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Cricket World Cup: Rampant India too strong for UAE in Pool B

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india_uae

by Steve Canavan, BBC Sport

Defending champions India maintained their perfect start at the World Cup as they outclassed United Arab Emirates in a one-sided contest in Perth.

India were on top throughout and dismissed UAE for 102 – the lowest total at the World Cup so far, behind England’s 123 against New Zealand.

Only a spirited 35 from Shaiman Anwar spared UAE from real embarrassment.

India lost just one wicket as they raced to their target in 18.5 overs, Rohit Sharma hitting a half-century.

“The bowlers have really stepped up and that has led to improvements in other parts of the side,” said a satisfied India captain MS Dhoni.

“We are getting wickets with the new ball and as a bowling unit they are doing well and showing they can do it game after game.”

The part-timers of the UAE won the toss and opted to bat, but lost wickets on a regular basis as a confident-looking India quickly took control.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers, taking four wickets and registering his best one-day-international figures as the underdogs were reduced to 71-9.

Only a fighting last-wicket stand of 31 between Shaiman Anwar (35) and Manjula Guruge (10 not out) – the highest partnership of the innings – took UAE past three figures.

But the total was never going to be enough to trouble an Indian side who, after a run of poor form coming into the tournament, now look a force to be reckoned with.

UAE did have one magical moment in the field – Rohan Mustafa taking a superb one-handed catch off the bowling off Mohammad Naveed to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan for 14.

But otherwise it was a routine victory for the Indians, with Sharma (57 not out) and Virat Kohli (33 not out) guiding the team home without alarm.

“We were outplayed by the Indian bowling, because what we got was not a par score on this wicket,” said UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir.

“We should have scored 200 plus but Ashwin bowled brilliantly and we couldn’t cope.”

India, who beat Pakistan and South Africa in their opening Pool B games, face West Indies next in Perth on Friday.

UAE are still waiting for a first World Cup win for 19 years, since beating Netherlands in 1996.

Highlights of Union Budget 2015

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with his Budget team leaves for Rashtrapati Bhavan in this file photo. Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with his Budget team leaves for Rashtrapati Bhavan in this file photo. Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Presenting the national budget for the next fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Saturday said the state of the country’s economy was better placed today with its credibility re-established by a series of measures taken by his government.

“I am presenting the union budget in an economic environment which is far more positive than in the recent past. While major economies of the world face difficulties, India is poised for higher growth trajectory,” Jaitley said as he started his budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

“The real GDP growth is estimated at 7.5 percent for this fiscal, making India the fastest-growing large economy of the world,” said Jaitley, watched keenly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seated next to him.

“We inherited a sentiment of doom and gloom and have come a long way by proper actions,” said the finance minister, adding: “Our objective is to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.”

He also said a double-digit growth was now feasible. “Our objective is to conquer inflation. It will be only 5 percent by end of year.”

The finance minister said his government did not intend to do away with subsidies but target them better to achieve the goals. He also said some Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be provided to farmers in the form of credit, along with an allocation of Rs.5,300 crore for irrigation.

He also said allocations for a host of social sector projects was being enhanced substantially along with some new social security schemes. He particularly said the allocation for the rural job guarantee scheme will be the highest ever.

Highlights:

  • Changes in excise on tobacco items, including cigarettes, paan masala and gutkha

  • Tax exemption for contributions to ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ and ‘Clean Ganga Fund’ by corporates as part of CSR

  • Increase in limit of deduction in health insurance from Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000

  • For senior citizens, this limit to be increased from Rs.30,000 from present Rs.10,000

  • Deduction limit of Rs.60,000 on account of serious diseases to be enhanced to Rs.80,000 for senior citizens

  • Exemption on contributions to Pension Fund hiked from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh per year

  • All investment payments in ‘Sukanya Scheme’ will be fully exempted from tax

  • Transport allowance exemption raised from Rs.800 to Rs.1,600 per month

  • Wealth Tax to be abolished and additional two percent tax on super rich to yield Rs.9,000 crore annually

  • Excise duty on footwear with leather uppers to be reduced to six percent

  • Service tax and education levy to be consolidated from 12.36 percent to 14 percent

  • Swachh Bharat cess of two percent, if necessary

  • Law against Benami property in fight against black money

  • Quoting PAN essential in property transactions

  • Splitting of transaction not to be permitted

  • Tax regime to be rationalised

  • Applicability of General Avoidance Rules (GAR) to be deferred by two years in view of problems faced in its implementation

  • Non-Plan expenditure in 2015-16 estimated at Rs.1,312,200 crore; Plan expenditure estimated at Rs.465,277 crore

  • Tax collection in 2015-16 estimated at Rs.1,449,490 crore

  • Corporate tax to be reduced to 25 percent from 30 percent in four years

  • Rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years for concealing income

  • Prevention of Money Laundering Act to be amended to provide for forfeiture of property in India if the one abroad cannot be attached

  • Exemption to individual tax payers to continue

  • In last nine months several steps taken to effectively deal with problem of black money

  • Comprehensive new law to be brought against black money

  • New structure to be put in place in banking sector for seamless integration of data

  • Adequate provision for defence with Rs.246,727 crore earmarked this year

  • Fully IT-based student-help facility for needy students

  • Eastern states to be given opportunity to develop faster. Special boost to Bihar and West Bengal as in the case of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

  • Good progress in DMIC corridor and other infra-projects. Rs.1,200 crore earmarked and additional funds if pace of work picks up on ongoing projects

  • Procurement law to be drawn up to ensure transparency and remove corruption

  • Centenary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay to be celebrated; committee for this to be set up soon

  • During 2015-16 AIIMS-like institutes to be set up in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh; Bihar to get second AIIMS-like institution

  • Karnataka to get an IIT; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT

  • Good progress being made on Digital India

  • To discourage transactions in cash, Rupee debit card to incentivise credit transactions

  • In line with ‘Act East Policy’, steps to catalyse investment in this sector through a project development company to oversee investments in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam

  • Tourism has increased after Visa on Arrival introduced for 43 countries. This facility to be increased to 150 countries in different stages

  • Public Debt Management Agency to be created to strengthen the bond market

  • Gold Monetisation Scheme to be introduced; sovereign gold bonds to be introduced; working on developing Indian gold coin with Ashok Chakra on face

  • Vision of making India cashless society

  • Foreign Investment in alternative investment funds to be permitted

  • Ports in public sector to be encouraged to utilise land under their control

  • Make India investment-destination by streamlining permission procedures

  • Five ultra-mega power projects each of 4,000 MW to be set up

  • MGNREGA allocation to be enhanced by Rs.5,000 crore, if additional funds available

  • Integrated education and livelihood scheme to be launched

  • “The Everlasting Flame” exhibition on Parsis to be launched

  • National investment and infrastructure fund to be launched with corpus of Rs.20,000 crore to generate more funds

  • Innovation initiative to be launched in NITI Aayog in the name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee

  • Government committed to increasing access of people to the banking system

  • Universal social security system for all Indians, especially poor and disadvantaged sections

  • Atal Pension Yojna for economically disadvantaged

  • PPF and EPF corpus to be utilised for senior citizens’ welfare fund

  • Physical aids and assisting devices for physically challenged senior citizens

  • Main challenges: increasing agricultural production; increasing investment in infrastructure; with manufacturing declining, Make in India will create jobs; cooperative federalism

  • Agriculture credit targetted at Rs.8.5 lakh crore

  • Rural jobs scheme to get Rs.34,699 crore; Every poor to get a job

  • To work with NITI Aayog for creating a National Agricultural Market

  • Need well-targeted system for subsidies.

  • Direct transfer of subsidy to LPG consumers

  • Appeal to well-off consumers to surrender subsidised LPG connections

  • Organic farm schemes of agriculture ministry to be supported

  • ‘Per drop More crop’ scheme for better irrigation

  • Three achievements – Jan Dhan Yojna, coal auctions, Swachh Bharat

  • Two more gamechanging reforms: Goods and Services Tax, JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojna, Aadhar, Mobile number) to ensure transparency

  • Our achievement to conquer inflation, CPI inflation at five percent by year-end

  • GDP growth at 7.4 percent in 2014-15 and at 8-8.5 percent in 2015-16; double-digit growth feasible

  • We are in an economic environment far more positive than in the recent past

  • Undertaken several significant steps to energise the Indian economy in last nine months

  • India’s chance to fly

  • Budget proposals lay down roadmap for economic growth.

GDP in 2015-16 to be 8-8.5%; double-digit growth soon, says FM

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Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said growth in the next financial year will rise to 8-8.5 per cent and clock double-digit level in the subsequent years.

“Growth in 2015-16 is expected to be between 8-8.5 per cent. Aiming for a double digit rate seems feasible very soon,” he said while presenting the Budget for 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha.

The Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) has recently revised the base year for calculation of GDP growth to 2011-12. As per this, the economic growth rate in 2013-14 is estimated at 6.9 per cent and for 2014-15 at 7.4 per cent.

The Economic Survey had yesterday said that growth will receive a boost from the cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing facilitated by lower inflation, and forecasts of a normal monsoon in 2015-16.

The government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which assumed power in May last year, has initiated a slew of economic reforms, including de-regulation of diesel prices, raising FDI caps in several sectors, and direct transfer of LPG subsidy to beneficiaries.

(PTI)

13 Solapur Muslim men acquitted from terror charges after 12 years

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Solapur: Thirteen persons, who were termed accused in a 2003 terror case under sections of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), were acquitted by a session court here.

They were booked under the various sections of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in a 2003 terror case. However, it is an irony that they were absolved of all charges after undergoing 11 long year’s ordeal.

Solapur Session Court Judge N N Dhend acquitted all the 13 accused for want of evidence as they were arrested by Maharashtra police on August 8, 2003 on the charges of plotting to make crude bombs for explosion. Police had allegedly recovered a small amount of explosive material from some of the accused. Soon after their arrest, police had invoked sections of POTA in the case. All the accused were released on bail after spending six months behind bars. Police produced 62 witnesses in the case but prosecution examined only 14 of them. However, all the witnesses were declared hostile by the court.

It is to mention here that the previous UPA government had scrapped dreaded law POTA in 2004 but not with retrospective effect. Because of this, many innocents have been languishing in jails.

Those, who got absolved of all charges, are Farooq Tabeeb, Imaan Nadaf, Hamid Mulla, Mahboob Daula, Anwar Shaikh, Mansoor Shaikh, Ghulam Shaikh, Mudassir Shaikh, Ibrahim Momin, Mubin Shaikh, Yaqub Saudagar, Jabbar Shaikh, and Rahman Shaikh.

Justice Amitava Roy sworn in as Supreme Court judge

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Supreme Court India

New Delhi: Justice Amitava Roy was Friday sworn in as a judge of the Supreme Court.

With the elevation of Roy, who was chief justice of the Orissa High Court, the strength of the apex court has gone up to 29 against a sanctioned strength of 31 judges.

Justice Roy will have a tenure of three years.

Coming from a family of lawyers and judges from Kolkata, Justice Roy, born March 1, 1953, started practice in the district courts in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia in Assam from 1976 to 1981, before shifting to the Gauhati High Court.

He was elevated as judge in the high Court Feb 4, 2002 and elevated as chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court Jan 2, 2013 and shifted to the Orissa High Court in the same capacity Aug 6, 2014.

(Agencies)

Sonia Gandhi pens emotional letter to Advani on 50th wedding anniversary

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l-k-advani-sonia-gandhi

New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi congratulated LK Advani on his 50th wedding anniversary, saying it was also a “special day” for her as it was on this day 47 years ago that she got married to Rajiv Gandhi.

“On the auspicious occasion of your 50th wedding anniversary, I send my warm felicitations to you and Mrs Kamala Advani. Over half-a-century you have enjoyed a close companionship, giving strength and support to each other through all life’s ups and downs and that is indeed a great blessing!” Ms Gandhi said in a letter to the BJP veteran.

The Congress President wished the two “many more years together” in good health and happiness. “February 25 is also a special day for me – the day Rajiv and I got married, and this year would have been our 47th wedding anniversary,” she said.

According to a report on Hindustan Times, Advani called up Gandhi and “profusely thanked” her after he received the letter.

(PTI)

Review: Dum Laga Ke Haisha is an endearingly heart touching movie

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Dum Laga Ke Haisha

by Shaheen Raaj

Producer: Aditya Chopra & Maneesh Sharma
Director: Sharat Katariya
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, débutante Bhumi Pednekar along with Sanjay Mishra, Alka Amin, Sheeba Chaddha, Seema Pahwa & Kumar Sanu
Music: Anu Malik & Andrea Guerra

Sharat Katariya in his debut directorial outing ’10 ML Love’ had seemed totally out of focus. No wonder the film had nosedived at the box office turnstiles. Perhaps Sharat learnt his lesson and mended his directorial ways and how? So in his 2nd directorial outing ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, strongly backed by Yash Raj Films, Sharat has crafted an endearingly heart touching movie which comes once in a while like a breath of fresh air and leaves a million dollar smile on your countenance even after you walk out of the darkened auditorium.

The scenario of ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’s plot opens (set in circa 1995 in Haridwar), with a self introduction of a neither qualified nor talented Prem Prakash Tiwari (Ayushmann Khurrana), a high – school dropout & a die – hard fan of crooner Kumar Sanu. He confesses that he has only 3 weaknesses in his life namely exam’s English question paper, his father’s slippers & Kumar Sanu’s melodious voice.

This eventually leads to his matrimonial meet, where his parents meet the parents of the ‘B.Ed graduate but fat’ Sandhya Verma (Débutante Bhumi Pednekar), who wants to become a teacher. Seizing the opportunity, Prem’s parents especially his father Chandrabhan Tiwari (Sanjay Mishra) gets him married to Sandhya, even though Prem is least interested in her because of her fat figure. When a very disinterested Prem does “nothing” on their wedding night, this news reaches the ears of both the families, thus making them nervous and also scared about the couple’s future relationship.

Sandhya, on the other hand, who genuinely loves Prem, on the insistence of her mother Subhadra Rani, even tries to seduce him with a ‘foreign waali VCD’. Meanwhile, a certain incident happens between Prem and his friends, in which Prem confesses his utter disliking for Sandhya, which co – incidentally, Sandhya overhears. This leads to her filing for a divorce with Prem. As a legal formality, the court decides a time of 6 months for the couple to spend time with each other, in case they have a change of mind. Amidst all this chaos, their village announces the annual competition named ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’, in which the husbands have to carry their wives on their back and run till the finishing lines, despite all the man made hurdles. Again, on his family’s insistence, a very reluctant Prem agrees to carry the ‘moti saand’ (fatso) Sandhya on his back and take part in the competition.

Director Sharat Katariya is in full bloom in his 2nd directorial offering ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ thereby displaying his sparkling directorial brilliance which touches your heart strings in both the romantic & the melancholic moods of the movie. It seems that Bollywood heroines with svelte figures & sexy persona may now have to take a walk with the arrival of an unconventional heroine like Bhoomi Pednekar. Sharat also deserves a pat on his back for his minutest detailing in the entire film in lieu with each & every character in tandem with their performances. Kudos to Aditya Chopra & Manish Sharma (Producers), Anu Malik & Andrea Guerra (Music Scorers), Varun Grover & Chinni Prakash (Choreographers), Manu Anand (Cinematographer), Shajith Koyeri (Sound), Meenal Aggarwal (Production Designer) and above all brickbats to Namrata Rao (Editor).

Performance wise it is the débutante real & reel life actress Bhumi Pednekar who outshines, but never over shadows the entire cast of the talented & the gifted actors. Bhumi displays her natural flair for acting as if possessing an inborn talent. But her real test in histrionics will be her subsequent outings. The next in line actor who has delivered a par excellence performance is of course Ayushmann Khurana. But a cautionary advice to him, at this juncture will not be out of place, is to take care of his stereotypical expressions & mannerisms mostly in close shots. While the remaining cast members which comprises of Sanjay Mishra, Alka Amin, Sheeba Chaddha, Seema Pahwa et al have once again proved that they still are and will always be stalwarts in the histrionics arena.

Tailpiece: It needs a little more “word of mouth” push to come out as a winner with flying colours. Don’t miss out on this honestly made fare.

Church Street blast: 2 men lodged in Patna jail brought to Bengaluru for questioning

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PTI Photo

PTI Photo

Bengaluru: The city police on Thursday night brought two suspects from Patna to the city in connection with the Church Street blast on December 28 last year.

The police acquired a body warrant for Haidar Ali and his associate Umar Siddiqui, both suspects in jail for their alleged role in the serial blasts at the Hunkar rally of Narendra Modi in Patna in October 2013.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Alok Kumar, who is heading the Special Investigation Team that is probing the case, said: “CCTV footage and call records have yielded little results,” he said. Explosives used in the Hunkar rally blasts and the Bodh Gaya blasts in Bihar were similar to those used in the Church Street blast. This has led the city police to bring the two suspects to the city and grill them for any information that may provide a lead.

The two suspects, however, were not involved as they were in NIA custody, the day of the Church Street blast.

(Agencies)

Review: Ab Tak Chappan 2 leaves you dazed and confused

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ab-tak-chhappan-2

by Shaheen Raaj

Producer: Raju Chada & Gopal Dalvi
Director: Aejaz Gulab
Cast: Nana Patekar, Gul Panag, Tejas Jagirdar, Ashutosh Rana, Vikram Gokhale, Mohan Agashe, Govind Namdev, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Raj Zutshi et al
Music: Sandeep Chowta & Amal Mallik

Debutante director Aejaz Gulab in his debut directorial offering ‘Ab Tak Chhapan 2’ tries his utmost best to live up to the legacy of the prequel ‘Ab Tak Chhapan’ directed by Shimit Amin, but he seems to be bowed down under a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations of everyone concerned especially its lead character Sadhu Agashe (Read Nana Patekar).

The film is a sequel to ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ and the story revolves around Inspector Sadhu Agashe (Nana Patekar) from the Mumbai Encounter Squad. It is inspired by the life of Police sub-Inspector with the Mumbai Police force Daya Nayak. The film carries forward from the prequel where Saadhu Agashe’s wife is shot dead. The scenario opens with Saadhu Aagashe back and taking the encounter count beyond Chappan with ‘Ab Tak Chappan 2’. The sequel of the much applauded film has the Home Minister Janardhan Jagirdar (Vikram Gokhale) along with Chief Minister Anna Saheb (Dilip Prabhawalkar) pledging to eradicate the menace caused by underworld don Rawale (Raj Zutshi) who is operating from Bangkok and don Rauf Lala who is operating from Mumbai. Knowing that the ‘Gandhian’ approach won’t tackle the problem, the Encounter Squad is back to bring justice. A reluctant Saadhu Agashe, due to his son’s (Tejas Jagirdar) insistence, agrees to join the force and do what he does best, remove the pests of the society for good, no pun intended. But will an encounter squad with a clean slate manage to eradicate the menace? At what price would peace be got? Will peace ever come? These are some of the queries that only the filmmakers and above all only Nana can answer.

Debutante director Aejaz Gulab indeed had a gripping story to go ahead but sadly enough with his stuntman oriented background and not to forget his amateurish directorial skills, he fails to deliver the goods. The way he has handled the plot is absolutely confusing. No doubt there is a dirty politician in the midst of this huge mess, but what the actual conspiracy he was involved in remains a mystery even when the end credit title rolls. Either it was a case of the plot being so complex that it was impossible to unravel, or, more likely, it didn’t exist at all.

Performance wise Nana Patekar of course stands apart with his par excellence and unmatched acting skills. Yet it is high time he drops his sometimes stoic and sub-standard expressions especially in close ups. The other veteran actors like Dilip Prabhawalkar, Mohan Agashe, Vikram Gokhale, Raj Zutshi, Govind Namdeo et al lend Nana an able & adequate support to carry on the never ending mysterious plot ahead. Gul Panag appears more like a walkie talkie screeching glamour doll. Ashutosh Rana leaves an impact in his rivalry scenes with Nana. A special noteworthy mention goes to Tejas Jagirdar who leaves a lasting impression with his brief role as Nana’s son.

Tailpiece: Strongly recommended for die hard Nana Patekar fans and for the rest of the mass & class audience too, it will be a sheer waste of time & money too.

My government's only religion is 'India first', only religious book is Indian Constitution: PM Modi

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File photo

File photo

New Delhi: Breaking his silence in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday denounced communalism and asserted that his government stood for unity wherein all religions prosper within the framework of the Constitution.

“My government’s only religion is ‘India first’, my government’s only religious book is ‘Indian Constitution’, our only devotion is ‘Bharat Bhakti’ and our only prayer is ‘welfare of all’,” he said in Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on President’s Address.

He declared that as the Prime Minister, it was his “responsibility” not to allow “anaap shanap (ridiculous) comments in the name of religion.

“Nobody has the right to discriminate on the basis of religion… “No one has the right to take law into his hands,” the Prime Minister said.

His statement assumes significance as the government has been under attack over certain communal remarks made by some BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders.

“Communalism for political reasons has destroyed the country. Hearts have been broken,” Modi said, asking why questions are being “posed to us”.

Insisting that “We want all religions to prosper”, the Prime Minister said it is possible only in India under its Constitution which has been prepared with the thinking of thousands of years of the country’s history.

“This nation full of diversity. We are for unity in diversity, not disunity. All religions should flourish. It is the uniqueness of India because of its Constitution,” he said.

“We want to take the nation forward within the framework of the Constitution,” Modi said, adding he saw only the “tricolor” and “no other colour”.

Recalling his election rally in Patna in October 2013 which was rocked by serial bomb blasts, Modi said he had then “asked who should Hindus fight with — with muslims or poverty? I had asked muslims, do you want to fight with hindus or poverty. We have fought enough. Now let us unite and fight against poverty.”

Referring to his slogan of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’, he said he sought the cooperation of the opposition also for the benefit of the country.

(PTI)

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