Justifying his government's decision to ban red-beacon lights in Punjab, the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said VIP culture has eroded the democratic systems of the country and alienated the common people from their own
leaders.

Reacting to reports of certain individuals refusing to let go of the red beacon status symbol, the CM said his government was committed to demolish the VIP culture in the state, as mandated by the Congress manifesto.

He urged all political leaders and others to support the initiative to purge the debt-ridden state of irrelevant power symbols, which it could ill-afford and which had no place in a progressive society.

"Such VIP frills were a legacy of the pre-independence era and had no place in a democratic and progressive society like ours," Amarinder said in a statement.

He urged all his colleagues in the government and in the party, as well as other elected representatives entitled to such privileges, not to make it an issue of prestige but to look at it as a small gesture of gratitude to the people for electing them to power.

Amarinder urged the public figures to respect people’s sentiment, saying such gestures would convey to the people the accessibility and availability of their leaders.

Reiterating his government’s commitment to implementing all the poll manifesto promises and the subsequent cabinet decisions in letter and in spirit, Amarinder said it
was not things like red beacon lights but hard work, commitment and sincerity that were the harbingers of popularity and public respect.

Pointing out that Punjabis had always been at the forefront of positive change and revolution, the chief minister exhorted all MLAs, ex MLAs and other elected leaders to set an example for the rest of the country to follow by shedding the VIP culture.

Besides removal of red beacons from VIP vehicles, the government has
initiated several other measures to rid the state of such symbolism, which Amarinder said would be implemented in toto.

He added that these far-reaching changes would not only help the political leadership to connect better with their electorate at the grassroots but also lead to considerable monetary savings for the cash-starved state exchequer.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday moved the Finance Bill, 2017, for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha, saying that since it provides for electoral bonds, it required consideration as a Money Bill, which can only be debated in the Lower House.

A Finance Bill is ordinarily introduced to give effect to the financial proposals of the government for the next financial year.

Replying to a point of order raised by an opposition member of the House, Jaitley said that following the government's demonetisation drive to curb corruption, various income tax incentives had been introduced, including electoral bonds, to deal with black money in political life. This had necessitated amendments to various Acts, he said. 

"Electoral bonds are one such incentive being issued under the Income Tax Act. Section 13A of the Income Tax Act and clause 11A of The Finance Bill, 2017 deal with electoral bonds," Jaitley told the House.

"These define the procedure how electoral bonds are to be issued, which says that the Reserve Bank (RBI) will, with particular banks, issue electoral bonds," he said.

"The RBI Act required an amendment in this case so that it may notify a particular bank. For this provision, RBI, as well as the Representation of People Act are amended," he added. 

On Monday, the Lok Sabha by voice vote passed the third batch of Supplementary Demand for Grants for 2016-17.

The House also passed the relevant appropriation Bills for drawing the specified sums out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

Jaitley had on Friday tabled the third batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2016-17, seeking approval for additional expenditure of Rs.11.35 lakh crore, including net cash outgo of Rs.14,786.85 crore towards various heads.

It has been a barren run for David Warner since arriving in India but the Australian opener is hopeful of a turnaround, saying he will soon be among runs.

The left-handed opener has managed just 131 runs in six innings with a 33-run knock in the first innings of the Bangalore Test being his best so far.

Warner said there was nothing wrong with him as he was striking the ball quite well.

"I feel fantastic, I couldn't be hitting the ball any better but it's just that the runs aren't coming for me at the moment. That will come, it will turn around," Warner told reporters.

"I just have to keep being disciplined and making sure that my preparation is still the same – not change anything, and just go about my business as I do," he said.

The aggressive batsman said he was not the first cricketer to endure a tough period.

"Numbers always pop up everywhere. For me it's about putting my best foot forward and trying to put my team in a position that we can either defend or win games. That's what that's about. Everyone in world cricket, greats and legends of the game have had stints overseas or at home (where) they've had some form slumps. That's just the game of cricket."

He said he has done it in past, emerging out of a lean patch, adding he can do it again.

"That's in the back of your mind you've got to keep telling yourself you've done the hard yards, you just don't lose it overnight. There were tough periods where I kept on thinking to myself 'am I actually doing the work at training?' I sort of second guessed myself.

"I had a couple of words to some boys around Christmas time and they weren't seeing any trends or anything with my dismissals, everything I was doing at training was spot on and in the normal way I go about it.

"Nothing has changed, it's still the same. I've just got to go out and keep backing myself and, when I'm out there, adapt to the conditions and then keep backing myself to try and keep putting the runs on the board," he said.

Warner said he has been giving Australia steady starts with Matt Renshaw but need to convert those into big ones.

"For the team's sake we need to get off to a good start," Warner said.

"As a partnership, me and Renners have been getting off to an okay start. None for 50 over here, you need those to be none for 100. We've seen the Indians do it before, batting big and (making) partnerships of 200."

With busy lives and money crunches, going out for a movie takes a back seat. Even though you try to take out time to watch one, it is hard to choose from the mainstream movies.

A weekend is awaited when couch becomes your personalised movie theatre and special screening takes place on the laptop with ‘good internet connection’.

This time, treat the movie buff in you with a handful of desi short movies to restore your faith in Indian cinema and make the weekend filmy!

Here are five Indian short films that you must watch to appreciate the art film-making is.

Chutney

This 15 minutes long short-film is a brain teasing experience your brain will appreciate. Tisca Chopra in disguise is something that will leave you shocked, surprised and awestruck at the same time. This twisted tale is worth watching and appreciating.

White Shirt

How often do we get attached to little things we have around us at our home. It can be a flower vase, a plant, a pen or may be a diary but here there is a white shirt that is the only thing that has kept a broken marriage from falling apart. The white shirt is the guiding light and how! Watch Kritika Kamra and Kunal Kapoor in this realistic and highly relatable 18 minutes long short-film.

Mama’s Boys

Sixteen-minute-long Neena Gupta starrer short film is witty and funny. The modern adaptation of Mahabharata for a light-hearted comedy and good laugh, this film is a must watch. The actors are well chosen and present the mythological characters in a modern light with perfection. Draupadi is definitely not a victim here!

Naked

Kalki Koechlin starrer 16 minutes long short film, Naked is based on a real incident from actor Radhika Apte’s life. Over an interview by a journalist, the movie presents some unsaid things which the society must know. Some may call it pure feminism but the movie is a must watch.

The Day After Everyday

A woman goes through one or the other kind of sexual abuse at least once in her life. Be it lewd comments, unwanted touch or more. This film throws light on the life of a woman in India and what all she goes through every day while she steps out of the house. Twenty-one minutes long, the film stars Radhika Apte.

So, check your internet speed and put the laptop on charging if the battery is low. Let the binge watch begin this weekend and utilise Youtube, the ultimate blessing.

A day after the Centre approved the merger of Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) with the State Bank of India (SBI), the public lender on Tuesday said the effective date of implementation will come from the government.

"As per the Finance Ministry, the merger of BMB with SBI has been approved. We are awaiting the date of merger. The effective date of merger will come in the notification. As soon as we get the notification, we will have the clarity," SBI Managing Director Dinesh Kumar Khara told BTVi in an interview.

The Bharatiya Mahila Bank has about 100 key branches, which will merge with the SBI.

Khara said that the merger would serve the objectives of creation of BMB more effectively.

"We will be in a position to reach out to the women population and offer products and services at a much reasonable cost as compared to BMB. So, it is a value proposition. The merger will realise the objectives of the Bharatiya Mahila Bank," he said.

The BMB, established in 2013, would have taken time to improve the employee's skill level, Khara said. "We have skilled manpower, improved technology and digital means to carry out transactions. Operations will become efficient and cost of renting services will come down in the interest of the BMB customer."

Khara said that he does not expect resistance from the bank unions as the SBI had been constantly engaging in talks with them and address their concerns. 

In the three years since the BMB was set up in 2013, it has extended loans of Rs.192 crore to women borrowers. The SBI group has provided loans of about Rs.46,000 crore to women to date.

The SBI has more than 20,000 branches. Out of its workforce of around two lakh, 22 per cent are women. 

Educational institutions, issuing fake certificates are under the Punjab State Pharmacy Council's (PSPC) scanner after detection of 300 fake Class XII and diploma certificates in past one year.

The PSPC is all set to tighten the noose on such institutions whose affiliation from recognised board is suspicious. With close to 3,000 such cases pending, the Council could not decide anything in the absence of any check till date.

To take a control over the situation this time, the Council has called its 14 members to for a meeting scheduled for 28 March.

Sources said the Council, which has registered 35,888 pharmacists till date, through its Registrar had written a letter to Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Chandigarh, asking for the registration of an FIR against 'guilty officials' for registering 3,000 candidates having fake, false, fabricated and unapproved Class XII and diploma certificates.

"We have fixed a meeting to discuss the issue of fake certificates issued by various boards. Actions have been recommended against certain boards. After perusing degree courses at the college level, candidate comes to us for registration as pharmacists. After verification, their certificates were found fake as the institutions were not affiliated to recognised boards," said, Registrar, PSPC, Kishore Kumar Shridhar, told The Statesman.

As per a Right to Information (RTI) obtained by Paramedical and Health Employees Front (PHEF), Punjab about two years ago, it had come to fore that a total of 7,453 registrations was done by the council between January 2009 to December 2013. Following this, PHEF had written to the Governor, Chief Minister, Health Minister, Medical Education and Research Minister and the Technical Education Minister initiate legal action against defaulters in the case.

"We have already sought a legal opinion in this matter. There was no mechanism to check the validity of certificates by colleges and they enrolled the candidates even without verifying their certificates. The matter was pointed out by PSPC at the time of registration," said president of PSPC, Surinder Kumar Sharma.

He further said, last year a team was sent to Bihar to verify the certificates issued by institutes over there and later some of them were found illegal. PSPC deals with registration, renewal and also responsible for providing license to pharmacists after verification under the Pharmacy act of India, 1948.
 

Oscar winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi is hopeful about the future of Indian cinema as he finds the passion of young cinema lovers in the country very striking.

Farhadi's latest Academy Award winning movie The Salesman is due to release in India on March 31.

A special pre-release screening of the movie was organised here on Monday by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), where Smriti Kiran, Creative Director of Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, shared a special message from Farhadi for the audience in India.

The message reads: "I've been to India several times and I've been to the Mumbai film festival. What I find really striking in India is the passion of the young cinema lovers. They pursue cinema in a very serious way. They are very passionate and I am very hopeful about the future of Indian cinema.

"I receive many messages, emails, letters from Indian cinema lovers. It's something that I find very comforting and I see that their insight and relationship with cinema is very important and very vivid."

This message was shared with Kiran when she was attending an event called Qumra, organised by the Doha Film Institute earlier this month. Farhadi was one of the masters at the event, and he shared the message as part of a Skype interview for Indian fans, read a statement.

The screening of The Salesman was attended by names like Anurag Kashyap, Alankrita Shrivastava, Guneet Amarpreet Kaur, Shlok Sharma, Vicky Kaushal, Rajshri Deshpande, Aamir Bashir and Patralekha.

Producer Sunil Doshi is launching his label Sunil Doshi Presents with The Salesman.

Congress has landed in a fresh trouble in Uttarakhand. The age old Indian political party is facing tough situation due to receiving election donation from dubious people involved in National Highway land use change scam of Ruderpur.

Kumoan Commissioner D Senthil Pandiyan has conducted an inquiry in the scam and submitted a report to the Uttarakhand government for further action.

The inquiry indicates a scam of 170 crore- in which NH staff, state government staff and farmers are involved.

The scam was organized in which land was acquired for construction of national highway and by showing the agriculture land as commercial the payment was made.

Kumoan Commissioner D Senthil Pandiyan said “a big syndicate is involved in the scam and a high level probe should be conducted in the scam.”

Many of the dubious beneficiaries of the NH land use change scam provided donation to Uttarakhand Congress- by depositing the money in party's bank account .

The issue came to light during the state assembly election and Uttarakhand Congress president Kishore Upadhyay said at that time, “if proved doubtful, we will return the amount to the individual.”

Just by returning the amount will not help Congress as they were in government at that time.

Many are linking it with a organized scam by involving NH staff, state government staff, politicians and contractors.

Big money was made in the national highway scam in which the land use was changed in back date- estimating a loss of Rs.170 crore to state exchequer.

The Kumoan Commissioner completed the probe this week, in which he had to refer thousands of documents. He found many documents missing.

D Senthil Pandiyan has submitted the report to the Uttarakhand government. The scam took place in the highway project connecting Rampur to Kathgodam  sector and Jaspur to Khatima sector.

Congress is facing problem as many beneficiaries deposited big amounts in the party’s bank account- which was operated by one of the close aides of Harish Rawat.

The Congress was hoping of retaining power in Uttarakhand, but they had to face a big defeat in the state assembly polls.

During election time the Congress was casually treating the scam.

But, now BJP is in power in Uttarakhand and Prime Minister Narendra Modi constantly says adopting zero tolerance against corruption. So, this scandal is likely to trouble Congress further in the coming weeks.

Preparing for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, the Indian football team will get a chance to assess its strengths and weaknesses in a match situation when it plays Cambodia in an international friendly here tomorrow.

This is India's first friendly since the 4-1 rout of Puerto Rico on home soil in September, 2016.

Both the teams will approach the game with seriousness, as it's their last competitive outing before kicking off their respective qualifying campaigns for the AFC Asian Cup in 2019.

India are slated to begin their campaign in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers against Myanmar in Yangon.

For the record, the last time India emerged victorious in an away international friendly was way back in 2006, when the team captained by present team managed Shanmugam Venkatesh eked out a solitary goal win over Pakistan.

It will be an opportunity for coach Stephen Constantine to provide a platform to the youngsters such as Jerry Larlinzuala, Milan Singh, Nishu Kumar and Daniel Lalhlimpuia to make a mark in the international arena.

With Arnab Mondal and Sandesh Jhingan's season dogged by injuries and poor form, it could be an opportunity for Anas Edathodika to finally make his international debut.

India will be bolstered by the return of striker Robin Singh after a long injury layoff and, in Constantine's regular 4-2-3-1 formation, the tall striker is set to play upfront in the company of the talismanic Sunil Chhetri.

India's last meeting with Cambodia, at the 2007 Nehru Cup in New Delhi, ended in one of their biggest-ever wins in international football — a 6-0 demolition of the southeast Asian nation.

Constantine was not amused to see an artificial turf at the National Stadium.

"We will be playing on an artificial turf. We would have preferred to play on grass. But we need to adjust. It is a very important match for us ahead of the crucial match against Myanmar in the AFC Cup Qualifiers. I thank AIFF for arranging the same," the Briton said.

"There are 4-5 players who are carrying slight niggles so I haven't yet decided on the starting XI. Let me see what suits us best.

"The weather conditions in Phnom Penh are quite similar to that in Yangon and it will be a good test for us," he said.

Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will be leading the side on Wednesday, his second consecutive match as the national team captain, after India's big win over Puerto Rico.

The Indian squad of 24 arrived here after a camp in Mumbai.

"You need international games to develop as a team and the AIFF has confirmed international friendlies until October which is very positive. The more you play the more team chemistry you develop and the more the players gel," said the coach.

"There is a very healthy competition to get into the starting XI. It is a huge honour to get selected for India and the players understand that. The philosophy in the team says there is no guarantee for anyone and you need to work hard to stay in the squad and work harder to get into the starting XI," added Constantine.

Gauahar Khan lashes out at an internet portal for a post on her and her ex-boyfriend, Kushal Tandon, in a casual tweet on Monday.

The portal mentioned Gauhar and Kushal in a casual tweet along with a picture of the two of them, which read, “TV couples Time Change Once in love now hate each other.”

However, the comment didn’t go down well with Gauahar and she lashed out at the portal, saying, “We don’t hate anybody…Get a life.”

Her ex-boyfriend Kushal Tandon also reacted to the tweet, saying, “Kuch toh log Kahenge, logo ka kaam hai kehna”

Gauahar and Kushal fell in love during their stay in the Bigg Boss house. After being in love for some time, the couple parted ways due to reasons best known to them.

In spite of the differences, the duo had in the past, they are on good terms now and Kushal’s supportive tweet just proves that!

Gauahar would be next seen in Srijit Mukherji’s Begum Jaan alongside Vidya Balan, whereas actor Kushal is busy shooting for his TV show Beyhadh alongside Jennifer Winget which currently airs on Sony Tv.  
 

Two days after being sworn in as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving him the responsibility and said the Union government's development schemes are an example for the world.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as an icon and set an example in the world," Yogi Adityanath said while addressing the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of the Parliament.

"My govt will be for everyone, not specifically for any caste or community," he added.

The Gorakhpur MP thanked PM Narendra Modi for sanctioning an AIIMS in Gorakhpur, which he has represented five times.

He said that the note ban has not affected the country's economy. "Despite the note ban, India's economic growth is on the rise," he said.

Highlighting that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has re-energised the country's economy, he said that the Union government has always been poor-friendly.

"Jan dhan yojna demonstrates government's commitment to the poor," he said, adding, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has re-energised the country's economy.

Adityanath also took a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and said that their alliance was the reason behind their defeat.

"I am a year younger than Rahul Gandhi and a year older than Akhilesh Yadav. I came between their jodi (alliance). That is why the alliance failed," he said.

Yogi Adityanath was sworn in on Sunday, days after the BJP scored a massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh election.

Earlier in the day, Adityanath met President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP chief Amit Shah to discuss the distribution of portfolios in his government.

Actor Ali Fazal has been roped in as the brand ambassador of bags brand The Vertical Bags.

The brand has chosen Ali keeping in mind his connect with the youth and his appeal to their target audience. 

"I am excited about my association with the team. The campaign will be out soon. Had a really fun shoot with Vertical. Looking forward to this journey," Ali said in a statement.

Ali, who was last seen on screen in Happy Bhaag Jayegi, is currently busy with his Hollywood project "Victoria and Abdul" in which he will be seen sharing screen space with legendary actress Judi Dench.

The actor has also finished shooting for Fukrey Returns.

Amandeep Drall will look for an encore in the sixth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour 2017, starting here on Wednesday.

The INR 6,00,000 event, featuring 14 professionals, is all set to test the mental and physical calibre of the golfers at the picturesque par 71 course at the Poona Club Golf Course here.

Having won twice in four appearances, Panchkula's Amandeep will be keen to keep the momentum going to win her third title of the season. She is currently leading the Hero Order of Merit with earnings of 4,95,000.

However, Amandeep is expected to face tough competition from the likes of Vani Kapoor and Gaurika Bishnoi.

Finishing with her overseas commitments, New Delhi's Vani made an immediate impact on her return to the Tour, winning the fourth leg at Tollygunge Club, Kolkata.

She will look to add another win to her tally and move up the money list, wherein she is currently placed seventh with earnings of 2,16,000.

Gurgaon's Gaurika will be hoping to put forth a strong display and move up the Hero Order of Merit. She is currently placed second in the money list with total earnings of INR 4,15,900, winning one title in five appearances.

Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma is currently placed fourth in the Hero Order of Merit with total earnings of 3,08,200 and will be hoping to move up the ladder. She hasn't been at her best in the last couple of events and will seek to make amends.

Hero MotoCorp sponsored Sharmila Nicollet has not been at her best recently and would be eager to make an impact.

Other golfers to watch out for will be Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal, Jaipur's Afshan Fatima and Pune's Shweta Galande.

The picturesque par 71 course at the Poona Club Golf Course is all set to test the mental and physical calibre of the players.

Domestic equity markets closed Tuesday’s trading session on a marginally lower note amid profit booking mixed global cues.

The Sensex at the BSE closed 33 points down at 29,485 and the Nifty at the NSE ended five points lower at 9,122.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap index slumped 0.5 per cent but Smallcap index slipped 0.2 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, Realty index registered the biggest gain with a jump of 1.4 per cent while Healthcare index became the top loser with a dip of 1.4 per cent.

On Monday, the Nifty50 had closed 33 points down at 9,127 and the Sensex had closed 130 points lower at 29,519.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: ITC (up 2 per cent), ONGC (up 1.6 per cent), Infosys (up 1.1 per cent), L&T (up 0.7 per cent) and HUL (up 0.6 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Dr Reddy’s Labs (down 4.4 per cent), Axis Bank (down 3.3 per cent), Gail (down 1.4 per cent), Marui Suzuki (down 1.4 per cent) and Reliance Industries (down 1.3 per cent).

In the Asian markets, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 0.4 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times Index slipped 0.2 per cent, Korea’s KOSPI index shined 1 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.3 per cent.

European markets were trading with mixed moves, CAC 40 and DAX indices gained 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively while FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1 per cent.

Back home, the Rupee closed 12 paise higher at 65.31 against the US Dollar.

With a view to generate more employment opportunities for the educated unemployed, Haryana government has decided to involve the private sector in effective implementation of ‘Saksham Yuva' scheme.

Widening the scope of the ambitious scheme, science graduates would be given the opportunity at Haryana Industrial Trade Expo (HITEX) -2017 to be organised from March 24 to 28.

The 5-day-long employment would be organised by the state government in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Faridabad from March 24, 2017.

While reviewing the functioning of the ‘Saksham Yuva’ scheme on Tuesday, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that the state government would be a facilitator and the private sector could engage the best available capable youth to meet their requirement.

There is a lot of demand for educated youth in the private sector and the scheme could prove very useful to cater their need, he added.

Khattar said that as many leading entrepreneurs would participate in the job fair, it should be ensured that maximum youth registered on the ‘Saksham Yuva’ portal get employment.

It was informed in the meeting that the scheme has got overwhelming response as 21,896 applicants have so far registered themselves on the web-portal by 15 March.

Various state government departments like Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Panchayats, Industries, Election, Horticulture, Elementary Education and offices of Deputy Commissioners have requisitioned Saksham Yuva for work and 7,858 youth have so far been deputed to work.

It was also informed that while an allowance of over Rs.4.97 Crore has been disbursed among the approved applicants from the month of November 2016 to February 2017, over Rs.97 lakh has been disbursed as honorarium from December 2016 to February 2017.

Under the scheme, unemployment allowance at the rate of Rs.3,000 per month and honorarium up to Rs.6,000 per month in lieu of 100 hours of work are given to eligible and registered unemployed post-graduates under the age of 35 years.

Waterman of Rajasthan, Rajendera Singh on Tuesday disapproved the concept of ‘inter-linking of rivers’ in the country and said it would lead to huge wastage of money.

"The contours in India are varied and inter-linking of rivers is not feasible here. It is a distant dream,” Singh said, in reply to a question at Raj Bhawan here during an interaction with state officials.

A Ramon Magsaysay award winner for water management in Rajasthan in 2001, Rajendra Singh was here to give tips to Himachal government on water conservation on the initiative of Governor, Acharya Devvrat.

Singh said instead of linking the rivers, the effort should be to link the Indian society with rivers.

“The need of the hour is to revive the dried up rivers, which will take care of floods as well as drought,” he said.

He said he had even put forth his view point before the NDA government headed by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee then, which had mooted the proposal of inter-linking of rivers.

He, however, said the Indian constitution does not talk of the ‘river rights’ as such. He talked of examples of Satluj Yamuna (SYL) link and Kaveri, on which the conflict hasn’t ended even after decades.

“The judiciary has also not been able to find solutions to questions on water,” he said.

The Water Man, however, quickly mentioned that the present Central government is doing good work on Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) to promote village ponds.

He said the selection of old village ponds was done scientifically by people, who were illiterate but had great practical knowledge.

Singh referred to ‘river rights’ (as a tradition) in the context of damage caused to water resources on hills during execution of hydro electric projects and the rivers being moved into tunnels in Himachal. “I would go by judgement of Uttarakhand High Court on a related issue. The judgement should move forward to other places also,” he remarked.

The Uttarakhand High Court, in an order on March 20, had accorded the status of ‘living human entities’.

He narrated the success story of water conservation in Rajasthan with community participation and shared how an ‘illiterate village elder’ taught him geo hydro science with practical approach.

“He didn’t have words but he knew the ground reality. He asked me to climb down the dried wells in the village to study and find out natural ways to recharge them. Unfortunately, our scientists today have words, but they lack practical knowledge. But that’s more a fault of education system,” he held.

The waterman asked the hill state to tame its streams, revive village ponds, plant more orchards and ensure community driven decentralised water management based on agro-ecological climatic diversity.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has passed a resolution against the West Bengal government, accusing Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of ‘jihadi activities’ in the state.

"The resolution clearly says the ruling party is promoting jihadi violence and promoting communal elements to important berths," Jishnu Basu, Secretary of RSS, south Bengal. said.

RSS, the political ideologue of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), passed a special resolution titled “Growing jihadi activities in West Bengal is a security concern for the country", in Coimbatore.

“Fatwas inciting violence are openly being issued by fundamentalist Moulavis. Hindus are being attacked by fundamentalist elements at several places including Katwa, Kaligram, Illambazar and Metiabruz (Kolkata). Large number of Hindus are being forced to flee from the border areas under the pressure of fundamentalist forces,” the resolution stated.

The resolution also stated that the Hindu population in the state has gone down by eight per cent since the first census in 1951.