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BHEL gets largest-ever order worth Rs 17,950 CR

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BHEL

Bengaluru: Power generation machinery maker BHEL has bagged its largest order amounting to Rs 17,950 crore from Telangana State Power Generation Corp (TSGENCO) to set up a 4,000 MW plant at Yadadri.

“BHEL has achieved a new landmark by securing the single largest order in its history for setting up a 4,000 MW (5×800 MW) supercritical thermal power project from TSGENCO,” BHEL said in a statement.

The project valued at Rs 17,950 crore is one of the highest orders ever placed in the capital goods sector in India, the statement added.

“TSGENCO has entrusted BHEL with this order for setting up the 5×800 MW thermal power plant, on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis, at Damaracherla in Nalgonda District of Telangana, named as Yadadri Thermal Power Project,” it said.

In December 2014, TSGENCO had placed an order with BHEL for setting up Telangana’s first Supercritical Thermal Power Plant of 800 MW rating, also on EPC basis, at Kothagudem followed by an order for the 4×270 MW Bhadradari TPS at Manuguru in Khammam district in March this year.

The statement further said, BHEL has been a long standing partner in the development of the erstwhile combined state of Andhra Pradesh with 78% of coal-based power stations having been commissioned by the company.

In 2014-15, these plants operated at a high Plant Load Factor (PLF) of 83.5% against the national average of 65.5%.

Earlier this year, TSGENCO has entered into an MoU with BHEL for construction of new thermal power plants totalling to 6,000 MW in the state.

BHEL said that all these power plants are expected to commence generation on fast-track basis to meet the state’s increasing demand for power, with power being identified as a crucial factor for the development.

To overcome the current uncertainty of coal supply, BHEL shall be supplying its in-house developed fuel flexible boiler, which is capable of firing the entire range, from 100% Indian to 100% imported mix of coal, BHEL said.

(Agencies)

India reiterates support for independent Palestine nation

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India's Deputy Permanent Representative Bhagwant S. Bishnoi (Credit: United Nations file photo)

India’s Deputy Permanent Representative Bhagwant S. Bishnoi (Credit: United Nations file photo)

United Nations: Following External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s reiteration that New Delhi’s policy towards Palestine is unchanged, India pledged Tuesday support for an independent Palestine nation “at peace with Israel” and urged them to resume the peace process for a comprehensive solution.

“We firmly believe that dialogue is the only viable option in the search for a just, durable and comprehensive peaceful solution of the Palestinian issue,” Deputy Permanent Representative Bhagwant S. Bishnoi told a high level conference here. “We call for all to show restraint, to avoid provocation and unilateral actions and to return to the peace process.”

The measured statement came two days after India announced that Narendra Modi would soon become the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. Disclosing the planned trip, Swaraj declared Sunday, “There was no change in India’s policy towards Palestine.”

Bishnoi said at the UN, “India supports a negotiated solution, resulting in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side and at peace with Israel.”

Tuesday’s conference was organised to mark the 65 years of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It was “unfortunate,” Bishnoi said, “sixty five years have passed without finding an amicable solution to the Palestine Question.”

India, he said, contributes $1 million annually to UNRWA, has pledged $4 million to the National Early Recovery and Reconstruction Plan for Gaza, and is working jointly with Brazil and South Africa on development projects in Palestine.

(IANS)

Live larvae found in milk powder sample of Nestle

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larvae milk powder Nestle

Coimbatore: Facing trouble in many states over the safety of its popular Maggi noodles, Nestle India has courted fresh trouble after a preliminary test by a state agency of a sample of their milk powder allegedly found live larvae in it.

The Drug Administration Department (food safety wing), tested the NAN PRO3 milk powder, bought by a cab driver and the initial report by one of its food analysts found live larvae in the sample.

The report also found it unsafe for consumption as it contained live insects and did not conform to standards, a health department official, on condition of anonymity said.

The driver had claimed that his child had developed skin allergy after consuming the milk and gave the sample for testing.

The official said they are awaiting a comprehensive report from the Government food safety laboratory.

Nestle denies receiving recall order from central, state FDAs

Nestle India today said it has not received any order from the central or any state FDA authority for recall of its Maggi noodles as the controversy over safety issues deepened.

“We have not received any official communication from the authorities so far,” the company said in a BSE filing.

It further said: “We wish to state that we have till now not received any orders from any state/Centre FDA authorities to recall Maggi noodle products in the market except an order from the Uttar Pradesh FDA dated 30.4.2015 asking us to recall a batch of Maggi noodles manufactured in February 2014, which had already reached the ‘Best Before date’ in November 2014.”

Meanwhile, Kishore Biyani-led Future Group today stopped selling Maggi in its retail stores.

“In the interest of consumer sentiment and concerns, we have taken Maggi noodles off the shelves from all our stores for the time being. We will wait for more clarity from authorities to take any further course of action,” a Future Group spokesperson said.
Modern trade retail outlets like Big Bazaar contribute a large chunk of sales for FMCG firms, including Nestle.

Nestle India, which has been at the receiving end with several state governments ordering tests to find out lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) content in Maggi noodles, said it’s “cooperating with the authorities”.

Yesterday, the Delhi government decided to initiate a case against Nestle India after it found samples of Maggi noodles “unsafe” for consumption. The probe into alleged lapses has already widened to different parts of the country.

However, Nestle India claimed that it has got samples tested in an external laboratory as well as its in-house one, and the product is found “safe to eat”

In Karnataka, Health Minister U T Khader said officials have been directed to randomly lift samples of Maggi noodles for laboratory testing. Haryana, too, ordered the same. The West Bengal Food department has convened a meeting tomorrow to take a call on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is undertaking more tests in the wake of the findings of Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration.

Earlier this week, the Consumer Affairs Ministry said strict action will be taken for any violation.

A case has already been lodged against Nestle India by UP food regulator FSDA in a Barabanki court in UP.

Actors Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta were also separately dragged into the matter for endorsing the noodles brand.

(PTI)

U T Khader urges not to sell, consume Maggi noodles

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maggi-noodles

Bengaluru: Health and Family Welfare Minister U T Khader has appealed to retailers to not sell Maggi noodles till the test reports are ready in the state and advised people to not buy it.

Mr Khader said he had directed officials to collect random samples from the manufacturing unit in Nanjangud and retail shops in the State. “The test reports will be made public in the next two days,” he said.

The Minister said the samples would be tested in the four Food Safety and Standards Association of India (FSSAI)-identified divisional laboratories, Mysuru-based CFTRI as well as six NABL-accredited private laboratories in the State.

“If required, we will get it tested by laboratories outside the State too,” he said.

FSSAI Deputy Director H.S. Shivakumar said the food safety officers had started surveillance from May 27 as a precautionary measure.

Naresh Bhat, consultant hepatologist and gastroenterologist at Colombia Asia Hospital, said there was no need for people to panic as only long-term regular consumption of the product could affect a person’s health. While MSG can cause certain reactions only in people who are sensitive to it, lead can cause swelling of the brain in children. In adults, it can cause constipation, nerve paralysis, stomach pain and anaemia in some cases, he said.

After samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in March 2014 were found to have high levels of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and lead, the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry had directed State governments to get samples of the product tested.

After receiving an official communication from the ministry on Monday, 66 food safety officers in the State have been put on the job of collecting samples.

(Agencies)

California man brutally beat 82-year-old Sikh grandfather he mistook for 'one of those people'

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Piara Singh

Washington: An 82-year-old Sikh grandfather was brutally beaten with a steel pipe by a man who reportedly targeted him for looking like one of “those people”.

Piara Singh was attacked outside his gurdwara in Fresno California where he was preparing free meals to give to the homeless. He suffered a punctured lung and head injuries and was left lying in a pool of blood, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Two years later, members of Mr Singh’s Sikh community say that while his physical wounds have healed, they are still waiting for closure in the case because of a third delay in sentencing.

The assailant, Gilbert Garcia Jr who was 29 at the time of the 2013 incident, was initially charged with attempted murder but admitted elder abuse and a hate crime in February.

And as they wait for Garcia to at last be sentenced, community advocate Ike Grewal told local KFSN news that the attack was all the more troubling because it is believed the attacker confused Mr Singh for a radical Muslim.

“The Sikhs have been attacked all over the United States after 9/11 and this is not acceptable because we have been mistaken as radicals when we are not,” Mr Grewal said.

Speaking to the LA Times shortly after the incident itself, Mr Singh’s nephew Charanjit Sihota said that police told him they found Garcia hiding behind a tree in a neighbour’s garden, and that as he was arrested he shouted that he hated “those people” and wanted to bomb their places of worship.

Even if his attack was misdirected, legal expert Tony Capozzi told KFSN, it can still be classed as a hate crime. “His hatred was the focus, the driving force, towards that belief,” he said. “And the fact that the victim wasn’t of the religion he thought it was is of no consequence.”

(Agencies)

State withdraws communal violence cases standing against PFI, FFD activists

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(Representative image)

(Representative image)

Bengaluru: The state government has withdrawn about 175 cases involving about 1,600 accused, which had been filed against various persons in connection with communal disturbances which occurred in Mysuru and other places in the years 2009 and 2010. The accused named in these cases included activists of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Forum for Dignity (FFD).

During April and July 2009, communal clashes had erupted within the limits of Udayagiri and Narasimharaja polie stations in Mysuru. One of these disturbances had taken place in retaliation for tossing of pork inside a mosque, whereas the other one was concerning the activists of PFI and FFD ganging up illegally, engineering communal clashes, attacking policemen on duty and other members of general public besides pelting stones on them and causing loss of property.

In these two disturbances, 40 cases had been registered, and 214 persons had been named as accused.

In the other case pertaining to the year 2010, communal disturbances had occurred in Shivamogga and Hassan relating to the publication of Kannada translation of a work of controversial Muslim writer, Taslima Nasrin titled ‘Parda Ye Parda’. In this connection, 114 cases were registered in Shivamogga, and 21 in Hassan. 1,400 persons had been shown as accused in these cases.

With the state cabinet deciding to withdraw all these cases, the accused have heaved a sigh of relief.

(Agencies)

37K-page charge sheet against pro-IS twitter account handler Mehdi Biswas

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shamiwitness

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru police has filed a charge sheet against Mehdi Masroor Biswas, 24, the suspected handler of pro-Islamic State Twitter account, @ShamiWitness.

The CCB’s investigation team filed the charge sheet before a special court here on Monday, more than five-and-a-half months after Biswas’s arrest. Police had arrested Biswas, who was then working as a manufacturing executive with ITC Foods, from his one-room rented flat near Jalahalli in Gangammanagudi police limits on December 13, 2014, after Britain’s Channel 4 broadcast an interview with him.

In the interview, Biswas is heard admitting to handling @ShamiWitness, an IS propagandist Twitter account, for the last few years. Biswas’s Twitter account had more than 17,000 followers at the time of his arrest.

“The charge sheet runs into 36,986 pages, including exhibits, and contains details of about 1.22 lakh tweets and 18,000 followers. We have charged him under various sections of appropriate Acts and are confident of proving the charges in the court of law,” Joint Commissioner of (Crime) M Chandrashekhar said.

The charges

The CCB claimed that Biswas was a “representative” of Islamic State (IS) chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and planned to “establish” the caliphate. He made a “mockery” of those opposed to Baghdadi and the IS. He described the militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir as “martyrs” and urged Indians to support the IS. In the interview to Channel 4, he even expressed a desire to join the IS. Tests have “proved” that the voice in the interview was Biswas’s. The CCB also collected evidence about his contacts with “terrorists who know the English language”.

Biswas created “fake” e-mail IDs between January 25, 2013, and December 11, 2014, used the available content on the Internet and generated 1,22,203 tweets, besides uploading 15, 446 pictures. He used the Twitter account as a platform to “expand the base of his operations and instil fear among non-Muslims”. He “shared” the details of bordering areas of the IS to help those willing to join the organisation.

Mehdi has been charged under IPC sections 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), 121 (waging or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the government of India), 124 (a) (sedition) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), section 66 (f) (cyber terrorism) of IT Act, 2000, and sections 13(1)(b) (advocating, abetting, advising or inciting any unlawful activity), 18 (b) recruiting of any person or persons for terrorist activity and 39 (support given to a terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2008.

Assam Court issues non-bailable arrest warrant against Subramanian Swamy

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Subramanian Swamy (Photo credit: Jagran)

Subramanian Swamy (Photo credit: Jagran)

New Delhi: A court in Karimganj district of Assam has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for failing to honour a summons issued on March 19.

Additional CJM (Karimganj) in his order stated that Swamy should be arrested on or before June 30.

He also directed the Delhi and Assam Police to produce Swamy before the court by the date after his arrest.

A complaint has been registered against Swamy for making a controversial remark on mosques.

While speaking in Guwahati on March 13, Swamy had reportedly said, “A mosque is not a religious place. It is just a building and it can be demolished any time. If anyone disagrees with me on this, I am ready to have a debate on the issue. I got this information from people of Saudi Arabia”.

(Agencies)

Achhe din? Higher service tax makes mobile, eating out, travel expensive

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service tax

New Delhi: Eating out, mobile phone usage and air & rail travel have become expensive from today with the government hiking service tax rate to 14 per cent.

The government’s proposal to increase the rate of service tax from 12.36 per cent (including education cess) to 14 per cent has come into effect from today.

The service tax is levied on all services, expect a small negative list.

Some of the key services that attract higher tax and have become costlier include, rail and air travel, banking, insurance, advertising, architecture, construction, credit cards, event management and tour operators.

Mobile operators and credit card companies have already sent messages to subscribers conveying the increase in service tax rate, which will have a bearing on the bills.

Fares for First Class and AC classes in passenger trains, besides freight charges, have increased by about 0.5 per cent.

Jaitley had proposed to raise the service tax rate to 14 per cent to facilitate a smooth transition to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which the government wants to roll out from April 2016.

Once implemented, GST will subsume service tax, excise and other local levies.

“To facilitate a smooth transition to levy of tax on services by both the Centre and the States, it is proposed to increase the present rate of service tax plus education cesses from 12.36 per cent to a consolidated rate of 14 per cent,” Jaitley had said in Budget speech.

Education cess, which is levied on service tax, has been subsumed in the service tax rate.

Although the Budget also proposed a 2 per cent Swachh Bharat cess on selected services, the government is yet to come out with a notification in this regard.

(PTI)

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan blocks eggs in anganwadi meals

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Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Bhopal: In a startling revelation it has come to light that the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has blocked eggs in anganwadi meals just because he is a strict vegetarian.

In the tribal areas of Alirajpur, Mandla and Hoshangabad districts, where children suffer from malnutrition, eggs would have been a rich source of protein in their diet.

However, when the Chief Minister’s permission was sought for including eggs in the anganwadi meals, he immediately turned down the proposal, according to an Indian Express report.

Chouhan also made it clear that eggs would not be served in the anganwadis as long as he is the Chief Minister of the state.

Clarifying the same, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, S K Mishra said that it’s a sentimental issue with Chouhan.

(Agencies)

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