Concerned over Malaysia losing Indian tourists to other South-East Asian countries in recent years, the Malaysian Government has come up with certain measures to check the fall in numbers and plans to make further investment to attract more tourists.

Malaysia's Tourism Minister Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, talking to IANS, said they were in the process of fixing the visa-related issues — the top-most concern raised by some quarters.

"Other countries, such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, are making it easier for Indians to travel to their countries, thus taking away some of the tourists previously visiting Malaysia. So, now we have introduced visa-free entry facility for Indians, even for those living away from their home country," Nazri said.

Nazri said that after he found that extra visa fee was being charged from those Indians applying for multiple entry, he standardised the visa fee.

The minister said that his government was planning a tie-up with PayTM –a digital wallet widely used in India — to facilitate smooth transaction for India tourists in his country.

Noting that Indians are frequent visitors to his country, Nazri said: "We have planned many incentives for Indians. For example, we have made easier for Indian travel agents to set up companies in Malaysia, investors can have 100 per cent ownership, such as in five-star hotels and resorts, without any involvement of local partners."

"We will also make it easy for the Indian movie-makers to shoot in Malaysia and provide some special incentives to Indian markets," he said and stressed the traditional social and cultural bonding between the two countries.

In 2015, over 722,000 tourists from India visited Malaysia, making the country one of the 10 largest source of tourists. However, the number declined to 620,000 in 2016, against the projected one million tourists for the year.

Nazri said that he did not know the exact tourist projection for this year "but the number will top 700,000".

"We are promoting eco-tourism in Borneo. Also, health tourism is big thing in Malaysia and we have many Indian tourists visiting Malaysia for treatment. Almost 25 per cent of our doctors are trained in India," he said.

Asked about the effect of the demonetisation of high-value currency notes in India, Nazri said: "It will be too early to say if it had any impact on the decline in number of Indian tourists to Malaysia."

"Even if it did affect, the impact will be minimal. The most important issue is visa, which we are already addressing," he said.

A devastating explosion, claimed by the Islamic State, ripped through a Sufi shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's Sindh province on Thursday, killing at least 72 people, including 12 women and four children, and injuring over 250 others.

Assistant Superintendent of Police in Sehwan said a suicide bomber entered the Lal Shehbaz Qalandar shrine through its Golden Gate. The attacker blew himself up after throwing a grenade, which failed to explode, he said.

The explosion took place at the spot where the "Dhamaal" Sufi ritual was being performed within the premises of the shrine.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's affiliated news agency AMAQ reported.

There were conflicting reports about casualties in the blast. Taluka Hospital Medical Superintendent Moinuddin Siddiqui said 72 bodies and scores of injured were brought to the hospital.

A stampede followed the blast as a large number of devotee, including women and children, were present in the shrine.

Contingents of police reached the shrine that is situated slightly off the Super Highway in Dadu district of Sindh. Hundreds of people gather at the Sufi saint's shrine every Thursday for religious rituals.

An emergency has been declared in all hospitals of the area, with the injured being shifted to Liaquat Medical Complex Jamshoro and the sub-district hospital.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decried the attack: "The past few days have been hard, and my heart is with the victims," Sharif said. 

"But we can't let these events divide us, or scare us. We must stand united in this struggle for the Pakistani identity, and universal humanity."

Moments after the powerful bombing the Pakistan military issued a strongly worded statement to "hostile powers", saying it will respond to such attacks.

Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said: "Recent terrorist acts are being executed on directions from hostile powers and from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. We shall defend and respond."

"Each drop of the nation's blood shall be revenged, and revenged immediately. No more restraint for anyone," the army chief was quoted as saying.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said he had directed rescue teams to reach the spot of the attack.

The last attack on a Sufi shrine took place on November 12, 2016, when a suicide bomber struck the shrine of Shah Norani in Khuzdar district of Balochistan, killing at least 52 people and leaving 102 injured.

The explosion had taken place where the Dhamaal was being performed. At least 500 people were gathered at the spot to observe the ritual.

The blast was the latest in a series of attacks to hit the country this week.

A suicide bomber targeted a government office in the Mohmand tribal area on Wednesday, while a separate attack on the same day targeted government employees in Peshawar. Six people were killed in total.

On Tuesday, two police officers were killed while trying to defuse a bomb in Quetta.

Sixteen people were also killed in a suicide bombing at a protest rally in the Lahore on Monday. 

Participating in the six-nation talks on Afghanistan in Moscow, India made it clear that any peace and reconciliation process in the war-ravaged nation must be Afghan-led and own and underlined that the government in Kabul should be given the freedom to decide whom to engage in direct talks.

At the same time, it was essential to end all forms of terrorism and extremism that beset Afghanistan and the region and to ensure denial of territory or any other support, safe havens or sanctuaries to any terrorist group or individual in countries of the region, New Delhi opined.

view is being interpreted as an indirect endorsement of Kabul’s position that Pakistan is providing support to terrorism in Afghanistan.

Apart from India and Russia, yesterday’s meeting in Moscow was attended by top officials from China, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. India was represented by Gopal Baglay, Joint Secretary in-charge of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran at the MEA.

According to MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup, the consultations brought together regional countries, which have important stake in peace and security in Afghanistan, to exchange views on promoting security as well as peace and reconciliation in that country.

India expressed the hope that the initiative for these consultations, which mark a new beginning, would help promote regional cooperation for stabilising the situation in Afghanistan, protecting its unity and integrity and pursuing peace and reconciliation.

India stressed that an end to violence and terrorism was fundamental to promoting security and creating environment necessary for peace. It also underlined that it was up to the Afghan Government to decide whom to engage in direct talks. These efforts could only be facilitated by friends and well-wishers of Afghanistan.

India pointed out that regional efforts to promote security, peace and development in Afghanistan could benefit from wider international collaboration and cooperation, wherever Afghanistan benefits from them.

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee, headed by former revenue and expenditure secretary N K Singh, tasked with redrawing the fiscal consolidation roadmap, has set a target of 2.4 per cent of the GDP by financial year 2022-23.

Sources said the panel has recommended sticking to the fiscal deficit at 3 per cent for the next fiscal and keeping it there for the next 3 years till 2019-2020 and thereafter reducing the fiscal deficit by 20 basis points each year from 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 to reach a target of 2.4 per cent.

Fiscal deficit is defined as the difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government. It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government. Generally, fiscal deficit takes place either due to revenue deficit or a major hike in capital expenditure. It is a key yardstick for global credit rating agencies to rate economies.

Arvind Virmani, former chief economic adviser, said, “The fiscal deficit is an indicator where the global rating agencies rate the economies. If one has to improve its ratings, the fiscal deficit should be reduced. In the medium term, if the country needs to be stronger it has to reduce its fiscal deficit to zero. I am very happy as the FRBM committee, for the first time, recommended to reduce the fiscal deficit target below 3 per cent. This is a step in the right direction.”

Sources indicated that the committee has given an ‘escape clause’ to sway from the fiscal deficit target by 50 basis points for the next fiscal year. However, the ‘escape clause’ can be triggered on three occasions. The first is acts of aggression, security, war, floods, natural disaster or a sharp drop in agricultural production leading to distress in rural areas. Secondly, a sharp decline in real output growth of at least 3 percentage points below the average of previous four quarters. The third is that the structural changes which would have revenue implications that are unanticipated.

The Singh committee proposed a fiscal deficit target of 3 per cent for the fiscal year 2017-18. The government had kept the fiscal deficit for 2015-16 was 3.9 per cent of GDP by it was countered by the CAG in its report where it has recently noted that the fiscal deficit was actually higher at 4.3 per cent last year.

While presenting the Union Budget 2017-18 on 1 February, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government will sway slightly from its fiscal deficit target for the next financial year to 3.2 per cent of gross domestic product, from the previous aim of 3 per cent.

The five-member committee also including Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel, former finance secretary Sumit Bose, chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy Director Rathin Roy was constituted in May 2016.

In keeping with the government’s move to boost digital transactions, President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to new rules relating to promotion of digital transactions and under which it will be looked after by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity).

 The presidential clearance was to change Allocation of Business Rules, 1961, to delegate work of “Promotion of Digital Transactions including Digital Payments” to Meity.

 The Ministry is tasked with promotion of e-governance for empowering citizens, promoting inclusive and sustainable growth of the electronics, information technology and information technology-enabled services industries, enhancing efficiency through digital services and ensuring a secure cyber space.

 Since demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes last year,the central government is emphasising on digital payment and taking many steps in this regard.

 The Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February last year had given its approval for introduction of steps for promotion of payments through cards and digital means. The move aims at reducing cash transactions.

“Promotion of payments through cards and digital means will be instrumental in reducing tax avoidance, migration of government payments and collections to cashless mode, discourage transactions in cash by providing access to financial payment services to the citizens to conduct transactions through card or digital means and shifting payment ecosystem from cash dominated to non-cash/less cash payments,” as per an official press release issued then.

The Centre had in December 2016 decided on a package of incentives and measures for promotion of digital and cashless economy in the country.

Forest and Fisheries minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri on Thursday stressed on developing breeding technology of snow trout in the state so that its production could be increased by stocking of the seed in the rivers.

Speaking at the 88th Annual General Meeting of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) at New Delhi today, he requested the ICAR to provide assistance for introducing some new species of cold water fishes, best suited to high altitude lakes/streams of the state.

He also sought assistance for conducting survey through national institutes for the identification of number of ornamental fish species available in the state rivers.

This will help in raising economic standard of rural youth, he said.

Bharmouri said that intervention of R&D institutions was required to evolve formulation of cheap pelletized feed with locally available ingredients without compromising the quality.

The Minister said that the technology of captive breeding for Mahsheer needs to be strengthened by habitat restoration for the protection of brooders & promotion of natural breeding.

“Over 11844 fishermen families were engaged in fishing operations and earning their livelihood from state waters,” he said, adding the state reservoirs had the distinction of producing highest per hectare fish (149.2 kg per hectare annum in Gobind Sagar) as well as giving highest per kg price for the fishermen of their fish (Rs 212 per kg in Pong reservoir) as compared to other large reservoirs of the country.

He added the state was producing over 417.23 mt of trout fish annually and total fish production of the state attained the level of 11736 mt during the year 2015-16.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Kerala youth, Mouinudheen Parakadavath, 25, here for being part of an ISIS terrorist conspiracy in the country.

The counter-terrorism agency said the youth hailing from Kasaragod district was questioned at the NIA headquarters when he arrived at the IGI airport from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

During his examination, he admitted to his involvement in the conspiracy, NIA said. The case relates to a terror module in which a group of youths from Kerala including some members based in the Middle-East, hatched a conspiracy as per instructions from their online ISIS handlers.

Based on intelligence inputs, five accused, associated with this terror module, were arrested from Kanakmala Hill in Kannoor district in Kerala on 2 October last year, and another associate was arrested from Calicut the same day.

Their disclosures established that Mouinudheen was a key figure in the module, which was actively planning various aspects of the terrorist plot, on a Telegram group. Mouinudheen was using the online identity  Abu-Al-Indonesi as well as Ibn Abdullah, on the telegram group, NIA said.

It was revealed by the arrested persons that Mouinudheen had sent funds from Abu Dhabi to members of the terrorist module in Kerala, for the conspiracy, through Western Union Money Transfer, last year. Mouinudheen will be produced before a NIA Special Court in Kerala, the counter-terrorism agency said.

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Director (Personnel) N L Sharma was on Thursday conferred with HR Leadership Award by Global HR Excellence Awards.

Sharma has been awarded for establishing a robust Performance Management System in the Company. 

Sharma said HR interventions made in SJVN has played a crucial role in the best performance of the company and its remodeling of business plan. 

“SJVN has also witnessed positive changes amongst the stakeholders, be it the government, general public or the communities affected due to project activities. This has been possible due to the innovative changes in the existing policies,” he added.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will form a five-judge Constitution Bench to hear and decide on a batch of petitions relating to the practice of triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy among Muslims.

Taking on record three sets of issues framed by parties with regard to the cases, a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said the questions to be considered by the Constitution Bench would be decided on 30 March.

Referring to the legal issues framed by the Centre, the bench said “the issues are very important. These issues cannot be scuttled" as all of them relate to the constitutional issues and needed to be dealt with by a larger bench.

The bench, also comprising Justices N V Ramana and D V Chandrachud, asked the parties concerned to file their respective written submissions, running not beyond 15 pages, by the next date of hearing.

When a woman lawyer referred to the fate of the apex court judgement in the famous Shah Bano case, the bench said "there are always two sides in a case. We have been deciding cases for the last 40 years. We have to go by the law and we would not go beyond the law." 

The bench also made it clear that it is willing to sit on Saturdays and Sundays to decide on the issue as it was very important.

The apex court had on 14 February termed `triple talaq` as an issue of human rights, and said it will not hear the petitions related to Uniform Civil Code along with it as it was a different matter altogether.

"It`s a matter of human rights, so we would deal with it properly," the court said.
The apex court said it would pass an order and dispose off the petitions on 11 May, regarding the validity of triple talaq case.
Several women have filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of the triple talaq practice. 
The Central Government has also told the apex court that it is against gender injustice and is for equality between men and women under the Constitution.
One of the petitioners, Shayara, 38, moved the Supreme Court to challenge the triple talaq under Muslim personal law, under which a man simply has to utter `talaq` thrice to divorce his wife.
Shayara has also challenged in the apex court the concept of `nikah-halal`, under which a woman must consummate another marriage in order to go back to her first husband if she wants to. 

She also wants a law against polygamy within a Muslim marriage.

In December last year, the Allahabad High Court termed the Islamic practice of divorcing a woman by uttering the word "talaq" thrice as unconstitutional.
The court observed that the triple talaq practice sanctioned under Muslim Personal Law that governs marriage, property and divorce violates the rights of Muslim women.

"Triple talaq is unconstitutional, it violates the rights of Muslim women," ruled the High Court, adding that no personal law board is above the Constitution.
However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has defended the practice, saying it is better to divorce a woman than kill her. The rights bestowed by religion cannot be questioned in a court of law, it said.

In the land of Indian soccer legends like Ram Bahadur, Shyam Thapa and Amar Bahadur, a football club owned by a cable operator has won the prestigious district football league. The Wills Youth Club surprised all by winning the final of the Dehradun football league recently. 

The sports fans have every reason to express shock as the Wills Youth Club is not a financially strong club. The club is owned by passionate football fan Tejendra Prasad, fondly called ‘Gorey Dai,’ who is a professional cable operator. Tejendra  operates the club in small resources. 

The Dehradun football league offers stiff competition- with 17 teams fighting for supremacy in the ‘A division’ and another 24 clubs battling it out in the lower ‘B division.’ Wills Youth Club defeated Doon Star 4-2 in the tie-breaker to create history and lift the title for the fist time earlier this month.

Dehradun is famous for producing footballers- as the city has given Indian football about a dozen international footballers. The list includes Bir Bahadur, Ram Bahadur, Amar Bahadur, Shyam Thapa, Ranjit Thapa, Bhupendra Rawat, Ratan Thapa, CB Thapa, Jatin Bisht and Manish Maithani. 

Club owner Tejendra Prasad says, “I spend my own money in the club. We started the club seven year back and happy that we are district champion this year.”

Functioning from the Kedarpuram locality in Dehradun, the Wills Youth Club practices in half the size of a football ground. Even the small ground has turned to their advantage. 

As veteran footballer, Nar Bahadur Gurung says, “Wills Youth Club practices in a small ground and this has helped the players master the skill of small passes. The excellent co-ordination of the players, who are mostly in the age of 18-20,  helped the club win the title.”

The budget of the 41 football clubs (both A & B division) operating in Dehradun is not big. But, still it is not that small- as a club owner has to invest for balls, kit and payment to some players and for keeping the sporting activity going all round the year. making a minimum investment of abour Rs 30,000. 

District football association’s secretary Devendra Bisht says, “The achievement is praiseworthy as Wills Youth Club has won the title with limited resources. The club is not financially strong and despite this has made rapid stride in district football.”

Many old football clubs are struggling to keep things going. In a low period of football, Wills Youth Club shows the way. Attaining success by adopting simple process- regular and discipline practice. Plus delivering in limited resources. 

Air India on Thursday inducted the first Airbus 320 neo aircraft, that burns less fuel, into its fleet and plans to lease 13 more such planes this year. The A320 neo (new engine option) aircraft is configured with 162 seats, including 12 in the business class, and it joins the national carrier's existing fleet of 66 A320 family planes.

After formally inducting the plane, which was given the traditional water canon salute at the international airport here, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said 14 A320 neos would be inducted into the fleet this year.The airline would also look at using these planes for international operations, he said.

Air India is the third airline after IndiGo and GoAir to induct A320 neo aircraft. The national carrier is the first domestic operator of neo plane that is powered by CFM engine since the other two are using aircraft with Pratt & Whitney engines.

With the latest induction, Air India Group's fleet size now stands at 138 planes. In a release, Airbus said the airline has become the latest A320 neo operator after taking delivery of the first of 14 aircraft leased from Kuwait-headquartered ALAFCO Aviation Lease And Finance Company.

"The A320 neo family incorporates latest technologies including new generation engines and wing tip devices, which together deliver more than 15 per cent in fuel savings from day one and 20 per cent by 2020," it added.

Air India has plans to induct a total of 29 A320 neos into its fleet by March 2019. While the airline has already tied up with three lessors – ALAFCO, GECAPS and CIT –  for 22 planes, the process to select a bidder for the remaining seven such planes is underway.

The induction of the new fuel-efficient aircraft into its fleet is aimed at augmenting the capacity in the domestic market, which is growing at a rate of over 20 per cent. As per the original schedule, Air India was to receive three such planes this fiscal with two of them in January but the delivery was delayed.

Armymen heading home after retirement are apparently not getting required civilian  jobs after serving at borders for many years. The number of jobs provided through Punjab's only job provider for ex-servicemen, Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO), is much lower than the applications received.

Till date, PESCO has received as many as 3,500 applications from the ex-servicemen as compared to the last financial year’s 1200 applications. This upsurge is being attributed to the gap between the ratio of job availability and job seekers.

Sources said that out of the total number of applicants, over 50 per cent are from border districts of Punjab such as Firozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. The reason is lesser industrial growth in these three districts. However, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts are exceptions where ex-servicemen prefer to work with private industries offering handsome salaries and perks.

Sources further said that PESCO has over the years undertaken a multitude of activities and launched projects which have benefited the ex-servicemen across the state. Over 21,000 ex-servicemen have since been provided employment and over Rs Three Crore disbursed as financial assistance to assist ex-servicemen in self-financing their own schemes. Presently, there are around 10,000 ex-servicemen on PESCO rolls, employed on various duties, bulk of them being security duties.

Lt. General, Kuldeep Singh (Retd.), PESCO Chairman while speaking to The Statesman said, “Yes, we have a challenge ahead in terms of accommodating 3,500 people in various state owned entities. Our main challenge is to provide a job to ex-servicemen in their hometown’s vicinity. It is a continuous process throughout the year when we keep a close watch on the recruitment of the bodies seeking for ex-servicemen manpower”.

Meanwhile, Bhim Sen Sehgal, Chairman of All India ex-servicemen Association cited PESCO’s efforts insufficient for the welfare of ex-servicemen while citing it as a ‘toothless tiger’. “The governments, either central or states are doing nothing specific with regards to the re-employments of the junior rank holders such as Constables, Head Constables and ‘Lance Naik’.

The re-employments are being given to them are on a contractual basis with no other allowances due to which they are forced to live a Below Poverty Line like lifestyle”, Sehgal said.

Every year over 60,000 servicemen are retired from the three services at a comparatively young age of 35 to 45 years, primarily to keep a youthful profile in the defence forces. PESCO take care the requirement needs of over 490 public sector units.

Armymen heading home after retirement are apparently not getting required civilian  jobs after serving at borders for many years. The number of jobs provided through Punjab's only job provider for ex-servicemen, Punjab Ex-Servicemen Corporation (PESCO), is much lower than the applications received.

Till date, PESCO has received as many as 3,500 applications from the ex-servicemen as compared to the last financial year’s 1200 applications. This upsurge is being attributed to the gap between the ratio of job availability and job seekers.

Sources said that out of the total number of applicants, over 50 per cent are from border districts of Punjab such as Firozepur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. The reason is lesser industrial growth in these three districts. However, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts are exceptions where ex-servicemen prefer to work with private industries offering handsome salaries and perks.

Sources further said that PESCO has over the years undertaken a multitude of activities and launched projects which have benefited the ex-servicemen across the state. Over 21,000 ex-servicemen have since been provided employment and over Rs Three Crore disbursed as financial assistance to assist ex-servicemen in self-financing their own schemes. Presently, there are around 10,000 ex-servicemen on PESCO rolls, employed on various duties, bulk of them being security duties.

Lt. General, Kuldeep Singh (Retd.), PESCO Chairman while speaking to The Statesman said, “Yes, we have a challenge ahead in terms of accommodating 3,500 people in various state owned entities. Our main challenge is to provide a job to ex-servicemen in their hometown’s vicinity. It is a continuous process throughout the year when we keep a close watch on the recruitment of the bodies seeking for ex-servicemen manpower”.

Meanwhile, Bhim Sen Sehgal, Chairman of All India ex-servicemen Association cited PESCO’s efforts insufficient for the welfare of ex-servicemen while citing it as a ‘toothless tiger’. “The governments, either central or states are doing nothing specific with regards to the re-employments of the junior rank holders such as Constables, Head Constables and ‘Lance Naik’.

The re-employments are being given to them are on a contractual basis with no other allowances due to which they are forced to live a Below Poverty Line like lifestyle”, Sehgal said.

Every year over 60,000 servicemen are retired from the three services at a comparatively young age of 35 to 45 years, primarily to keep a youthful profile in the defence forces. PESCO take care the requirement needs of over 490 public sector units.

Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana on Thursday suffered setback as representatives of the agitating Jat Community skipped the meeting fixed with the chief minister to resolve the issue relating to the ongoing agitation.

Jat leaders from 10 sensitive districts including Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Charkhi-Dadri, Hisar, Jind, Sirsa, Kaithal, Sonipat and Panipat were approached by the Gurugram administration on Wednesday evening for a dialogue with the CM Khattar and his ministers in a meeting at city’s John Hall.

But representatives of Jats under the umbrella of Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) headed by Yashpal Malik refused to attend the proposed meeting.

Keeping in view the negative response of the Jat leaders for the meeting, BJP workers from the adjoining areas were asked to reach the spot. However, the venue witnessed more drama when handful members of Jat community reached the spot to attend the meet, were forced by the BJP workers to leave the spot.

Later on the state government termed the development a communication gap saying that the meeting was fixed for BJP workers not for the Jat agitators.

ABJASS president Yashpal Malik told The Statesman that his companions heading the agitation in the above said districts were approached by the administration but they had refused to attend any such meeting.

“Our people from these districts refused to attend the meeting as we have already put our demands before the Committee constituted by the state government. A few of those went to attend the meet in Gurugram has no concerned with the ongoing agitation. We are holding a state level meeting on Friday at Jassia village where the further plan on
agitation would be chalked out,” Malik said.

Although, the ongoing agitation in 20 districts of the state led by Malik today entered 19th day peacefully, yet the state government has put the civil and police administration in all the districts on high alert in view of ‘Balidan Diwas’ (martyr day) on coming February 19 across the state in memory of the community members killed during the
agitation last year.

Apart from heavy deployment of state police personnel, a total 37 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 7000 home guard personnel have been put into positions in the state to avoid any untoward incident likewise the previous year.

Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana on Thursday suffered setback as representatives of the agitating Jat Community skipped the meeting fixed with the chief minister to resolve the issue relating to the ongoing agitation.

Jat leaders from 10 sensitive districts including Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Charkhi-Dadri, Hisar, Jind, Sirsa, Kaithal, Sonipat and Panipat were approached by the Gurugram administration on Wednesday evening for a dialogue with the CM Khattar and his ministers in a meeting at city’s John Hall.

But representatives of Jats under the umbrella of Akhil Bharatiya Jat Arakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) headed by Yashpal Malik refused to attend the proposed meeting.

Keeping in view the negative response of the Jat leaders for the meeting, BJP workers from the adjoining areas were asked to reach the spot. However, the venue witnessed more drama when handful members of Jat community reached the spot to attend the meet, were forced by the BJP workers to leave the spot.

Later on the state government termed the development a communication gap saying that the meeting was fixed for BJP workers not for the Jat agitators.

ABJASS president Yashpal Malik told The Statesman that his companions heading the agitation in the above said districts were approached by the administration but they had refused to attend any such meeting.

“Our people from these districts refused to attend the meeting as we have already put our demands before the Committee constituted by the state government. A few of those went to attend the meet in Gurugram has no concerned with the ongoing agitation. We are holding a state level meeting on Friday at Jassia village where the further plan on
agitation would be chalked out,” Malik said.

Although, the ongoing agitation in 20 districts of the state led by Malik today entered 19th day peacefully, yet the state government has put the civil and police administration in all the districts on high alert in view of ‘Balidan Diwas’ (martyr day) on coming February 19 across the state in memory of the community members killed during the
agitation last year.

Apart from heavy deployment of state police personnel, a total 37 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 7000 home guard personnel have been put into positions in the state to avoid any untoward incident likewise the previous year.

The two-day Global Investors’ Summit widely publicised as “Momentum Jharkhand” kicked off at Khel Gaon in Ranchi on Thursday to give a push to the state which ironically remains backward in matter of development index despite being rich in mineral reserves.

The presence of a galaxy of union ministers added colours to the function being organized for the first time in Jharkhand on such a wide scale.

Inaugurating the summit, Union finance minister Arun Jaitely cited how a visionary Tatas had seen great business potentials in Jharkhand well over a century ago and set up an industry there.

He though rued the state still lacked much in the matter of development despite investments trickling in. He hoped the state would move fast on the track of development now that there is a stable government in the state with economic growth its prime agenda.

In his address chief minister Raghubar Das said Jharkhand as a young state of India was striving to become one of the most developed and prosperous states in the country saying it had huge potentials.

“Jharkhand is one of the richest mineralized regions in the world possessing 40% of mineral resources of India. Though we are known for our rich mineral deposits and Steel and Automobile industry, but I feel our biggest assets are our people. Nearly 60% of our population is between 15 to 59 years of age. The gross state domestic product growth rate (at a constant price) is 12.1% and the growth rate of per capita income is 11.10%. This demonstrates that Jharkhand is a fast emerging economy in the country,” said Mr Das.

He said the state government had constituted Jharkhand Investment Promotion Board (JIPB) and IT Advisory Council (ITAC) comprising eminent industry captains and experts to lure investors to the state and promised to provide all supports to the industrialists willing to invest in the state.

According to him, to simplify the investment and its regular monitoring, the state government had arranged for Online Single Window System.

“We are using enabling policy framework, responsive administration to bring in transformation in Governance and in execution of programs and moving towards becoming paperless government,” the CM declared.

Former chairman of Tata Sons Ratan Tata in his address highlighted his emotional attachment with this mineral-rich state recalling how it was in Jamshedpur that he got his first job and later also spent six years of life in Jharkhand.

“Jharkhand holds a very important place in my life,” he remarked, describing the state having huge potentials.

More than 4000 delegates from 24 countries are participating in the summit which will conclude tomorrow. In an innovate idea, a flying red elephant with green wings and blue ears has been made the mascot of the mega event.

“The flight represents dream of 32.5 million people while the red clolour of elephant symbolizes our resolution to turn our dream into reality. Its green wings symbolize green cover while blue ears reflect peace and safety in the state,” was how the chief minister explained.

The two-day Global Investors’ Summit widely publicised as “Momentum Jharkhand” kicked off at Khel Gaon in Ranchi on Thursday to give a push to the state which ironically remains backward in matter of development index despite being rich in mineral reserves.

The presence of a galaxy of union ministers added colours to the function being organized for the first time in Jharkhand on such a wide scale.

Inaugurating the summit, Union finance minister Arun Jaitely cited how a visionary Tatas had seen great business potentials in Jharkhand well over a century ago and set up an industry there.

He though rued the state still lacked much in the matter of development despite investments trickling in. He hoped the state would move fast on the track of development now that there is a stable government in the state with economic growth its prime agenda.

In his address chief minister Raghubar Das said Jharkhand as a young state of India was striving to become one of the most developed and prosperous states in the country saying it had huge potentials.

“Jharkhand is one of the richest mineralized regions in the world possessing 40% of mineral resources of India. Though we are known for our rich mineral deposits and Steel and Automobile industry, but I feel our biggest assets are our people. Nearly 60% of our population is between 15 to 59 years of age. The gross state domestic product growth rate (at a constant price) is 12.1% and the growth rate of per capita income is 11.10%. This demonstrates that Jharkhand is a fast emerging economy in the country,” said Mr Das.

He said the state government had constituted Jharkhand Investment Promotion Board (JIPB) and IT Advisory Council (ITAC) comprising eminent industry captains and experts to lure investors to the state and promised to provide all supports to the industrialists willing to invest in the state.

According to him, to simplify the investment and its regular monitoring, the state government had arranged for Online Single Window System.

“We are using enabling policy framework, responsive administration to bring in transformation in Governance and in execution of programs and moving towards becoming paperless government,” the CM declared.

Former chairman of Tata Sons Ratan Tata in his address highlighted his emotional attachment with this mineral-rich state recalling how it was in Jamshedpur that he got his first job and later also spent six years of life in Jharkhand.

“Jharkhand holds a very important place in my life,” he remarked, describing the state having huge potentials.

More than 4000 delegates from 24 countries are participating in the summit which will conclude tomorrow. In an innovate idea, a flying red elephant with green wings and blue ears has been made the mascot of the mega event.

“The flight represents dream of 32.5 million people while the red clolour of elephant symbolizes our resolution to turn our dream into reality. Its green wings symbolize green cover while blue ears reflect peace and safety in the state,” was how the chief minister explained.