New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI) Highlighting the farmers’ plight a day after his Punjab visit, Rahul Gandhi today targetted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha for his foreign tours and said he should travel to the state to know first hand about the condition of the farming community.
“Again his (PM’s) tour is on the cards. He has come here for sometime. He should visit Punjab and he will know first hand what is happening to farmers,” the Congress Vice President said, triggering uproar as BJP members protested.
Raising the issue of farmers during Zero Hour a day after his visit to mandis in Punjab, Gandhi said he wanted to apprise the House of the pain and problems of the state’s farmers whose produce is lying in mandis and is not being procured by the government.
The refrain of Gandhi was that the NDA government had left the farmer to fend for himself.
Amid protests by BJP members, Gandhi took a swipe at the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, questioning whether farmers are not contributing to ‘Make in India’ by providing food to the entire country.
“When there was hailstorm, the government did not help.
State governmments used to give bonus, farmers tolerated its non-payment. Farmers were lathicharged when they asked for fertiliser. Now their produce is not being lifted from mandis,” he said.
Gandhi accused the government of not procuring the produce of farmers, a charge rubbished by Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who hit back by suggesting that the Congress leader was trying to become a “martyr by cutting a finger”.
Gandhi said “while farmers in the mandis are crying, the Haryana Agriculture Minister is saying farmers committing suicide are cowards,” he said amid cries of “shame, shame” from the opposition.
Asserting that government is purchasing each and every grain from farmers, Paswan insisted that the government under the leadership of Modi had taken several decisions for the welfare of farmers which had not happened in the past 10 years of the UPA.
Contending that the Prime Minister is not only concerned about the welfare of farmers, Paswan said he has proactively taken several steps to help the farmers hit hard by unseasonal rains and hailstorm.
There was uproar over the issue, leading to adjournment of the House for 10 minutes. .
One man is freed after 18 hours of being trapped next to a friend who was killed
The house built atop a hill in Swyambhu, a neighborhood west of Kathmandu’s city center, stood at three levels before Saturday. But it couldn’t resist the wrath of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck outside of Nepal’s capital, killing more than 4,000 people and becoming the country’s worst quake in more than 80 years.
The earthquake flattened parts of the house, trapping two men side-by-side—one dead, the other alive—for more than 18 hours. Prakash Mathema, an Agence France-Presse photographer based in Kathmandu, was documenting the recovery efforts across the ravaged city when he heard that a rescue team had found the men.
“The top floor of the house had collapsed,” he told TIME on Sunday. “And the men were trapped by this beam.”
The house had been cordoned off, but Mathema requested access, aware of the risks. He entered by a window and shadowed rescuers as they worked to free the man who survived, identified as Saroj Shrestha. “It lasted seven to eight minutes,” he said.
Shrestha is now in a hospital with a broken leg, Mathema said. “I want to visit him,” he added, “but right now I have to document the rescue operations. I think it’s important [to show] what’s happening, what’s going on. There are a lot of places [in Kathmandu] where this has happened—people trapped in their houses. No one knows how many people are out there, [still alive] after 18 hours. The manpower is limited.”
(Courtesy Time Magazine)
Mountain guide Ang Tshering Lama claimed luxury hotel Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu were only letting ‘a few rich people and westerners’ in to seek sanctuary in its 37 acres of open land. Mr Lama took a series of pictures which he claimed showed people with rucksacks lounging on the grass while others were left outside to set up makeshift camps on roadsides outside the complex.
Kathmandu Medical College situated at Sinamangal in Kathmandu has refused treatment to a 10 year old Salina Dahal. She was sent to Bir hospital as the family did not have enough funds for her treatment. Salina was injured in her hometown in Kabhre Anekpur, and was brought to the capital for treatment for her injuries on the head eyes and hands.
Due to panic is Kathmandu at least 80,000 people are going down to the plains for refuge. In the process of a large number of people traveling a Sumo which charged Rs 437 to a small town in foothills Heatauda which is only 75 kms from Kathmandu are now charging Rs 40,000 for 10 passengers.
Oye Teri
It’s a normal day in the life of this man when he wakes up. But when his wife is miffed and says nothing he begins wondering what’s wrong before realising his mistake. Will the couple have a happy ending? This short film by Anand Tiwari starts off on a promising note and will keep you interested right until its unpredictable end.
Salt ‘n’ Pepper
We aren’t exactly pumped up about this short story but the leads feature Tejaswini Kolhapure (who did a stellar job in Ugly) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Just discovering the many roles Siddiqui has done before sharing screen space with the Khans of Bollywood makes this a worthwhile watch.
Anukokunda
Not many times do you get to see a short movie that gets shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival. Scripted, shot and edited in a mere 48 hours, Anukokunda (Unexpectedly) was made by Hyderabad-based engineers-turned-filmmakers. The short story is a sweet love story backed by an effusive score and good performances.
Arranged Marriage
Areesz Ganddi’s Arranged Marriage is a short film that tackles the subject in a mature way. There is none of the soppy first-meeting coyness or shy moments when the two protagonists meet for the first time. Instead, the questions are direct, firm and even too personal for a first meeting. A headstrong woman and a confident man answering questions truthfully makes for a good short story.
Inbox
Finally, we have an impossible story to warm your heart. Inbox is the story of two people who get the wrong bags while shopping at a store and start exchanging messages through the bag. Actually we don’t want to say much.
New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has been suspended with immediate effect for an unlimited period of time following poor management in the conduct of 15th National Para Athletics Championship 2015.
Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the PCI was fully responsible for the lack of facility required for differently-abled athletes such as ramps, disabled-friendly toilets, lodging facilities etc., during the event held in Ghaziabad recently.
“There was total lack of planning in conceptualisation and conduct of the event. It was completely sorry state of affairs. There were mismanagement, negligence and completely irresponsibility on the part of PCI,” he said during question hour in the Lok Sabha.
Sonowal said the Sports Authority of India had conducted an enquiry and on the report submitted by it, a show cause notice was issued to PCI. The government received a letter on April 15 from the International Paralympic Committee suspending PCI with immediate effect for an unlimited period of time.
“Keeping in view the serious complaints from different quarters including players and media, alleging poor management in the conduct of the 15th National Para Athletics Championship 2015, enquiry report submitted by SAI and suspension of PCI by the concerned international federation, the government suspended the recognisation given to PCI with immediate effect,” he said.
Chennai: Enduring an erratic campaign so far, defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders face a stiff challenge when they take on the smooth-sailing Chennai Super Kings in an IPL cricket match here on Tuesday.
KKR are currently placed third on the points table with three wins, two losses and one abandoned match. CSK, on the other hand, have lost only one game in six outings and are steady on the second position.
The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side, dominating on home turf, is coming off a massive win over Kings XI Punjab in which they thrashed the team by 97 runs.
If the big names in Chennai’s batting order, like Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Dhoni, has come good in trying times then the bowling has also risen to the challenge.
Led by Ashish Nehra and Ishwar Pandey, CSK’s bowling arsenal has looked well equipped and delivered whenever required.
Even left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, whose non-performance was under the scanner came good in the previous game to pick 3 Kings XI wickets and break the opposition back.
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KKR, meanwhile, cooled their heels inside the dugout after rain forced abandonment of their clash against table-toppers Rajasthan Royals.
And before the abandoned game, KKR had lost to SunRisers Hyderabad, a game in which the team’s batting frailties were thoroughly exposed by a struggling side fighting to stay afloat.
In fact, all their wins have come against teams which have turned out to be laggards of this season.
If the batting, led by Gautam Gambhir, has been inconsistent, then bowling attack has been a bit patchy and a cause of concern.
Just when it looked that star off-spinner Sunil Narine was getting adjusted to his re-modelled action, the West Indian was called for chucking again by the on-field umpires during the team’s away match against SRH on April 22.
Even in the head-to-head count CSK lead the race in 14 games with 10 wins and 4 losses against the Kolkata-based outfit.
CSK also enjoy the home advantage after winning 4 games out of the 6 that have happened between the two teams at Chepauk.
Teams (from):
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ishwar Pandey, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas,Mohit Sharma, Pawan Negi, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Samuel Badree, Suresh Raina, Ronit More, Michael Hussey, Rahul Sharma, Kyle Abbott, Ankush Bains, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Andrew Tye and Eklavya Dwivedi.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav, Johan Botha, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav, Ryan ten Doeschate, Azhar Mahmood, Pat Cummins, Brad Hogg, KC Cariappa, Aditya Garhwal, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Sumit Narwal, Veer Pratap Singh and Vaibhav Rawal.
PTI
New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) With airfares witnessing sharp fluctuations, a Parliamentary panel today pitched for regulation of air ticket prices to ensure that they remain within a “reasonable range”.
Observing that currently there is no transparent mechanism to regulate airfares,the panel said even the benefit of reduction in the price of ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) is not passed on to passengers.
The observations have been made by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report on Demands for Grants of the Civl Aviation Ministry.
Airlines are free to charge as much as they can and travellers are caught unaware about the fares, it said.
Noting that the existing system has not worked, the panel said it “strongly feels that this is high time now that the Ministry must step in by putting a regulatory mechanism in place to see that airfares remain within a reasonable range”.
The recommendations also come at a time when there are rising concerns about steep fluctuation in airfares.
According to the panel, there is the problem of predatory pricing of air tickets that may also be due to some kind of cartelisation amongst airlines.
“The committee does not agree with the argument of the Ministry that some rules/regulations under Aircraft Act, 1934 regulate airfares in the country… The said Act and the Rules framed is more than 80 years old and the civil aviation sector during this period has undergone a sea change,” the report said.
It also said the Act needs to be overhauled now.
Among others, the panel said adequate seats should be reserved for last minute booking with affordable fares for persons having medical emergency or persons accompanying a corpse.
The committee cited instances of large number of students from not so well-to-do background going for higher studies to far off areas in the country and not being able to afford air travel to visit their family.
“In such cases, some kind of concessional fare may be devised (appropriately may be) under social obligation of the airlines,” it noted.
Lucknow, Apr 28 (PTI) At least 14 people lost their lives and scores were injured in thunderstorm and heavy rains that hit several parts of Uttar Pradesh today.
Four persons were killed in Pratapgarh district, three in Rae Bareli, two deaths each were reported in Lucknow, Ballia and Amethi, and one died in Azamgarh, a government spokesman said here. Storm, lightning and rains led to most of the deaths.
Most parts of the state witnessed rain or thundershowers, Meteorological department said.
Chief amount of rainfall recorded in cms was Pawayan 4, Bahraich and Kayamgunj 3 each, Utraula, Badaun, Moradabad, Sambhal, Amroha, Sahahjahanpur, Lucknow and Kheri 2 each, Bareilly, Sahaswan, Nighasan, Barabanki and Haideregarh 1 cm each.
Temperature was markedly below normal in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Faizabad, Allahabad, Lucknow, Bareilly, Moradabad, Jhansi, Agra, Meerut divisions.
The highest maximum temperature was 41.8 degree Celsius at Etawah.
Kolkata, Apr 28 (PTI) In a major boost to the party ahead of next year’s Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress today scored a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation bagging 114 of the 144 wards, and also won 69 of the 91 civic bodies in districts across West Bengal.
The victory in the municipal polls, which was billed as the semifinal before the Assembly polls, will act as a shot in the arm for the TMC, which recently faced serious allegations of corruption, including alleged involvement of some of its leaders in the Saradha Chit Fund scam.
Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee termed the victory as “a befitting reply to the slanderous campaign carried out by the Opposition and a section of the media.”
The TMC, which in the last KMC polls had won 95 seats, increased its tally to 114 while the main opposition CPI(M)- led Left Front was reduced to just 15 from 33.
The BJP, which was hoping to replace the Left as the main opposition in the KMC, miserably failed, managing to increase its tally from three to just seven seats.
Independents bagged three seats in the KMC.
Congress, which was fast becoming insignificant in state politics, managed to win five seats, down from eight in 2010.
Although the TMC scored a big win, it got some blows too as several heavyweights bit the dust.
Chairman of the outgoing KMC board Sachidananda Banerjee, deputy mayor Farzana Alam of TMC besides prominent party councillor Paresh Pal were defeated.
On the part of CPI(M), the leader of opposition in the outgoing KMC board Rupa Bagchi was defeated by her nearest TMC rival.
Contrary to KMC, the results in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation showed the CPI(M)-led Left Front has managed to regain some of its lost ground capturing 23 of the 47 seats.
TMC bagged 17 seats in Siliguri Municipal Corporation, which was regarded as a prestige fight for TMC leader and state minister Gautam Deb and CPI(M) leader and former minister Ashok Bhattacharya.
The Congress won five seats while the BJP got two seats and an independent won one seat in Siliguri. .
New Delhi, Apr 28 (PTI) For about 70 climbers on Mount Everest base camp, hit by the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Captain Ritesh Goel of the Indian Army was a life saver.
Goel, who has also served in the Siachen, was part of the 30-member strong Indian Army expedition team to Mount Everest.
The 28-year-old not only provided first-aid and stabilised nearly 70 climbers, some with broken legs and hands, he also manage 8 casualties with serious head injuries for about 14-hours before they were rescued via helicopters.
“There was a massive avalanche. There was utter chaos at the base camp (17,500 ft) because the avalanche had engulfed a huge part of the base camp,” Major General Ajay Sah told reporters here at the Army headquarters.
Giving a description of what transpired, he said the base camp was like a mini city with hundreds of tents.
“Almost half of the base camp was engulfed by the avalanche which was accompanied by high velocity winds.
Fortunately, our team had followed basic precaution and had undertaken counter-avalanche drills like posting a look out person,” the Maj General said.
The officer explained that the team was able to get out of tents in time and get behind shelter, thus surviving the initial impact.
“A few suffered some minor bruises. Bulk of our tents and storage were either blow away or buried in the snow. Many other team camping in the base camp were not as lucky and were trapped in their tents leading to casualty,” he said.
The Army team managed to recover most of their material and Goel set up a small medical aid post.
“There were a few doctors available in the base camp who joined in. They were able to stabilise almost 70 casualties” the Maj General said pointing out that air evacuation could take place only the next day.
They had to manage these casualties for around 14 hours.
“Our doctor, who is quite an expert in high altitude medical problem, was able to manage 8 with serious casualties with head injuries,” he said.
Goel, who hails from Bangalore, had joined the Indian Army six years ago.
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