The eight hour long terror of a tiger, who had killed two persons, ended with the Uttarakhand forest department staff managing to cage the feline in Ramnagar on Thursday. 

The tiger created panic in Choi locality in Ramnagar by attacking a woman, who had gone to the nearby forest for collecting fuel wood. As the tiger attacked 33-year-old Bhagwati , she shouted for help and her father in law Lakhpat rushed to the spot. The tiger attacked the person and took them away in deep forest.

The attack of the tiger spread like a wild fire and Terai-West forest division of the Uttarakhand forest department staff rushed to the affected site. The special operation was launched and it concluded in 8 hours. 

Divisional Forest Officer Ramnagar Kahkashan Naseem said,” We have recovered both the bodies and are sending the tiger to the Nainital zoo.”

The attack terrorized the locals, who are engaged in sand mining  work in Tabka river in Ramnagar. The operation to catch the tiger started by sending a JCB to the place where the feline was sitting with two human bodies. The tiger attacked the JCB and broke its windscreen to give its driver a near death experience. The driver anyhow escaped from the dangerous attack.

Cages were fixed and forest staff managed to end the terror of the wild cat in a record time.  

The eight hour long terror of a tiger, who had killed two persons, ended with the Uttarakhand forest department staff managing to cage the feline in Ramnagar on Thursday. 

The tiger created panic in Choi locality in Ramnagar by attacking a woman, who had gone to the nearby forest for collecting fuel wood. As the tiger attacked 33-year-old Bhagwati , she shouted for help and her father in law Lakhpat rushed to the spot. The tiger attacked the person and took them away in deep forest.

The attack of the tiger spread like a wild fire and Terai-West forest division of the Uttarakhand forest department staff rushed to the affected site. The special operation was launched and it concluded in 8 hours. 

Divisional Forest Officer Ramnagar Kahkashan Naseem said,” We have recovered both the bodies and are sending the tiger to the Nainital zoo.”

The attack terrorized the locals, who are engaged in sand mining  work in Tabka river in Ramnagar. The operation to catch the tiger started by sending a JCB to the place where the feline was sitting with two human bodies. The tiger attacked the JCB and broke its windscreen to give its driver a near death experience. The driver anyhow escaped from the dangerous attack.

Cages were fixed and forest staff managed to end the terror of the wild cat in a record time.  

In an innovative move, a new mobile application has been launched to help delivery boys grow and empower themselves as entrepreneurs.

Delivery boys can now become entrepreneurs by registering in the new app called Aangadia.

"The Aangadia application will not only ensure faster booking, expedite delivery and tracking mechanism but also empower to enhance cross network development," the makers claim.

The company said with the app one can book the order from "anywhere to everywhere".

"The app would empower the field executives to book the consignment digitally and also get the incentives on the consignment booked under," Pigeon Express claim.

"Aangadia seeks to diversify the role of field executives to help them gain autonomy over their respective functional areas. The action plan concurs with the Make in India program as it paves way for self-reliance and sustenance," the company MD said in a statement.

The app is available on Google playstore.

In an innovative move, a new mobile application has been launched to help delivery boys grow and empower themselves as entrepreneurs.

Delivery boys can now become entrepreneurs by registering in the new app called Aangadia.

"The Aangadia application will not only ensure faster booking, expedite delivery and tracking mechanism but also empower to enhance cross network development," the makers claim.

The company said with the app one can book the order from "anywhere to everywhere".

"The app would empower the field executives to book the consignment digitally and also get the incentives on the consignment booked under," Pigeon Express claim.

"Aangadia seeks to diversify the role of field executives to help them gain autonomy over their respective functional areas. The action plan concurs with the Make in India program as it paves way for self-reliance and sustenance," the company MD said in a statement.

The app is available on Google playstore.

Election for six seats of the Legislative Council (upper house) will be held here on April 17. These seats shall fall vacant  on April 19 due to retirement of Jehangir Hussain Mir, Jugal Kishore, Dr Bashir Ahmad  Shah Veeri, Master Noor Hussain, S Dharambir Singh Oberoi ( deceased) and Yasir Reshi.

The Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu on Thursday held a meeting with officers of Legislative Assembly secretariat here to discuss the arrangements to be put in place for the smooth conduct of biennial elections to elect the Members Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council.

The Legislative Assembly is the electoral college for the Council seats and as such the 87 elected and 2 nominated members of the Assembly (MLA) will take part in polling through open ballot.  

Secretary, J&K Legislative Assembly will be the returning officer.

In its aim to provide 24X7 supply of electricity across the country, the Centre plans to modernise all power plants to increase their capacity as well as reduce pollution levels. Powere Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha today, “All these power plants of NTPC, which are more than 25 years old, and together produced around 11,000 mega watt (MW) power, will be phased out gradually and converted into ‘super critical plant’.”

NTPC has an installed capacity of 48,188 MW and 23,000 MW under implementation at 23 locations across the country.

Goyal added, “The new plants will become six to eight time less polluting and will be able to generate more power.” Replying to a question on setting up an ultra mega power project in Bihar, the minister said the government will take a calibrated approach in setting up the project in Banka region of Bihar.

He said the government would not rush to set up the project there as it would mean costly power per unit to the people of the state. Today, the power is available at a cost of nearly Rs 4 per unit. However, at present the country has surplus power and coal as states like Bihar get power at a cost of Rs 3.50 per unit in 'power exchange', he said.

After the BJP's landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, the Central government has started work on improving electricity supply in the state. The government has met 77 per cent of its target to link villages to power grids, he said, adding that some 47 million rural households are still without electricity, and even those connected to the grid suffer frequent outages.

In a bid to provide affordable and uninterrupted power supply to the state, the power ministry has already started working on how to rationalise tariffs for the poor to encourage installation of power connections.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy has called for more robust monitoring and implementation of the rural electrification programme. In its 26th report, the committee said, “though many states have made commendable progress, some states are still lagging behind.”

Goyal said there is a move to revive and improve utilisation of the stranded gas-based power generation capacity in the country. “The scheme envisages supply of imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas to the stranded gas based plants as well as plants receiving domestic gas, selected through a reverse e-bidding process,” he said.

The Minister said UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana), a scheme for the financial turnaround and operational improvement of power distribution companies has been approved by the government which may enable them to procure more power from generators, thus increasing their Plant Load Factor (PLF).

Over 130 traders of agricultural products from China met Indian business representatives and have evinced interest in doing business here.

In a seminar held here, high-level delegates representing agricultural products importers, exporters and government representatives of Shandong province of China exchanged views with Indian business representatives and expressed keenness on doing bilateral business, a statement said.

The seminar was hosted jointly by India-China Economic and Cultural Council and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci).

The delegation from China comprised more than 130 business delegates, it said.

Agreements were signed between India-China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC) and Ficci, and with the Commerce Department of Shandong province.

"This meeting will open a new chapter in business associations between Shandong, China and India. India and China are both developing and fastest growing markets. There is a lot of scope for further in-depth cooperation between China and India. I wish India and China have more cultural and economic association," Deputy Director-General of Shandong Commerce Department Lyu Wei said.

Counsellor Li Baijun of the Chinese Embassy said: "I believe that the economic cooperation between India and China can bring greater business prosperity across the world."

ICEC Secretary General Mohammed Saqib said: "While India-China business is concentrated on trade, the agriculture sector has been something that has not been explored so far, and we believe that mechanisation will be a big segment of India-China business associations."

Ficci Director General Ambika Sharma said: "We are here at the time when China and India as the first- and third-largest economies of the world are contributing one-fourth of the world's GDP and are discovering new potentials which have the power to define the new global economic architecture."

Ficci food expert Vijay Sardana said: "There is a huge opportunity of Chinese technology coming into Indian agriculture, thus opening doors for the betterment of economy of both the countries."

Deputy Director of Shandong Agricultural Department Lin Guohua said: "Shandong is one of the 13 main production areas in China. It is a major province for horticulture, processing and animal husbandry. Presently it is promoting the supply-side reform of agriculture deeply which will open better commerce opportunities for India in China."

In keeping with the growing worldwide demand for its rocket launch services for placement of satellites in space and other space applications, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) plans to recruit an extra workforce of scientists and engineers to take care of its expanding business.

A proposal to this effect has been submitted by the Space Commission to the Department of Expenditure, Finance Ministry, for their recommendations before the final approval by the Union Cabinet, said Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Singh said at present 7,062 scientists and engineers are working with ISRO. With increasing frequency of rocket launches, the need for augmenting the existing workforce has been felt.

“The demand for space-based services in the country is increasing resulting in increased launch frequency and applications of space technology in emerging areas. To meet the work load arising due to these demands, a proposal for suitably augmenting the manpower, mostly in scientist/engineer category, has been prepared.

“The proposal has been reviewed and recommended by the Space Commission and the same is submitted to the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, for their recommendations, before placing it for the approval of the Union Cabinet,” the minister stated.

India football captain Sunil Chhetri is of the view that the country needs to focus more on qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup on a consistent basis before dreaming about playing in the World Cup.

"We have to qualify for this tournament constantly. We sure want to win the game against Myanmar (on March 28). The last time we played (Myanmar) we lost 0-1 after missing so many chances and it dashed our dreams. We talk about playing in the World Cup but if we have to better ourselves, this is a big benchmark, this is the real one," said the star striker ahead of India's Group A game in Yangoon.

"If we had more training time or played more matches it would have helped but that's in the past. We have got 13-14 days now to make sure what the Gaffer (coach Stephen Constantine) wants is to do. This is different from club football.

"This is massive as we have a chance to qualify for the most important tournament in Asia, the 2019 Asia Cup. It's very important to qualify for such big tournaments," said the 32-year-old player who had taken part in the 2011 Asian Cup.

Chhetri and the other national team probables are having a short camp at the Andheri Sports Complex here before heading first to Cambodia to play a friendly against that country in Phnom Penh on March 22 ahead of the AFC Asian Cup qualifying group game against Myanmar.

"It's not very often we play big tournaments and we talk about Asia Cup and it is the biggest in Asia, so when you have a chance you want to grab it. We have been playing qualification for so long and now we are in the final stages of qualification and we don't want to give up," he elaborated.

"The best in Asia are here. In 2011 we were unlucky to get Australia South Korea and Bahrain – ranked 1, 3 and 5 (then in Asia). That's the sort of tournaments you want to play," said Chhetri.

India have been clubbed with Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Macau which is considered the easier group, but Chhetri thought otherwise.

"Under me, we have not done particularly well away from home although we have had some great results at home. We have to improve that stats. It (talk about India being placed in a relatively easy pool) will be only true if we qualify," said Chhetri.

Chhetri rued that India have not played any friendly after shocking higher ranked Puerto Rico at this very venue last year.

"Before the Puerto Rico game if someone had asked will you win I would probably have said am not 100 per cent sure.

After that we have not played a single game which is not an ideal situation. The country has to play more friendlies.

That gives us a chance. When you play a better opponent you will learn even if you don't win.

"We have to rub shoulders at the next level, say with Palestine, Lebanon etc, and then you know how much you are improving. I am sure the gaffer Stephen understands it and that's why he wants it." 

According to Chhetri the friendly against Cambodia would help the team get into the groove for the Asian Cup qualifier against Myanmar after the players had been playing for their respective I-League clubs for so long.

"Coming from different clubs a friendly always helps in getting into the groove for the national team. We want to keep playing. The guy I wanted to kick yesterday – (fellow striker) Jeje Lalpekhlua – is my friend (in the Indian team)," said Chhetri in a tongue-in-cheek remark about playing club football as compared to playing for the nation.

He hoped Constantine would have all the players to choose from and free from injuries although in the same breath he also mentioned that camper and midfielder Pronay Halder is not training as he is injured.

"The most important part is everyone should be fit enough but Pranoy is injured and is not training. I want the the coach to have all the players fit and strong. Then we have a chance.

"When our gaffer came in not many players were sure of being in the first eleven. Now we also have a bigger pool to choose from and that helps. But the important thing is someone else should be there who is equally good to take the injured player's place."

Japanese NGO Rainbow Children on Wednesday offered support in educating Tibetans living in exile in Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.

The Rainbow Children President Tatsuo Ishikawa along with 8-member team today met with the officials of the Department of Education to offer support for education of Tibetans.

The delegation would also meet with students to whom they provide scholarship for further studies.

The delegation met with Education Kalon Ngodup Tsering and other officials to discuss the scholarship program.

“In the meeting, the Rainbow Children organisation has raised the funding of scholarship from 65 Students to 100 Students from 2017 onwards. They have also emphasised importance of students’ commitment to become a leader of Tibet after completing their studies,” a official of Tibetan government in exile said.

Later, a special meeting was convened with Men-Tsee-Khang officials to explore any avenue in forging a partnership on herbal products.

The Japanese delegation met Tibetan spiritual guru Dalai Lama and attended the live session of the Tibetan Parliament in exile.

Punjab Congress and its main opposition Aam Adami Party (AAP) were on warfare on Thursday after chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh's swear-in ceremony.
 
Terming the ceremony a total 'mismanagement', AAP leaders showed their displeasure over the alleged step-motherly treatment given to the AAP legislators. AAP alleged that the officially invited legislators were not even provided chairs to sit during the ceremony. On the other hand, Punjab Congress has lashed out at the AAP leadership, alleging false charges of mismanagement during swearing-in ceremony.
 
Talking to medipersons at Chandigarh, AAP legislators H S Phoolka, Sukhpal Singh Khaira along with other legislators said that the no arrangements were made to facilitate the elected representative related to AAP. Phoolka said that this was the first time in the history, while CM was taking oath of his office and the leader of main opposition party along with his colleges was standing on the back of pandal. "The AAP legislators don’t seek any VIP treatment but being the representative of people they must have given seats to sit at least. AAP has a culture of simplicity and all the MLAs follow the same ideology," he said.
 
Later, reacting sharply to AAP Punjab leaders’ charges Punjab Congress said that AAP is unable to swallow its ignominious defeat in the Punjab assembly polls. "The AAP leadership, instead of accepting their electoral defeat gracefully and playing the role of a healthy opposition, seemed hell-bent on creating hurdles even before the Congress government was sworn in, as was evident from their behaviour at the swearing-in ceremony of CM Captain Amarinder Singh and his ministerial colleagues", said a spokesperson.

Assamese singer Angaraag Mahanta, popularly known as Papon, has come out in support of young singer Nahid Afrin, against whom some Islamic clerics have issued a 'fatwa'.

He says targeting the young singer is unfair. 

"'Whoever' is responsible for targeting Nahid Afrin is depriving a generation of trust and warmth and creating a genx tougher and colder! Unfair," Papon tweeted. 

Over 40 clerics from Muslim organisations issued the 'fatwa' against the 16-year-old, restricting her from performing on stage, saying that such a performance by a girl on stage was against the "Sharia laws".

The clerics organisation had also distributed some leaflets in and around Udali area near Hojai in central Assam, asking Afrin of "Indian Idol Junior" not to perform in a function scheduled for March 25.

The 16-year-old singer shot to fame after she made her debut in Bollywood with 2016 Sonakshi Sinha-starrer "Akira".

Reacting to the fatwa, Afrin had also come out and said that she is not afraid and would not stop singing or performing till her death.

It is said that in books we find our true companions. And many times we turn to books when we get lost and are looking for answers, because books have the power to inspire us, guide us and open our eyes to another world or experience which we haven’t had in our lives. A book can make you ponder and sometimes change the way you think.

Here are a few books that have been regarded as being the ones to have helped its readers in self-discovery or tell the tales of self-discovery through its protagonists. More often than not the books might not have the recipe for a perfect life, but it resonates with the current sentiments of the readers that might help them to see things in a new light.

Best books on self-discovery

1) The Alchemist: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho tells the story of Santiago who on his spiritual quests meets new people finds himself in situations that might not seen too realistic, but at the end the story is all about pursuing ones dreams and conquering your fears so as to achieve what you always have wanted to.

2) Eat Pray Love: Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, this book tells the story of an American woman who travels across continents to find what she could not in her so called accomplished life back home. The book traces the woman’s journey as she travels to Italy, India and Indonesia to find happiness and love.

3) Life of Pi: This book on self-discovery by Yann Martel is about a boy and a Tiger lost at sea and their adventures together. Well, on the surface it may seem so but it has much deeper meaning than that. It will make you think about life and truth and metaphor and will leave you thinking on the perceptions that we have about life in general.

4) The Help: Written by Kathryn Stockett, the Help recounts the tales of three women, all battling their own battles and have different reasons, but are bound by the complexities that existed in 1960’s Mississippi.of. Skeeter, Abigail and Minny start a movement that impacts the whole town. A book filled with hope and despair but above all the power of overcoming all the obstacles to realise what we stand for.

5) The Book Thief: This book has death as its protagonist. Markus Zusak talks about time on earth.The whole philosophical narrative leaves the readers to think and develop their beliefs and above all, value what we have.

The government on Thursday said Digital India initiatives and schemes like Aadhaar, digital lockers and computerisation of land records, are gaining momentum in the country and playing a major role in the smart cities mission.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 4th edition of the Smart Cities Summit here where China is the country partner, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, P P Chaudhury said the government’s aim was to take the smart cities initiative to the next level.

Over 1,500 global and national policymakers, financiers and technologists, along with over 25 city and state representatives, have come together at the 4th Smart Urbanisation: Convention and Expo.

The three-day summit has been organised by ASAPP Info Global Group and the India-China Economic and Cultural Council in partnership with the Smart Cities Council India.
By June 2017, some 510 smart city projects with a total investment of Rs 20,669 crore are expected to take off.
Liu Jinsong, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of China, stressed on replicating the model of century-old cities that existed in India such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. According to him, the current planners or authorities must think about building medium and small cities, rather than large ones, as city management would be more effective.

The summit witnessed participation from city commissioners from over 25 cities, city CEOs, urban planning consultants, international Smart City experts from the US, China, Korea and senior officials from top companies.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was on Thursday asked by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to re-examine issues pertaining to Reliance Jio's free promotional offers. However, no stay was given on the offers.

TDSAT directed the regulatory body to re-examine the issues and inform it within two weeks, according to sources. Reliance Jio, had launched free voice and data plan in September 2016 and had extended it till 31 March 2017.

Incumbent players Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular had lodged a complaint with the telecom tribunal against TRAI for letting Reliance Jio continue with promotional offers beyond 90 days.

However, the tribunal did not order a stay, as was sought by the incumbent telecom operators. Last week, the tribunal had reserved its order on an appeal by the two operators.

The cold tightened its grip over Himachal Pradesh on Thursday as the state's higher reaches had a fresh spell of snow, while the lower hills received rainfall. The weather office has forecast more snow and rain till Sunday.

Shimla recorded a minimum temperature of 5.7 degrees Celsius.

"The high hills in Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur, Kullu and Chamba districts have been experiencing light to moderate snowfall since Wednesday night," said a weather department official.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state where mercury plummeted to 3.4 degrees Celsius below the freezing point. The town recorded three cm of snowfall.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district, which recorded 3.6 cm of snow, saw a low of 0.2 degree Celsius, while it was two degrees Celsius in Manali and 9.8 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.

Manali recorded 24 mm of rain, while its nearby tourist resort Kothi saw five cm of snow.

The Congress on Thursday said it would pose a "formidable challenge" to the BJP in the 2019 general elections.

"Just-concluded elections in many states show that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) does not have a very strong vote share, whereas the Congress, despite it losing the polls, has a good vote share in many states," senior Congress leader C.P. Joshi told the media here.

"Everything possible would be done to counter the BJP in the next general elections and since the Congress and its allies got a good vote share, it would give formidable challenge to the BJP during the next Lok Sabha elections," Joshi said.

Talking about Manipur and Goa where the Congress had emerged as the single largest party, Joshi said that the BJP forming the governments with a "manufactured majority" in these states was "unfortunate" for parliamentary democracy in the country.

"It's a matter of concern for all," he said.

When asked if Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was leading the party well, Joshi said, "He (Rahul) was being criticised unnecessarily."

"Rahul Gandhi has been a good manager. His role (in the party) is to be assessed in a proper manner," he added.