectives.

After the first Plan launch in 1951, the two subsequent Five Year Plans were formulated till 1965 when there was a break due to the
Indo-Pak conflict. Two successive years of drought, devaluation of the Rupee, price-rise and erosion of resources disrupted the planning process, and after three Annual Plans, the fourth Plan was launched in 1969.

The Plans were disrupted again in 1990 due to political developments, and there were two Annual Plans before the launch of the eighth Plan in 1992, which incorporated structural adjustment policies initiated by economic reforms. For the first eight Plans, the emphasis was on growth of the public sector, but from the ninth Plan launched in 1997, planning was meant to be indicative only.

Although the NITI Aayog was given the mandate to be the government’s Think Tank, free from the Planning Commission’s work of allocation of funds, and provide governments at the Central and State levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across a spectrum of policies, it was declared as the successor to the Planning Commission, and asked to continue with the Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) of the 12th Plan.

A regular feature of all Plans, the MTAs determine how far the physical and financial targets of a Plan have been achieved, and what could be the “Way Forward” to make up for the shortfalls. The Parliamentary panel which studied NITI Aayog’s budgetary demands recently expressed concern that the Aayog had not concluded the MTA exercise.

The best scenario target of GDP growth in the 12th Plan was eight per cent but this, it said, depended on certain policy actions and
Government initiatives. Preliminary reviews showed that the GDP growth target was unlikely to be achieved.

While the Planning Commission was envisaged as a mechanism to realize dreams and aspirations of a nation, just free from colonial rule, and draw up Plans for the most efficient use of its scarce resources, the NITI Aayog, constituted on 1 January, 2015, is also working on its three Vision Documents ~ a 15-year long-term Vision Document , a sevenyear Strategy (2017-24) to convert the long term Vision into implementable policy, and a three-year Action Document (2017-2020) to translate into actions the Government’s goals.

Salman Khan’s sister Arpita Khan Sharma shared a series of pictures with her son Ahil on Instagram as he turned a year old on Thursday.

She wrote “Here wishing my love, mylife ,my world, my lil man who's given me a reason to believe in love, life and togetherness forever. Thank you for teaching me, so many meanings of words I used and I dint understand, thank you for giving life to me , thank you for filling every void I had thank u for being u !Love u Ahil ! #ahilturns1 @amillafushi”.

The whole Khan family came together to celebrate the blue-eyed baby boy of Khan-Sharma family’s first birthday in Maldives.

The maamu Salman Khan has been shooting for his upcoming flick Tiger Zinda Hai but he made sure that he joins the celebrations. He flew for 22 hours from Austria to Maldives and joined rumoured girlfriend Lulia Vantur, Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora, Atul Agnihotri, Alvira Khan Agnihotri, Helen, Aaayush Sharma and Seema Khan.

Arpita Khan got married to beau Aayush Sharma in November 2014 and the guest list included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and many people from Bollywood and Tollywood.