All Indian citizens, who were outside India from November 9 to December 30, will be able to exchange or deposit the old currency note of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 till March this year, an official statement said on Friday.

This facility will be available for those who are not residents of India till June 30 "in order to allow them adequate time to plan a visit as per their convenience", it said.

However as per regulations, bringing back such currency into the country is restricted to Rs.25,000 per person.

The above facility would be subject to the regulations of the notification, Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Currency) Regulations, 2015.

Separate FEMA provisions are applicable to persons in Nepal and Bhutan, which would continue to be in force.
 

From the shadow of guns in Srinagar to football grounds in Spain, it will be a long journey for two Kashmiri boys who will be the first from the Valley to play in the prestigious Spanish league.

Basit Ahmed and Md Asrar Rehbar, both aged 18, will play with Sociedad Deportiva Lenense Proinastur — a third division professional club from the Spanish La Liga — for a full season of about 6 months.

La Liga is the national football league in Spain.

Ahmed, a centre-forward, and Rehbar, who plays on the wing, hail from Srinagar and were chosen by a special committee formed by the CRPF to pick footballing talent from the Kashmir Valley as part of its inititiave to engage with the youth.

The paramilitary force also entered into a contract with the foreign club as part of the talent drive it undertook.

"The club has agreed to take on contract the two players in the January window. This is the first time that any Indian player will be playing for the Spanish club," a senior official said.

Both players have played national juniors, with Rehbar having played in the Santosh and Durand tournaments, and were chosen from among many who took part in trials by the CRPF committee in coordination with the Jammu and Kashmir football club.

All expenses of the two youngsters will be paid by the Spanish club as per the terms of the contract signed by the Central Reserve Police Force with them.

The Congress on Friday said that after granting "immunity" to the Sahara Group, the government is trying to brush under the carpet the entire case against the Group in a "conspiratorial manner".

The party also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come forward and respond to the graft charges against him, and a "neutral, independent and free and fair probe" be conducted that does not fall within the purview of the government.

Talking to the media, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the whole thing is being done "in a hurry as if the government has something to hide".

"Shockingly, the entire case against Sahara Group is now being sought to be closed in a hush hush and conspiratorial manner at startling speed. This further indicates that the Modi government has 'something to hide' and is in an alarming hurry to brush the entire matter under the carpet," said Surjewala.

"Shocking and scandalous facts in Birla and Sahara papers have now put a question mark on the credibility of the Prime Minister, requiring an independent investigation. 

"Modiji, who claims to be a crusader against corruption, must face personal accountability and investigation on the alleged charges of receipt of money from the two industrial houses," he added.

Surjwala said: "There has to be a probe that does not fall within the precincts of the government and where the probe can really be termed as neutral, independent and free and fair."

The Congress also said that according to the documents seized by the Income Tax Department, cash payments were made nine times to "Modiji" over a period of six months, totalling Rs 40.1 crore.

"This document, dated November 22, 2014, is duly signed by the Income Tax Department authorities and witnesses," said Surjewala.

"In the process, the 'Sahara Group' appears to have gained a concession of not paying income tax on the income of Rs 1,910 crore and received complete immunity from penalty and prosecution," he added.

Asked about Sheila Dikshit's name featuring in the Sahara diaries, Surjewala said: "She had said why doesn't the Prime Minister have the courage to get an independent probe done when his credibility is at stake."

"Get everybody probed. Let the entire thing be investigated," said Surjewala.

The Congress also asked a few questions to the Modi government, including why is the government showing such tearing hurry to close the entire 'Sahara' issue.

"Why was Sahara Group permitted to claim expenses of 150 to 200 times the original amount filed with the Registrar of Companies? Also, why was Sahara Group permitted to claim concession on undisclosed income in this fashion?" said Surjewala.

"What is the underlying reason for showing such benevolence to a corporate house, which has been caught with unaccounted cash and papers reflecting non-disclosure of income running into a few thousand crores?"

Surjewala further said: "Sahara Group has been granted complete immunity from penalty and prosecution. Under Section 271 of the Income Tax Act, a penalty of 100 per cent to 300 per cent would have been payable, besides prosecution under Section 276. Why has this immunity been granted to the group?

"Would Modi government explain as to why corroborative evidence was not collected to substantiate the payments made? Is it because it reflected the name of none less than PM Narendra Modi himself? Does it not make out a clear cut case for an independent investigation to arrive at the truth?

"Is it also not correct that the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had reported suspicious transactions in 4,574 bank accounts of the Sahara Group? Why has the Modi government not investigated and taken action on these important pieces of information regarding 4,574 bank accounts of the group?"

A two-day-long winter session of the Delhi Assembly will be held beginning January 17 where a number of contentious issues relating to the AAP-Centre friction are likely to come up.

A decision to this effect was taken by the Delhi Cabinet in its meeting presided over by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the proposal is being sent to the Lt Governor for his formal approval.

It will be the first sitting since Anil Baijal assumed charge as the city's LG following the surprise resignation of Najeeb Jung.

"As of now the agenda has not been fixed," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, making the announcement after the meeting of the Cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The AAP legislators are expected to raise contentious issues, local matters and those pertaining to the party's rift with BJP, a senior government official said.

The MLAs are generally seen on a collision course against the Centre during every sitting of the House over matters of jurisdiction and also the functioning of the BJP-ruled civic bodies.

The fifth part of the Assembly's fourth session was held on November 15 last year where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had levelled serious allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The "emergency" session, convened to discuss demonetisation, had witnessed acrimonious scenes where Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta was marshalled out.

Demonetisation and the surgical strike against terrorists in Pakistani territory will be the two major planks for the BJP in the assembly polls in five states.

On the inaugural of the BJP's National Executive meeting here, party President Amit Shah spoke at length on the twin issues and told leaders to harp on the benefits of both demonetisation and the surgical strike.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is determined to end its long exile from power in Uttar Pradesh to return to power in the country's most populous state. The staggered polls in Goa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur begin on February 4.

Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the army's attack on militant camps across the Line of Control, Shah said the government may repeat such an action in its war against terror.

He said the September 29 strike reflected New Delhi's "zero tolerance" for terror and warned of further "out of the box" action if Islamabad persisted with its policy of sending terrorists to India.

Shah said the surgical strike and the November 8 demonetisation of high value currency had left the opposition with no campaign issues. 

While harping on the benefits of demonetisation including the ability to spend more on development, Shah detailed the BJP's showing in the various elections since the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. 

He said the note ban had adversely affected corruption, terror funding and fake currency smuggling. He said it compelled a fake note smuggler in Pakistan to commit suicide. 

Asserting the despite hardships, people overwhelmingly supported the currency spike, Shah said the BJP was confident of taking power in all the five states. 

Shah instructed party activists to build on Modi's "pro-poor" image. 

On the second and concluding day of the party meeting on Saturday, Modi is expected to talk about the twin issues. 

A separate session on demonetisation will be held at the venue. 

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday said that Virat Kohli's elevation to captaincy across all formats will bring success to the team in equal measure.

Terming Kohli as a natural choice to succeed Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ganguly said: "He is the right successor (to Dhoni) in one-day Internationals and T20Is. He will be equally fantastic, there's no doubt about that."

Having led India in Tests format successfully, Kohli was on Friday anointed limited overs skipper ahead of their three ODIs and three T20Is series against England, beginning January 15.

Dhoni, who stepped down as the captain of the Indian limited overs team after more than nine years at the helm, will play as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Veteran Yuvraj Singh also staged a comeback nine months after the World T20 last year, riding on his splendid form during the Ranji Trophy in which he scored 672 runs in five games before taking a break due to his marriage.

"It's a great thing he (Yuvraj) has been included in both the formats. I'm confident he will get some runs and succeed," Ganguly said. hailing the inclusion of Yuvraj in both ODI and T20I sides.

With less than a month remaining for budget presentation, Finance Ministry day invited suggestions from Twitterati on what should be the focus of the Budget for 2017-18 to be unveiled on February 1.

People can exercise their voting option on the official twitter handle of the Ministry of Finance.

"Please give your suggestions… Which sector (Infrastructure/Manufacturing/Agriculture/IT and Services) needs more focus in Budget 2017-18?" the Finance Ministry said in a tweet.

Although voting would remain open for a week, initial pattern suggested netizen's preference for agriculture, followed closely by infrastructure. Manufacturing was the third in preference followed by IT and Services.

In November 2016, the Finance Ministry had invited suggestions from public on myGov portal for Budget 2017-18 in order to encourage public participation and bring in greater transparency.

Government has decided to present the Budget for 2017-18 on February 1, instead of the usual practice of unveiling it on the last working day of February, so that all allocations are available before the start of financial year from April 1.

It has also decided to merge the Rail Budget with the Union Budget.

 Knives inside Metro coaches is an old decision and has nothing to do with Bengaluru mass-molestation incident, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) clarified on Friday, after misconstrued news reports across media.

Several media houses on Friday ran news claiming that the DMRC had lifted prohibition on knives for women in favour of self-defence.

The capital's prime transporter came up with a clarification later in the evening that the ban on carrying knives aboard Metro coaches was lifted two months back in November and it was not for enabling women to defend themselves. 

It said these small knives, which women may carry to cut fruits in their tiffin-boxes, show up in the scan machine while going through checks at the stations. It was only to save the time that goes into physical checks that the Metro decided to let go of the prohibition completely. 

"It usually takes one and half minutes to check the tiffin-box in case the scan shows the knife. On the other hand, about 8-9 lakh women passengers commute by Metro daily. Imagine the time we would end up spending checking the tiffin boxes. So, we decided to lift the prohibition only for such knives," Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) spokesperson Manjeet said. 

"It has nothing to do with Metro promoting self-defence or with the Bengaluru molestation. Such interpretations are false," he added. 

Many newspapers and news-websites talked of the move as a great step towards women empowerment and also misreported its timing as coming into effect on Friday. 

Bengaluru FC kick off their I-League title defence when they host Shillong Lajong FC at the Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

It has been an astounding 2016 for Benagluru as they won the I-League title and then created history by reaching the AFC Cup final.

Coach Albert Roca made it clear the importance of making a good beginning in the league.

"We have to go for three points and you have to play tough from the very first minute if you want to achieve the title again," he said.

"There is pressure, challenge — that's football, and we are ready for the moment. The fact that we have achieved in the AFC Cup will help our self-esteem tomorrow. We have to go 100 per cent as the difference between us and them are not that big," the former Barcelona assistant coach added.

BFC have strengthened their squad by signing top Indian players Harmanjot Khabra, Lenny Rodrigues, Mandar Rao Desai, and Arindam Bhattacharya.

Roca sounded positive and said, "It is always difficult to settle down in a new team, but the new players have shown they are up for the challenge. They are experienced, played I-league for many years, and have already played with some of the teammates before. They know the other I-League teams and their style of playing, so it is time for them to show at the level that they deserve."

Bengaluru FC have been tough for the team from North East, especially in the past three seasons. The only time Lajong won was at home that too a couple of years ago.

Lajong head coach Thangboi Singto, who has been with the team from the very beginning, appeared positive for tomorrow's match.

"It's good to start with the best team, might be difficult for us, but helps you to know where you stand. We will come as the best we can," he said.

Thangboi promised a good game and said he was hopeful of taking points away from the home team.

"This year we have strengthened in the scoring department, hopefully, the players on board will do the needful. But it is not going to be easy if you look at the teams, every team has toughened including the new entrants who will try to make a mark in the league.

"At the end of the day, goals win matches, and we need to better that. Hopefully, we'll start doing that from our first match," Thangboi said.

Other than their foreigners Dan Ignat, Yuta Kinowaki, Aser Pierrick Dipanda, Fabio Pena and goalkeeper Vishal Kahit, Lajong comprise of players from North-East with many U-22 players from their football academy.

The policy of Lajong from the beginning is to promote talents from the North East region. They have done reasonably well in doing that.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Friday advised the Delhi Police to use innovations and digital technology for effective policing.

His directions came at a meeting with Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma and other police officers at his residence here.

"Held a meeting with Commissioner of Police, Delhi and officers of Delhi Police at Raj Niwas. Advised (them) to use digital technology and innovations for effective policing," Baijal tweeted.

Baijal took charge as the Lt Governor of Delhi on December 31 after his predecessor Najeeb Jung suddenly resigned on December 22.

Notwithstanding the decline in tax collection due to demonetisation, the Haryana government has recorded increased in tax receipts with total tax collected in November at Rs.2,830.31 crore as compared to Rs.2,382.42 crore in October, Rs.2,165.19 crore in September and Rs.2,223.14 crore collected in August respectively.

Despite note ban, there has been a rise in tax receipts in the state as official data shows that a total Rs 2,760.78 Crore were collected in shape of various taxes from 9 November to 9 December against a low amount of Rs 2,400.45 Crore collected between 8 October to 8 November. The data shows that till 7 December, the total tax collection of the state is Rs 20,706.13 Crore, nearly 59.67 per cent of the of the total tax receipts Rs 34,700 Crore projected for the financial year 2016-17.

Ruling out slowdown in tax collections following demonetisation and hoping for a higher tax collection this fiscal year, State finance minister Captain Abhimanyu said the tax collection after the demonetisation in the state has refuted the reports were indicating slowdown in tax collection. "We will end the present financial year with higher tax collection," he added.

According to figures, out of the total tax collection of Rs 20,706.13 Crore during the present fiscal, major chunk of the total tax receipts between this period came in shape of value added tax plus central sales tax (VAT+CST) as more than Rs 16,000 Crore have been received under this category by the end of November during the present fiscal. It was followed by the Excise as a total Rs 3,287.11 Crore is the total figure of the tax receipts under this category while rest of the receipts are shared by luxury tax, entertainment tax, LADT, PGT and Compensation received for the loss of revenue.
 

During the financial year 2015-16 the total tax collection in Haryana was Rs 29,634.16 Crore including Rs 21,546.98 Crore as VAT + CST collection, Rs 4,373.71 as Excise tax, Rs 3,003.08 as Compensation. Captain believes that the tax collection by the end of present fiscal would be higher than the previous one.

Feeling depressed? Take heart, a novel suite of 13 speedy mini interactive-apps may help you de-stress and lower anxiety and depression, suggests a study.

The apps — called IntelliCare — offer exercises to de-stress, reduce self-criticism and worrying, methods to help your life feel more meaningful, mantras to highlight your strengths, strategies for a good night's sleep and more.

"We designed these apps so they fit easily into people's lives and could be used as simply as apps to find a restaurant or directions," said lead author David Mohr, Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois, US.

In the study, 96 participants robustly used the IntelliCare interactive apps as many as four times daily — or an average of 195 times — for eight weeks. They spent an average of one minute using each app, with longer times for apps with relaxation videos.

The participants reported that they experienced about a 50 per cent decrease in the severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms. 

The short-term study-related reductions are comparable to results expected in clinical practice using psychotherapy or with that seen using antidepressant medication, the researchers said.

"Using digital tools for mental health is emerging as an important part of our future. These are designed to help the millions of people who want support but can't get to a therapist's office," Mohr said.

The study will be published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

The Delhi cabinet on Friday gave its nod to the fourth phase of Delhi Metro which will add 8.5 lakh new passengers to its network, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced here.

The fourth phase will have six new routes with a total length of around 103 km, and will be completed in six years at a cost of around Rs.50,000 crores, he told reporters here.

"DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) will submit a progress report of the project every month to the Delhi cabinet," Sisodia said.

He added that once complete, the new lines will add 8.5 lakh passengers every day to the metro rider-ship.

"The fourth phase of metro is future-oriented as it will cover those routes where traffic problems exist or are expected to surface in the future," Sisodia said.

The six new lines include Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Janakpuri West-R.K. Ashram, Mukundpur-Maujpur, Inderlok-Indraprastha, Aero City-Tughlakabad and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G-block.

Aiming to educate the people and cut the cost of the various medical procedures, the Chandigarh based Post Graduate Institute of Medical and Education Research (PGMIER) will be bringing together experts on’ Innovation in Biomedical Instrument and Devices together on a single platform.

These experts will be discussing implementation of innovative and economical ideas to make such devices available to a larger section of the population on Saturday.

The idea is to give way to indigenous products like screws and stunts that are placed in the human body while countering the high cost of import of such equipment. While participating in the workshop, the experts will discuss how to avoid putting implants and screws inside human body in times of emergency with minimum medical help.

Authorities at PGIMER feel that innovative ideas translated into gadgets, devices and instruments can lead to less import of machines used for CT scan and MRI. The department of science and technology is laying thrust of encouraging Indian scientists to come up with innovative indigenous solutions to help Indian hospitals over come various problems.

By bringing in experts from the top educational institutes in the country like Indian Institute of Technologies and Engineering colleges, the PGMIER hopes to get fresh and innovative ideas to counter the cost incurred in the time of emergency while the patients go through so far thought to be the’ unavoidable medical treatments.’

The Haryana power utilities, Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), have been ranked sixth in the country in terms of achievement of targets under the ‘Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana’ (UDAY).

An official spokesperson of the Power Department today said that an announcement to this effect had been made by Union Minister of State for Power, Piyush Goyal. He said that the excellent performance of UHBVN and DHBVN under the UDAY scheme, launched by the Union Power Ministry to reduce the debt burden on power utilities, had been appreciated at national level. Under the scheme, the debt burden on the utilities has decreased, and the utilities are achieving the target of providing electricity 24-hour to the consumers. While 24-hour power supply is being provided in 173 villages in the state from this month onwards, urban and industrial areas were already receiving 24-hour power supply.

He said that Haryana had opted for the UDAY scheme on March 11, 2016. Under the scheme, targets were set for power utilities, including reduction of line losses, installation of transformers and meters on 11KV feeders, segregation of domestic and agricultural feeders, strengthening of feeders, checking electricity theft, provision of LED bulbs and tube lights instead of ordinary bulbs and tube lights and issuing new connections.

Delhi government on Friday approved 'Good Samaritan Policy' under which monetary incentive of Rs.2,000 and appreciation certificate will be given to people who help road accident victims in the national capital.

Announcing the Cabinet's decision, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the scheme is intended to encourage people to take accident victims in emergency situation to hospitals so that someone's life could be saved.

"To encourage people to help accident victims, the Delhi government has approved "Good Samaritan Policy'.

"Under the scheme, people, who are helping road accident victims, will be rewarded with Rs.2,000 and appreciation certificate by the government," Sisodia told reporters in a press conference.

The government had mooted a proposal in August last year after a road accident victim in West Delhi's Subhash Nagar bled to death because no one had helped him.

The deputy chief minister said that most of people are unwilling to help, mainly because they are scared they will land in trouble or be harassed.

In some cases, doctors also cite reasons behind the death of accident victim that if he or she could be admitted in hospital on time, his or her life could have been saved.

In 2015, 8085 accidents had taken place in the capital.

Under the same scheme, the AAP government had in April last year, had decided to provide basic life support training to all auto-rickshaw drivers in the city. The idea was to have help at hand in case of a road accident.

According to a Central government study, Mumbai has got the dubious distinction of the city with maximum road accidents in the country, while the number of deaths in road mishaps is highest in Delhi.

"Mumbai had the highest number of 23,468 number of road accidents during 2015 while Delhi had the highest number of 1,622 deaths due to road accidents," according to the 'Road Accidents in India' report unveiled in June last year by Road Transport and Highways Ministry.

Vying for inclusion in Centre’s Smart Cities project, the Municipal Corporation, Shimla would involve common people in preparing ‘Smart City’ plan for the ‘Queen of Hills’.

The summer capital of Britishers was earlier neglected in first list of Smart Cities and instead, Dharamshala was selected, leaving the citizens high and dry.

The MC Shimla Mayor, Sanjay Chauhan told The Statesman, “We have prepared a proforma for preparing smart city plan and it would be shared with citizens for suggestions on the same.”

Chauhan said all the suggestions of the general public on issues like infrastructure, water and power sector, road traffic, smart solutions would be videographed by the authorities. Besides this, we have also created a Facebook page, ‘Smart City Shimla’ through which suggestions are being invited from them.

“A website is also being launched for recording suggestions of general public on various issues,” he said, adding the campaign would continue till March 24, 2017.

He said all these suggestions would be including in the proposal which would be later submitted to the Government of India for the Heritage City’s inclusion in Smart Cities Project. “The MC Shimla would soon hold a meeting with Himachal government on issues pertaining to preparing Smart City model,” he added.

Chauhan added Shimla already has city sanitation plan, solar city plan, city mobility plan, high risk vulnerable index plan, city development plan, greenhouse gas emission inventory plan in place.

“But now, we need basic model considering these plans to take root in the city so that residents and tourists get all the smart city facilities,” he added.

It is worthwhile to mention here that Shimla is situated in the south-western ranges of the Himalayas and the hill capital derives its name from ‘Shyamala’ – the goddess Kali, whose temple existed in the dense forest that covered Jakhu Hill in the early 19th century.

The hill capital is surrounded by pine, deodar, oak and rhododendron forests and it was built on top of a total of seven different hills namely – Inverarm Hill, Observatory Hill, Prospect Hill, Summer Hill, Bantony Hill, Elysium Hill and Jakhoo Hill.

Shimla which also enjoy Heritage city tag, is home to a number of buildings that are styled in the Tudor-bethan and neo-Gothic architectures dating from the colonial era as well as multiple temples and churches.

Thousands of tourists, both domestic and foreign throng the city to enjoy the natural beauty, colonial architecture, churches and temples.

The major attractions include the Viceroy Lodge, the Christ Church, the Jakhoo Temple, the Mall Road and the Ridge, which together form the city centre.

The Kalka-Shimla Railway line built by the British, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also a major tourist attraction.