The Congress on Tuesday said that there was no question of it backing the Shiv Sena's suggestion to consider RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for the post of President and said it will spell out its stance on a candidate at the right time.

Party leader Gaurav Gogoi told reporters here that the party's views about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh were well known. 

"It is very clear that we do not support RSS ideology and when it comes to appointing our President, at the right time, we will, of course, have our own internal discussion first and then share," Gogoi said in response to a query. 

President Pranab Mukherjee's present term in office will end on July 24.

The Shiv Sena had on Monday urged the Modi government to consider Bhagwat for the post.

Sena MP and Saamana Executive Editor Sanjay Raut said the National Democratic Alliance – of which Sena is a member – and the BJP in particular should think of the RSS Sarsanghchalak if it wanted to fulfil its dream of achieving a "Hindu Rashtra".

Expressing disappointment over the Supreme Court order on linking the Aadhaar card with social welfare schemes, Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo on Tuesday said the judiciary has over-reached.

"I am unhappy with the Supreme Court ruling over Aadhaar card. The apex court has objected to the use (linking with welfare schemes) of it. I think judiciary has over-reached. The government should be allowed to go ahead with its programme," he said.

The Supreme Court on Monday made it clear that the unique identification number — Aadhaar — cannot be made mandatory for availing benefits of social welfare schemes.

"Not only in India, over-reaching of judiciary in some cases is also observed around the world. The court has the right to protect the Constitution. But how does a bench consisting of single or two judges changes a decision taken by a democratic government which was formed after going through an electoral process?" said the BJP MP from West Bengal's Asansol.

"Time is ripe to think whether the court should interfere in the government's activities or not, acting on public interest litigations and applications," he said on the sidelines of "Digidhan Mela" in the city.

Incidentally, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the Supreme Court ruling and opposed the Centre's move to link the Aadhaar card with the mid-day meal programme.

"There is corruption in the mid-day meal programme. I just do not understand the problem for not accepting Aadhaar card in the programme if the actual beneficiaries get the benefit after giving biometric identification.

"There is a gap between amount spent and amount received. Somewhere else, 'daal mein kuchh kaala hein' (there's some foul play)," Supriyo said.

Asked about the West Bengal government's non-cooperation for organising such fairs, the minister said: "The West Bengal government did not cooperate with us for organising such a programme and that is why Coal India had to step in. It would be unfortunate if it is treated politically."

He appealed to the state government to cooperate with the Digital India programme and digitise the financial transaction because the "state would be benefited with higher collection of taxes".

Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday asked the neighbouring countries to take a cue from the Indian model of improving governance and empowering the poor through digital initiatives.

Prasad was delivering the Keynote Address at the 10th South Asia Conference on 'Strengthening Connectivity in South Asia', organised by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

Calling India the "home of aspirational population", Prasad said: "Growth is important, but equity is also equally important." Aspirations of the people in the South Asian region were the same, though they might differ in degree, he added.

Talking about the local mobile manufacturing, the Minister said: "In last two years, 72 new mobile manufacturing factories have come up in India."

More than ten million mobiles have been manufactured and India is becoming a big hub of electronics manufacturing, the minister said. 

Indian companies can also export mobiles to the neighbouring and East Asian countries.

Speaking on how the recent digital initiatives are changing India, he said that the nation was at the cusp of a big transformation. "The aim is to spread digital services to provide people with good governance, as trusting them with digital technology can lead to awareness and empowerment."

Earlier, speaking at the inaugural session, IDSA Director General Jayant Prasad noted that connectivity is at the core of regional cooperation and integration, as its key enabler.

An effective roadmap for building the regional public goods (RPGs) of connectivity and infrastructure would require four core areas to be addressed — institutional design, financing, sequencing and measurement, he added.

The two-day annual conference is being attended by a cross-section of policymakers, academics, diplomats and young professionals from the entire South Asian region. 

Amid high drama outside the office of Chinese mobile phone company Oppo here, an FIR was lodged on Tuesday against a company official who allegedly tore the national flag and threw it into a dustbin.

Police registered a case for showing disrespect to the national flag, based on a complaint filed by the company employees against the Chinese national who is a production manager in the company. 

Gaurav Grover, Circle Officer, Noida told IANS that the incident took place on Monday when the Chinese official allegedly tore off the national flag pasted on a wall of the company's Noida Sector 63 office and threw it into a dustbin.

The flag was put up on the wall on January 26, when the company celebrated Republic Day.

Grover said the employees of the company were already sore over their grievances not being addressed by the executives.

After the act involving the national flag, hundreds of people, along with the employees, protested outside the office. 

The situation turned volatile and several police personnel were deployed at the office to control the crowd. The protesters demanded the arrest of the Chinese official. 

They also raised issues related to the labour laws being violated by the company. The area was cleared after senior officers of the district administration intervened.

Senior officials, including District Magistrate N.P. Singh and Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Yadav as well as the Labour Commissioner held a meeting with the executives from Oppo.

It was decided that the company would constitute a committee to probe the matter and address the demands of the employees.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its order on a plea seeking ban on the registration of BS-III emission vehicles from April 1, 2017, even as automobile manufacturers opposed the plea saying they needed a window to exhaust their existing inventory of BS III vehicles.

The bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta reserved the order after the automobile manufacturers told the court that they need six to eight months to sell their existing inventory of BS III vehicles.

The manufacturers have also contended that if all the vehicles in the their stocks are allowed to be sold and registered, their contribution to pollution would be microscopic – much less than one percent of the existing pollution.

The ban on the sale and registration of BS III vehicles was sought in an application moved by senior counsel Harish Salve, who is amicus curiae in the air pollution matter.

Salve had earlier told the court that most of the automobile manufacturers continued with the production of BS III emission norm vehicles even as the March 31, 2017, deadline for halt to their production was approaching.

Salve had told the court that there were 16,000 BS III cars, 96,720 trucks, 40,000 three-wheelers and 6,71,000 two-weelers.

The court said that it would pronounce its order on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM), Tata Motors, Honda, Yamaha and the dealers' body have opposed ban on sale of BS III vehicles after March 31, contending that they would suffer losses by curbs on the registration of their BS III emission norm vehicles.

The Centre had on March 27 told the court that the March 31, 2017, deadline was for the production of BS III vehicles but their sale can continue beyond the March 31 deadline. 

The top court had on March 24 indicated that it may allow the sale of vehicles with BS III emission norms after imposing a charge to reimburse Rs 18,000 crore that the government had spent for upgrading the refineries to produce BS IV-compliant fuel.

The court had said that the money to be collected by imposing charge could be close to Rs 30,000 crore, as it would involve the cost that the government incurred in upgrading the refineries to migrate to Bharat Stage (BS) IV-compliant fuel across the country and the cost of the health of the people.

The court had also indicated on March 24 that it may allow the registration of BS III-compliant commercial vehicles to operate with no national permit and a rider that they would not enter major cities.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday directed the state police and the bureaucracy to monitor the issue of child trafficking and stop the traffickers at all costs.

"The police and the block development officers (BDO) have to take responsibility to thoroughly monitor the issue of child trafficking in the state. Whoever is involved in trafficking should not be spared," Banerjee said during an administrative meeting in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

She also asked the other departments associated with the matter to play their role so that trafficking can be stopped.

"Apart from the police and the BDOs, those who are associated with child welfare have to look into the issue. This is also a responsibility of the Social Welfare Officers. The Women and Child Department also has to play the role they are expected to," the Trinamool Congress supremo said.

Referring to the repeated complaints of over-charging and negligence against the medical facilities in the state, Banerjee asked the police administration to keep an eye on the patients' grievances.

"I would request all the inspectors and officers in-charge to keep an eye on their respective local hospitals. If such cases come to the police station it has be referred to the new committee formed under respective district magistrate," she said.

She also cautioned the administration to verify such complaints first before taking action against the accused medical facility.

"If the complaint is genuine then take appropriate action but if the complaint is not genuine, remember lodging a false complaint is also a crime," she asserted.

Banerjee's comments come against the backdrop of a recent crackdown at a Jalpaiguri-based child adoption centre, for its alleged involvement in several cases of child trafficking. 

According to CID sources, 17 newborns were trafficked to various parts of India and abroad in the name of adoption by producing manufactured documents. 

Several persons, including political leaders, child protection officers, doctors and owners of the accused child adoption centre, were arrested by the sleuths earlier this month for involvement in the case.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma will meet Assam's Chie Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on April 3 in Guwahati to discuss the interstate boundary dispute, an official said on Tuesday.

Sonowal will meet the Meghalaya Chief Minister for the first time since he assumed office in Assam in May last year after assembly polls.

"The Chief Ministers have agreed to meet on April 3 to discuss the vexed boundary issue between Assam and Meghalaya," said a Meghalaya official anonymously.

Sangma will be accompanied by his deputy Roytre Christopher Laloo, Home Minister Horju Donkupar Roy Lyngdoh, Law Minister Roshan Warjri, Border Area Development Minister Prestone Tynsong, his Chief Adviser D.D. Lapang besides senior government officials.

Sangma last held discussions with then Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on June 5, 2010.

In the past, Meghalaya has submitted documents and maps on its claim to the 12 sectors/areas of Upper Tarabari, Gizang Reserve Forest, Hahim, Langpih, Borduar, Boklapara, Non-gwah-Matamur, Khanapara-Pillangkata, Deshdemoreah, Block I and Block II, Khanduli-Psiar and Ratacherra.

"We have submitted detailed documents and maps, created after a long study, in accordance with our claim on these areas, along with legal and constitutional back-up," the Meghalaya official said.

Sonowal had earlier exuded confidence about resolving Assam's decades-old border disputes with Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram through consultations and mutual accomodation.

The boundary row between Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh is pending in the Supreme Court.

The government has pegged its gross borrowing at Rs.3.72 lakh crore for the first six months of the full year’s target of Rs.5.8 lakh crore, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Tuesday.

However, most of its borrowed funds will have to be spent for retiring old debt. During 2017-18, the government has to repay Rs.1.57 lakh crore to investors as bonds mature and come up for redemption. Of the total redemption, 90 per cent is happening in first half of 2017-18, Das said.

Hence, as the majority of funds will be spent in retiring previous debt, the government will be left only with Rs.2.3 lakh crore for expenditure towards other social schemes. The government borrows from the market to meet its yearly expenditure and gross borrowing includes loan and interest repayment.

Also, the nodal ministries will have more funds to spend due to the advancement of the Union Budget, Das said.

"The Budget is fully passed and the entire expenditure is available to Ministries for spending from April 1." 
In financial year 2017-18, the government will borrow Rs.3.48 lakh crore from the market after buybacks, around Rs.75,000 crore lower than the ongoing financial year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in his Union Budget speech.

According to the budget document, net borrowing is estimated at Rs.4.23 lakh crore and gross borrowing at Rs.8 lakh crore. It also projected a fiscal deficit of 3.2 per cent of GDP for 2017-18 as compared with 3.5 per cent in 2016-17.

Several "ineligible" people were queuing up at Reserve Bank of India (RBI) counters to deposit demonetised notes, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

"Several people who are ineligible queuing up at RBI counters making the queue longer," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

"As each application has to be checked at the counters for his/her absence from the country from passport stamp marks, it is taking considerable time for counter staff. It is compounded by the incomplete documentation," he said.

Long queues are formed at Mumbai and Delhi only as large number of persons from the neighbouring states are turning up and several staff members have been engaged to attend to the large number of people turning up at the counters, Meghwal said.

"An officer of the rank of General Manger has been assigned the task at Mumbai Office. Department of Currency Management, Central Office have been advising the specific offices to deal with applicants with more sensitivity," he said.

As the last date for deposit by residents, who were not in India during the period from November 8 to December 30, 2016, is approaching more people are turning up, the Minister added.

The grace period for Indian citizens residing in India, who were abroad during November-December, 2016, is upto March 31, 2017 and for Indian citizens resident outside is up to June 30. 

The facility for exchange of Old currency notes is available at the RBI offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur.

Three youth indulging in stone pelting were on Tuesday killed in the action of security forces during an encounter at Chadoora in the Budgam district in Kashmir. A terrorist was also killed in the encounter. Seventeen others injured were rushed to Srinagar for treatment.

A spokesman of the Northern Command of the army said that one terrorist has been killed in the encounter and an AK rifle and ammunition recovered. An army personnel also sustained injuries.

The three civilians reportedly were among dozens of youth who started pelting stones at the security forces in a bid to divert their attention so as to facilitate escape of the holed up terrorist.

The encounter broke out in the morning when the a joint team of security forces, including the army, CRPF and special operation group (SOG) of the state police, on the basis of specific information about the terrorists cordoned the area and launched a search.

The killed youth have been identified as Zahid Rashid (22), Saqib Ahmad and Ishaq Ahmad Wani. Zahid received bullet injury on his neck and succumbed to the injuries while on way to the hospital.

The police tried to chase away the stone pelters by bursting teargas shells but when this failed to get the desired results there was no option but to open fire, said a police officer.

The doctor at the sub-district health centre in Chadoora said on the social media that two youth were brought dead and 17 others were injured.

The army had last month warned the civilians not to indulge in stone pelting on security forces at the encounter places as such mischief provides opportunity to terrorists to escape. The state government had also announced that curfew restrictions will automatically come into force around the encounter site where people were prohibited to assemble.

Following reports that militants were planning to attack tourists and the Amarnath pilgrims in the coming season, the security forces have stepped up operations against terrorists in the valley and on Sunday killed two ultras of Hizbul Mujahideen who ambushed a police party in Pulwama district.

Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said “It is highly painful to see the young boys losing their lives,” she said.

“We know there are issues that need to be addressed and resolved but no one will be able to do anything at a point when violence becomes a norm. There is a need for restrain from all sides so that a conducive atmosphere is created and dissent is expressed in peaceful way," she added that solution to problems can be found only through political means and not through violence.

Meanwhile, the separatist leaders have called complete shutdown tomorrow against the killing of the civilians. Asking people to observe complete shutdown tomorrow and protests after Friday prayers on March 31, Syed Alishah Geelani, Mirwaiz Omer Farooq and Yasin Malik expressed grief over killing of two youth near the encounter site.

On the other hand, the firstever incident of snatching a service weapon from a policeman by suspected ultras in Jammu was being viewed seriously by top police officers. The incident that was reported three days ago has come shortly before the holy Navratras when hundreds of people from within the state and elsewhere in the country visit the Vaishnodevi shrine. Security has been tightened at the shrine and other places.

The AAP on Tuesday said the BJP and the Congress are misleading people on the abolition of house tax by saying that it cannot be done.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Delhi Convener Dilip Pandey said both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were giving false and misleading statements ever since the AAP announced to abolish house tax and waiver of the the arrears if it came to power in civic bodies.

"People in BJP and the Congress who used to make money on the pretext of house tax are rattled with this announcement. That is why both the parties are misleading Delhi people on the matter," Pandey said.

He said the AAP had made it clear that Delhi would be the first city where there would be no house tax. 

"Delhi people are welcoming the AAP's promise of abolishing house tax, but BJP and the Congress are worried. Why are they against the interests of the people?" Pandey asked.

Elections to the 272 wards in three municipal corporations are scheduled for April 23. The results will be out on April 26.

The AAP is gearing up for intensive campaigning for the civic polls from March 31.

Kejriwal has planned several public meetings across the city for the municipal polls.

In yet another sign of growing friendliness between two old NDA partners, the BJP leaders attended the feast hosted by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his official residence in Patna on Monday night.

This was the first time in four years that the BJP leaders had visited the CM House and enjoyed the sumptuous dish in the company of the chief minister who in an abrupt move broke 17-year-old alliance with the BJP in June 2013.

Everyone was curious to know if the BJP people would honour the banquet request served to them by the chief minister.

The skepticism was only too natural given the fact that the chief minister had earlier cancelled the dinner hosted in honour of the BJP leaders who had come to Patna in June 2010 to attend party’s national executive body meeting and also returned Rs.5 crore cheque to the Gujarat government.

The chief minister who then was in power with the support of the BJP had reacted this way merely after the party inserted advertisements in local dailies republishing an old photograph which showed Kumar clasping hands with his arch-rival Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat.

Yet another reason of doubts about their presence of BJP people at the CM House was the June 2013 incident when the chief minister had severed long-standing alliance with his saffron partner shortly after Modi was declared the chairman of his party’s election campaign committee for the 2014 LS polls at Goa conclave.

Prior to that the CM had indirectly claimed to be the prime ministerial candidate and blamed the BJP for pushing senior party leaders such as AB Vajpayee and LK Advani to the background.

But, all the bitterness of the past appeared missing on Monday evening with the BJP people freely mixing with their old enemy and enjoying “tasty” food much to the amazement of the RJD legislators who too had been invited at the feast.

What was significant, Kumar himself welcomed the “BJP guests” and took every care of them.

The BJP people had visited the CM House four years after they were thrown out of power and all its 11 ministers ruthlessly dismissed by the government after the alliance break-up.

However, it was not all in the BJP who supported the party’s move to attend the feast. Bihar opposition leader Prem Kumar was one of them.

He boycotted the feast for alleged government’s crackdown on protesting teachers, home guard jawans and against steep rise in power tariff.

His predecessor Nand Kishore followed suit. But the party justified its decision saying the dinner was thrown not by a party but the chief minister of a state.

“This is not a party dinner by the one given by the chief minister of a state. In democratic set-up, posts of PM and CM are above politics,” was how the state BJP spokesperson Vinod Narayan Jha explained.

This was not the first time that the old partners looked to be coming closer. The JD-U has already greeted the BJP on its magnificent victory in UP and Uttarkhand Assembly polls, backed the BJP candidate Awadhesh Narayan Singh against its ally nominee in recent Council polls and has gone on supporting the demonetization drive of the Narendra Modi government even as both its allies, RJD and the Congress, have been strongly protesting on the streets.

The JD-U also backed the government’s move to order for surgical strike in PoK.

Actress Anjali Anand, who currently weighs 108 kg, has refused to put on more weight for her role of an oversized girl in the upcoming TV show Dhhai Kilo Prem.

Anjali, who is making her acting debut with the show, was asked by makers to put on more weight. However, she refused to do so.

"I have lived a very active life all this while. Being someone who loves to trek and cycle to maintain a steady weight, gaining too much weight is a big no-no. I am at 108 kg for the role and any more change might get difficult to reverse," Anjali said in a statement.

Dhhai Kilo Prem, which will be aired on Star Plus starting from April 3, is an unusual story of two imperfect individuals — Deepika and Piyush (Meherzan Mazda). 

Not only Anjali, even Meherzan has gained 16 kg weight for his role.

The Osmanabad Zilla Parishad in Marathwada region of Maharashtra has hit upon a novel idea to achieve its target of making all 621 villages in the district open defecation free by October 2.

"We will select tehsil-level winners from the villagers who take early initiative in building toilet at home and send them on an all-expenses-paid trip to Singapore," Osmanabad Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Anand Rayate said.

Winners would be chosen through a lottery.

The objective is to make all the villages in the district open defecation free by Gandhi Jayanti, the IAS officer said.

The scheme is part of the `Marathwada Hagandari Mukt Sangram' (Marathwada campaign for eradication of open defecation) launched today on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, the Marathi new year, Rayate said.

Villagers in all Gram Panchayats of Osmanabad district took a pledge today to make Osmanabad open defecation free by October 2, Rayate said.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday that Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) got the best university award for its good work and not for the controversy in 2016 during which the Vice Chancellor was taken hostage.

"Recently JNU was given best university award. This was not given for making the Vice Chancellor hostage but for the good works done by the university. These good works don't come into the limelight," Javadekar said in the Lok Sabha while concluding the debate on the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Javadekar's remarks came after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge objected to the Minister's reference of vacancies in JNU.

Pointing out to the vacancies of professors in JNU, Javadekar said: "There are over 100 vacancies for SCs/STs in JNU while around 25 posts of disabled professors are vacant since long ago."

Kharge objected to it saying, not only in JNU but several posts are lying vacant in Central Universities, and the minister should respond to such vacancies.

"I know why you are raking up JNU only," Kharge said.

JNU, which has been at the centre of controversies for over a year, has bagged the annual 'Visitor's Award' for the best varsity in the country.

Students of JNU had in October, 2016 staged protests outside the administrative Block, forcing the Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar and Rectors to remain confined inside the building, over the disappearance of student Najeeb Ahmed.

Earlier, three of its students were arrested on sedition charges in connection with an event on the campus during which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

Responding to members' queries, Javadekar said that vacancies in universities are a serious issue and there are many reasons for it.

"There are vacancies in central universities, state universities and also in private universities. We are trying to constitute a dynamic platform where all vacancies will be exhibited on our website," he said.

The minister said that for filling up the vacancies the government needs to create an atmosphere where students prefer to be teachers and professors.

''We need to create interest among students so they could prefer this profession," he said.

Javadekar said that whenever he visited any university, he always asked students: "Who wants to be a teacher? Who wants to be a professor?"

"Recently I visited an IIT where I asked the same question to students. I was very happy when majority of students said they want to join the teaching line," he said.

He also expressed concern over the cases of suicides on campuses.

"Even a single case of suicide in campuses is unfortunate," the minister said.

A day after Shiv Sena members raised the issue of its member Ravindra Gaikwad being barred by airlines and storming the well in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday said a notice for privilege motion by the  Sena on the issue is under consideration.

As soon as the Zero Hour began, the issue was raised by Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul. He had raised the issue on Monday as well, and was seen speaking even though his microphone was not working. The Speaker said a privilege motion notice has been received.

“I have received your notice of motion of privilege, it is under my consideration,” she said.

Lok Sabha member from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, 57-year old Gaikwad last week abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India, and assaulted him with slippers because he had to travel economy class though he had an open business class ticket. The flight was an all-economy one. 

Air India has refused to fly the MP, following which other private airlines too refused to fly him. An FIR has been registered against him.

A day after Shiv Sena members raised the issue of its member Ravindra Gaikwad being barred by airlines and storming the well in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday said a notice for privilege motion by the  Sena on the issue is under consideration.

As soon as the Zero Hour began, the issue was raised by Shiv Sena MP Anandrao Adsul. He had raised the issue on Monday as well, and was seen speaking even though his microphone was not working. The Speaker said a privilege motion notice has been received.

“I have received your notice of motion of privilege, it is under my consideration,” she said.

Lok Sabha member from Osmanabad in Maharashtra, 57-year old Gaikwad last week abused and assaulted a 60-year-old duty manager of Air India, and assaulted him with slippers because he had to travel economy class though he had an open business class ticket. The flight was an all-economy one. 

Air India has refused to fly the MP, following which other private airlines too refused to fly him. An FIR has been registered against him.