AIADMK for no-trust move against Centre if Congress supports

In what appears to be a bid to shift the political onus on Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on the Cauvery issue, senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga, leader M Thambidurai today said his party would consider moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the National Democratic Alliance government if the Congress supported it.

"Stalin says the AIADMK should bring a no-trust motion (on Cauvery issue). We are ready to bring it," he told reporters at Chennai airport.

In the same breath, the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker said Congress support was needed to facilitate such an initiative.

"Let Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi issue a statement (indicating support), they (DMK) are in alliance with them (Congress)... only if they (Congress) support, we will get the (requisite) numbers," he said.

Seeking to make his party's position clear, Thambidruai, a senior AIADMK leader from Western Tamil Nadu, said such a no-trust move would however be only for the Cauvery issue.

"Only on the Cauvery issue... not for any other general issue. To urge constitution of the Cauvery Management Board, and since the Centre has failed to do that, we will consider that if other parties like Congress support it."
Thambidurai's assertion comes against the backdrop of Congress ruled Karnataka going to the polls next month, where Cauvery is an emotive issue like in Tamil Nadu.

Days ago, Stalin had demanded that the ruling AIADMK support the no-trust move of the Telugu Desam Party to mount pressure on the Centre to set up the Cauvery Management Board.

The DMK, the prinicpal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, has been relentless in its attack on the ruling AIADMK over Cauvery.

The Stalin-led party said it would hold continuous protests like the one today at Valluvar Kottam in Chennai, till the CMB was constituted.

With the support of its ally the Congress, and friendly parties, including Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist, DMK has also announced a state-wide shutdown on April 5.

Farmers organisations and a traders body have given a bandh call on April 3 over the Cauvery issue and on the same day ruling AIADMK will hold hunger strike across Tamil Nadu.

Barring Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, all other party leaders would participate, the AIADMK had said.  -- PTI

Weeks before they were to appear for their exams, children of around 3,000 employees of railway and coal ministries in Delhi received a personalised letter from Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, along with a copy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's book Exam Warriors, asking them to take lessons from it, sources have revealed.

The railway ministry sources said Goyal bought the copies of the 208-page book himself and sought details of the employees whose children were to appear for exams in coming months.

He sent out around 3,100 copies to the employees, including railway and coal ministry PSUs, the sources said.

They said Goyal bore the expenses for the books.

In the letters addressed to the employees and their children by name, Goyal said 'in recent times, the competitive nature of exams is causing more stress than satisfaction, and is taking its toll' and recommended the prime minister's book as a ready reckoner on how to deal with it.

'In his unique style, Prime Minister Modi has simplified complex issues into 25 simple mantras. The book helps students gain self-confidence and teaches them how to focus on the task at hand. It also guides parents on helping children discover their true potential... Prime Minister Modi speaks about honesty, forming bonds with our teachers, handling adverse situations to see them as opportunities and making a contribution to society,' he said.

Recently, Goyal had met a girl who had run away from her home because she failed in an exam, but was rescued at a railway station.

He gifted her the book and spent time talking to her.

'I am delighted to present this book to you as a personal souvenir for reading and encourage you to take out time for assimilating its lessons. I am confident that this will help everyone succeed not just in exams, but also in life. Wish you all the best, for your exams, and to quote Prime Minister Modi, 'let us be warriors, not worriers',' he said in the letters.  -- PTI

School education secretary Anil Swarup tweets:

'Consequent to arrest of two teachers from Mother Khajani Convent School, Mungeshpur, Delhi, and a coaching institute Head, Tauquir by Delhi Police, for colluding to leak the Class12 eco. (economics) paper and probe done by CBSE, a #CBSE personnel, K S Rana, found lax in supervision.'

'On the direction of HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar to take swift action against culprits, the Board has suspended K S Rana, the official found lax in supervising examination centre (0859) with immediate effect.'

'A formal inquiry has been instituted.'

IMAGE: School Education Secretary Anil Swarup with CBSE Chairman Anita Karwal during a press conference on Friday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The Congress today used the April Fool's Day to mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over their alleged failures in creating jobs and rein in corruption as the party marked the occasion as 'Jumla Day'.

The principal opposition party also targeted the government over soaring fuel prices, saying 'while diesel prices were at an all-time high, petrol rates were at a four-year high'.

In a video produced in 'breaking news' format and released on its official twitter handle, the Congress used puns as it sought to poke fun at the PM.

'Demonetisation has killed corruption, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have boosted government's Swachh Bharat campaign by cleaning the Punjab National Bank,' says the 70-second video, which runs with a voice-over in Hindi.

Diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi have been accused of defrauding the Punjab national bank of crores of rupees.

'The Modi government has created 200 crore jobs and now aliens from Mars are also working in India while robots are collecting garbages in smart cities,' the video adds.

Taking a jibe on the PM's pet 'Namami Gange project', the video says, 'The Ganges has been rid of all its pollution so much so that you can now clearly see PM Modi's picture in its clean waters.'

The party put out a series of tweets attacking the government and the prime minister over several issues.

'With Diesel prices at an ALL-time and Petrol prices at a 4-year high, we thought this was a rather cruel April Fool's day joke, PM Modi. Unfortunately, it is not,' reads one of the tweets.

'PM-MyGovt: An amount of INR 15,00,000.00 has been CREDITED to your A/C on 01/04/2018 towards Acche Din. Ref No. https://t.co/Se1tLgez25 Avail.bal INR 0.00. Here are some other BREAKING NEWS stories trending this hour: #HappyJumlaDivas,' reads the tweet with which the party has attached the 'breaking news' video.  -- PTI

Two teachers and one tutor, who were arrested for their alleged role in leaking the question paper of the Central Board of Secondary Education examinations, have been sent to two-day police custody by Delhi's Karkardooma court.

Delhi Police Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Branch told ANI, "Two teachers and a tutor were arrested. Police custody remand of all the three has been taken, they will be questioned."

Touqeer, a tution teacher and two teachers of a private school -- Rishabh and Rohit -- were arrested earlier today.

The teachers opened the paper 30 minutes before the exam, clicked the picture and forwarded the same to the tution teacher.

More than 60 people have been questioned till now, out of which 10 are tutors of coaching centres.

Also, more than 50 cell phones of students and tutors have been seized.

According to the police, a total of 53 students and 7 teachers have been questioned so far.   -- ANI

Underlining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's 'inclusive' character, its chief Mohan Bhagwat today said slogans like 'Congress-mukt Bharat' were mere political phrases and not part of the language of the Sangh.

Top brass of the BJP, which considers the RSS as its ideological mentor, has often talked about a 'Congress-free India'.

"These are political slogans. It is not the language of the RSS. The word 'mukt' (free or liberated) is used in politics. We never use the language of excluding anyone.

"We have to include everyone in the process of nation building including those who oppose us," Bhagwat said at a book launch function in Pune.

Speaking in parliament in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said he was pursuing Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a 'Congress-mukt Bharat' and accused the grand old party of eulogising the Gandhi family when in power, at the cost of the country's development.

Bhagwat was in the city to launch six books written by Dnyaneshwar Mulay, a 1983-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who is currently secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Stressing the need for a 'positive approach' to bring about change, the RSS chief said those with a negative approach would think only of conflicts and divisions.

"Such a person is not at all useful in the process of nation-building," he said.

The Sangh chief also said one of the ways of looking at Hindutva was having faith in oneself, one's family and the country.

"If one has faith in himself, his family and the country, he can work towards inclusive nation-building process," he said.

Praising Mulay for his efforts to reach out to the common man through his work, Bhagwat said the country needed officers like him who were connected with their motherland.  --  PTI

One more Army jawan killed in the ongoing encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's  Shopian district, taking toll to three.

Menawhiel, three more bodies of terrorists have been recovered at Kachdooru in Shopian district taking toll from eight to 11, officials said on Sunday.

Mobile internet services were suspended in the Kashmir Valley today as a precautionary measure following the killing of eight militants in encounters and two civilians in clashes with security forces, officials said.

Internet services on mobile devices were snapped shortly after clashes broke out at many places in south Kashmir and some parts of the city on Sunday afternoon, an official said.

He said the decision to snap internet services was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent mischievous elements from creating law and order problems.

The authorities also suspended train services in Kashmir as a precautionary step.

Miscreants have targeted trains during law and order situations in the past.  -- PTI

Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

Pakistani troops on Sunday targeted forward posts and villages along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir with mortar shells and gunfire in violation of the ceasefire, police said.

Indian troops guarding the LoC fired in retaliation and the firing between the two sides continued for nearly half-an-hour from 1 pm, a police officer said.

He said there was no report of any casualty in the Pakistani firing and shelling in Khari Karmara area.

This is for the second time in the past week that Pakistani troops targeted Indian positions in the area.

On March 27, Pakistani troops fired mortar bombs ending a 10-day long lull in the cross-border firing along the LoC in the state.

Earlier on March 18, five members of a family were killed and two others injured when a mortar shell hit their residential house in Balakote sector of the district.

There has been a spurt in ceasefire violations along the LoC and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir this year, resulting in the death of 26 people including 12 security personnel.  -- PTI

At least four terrorists are believed to be trapped in the ongoing encounter in Shopian's Kachdoora village, said Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police S P Vaid on Sunday.

The senior police official further informed that some civilians are also trapped in the houses in Kachdoora village and efforts are being made to rescue them.

"In Shopian's Kachdoora, three to four terrorists are believed to be trapped but some civilians are also trapped in the houses there and we are making efforts to rescue them," Vaid told ANI.

"Encounters at two places has concluded, and undergoing at one place. Anantnag SSP made a special effort, he spoke to family members of terrorist to convince him leave path of violence, but the terrorist did not listen," Vaid, said.

"We caught one terrorist alive and one was killed, in Anantnag. Two army jawans lost their lives in the ongoing operation. Few J&K police, CRPF, and Army personnel have suffered injuries," he said.

"One civilian was killed in Shopian's Dragad and one in Kachdoora. 25 civilians received pellet injuries and six received bullet injuries. All 7 terrorists killed in Shopian's Dragad have been identified as locals and their bodies have been claimed by their kin," he said.

Out of the seven terrorists killed, two terrorists were involved in the killing of Indian Army Lt Ummer Fayaz, said the Army.   -- ANI

IMAGE: The damaged house where terrorists were hiding in Shopian. Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

A defunct uncontrolled Chinese space laboratory is set to re-enter the earth's atmosphere tomorrow and expected to fall anywhere from Australia to the United States, Chinese officials said today.

China's Tiangong-1 space station, which is falling towards earth, was reported to have been 179 km outside the earth's atmosphere by Sunday noon (local time), China Manned Space Agency was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

The agency, however, did not provide an exact arrival time or likely landing site for abandoned eight-tonne Tiangong, a Chinese name for Heavenly Palace.

The European Space Agency forecast the space laboratory's re-entry for about 7.25 am on Monday (local time).

Based on its current trajectory, scientists have said the space station could land anywhere from Australia to the US with the southern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula included in the strip of the US -- from northern California to Pennsylvania -- where it might crash down, the report said.

Authorities in the US state of Michigan were taking no chances, however, and had put emergency teams on standby in preparation for the possibility of it landing on their patch, it said.

Chinese officials said the falling debris will not cause much damage as small amounts of the space lab's fuel will be burnt together with other parts on its re-entry into the earth's atmosphere.

"It will not cause damage to objects on earth nor produce toxic substances," Chinese military officials said earlier.

On Thursday, Chinese Defence spokesman Col Ren Gouging said China has briefed all relevant international agencies, including the United Nations, about the re-entry of the spacelab.

Launched in September 2011, Tiangong-1 was an experimental space lab with designed life of two years.

The lab completed its main missions in June, 2013.  -- PTI

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president M K Stalin was detained on Sunday amid a protest against the Centre over the constitution of a Cauvery Management Board.

Earlier in the day, DMK announced to observe a shutdown across Tamil Nadu on April 5 to press for their demand of formation of the CMB.

The DMK even sought support from the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for the protest.

The six-week time frame directed by the Supreme Court to set up the CMB ended on March 26, after which the state government stated that they would re-approach the apex court.

The Supreme Court had on February 16 pronounced its verdict on the vexed dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The apex court directed Karnataka to release 177.25 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water to Tamil Nadu.

This reduced Tamil Nadu's share of Cauvery water by 14.75 tmcft from the 192 tmcft allocated by a tribunal in 2007.   -- ANI

In the wake of the recent Central Bureau of Secondary Education question paper leaks row, the Board issued a notification, presaging students against the circulation of a fake class X Sanskrit question paper that is doing the rounds on social media.

'It has been brought to notice that a question paper of Class X - Sanskrit is being circulated on social media through Youtube link. This question paper is verified to be an earlier year's question paper. Students are hereby alerted not to believe or subscribe to any such sites,' said a press release by the CBSE.

The leaks of class XII Economics and Class X Mathematics question papers have caused quite the ruckus, with the board having to re-schedule those two examinations, which in turn has enraged students nationwide.

The re-examination for class XII Economics has been scheduled by the board for April 25, while no confirmed date has been announced for the re-exam for class X Mathematics.  -- ANI

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, whose term as Rajya Sabha MP ended recently, has donated his entire salary and allowances to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

In the past six years, Tendulkar has drawn nearly Rs 90 lakh in salaries and other monthly allowances.

The PMO has also issued a letter of acknowledgement which states: "Prime Minister acknowledges this thoughtful gesture and conveys his gratitude. These contributions will be of immense help in providing assistance to the persons in distress."

Tendulkar, along with veteran actress Rekha, have been criticised a lot for their poor attendance in the Parliament all these years.

Tendulkar, however, has made good utilisation of MP Local Area Development fund.

According to data released by Tendulkar's office, he has claimed to have sanctioned 185 projects across the country with Rs 7.4 crore out of his allocated Rs 30 crore being used for educational and related structural development, including building and renovation of classrooms.

Tendulkar also adopted two villages under the Sansad Gram Adarsh Gram Yojana Scheme, including Puttam Raju Kandriga in Andhra Pradesh and Donja in Maharashtra.  -- PTI

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh leaves for Iraq to bring back mortal remains of 38 Indians who were killed by Islamic State in Mosul.

"I am going to Mosul to get mortal remains of 38 Indians, we won't get one man's remains as his case is pending. We will handover coffins to the family members with evidence so that they have no doubts about it. My deepest condolences to the families of the deceased," he said before leaving.   -- ANI

Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday said it has lost contact with the GSAT-6A communication satellite, which was launched on Thursday.

The contact was lost after the ground control centre tried to initiate the third and the final firing of the on board engine.

This happened, according to the ISRO, after the second orbit raising operation of GSAT-6A satellite was successfully carried out by the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) Engine firing for about 53 minutes on March 31.

Efforts are underway to establish the link with the satellite, the space organisation said.

Earlier on Thursday, the ISRO launched the GSLV-F08 carrying the GSAT-6Acommunication satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.

The key feature of this satellite is to provide mobile communication to India through multi-beam coverage facility.  -- ANI

IMAGE: People witnessing the launch of GSAT6A on board GSLV F08 in Shriharikota on Thursday. Photograph: R Senthil Kumar/PTI Photo

The Reserve Bank of India is likely to keep interest rates unchanged in its first bi-monthly monetary policy review for 2018-19 to be unveiled this week as hardening global crude oil prices continue to pose a risk to domestic inflation.

This would also be the first monetary policy announcement after the Budget, which has slightly deviated from the fiscal consolidation roadmap.

The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel, is to meet on April 4 and 5.

Pressure has been mounting on the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates in the wake of declining retail inflation and the need to fuel growth momentum.

However, the RBI will have to do a tightrope walk as globally interest rates are inching upwards.

Last month, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and signalled that it is on track to raise rates twice more in 2018.

Besides, the RBI has to take into consideration the rise in crude oil prices which temporarily touched $70 per barrel.

"We expect the MPC to keep policy rates on hold and maintain its neutral stance," analysts at American brokerage Morgan Stanley said in a note.

Bank of America Merill Lynch (BofAML) also echoed the view, but added that it expects a rate cut in the August review if the monsoons are favourable.

"We expect the RBI MPC to strike a balanced tone on April 5, with March quarter inflation set to average 4.6 per cent, 0.50 per cent below their 5.1 per cent forecast," it said.

After surging to a concerning 5.2 per cent in December, the headline inflation cooled off to 5.07 per cent in January and further to 4.4 per cent in February. Even industry chambers are of the view that the central bank would opt for status quo as the government's budget announcement to provide farmers 1.5-times of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce may jack up inflation.

"This would leave very little leeway for the RBI to cut rates in this monetary policy and hence we expect the RBI to keep the key interest rates unchanged," Assocham said in a statement.

Currently, repo rate -- the short term lending rate at which RBI lends to banks -- stands at 6 per cent.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate is 5.75 per cent and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the bank rate stand at 6.25 per cent.

According to Kotak Mahindra Bank, the RBI is expected to be on an extended pause as inflation is likely to remain close to 4.5 per cent during 2018-19.

"We expect the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to maintain status quo as it awaits clarity on monsoon, sustainability of high crude oil prices post the winter squeeze, and global financial conditions," it said in a note.

The Patel-headed MPC has two other representatives from RBI -- Deputy Governor Viral Acharya and Executive Director Michael Debabrata Patra.

The three external members are Chetan Ghate, Pami Dua and Ravindra Dholakia.  -- PTI

Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey's son Arijit Shashwat was arrested in Patna today in connection with a case related to the recent communal clashes in Bhagalpur, police said.

The development came barely a few hours after a Bhagalpur court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Shashwat against whom an arrest warrant was issued on March 24.

Shashwat is the son of Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Kumar Choubey.

"We had information that Shashwat was at the famous Hanuman temple in the vicinity of Patna junction. A police team reached the spot and arrested him and he has been sent to Bhagalpur," Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna, Manu Maharaj told PTI.

On his arrest, Shashwat told reporters, "I have given myself up to police in deference to the court order. I have been wrongly accused of evading arrest. I was not absconding as I have not committed any crime. If raising slogans in praise of 'Bharat Mata' and 'Sri Ram' is a crime then I may be called a criminal."

Shashwat has been named, besides eight others, in one of the two first information reports lodged at Nathnagar police station of Bhagalpur following communal riots that broke out on March 17 after some people objected to playing of loud music during a procession led by him.

It had been taken out allegedly without permission to celebrate the New Year as per the Hindu calendar.

Several persons, including two police personnel, were injured in the clashes that witnessed heavy stone-pelting, arson and exchange of fire.

The alleged delay in arrest of Shashwat had invited strong criticism from opposition parties in Bihar, especially the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine, which accused the Nitish Kumar government of soft-peddling the matter while Choubey had dubbed the FIR against his son as a 'piece of garbage'.

Reacting to Shashwat's arrest, ruling Janata Dal-United spokesman Neeraj Kumar said it was a fitting reply to the Opposition while Congress leader Prem Chand Mishra said the whole episode showed the 'helplessness' of Kumar before the Bharatiya Janata Party.  -- PTI

Photograph: ANI