Janata curfew cripples hills

On the second day of the Janata curfew, life remained paralysed in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions on Wednesday with no transport on the roads. The state government Wednesday took 200 vehicles, including 15 buses, to Darjeeling. The district administration also started distributing ration from 11 points in the three subdivisions, but did not find many takers. Meanwhile, police arrested 21 GJM workers, including Darjeeling municipality councillor Subhomoy Chatterjee, taking the total number of arrests to 300 since the agitation for Gorkhaland gained strength in the last week of July, said SP of Darjeeling.

Will follow HC orders: Gurung

Kolkata: Refusing to comment on high court's observation, GJM president Bimal Gurung on Wednesday wrote on Facebook: "We understand that the Hon'ble high court has taken on record the report filed by the state government and has consequently passed an interim order in the matter. We will respond after we have been served an authentic copy of the order of the Hon'ble High Court, whose orders we are naturally bound to respect and honour."

Cong MP seeks probe into Vadra land deal

Even as the Congress sought to distance itself from the controversy over the Robert Vadra-DLF land deal, terming it as a "state government issue", a party MP on Monday demanded an inquiry into alleged irregularities in land deals in Haryana, including the Vadra case.

"I am not in the business of prosecuting Robert Vadra. I am in the business of seeing that if anybody has made money illegally, they should all be held accountable and if that includes Robert Vadra, he should be held accountable as well," said Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh.

Stating that the "administration" has not functioned properly, Singh, who has been having a running battle with Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, alleged that relatives of many leaders are involved in land deals but their cases are being overlooked.

"If an inquiry happens, it will be clear which people from which party are involved. I believe that whenever there is talk about the change of land use, scam, immoral amassing of wealth, the role of everybody should be probed and not only that of one individual, who is the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi," he said.

Singh claimed that the land use of 21,000 acres was changed from agricultural to SEZ in the last five-six years. Stating that 1,200 acres of land had been released by the Haryana government, he said, "Every time the Hooda government is in some kind of difficulty, the Vadra case comes up. So my main contention is that if there has to be any kind of inquiry, it should not include only this four acres (under the Vadra-DLF deal) but should also include the 1,200 acres..."

While avoiding a direct reply on whether Vadra had been given land in contravention of rules, Singh said: "This question definitely comes to my mind that if Robert Vadra has done anything wrong or if it is being shown that he supported any attempt towards a wrong, why is only his name being raised? There are many other leaders whose relatives are also involved. Why is there no discussion on them... whenever there is any problem, the matters related to others are ignored by taking Vadra's name."

Whenever Modi campaigned, BJP lost polls, says Digvijaya

Taking a dig at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over his public rally in Hyderabad on Sunday, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said that the BJP had lost polls wherever the former campaigned for it in the past.

"We are not afraid of Modi. Wherever he had gone for campaigning, the BJP got defeated in the polls," the Congress general secretary said. Singh was talking to reporters after his arrival here to take part in a Congress rally to be addressed by the top leaders of the Madhya Pradesh.

On the issue of Rs 5 "registration" fee for Modi's public meeting in Hyderabad, Singh said, "It is all bogus! The BJP itself will deposit the fee and later claim that so many people attended it. They are masters in manipulating things."

Replying to a question on Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's act of sporting a skull cap on the occasion of Id, Singh said, "Whether he wears a red cap or black, the Congress has nothing to do with it. This is their job."

The senior Congress leader also alleged that "rampant corruption" took place in the implementation of the special package of Bundelkhand region (of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh) under the Backward Region Grant Fund, which was sent to the state on the initiative of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi."

When asked, Singh said that he was not interested in becoming Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister again as he wanted to focus on the national affairs.

"However, I am working in Madhya Pradesh to ensure that the Congress comes back to power," he added.

Egypt expected to act against pro-Morsi protesters Monday

Egyptian police are expected to start taking action early on Monday against supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi who are gathered in crowded protest camps in Cairo, security and government sources said, a move which could trigger more bloodshed.

The sites are the main flashpoints in the confrontation between the army, which toppled Morsi last month, and supporters who demand his reinstatement.

Western and Arab mediators and some senior Egyptian government officials have been trying to persuade the army to avoid using force against the protesters, who at times can number as much as tens of thousands.

"State security troops will be deployed around the sit-ins by dawn as a start of procedures that will eventually lead to a dispersal," a senior security source said on Sunday, adding that the first step will be to surround the camps.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who toppled Morsi, has come under pressure from hardline military officers to move against the protesters, security sources say.

Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since the overthrow, including dozens of Morsi supporters shot dead by security forces in two incidents.

Any further bloodshed would almost certainly deepen Egypt's political crisis and keep the government from dealing with vital issues such as the fragile economy.

Another security source said the decision to make a move on Monday, just after celebrations following the holy month of Ramadan, came after a meeting between the interior minister and his aides.

"The first step towards ending the sit-ins will start at dawn when protesters will be surrounded," a government official said.

Morsi's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement on Sunday criticizing any plans by "coup makers" to interfere with their right to protest and calling on international rights groups to visit their camps to see how peaceful they were.

Jogi goes for make or break

So far, Ajit Jogi had been asserting his loyalty while taking obvious steps towards a rebellion against the Congress. On Sunday, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister left no one in doubt. He avoided mention of the Congress at an election rally he held for candidates he is promoting in Abhanpur, the stronghold of former state party chief Dhanendra Sahu.

The rally marked the start of a campaign tour that Jogi plans to wind up in the constituency of another of his rivals, current PCC chief Charan Das Mahant. The tour coincides with the Congress's official campaign, which resumed on Friday after it had been suspended following the Naxal attack in Darbha. Jogi had skipped the relaunch, made from Rajnandgaon, BJP chief minister Raman Singh's constituency.

There were few signs that Jogi's rally had anything to do with the Congress. Jogi and his supporters did turn out in scarves in the traditional Congress colours, but there were no posters of the Congress, nor the customary references to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

His objective

Repeatedly sidelined by the high command, Jogi, now 68 and bound to a wheelchair, is staring at possible political oblivion should the Congress come to power. Over the last one-and-a-half months, he had made several trips to Delhi demanding that either he or a nominee of his be made the chief ministerial candidate, but the Congress instead downsized him. In the recent PCC expansion, he was confined to the election committee alongside several other leaders. His wife, Renu, was made state vice-president alongside 15 others; his son Amit got nothing.

In a traditionally bipolar state, Jogi's gambit now appears to be to collect the numbers, hope for a hung assembly and make his support necessary for forming the government. From within the Congress, he got 15 MLAs to a snacks party and then 21 to an iftaar party last week. In the first election since the Darbha attack, a rebel he put up defeated the Congress candidate in a nagar panchayat in Bastar. In the last assembly elections, his dummies had caused the defeat of then leader of the opposition Mahendra Karma, then PCC chief Sahu and programme coordinator Bhupesh Baghel.

China trade surplus falls 29.6% as imports gain

China's July trade surplus fell 29.6 percent year-on-year to $17.8 billion, government data showed on Thursday as a bigger-than-expected gain in imports outpaced one in exports.

Exports increased 5.1 percent year-on-year to $186.0 billion, according to figures from Customs, while imports rose 10.9 percent to $168.2 billion.

The results marked a rebound in trade in both directions after exports and imports declined in June, with the gain in imports being the first since April.

Two-way trade rose 7.8 percent year-on-year, slightly lower than the government's eight percent growth target for this year but "showing a stabilising and recovering trend", according to Customs.

The figures surprised economists.

A survey of 14 economists by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast exports to gain a median 2.8 percent and imports to rise 1.3 percent. The median prediction for the trade surplus was $27.2 billion.

Alaistair Chan, an economist at Moody's Analytics, called the results surprisingly good, though cautioned against overoptimism.

"We had expected imports to perform better than exports and hence for the trade surplus to fall, but the jump in imports was higher than expected," he wrote in a report.

But he added: "July seems to reflect a return to a 'normal', relatively uninspiring trend after a weak June, rather than the beginning of an acceleration in growth. While the worst seems to be over, the upturn will be relatively flat."

Yao Wei, a Hong Kong-based economist with Societe Generale said that while the export growth was "reasonable" and reflected a stabilising yet weak foreign demand, the rebound in imports was "confusing".

"Even though the government had announced some supportive measures, they should not show effects so soon — the fundamentals in the economy did not support such a strong rebound," she told AFP.

The trade data come after mixed messages on China's economy last week when private and official surveys of the country's important manufacturing sector showed differing results.

British banking giant HSBC's purchasing managers' index indicated contraction while the government's showed a surprise expansion.

China's economy managed growth of 7.8 percent in 2012, its slowest since 1999.

The economy has since weakened further, with growth in the April-June period dipping to 7.5 percent, from 7.7 percent in the first quarter and 7.9 percent in October-December.

Yao warned that uncertainties would remain in the fourth quarter as authorities turned cautious about credit expansion.

"The key issue is that the central bank does not want credit growth to be too fast or continue for too long a time," she said.

"But infrastructure investment cannot carry on without credit support. This is a contradiction that has yet to be dealt with properly."

Ahmedabad court issues notices to Big B, KBC producer

A metropolitan court in Ahmedabad issued notices to Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bhachchan, the host of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), its producer Siddhrath Basu and five others Wednesday after a complaint alleged that its promos present the legal profession in a "derogatory" manner.

City-based advocate Davindar Singh Rakkad filed an application before the chief metropolitan Magistrate S V Parekh stating that in the promos of the serial there are several derogatory substance against lawyer fraternity, which have been aired for past several days. The magistrate issued notices against seven persons and sought their reply by August 21 for hearing of the case.

In his complaint, Rakkad demanded legal actions against the seven persons involved in the quiz-show including host Amitabh Bachchan under Section 500 of code of criminal procedure (defamation) and various provisions under Information and Technology Act.

He has also submitted a CD containing the visuals of the promos including the transcript.

MHA to Bansal: Sec 39 set to get foodgrains, vegetable market

In a reply to MP Pawan Kumar Bansal's query about setting up of a new market, in Parliament on Wednesday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) replied that the Chandigarh Administration will soon set up a new foodgrains, fruit and vegetable market in the west of Sector 39. The administration has allotted 75 acres of land in the sector to the State Agricultural Marketing Board for the purpose.

The MHA reply said that of the land allotted to the marketing board, the possession of 21.56 acres was taken by the board in 1998. Facilities like construction of roads, providing storm-water drainage, electricity services as well as water supply system have already been provided here. The possession of 52.21 acres of land was taken over in May this year.

On Tuesday, the MHA had replied to Bansal's about service conditions of UT employees. It was stated that conditions of service of persons appointed to the posts in Group A, B, C and D under Chandigarh would be the same as the conditions of service of persons appointed to the corresponding posts of Punjab Civil Service.

MHA has further stated that the scale of the UT employees be revised from time to time so as to bring them at par with the scales of the corresponding categories of employees of the Punjab government. Probation, seniority, leave, pension, retirement, medical facilities, etc for the UT employees is similar to that of the Punjab government employees. However, the entry into government service does not fall within the ambit of conditions of service. The administration follows the Central pattern in the matter of upper age limit for entry into government services.

HC commutes death sentence of two to life imprisonment

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence awarded to two convicts in the 2007 Chandni rape and murder case, to life imprisonment.

A division bench of the HC, headed by Justices Akil Kureshi and R P Dholaria, on Tuesday ruled that the case was not fit to fall under the "rarest of the rare" category.

The HC commuted the death sentences awarded to Mohan Hamir and Mahesh Chauhan alias Bhado by a Junagadh sessions court in December 2011 to life imprisonment of 30 years and 20 years respectively.

Besides sentencing Hamir and Mahesh to death for murdering Chandni and raping her friend, the Junagadh sessions court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 each on the two convicts.

Astro Prediction: Will Chennai Express be a Box-Office Hit?

World's #3 and India's #1 Astrology service, GaneshaSpeaks.com is steadily rising up the popularity ladder with 5 million+ monthly visitors. Its hugely trusted astrology services are available via multiple platforms including Web, Mobile & Land-line, Apps for iOS, Android & Windows Phone and Books.

After creating magic in the 2007 in Bollywood magnum opus Om Shanti Om, Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone are back in action as the lead pair in the forthcoming Chennai Express. The awaited and aggressively promoted film is due for an Eid release on August 9, 2013. There has not been a major, star-studded Hindi release in quite a few weeks, especially if you discount the inspiring Bhaag Milkha Bhaag! Plus, this would be Deepika's next after the 2013 big hit Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Thus, naturally there are huge expectations from this action-comedy. Besides, being slated for release for the usual domestic and international markets, it is also all poised to release in non-traditional international markets such as Peru, Morocco, France and Israel amongst others. And, that's not all! Even before its release, Chennai Express has had its share of controversies, with Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MSN) threatening to stall its release, as the movie distributors had demanded prime slots in single screen cinemas, thereby perceived to dislodge popular Marathi films.

As they say – all publicity is good publicity – Will this extra impetus add to the film's business? Also, what lies ahead for this film? Will Chennai Express live up to all the hype surrounding it? Will the film manage to cross the 100 crore mark? And, most importantly, will this film resurrect King Khan's career? Ganesha finds out...

Astrological Observations

• Ganesha observes that the film Chennai Express is going to release with the Virgo Ascendant and Moon in Leo, Purvaphalguni constellation.
• Jupiter and Mars are placed in the 10th House of its release chart. 
• Jupiter is in the Anyo Anya Uchcha Yoga, because it is posited in Gemini – the Sign ruled by Mercury. And, Mercury is placed in Jupiter's Sign of exaltation. Same way, Mars is getting debilitated by an exchange, because it is placed in Mercury's Sign and Mercury is in Mars' Sign of debilitation.
• Saturn and Rahu are placed in the House of finances.
• Sun being the 12th House's Lord is placed with Mercury – the Lord of the Ascendant and the 11th House.

Astrological Predictions

• Considering all the factors mentioned above, Ganesha feels that the film Chennai Express shall receive a warm welcome at the box office.
• The advance-booking score would be very high.
• The film's first day's business and the first weekend's business in India and in the overseas markets shall be good.
• However, this does not imply that Chennai Express will become a very big hit. Yes, this film looks set to bag good money in the first weekend, especially in the absence of any knock-out competitors.
• However, as soon as it crosses Monday, we may see a notable decrease in the film's business, and by end of the first week, the business may come down remarkably.
• Despite this, this movie's business abroad may continue to  be good, feels Ganesha.
• Overall, although this is a very big release, astrologically speaking – Chennai Express doesn't have a great potential to be a big blockbuster.Still, Ganesha wishes loads of luck to this endeavour.

The crorepati writer

He's the man who gives Amitabh Bachchan his lines. Meet RD Tailang, the writer of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', the successful game show that's set to enter its seventh season.

When RD Tailang was invited to audition as a scriptwriter for the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) in 2000, he was overwhelmed and nervous. He was among the many writers short-listed by the production house, and the chances of being selected seemed rather slim. Siddhartha Basu, the mastermind behind the show, provided a simple brief: A quiz show that will entertain while educating. Tailang had his job cut out. "As a television writer, I knew the language had to be short and sweet. I also knew that the biggest audience would be middle-class India, " he says. 

Tailang struck the right chord when he penned the lines: "Ek crore rupay ek aam Hindustani ke jeevan main kya maayne rakhte hain? Kareeb kareeb aadhe se zyada Hindustaniyon ki salary bees hazaar hai.

Poll panel notice to SP MLA for name in 2 seats

The Election Commission has issued a show-cause notice to a Samajwadi Party MLA for violating provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act, 1950 by having his name registered in more than one constituency in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The commission asked MLA Prem Prakash Singh why legal proceedings should not be initiated against him. It directed the MLA from Barhaj constituency to respond within 15 days, failing which further action will be taken.

"If the commission is not satisfied with the MLA's response, it may lodge an FIR against him," an official in the UP CEO office said.

The MLA has denied receiving any notice from the Election Commission so far.

The commission's notice came after the Chief Electoral Officers of UP and Uttarakhand filed their reports on the complaint of BSP Lok Sabha member Gorakh Prasad Jaiswal, who had alleged that the SP MLA cast vote on July 8, 2012 in the by-election to the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly from Sitarganj.

The reports obtained by the commission confirmed the MLA's name in the electoral roll of 342-Barhaj Assembly constituency at polling station 287 in UP as well as in the roll of 68-Sitarganj Assembly constituency of Uttarakhand at polling station 48.

"It is clear from these facts that you have violated the provisions of sections 17 and 31 of the RP Act, 1950 by getting your name included in the electoral rolls of more than one constituency," the commission said in the notice letter.

Tech tackles mass cheating at a varsity

Plagued by malpractices in the marking of examination copies and menace of mass cheating across its 160 affiliated colleges in the state, the Bundelkhand University found reprieve in a technological find that saw it holding one of its most successful examination in a long time while also ensuring that classes are held regularly.

The university's Vice-Chancellor, Prof Avinash Pandey found in technology a solution to not only the issues regarding holding of classes and examinations, but also to the growing indiscipline in the affiliated colleges' following of rules.

Designed by and purchased from a company named Technopurple, the license for this mobile-based technical solution enabled the vice-chancellor's flying squads, stationed at examination centres, to upload real-time photographs and videos "within minutes", apart from sending out their own geographical location through Google Maps.

"We were able to catch 30 colleges red-handed, cancel their examinations and re-schedule them. The colleges have been let off with warning, although the affiliation of one of them has been cancelled for admitting more students than it was permitted to," said Prof Pandey. The license for the technology cost the varsity only Rs 6,000 for one year.

Following success in the examinations in 2012-13, the Vice-Chancellor has decided to use the technology round the year to ensure that 130 self-financed colleges develop requisite infrastructure for affiliation.

"The flying squads, through surprise visits, will check whether classes are being held or not. This way, we will be able to promote academic discipline," Prof Pandey said.

With help from Tata Consultancy Limited, the university has introduced a scanning technology that lets the examiners check copies on computer.

Some 30,000 copies of BEd and BTech are being scanned and provided to the examiners following complaints regarding the marking pattern used for these two subjects.

CNG prices to jump by up to Rs 11.7 due to gas price hike

The government decision to double natural gas prices from April next year will translate into a hike of Rs 8.20-Rs 11.72 per kg in CNG rates in cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

The government had in late June decided to price all domestically produced natural gas at an average of global hub rates and cost of imported LNG. Accordingly, gas price is expected to be in the range of USD 8.2 to 8.4 per million British thermal unit in April as against current USD 4.2.

"If it is presumed that the city gas distribution entity is operating entirely on domestic gas, the impact of USD 1 per mmBtu increase in price of domestic gas would result in a price hike of Rs 2.93 per kg of CNG," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaaka Lakshmi said.

While CNG supplier in national capital Indraprastha Gas sources 70 per cent of its needs from domestic fields, Mahanagar Gas Ltd buys almost all of its gas from domestic producers. Also, CNG retailers in Gurgaon and Faridabad source almost all of their gas needs from domestic fields.

For cities like Mumbai, the USD 4 per mmBtu hike in natural gas price will translate into Rs 11.72 per kg increase while in Delhi the increase may be about Rs 8.2 per kg.

CNG or compressed natural gas in Delhi currently costs Rs 41.90 per kg and the same in Mumbai is priced at 35.95.

Lakshmi also said a USD 1 per mmBtu increase in gas price would result in USD 24.893 per tonne hike in urea production cost. This additional production cost would be the increase in subsidy the government paid on urea.

"So long as the MRP of urea is not increased by the government, there will be no impact on the farmers," she said.

Cruise control

We are educating girls, raising their aspirations, even giving them a taste of professional life, and then asking them to rein in their ambitions.

Mujhe lagta hai ki hamare andar itni shakti hai...jiska day to day life mein 10 per cent bhi use nahin hoti. " (I believe we have so much power hidden within ourselves. We don't use even 10 per cent of that power in day to day life. ) 

This is not a quote from a book by Paulo Coelho or Stephen Covey. These are the words of Premlata Agarwal, speaking to me at her modest home in Jamshedpur, as she poured me a cup of tea. Premlata Agarwal is a housewife, married into a Marwari business family. Premlata Agarwal is also a world-class mountaineer and the oldest Indian woman to scale Mount Everest, at the age of 48. She is an inspirational woman whose story I had the privilege to feature in my book Follow Every Rainbow. 

More cops in India, but share of Muslims falls

In the six and a half years since Justice Rajinder Sachar submitted his report on the socio-economic condition of Muslims, the representation of the community has fallen in the police forces of about a third of India's 35 states and union territories.

A majority of the states in which the percentage of Muslims in the police was smaller in 2012 than in 2007 are now ruled by the Congress: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Mizoram.

In its report submitted in November 2006, the Sachar committee pointed to the poor representation of Muslims in the police force. The government subsequently reaffirmed its commitment to increasing their share. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that this has not happened.

In 2007, there were 1.01 lakh Muslims in the country's police — 7.55 per cent of what was then a 13.4 lakh strong force. By 2012, the force had grown over 24 per cent to 16.7 lakh, but Muslim representation had actually fallen by one percentage point to 6.5 per cent.

In absolute numbers, of the 3.26 lakh policemen added across all states and union territories in these five years, only 7,132, or 2.18 per cent, were Muslim. The number of Muslims in the police had increased from 1.01 lakh to 1.08 lakh. As per the 2001 census, Muslims made up 13.43 per cent of India's population. The Prime Minister's 15-point programme for welfare of minorities asks states to give special consideration to minorities while recruiting police personnel.

The worst performing states on this count have been Rajasthan and Assam, where the number of Muslim police personnel fell in absolute terms by 56 per cent during 2007-12. Assam, nearly 31 per cent of whose population is Muslim, had 2,388 Muslim police personnel in 2012, making up just about 4 per cent of the force. There were only 871 Muslims in the Rajasthan police in 2012.

Ponzi scheme in name of goddess in laundering net

A ponzi scheme named "Ek-ka-Teen", being run by a conman proclaiming himself to be an incarnation of a Hindu goddess, has landed in the net of anti-money laundering authorities in Gujarat. The chit-fund fraudster had cheated gullible investors of over Rs 25 crore over the years saying the goddess had given him powers to triple the money which is offered as prashad to him by the devout.

A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi has issued orders for attachment of assets of Ashok Jerambhai Jadeja of this district, at present lodged in Sabarmati jail, for perpetrating the fraud in this area and luring innocent investors of the Chhara community from across the country into the con scheme. The scheme was called "Ek-ka-teen" as Jadjea floated that the money would be tripled in three days.

The Sarkhej police had registered a case in this regard in 2009 and its probe had found that Jadeja "projected himself as the incarnation of goddess Vahnavati Skiotar Mata and branded himself as Jaymadi-Ashok madi and thereby created confidence among the members of Chhara community hailing from Gujarat and other states.

"He had claimed that goddess Vahnavati Sikotar Mata was pleased with him and that she wanted to make members of the Chhara community millionaires. Accordingly, whosoever offered money as prashad to the goddess, would get triple of the amount in three days.

"The gullible members of the community invested their hard earned savings and borrowed money. As the crowd of investors started swelling, he (Jadeja) raised the number of days from 3 to 7 and then to 25," the police investigation report said.

The police found that Jadeja had gobbled a total amount of Rs 25,25,68,000 by this con method and then purchased gold and silver ornaments, vehicles, immovable properties and stashed the money in bank accounts in his name and of his family members.

Theft at boutique, owner claims loss of Rs 2 lakh

A theft was reported in a shop near SDP college in Daresi area on Saturday late night.

As per the owner of the shop, she suffered a loss of Rs 2 lakh.

According to available information, locks of the shop were found missing and the shutter of the shop was broken.

The owner of the boutique, Aarti, came to the shop on Sunday morning and found the shop broken open. In her statement to the police, Aarti said the thieves stole garments worth Rs 2 lakh and Rs 15,000 in cash from the shop.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Bhupinder Singh said the police had initiated an investigation.

Extortion racket in Tihar Jail busted

The Special Cell on Saturday busted an extortion racket operating from Tihar Jail. Police said the racket was being run by members of the Neetu Dabodia gang. Seven persons have been arrested. The first arrests in the case were made on July 16 when police laid a trap at a businessman's office in Outer Delhi and arrested two persons — Sanjeet and Suresh. Based on information provided by them, police arrested seven others — Rajesh, Karambir, Amit, Ashok and Manoj. All the accused are inmates of jail number 8 in Tihar.

Old Delhi resident held with fake currency

The Crime Branch arrested an Old Delhi resident and recovered fake currency notes worth Rs 49,000 from him. Nadeem alias Salim was arrested from near Chandni Chowk, while he was waiting for his clients to deliver the fake currency.

CBI uncovers racket involving DDA officials

CBI has busted a racket by property dealers who allegedly revived cancelled flats illegally in collusion with DDA officials and made huge profits selling them at premium rates. The flats were advertised in 1979, but got cancelled after the allottees failed to pay up. CBI in its probe has found that in 2007-08, the property dealers approached these allottees who, against payment for the cancelled flats, agreed to sell them allotment letters. CBI sources said property dealers forged backdated applications on behalf of allottees, stating they had not received letters due to a change of address.

Nutritious banana candy likely to make way in Gujarat mid-day meal

A nutritious candy rich in vitamins and iron made out of banana stem could be a part of the mid-day meal scheme for Gujarat school children grappling with the problem of malnutrition.

Recently, a Gujarat government official has shown interest in introducing the candy in mid-day meal scheme of the state schools, Navsari Agriculture University (NAU) scientist B L Kolambe told PTI.

"Costing less than a rupee, the candy made out of banana plant has medicinal value. It is made out of central core (stem) of the plant's pseudostem," Kolambe said.

"The candy is rich in fibre, iron and vitamin B, and suitable to meet the nutritive requirements in anaemic (having less than normal quantity of hemoglobin in blood) children," Kolambe said.

"During tests conducted at Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, the candy was found safe for human consumption, and all the fibre in it was revealed to be digestable fibre," he claimed.

When contacted, Gujarat government spokesperson Saurabh Patel said that it is a positive development to deal with malnutrition problem and we will have a look over it.

As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-III, 49.2 per cent of the state's children were stunted. It was realised that malnutrition among women, adolescent girls and children was the underlying cause of death due to common ailments. Thus, state government has given top priority to malnutrition,says Gujarat's Socio-Economic Review 2012-13 report.

During 2011-12, on an average 41.40 lakh children of standard I to VIII were provided hot cooked meal per day in 33,396 schools through 29,977 MDM (mid-day meal) centres. The number of children went up to 43.17 lakh upto September 2012, says a state report.

NAU has standardised the technology to convert the waste of banana plant into various useful products, including this edible candy with nutritional values. "Presently, in one batch we make just 12 kg of candy, but once the technology is licensed for commercialisation, the production can always be scaled up," Kolambe said.