Railways planning to set up commercial activities at stations to generate revenue

If the Indian railway has its way, the old, dilapidated station buildings will soon give way to swanky high-rises.
For the railways, the exercise is a means of revenue generation but lakhs of passengers will be the ultimate beneficiaries as the plan will enable them to find hotels, restaurants, shopping arcades and movie theatres at a go. Tapping its biggest resource to strengthen its finances, the Indian railway is planning to raise multi-storey buildings on unused land and lease them out to private firms. In 2015-16, the railways had posted a deficit of over Rs 32,000 crore and the initiative aims at increasing revenue generation by commercially exploiting its resources.
The Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) has been entrusted with the task to carry out studies on commercially viable railway properties and prepare the commercial development plan accordingly.
To begin with, railway stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Gwalior, Ajmer and other cities are being surveyed. Officials said the buildings will be raised vertically but the actual height will be subject to clearance from local civic bodies.
In Delhi, railways has planned the overhaul of Anand Vihar terminal and Sarai Rohilla station while Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal (CST), Dadar, Lokmanya Tilak Terminal (LTT), Bandra Andheri, Borivali stations in Mumbai will be developed commercially.
Senior officials said while this will improve the financial health of railways, it will also give a facelift to the railway stations. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has already given nod for development of 400 stations in India on PPP model. Officials said as suggested by RLDA, these stations will be developed accordingly. The approximate cost of developing each station on PPP model will be around Rs 100 crore.
In another move, the railways have also paved the way for installing huge digital signboards across 2,000 busy stations in the country to display commercial advertisements.
Official claimed that railway properties located at prime locations will attract private firms to start commercial activities. Also, stations like New Delhi, Mumbai CST, Lucknow and Kanpur witness a daily footfall of nearly 5 lakh passengers.
"Indian Railways has approximately 43,000 hectares of vacant land. A major chunk of it is the land which is not required for operational purposes in near future. Different zonal railways will identify such land and report the same to Railway Board. Such land will thereafter be entrusted to RLDA in phases for commercial development," a senior Indian railway official told Mail Today.
As part of Anand Vihar redevelopment plan, railways will remodel the station building on the lines of airport. The station building will be separate arrival and departure decks while there will be ample space for a hotel, restaurants, coffee shops, multiplex, retail outlets and offices. Business of all sorts will be accommodated at the station building. Similarly, the RLDA is conducting a study at Sarai Rohilla railway station which caters to trains bound to states like Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.
"The redevelopment plan of Anand Vihar is in advanced stage; bids for it will be invited soon. The upcoming railway station at Bijwasan will have ample scope for commercial development," said Arun Arora, Divisional Rail Manager (DRM), Delhi. "Restaurants, shopping areas and food plazas would be developed at major stations to help the railways generate more revenue from its premises," he said.
For the railways, commercial exploitation of properties is the most viable alternative as increasing passenger fares and freight charges remain a challenge. After implementation of the 7th pay commission, railways' expense on salary and pension has gone up by Rs 22,000 crore and thus adding to the deficit. In January, Finance Ministry had also refused to grant monetary assistance to the railways.

True Story: In China, women are trying to cover their knees with an iPhone to prove they have slender legs

China's new body fad is making us think, and re-think, people's sanity. Women hiding their knees behind an iPhone to prove a point is the recent trend that's going viral!

China seems to be the hub of bizarre trends! Not too long ago, there was the crazy A4 Size Waist Challenge--wherein women held an A4 size of paper in front of their midriff to prove to the world that they have a 'tiny' midriff.

Now, it's the iPhone 6 Legs Challenge, which requires women to cover their knees with an iPhone 6. Here are some proofs of the regressive madness:  This new body challenge is not only unhealthy, but also disturbing, as it shows Chinese women's obsession with bizarre body trends to prove that they have the ideal figure.  With these new fads on the block, trends like thigh gap and thigh brows are things of the past!  While many are uploading pictures of their phone-covered knees, some sensible ones are looking at this as yet another body shaming trend.  So, how did it all start? According to Today, photos were recently posted on Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging site, and shortly after, the challenge spread like wildfire. (Weibo is also believed to have been the platform where the A4 Waist Challenge started.)  At the time of writing this article, iPhone6 legs had nearly 84 million viewers and 72,000 comments on Weibo. We wonder what body part challenge is next!

Kolkata flyover tragedy: ICC World Twenty20 finalists to wear black armbands

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is also the president of Cricket Association of Bengal, has requested the ICC World Twenty20 finalists to wear black armbands as a mark of respect to the victims of Kolkata flyover tragedy.

Both men and women's teams of West Indies, England men and Australia women who will be playing the final matches of the ICC World Twenty20 in Kolkata tomorrow are expected to wear black armbands as mark of respect to the victims of the flyover tragedy that took away lives of 24 people in the city.
"We have requested the teams to wear black armbands," former India captain and Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly said on Friday.

Till now 24 people have been killed and several others critically injured after an under construction flyover collapse in northern part of the city.
With the final having awarded to the Eden during the tenure of Jagmohan Dalmiya as BCCI president, the CAB in a novel gesture will show a five-minute documentary on the administrator who passed away last year.
There will also be a cultural program with tabla performance by Bickram Ghosh, dancer Tanushree Shankar and sitar performance by the duo of Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan.
\West Indies will be eyeing a double with the women's team taking on Australia while the men will face English challenge in the evening.

Did Pratyusha Banerjee commit suicide due to recent events?

She was just 24 and already a star.
Television actress Pratyusha Banerjee, who committed suicide in Mumbai today, had everything going for her. She was a household name thanks to her role as Anandi in Balika Vadhu; a role she assumed when the show took a time leap paving the way for the exit of the original Anandi, played by Avika Gor.
Though that was to remain her biggest role yet-according to a report she quit the show after three years, thanks to her mother's ill health and health issues of her own--she has since then done several other shows such as Sasural Simar Ka in which she played a 'daayan' and Hum Hain Na. She also participated in Bigg Boss season 7, but didn't manage to stick on too long. She was supposed to enter TV show Adhuri Kahaani Humari as a naagin.
Late last year, she and her beau Rahul Raj Singh entered Sony TV's reality show Power Couple, but were evicted pretty early on. Before leaving the show, Pratyusha confirmed that the duo have decided to tie the knot and the wedding cards will be out soon.
In January 2016, however, Pratyusha ran into a spot of trouble when she approached the Mumbai Police alleging that four persons, whom she claimed posed as policemen, molested her at her residence in suburban Kandivali in Mumbai. The actress claimed in her complaint that the men barged into her flat in Laljipada and left the place only after she threatened to approach the Kandivali police.
However, a police officer denied the allegation. According to the officer, Rahul had allegedly manhandled a loan recovery agent, Amit Dalvi, when the latter had gone to collect the installment of a car loan from him at her house on December 31.
It is unclear as to what led the actress to take such a drastic step, but it seems her relationship with Rahul had run into some trouble. Whatever the reason, it is a life gone too soon.

Kolkata flyover collapse: Construction company's 3 officials arrested, 25 dead

A day after an under-construction flyover collapsed in Kolkata leaving at least 25 dead, the police last night arrested three top officials of a Hyderabad-based company IVRCL which was building the flyover and slapped murder charges on them.
Earlier the police had detained 10 officials of the construction company's Kolkata office for questioning and later arrested three of them, a senior Kolkata Police officer said.
The three - Assistant General Manager Mallikaarjun, Assistant Manager Debjyoti Manjumdar and Structure Manager Pradip Kumar Saha - were arrested under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and others.
They will be produced before a court tomorrow. Seven other officials of the company are still detained, the officer said, adding that a team of Kolkata Police has left for Hyderabad to meet IVRCL top bosses.
Police had registered a case against the construction firm under sections 304, 308 and 407 of the IPC and sealed its local office.
The state government also suspended a chief engineer and an executive engineer of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority who were involved in the construction of the flyover pending completion of the probe which the government ordered yesterday.
It also ordered immediate inspection of the remaining portion of the flyover to ascertain its stability and safety, an official release said. About a 60-metre-long stretch of the 2.2 km flyover under construction crashed down yesterday afternoon on a congested road intersection.
Forensic experts visited the site and collected samples of materials used for the construction for examination.
A day after an official of IVRCL dubbed the flyover collapse as an "act of God", IVRCL's legal team head P Sita said, "It is an accident". She also did not rule out sabotage and referred to a media report which said there could have been a bomb blast.
"An act of God was just an expression only to describe that it is under no one's control," she said in Hyderabad.
Ruling out use of substandard materials, Sita said, "100 per cent no issues with regard to quality. It is the same material, as was used to construct the 59 sections earlier with approval, with which the 60th section (which collapsed) was built. Unfortunately it collapsed."
"Why did this happen? We are anxious to know the reasons. We are surprised and extremely shocked. We are there to cooperate with the investigation, but investigation takes time," she said.
Showing a photograph of the collapse site published in a newspaper, she said, "It looked like a site of bomb blast. There are various aspects which should be looked into."
The state government requested 62 families in neighbouring houses to vacate their premises temporarily to enable safe removal of the collapsed span.
Following rescue operation throughout the night by the Army, NDRF, Kolkata Police, disaster management team and fire fighters, the toll rose to 24 with the recovery of three more bodies from underneath the debris of concrete and iron girdles, a police officer said. The number of injured, he said, was close to 90.
Meanwhile, the incident triggered a blame game between the ruling party and the Opposition ahead of the Assembly election which commences on April 4.
Union Minister MA Naqvi accused the state government of "criminal negligence" in relief work.
Demanding a CBI probe into the collapse, he also alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government was engaged in a "competition on corruption" with the previous Left Front government resulting in the flyover collapse.
TMC national spokesperson Derek O' Brien termed Naqvi's statements as "cheap politics" during the election season.
"Just saw a BJP Minister's statement. Reeks of cheap politics in election season. Army came at state's request. Army belongs to nation, not the BJP," Brien said.
Accusing the erstwhile Left Front regime of making a "faulty plan" for building the flyover, TMC MP Sudip Bandopadhyay said there were complaints from locals about its planning but at that time 60 per cent work was done."
WBPCC president Adhir Chowdhury said if the plans were faulty, then why didn't the TMC government change it.
Asked why the contractor of the flyover was not changed if the design was faulty, state PWD minister Firhad Hakim said, "This is not time to do politics. Once a tender has been given to someone, it is tough to take it back."

India furious as China blocks UN blacklisting of Masood Azhar..

China has put a hold on India's request to add the head of the Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad to the United Nations' al Qaeda-Islamic State blacklist, UN diplomats said on Friday, eliciting an angry reaction from the Indian government.
India accused Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar of masterminding a fatal attack on the Pathankot air base in India in January. India had requested that its leader be added to a UN Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda or Islamic State, the diplomats said, but China objected.
The Kashmir-based group Jaish-e-Mohammad has already been blacklisted by the 15-nation Security Council, but not its leader, Maulana Masood Azhar, an Islamist hardliner and long-time foe of India.
"We find it incomprehensible that while the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad was listed... as far back as 2001 for its well-known terror activities and links to al Qaeda, the designation of the group's main leader, financier and motivator, has been put on a technical hold," Indian government spokesman Vikas Swarup said in Washington.
"This does not reflect well on the determination that the international community needs to display to decisively defeat the menace of terrorism," he told reporters on the sidelines of a nuclear summit in the US capital.
It was not immediately clear why China requested that a hold be placed on the Indian request to blacklist Masood Azhar. Technical holds can be lifted and often arise when a Security Council member wants more information. But sometimes they lead to a permanent blocking of a proposed blacklisting.
Asked about China's decision to place a technical hold on the proposed blacklisting of Masood Azhar, Chinese UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi offered no details.
"Any listing would have to meet the requirements" for blacklisting, he said. Pakistani security officials have said that a special investigation team set up in Pakistan to probe the Pathankot attack found no evidence implicating Masood Azhar.
If Masood Azhar was blacklisted by the UN Security Council, he would face a global travel ban and asset freeze.
The January 2 attack at Pathankot was followed by a raid on an Indian consulate in Afghanistan that has also been linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad, or the Army of Mohammad.
Jaish-e-Mohammad militants are blamed for a 2001 attack on India's parliament that nearly led to a war between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Rail Budget 2016: 8 things every traveller must take note of.

Indian Railways is known globally for having one of the strongest railway networks in the world. Quite naturally, a large chunk of those travelling across the country consider trains as one of the key modes of transport.
The much-awaited railway budget was presented by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday. Let's take a quick look at a few highlights from this budget that every traveller should know.

1. WiFi services will be available in 100 stations this year, and the service will be expanded to 400 more over the next two years. This will keep travellers well-connected at all times, and help them beat boredom.
2. The walls of many station across the country are being painted with murals. This will make the railway stations tourist attractions in themselves. Besides, it will give travellers a glimpse into the local attractions and a peek into the cultural richness of the particular region.
3. Railway stations of pilgrimage destinations will be beautified. While Puri will be the first, other places included in this project are Ajmer, Dwarka, Gaya, Varanasi, Haridwar and Parasnath, among others.
4. IRCTC will soon offer a wide variety of food choices that will include local cuisines as well. E-catering will be expanded from 40 stations to 408 stations. In order to make train journeys hassle-free for mothers, a children's menu and baby food will be on offer.
5. FM stations are expected to provide in-train entertainment via PA systems.
6. Tejas, the new train with an operating speed of 130kmph and world-class on board services, will make train journeys more interesting.
7. Booking tickets will become quicker and more hassle-free, as the capacity of the e-ticketing system has been enhanced from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 per minute.
8. Travellers will be able to explore a lot of new destinations as the north-eastern states of Mizoram and Tripura will soon be connected via a broad-gauge railway network.

Call centre accuses Ringing Bells of forgery and non payment of dues

In another controversial turn of events in the Freedom 251 saga, Ringing Bells has been accused of "fraud" and non-payment of dues by its customer service provider -- a charge refuted by the smartphone company. Ringing Bell has on the other hand accused the BPO company, Cyfuture, of having failed in handling the huge traffic of customer calls.
Cyfuture Founder and CEO Anuj Bairathi said, "We were always sceptical of Ringing Bells and their business model. After several rounds of discussions with their management team and when they showed us names of senior politicians visiting their launch event, we decided to take up their project." The first few days after the phone was unveiled, the call-centre number received lakhs of calls which were attended and promptly responded to and even Ringing Bells was happy with our services, he said.
"However, when we started asking for our payments, which were to be made to us on a weekly basis, they started making false allegations and abruptly decided to terminate our services citing unsatisfactory services.This is a clear case of cheating, fraud and breach of contract. As per the contract, Ringing Bells had specifically assured us of a minimum lock-in period of one year and no termination before a year," Bairathi told PTI.
Refuting the charges, Ringing Bells said people approaching helpdesk were unable to connect and the company directly received thousands of complaints from customers in this regard. "We had outsourced this job to Cyfuture BPO. Telecom companies confirmed that the helpline was receiving a volume of approximately 12 lakh calls per hour. It came to our knowledge that the BPO company was not able to handle the traffic. We are looking into the situation to serve our customers better," Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha said.
Bairathi said as per their agreement, in the event of termination due to unsatisfactory services, Ringing Bells was to provide a 30 day notice-period and make all pending payments.
"They are also not taking our calls. We plan to take all necessary legal recourse including filing a police complaint to fight our case. We have started talking with police and file case by tomorrow. There will be ruckus at our company if we lay off 100 employees hired for Ringing Bells project," Bairathi said.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/call-centre-accuses-ringing-bell-of-forgery-and-non-payment-of-dues/1/605884.html

Water scarcity: This woman is going to run 40 marathons in 7 deserts over 7 weeks for the cause..

40 marathons in 7 deserts over 7 weeks. Now, that is a great commitment specially because it is for a cause.
The Australian CEO of a water conservation charity called Thirst will be taking up this challenging task only to raise awareness about water scarcity.
45-year-old Mina Guli, will visit 7 continents to run the marathon and is all concerned about meeting a deadline we all seem indifferent about. By 2030, there will be a 40 per cent greater demand for water than the supply of water available. According to her, the work needs to be done in these 15 years.

Source: Thirst

Delhiites might have understood the gravity of water scarcity few days back, well thanks to the Jat agitation. But that was temporary, however, by 2030 nearly half the world's population will be living "in areas of high water stress" according to the United Nations.Guli decided to run this ultra marathon because she wanted to do something 'crazy' to bring the world's attention to the issue.
If she completes the marathon she would have ran 1,688 kilometers. All the Best Guli!

Honda Activa tops industry volume chart for 5th time in January

The share of the scooters in its overall volume has gone up by 7 percentage points to 65 per cent in the month.

 

Even as bike sales continue to head south, scooterisation of the market is on the rise with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India clocking record sales in January at over 2.10 lakh units, making its Activa top the volume share for fifth time this fiscal.
With this, the company's market share in the scooter space has increased by 1 percentage point to 56 per cent, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior VP for sales & marketing at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter said citing the Siam data for the month.


At the same time, the share of the scooters in its overall volume has gone up by 7 percentage points to 65 per cent in the month.
While Honda sold 2,10,123 lakh Activas last month, up from 1.98 lakh units a year ago, the immediate rival Maestro from Hero MotorCorp recorded a sales of 48,000 units in January.
Moreover, he said, all the Honda scooter models are in the top 10 selling scooter models in the month.
Activa topped the volume share for the fifth time this fiscal, having done so in June, July, August and October, Guleria told PTI.


Within the 2-wheeler space, the number two brand is Hero's Splendor grossing 1.99 lakh units, massively down from 2.23 lakh a year ago. While the total bike sales witnessed a negative growth of 2 per cent Year To Date (YTD), the scooter sales grew 11 per cent and for Honda it was 13 per cent in the month.
However, the flip side is that Honda's bike sales declined 15 per cent, as it could not meet the rising demand following a week-long plant shutdown for annual maintenance.
Guleria said led by the Activa success, the contribution of the scooter segment to overall industry has also grown by 2 percentage point to 30 per cent in the April-January period over the same period last fiscal.
The demand for the Activas has been such that it had a month's waiting period all this while, especially for its automatic version. However, Guleria exuded confidence that they could bring down the waiting period drastically with the new 1.2 million scooters' only plant going on-stream last week in Gujarat.

On February 17, the company advanced the commissioning of its fourth plant in Gujarat, which also is the world's largest scooters-only plant.
The first line of the plant with an installed capacity of 6 lakh is already on-stream and is expected to reach its full potential over the next 45 days when it can roll out 22,000 units a day, Guleria said.
"The second line of similar capacity (6 lakh) will be on-stream over the next three months, which will help company end the waiting period by September," Guleria said.    
When asked where does he see Honda with the new plant running, he said with more production of bikes and scooters, the overall market share should cross 35 per cent (for bikes).
On whether the company will recoup its market share in the bike space with the new launches, Guleria said two of their bikes are in the top league.


While the CB Shine tops the 125-cc segment, its 110-cc bike Livo launched in July has crossed the 1 lakh-mark in just five months at a time when the segment has de-grown by 6 per cent.
On the new low-end bike Navi, priced at Rs 39,500, he said the response has been very good as they could get 8,000 bookings through the app alone, even though the commercial launch is due next month.
Student population in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, etc has evinced great interest in the Navi, which was launched at the recent auto expo, he said.

Pakistan star Shoaib Malik not scared of Indian batsmen..

Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik is pumped up about the upcoming clash against arch-rivals India in the ongoing Asia Cup T20. The two countries have not played each other since the 2015 Word Cup, which India won convincingly thanks to Virat Kohli's hundred and heroics from the bowlers.
Pakistan were scheduled to 'host' India in a bilateral limited-overs series late last year but the BCCI was not keen on traveling to the Middle East. Pakistan had subsequently turned down an offer to play in India.
After much speculation, the Pakistan government today gave its cricket team the nod to go ahead and play the ICC World Twenty20 in India. The two sides will face off in Dharamshala on March 19.
However, before that, they will play in Mirpur this Saturday and Malik feels it would be a cracker of a game despite India's dominant performances this year.
Out of the seven T20 Internationals they have played this year, India have won six while Pakistan lost bilateral series against England (3-0) and New Zealand (2-1).
"Indian batsmen are very consistent but we have a good bowling attack. This is going to be a great game. This is going to be a big opportunity for players of both the teams, India-Pakistan matches always are," Malik told Aaj Tak in an exclusive interview.
Malik said Pakistan's players are geared up after the Pakistan Super League and even though India have dominated Australia, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh in the tournament opener, it would be a battle to watch out for in the weekend.
"Coming after playing the PSL straightaway, our preparation has been very good. There's no doubt India have performed very well in Australia and even vs Bangladesh yesterday, (but) I think it will be a great battle between two good teams," Malik said.
The 34-year-old, who has so far played 70 T20 matches for Pakistan, said it would be great to meet India in the final of the Asia Cup before the World T20 match next month as the two sides don't get to play each other very often.
"We wish it happens (playing India again in the Asia Cup in final and then in Dharamshala on March 19). We always want to play more and more against each other. Let's hope it happens."
More importantly, Malik had to answer a question about wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza's support. Who would she be cheering for when the two countries battle it out in front of the Mirpur crowd?
"We maintain the same status; she supports Team India and wants her husband to do well, perform well in the middle if he is playing," said the former Pakistan captain.
Malik also had kind words to say for Mohammad Amir, who has made a successful international comeback after serving a five-year ban over his role in the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. The 23-year-old's return had created a major controversy in Pakistan cricket, with a few senior players protesting during a national camp.
"Amir is returning after a gap of five years but you can see that his performance is consistent now. Cricketers of the world admit that he is still a world-class bowler but he needs a bit more time to settle down."

After 23 harrowing years, a free Dutt walks back as a potential mega force..

Why would there be such media frenzy over a 55-plus filmstar whose last outing as solo hero was a humongous flop and who spent the last 42 months behind bars making paper bags? Because the actor is Sanjay Dutt.
He walked out a free man to the kind of adulation many younger actors would kill for from Pune's Yerwada Central prison on Wednesday into the loving arms of wife Maanyata and one of the most successful directors of our times- Rajkumar Hirani.
For those who argue meaty roles dry up for ageing actors in Bollywood unless their surname is Khan, Dutt had Hirani escorting him back to tinsel town as Bollywood furiously tweeted its approval for the Baba of all seasons.
Hirani, who is working on a yet-untitled biopic on Dutt with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, said: "We are happy Sanju is back. He has served his term and he is going to come back and play his second innings. Indians are famous for scoring well in the second innings. I'm sure he will rock it. I look forward to his biopic and also to starting Munna Bhai 3 with him very soon."
Brand-ed
Dutt went to jail on 16 May, 2013 after the Supreme Court rejected his review petition for reconsideration of his conviction. And his last film as solo hero was Policegiri, released on July 5, 2013, which the actor had hoped would gross `100 crore.
The film tanked and all that was heard about Dutt was news of his frequent furloughs and how the system bends to favour the rich and powerful.
But if the adulation he walked out to on Thursday is any indication, Dutt is starting life with a clean slate and as a rust-proof restarter -Baba 2.0, if you please. "Brands are evaluated on many parameters.
Sanju's not a bad guy. He did something wrong and he has done time for that. He's clean now. He's a popular actor and has attracted a lot of sympathy. Brands will need to make their own assessments, but if they want to be bold he's the man," says ad guru Piyush Pandey.
Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha agrees. "He's very strong. And he always manages to bounce back. He's great at comebacks, he has always done it and he will do it again. He'll be back up in 10 days."

Role play
Which may be an exaggeration, but the image makeover has already started for the troubled actor who first got into drugs and then got mixed up with the underworld and was subsequently booked for illegal possession of arms in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
After walking out of jail, Dutt bent down in front of the flashbulbs and frenzied reporters, touched the soil outside prison, turned and saluted the national flag flying at the prison gate. Minutes after, he said: "There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends. I am here because of the support of my family and friends."
This could not have been scripted better. Before he went to jail, Dutt had successfully transformed his onscreen image of the misguided young man with a history of drugs and violence in Yodha and then the menacing gangster of Khalnayak, and later Vaastav, to the more acceptable Munna Bhai MBBS. From the macho anti-hero to the dreaded villain, from the bhai with a golden heart to a goofball, Dutt has done it all.
The question is- will the big roles still come his way? "He was a very nervous person in the last 8-10 years. It was showing in his work. Not anymore.
He will be relaxed, ready to give his best to the industry," says director Sajid Khan. Would he cast Dutt in his movies? "Of course I would. Who wouldn't!"
"He will definitely get the kind of roles that an Anil Kapoor or a Rishi Kapoor is doing now. Also, his name still carries some weight, and will enhance the star value of a film, so producers will be keen to sign him on," trade analyst Amod Mehra told Reuters.
The third part of the hit Munnabhai franchise apart, there is buzz that Subhash Ghai might cast Dutt in the remake of the 90s hit Khalnayak. Wife Maanyata has reportedly signed Prabhu Deva as director for a home production with Dutt in the lead. And there is Siddharth Anand's tentatively-titled Bang Bang 2 for which he is expected to start shooting in summer.
The future indeed looks bright for Bollywood's favourite Baba who's had more than his share of downs. As producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra says: "It's very rare not to lose hope in a dark cell. I am certain nothing can stop him now."

Gunman kills up to four, and injures 20 in Kansas shooting spree..

An employee killed up to four people and wounded as many as 20 others in a shooting spree that ended at his work site in Hesston, Kansas, on Thursday where he was shot and killed by authorities, the local sheriff told reporters.
The gunman appears to have opened fire at three locations before entering the building of a lawnmower manufacturer where he worked, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference.
The shooter, identified by a dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office as 38-year-old Cedric Ford, began his attacks at about 5 p.m. local time in the town of Newton, where a man driving a truck was shot in the shoulder, Walton said.
Soon after, the suspect shot a person in the leg on another street on the way to his worksite at Excel Industries in Hesston, less than 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Newton, where he opened fire again in the parking lot, Walton said.
The gunman entered Excel Industries and continued his shooting spree, the sheriff said.
"This is just a horrible incident that's happened here," Walton said. "There are going to be a lot of sad people before this is all over."
The shooter killed three or four people, and wounded as many as 20 others before he was killed by authorities, the sheriff said.
The series of shootings about 35 miles (60 km) north of Wichita come less than a week after a Michigan man who worked as a driver for car-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] was charged with killing six people during a shooting rampage.
A number of mass shootings in the United States have elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the November U.S. presidential election.
A spokesman for the local Via Christi Hospital St. Francis said they have taken in six patients from the shooting, with five in serious condition and one in fair condition.
Wesley Medical Center is treating three patients, said the facility's spokeswoman Susan Burchill. She had no further details.
"Please send your thoughts and prayers to the people of Hesston tonight," Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said in a statement.
An employee at the business told local television station KSN that she was just steps away from the shooter before she made her escape.
"I've been through quite a bit but nothing like that; that's terrifying," the woman, who did not give her full name, told the station.

Did Smriti Irani make factual errors in her Lok Sabha speech?

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani's 'rousing' speech in the Lok Sabha was high on rhetoric, and has gone viral. Her name has been trending on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter since yesterday's speech.
Her 48-minute speech, intense, full of dramatic expressions, is being lauded by millions, but did she get carried away and make a factual error?
Or was it a truth she conveniently twisted and tried to hide under her fiery speech?
Speaking about Hyderabad Central University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, Irani said no doctor was allowed near Rohith's body to try and revive him, and instead, his body was used as a political tool. To quote her, "This is what the police said. No one allowed a doctor near this child, to revive this child. Instead, his body was used as a political tool." She based her argument on a report submitted by the Telangana Police.
However, the on-duty medical examiner of the Hyderabad University refuted the claim made by Smriti Irani that no doctor was allowed to examine the body of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula after he was found hanging in his room.
"His body was cold, stiff and rigid. I knew he was dead, but I did my duty. There was no pulse," Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajashree said.
Smriti Irani's statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.
This statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.

Zikrullah was the person who called the health center right when he got to know about Vemula's suicide on January 17. Rohith was found dead between 6.30 and 7 pm in room number 207 of the New Research Scholars Hostel in the Hyderabad University campus.

Here's what his post said:
"Liar..Liar..
I was the person who called health center immediately after learning that Rohith Hanged in NRS hostel.
Within 5 minutes CMO Health center Dr. Rajashree P has reached the spot and she checked the pulses and declared him dead. There were Telangana police also present there.
Today MHRD minister lied to entire nation that no doctor and police were allowed to check the dead body till 6:30 AM of next day.(sic)"

Photo: Screengrab from Facebook

This post by Zikrullah has got over 2,000 shares. The News Minute has reported about this discrepancy and even produced an image of the health book of Hyderabad university in which Dr Rajshree has made an entry after inspecting Rohith's body. The entry says, "Body...cold, bloody abdomen, protruding tongue, froth coming out of the mouth." The entry also says that the pupils were dilated, that there was "no heart sound" and no sounds of breathing."

Photo: Twitter@NirmalS94654991

Smriti Irani went on to say "No police was allowed till 6:30 am the following morning. Who tried to help this child? The ones who passed judgement are not the ones appointed by the BJP-led NDA but by the Congress party."
Major boo-boo ma'am?

A Facebook page by the name Rants of India has shared a video showing Police examining Rohith's body and quotes Zikrullah's post talking about the same.

Girls urinate in empty classrooms in this Hyderabad college, thanks to lack of loos..

Picture for representation
We have students making headlines lately for their slogans, dissent and all that they have to say about the nation going down the drains.
Meanwhile, for 476 female students in a college in Hyderabad, their biggest worry is finding a place to pee.
That is the sad state of Smt Durgabai Deshmukh Women's Technical Training Institute in Ameerpet, where there are no 'functional' toilets on campus.
What do these young girls studying in this 40-year-old state-run institute do when they have to relieve themselves?
They are forced to use the college grounds, the terrace or an 'abandoned' classroom, while friends hold a makeshift cover with a 'dupatta'.
Tired of filing complaints umpteen number of times to the principal about the 'unhygienic toilets' in the campus, which neither have proper facilities nor are cleaned regularly, the students seem to have given in to what the college has to offer.
"We are adjusting by peeing wherever we can," confessed one of the student to The Times of India .
When TOI contacted the college principal, Mr Suresh Janga, he said the toilets of the institute cannot be repaired because a 'new building for the college is under construction'.
"We are forced to live here. The present building is just a temporary arrangement. The toilets that we have are abandoned. Since the building will be dismantled, we cannot repair it," he said.
As for the new building, its completion is uncertain due to "lack of government funds".
The institute's former head of the department of Architecture, Professor M Nagaraj, wrote a letter to Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and the state Women and Child Welfare department regarding the condition of the toilets last year in November.
He is yet to hear back from either of the offices.
The miseries of the students at Smt Durgabai Deshmukh Women's Technical Training Institute do not end with the forsaken state of the campus toilets.
The college is said to be standing amid 'heaps of garbage lying unattended at multiple corners'. And that, of course, comes along with the stench of urine filling the air.
For an institute that offers diploma courses in architecture assistantship, civil engineering, computer engineering and electronics and communications engineering, it also is said to be suffering with the lack of labs and equipment.
"All the lab equipment purchased are misused because there are no proper entries made in the stock register," Professor Nagaraj stated in his letter to the chief minister.
"The computers in the institution are not fully equipped. Some of the parts are damaged. They are neither repaired nor replaced," he wrote.
Now, we hope all the issues of this ailing college are attended to ASAP.
However, not to sound judgmental, but we do think a batch of aspiring engineers can come up with a better way than to urinate/defecate in the open.

TVS Victor brings in flamboyant styling..

TVS Victor was a brand name that worked wonders for TVS when it was launched back in 2002.

 

 

More than 80 per cent of the Indian motorcycle market is dominated by commuter motorcycles in the 100-110cc segment. So don't balk at the fact that yet another 110cc motorcycle hits the already teeming market. It is after all, the bread and butter segment where TVS, until now, has had only two entrants.

Consumers of this segment are looking for a dash of premium but what theyy're really after is where TVS excels- Engines.

Both the Star City + and Sport have raked in a lot for TVS, both in terms of sales and visibility in the segment. Moreover, TVS motorcycles have been known for their reliability and most importantly, fuel efficiency.

Analogue-digital instrumentation highlights a big tachometer with readouts displayed on the LCD screen.

But without a constantly updated product portfolio, there's always the possibility of fading amongst the plethora of options available out there for the consumers.Enter the all-new TVS Victor. This was a brand name that worked wonders for TVS when it was launched back in 2002. Contemporary styling, Power and Eco 'modes' among other features saw it sell about 40,000 units a month at the time. It was eventually phased out in 2007 only to be reincarnated nearly a decade later.

Series springs for the rear suspension offer versatility for ride and load bearing.

Now, the new bike brings in flamboyant styling albeit picking up cues from its stable mates. For instance, the headlamp follows the design elements of the Sport's unit. The fuel tank and rear sections closely resemble the ones on the Star City +.
I've always found TVS to follow a conservative approach to sporty design and it works for them. Consumers of this segment are looking for a dash of premium but what they're really after is also where TVS excels - the engine.

Spacious seat offers comfortable room for both rider and pillion.

A 3-valve Ecothrust engine resides within the single downtube frame. Apart from the healthy power and torque figures, it is the engineering that has gone into the motor that's interesting. The focus here was to increase refinement levels which in turn would result in better riding comfort and reduced NVH. In went a silent cam-chain and spring loaded rocker arms to reduce tappet noise. Further, a cooling jacket has been incorporated in the combustion chamber which dissipates heat better, by channelling heat away from the intake valves. While the front suspension is telescopic, the rear suspension is a trick little unit. A stiffer spring has been integrated with a lower rate spring mounted above the former, to counter heavier pillion loads without compromising the ride quality.

Hazard light switch can be mistaken for an engine kill switch.

On the move, this setup comes across as slightly stiff and higher speeds amplified the stiffness, transferring jolts onto the arms and back. TVS claims to have built the Victor for family use and that's evident from the roomy seats and the fact that the suspension was more pliant while riding two up. Furthermore, the engine packs enough grunt to even feel sporty. There's ample power in the mid-range, running through gears on the well spaced 4-ratio gearbox.

The new engine claims 76kmpl while still being sporty in nature.

The reach to the handlebar is comfortable and so is the seating and peg positioning. Slow rush hour commutes aren't going to leave you tired. The Victor is also agile and much of it is credited to the TVS Remora tyres that offer enough grip and confidence to carry speeds into flowing corners.
We rode the disc brake equipped variant and it displayed excellent braking duties although devoid of brake feel at the lever.

Disc brake offers good stopping power.

VERDICT

Rider and pillion comfort, refinement and smoothness, engine and gearbox performance.

TVS has put in a lot of effort in the new Victor and all of it comes across when astride it. The outstanding refinement levels of the engine, the enthusiastic performance and brilliant comfort levels for both the rider and pillion are all aiming at factors that really matter in this segment.

Stiff ride quality when riding solo, conservative styling may age faster, may not stand out in a crowd.

Better still, value-add features like alloy wheels are standard on the bike. Disc brakes, while optional, still result in a price tag that reflects better value than its closest rivals.

FBI vs I-phone: Court asks for technical details,Apple to file first legal arguments on Friday..

The judge overseeing a U.S. government attempt to force Apple Inc to unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters made it clear she expected a full briefing on the technological details involved in prosecutors' request.
During a telephone conference with attorneys in the case last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym said Apple should have enough time to present "what technically is involved here," along with its legal arguments.
Reuters obtained an audio recording of the conference, which lasted just under 30 minutes, from the court on Wednesday. The judge and the attorneys focused on procedural details and timing.
The FBI is seeking the tech company's help to access shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone by disabling some of its passcode protections. Apple has pushed back, arguing that such a move would set a dangerous precedent and threaten customer security.
The Justice Department won an order from Pym last week against Apple. The company was not present in court, but Pym gave Apple time to contest the order.
During the phone conference, which was held two days after Pym issued the order, prosecutors informed the judge and Apple attorneys that the government intended to file an additional motion to compel, in which it would ask the judge to again order Apple's compliance.
Pym questioned the necessity of the government's filing.
"I am a little confused about the motion to compel, just because the order in place is actually an order compelling," Pym said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison said it was necessary because Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, said he would fight the order. Apple attorney Theodore Boutrous called the government's request "highly unusual" and "inappropriate," and asked Pym to forbid it.
The judge said she would not prohibit the filing. Prosecutors submitted the motion to compel on Friday, which generated a raft of media reports.
Both a Justice Department and an Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Apple is scheduled to file its first legal arguments on Friday. Pym has set a hearing on the issue for next month.

Haryana goons dragged stranded women to fields, gangraped them near Murthal..

Murthal is one destination Delhiites make impromptu travel plans to - be it for the long drive or for Sukhdev Dhaba's delicious food.
Women commuters are being harassed and even raped near Murthal in Haryana. Vehicles with women passengers were stopped on the National Highway 1 during the early hours of Monday, and women were dragged to nearby fields where they were raped, reports The Tribune.
The Haryana Police, however, dismissed the report as rumour, but eyewitnesses say at least 10 women were sexually assaulted. To make things worse, victims and their family members were advised by the district officials not to report the incident so as to safeguard their 'honour'.   
The report throws more light on what exactly happened - 30-odd goons attacked commuters travelling towards Delhi-NCR, set their vehicles ablaze, pulled out women who couldn't flee the car, stripped them and raped. They laid nude in the fields till the time men who accompanied them could find them. The residents of Hassanpur and Kurad rushed to bring clothes and blankets for the victims.
A witness who wanted to keep his identity confidential told The Tribune, "Three women were taken to Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba and united with their families in the presence of senior police officers. They appeared lifeless. District officials who arrived there, instead of investigating the matter, persuaded the families to take the women home. Many were provided transport."
Sukhdev Dhaba was targeted by the goons and tried to set the eatery on fire, but were resisted by the villagers from Hassanpur and Kurad. These people have been camping at the dhaba since Sunday.
Elders from these villages, Hari Krishan of Kurad and Zile Singh of Hassanpur, said there is no point talking about the incident "as the police are sure to shield the criminals and nobody, not even the locals, are safe."
Another dhaba owner, Jai Bhagwan, said four women took refuge inside a water tank near his dhaba. Many victims say senior officers dissuaded them from complaining as "what happened can not be undone". A senior IPS officer rubbishes all this as rumours and requested media houses to refrain writing about these incidents.
Anuradha Beniwal, national chess champion, expressed her opinion about the ongoing Jat protests through a video, which has now gone viral. She introduces herself and says "My first coach was a Thakur and another a Saini. The coach who taught me the finer nuances of the game was from a family of goldsmiths. They did not ask me if I was a Jat or a Thakur, a Baniya or a Dalit. They only knew that I belonged to their own Haryana."
She speaks in fluent Haryanvi and appeals to all Haryanvis to end this "madness" and give up violence.

When Mayawati Express ran into Smriti Central..

The Budget Session of the Parliament today witnessed something very similar to TV operas. In Rajya Sabha, BJP leader and Union HRD minister Smriti Irani and BSP supremo Mayawati got into an ugly spat over Dalit student Rohith Vemula's suicide case.

As soon as the Rajya House convened for Zero Hour, BSP chief Mayawati raised the suicide last month of research scholar Rohith Vemula, questioning the inclusion of Dalits in the probe committee investigating his death.
Mayawati, in her long tirade which continued despite the Speaker's intervention, accused the Modi government of not doing enough to punish those she alleged were responsible for pushing the student to take his life and demanded the resignation of two central ministers - Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani.

To this, a visibly furious education minister Smriti Irani replied, "Mayawatiji, you and your BSP leaders and workers, hear this out for once and all. I will cut off my head and present it at your feet if you are not satisfied with my reply."
Mayawati who was not convinced with Irani's explanation said, "You are not letting anyone speak. And you are an anti-Dalit. I am just asking, what was the problem with including a Dalit in the probe committee? If the person appointed was a Dalit, why aren't you replying to our questions?"
Irani in response said, "There were Dalits in the probe committee. You didn't accept their judgement. The probe committee included a Dalit professor, the warden is a Dalit. Do you want to say that a citizen becomes a Dalit only when Mayawati certifies him to be so?"

Railway Budget 2016: Suresh Prabhu faces dilemma on hiking fares ..

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is not likely to bite the bullet on hiking fares significantly for running the cash-strapped Railways. The Rail Budget, which will be presented on Thursday, is expected to lean more heavily on support from the finance ministry and borrowings to bridge the resource gap.
According to sources, it would not be politically expedient to go in for a significant hike in fares at this juncture as four states are headed for the elections.
Prabhu admitted in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that resources of the Railways are constantly dwindling as freight and passenger fares are not being decided in an optimum manner. He said that the share of Railways in freight as compared to other modes of transportation is declining.
There has been a steady increase in freight rates over the years to cross-subsidise losses incurred in running passenger trains, which has driven freight to the road sector. The cross-subsidy from freight to passenger operation has crossed Rs 30,000 crore this year while the Seventh Pay Commission burden is about Rs 32,000 crore. The Railways earned Rs 136,079.26 crore as against the target of Rs 141,416.05 crore during April-January period, a decline of 3.77 per cent. There has been a slump in passenger and freight revenues this year, which is straining the finances of the Railways.
According to senior officials, stiff competition from airlines for wealthier travellers, whose higher fares are a major source of revenue, had hurt the Railways' earnings along with a fall in demand for major goods like coal and cement.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley cut the Rs 40,000 crore of cash promised to the Railways in his last Budget by a fifth after they failed to spend money on time. The Railways still expects about Rs 50,000 crore in support for projects in 2016-17.
Aiming at shifting goods from road to rail, the Budget is expected to offer various schemes to attract loadings. A scheme for premium high-speed parcel trains is slated to be unveiled in the Budget. In suburban section, the Rail Budget will announce introduction of AC suburban trains in Mumbai, which will be replicated in other areas as well. The fare of AC suburban service will be higher than regular local train. Introduction of dual mode engine to enable the train to run both on diesel and electricity is likely to be announced in the budget.
The Railways has already decided to run as many special trains on higher fares on popular routes catering to the growing demand during festive season, an indirect way of hiking fares. Prabhu will give details about concerted efforts being undertaken by the Railways to keep stations and trains clean and environment-friendly in his second Budget speech. The 400 stations being planned to be developed with private participation are likely to be announced as green stations with several environmentfriendly measures like generation of solar energy, recycling of water, conversion of waste to energy and use of LED lights to be incorporated in the plan