Cabinet approves merger of rail budget with general budget; advancement of budget presentation and merger of plan and non-plan classification in budget and accounts

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposals of Ministry of Finance on certain landmark budgetary reforms relating to (i) the merger of Railway budget with the General budget, (ii) the advancement of the date of Budget presentation from the last day of February to the 1st of February and (iii) the merger of the Plan and the Non-Plan classification in the Budget and Accounts. All these changes will be put into effect simultaneously from the Budget 2017-18.

Merger of Railway Budget with the General Budget:

The arrangements for merger of Railway budget with the General budget have been approved by the Cabinet with the following administrative and financial arrangements-

(i) The Railways will continue to maintain its distinct entity -as a departmentally run commercial undertaking as at present;

(ii) Railways will retain their functional autonomy and delegation of financial powers etc. as per the existing guidelines;

(iii)The existing financial arrangements will continue wherein Railways will meet all their revenue expenditure, including ordinary working expenses, pay and allowances and pensions etc. from their revenue receipts;

(iv)The Capital at charge of the Railways estimated at Rs.2.27 lakh crore on which annual dividend is paid by the Railways will be wiped off. Consequently, there will be no dividend liability for Railways from 2017-18 and Ministry of Railways will get Gross Budgetary support. This will also save Railways from the liability of payment of approximately Rs.9,700 crore annual dividend to the Government of India;

The presentation of separate Railway budget started in the year 1924, and has continued after independence as a convention rather than under Constitutional provisions.

The merger would help in the following ways:

· The presentation of a unified budget will bring the affairs of the Railways to centre stage and present a holistic picture of the financial position of the Government.
· The merger is also expected to reduce the procedural requirements and instead bring into focus, the aspects of delivery and good governance.
· Consequent to the merger, the appropriations for Railways will form part of the main Appropriation Bill.

Advancement of the Budget presentation:

The Cabinet has also approved, in principle, another reform relating to budgetary process, for advancement of the date of Budget presentation from the last day of February to a suitable date. The exact date of presentation of Budget for 2017-18 would be decided keeping in view the date of assembly elections to be held in States.

This would help in following ways:

· The advancement of budget presentation by a month and completion of Budget related legislative business before 31st March would pave the way for early completion of Budget cycle and enable Ministries and Departments to ensure better planning and execution of schemes from the beginning of the financial year and utilization of the full working seasons including the first quarter.
· This will also preclude the need for seeking appropriation through ‘Vote on Account’ and enable implementation of the legislative changes in tax; laws for new taxation measures from the beginning of the financial year.

Merger of Plan and Non Plan classification in Budget and Accounts:

The third proposal approved by the Cabinet relates to the merger of Plan and Non Plan classification in Budget and Accounts from 2017-18, with continuance of earmarking of funds for Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan/Tribal Sub-Plan. Similarly, the allocations for North Eastern States will also continue.

This would help in resolving the following issues:

· The Plan/Non-Plan bifurcation of expenditure has led to a fragmented view of resource allocation to various schemes, making it difficult not only to ascertain cost of delivering a service but also to link outlays to outcomes.
· The bias in favour of Plan expenditure by Centre as well as the State Governments has led to a neglect of essential expenditures on maintenance of assets and other establishment related expenditures for providing essential social services.
· The merger of plan and non-plan in the budget is expected
to provide appropriate budgetary framework having focus on the revenue, and capital expenditure.
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Cabinet approves the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approval the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016. The Order lays down a new institutional structure for policy and implementation in fast track manner and empowers National Mission for Clean Ganga to discharge its functions in an independent and accountable manner. It has been decided to grant a Mission status to the Authority with corresponding powers under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to take cognizance of the provision of the said Act and follow up thereon. Similarly, there is adequate delegation of financial and administrative powers which will distinctly establish NMCG as both responsibility and accountability centre and effectively accelerate the process of project implementation for Ganga Rejuvenation.

Salient Features:

Briefly, the Order envisages:

1. Creation of the National Council for River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management), as an Authority under the Chairperson of Hon’ble Prime Minister, in place of the existing NGRBA for overall responsibility for superintendence of pollution prevention and rejuvenation of river Ganga Basin.

2. Setting up of an Empowered Task Force chaired by Hon’ble Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to ensure that the Ministries, Departments and State Governments concerned have:

§ an action plan with specific activities, milestones, and timeliness for achievement of the objective of rejuvenation and protection of River Ganga,

§ a mechanism for monitoring implementation of its action plans.

It will also ensure co-ordination amongst the Ministries and Departments and State Governments concerned for implementation of its action plans in a time bound manner.

3. Declaration of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) as an Authority with powers to issue directions and also to exercise the powers under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to enable it to carry out efficiently its mandate. The NMCG will have a two-tier management structure with a Governing Council (GC), to be chaired by DG, NMCG. Below the GC, there will be an Executive Committee (EC) constituted out of the GC, to be chaired by the DG, NMCG.

NMCG will comply with the decisions and directions of the National Ganga Council and implement the Ganga Basin Management Plan approved by it; co-ordinate and carry out all activities necessary for rejuvenation and protection of River Ganga and its tributaries.

4. At the State level, it is proposed to create the State Ganga Committees in each of the defined States as Authority, to function as Authorities in respect of each State and perform the superintendence, direction and control over the District Ganga Protection Committees under their jurisdiction.

5. Similarly, the District Ganga Committees in each of the Ganga Bank Districts will carry out the assigned tasks as an Authority at the district level, to take cognizance of local threats and needs of river Ganga and conceptualise such measures as necessary to ensure overall quality of water in river Ganga and monitor various projects being implemented.

The proposed structure is to be implemented through the subordinate legislation route by issue of an Order invoking the provisions under Section 3 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) relating to creation of authorities to achieve its objectives.

The other main features of the proposal are as follows:

§ This will give more teeth to the NMCG for Clean Ganga for the environmental protection/rejuvenation of River Ganga. It will also ensure proper co-ordination with the local bodies and compliance with the directions of NMCG for pollution abatement of the river Ganga.

§ NMCG will, however, take action only in the event when required action is not taken by CPCB. CPCB shall also take action jointly with NMCG under the provisions of said Act.

§ A special focus of the revamped structure would be to maintain required ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water quality and environmentally sustainable development.

For taking up fast track creation of sewerage treatment infrastructure in Ganga basin, an innovative model based on Hybrid Annuity has also been approved. This will ensure that the infrastructure created under the project is operational on a sustainable basis.

In order to ensure transparency and cost effectiveness, a provision for concurrent audit, safety audits, research institutions and financial framework has been made.

Background:

The Ganga Action Plan (GAP) Phase-I was launched in 1985 and later GAP Phase-II was initiated in 1993 with the objective of improving the water quality of river Ganga and was later expanded to include some of its tributaries also. In May, 2015, the Government approved the Namami Gange programme as a comprehensive mechanism to take up initiatives for rejuvenation of river Ganga and its tributaries as a Central Sector Scheme with hundred per cent funding by the Union Government. The programme, despite making moderate gains in arresting the declines in water quality, had certain limitations in implementation.

Although, the NMCG has been functional as a registered Society since 2012 its role has been largely limited to fund the projects to implementing organisations. It neither had the mandate to take cognizance of various threats to river Ganga nor the powers to issue directions to the concerned authorities/polluters. While the organisation has been made responsible as custodian of river Ganga in both public eye as well as various courts, the mission is grossly ill-equipped to handle such expectations.

It is expected that the move will ensure effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of the River Ganga; maintain ecological flows in the River; impose restrictions on polluting industries; and carry out inspections to ensure compliance. In addition, it is proposed to maintain and disseminate data and carry out research on the condition of the river.

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Cabinet approves provision of submarine optical fibre cable connectivity between mainland (Chennai) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for provision of a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Mainland (Chennai) and Port Blair & five other islands viz. Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Havelock, Kamorta and Great Nicobar.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 1102.38 crore including operational expenses for 5 years. The project is likely to be completed by December 2018.

The approval would equip Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANI) with appropriate bandwidth and telecom connectivity for implementation of e-Governance initiatives; establishment of enterprises & e-commerce facilities. It will also enable the provision of adequate support to educational institutes for knowledge sharing, availability of job opportunities and fulfil the vision of Digital India.

Background:

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are of immense strategic significance for India. The geographical configuration and the location of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands chain in the Bay of Bengal safeguard India’s eastern seaboard. Provision of secure, reliable, robust, and affordable telecom facilities in these islands is of importance from a strategic point of view to the country and also an important requirement for the socio-economic development of the islands.

Currently the only medium of providing telecom connectivity between Mainland and Andaman & Nicobar Islands is though satellites, but the bandwidth available is limited to 1 Gbps. Satellite bandwidth is very costly and its availability is limited due to which future bandwidth requirement cannot be met solely through it. Then, there is an issue of redundancy, that is, no alternate media is available in case of any emergency. Lack of bandwidth and telecom connectivity is also hampering socio-economic development of the islands. Hence it is essential to have submarine OFC connectivity between the Mainland India and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, being the only option for catering to projected future bandwidth requirements.

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Winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for initiating the process of winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited (HDCPL), a 50:50 joint venture of the Government of India and De Beers Centenary Mauritius Limited (DBCML).

The HDCPL was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in 1978. The objective of formation of the Company was to supply rough diamonds to diamond processing industry in India, particularly to small and medium diamond jewellery exporters, who had no direct access to rough diamonds from Diamond Trading Company (DTC), London, the marketing arm of De Beers who held a very large chunk of world’s rough diamonds market.

The winding up of HDCPL is not likely to affect supply of rough diamonds to Indian diamantaires as Indian diamond industry has grown in these years and several Indian players are sightholders with top diamond producers now. Also, with the objective to facilitate the constant supply of rough diamonds and to make India an International Diamond Trading Hub, the Government has created a Special Notified Zone (SNZ) at Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbai in 2015. At present viewing operations are being carried out in the SNZ at Mumbai wherein Foreign Mining Companies (FMCs) only display their rough diamond lots to the Indian manufacturers and then take them back. Thereafter the sales are carried through e-auction from offices situated in other countries to Indian manufacturers. This facility has enabled even smaller Indian players to have direct access of supply of rough diamonds.

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Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to enhancement of Pension for Freedom Fighters

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to enhancement of Pension for Freedom Fighters and for the spouses (widows/widowers), eligible daughters and dependent parents of deceased Freedom Fighters, under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme (SSSPS), 1980.

The existing pension scheme for Central freedom fighter pensioners and their eligible dependents has been restructured as follows:-

Sl.
No.
Category of Freedom Fighters
Present amount of pension (per month)
Enhanced amount of pension (per month)

1.
Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners/ spouses

Rs. 24,775
Rs. 30,000/-
2.
Freedom fighters who suffered outside British India/spouses
Rs. 23,085/-
Rs. 28,000/-

3.
Other Freedom Fighters / spouses including INA
Rs. 21,395/-
Rs. 26,000/-

4.
Dependent parents/eligible daughters (maximum 3 daughters at any point of time)
Rs. 3,380/-
50% of the sum that would have been admissible to the Freedom Fighter i.e. in the range of Rs. 13,000/- to Rs. 15,000/-

(i) The revised scale of pension has taken effect from 15.O8.2016. Further, the revised total amount of pension will be taken as basic pension for the respective categories of Freedom Fighter pensioners for calculating Dearness Relief.

(ii) The existing Dearness Relief system based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers, which was so far applicable to freedom fighter pensioners on annual basis, is being discontinued and replaced by the Dearness Allowance system applicable to Central Government employees twice a year. This will be termed as “Dearness Relief”, the appropriate term in case of pensioners.

All freedom fighters and spouses and dependent parents/eligible daughter pensioners of deceased freedom fighters drawing pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme, 1980 would be benefitted by the decision.

Background

. Government of India introduced in 1969, the ‘Ex-Andaman Political Prisoners Pension Scheme’ to honour the freedom fighters who had been incarcerated in the Cellular Jail at Port Blair. In order to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Independence in 1972, a regular scheme for grant of freedom fighters’ pension was introduced. Thereafter, with effect from 1.8.1980, a liberalized scheme, the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme’ is being implemented. Besides the freedom fighters, spouses (widows.widowers), unmarried and unemployed daughters (up to maximum three at any point of time) and parents of deceased freedom fighters are eligible for pension under the Scheme. Till 2016, a total of 1,71,605 freedom fighters and their eligible dependents have been sanctioned pension under the scheme. At present, 37,981 freedom fighters and their eligible dependent pensioners are covered under the scheme. Out of these, 11,690 are freedom fighters themselves, 24,792 are spouses (widows/ widowers) and 1,490 are daughter pensioners. Instructions have been issued to all the authorized banks for ensuring Aadhar linked disbursement of Freedom Fighter pension as early as possible.

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Cabinet approves enactment of Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016 and to repeal five archaic admiralty statutes

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the proposal of Ministry of Shipping to enact Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill 2016 and to repeal five archaic admiralty statutes.

The Bill consolidates the existing laws relating to admiralty jurisdiction of courts, admiralty proceedings on maritime claims, arrest of vessels and related issues. It also repeals five obsolete British statues on admiralty jurisdiction in civil matters, namely, (a) the Admiralty Court Act, 1840 (b) the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, (c) Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890, (d) Colonial Courts of Admiralty (India) Act, 1891, and (e) the provisions of the Letters Patent, 1865 applicable to the admiralty jurisdiction of the Bombay, Calcutta and Madras High Courts.

Salient Features of Admirability Bill, 2016

This legislative proposal will fulfil a long-standing demand of the maritime legal fraternity. The salient features are as follows:-

· The Bill confers admiralty jurisdiction on High Courts located in coastal states of India and this jurisdiction extends upto territorial waters.
· The jurisdiction is extendable, by a Central Government notification, upto exclusive economic zone or any other maritime zone of India or islands constituting part of the territory of India.
· It applies to every vessel irrespective of place of residence or domicile of owner.
· Inland vessels and vessels under construction are excluded from its application but the Central Government is empowered to make it applicable to these vessels also by a notification if necessary.
· It does not apply to warships and naval auxiliary and vessels used for non-commercial purposes.
· The jurisdiction is for adjudicating on a set of maritime claims listed in the Bill.
· In order to ensure security against a maritime claim a vessel can be arrested in certain circumstances.
· The liability in respect of selected maritime claims on a vessel passes on to its new owners by way of maritime liens subject to a stipulated time limit.
· In respect of aspects on which provisions are not laid down in the Bill, the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 is applicable.

Background:

India is a leading maritime nation and maritime transportation caters to about ninety-five percent of its merchandise trade volume. However, under the present statutory framework, the admiralty jurisdiction of Indian courts flow from laws enacted in the British era. Admiralty jurisdiction relates to powers of the High Courts in respect of claims associated with transport by sea and navigable waterways. The repealing of five admiralty statutes is in line with the Government’s commitment to do away with archaic laws which are hindering efficient governance.
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Cabinet approves USOF support to BSNL for Rural Wire-line connections installed prior to 1.4.2002

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal to extend subsidy support of Rs. 1,250 crore to Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), as compensation for deficit incurred by BSNL in operating the Rural Wire-line connections installed prior to 1st April, 2002. The eligible rural wire-line connections installed prior to 1.4.2002 is 32.32 lakh, across India as on 31.3.2014.
The Cabinet also approved that the above subsidy support would be the last and final payment and no further request from BSNL for financial/subsidy support from USOF on this count shall be considered.
In order to make Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) eligible for subsidy funding on nomination basis from USOF, amendment will be required in Rule 526 of the Indian Telegraph Rules (ITRs), 1951. It stipulates that the criteria for selection of Universal Service Providers shall be made by bidding process from amongst eligible entities for implementation of USOF schemes. Corresponding Amendment in Rule 525 will also be required.
Full/lump-sum amount of Rs. 1,250 Crore shall be disbursed, consequent to necessary amendment of the ITRs and signing of USOF agreement with BSNL. Utilization certificate of’ the USOF subsidy disbursed towards operation and maintenance of the rural wire-line connections would be submitted by BSNL.

Background:
USOF since its inception in 2002 has been providing subsidy for BSNL for the rural wire line connections installed prior to 1.4.2002. A total of Rs. 8,692 crore has been extended as USOF subsidy support till date, for the rural wire-line connections, installed by BSNL prior to 1.4.2002. The details are as follows:
USOF Scheme

Basis

Amount (Rs.crore)

Period of support

RDEL-D

Difference between regulated rental and actual rental

1192

1st April 2002 to
31st January 2004

RDEL-P

TRAI recommendations dated 27.03.2008

6000

18th July 2008 to 17thJuly 2011

RDEL-P

TRAI recommendations dated 14.05.2012

1500

18th July 2011 to 17thJuly 2012

The TRAI in its report dated 14.05.2012 had recommended amount of subsidy support-of Rs. 1,500 crore for the period 18th July 2011 to 17th July 2012 and Rs. 1,250 crore for the 18th July 2012 to 17th July 2013.
Telecom Commission, in its meeting dated 11.12.2012, considered the views of the TRAI and USOF and directed that an assessment be carried out of the current status of the infrastructure.
Telecom Commission/EFC in its meeting dated 14th July 2015 considered the findings of the evaluation/assessment study conducted by National Institute of Communication Finance and recommended the subsidy support of Rs. 1250 crore to BSNL from USOF, as compensation for deficit incurred by BSNL in operating the Rural Wire-line connections installed prior to 1st April 2002 Telecom Commission also recommended that the subsidy support of Rs. 1250 crore would be the last and final payment and no further request from BSNL for financial/subsidy support from USOF on this count shall be considered.

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Cabinet approves raising Extra Budgetary Resources to augment infrastructure spending

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for raising a total of Rs. 31,300 crore in the financial year 2016-17 and to service the principal and interest against the Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of Rs. 16,300 crore by Government of India to augment infrastructure spending.

Out of the EBR of Rs.31,300 crore, it is proposed to finance the funds to be raised by Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) by Government of India. This implies that the principal and the interest in respect of the EBR of Rs.16,300 crore to be raised by PFC, IREDA, IWAI, and NABARD shall be financed by Government of India by making suitable budget provisions in the Demand of respective Ministries/Departments.

The move is intended to supplement the efforts of the Government to improve infrastructure spending and to improve the revenue-capital mix of the expenditure for a more sustainable growth.

Chandigarh: Music composer Vishal Dadlani today met Jain monk Tarun Sagar and apologised to him in person for his sarcastic tweet on the spiritual figure that had kicked up a storm.

The monk asked him to seek forgiveness from the Jain community for hurting their sentiments.

After the composer apologised as per the Jain community’s tradition of seeking “Panch Mafee” that included holding of ears, Sagar said though he had already forgiven Dadlani, now he would appeal to the community to forgive him and withdraw protest against him and treat the matter as closed.

“I have been saying this right from the start when these events unfolded (when controversy broke out after Dadlani’s tweet) that personally I don’t feel hurt or sad. I was talking to Vishal today and I told him that Jain community has been hurt, it was their demand that he should come to me in person and apologise only after which they will stop protests against him.

“He came from Mumbai today and brought ‘shriphal’ from there to seek apology,” Sagar said on Dadlani apologising for the tweet on the address made by the monk to the Haryana Assembly last month.

Sagar said, “Anyone can make a mistake, even me, it is not a big thing, but realisation of the same is important and one should forgive such a person.”

“It was Jain community’s request that if Vishal appears before me, he should be asked to seek Panch Mafee and the matter will end there,” Sagar said.

After this, Vishal stood before Sagar with folded hands and was even made to hold his ears and apologised as directed that also included the composer saying that in future he will never hurt anyone’s religious sentiments.

Afterwards, Sagar appealed to the Jain community to forgive Dadlani.
Sagar also appealed to those who had registered FIR against the composer to end the matter against him.

Dadlani later told reporters, “I apologised over Twitter 32 times and Tarun Sagarji also forgave me, but only thing is that I appeared in person now. I wanted to come personally earlier, but there was a FIR registered, so I did not want that people should feel that I have come here just because a case has been slapped against me.”

“I felt it from my heart that my remarks generated so much controversy and people felt hurt.

“What I had wanted to say is that religion and governance should not be mixed together.

What people understood from that tweet of mine was unfortunate. It was not my intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. What I had said was as per Constitution, religion and governance should not be mixed because we are a secular nation..,” Dadlani said.

Dadlani said after meeting “Guruji, I felt like we are friends. Before coming here I watched many of his pravachans and realised the good message he was sending across to the world.”

Earlier today, Dadlani reached the Digambar Jain Temple, Sector 27 here and held a close door meeting with the monk that lasted for about 20 minutes.

Recently, a court in Ambala had directed music composer Dadlani to join investigation at Ambala Cantt Sadar Police Station today in connection with a case registered against him by Haryana Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with his alleged sarcastic tweet on the Jain monk Tarun Sagar.

Ambala Cantt Police had registered a case over three weeks back against Dadlani and one more person under relevant sections including 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 295A (maliciously insulting the religion or religious beliefs of any class) and 509 IPC (uttering any word or making any gesture to insult the modesty of a woman etc).

The case was registered on the complaint filed by Punit Arora, a resident of Ambala Cantonment and he is stated to be a follower of Jain monk.

The complainant said that the accused had hurt religious sentiments intentionally with his sarcastic tweet.

Dadlani came under sharp criticism from several quarters including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his sarcastic tweet

After a barrage of criticism, Dadlani had tendered an apology for his tweet and also deleted it.

The Jain monk had delivered a lecture ‘Kadve Pravachan’ at Haryana Assembly last month on the invitation of the state government.

(PTI)

Bengaluru: BJP has decided to boycott the all-party meeting called by Chief Minister Siddaramaih today to discuss the future course of action following Supreme Court’s order directing Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 27.

The party has demanded that the government should call the Assembly session immediately to decide the issue.

“I have already spoken to Jagadish Shettar, Ananth Kumar, Sadananda Gowda, we have decided not to attend any meeting called by the Chief Minister on the Cauvery issue,” State BJP Chief Yeddyurappa told reporters in Shivamogga.

“Immediately Assembly session should be called where the issue should be discussed in detail, the decision taken there should be informed to the Supreme Court,” he said.

“Despite calling cabinet meeting, floor leaders meeting, all party meeting for three or four times you (government) did not take any specific decision keeping interest of farmers in mind. At least now immediately assembly session should be called and a clear decision should be taken, there by respecting the public opinion…” he added.

Karnataka will have to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu till September 27, the Supreme Court had yesterday said while raising the 3,000 cusecs fixed by the Supervisory Committee.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and U U Lalit has also directed the Centre to constitute within four weeks the Cauvery Water Management Board as directed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in its award.

Chief Minister Siddaramaih who, has termed the Supreme Court’s order as “unimplementable”, is currently chairing Council of Ministers meeting at Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat to decide on the further course of action.

While JD(S) is expected to attend the all-party meeting, party’s Mandya MP Puttaraju and few legislators from Cauvery basin region have said that they will resign from their posts in protest against the Supreme Court order.

Sporadic protests have continued in the river basin districts, especially Mandya, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation since morning, where the agitators have blocked Bengaluru-Mysuru road at various places.

Government, which has appealed for peace, has made elaborate security arrangements in the city and southern districts to ensure that no untoward incidents happen.

State Reserve Police, City Armed Reserve Police, Rapid Action Force and Quick Reaction Teams have been deployed all over city, where prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrpC is in force. City police has prohibited sale of liquor and opening of bars, wine shops and pubs from 6 AM today to 1 AM tomorrow in the commissionerate limits.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday announced the third list of Smart Cities. According to the third list, 27 cities have been selected under the project.

Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Thane, Nashik, Nagpur, Kalyan Dombivali, Aurangabad, Gwalior, Ujjain, Kota, Ajmer, Vadodara, Hubbali-Dharwad, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkaru, Rourkela, Madurai, Salem, Thanjavur, Vellore, Tirupati, Namchi and Kohima have been selected under the third list.

Of the 27 cities, ten cities are from states where the BJP is in power while four cities have been selected from Karnataka where the Congress is in power.

The Centre is expected to spend about Rs 66,883 crore for developing these 27 cities. The Centre will give Rs 48,000 crore for five years for the programme and each city will be given Rs 100 crore per year. A matching fund of Rs 48,000 crore will have to be contributed by states from their internal resources/market borrowing and through private sector.

India plans on having 100 Smart Cities by 2022. So far 60 have been chosen while the remaining will be chosen by 2018.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: A 21-year-old woman was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her 34-year-old stalker, who attacked her nearly 22 times as passersby looked on in north Delhi’s Burari area.

The accused, identified as Surender Singh, carried out the frenzied attack when the victim, Karuna, was walking through the area at 9 AM. She was a teacher at Novel Reaches School, police said.

Scooterists and passersby looked on as Singh dragged the girl, who fell down as she tried to save herself, and relentlessly attacked her. Singh stabbed the woman 22 times.

A man tried to approach but backed off and left from there.

Some onlookers later caught Singh and handed him over to the police.

Singh had been stalking the girl for a year but she resisted his advances, said a senior police officer.
The victim used to learn computer at a training centre owned by the accused and he fell in love with her, police said.

The victim’s family had lodged a complaint against the stalker six months back but both the families reached a compromise and the accused had stopped stalking her, said the victim’s family.

However, he attacked her today and brutally killed her, police said.

(PTI)