New Delhi : China and India – two economic powerhouses of Asia – are contributing significantly to the greening of the planet, a new global study released on Monday has found.

The world now has about 5.5 million square kilometers of extra green leaf area round the year compared to 2000. A bulk of this increase is due to greening in China and India. China has contributed 25 percent to this increase while India added 6.8 percent of the total global net increase in leaf area between 2000 and 2017. 

The contribution to the greening by the two countries is much higher though they have less vegetated area than some of the developed countries. China has 6.6% and India only 2.7% of global vegetated area. The increase in total leaf area recorded in India is equal to that in the United States or Canada, each of which has three times more vegetated area. 

Greening refers to increase in total leaf area – forests, croplands, orchards, monoculture plantations, commercial plantations. 

The increase in green areas is mostly due to 35 percent increase in food production in both the countries with multiple cropping aided by facilitated by fertilizer use and availability of surface as well as groundwater irrigation. China has also taken up on a large scale rejuvenation of forest areas and afforestation on degraded lands. 

In China, the greening is from forests (42%) and croplands (32%), but in India it is mostly from croplands (82%) with minor contribution from forests (4.4%).

Earlier studies had identified carbon dioxide fertilization as the main reason for the greening of earth’s lands. But this study has found that greening is more due to land use changes. The study is based on satellite data from MODIS sensors of NASA. These sensors view the entire earth twice a day at 500 meter resolution.

“China and India account for one-third of the greening but contain only 9% of the global vegetated land area. This is a surprising finding considering the general notion that there is land degradation in populous countries due to over-exploitation,” Chi Chen of the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University, lead researcher, told India Science Wire. The study has been published in journal Nature Sustainability. 

However, experts feel that the increase in greening driven by croplands and plantations should not be seen as compensation for loss of forests in Brazil, Indonesia and other parts of the world. “Greening due to intensive agriculture does not enhance the land sink because crop carbon quickly returns back to the atmosphere,” explained Dr. Victor Brovkin of Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany, also a co-author of the study. 

“Since the contribution of forests in India’s greening is minor (4%) it has not been explored in detail in this study. However, it is important that we find overall greening trend in natural vegetation (forests) in India, unlike some recent studies reporting a browning trend,” commented Dr. Rajiv Kumar Chaturvedi (BITS Pilani, Goa campus), and a member of the research team, while speaking to India Science Wire.

When asked how the new study compares with the forest area statistics of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dr Chaturvedi said the two can’t be compared as both have different contexts and objectives. Â“I believe that FSI estimates are supposed to be more robust as their estimates are supposed to be based on thousands of ground observations, in addition to satellite data.  However, FSI estimates will gain more credibility if their ground data as well as satellite assessment is made publicly accessible and is subjected to rigorous peer review,” he added. 

The research team included Chi Chen, Taejin Park, Baodong Xu and Ranga B. Myneni (Boston University); Xuhui Wang, Shilong Piao, Zaichun Zhu (Peking University); Rajiv K. Chaturvedi  (BITS, Goa campus); Richard Fuchs (Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Germany); Victor Brovkin (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Germany); Philippe Ciais (Université Paris Saclay, France); Rasmus Fensholt (University of Copenhagen); Hans Tømmervik (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research); Govindasamy Bala (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore); Ramakrishna R. Nemani (NASA Ames Research Center). (India Science Wire)

NEW DELHI :  From flying and static displays of its best-in-class products to showcasing its cutting-edge aerospace services, Airbus is planning one of its biggest-ever participation at Aero India to be held in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24. 

The centrepiece of the flying displays will be the A330neo – the latest addition to the leading Airbus wide-body family featuring advanced materials, new optimized wings, composite sharklets and highly efficient engines that together deliver 25% reduced fuel burn and CO2 emissions. Demonstration flights will be performed by the new generation tactical airlifter C295 which can perform multi-role operations under all weather conditions.

On static display will be Airbus’ most versatile twin-engine rotorcraft – the H135 & H145. The H135 is known for its endurance, compact build, low sound levels, reliability, versatility and cost-competitiveness. The H145 is a member of Airbus’ 4-tonne-class twin-engine rotorcraft product range – with designed-in mission capability and flexibility, especially in high and hot operating conditions. 

Visitors at the Airbus exhibit will be able to witness the company’s continued commitment to supporting the growth of India’s aviation, defence and space sectors, particularly in the areas of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’. Aerospace fans can also savour interactive virtual and augmented reality experiences at the Airbus stand, according to a company statement he.

“Aero India is the jewel in the crown of the world’s largest defence and third-largest commercial aviation market,” said Anand E Stanley, President and Managing Director of Airbus India & South Asia. “Airbus’ large-scale commitment to the show demonstrates that India is more than a market, it’s a core base for us,” he said. 

On display will be scale models of the C295 – medium transport aircraft; the A330 MRTT – Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft; the A400M – the most versatile airlifter currently available; the SES-12 – a geostationary communications satellite and a holographic display of the Hybrid SAR Earth observation radar satellite.

In helicopters, scale models of the H225M– the military version of Airbus’ H225 Super helicopter; the AS565 MBe – the all-weather, multi-role force multiplier; along with the H135 and H145 will be on display. Commercial aircraft scale models will include A330-900, the member of Airbus’ A330neo new generation widebody, the A321neo and ATR 72-600.

Airbus will also demonstrate a wide range of service offerings, including through its fully owned subsidiaries Satair and Navblue, with particular focus and demonstrations of Skywise-based digital services. Also, on display will be Airbus’ Advanced Inspection Drone which accelerates and facilitates visual checks, considerably reducing aircraft downtime and increasing the quality of inspection reports.

In India, it has sought to foster innovation and entrepreneurial spirit through Airbus BizLab, which will be present at Hall E 2.9. Visitors will get a first glance of the opportunities that the startup accelerator has created in the Indian innovation ecosystem. Airbus Bizlab will also partner with Invest India to organise the ‘Startup Day’ at Aero India.

Airbus will also leverage the event to acquire talent. On February 23 and 24, it will offer members of the public the opportunity to explore career prospects with Airbus India in Avionics Software, Aircraft System Simulation and Airframe Structures as well as in API Development, Full Stack Development, Big Data, Cloud and DevOps.

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated revenues of € 59 billion restated for IFRS 15 and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is supporting a patent challenge filed in India this week by two tuberculosis survivors, to prevent pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J) from extending its monopoly on the tuberculosis drug bedaquiline.

Nandita Venkatesan from Mumbai, India and Phumeza Tisile from Khayelitsha, South Africa, who filed the patent challenge at the Mumbai Patent Office, both survived drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) but lost their hearing because of the toxicity of the treatment. They are now fighting to ensure that newer drugs like bedaquiline – which are safer and more effective – are made affordable and accessible to everybody with DR-TB, to replace painful and toxic drugs that need to be injected.

An estimated 558,000 people developed DR-TB in 2017, but only 25 per cent of them were treated. The standard DR-TB treatment used by most countries up to now has included drugs that need to be injected daily and are associated with several serious side effects. The cure rate is only 55 per cent.

“I lost my hearing when I was 24 because of the brutal side effect of an injected DR-TB drug,” said Nandita Venkatesan, who completed her treatment in 2015. “I was devastated by this loss, which took a heavy financial, emotional and mental toll on me. With this patent challenge, we want to prevent an extension of the patent monopoly that will continue to block people from accessing more affordable generic versions of bedaquiline.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended bedaquiline as a core part of an all-oral treatment regimen for DR-TB, and relegated drugs that must be injected and cause serious side effects to last-resort options only. Scale-up of WHO’s recommendations by countries will dramatically increase the number of people who should receive this drug. By November 2018, only 28,700 people had received bedaquiline worldwide – nearly 70 per cent of whom have been treated in South Africa.

Despite the benefits of the drug, high prices remain a significant barrier. J&J recently announced a reduced price of US$400 for six months of bedaquiline treatment for South Africa and countries procuring the drug through the Global Drug Facility, but this falls short of making the drug affordable in all countries affected by the DR-TB epidemic, a statement issued by MSF said here.

“The evidence of improved cure rates and lives saved for people with drug-resistant TB using bedaquiline is crystal clear,” said Dr Anja Reuter, a DR-TB doctor with MSF in Khayelitsha, South Africa. “Bedaquiline is crucial to offering patients a fighting chance without the toxic side effects of drugs that need to be injected. This treatment revolution is already a reality in South Africa, but DR-TB programmes elsewhere need this drug at an affordable price. If this patent application is rejected, generic versions of this drug could be available sooner at reduced prices, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and reducing immense suffering around the world.”

The J&J patent application being challenged is for the salt form of bedaquiline, which does not merit patenting under India’s patent law. If granted, J&J’s monopoly on bedaquiline would be extended from 2023 to 2027, delaying entry of generics by four additional years. This strategy of ‘patent evergreening’ through filing of additional, often unmerited patents, is commonly used by corporations to extend monopolies on their drugs beyond the standard 20 years. Preventing this patent barrier is expected to encourage TB drug manufacturers from India to enter the market with generics and supply bedaquiline at lower prices to national TB programmes and TB care providers globally.

The development of bedaquiline and the evidence for its potential to improve cure rates with fewer side-effects was the result of a collective effort of the global TB community. MSF is urging J&J to refrain from attempts to extend its monopoly that will further delay the availability of quality-assured generic versions of bedaquiline in India, South Africa and other countries.

Vasant Panchmi, the fifth day of spring season that marks the end of winter, is a very auspicious day in our calendar. The word Vasant instantly evokes the image of vast fields covered with green grass and crops with birds chirping all around. The season is perhaps the best for animals as well and hence Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) this year decided to observe Jeev Jantu Kalyan Diwas on Vasant Panchmi day every year.

The idea behind this is to raise awareness level about animal sentience in the country and ensure best animal welfare standards are adopted.  At a time animal farming is happening at industrial scale there is always possibility of animal welfare getting compromised in piggeries, dairies and poultry farms. Besides, cases of cruelty against animals are reported in huge numbers.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has recognized that animals have same basic rights as humans and endorsed the five freedoms for them. These include freedom from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical pain and discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behavior.

Being the statutory body under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 the AWBI has been working with state governments and local bodies for guaranteeing the basic rights to animals but a lot distance needs to be covered for actual implementation of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directive.

Besides causing pain and suffering to animals, poor implementation of welfare measures has significant bearing on human health. A poorly managed dairy with inadequate facilities is bound to adversely affect the health of cows. This will certainly affect the quality of milk consumed by humans. It is, therefore, necessary that dairies in the urban and rural areas have proper provision for air, water and sunlight besides cleanliness. On many occasions these essential things are compromised to save on cost but in the long run it could have devastating consequences.

In recent years, the issue of homeless animals has emerged as a major problem. While in urban areas they eat food leftovers thrown in plastic bags and die painful death, in the rural areas they become victim of cruelty as farmers resort to extreme measures in order to protect their fields from stray animals. The UP government’s decision to build cow-shelters in every panchayat and districts is highly commendable and similar scheme in other states would go long way in securing basic rights for farm animals.

On its part, the Board has been conducting training programmes for capacity building.  The Board has trained over 300 animal lovers and activists from across the country and appointed them as honorary animal welfare officers since 30th July 2018 to work directly with law enforcement agencies for effective implementation of animal welfare laws and rules. Further, it has taken up the issue of activation and strengthening of State Animal Welfare Board and District SPCAs (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) with state governments.

Apart from farm and companion animals, the Board has laid equal emphasis on wild animals and worked with concerned agencies for prevention of cruelty against them and protection. It is worth noting that we share the Mother Earth with all the animals who play a very important role in maintaining the ecological balance. 

As we celebrate Jeev Jantu Kalyan Diwas and become more concerned about animals India could certainly be the best place for animal welfare. With tolerance, compassion and kindness being the core of Indian culture, a small change could bring much bigger difference.

(Author is Secretary, Animal Welfare Board of India under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC))

A research group from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, have developed a paper-based kit that can evaluate the pasteurization of milk based. The developed kit can discriminate the pasteurized and raw milk based on the determination of intrinsic indicator present in milk. The duo team, led by Prof. Pranjal Chandra, department of biosciences and bioengineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati with Ph.D. research scholar Kuldeep Mahato has published the recent innovation in biosensor and bioelectronics journal.

As per the authors “Milk being a widely consumed stable food, its safety has become a prime concern to consumers due to the inevitable microbial invasion making it a pool for the various type of food born infections. Therefore, milk is boiled in households and before consumption and in dairies a rapid heat & cold shock is given technically called pasteurization for killing the microbial forms.  The available confirmatory for this the tests are based on various high-end instruments which limits the test in many ways, thus, the requirement of low cost easy to handle kit based detection is of the need of the hour especially in the third world countries”. Prof. Chandra the lead author also added that “in context to the third world countries the availability of quality controls are rare or nonfunctioning at the point of collections. Thus, using our developed portable testing kit, the reportedly greater mass spoilage of milk at collection points due to the microbial invasion can be prevented from such quality deteriorations”.

To develop the kit researchers used ordinary filter paper and cut to small disc using the office punch machine. Thereafter, the paper discs were chemically impregnated with the sensing probe consisting the antibody of the ALP an indicator molecule for the pasteurization and target molecule in this case. When ALP comes into contact with the probe, it turns white paper disc into a colored one.

As per the authors “, the paper was functionalized with the 4-carboxybenzene diazonium solution followed by chemical treatment which eventually exposes the COOH flanking groups. On which the NH2 groups of the anti-ALP was coupled by means of covalent bioconjugation techniques on the paper surface. When a drop of milk is dispensed on the paper disc, the present ALP reacts with probes, gives the color change. The appearance of the greenish blue color at the paper sensor was then captured using smartphone camera and the image was processes using the digital image colorimetric technique. The technique tells the correlation of the  ALP content on the basis of color change. Using this generated data from standard conditions, one can estimate the amount of ALP in the milk and tell the state of freshness.

” The kit have been assessed using the milk of different sources collected from the nearby villages and the commercial outlets form the IIT-G campus following the spike-recovery method of analysis” said Prof. Chandra. In most cases, close to 94% of the ALP have been determined using the probe. The authors also confirmed the greenish blue color appearance is explicitly due to the ALP, not due to the interference of vitamins, other proteins, and minerals in the milk. The handy kit is merely of 2 square centimeter in size made up of the paper biosensor and the support of cellulose acetate film. The biosensor is covered from outside using the O-ring and the centrally holed cellulose acetate circular lid, which prevent the probe from the mechanical distortion. Since ALP is also tested in various body fluids, the kit can also be utilized in clinics. Fabrication in the laboratory at present costs around Rs. 80 to Rs 125 per kit and could come down when mass manufactured, researchers said.

 “As of now, our developed kit is capable of discriminating the raw from pasteurized milk based on the ALP determination, which is correlated with the present microbial forms or microbial contamination in milk. We are considering that in future we will address the determination of chemical-based contaminations in milk as well,” Kuldeep Mahato, a Ph.D. scholar, who worked on this project along with Prof. Chandra told during an interaction.

NEW DELHI: As domestic civil aviation market in India continues to register an impressive growth, there is a growing demand for trained pilots. To cater to this demand, a new full-flight simulator training centre is coming up at Gurugram near Delhi’s IGI international airport.

Dubbed as the fastest growing domestic aviation market in the world, India’s civil aviation sector is likely to grow at an annualised 9.3% over the next 20 years, outgrowing the world average of 4.6%.

Aviation major have forecast a requirement for at least 1,600 new passengers and freighter aircraft by 2035. Corresponding increase in the country’s aircraft fleet will result in need of over 24,000 new pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers.

“At present we do not have sufficient flight simulators and training facilities which can keep pace with the growth of civil aviation market in India. The upcoming flight simulator centre will finally emerge as the biggest in the country catering for single-aisle Airbus A 320 and Boeing 737 types of aircraft,’’ said Captain Sachin Khandekar, a pilot with Jet Airways who is the driving force behind the new simulator centre. 

He mentioned the new training facility will be the country’s biggest privately owned in Delhi NCR and it will be extended to Mumbai in the times ahead. The total estimated cost of the simulator training facility would be of Rs. 500 crore; which will be fully capable of training professional commercial pilots from India as well as abroad at most economical charges.

The spirit of entrepreneurship in Capt. Khandekar was in search for newer and prospective opportunities. With humble beginnings as a son of a class IV helper, he lived with the family in a Mumbai chawl and completed his initial education in a municipal school. 

Adverse circumstances and poor economic conditions did not deter him from being a topper throughout and landing a job with an MNC followed by becoming the Head of Department that took him to London. But his dream of one day flying a plane kept him going. With his savings over the years, Sachin Khandekar earned the wings on his own and completed his training as a commercial pilot.

His thirst for achieving something new pushed him to float a flight simulator project after planning and discussing it among his network of aviation experts and from other chores of society from India and abroad. As a pilot he was aware of the huge gap in supply of flight simulators in civil aviation and wanted to bridge it so that pilots could train in India itself.

The civil aviation industry in India has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors in the country during the last three years. India is currently considered the third largest domestic civil aviation market in the world. 

India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha recently said the country is expected to become the world’s largest domestic civil aviation market in the next 10 to 15 years. According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), India will replace the UK for the third place in civil aviation in 2025.

Driven by liberalization and open sky policy introduced in 1993,  low-cost carriers, the Civil Aviation industry has ushered in a new era of expansion with a substantial stress on regional connectivity.

Market Size

Air traffic in India rose 15.80 per cent year-on-year to 280.24 million passengers during April-February 2017-18. Witnessing a growth of 18.50 per cent over the previous year, total passenger traffic stood at a whopping 264.97 million in 2017.  As of January 2019, there are nearly 550 commercial aircraft in operation in India.

In the coming 20 years, Indian companies are likely to purchase 2,100 new planes worth US$ 290 billion. Also, domestic air traffic in India is expected to cross 150 million passengers in 2019 riding on the back of unprecedented capacity induction by airlines.

“India is facing shortage of high end simulators to handle this growing aviation industry and training requirement of pilots. This simulator training centre is expected to be operational by mid 2020 to cater to the need of airlines and professional pilots and saving substantial amount of foreign exchange for the country and also cutting down on time and reducing the overall costs for the carriers,’’ said Captain Khandekar.  

Complimenting this Indian aviation growth story under his vision his company has envisaged and entering as a airport developer and a operator in India for greenfield airports in a joint venture with UK’s one of the leading group who are already in collaboration for their Australian mining and Petrochemicals business.

Spread over three acres, the new facility will be constructed in a phased manner with a modular concept with two full flight simulators, increasing the number to four and then to eight in due course. This facility, when fully operational, will have capacity to train over 3500 pilots annually.

NEW DELHI : Setting the tone for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the opposition for its unity efforts to put up an anti-BJP front. 
He termed such efforts ahead of the 2019 general elections as a ‘failed experiment’.
“These days, a campaign is going on to publicise a failed experiment in the history of Indian politics by the name of mahagathbandhan,” he said while addressing BJP’s  national convention at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital. 
On the concluding day of the two-day strategy meet of the party, he said the opposition was trying to make a ‘majboor sarkaar’ (helpless government) instead of a ‘majboot sarkar’ (strong government) as they wanted to indulge in scams and corruption.
Mr. Modi’s sharp comments assume significance as it was also the day when the two bitter rivals of nearly three decades — Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — formed an alliance for the 2019 polls in U.P. 
Mr. Modi also questioned the viability of opposition’s alliances and cited the example of Telangana, where the Congress had teamed up with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, and lost to the TRS. In Karnataka, where the Congress is in alliance with the JD-S, the chief minister is on record saying that he is being ‘treated like a clerk’, he said.
“Problems have started even in newly formed governments in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” Modi added.
The Prime Minister was unsparing in his criticism of the Congress and dubbed the grand old party a  stumbling block in the nation’s development. “They are stalling key bills in Parliament, they do not want the country to progress.” 
Mr Modi said the earlier Congress government had pushed the country into darkness. “India lost 10 important years (during UPA rule from 2004 to 2014) in scams and corruption.” 
The Prime Minister’s call to the party workers and leaders was loud and clear — increase your outreach and discuss with the people all issues and achievements of the NDA government. He also highlighted the fact that the BJP had provided a scam and corruption-free government at the Centre and changed the usual slow-moving administrative machinery into a fast moving good governance apparatus which is people-friendly. 
Interestingly, thousands of party workers and cadres often erupted into chants of “Om” and “Jai Sri Ram” and were also vocal on demanding early construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya. Loudest cheers from party cadres were reserved for the BJP patriarch L K Advani when he was felicitated on the first day of the convention as well as for U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. 
Mr. Modi too touched upon Ayodhya and Ram Temple issue, blaming the Congress for putting legal hurdles in the apex court.  

LUCKNOW : Putting back their bitter rivalry which went on for nearly quarter of a century, the two main political parties of Uttar Pradesh – Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — have again joined hands ahead of mid-2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Much junior to her in political experience, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati, on Saturday announced their mega partnership. Both the leaders have served as UP chief ministers in the past. Akhilesh Yadav’s government was ousted by the BJP in U.P. in 2017.
It is the first opposition alliance formed in the most populous State of the country which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. The alliance has been shaped to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the general elections which are scheduled to be held by May. BJP had won 71 of the 80 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.  
Ms Mayawati assumed a senior role in the joint press conference and announced that both the BSP and SP will contest 38 seats each of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats  while two each would be left for the Congress and other regional party, probably Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) led by Ajit Singh.  “This is a pavitra ( holy) alliance to create social brotherhood in the society and to counter the fascist and communal forces,” she said.  Ms Mayawati appeared sure about the success of the mahagathbandan but had a rider, saying that if the BJP does not tamper with the voting machines and does not create communal frenzy over the Ram temple issue, then no one would be able to defeat SP-BSP alliance in UP.   In her nearly half-an-hour address, Ms Mayawati said she had forgotten the Guest House incident of June 5,1995, when SP activists made an attempt on her life in Lucknow.
” Bigger things have emerged now and we have shed our old issue of guest house incident when there was a need to unite to remove the BJP, which has become more dangerous for the country and the people,” she said.
 ” We are once again trying to revive our old friendship like we had done in 1993 when our founder Kanshi Ram and SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav joined hands to get rid of the BJP post-Babri Masjid demolition,” she said.
The BSP supremo said the alliance will usher a new era of politics and remove the castiest and communal forces like BJP.  SP chief  Akhilesh Yadav, prefered not to make any statement against the Congress, but Mayawati quipped that BJP and Congress are two sides of the same coin.  Last year, SP and BSP had teamed up for important by-polls that were crucial for the ruling BJP. After smelling success in three seats, including Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur, the two parties explored taking their alliance to the 2019 general elections.
In his first reaction, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said “some alliances are being formed to defeat PM Narendra Modi as he is running a corruption-free government”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the SP-BSP alliance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking on the alliance, Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “The beginning of BJP’s downfall in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have started.”
Sudhanshu Trivedi of BJP said both parties are contesting together just to save their political ground. “These parties have blamed each other of murder in the past. Anyway, its their choice. We are confident. Even if all parties come together, we will still win,’’ he said.

NEW DELHI : Exciting but turbulent times appear to have gripped the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s premier investigating agency which has taken severe beating on counts of its credibility, image and prestige. 
Legal tussle, handing of its murky affairs by the NDA government and internal bickering among its top echelons have unfolded in public domain over the past six months or so. Things remain unsettled even now. 
A day after he was removed as the CBI chief by the select panel, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Alok Verma on Friday resigned from the service. Barely 36 hours after he was restored as CBI Director by the Supreme Court, Mr Verma was fired 2-1 by the Prime Minister led select panel and transferred to a non-descript department of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards as its chief. He refused to take up his transfer and dashed off his resignation letter to the government. 
“Natural justice was scuttled and the entire process was turned upside down in ensuring that the undersigned is removed from the post of the Director,” Mr Verma wrote in his resignation letter to Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training. He called the situation a moment of “collective introspection”, probably sending a signal to the country’s bureaucracy and top police officials. 
Here are excerpts from his resignation letter: 
Vide order dated 10th of January 2019, the undersigned has been posted as the Director General, Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards and transferred out of the Central Bureau of Investigation. 
1. The Selection Committee has not provided the undersigned an opportunity to explain the details as recorded by the CVC before arriving at the decision. Natural justice was scuttled and the entire process was turned upside down in ensuring that the undersigned is removed from the post of the Director CBI. The Selection Committee did not consider the fact that the entire CVC report is premised on charges alluded by a complainant who is presently under investigation by the CBI. It may be noted that the CVC only forwarded a purportedly signed statement of the complainant, and the complainant never came before Hon’ble Justice (Retd.) A.K. Patnaik (supervising the enquiry). Also, Justice Patnaik has concluded that the findings/ conclusions of the report are not his. 
2. Institutions are one of the strongest and most visible symbols of our democracy and it is no exaggeration that the CBI is one of the most important organisations in India today. The decision made yesterday will not just be a reflection on my functioning but will become a testimony on how the CBI as an institution will be treated by any government through the CVC, who is appointed by majority members of the ruling government. This is a moment for collective introspection, to state the least. 
3. As a career bureaucrat, it is the idea of my integrity that has been the driving force for four decades in public service. I have served the Indian Police Service with an unblemished record and have headed police forces in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Mizoram, Delhi and also headed two organisations Delhi Prisons and the CBI. I have been lucky to have received the invaluable support from the forces that I have headed, which resulted in outstanding achievements having a direct bearing on the performance of the force and their welfare. I would like to thank the Indian Police Service and especially the organisations that I have served.
4. Also, it may be noted that the undersigned would have already superannuated as on July 31, 2017 and was only serving the Government as Director, CBI till January 31, 2019, as the same was a fixed tenure role. .
The undersigned is no longer Director, CBI and has already crossed his superannuation age for DG Fire Services, Civil Defence & Home Guards. Accordingly, the undersigned may be deemed as superannuated with effect from today.”
His removal and resignation have already stirred a political storm with both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress trading charges and counter charges. The CBI has got back its interim Director and the agency now awaits a full time new Director by this month-end. The Government has shortlisted a panel of nearly 20 senior IPS officers belonging to 1984 and 1985 batches. Four names will be shortlisted from these and placed before the selection panel from which one will be picked up to head the CBI. 
All eyes will remain on the CBI in the next few weeks to come. Also, the agency will need to work overtime to regain its past glory and earn the confidence of the nation and people. Once called “caged parrot” by the Supreme Court, the CBI has to defend its autonomy and insulate itself from external influences. 

An amalgamation of a well sculpted physique and killer looks, Karan is has made a name for himself in the modelling circuit. Originally from Delhi, Karan is now a Bandra boy scaling immense heights in his modelling carrier. Born and raised in Delhi, Oberoi, 31 is that familiar face everyone has spotted in the Royal Enfield advertisements and on the FBB billboards. In Karan’s case, he did not choose to model, but modelling chose him. 

A model by accident, Karan dabbled in theatre in his college days. He landed an advertisement during his stint as a graphic designer and that’s when the modelling bug struck him. Since then, Karan has done around 300 fashions shows across the world including the middle east like Oman and Dubai and associated with more than 100 commercial and fashion photographers from all over India.  

Karan has walked the runway for brands like Aldo, Peter England, Jack & Jones, Lamborghini, FTV, Shoppers Stop and McDowell’s Signature. He is also a regular at fashion weeks like Lakme Fashion Week, Wills Fashion Week, Beach Resort fashion week, India Couture Week, etc.  

A fitness freak with a combination of uber-fit, lean physique and rugged looks, Karan is very well established himself as not just as a fashion model but also a very renowned fitness model. His portfolio includes editorials & covers of the magazines such as Men’s Health and Health & Nutrition. He was the brand ambassador of a leading fitness brand British nutrition health supplements. He has always believed in the mantra ‘The fitter, the better.’  

Karan Oberoi has numerous awards and accolades to his name wherein his recent achievements include getting awarded “The Youth Icon” model of the year 2018 at the 2nd Global Business Leadership Awards in 2018. Apart from this, he also bagged a position in the list of top 10 supermodels in India by Hindustan Times. The same list voted him as the top fitness model in the country. The year 2018 has been an awarding year for Oberoi as he was also appointed as the ‘World Peace Messenger’ by the World Peace and Diplomacy Organization – a part of United Nations Global Compact.

Karan was awarded the titles for Best Body and Mr Photogenic for his chiseled body and charismatic looks at the Mr India International modelling contest. This ‘Hottie of the Fortnight’, as claimed by Filmfare, has been there done that in the field of modelling. His following on social media has been ever increasing. His fans have gauged just that making him one of the most followed male models on social media.