Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday reviewed drought relief measures taken up by various government departments to tackle the drought situation in the state.

Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani, Industries Minister M C Sampath, Revenue Minister R B Udhaya Kumar, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan and senior government officials took part in the meeting, an official release said.

The state is experiencing severe drought not experienced in the last 140 years due to rain deficit of 62 per cent owing to monsoon failure. Reservoirs that cater to city hold only 20 per cent of water capacity.

A group of Tamil Nadu farmers have been protesting in Delhi for over ten days, demanding a Rs.40,000 crore drought relief package from the Centre for Tamil Nadu, loan waiver, among others.

In Haryana, no private medical or dental the institute including those under private university or deemed university are authorized to carry out their own counseling for admission to postgraduate courses in their institute.

An official spokesperson said that the Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak will conduct combined centralised counselling on the basis of merit of National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) PG 2017 and NEET MDS 2017 for admission to post graduate courses that is MD, MS, PG Diploma and MDS courses for academic session 2017-18 in all the government, government aided, private aided and dental institutes including those under private and deemed universities in the state.

He said that the candidates desirous of seeking admission to MD, MS, PG Diploma and MDS courses would apply online for registration on the web portal www.uhspgadmissions.in. The final allotment of seat/specialty/institute would be done by the admission committee after physical verification of eligibility criteria and original documents. The personal appearance of the candidate in front of the admission committee at the time of counselling would be compulsory.

While referring to the counselling schedule for admissions, the spokesman said that the last date of submission of online application forms is April 8 while the registration-cum-counseling fee for general category would be Rs.3,000, it would be Rs.750 for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes category of Haryana, he added.

Reporting of discrepancy, if any, by the candidates and corrections thereof to be incorporated on April 9 and 10 and the category wise merit list of applicants would be displayed on April 12.

Nearly one crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) were frozen in the last year due to lack of any transactions, according to Central government data. It is also noted that out of 28.02 crore Jan Dhan accounts, only 1.8 crore operational ones have deposits of more than Rs.5,000. 

State Bank of India,. the country's largest public sector bank has so far spent Rs.774.86 crore on keeping Jan Dhan accounts. Last month, SBI along with a few other select banks started levying penalty on non-maintenance of minimum balance in accounts. In order to justify its move SBI said it needs to impose some charges to balance the “burden” of managing a large number of no-frills Jan Dhan accounts.

Though nearly one-fourth of the total PMJDY accounts still remain zero-balance, the situation has improved significantly over the November-February period of 2015-16.  At the beginning of the demonetisation process, the zero-balance accounts stood at 23.27 per cent of the total deposits. It came down to 22.84 per cent by 30 November. At present , the zero-balance accounts stand at 24.86 per cent.

Banks, specially the public sector ones, are facing a huge challenge on the non-performing assets front. Though the RBI, banks and Finance Ministry is trying out possible ways to reduce the burden of growing NPAs, Santosh Kumar Gangwar, minister of state for finance, said in a written reply to Parliament that there were 9,130 willful defaulters who owe Rs.91,155 crore to public sector banks. 

In the wake of the attack on Nigerians in Greater Noida, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that the government is committed to ensuring safety of foreigners in India.

"Greater Noida incident where people of African origin were injured is deplorable. Government is committed to ensuring safety of foreigners in India," the MEA said in a statement.

"Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar spoke to Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria and apprised him of the steps being taken by local authorities for safety of Nigerian nationals," the statement added.

Earlier in the day, Nigerian High Commissioner had met the MEA officials following the attack in Greater Noida and raised concerns over the security of Nigerian nationals in the country.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had spoken to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath regarding the attack after the Nigerian national and tweeted, saying living in the area was becoming a life threatening issue.

Three Nigerians were injured during a fight that broke out on Monday night when local residents were holding a candlelight march against the death of a class 12 student, They attacked the African students shopping in the area, alleging that the student, Manish Khari, was drugged by the Nigerians living nearby.

Unbeaten in the competition so far, India B start favourites against a tenacious Tamil Nadu team in the Deodhar Trophy final here on Wednesday.

The Parthiv Patel-led India B has been the dominant team in the tournament, winning both their league games against India A and Tamil Nadu rather comfortably.

For the Vijay Hazare Trophy winners Tamil Nadu, the game will be about continuing their domestic form and avenging the defeat they suffered at the hands of India B here on Sunday.

However, they bounced back in the following game against India A to make the final.

The Indian cricket team selectors will be closely tracking the players' performance on Wednesday with the final being the last 50-over domestic game before the Champions Trophy in June.

Though they have the whole of IPL to make a statement, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey would like to end the tournament on a high.

Discarded India opener Dhawan has hit form with the scores of 128 and 50 in the previous two innings. Pandey, also playing for India B, attracted attention with a match-winning 104 against Tamil Nadu in the league phase.

Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik too would like to be among the runs, having already scored a bagful in Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy where he ended as the leading scorer with 607 runs at an average of 86.71.

The stylish batsman has made a case to be picked in the Indian team with M S Dhoni doing the keeping job.
Among the bowlers, Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni has provided timely breakthroughs for India B, picking up three wickets in both the previous games.

Left-arm spinner Sai Kishore has been the standout bowler for Tamil Nadu with seven scalps in two matches.
India B have batted first on both occasions and ended up hammering 300 plus runs before defending them convincingly.

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The bill was introduced by Union Human Resources and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar in the lower house.

"Improvement in education quality is a top priority for this government and all necessary actions are being taken in this regard," Javadekar said while concluding the hour-long discussion on the bill.

Participating in the discussion, members from different parties raised concerns over issues like shortage of quality technical institutes, brain drain, suicide on campuses and lack of quality teachers.
 

Chinese technology company Xiaomi's founder and CEO Lei Jun met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and said the company was committed to creating more jobs in India.

The chairman of the Chinese tech giant told Modi how smartphones are changing the lives of Indian consumers, said a statement from Xiaomi. 

They discussed Xiaomi India's manufacturing and growth plans, and Lei reaffirmed his commitment to create more jobs in India. 

Lei presented Modi a Made-In-India Redmi 4A smartphone with all its components displayed in a glass box. 

He also met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

On Monday, Lei said India was one of the important markets for the company and it aims to create 20,000 jobs in the next three years.

As a part of his visit, which started on Sunday, Lei spoke at the Economic Times Global Business Summit 2017, and said the company has made major strides in a very short time.

Lei also spoke about China's "Internet Plus" policy which Chinese Premier Li Keqiang started in 2015. 

"Internet Plus action plan is a new form of economic plan where internet is integrated with traditional industries encouraging to the spirit of excellence in these industries and drive economic growth," he said.

Xiaomi entered India in July 2014. Last year, the company logged $1 billion in revenue in the country.

After entering India, the company opened its first plant in August 2015 and by March 2016, over 75 per cent of its phones were being manufactured in India.

Riding on its success, last week Xiaomi announced its second manufacturing unit in partnership with Taiwanese electronics major Foxconn in Andhra Pradesh.

The plant has also helped create employment for more than 5,000 people from over 100 surrounding villages. More than 90 per cent of the workforce employed are women.

Indian captain Virat Kohli is in doubt for the early stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after conceding that his shoulder injury is still a few weeks away from complete recovery.

Kohli skipped the fourth and final Test of the series against Australia, which India won 2-1 owing to the injury. It has now jeopardised his participation in the early part of IPL beginning April 5.

Kohli's team Royal Challengers Bangalore face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL opener.

“It's still a few weeks to go before I can be 100 percent on the field,” Kohli said in the post match press conference of the fourth Test when asked about his fitness.

“But these things happen in your career. Got to take it in my strike and move forward,” he said.

Kohli had hurt his shoulder while fielding during the third Test in Ranchi, forcing him to miss his first five-day game in 54 matches.

For RCB, Kohli has missed only one game and that was way back in the inaugural edition in 2008.

The star batsman had an unusually quiet series against Australia, scoring just 46 runs in five innings.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government is trying to close the rural job scheme MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

"The present central government is gradually curtailing the allocation of funds under the MGNREGA to close the rural job scheme," Sarkar said while addressing a meeting of the Tripura State Employment Guarantee Council here on Monday evening.

The issue was also discussed on Tuesday during a state cabinet meeting chaired by Sarkar.

"The Council of Ministers have decided that Tripura's Rural Development Minister, along with three Members of Parliament belonging to the state, would meet Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar soon in New Delhi.

"They will urge the government to maintain the scheme and due allocation to the state under the scheme," Tripura Information and Food Minister Bhanulal Saha told reporters on Tuesday after the cabinet meeting.

He said: "In the outgoing financial year, Tripura has provided around 79 man-days of rural jobs per household under the MGNREGA, but in the forthcoming financial year (2017-18), as per the indication of central allocation, the state would be able to provide only 38 to 42 man-days of jobs per household under the scheme."

The Chief Minister also told the Council meeting on Monday evening that to deprive the rural unemployed people of jobs and to serve the interests of the wealthy, the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government would likely discontinue MGNREGA.

"Tripura has provided around 79 man-days' rural jobs per household under the MGNREGA so far in the outgoing financial year (2016-17), but it is likely to be 83 days by the end of the year. The national average in this regard is 43 days only," an official quoted the Chief Minister as saying in the meeting.

While the rest of the country lags, Left-ruled Tripura retained its top position for the seventh consecutive year until the 2015-16 financial year in providing jobs under the MGNREGA — a staggering 94.46 man-days per household — against the national average of 48.85 days in that year.

The MGNREGA was introduced in February 2006 by the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

It mandates 100 days of work in a financial year to at least one member of each rural household, but this has never been achieved in any state. The scheme aims to generate rural assets and create rural infrastructure like roads.

The BJP on Tuesday said it would "politically and legally fight" against the TRS government's proposal to increase reservation for backward sections among minority Muslims in Telangana.

"The BJP would fight against this religious reservation, dividing people on religious lines and for vote bank politics, politically on one hand and legally on the other," the party's leader in Legislative Assembly G Kishan Reddy said told reporters.

"The BJP would either join the ongoing matter in courts or stand by anyone who approaches courts against the move," he said.

The matter of 4 per cent quota being enjoyed by Muslims in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is pending in the Supreme Court and there is "no final word" on it, Reddy said.

The BJP leader found fault with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's comments that the reservation is proposed for backward sections among minority Muslims.

"Muslim religious leaders did not say there are BCs in Muslims. But, he (Rao) has found that," Reddy said.

The move to provide reservation to Muslims is unconstitutional and "detrimental to society", the BJP legislator maintained.

Rao on Monday said a special session of the assembly would be convened soon to take up the issue of increasing reservation for tribals and minority Muslims.

The chief minister had said his government is keen on increasing quota for tribals and Muslims as promised by his party TRS in run up to the 2014 assembly elections.

The TRS had promised to strive for providing 12 per cent quota each for STs and Muslims in jobs and education.

Referring to the BJP's opposition to the government's efforts to enhance reservation for Muslims, Rao said the quota is proposed on the basis of backwardness, and not religion.

The BJP on Tuesday said it would "politically and legally fight" against the TRS government's proposal to increase reservation for backward sections among minority Muslims in Telangana.

"The BJP would fight against this religious reservation, dividing people on religious lines and for vote bank politics, politically on one hand and legally on the other," the party's leader in Legislative Assembly G Kishan Reddy said told reporters.

"The BJP would either join the ongoing matter in courts or stand by anyone who approaches courts against the move," he said.

The matter of 4 per cent quota being enjoyed by Muslims in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is pending in the Supreme Court and there is "no final word" on it, Reddy said.

The BJP leader found fault with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's comments that the reservation is proposed for backward sections among minority Muslims.

"Muslim religious leaders did not say there are BCs in Muslims. But, he (Rao) has found that," Reddy said.

The move to provide reservation to Muslims is unconstitutional and "detrimental to society", the BJP legislator maintained.

Rao on Monday said a special session of the assembly would be convened soon to take up the issue of increasing reservation for tribals and minority Muslims.

The chief minister had said his government is keen on increasing quota for tribals and Muslims as promised by his party TRS in run up to the 2014 assembly elections.

The TRS had promised to strive for providing 12 per cent quota each for STs and Muslims in jobs and education.

Referring to the BJP's opposition to the government's efforts to enhance reservation for Muslims, Rao said the quota is proposed on the basis of backwardness, and not religion.

A court here on Tuesday reserved its order in a fake passport case against underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan and others.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal said it will either pronounce verdict in the case or seek clarification, if required, on April 12, the next date fixed for hearing.

The court on June 8 framed charges against Chhota Rajan and then passport officers Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan.

The charges were framed under sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery of documents.

The CBI in its charge sheet alleged that Chhota Rajan got issued a fake passport from Bengaluru in 1998-99 in connivance with Rahate, Shah and Lakshmanan in the name of Mohan Kumar.

The three are out on bail while Rajan is in judicial custody.

Rajan is involved in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking.

He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.

The don, held by the Indonesian police on October 25, 2015, was deported to India on November 6, 2015.

A court here on Tuesday reserved its order in a fake passport case against underworld don Rajendra Sadashiv Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan and others.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal said it will either pronounce verdict in the case or seek clarification, if required, on April 12, the next date fixed for hearing.

The court on June 8 framed charges against Chhota Rajan and then passport officers Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan.

The charges were framed under sections of the Indian Penal Code dealing with criminal conspiracy, cheating, cheating by impersonation and forgery of documents.

The CBI in its charge sheet alleged that Chhota Rajan got issued a fake passport from Bengaluru in 1998-99 in connivance with Rahate, Shah and Lakshmanan in the name of Mohan Kumar.

The three are out on bail while Rajan is in judicial custody.

Rajan is involved in over 85 cases, ranging from murder to extortion, smuggling and drug trafficking.

He has cases pending against him in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and with the CBI.

The don, held by the Indonesian police on October 25, 2015, was deported to India on November 6, 2015.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was on Tuesday unanimously elected Leader of the SP Legislature Party in both the Houses of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, at a meeting of party legislators.

SP veterans Azam Khan and Shivpal Singh Yadav were conspicuous by their absence from the meeting.

At the meeting of SP MLAs and MLCs, the former chief minister was unanimously elected as the combined leader of the party in both the state Assembly and Council, SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

Besides, Akhilesh was also authorised to pick the leader of the party in the Legislative Council, he added.

Akhilesh is a member of the Upper House, where senior SP leader Ahmed Hasan leads the party.

Akhilesh had on Monday nominated seniormost party MLA Ram Govind Chaudhary as the leader of the SP in the Assembly, paving the way for his becoming the LOP in the Assembly.

Both Azam Khan and Shivpal Singh Yadav, who were strong contenders for the post of LOP in the Assembly but failed to find favour with Akhilesh, gave a miss to today's meeting.

Commenting on the choice of Chaudhary for the key post, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) accused the SP of "acting under BJP's pressure" to deny senior leader Azam Khan the position.

"SP acted under BJP's pressure to deny the position of LOP to a dynamic and strong leader like Azam Khan, which could have posed problems for them in the legislature," state RLD chief Masood Ahmed alleged.

"Had Khan been made the Leader of Opposition, he would have retained his government bungalow and there would also have been no question on his Maulana Jauhar University in Rampur. So, BJP exerted pressure on Netaji (Mulayam Singh) to stop it," he added.

RLD has one MLA in the 403-member state Assembly.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was on Tuesday unanimously elected Leader of the SP Legislature Party in both the Houses of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature, at a meeting of party legislators.

SP veterans Azam Khan and Shivpal Singh Yadav were conspicuous by their absence from the meeting.

At the meeting of SP MLAs and MLCs, the former chief minister was unanimously elected as the combined leader of the party in both the state Assembly and Council, SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

Besides, Akhilesh was also authorised to pick the leader of the party in the Legislative Council, he added.

Akhilesh is a member of the Upper House, where senior SP leader Ahmed Hasan leads the party.

Akhilesh had on Monday nominated seniormost party MLA Ram Govind Chaudhary as the leader of the SP in the Assembly, paving the way for his becoming the LOP in the Assembly.

Both Azam Khan and Shivpal Singh Yadav, who were strong contenders for the post of LOP in the Assembly but failed to find favour with Akhilesh, gave a miss to today's meeting.

Commenting on the choice of Chaudhary for the key post, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) accused the SP of "acting under BJP's pressure" to deny senior leader Azam Khan the position.

"SP acted under BJP's pressure to deny the position of LOP to a dynamic and strong leader like Azam Khan, which could have posed problems for them in the legislature," state RLD chief Masood Ahmed alleged.

"Had Khan been made the Leader of Opposition, he would have retained his government bungalow and there would also have been no question on his Maulana Jauhar University in Rampur. So, BJP exerted pressure on Netaji (Mulayam Singh) to stop it," he added.

RLD has one MLA in the 403-member state Assembly.

She started off as an actress, became an entrepreneur and she is now creating waves with her books and column. Twinkle Khanna, famous on social media as Mrs Funnybones, doesnt regret that she couldn't score a success story in films.

Asked if she finds it ironic that she didn't receive as much praise for acting as opposed to her writing career, Twinkle told IANS over phone from Mumbai: "Maybe I am better at writing. So I console myself with the fact that I have a career that lasts me a lifetime." 

Twinkle, the daughter of veteran actress Dimple Kapadia and the late superstar Rajesh Khanna, featured in films like Barsaat, Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai, Mela, Baadshah and Joru Ka Ghulam. But failed to make a mark.

She then became an entrepreneur, exploring her interest in interior designing. Her writing skills came to be known via her column in a daily, and eventually she turned an author. She calls her professional journey gratifying. 

"Considering that I'm here at this platform at this point of time, I think it's been quite gratifying," she said.

Be it her books "Mrs Funnybones" and "The Legend of Lakshmi Prasad", her comments on social media or even the columns she writes, Twinkle has always managed to see the funny side of life. 

What makes her do that?

"Humour is nothing else but a part of candour… There is nothing that you can ever say which is funny unless it has a nugget of truth in it. All I do is unwrap a little bit conditioning and present it slightly in an incongruent manner," said Twinkle, who is the wife of actor Akshay Kumar and a mother of two.

Asked why she doesn't star with Akshay in films, Twinkle, who is the brand ambassador of Loreal Professionnel, quipped: "You've just asked me a question that I am doing better as a writer. So why would I do something that I wasn't doing as well as? Logic."

Currently, Twinkle is busy with her film production Padman, which stars Akshay and Radhika Apte.

Directed by R. Balki, the film is inspired by Padma Shri awardee Arunachalam Muruganantham, and will chronicle his journey of finding a way to make cheap, affordable sanitary napkins for women in his village.

Talking about the film, she said: "Padman is something which is a very important topic and I am just glad to be a part of a project that's bringing awareness." 
 

Alluding to reports of noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogles return to the studios for the 10th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), Sony Pictures Networks said the TV presenter might not be seen at the venues but should be available to speak his mind in "IPL Extra Innings", the pre- and post-match shows accompanying every game.

If Bhogle does feature in the IPL, it will be his comeback after a one-year hiatus after his comments in the box weren't well received by some members of the Indian cricket team and officials within the BCCI.

"We have used him in earlier years. He used to work with BCCI world feed commentary. Last year, he was not there but previous years he was part of BCCI," Sony Sports Cluster India executive vice president and business head Prasana Krishnan said on Tuesday.

"The way it works is, the main English commentary is produced by BCCI from the venue. Other languages and extra innings studio we do a separate broadcast. So obviously because of the travel, logistics and different venues etc, it's very difficult for a person who is there on field to be available in studios for too many days.

"Harsha used to be with us in studios also for some time. This year we are hoping he will be back. It's not fair for me to make a definitive comment but he will be part of the team. There are no hurdles, just a few formalities," Krishnan confirmed.

The controversy last year was when Bhogle's criticism of the Indian team wasn't well taken by actor Amitabh Bachchan who indirectly took a shot at Bhogle.

This tweet was subsequently re-tweeted by former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and complaints were made to the BCCI by Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay. 

Bhogle was then cut at a late stage from the IPL 9 as well despite being part of its early production videos and promotion.

He then had said that it was done without any clear reason: "No one told me anything. I have not been formally told of the reason even now. All I have been told is 'it is a BCCI management decision'." 

BCCI, Krishnan said, does not have any problem if Bhogle is brought on board.

"They don't have an objection in bringing Harsha."

Krishnan added that cricketer-turned-politician and popular commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was inducted as a cabinet minister in the new Congress government in Punjab headed by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh recently, might not be available this time.

"Sidhu's availability is still doubtful. He will not be available for as many days as he was last year. That's for sure. It's now entirely on his hands how he will make time," he said.

The involvement of recently retired former India players with various franchises is a hurdle in roping them in for commentary during the IPL, Krishnan said.

"In IPL another challenge we face is lot of these former cricketers are involved with some franchise or the other," he reflected.

Asked about Sourav Ganguly, who has been reported to do commentary in the ICC Champions Trophy starting from June, Krishnan said that since he is now an administrator (president of Cricket Association of Bengal) it would be difficult for him to make time.

"Sourav Ganguly is an administrator. ICC is a different ball game. From a BCCI organised event, I don't think he will be available. For world feed, BCCI decides. If a person is already involved in something it's difficult for him to make time," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the IPL this time will be telecast in five different regional languages — Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi.

Digitally though, Sony LIV would not show IPL matches as Hotstar has the rights.

"It is a unique proposition. This is a legacy thing so we had to give Hotstar the rights to show IPL matches digitally. Usually the television channel that shows a certain league has it's digital platform having the same also. But this won't be the case here," Krishnan said.