State-run BSNL is expecting to complete its portion of mobile network roll-out project, funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), in the Northeast by 2018 end.

"The project was approved in September 2014 but it came to BSNL in April 2016. BSNL is expecting to place execution order in April after which roll-out of the project will start in July and should be completed by December 2018," a source told PTI.

The project is part of the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER) which was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2014 but is yet to be rolled out.

The project proposal entails an estimated expenditure of Rs 5,336.18 crore which is to be funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

The project envisages providing 2G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas and seamless mobile coverage along National Highways in the North-East region. Under this project 8,621 villages out of the 9,190 unconnected villages are to be covered by 6,673 towers.

The project has been divided into two parts where tough terrain, which includes two districts of Assam and Arunanchal Pradesh, has been given to state-run telecom firm BSNL for installing about 2,100 mobile towers and the rest was kept for private telecom operators.

Bharat Broadband Network opened tender for installing about 4,500 towers under the project after two years in 2016 but received no bids.

"BSNL received bids from five companies but has not been able to finalise it because of external influences which are delaying the project. There have been multiple exchange of letter between the Department of Telecom and BSNL in this regard," an industry source said.

A BSNL official, involved in the project, denied the allegation saying that the process is running smoothly and communications with DoT and USOF have taken place for clarifications and more transparency.

"Technical bids were conducted but after discussion it has been decided to retest telecom equipment to generate more competition. The government wants to assure that fair opportunities have been given to bidders in fray. Retesting will be completed in March after which execution order will be placed to successful bidders in April," the official said.

State-run BSNL is expecting to complete its portion of mobile network roll-out project, funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), in the Northeast by 2018 end.

"The project was approved in September 2014 but it came to BSNL in April 2016. BSNL is expecting to place execution order in April after which roll-out of the project will start in July and should be completed by December 2018," a source told PTI.

The project is part of the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan for the North-Eastern Region (NER) which was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2014 but is yet to be rolled out.

The project proposal entails an estimated expenditure of Rs 5,336.18 crore which is to be funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

The project envisages providing 2G mobile coverage in identified uncovered areas and seamless mobile coverage along National Highways in the North-East region. Under this project 8,621 villages out of the 9,190 unconnected villages are to be covered by 6,673 towers.

The project has been divided into two parts where tough terrain, which includes two districts of Assam and Arunanchal Pradesh, has been given to state-run telecom firm BSNL for installing about 2,100 mobile towers and the rest was kept for private telecom operators.

Bharat Broadband Network opened tender for installing about 4,500 towers under the project after two years in 2016 but received no bids.

"BSNL received bids from five companies but has not been able to finalise it because of external influences which are delaying the project. There have been multiple exchange of letter between the Department of Telecom and BSNL in this regard," an industry source said.

A BSNL official, involved in the project, denied the allegation saying that the process is running smoothly and communications with DoT and USOF have taken place for clarifications and more transparency.

"Technical bids were conducted but after discussion it has been decided to retest telecom equipment to generate more competition. The government wants to assure that fair opportunities have been given to bidders in fray. Retesting will be completed in March after which execution order will be placed to successful bidders in April," the official said.

Two soldiers and four terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba outfits were on Sunday killed in an encounter at Frisal village of Kulgam in South Kashmir. Following the incident, separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have called for a complete shutdown on Monday in Kashmir.

A civilian in whose house these terrorists were hiding also reportedly lost his life in the crossfire that lasted 10 hours.

Three other wounded soldiers have been rushed to the military hospital at Srinagar.

The martyred soldiers have been identified as Lance Naik (33 years) of Gujarat and Sepoy Raghubeer Singh (31 years) of Uttrakhand.

Reports said that several residents of the village started pelting stones at the troops, who had encircled the house in which these terrorists were hiding. About a dozen persons were injured in clashes with security forces and police.

Military sources said that seven terrorists had assembled in the house to plan some major strike but when the security forces on the basis of tip-off reached the village three ultras managed to escape.

A spokesman of the Army said that the area was being combed.

In another incident, a man trying to cut the electric cable of the anti-infiltration fence along the Line of Control in the Poonch sector of Jammu was wounded when he was shot by the troops.

Lt Col Manish Mehta, spokesman of the Army, said that the suspect cut wiring of three security lights and also damaged the fence.

The alert sentry of the Army challenged the man and later fired a shot at him. The injured man was shifted to the military hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, separatist leaders Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have called for a complete shutdown on Monday in Kashmir to protest against the killing of the four terrorists. They also called for a march to Kulgam on February 15.

While the separatists criticised the police for opening fire at the civilians who were trying to disrupt the encounter, the local unit of the National Conference in Kulgam has sought a probe into the encounter.

Jiro Taniguchi, a legend in Japan's comic art of manga, died in Tokyo at the age of 69, leaving behind an international following for his exquisite line drawing of scenes from everyday life.

The artist's French publisher Casterman announced his death on its website, adding that he had been seriously ill, as it expressed its deep condolences to his family.

Taniguchi first shot to fame in Japan at the end of the 1980s with the first volume of The Times of Botchan, which centres around Natsume Soseki, one of Japan's greatest writers.

Just over a decade later, he hit the international manga scene with A Distant Neighbourhood, about a Japanese salaryman who travels back to his childhood — widely seen to this day as his masterpiece.

Taniguchi's work is hailed for its delicate line drawing and intricately-constructed landscapes.

Critics have also praised his gentle subject matter for standing in stark contrast to the usual fare of high school romance or sometimes violent pornography consumed by some of Japan's manga fans.

In works such as "The Walking Man", the protagonist is occupied less by any specific action as with a fascination with aspects of everyday life — the things he finds, the scenes he sees and the people he meets on his strolls through suburban neighbourhoods.

Taniguchi's detailed landscapes populated by vaguely cartoonish characters drew comparisons in the West with some of the better-known European comic heroes, such as Tintin.

Born in 1947 to a modest family in the city of Tottori, 100 kilometres northwest of the old imperial capital Kyoto, Taniguchi had his first cartoon published in 1970.

He became especially popular in France, one of the biggest markets for graphic art.

"He was seen by French readers, illustrators and publishers as a god, while he presented himself as a regular guy," fellow manga artist Tori Miki said on Twitter.

In 2011, the French government awarded Taniguchi the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters — one of the country's most prestigious prizes.

Four years later, the annual cartoon festival in the French city of Angouleme held a retrospective of his work.

"He was preparing a new work intended for family readership, a story in three volumes, 'The Millennium Forest,' in full colour, a new approach to manga," his agent and translator Corinne Quentin told AFP in Tokyo

 'Green' car tires – made from trees and grasses – may soon be a reality, thanks to scientists who have developed a new technology to produce a key molecule in automobile tires using renewable resources found right in our backyards.

Conventional car tires are viewed as environmentally unfriendly as they are predominately made from fossil fuels.

The new car tires produced from biomass that include trees and grasses would be identical to existing car tires with the same chemical makeup, colour, shape and performance.

"Our team created a new chemical process to make isoprene, the key molecule in car tires, from natural products like trees, grasses, or corn," said Paul Dauenhauer, an associate professor at University of Minnesota in the US.

"This research could have a major impact on the multi-billion dollar automobile tires industry," Dauenhauer said.

Currently, isoprene is produced by thermally breaking apart molecules in petroleum that are similar to gasoline in a process called "cracking." 

The isoprene is then separated out of hundreds of products and purified. In the final step, the isoprene is reacted with itself into long chains to make a solid polymer that is the major component in car tires.

Biomass-derived isoprene has been a major initiative of tire companies for the past decade. However, renewable isoprene has proven a difficult molecule to generate from microbes and efforts to make it by an entirely biological process have not been successful.

Scientists have focused on a new process that begins with sugars derived from biomass including grasses, trees and corn.

They found that a three-step process is optimised when it is "hybridised," meaning it combines biological fermentation using microbes with conventional catalytic refining that is similar to petroleum refining technology.

"Economically bio-sourced isoprene has the potential to expand domestic production of car tires by using renewable, readily available resources instead of fossil fuels," said Frank Bates, a polymer expert at University of Minnesota.

"This discovery could also impact many other technologically advanced rubber-based products," he said.

The study was published in the journal ACS Catalysis.

Tightening reporting norms, tax officers have been asked to submit self appraisal reports to the Revenue Department and explain reasons for the "poor performance" in doing e-scrutiny of tax returns.

As it promotes paperless e-mail based assessment to limit personal interface between the taxpayer and taxmen, the Revenue Department has asked officers to file a report on the e-assessments they took up and disposed off in the year.

In the self-appraisal form, they have also been asked to file reasons for "low performance", according to a CBDT order.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has started paperless assessment proceedings in 7 metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

The assessment proceedings in all cases selected under scrutiny have to be conducted through email based communications unless the taxpayer concerned desires to opt out of the paperless assessment scheme.

In a communication to Principal Chief Commissioners of I-T in these seven regions, the apex policy making body CBDT has asked them to report disposal of cases carried out in paperless assessment mode by the 7th of next month.

As per the format for filing of report, the officers will have to give statistical information regarding the number of e-assessment cases under his jurisdiction at the beginning of the month, and the number of cases selected for scrutiny.

The tax officer also has to give the number of cases disposed during the month through e-assessment, cumulative disposal during the financial year and pending e-assessment at the end of the month.

A self appraisal report has to be filed based on the performance in e-assessment, which will be judged by disposal of cases by Principal Commissioners of I-T. They will also have to give reasons in case of low performance.

Under the e-assessment scheme, the I-T department uses email for sending questionnaires and notices at the time of scrutiny proceedings and taxpayer also has to respond by email.

Miffed at the sealing of 21 rooftop restobars in Connaught Place, restaurant owners are planning to protest against the decision of the civic body.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had last week sealed the 21 restobars in the commercial hub after the roof of a vacant room in C-Block collapsed, raising questions about the structural stability of other buildings in the iconic market.

"There is no connection between the collapse and the rooftop restaurants. The concept of such restaurants can't be simply done away with. We understand that safety is a primary concern, but there should be a policy and NDMC can issue the licences after checking structural stability certificates," said Riyaaz Amlani, President, National Restaurant Association of India.

"We are going to protest against NDMC's decision and demand that the restobars be allowed to function," he said.

The sealed establishments include My Bar Headquarters, Warehouse Cafe in D-block, The Vault Cafe in F-block, Kinbuck-2 and Kitchen Bar in C-block, Lord of the Drinks, Open House Cafe, Jungle Jamboree, Boombox Cafe, Farzi Cafe, House of Commons, Hotel Palace Heights, Office Canteen Bar, Luggage Room, Cafe OMG, Unplugged Courtyard, Barbeque Nation, TC Bar & Restaurant, Teddy Boy Restaurant and The Niche Restaurant and Cafe Public Connection.

This was not the first time the civic body acted against use of terraces. In 2015, it had sealed the roofs of 13 restaurants, after which they signed affidavits saying they would adhere to rules.

Priyank Sukhija, the owner of Warehouse and Open House Cafe, said, "The sealing was just part of NDMC's attempt to curtail the crowd coming to Connaught Place before they roll out the vehicle-free plan."

Ajit Ajmani, the owner of MyBar Headquarters, said that though the civic body had issued prior notices to them warning against use of terrace and balconies they haven't violated any norms.

According to NDMC officials, terrace or balconies in heritage buildings cannot be used for any kind of commercial activity.

The civic body has also decided to conduct a survey of all "dangerous" buildings in the area by end of this month to avoid any mishap and formulate a policy to regulate structures installed on rooftops in commercial centre.

NDMC had last week formed a six-member panel, comprising structural safety experts from IIT-Delhi, Central Public Works Department, NDMC and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the area to inspect the site and ascertain the reason behind the collapse.

To ensure timely implementation of the AAP government's decisions, Delhi Chief Secretary M M Kutty has directed all departments to review the progress and upload status reports online.

The decision was taken at a recent meeting of principal secretaries, secretaries and heads of departments, chaired by the chief secretary.

The information pertaining to progress report on the AAP government's cabinet decisions will be uploaded through the Cabinet Decision Monitoring System.

"The chief secretary has directed that implementation of the Cabinet decisions be reviewed frequently and status report uploaded online through the Cabinet Decision Monitoring System," the minutes of the meeting stated.

The Kejriwal government has taken several key decisions, but delay in their implementation led to the administration take the new measure.

The AAP government had recently decided to introduce vacuum cleaning of roads to reduce dust, but only five to seven vacuum cleaning machines have been deployed so far.

Kutty has also directed all heads of departments to remove "old and irrelevant" information on their department websites.

"All the Pr Secretaries/Secretaries/HODs were directed to update the websites of their departments on regular basis. Old/irrelevant information shall be removed as per guidelines. IT Deptt. will issue a circular in this regard," minutes of meeting also stated.

Kutty has asked all departments to review the progress of plan expenditure of the departments including physical targets and financial achievements.

In the meeting, it was also decided that heads of departments would ensure that payment to contract or outsourced workers are made in time.

Although taking selfies is hugely popular, most people would prefer to see fewer selfies on social media, a study has found.

Selfies are enormously popular on social media. According to Google statistics estimates, about 93 million selfies were taken per day in 2014, counting only those taken on Android devices.

The findings showed that compared to the selfies taken by themselves, people attributed greater self-presentational motives and less authenticity to selfies taken by others.

Selfies taken by themselves were also judged as self-ironic and more authentic.

This phenomenon, where many people regularly take selfies but most people don't appear to like them has been termed the "selfie paradox" by Sarah Diefenbach, Professor at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Germany.

To assess people's motives and judgements when taking and viewing selfies, the team conducted an online survey of a total of 238 persons living in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

The results showed that 77 per cent of the participants regularly took selfies.

"One reason for this might be their fit with widespread self-presentation strategies such as self-promotion and self-disclosure" Diefenbach said, in the paper published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Interestingly, despite 77 per cent of the participants taking selfies regularly, 62-67 per cent agreed on the potential negative consequences of selfies, such as impacts on self-esteem.

This negative perception of selfies was also illustrated by 82 per cent of participants indicating that they would rather see other types of photos instead of selfies on social media.

The government has sought detailed business data from the industry, mainly the IT companies, so that it can effectively take up their concerns over the US visa issue with the new American administration.

The issues related with visa was discussed during a meeting chaired by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week.

It was suggested that the industry body like Nasscom should collate the data and assess the likely impact of the proposed changes in the visa regime by the US.

"The government needs solid data to take up the industry concerns with America," sources said.

An industry source too stated that they have been advised to share the data "as in how much business will be impacted due to the new American visa policy".

Sitharaman on February 9 held detailed discussions with top government officials and industry representatives on the proposed tightening of the US visa regime and its impact on the domestic IT sector.

Secretaries from the ministries of external affairs, finance, telecommunication, electronics and IT, commerce as well as DIPP, besides representatives of industry chambers and Nasscom, were present.

The proposed overhaul of popular H-1B visa regime by US President Donald Trump has raised concerns among Indian IT firms, as any changes in the visa regime may result in higher operational costs and shortage of skilled workers for the $110 billion Indian outsourcing industry.

Indian IT sector, which contributes 9.3 per cent to the country's GDP, is one of the largest private sector employers of 3.7 million people.

The US accounts for nearly 62 per cent of the exports, while EU is the second largest market for the Indian IT services exporters contributing approximately 28 per cent.

Recently, a US legislation (Lofgren Bill) has been introduced that proposes doubling of the minimum wages of H-1B visa holders to $130,000. The current H-1B minimum wage of $60,000 was fixed in 1989 and has since remained unchanged.

Such protectionist stance by the US could also spell more trouble for IT firms that are already facing strong headwinds from currency fluctuation and cautious client spending. 

Four persons, including a civic engineer, have been booked for allegedly resorting to land fill and destroying mangroves in Bhayander township here, police said on Sunday.

The accused were carrying out land fill at Pelni Aghar and Babu area of the township during the last week, Inspector Rajendra Kamble said.

During the process, mangroves were destroyed which is a violation of environmental norms, he said.

Civic engineer Deepak Khambit, attached with Mira- Bhayander Municipal Corportation, contractor Prakash Kamble, driver of crane turck Santosh Nangre and its owner Vikram Shinde have been booked under relevant sections of Protection of Environment Act-1986.

No arrests have been made so far in this connection, added police.

US retailers Sears and Kmart's websites no longer sell products from the Trump Home line, which is owned by the Trump Organisation, a Business Insider report said.

As of Friday, a search for Trump Home items on both retailers' websites yielded no results, except items sold by third-party sellers, the report issued on Saturday said.

A Sears spokesperson told the Business Insider that the company is looking into the disappearance of the Trump line.

As of Tuesday, Sears was still selling 19 Trump Home items online and Kmart was selling 13 items, according to Shannon Coulter, the brand strategist who started the #GrabYourWallet boycott against retailers selling products owned by US President Donald Trump's organisation.

It is unclear if Trump Home merchandise is still for sale in the retail stores.

Last week, luxury retailers Nordstrom officially cut ties with Ivanka Trump's fashion brand, and her line of clothing and accessories also disappeared from Neiman Marcus' website.

Home Shopping Network stopped selling a Trump Home line of lamps.

On Wednesday, President Trump weighed in, saying Nordstrom's treatment of his daughter is "unfair".

Making a strong pitch for inclusion of puppetry in Indian school curriculum, renowned US educational puppeteer Carol Sterling feels that such a move would help improve the social, emotional, intellectual and creative skills of children, especially those who are differently-challenged.

Many countries including US and Middle East are making use of the art form to communicate with children and get them involved in learning, she said here on Sunday on the sidelines of the international conference on 'Recent Trends in Special Education for Young Persons With Special Needs'.

"Puppetry is an essential educational tool to help children, especially those with special needs to improve their social, emotional and intellectual skills," Sterling said in an interview.

"And the most important thing is that it helps them with their creativity skills. So, puppetry should be included and absolutely be part of the curriculum," she said.

Noting that puppetry was one of the best possible ways to grab someone's attention, the 79-year-old educationalist also said its a way of getting involved in the lives of children with special needs in a 'personal way'.

"It helps you to ask questions…to greet…and communicate in a better way…especially in the case of special education children, because, puppetry makes them smile. When you smile, you open up your heart to learning," Sterling, who began her career as an art teacher said.

Pointing out the reasons to use puppetry as teaching aid for differently abled children, she said puppets can catch their attention than anything else.

"As long as I can catch their attention, I can teach them something new…which is going to give them a happier life," she said.

When asked if making puppets was an expensive affair, Sterling, who travels across the world, including India, to conduct workshops and classes on the art, replied in the negative.

She said she creates puppets out of rags, newspapers, scrap cloths, plastic and other recycled materials which are inexpensive.

"I just make something from something inexpensive. And it gives me an opportunity to communicate with children. The creative aspect of making something out of nothing will stimulate the child's imagination also," she said.

Sterling also presented a paper titled 'Using Puppetry for Intervention & Teaching Learning Materials' in the conference, which was organised to mark the silver jubilee of DARE School, a TATA group-supported special school here.

He made a successful debut with "Tere Mere Sapne", but actor Arshad Warsi says post the film he was jobless for nearly three years until films like "Seher" and "Munna Bhai MBBS" came his way.

The actor, who went on to star in critically acclaimed films like "Waisa Bhi Hota Hai", "Ishqiya" and "Jolly LLB," said he could come so far in his career as wife Maria Goretti was a constant support during the low phase.

"After my first film everybody said 'damn good'. But when the next two-three (films) died, it was done and I was left with no job. Till I did 'Waisa Bhi Hota Hai', 'Seher' and then of course 'Munna Bhai'.

"I was jobless for three years. Luckily Maria (wife) had a job, so we were fine, the bills were being paid. But for three years I had absolutely no films. I did odd jobs, but I did no films," Arshad confesses.

Arshad says he kept doing whatever good came his way as he had faith in his talent.

"You get insecure or worried if you don't know your job.

If you know it, sooner or later everybody will realise that.

You can put up an act for sometime but after that people will understand." 

The 48-year-old actor, feels sad for people "who have fooled their way into the job" with a team behind them, "spending crores to make them look good and talented." 

"One movie, two movie, three and then people will realise this guy has zero talent. Those are the people who need to worry. I was never worried. I did my first film and I thought it was a cakewalk. I felt I could do it." 

It was the Rajkumar Hirani-directed film which became a runaway hit and gave Arshad's career a needed push.

"If you look at the character in the film, there is no importance to it, in the sense that he is just a goon. There are five goons behind Sanju, he is one of them who has two lines more than the rest.

"But, if you have talent and know your job, people will see it. If I didn't know the job, I would've done that film and would've been forgotten. Nobody would know, as there were five others with me. Even Makrand Deshpande rejected the film," he says.

Like he was hopeful during the testing times, Arshad has pined hopes on his latest "Irada", touted as Bollywood's first ecological thriller. The film brings him back with actor Naseerudin Shah, with whom he has previously worked in the "Ishqiya" series.

The Aparnaa Singh directed movie releases on February 17.

Jamaica has assured India that special care would be taken to safeguard the lives of Indian nationals in the country after an Indian youth was shot dead in a case of suspected armed robbery in Kingston.

The assurance came a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had sought information from Indian High Commission regarding a report that a youth from Mumbai's Vasai was shot dead and two other Indians were injured by four unidentified men in his Kingston home in a case of suspected armed robbery.

"We are grateful to Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness for his condolences on the tragic death of Indian national Rakesh Talreja. Prime Minister Andrew Holness has also promised that special care will be taken to safeguard the lives of Indian nationals in Jamaica.

"Kamina Johnson Foreign Minister of Jamaica has also conveyed her condolences. Jamaican Government is extending complete cooperation to our High Commission," Swaraj said in a series of tweets.

According to reports, armed robbers entered 25-year-old Talreja's home, which he shared with two other Indians, in Jamaica's capital Kingston on Thursday evening.

After snatching cash and cellphones from his roommates at gunpoint, they entered Talreja's bedroom and snatched his cellphone. They shot Talreja in the back three times. They also shot at his roommates before fleeing the house.

The Archaeological Survey of India, mandated to protect ancient monuments, does not have record of demarcated area around marble wonder Taj Mahal in which any new construction is prohibited.

This strange fact came during a hearing before Central Information Commission wherein an RTI applicant had approached seeking the demarcated area around the Taj in which construction is not permitted.

The transparency law makes it obligatory on part of public authorities to disclose information sought by an applicant on the payment of Rs.10 unless it attracts any provisions which allow it to be withheld from disclosure.

The RTI applicant wanted information about demarcation of 500 metre boundary around the mausoleum of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaj Mahal where new construction is prohibited.

The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the ASI said the "record" is not available with them.

Irked by the response, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said the government has a duty to regulate the construction activity around the protected monument of national importance such as Taj Mahal which was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 and attracts around three million visitors from across the globe every year.

Issuing a show cause notice to the CPIO for explaining denial of information, the Commission also directed the ASI to designate an official who would keep record of complaints on the harassment of residents in the protective zone.

The RTI Act mandates the ASI and the local government to inform the people about the area demarcated, houses included in it, roads and other parts to which regulation extends, the restrictions imposed, procedure of securing permission for maintenance work around Taj Mahal, Acharyulu stated.

"The ASI did not have make any such voluntary disclosure of this useful information which would have protected the monument. And when the appellant wanted that under the RTI Act, the ASI claimed that it did not have that record.

"If it does not know the demarcated area around the monument, how can it implement ASI Act and protect the monument from violators of constructions restrictions? How can they identify violators of the law and punish," he asked.

Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said as the ASI Director General grants permission for maintenance and repair, how can the ASI claim that they do not have or maintain such record.

"Appellant brought to the notice of the commission that because of denial of information about area, demarcation, details of houses… several plots remain empty, houses deteriorated and structures were crumbling and they could not be repaired," he underlined.

The appellant contended that besides affecting routine life, lack of information was leading to corrupt practices.

Acharyulu said it was a case of non-compliance of mandatory proactive disclosure under Section 4(1)(b), and denial of information under the RTI Act.

The Information Commissioner said the ASI has a duty to disclose authentic information after preparing in collaboration with Agra Development Authority.

According to Acharyulu, it is the duty of Agra Development Authority to demarcate the restricted area around the monument and inform about it to the residents of the locality.

"It is not correct on the part of public authority, the ASI, to deny information on rules, restrictions and areas under which public residing within prohibited zone around Taj Mahal. It is blatant violation of Section 3,6, and 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act," he said.

The commission would like to reiterate that Section 4 imposes a significant obligation of transparency on public authorities, which might effectively reduce corruption and also minimise the need of RTI applications, he said.

Bayern Munich's late goals against Ingolstadt secured the 15th win of the season whereas Hamburg shocked runners-up Leipzig with three goals in the 20th round of the German Bundesliga.

The German giants extended their advantage to seven points in the standings despite an uninspired performance on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency. 

Last-minute goals from Arturo Vidal and Arjen Robben were enough to carve out a 2-0 win over a resilient Ingolstadt.

The "Schanzer" were able to keep Bayern on the distance for most of the first half. Things changed after the half time as the visitors increased the pressure.

Bayern almost opened the scoring two minutes into the second half as Ingolstadt's Florent Hadergjonaj had to scratch Thomas Mueller's effort off the goal line.

The hosts came close as well as Mathew Leckie pulled just wide of the target following a corner in the 54th minute.

In the closing period, Bayern piled on the pace while Ingolstadt's strength clearly declined. Thus, the visitors broke the deadlock in the 89th minute when Vidal tapped home Mueller's cross from close range.

The front-runners were not done with the scoring as Robben doubled the lead after a solo run and goal in the 90th minute.

With the result, Bayern established a seven-point advantage in the standings while Ingolstadt stay on the 17th place.

In another match, runners-up Leipzig suffered their second straight loss and a surprising 3-0 defeat against relegation threatened Hamburg.

Leipzig started aggressively but yet the "HSV" ensured a bright start on the road as Kyriakos Papadoupolos nodded home a corner kick from central position to open the scoring after 18 minutes into the game.

Hamburg gained momentum and added another goal to their lead through Walace, who headed home a corner kick six minutes later. It is the first time this season that Leipzig conceded more than one goal on home soil.

The "Bulls" pressed on frenetically in the second half but Ralph Hasenhuettl's men lacked in accuracy to pull one back. Meanwhile, Hamburg rounded off the win with a third goal, as Aaron Hunt was on target in the dying minutes of the game.

With the win, Hamburg jumped away from the drop zone whereas second placed Leipzig suffer a setback in the title race.

Elsewhere, third-placed Frankfurt lost 3-0 to Bayer Leverkusen as Javier Hernandez scored twice. 

Last-placed Darmstadt flabbergasted Borussia Dortmund 2-1, courtesy Antonio-Mirko Colak's decider. 

Monchengladbach inflicted Bremen the fourth loss in a row following a 1-0 win and Schalke overcame Berlin 2-0.