No decision on getting Facebook, Twitter servers to India: Government

Tech News - "The government has not decided to get servers of popular social networking sites, like hike, Facebook, Twitter etc established within the country," Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
  
He, however, said the government regularly interacts with all stakeholders including social media providers to resolve the issues arising from time to time, related to handling of unlawful content on the internet.

The Minister said security agencies face difficulty while dealing with encrypted communications provided by various service providers.
  
World over several service providers are providing services like WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Skype, Yahoo, Gmail for sharing audio, video, image, email, data and accessing other web services anytime and anywhere in a secure manner, Prasad said.
  
He added the security of these services is achieved through encryption technology and these services are mostly availed by the citizens across the world through internet.
  
"At times these services may also used by anti-national and criminal elements, which pose a security threat," the Minister said.
  
Prasad added the government has mandated all the telecom service providers including internet service providers to provide the lawful interception and monitoring facilities to the security agencies for all the services including WhatsApp, Viber etc.

Source:  Online Hindi News 

 

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Congress, AAP protest in Lok Sabha over Moga molestation incident

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, Ravneet Singh Bittu (Congress) demanded that the transport company running the bus should be suspended like Uber was in Delhi and took a swipe at Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who was present and whose family runs the service in Punjab.

Bhagwant Mann (AAP) also spoke on the matter but Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed him after he too mentioned Kaur's name.

"Don't do politics over such a incident. This is very wrong. Where are you taking this issue?" the Speaker told Bittu when he attacked the ruling clan in the state.

"You want to do politics or you are with the girl," Mahajan said, pulling up Mann, who came into the Well in protest.

Bittu said Kaur had jumped to the state government's defence on Wednesday when Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of farmers and she should speak on this "shameful" issue as well.   

The Lower House had earlier in the day seen protests from Congress and AAP over the incident in Moga area.

Members of both the parties from Punjab stormed the Well of the House denouncing the Akali Dal-BJP government in the state over the law and order situation.

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NCP will vote against land ordinance in Rajya Sabha: Sharad Pawar

"I have spoken to a number of political parties who are opposed to the ordinance. The government may bulldoze it in the Lok Sabha based on its majority in the Lower House. But the picture will be different in the Rajya Sabha.

The NCP will vote against the ordinance in the Upper House," Pawar told reporters here. He said the Government has appointed Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari as the pointsman to hold dialogue with the Opposition to support the ordinance's passage in the Parliament.
  
"I have known Gadkari to be polite and open for dialogue. But the language of the letter he has written to all Opposition members asking whether they don't want development and water to farmers as well as defence projects smacks of arrogance of power. It is not the language of dialogue," Pawar said.

The letter is based on the brief he has got from his political bosses, Pawar charged, adding that he has not replied to the letter.
  
Pawar recalled that the Land Acquisition Bill passed in 2013 was drafted by a committee headed by him. "All suggestions by the then Leaders of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were incorporated and the Bill was passed unanimously. Why was a decision made to scrap the Act and bring amendments," he asked.

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Rahul Gandhi takes jibe at PM Modi's foreign tours; triggers uproar in Lok Sabha

"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 governments 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.

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Army personnel to be utilised to impart skill, training: Government

Skill Development Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said his Ministry would also propose the "Right to Skill" on the lines of a similar provision in Chhattisgarh under which the state government was obliged to train people in skills they wanted.

Admitting to a shortage of skill trainers, Rudy urged over 50,000 non-commissioned officials retired from the Army after putting in 20 years of service and his Ministry was working to use their experience and skill.

"We are trying to partner with the Ministry of Defence," he added in reply to questions and added that the government wanted to tap these personnel to see if they can come back as trainers or entrepreneurs.

Rudy, who is the first Minister in charge of the new Ministry created by the Narendra Modi government, said it would take some time before his department completed assessing various skills available across the country and their need in various states.

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Congress, Trinamool demand judicial probe into farmer's suicide

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge hoped that the government will institute a judicial probe into the incident."An inquiry by police will be one-sided," Kharge said.

He urged the government to spell out relief steps for farmers in terms of loan waiver, compensation and minimum support price.

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy also demanded a judicial inquiry."The home minister should order a judicial inquiry as to why nobody reacted and the drama was played out in full view," he said.

Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Rajasthan whose crops were destroyed by unseasonal rain, hanged himself from a tree here during the AAP rally on Wednesday, held to protest against the controversial land ordinance.

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Giriraj Singh rejects reports of crying before PM Modi

"No," he told reporters who had asked him whether he had become emotional during  a meeting today with Modi, who television channels earlier had reported that he had pulled him up for his racist remarks against Congress President Sonia Gandhi last month.
     
"The meeting had not taken place.  Who told you I had met him," Singh said when asked about his reported meeting with the Prime Minister.

Singh was on Monday forced to express regret in the Lok Sabha for his  remarks against Sonia Gandhi after Congress members staged vociferous protests on the issue.
    
"I never meant to offend anyone. But if my comments hurt anyone's sentiments, I regret it," Singh said when Speaker Sumitra Mahajan asked him to respond after the House saw loud protests by Congress members, who termed his remarks as an insult to womanhood and sought his resignation.
    
Singh,  minister of state for micro, small and medium enterprises, was under fire for his racist barb at Gandhi asking whether Congress would have accepted her leadership had she not been white-skinned.

"Had Rajiv Gandhi married a Nigerian woman and if she was not a white-skinned woman, would the Congress have then accepted her (Sonia's) leadership," he had said recently.
   
Even when the controversy broke out earlier this month, Singh maintained that it was an 'off the record' conversation with journalists but expressed regrets if it had caused hurt to Gandhi.
   
Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu sought to play down the issue saying  "the issue is closed".
   
"The only worry is he me and told him he had not made any public comments.  The moment a television channel reported them, the same day he had disowned them. The only worry is nobody has taken note of it," he said.

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Government not averse to more amendments to Land Bill: Nitin Gadkari

"We are not averse to more amendments to the Land Bill provided they are good and substantial in nature. There is no restriction on fresh changes," Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari said.

But at the same time, he cautioned that amendments aimed at delaying the measure and scoring political points against the government would certainly not be considered.
  
"We accepted nine amendments to the bill after discussion in the Lok Sabha. We are obviously open to new changes," he said.

Asked about NDA government's lack of numbers in the Rajya Sabha, Gadkari said that he is hopeful of getting support from the Upper House.
  
"I believe members will support the Bill in Rajya Sabha. Let us hope positively. We are confident," he said. Amendments to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2014 have been approved by the Lok Sabha but could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha as the ruling NDA government is short of numbers in the Upper House.
  
However, pending the passage of the amendment bill by Parliament, the Ordinance was re-promulgated to ensure continuity in legislation.
    

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Alarming rise in non-communicable cases: Health Minister JP Nadda

He also urged states to ensure "optimal utilisation" of health sector funds allocated by the Centre.
  
"We were facing rising incidence of communicable diseases. Now, non-communicable diseases are increasing at an alarming rate," Nadda said during Question Hour.
   
The incidence of diabetes, hypertension and cancer are on the rise and these diseases are mainly linked to lifestyle, he added.
   
He said efforts are being made to increase capacity to deal with cancer and focus is on primary screening to detect and treat the disease at the early stage itself.
   
The government plans to set up 2 national, 20 state-level and 50 tertiary cancer centres in different parts of the country, Nadda said even as he acknowledged that "much more needs to be done".

These institutes would be getting about Rs 20-45 crore depending on their capacities, he noted.
   
At present, there are 27 Regional Cancer Centres (RCCs). According to him, other streams of medicine need to be integrated with existing system for treating cancer.
   
Expenditure on health sector needs to be increased but states have to spend more since as much as 20 per cent of funds allocated by the Centre remain unspend, Nadda said.
   
"There should be optimum utilisation of funds allocated by the Centre to states for health sector," the Minister said. To another query, Nadda stressed that spending on health sector has not been reduced and only that more funds are being devolved to states.

"The core public health expenditure of Centre and State during 11th Plan period stood at 1.04 per cent of GDP. The public expenditure in health sector is estimated at 1.11 percent of GDP in 2013-14 (revised estimate)," he said and noted that private expenditure data is not centrally maintained.

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Blackmoney Bill introduced in Lok Sabha; 10 years jail for concealing foreign funds

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced 'The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015,' proposing that it would come into effect from April 1, 2016.
   
"Recognizing the limitations of the existing legislation, it is proposed to introduce a new legislation to deal with undisclosed assets and income stashed away abroad," said the Statement on Objects and Reasons of the Bill.
   
The Bill provides for criminal liability with enhanced punishment with 3-10 year imprisonment for willful attempt to evade tax in relation to foreign income, along with a fine.
   
Second and subsequent offence would be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term of 3-10 years with a fine of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
   
"In prosecution proceedings, the wilful nature of the default shall be presumed and it shall be for the accused to prove the absence of the guilty state of mind," it added.
   
The Bill also provides for a penalty of three times the amount of tax for concealment of income in relation to a foreign asset.
   
Further, a penalty of Rs 10 lakh would be levied for failure to furnish return of income by persons holding foreign asset, failure to disclose foreign asset in the returns or furnishing of inaccurate particulars of such asset.

The Bill proposes a limited window to persons who have any undisclosed foreign assets who wish to come clean.
   
"Such persons may file a declaration before the specified tax authority within a specified period, followed by payment of tax at the rate of 30 per cent and an equal amount by way of penalty," it said.

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The recovery of the bodies was probably either due to reduction in river flow or reduced water quantity in that part of the Ganga, Minister of State for Water Resources Sanwar Lal Jat said in a written reply.

The recovered bodies were disposed off in accordance with social traditions to avoid environmental degradation and outbreak of diseases, he said.

"Government of Uttar Pradesh has issued directions to all the concerned district authorities to stop the practice of dumping of dead bodies directly into the rivers," the minister said.

Responding to another question, the Minister said that model cremation ghats on the banks of river Ganga and promoting eco friendly methods of cremation for safe disposal of the dead bodies have been given priority in the action plan drawn under Nammami Gange programme.

An expert committee has also been formed for evaluation of new technologies including options for innovative and improvised wood based crematorium, he added.

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Haryana church demolition: Congress, Left protest in LS over communal remarks of VHP leader

Even as Speaker Sumitra Mahajan rejected adjournment motion notices given by several Congress members on the issue, they insisted on discussing it during Question Hour itself.
   
As members from Congress and Left parties trooped into the Well shouting slogans against the Sangh Parivar, Mahajan reminded them that there was an appropriate time to raise issues, indicating Zero Hour.

"This is not the way... There is an appropriate time to raise issues," she said and requested Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge to listen to her.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said Question Hour was on and wondered what was happening in the House.

In response, Kharge said that despite being very co-operative with the government, the Minister still makes accusations against the Opposition."Aap kursi par aa jaiye (please come and sit in the chair)," Mahajan told BJP member Ramesh Bidhuri who was seen vociferously protesting against the Opposition despite the Chair asking all members to remain calm.

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Health sector to grow at 17 percent during 2010 decade

As per the India Brand Equity Foundation, the Indian healthcare sector is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17 percent during 2011-2020 to touch  USD 280 billion by 2020," Health Minister JP Nadda said in a written reply.

He said the government has recently reviewed the policy on FDI in pharma sector and has allowed FDI up to 100 percent under the automatic route for the manufacturing of medical devices.

"Under the Twelfth Five Year Plan, the Government has included health sector for availing the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) up to 20 per cent of the total cost of the project under the PPP schemes. This offers scope for the PPP activities and projects in health sector," Nadda said.
  
Replying to another question, he said that the budgeted outlay for health and family welfare sector has increased from Rs 10733.56 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 29,653 crore in 2015-16.
  
"As per World Health Statistics 2014 published by WHO, 'Out of Pocket' expenditure accounts for 60 per cent of total expenditure on health in India in 2011. Public expenditure on health as percentage of total expenditure on health in India in 2011 stands at 30.5 percent," the Minister said.

As per the 12th Five Year Plan document, total public funding by Centre and states (plan and non-plan) on core health is envisaged to increase to 1.87 percent of GDP by the end of the plan period.

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Telugu actor Nagarjuna to meet Modi

Nagarjuna has left for Ahmedabad and will meet Modi on Monday evening, sources close to the actor said.

The star is also likely to seek Lok Sabha ticket for his wife Amla. For last few days, political and film circles were abuzz with speculations that the actress-turned-activist is keen to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Vijayawada.

The actor held talks with senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu during the last few days. It was immediately not clear if Nagarjuna would also take a plunge into electoral politics.

Son of thespian Akkineni Nageswara Rao, who died recently, Nagarjuna is one of the top actors of Tollywood.

Nageswara Rao was never interested in politics but the family maintained good relations with TDP and Congress when they were in power. Nagarjuna is meeting Modi two days after Pawan Kalyan met the Gujarat Chief Minister in Ahmedabad to extend his support.

Pawan, the youngest brother of central minister and Congress leader K Chiranjeevi, floated political party Jana Sena on March 14.

(Agencies)

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67 detonators seized in Itanagar

The personnel of the flying squad seized the detonators on Wednesday from a vehicle during routine checking, official sources said on Thursday.

  

The District Electoral Officer (DEO) has expressed concern over carrying of detonators by the people.

  

The flying squads operating in various districts of the state so far have seized over Rs 45 lakh including 24, 668 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), 1651 Blankets, 99 CGI sheets, 194 sharp weapons, 45 mobile handsets besides several kgs of ganja and opium, election office sources disclosed.

(Agencies)

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CPI finalises candidates for Lok Sabha polls

Former member of Public Service Commission and a prominent member of the Church of South India, Bennet P Abraham, has been named as the candidate for Thiruvananthapuram.

   

Party sources said Abraham's name was cleared despite objections from several members of CPI (M)’s state executive and state council.

   

Chengara Surendran (Mavelikara), C N Jayadevan (Thrissur) and Sathyan Mokeri (Wayanad) are the other candidates.   

The party state committee met here on Tuesday and gave approval to the candidates list.

   

LDF is meeting later on Wednesday to finalise the list of candidates after which a formal announcement would be made, sources said.

   

LDF has allotted Kottayam seat to JDS in which Mathew T Thomas, presently MLA from Thiruvalla Assembly constituency, will be the candidate.

(Agencies)

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LS polls: AAP to field candidates against A Raja, Dayanidhi Maran

"Definitely, we will field candidates against leaders who are dipped in scams. We will field candidates against A Raja in Nilgiris and Dayanidhi Maran in Central Chennai," AAP's Tamil Nadu convenor David Barunkumar told reporters in Chennai.

   

He said that the first list of candidates and constituencies would be released later this week. "We hope the first list of candidates will be announced by this Sunday or Monday", he said.

    

On whether anti-nuclear activist SP Udhayakumar, who has joined the AAP, would contest the polls in the wake of several cases filed against him, David said, "We will support Udhayakumar. Even if he is arrested, he will file his nominations from jail and contest the elections.”

    

On being asked whether AAP would try to forge a partnership with the Left parties in Tamil Nadu in the wake of their snapping ties with ruling AIADMK, he alleged that they were ‘not living upto the principles of communist parties’.

   

The meet also saw journalist Vaseegaran joining AAP in the presence of state office bearers of the party.

(Agencies)

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18 Andhra LS MPs suspended for displaying disgraceful behaviour during passage of Telangana Bill

Kumar announced the decision soon after the House met at 2 pm after being adjourned in the wake of the ruckus created at noon by pepper spraying and fisticuffs among members opposing and supporting Telangana.

She named the members and said they had been suspended under Rule 374 A which says that a member can "be suspended from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session" for disregarding "the authority of the Chair or abusing the rules of the House by persistently and willfully obstructing business".

"They may forthwith withdraw from the precincts of the House," Kumar said. Those suspended include L Rajagopal, expelled Congress member who had earlier sprayed pepper gas from a canister in the House, causing chaos. TDP member M Venugopala Reddy, who broke the mike, was also among the MPs suspended.

Others suspended are Sabbam Hari, Anantha Venkatarami Reddy, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, SPY Reddy, M Sreenivasulu Reddy, V Aruna Kumar, A Sai Prathap, Suresh Kumar Shetkar, KRG Reddy, Bapi Raju Kanumuri and G Sukhender Reddy (all Cong), Niramalli Sivaprasad, Nimmala Kristappa, K Narayana Rao (all TDP), and YS Jaganmohan Reddy and M Rajamohan Reddy (both YSR Cong).

(Agencies)

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