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In multi-phase assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, there are two types of campaigns that are being run side-by-side. On one hand there are customary rhetoric touching the so-called agenda of development where talks revolve around education, health, civic infrastructure et al. And on the other hand it is all about polarization on communal lines.  

This is exactly what is happening in majority of the 140 seats in the 26 districts of western Uttar Pradesh that goes to poll on Friday (February 11). Leaders of three major political forces – BJP’s Narendra Modi and Amit Shah; Samajwadi Party-Congress combine’s Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi; and BSP’s Mayawati – all are harping on development planks, with occasional mentions of Hindu-Muslim polarization. But the entire contest now seems to be by polarisation on religious lines.

A major part of western Uttar Pradesh, directly and indirectly, bore the brunt of Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013. While some areas of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Meerut districts saw exodus of Muslims and Hindu communities post riots, communal tensions in the entire region has become a routine affair now. Examples of it are communal tensions in Bijnor, Masuri, Kairana and Bisada.

It is on these grounds that the elections in the western districts are being fought. In majority of places it is being done covertly, while in some places it is done overtly. The examples of latter are Sardhana, Thana Bhawan, Kairana and Dhaulana. From Sardhana and Thana Bhawan BJP has fielded its sitting MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, both Muzaffarnagar riots accused, while from Kairana Mriganka, daughter of sitting BJP MP Hukum Singh is in the fray. These two places were most affected in the riots.

But the peculiar example is that of Dhaulana assembly seat in Hapur district, which is just 50 kms from Delhi, where candidates and their supporters are openly seen seeking votes on communal lines and are banking on religious polarization to secure their win. Dhaulana will witness a three-cornered fight between BJP, SP and BSP where two Tomars, the dominant Thakur community of the region, are pitted against a Muslim, a local strongman.

BJP has fielded its four-time MP from Hapur, Dr Ramesh Chand Tomar, who came into limelight during the Ram Temple movement in the 90s, SP has given ticket to its sitting MLA, Dharmesh Tomar, while BSP is being represented by Aslam Choudhary, who was runner-up in 2012.

Alleging that ‘fatwa’ has been issued to Muslims to support BSP’s Aslam Choudhary, BJP candidate Dr. Ramesh Chand Tomar is openly appealing to ‘Hindu’ voters across various castes to vote for him and not to let Dhaulana seat go into the hands of a Muslim. An FIR has already been registered against him for giving inflammatory speeches. But this has not deterred him from seeking votes on communal lines.

What is happening openly in Dhaulana, is also happening in a discreet and hush-hush manner in other places across constituencies; be it a rural seat in places like Bijnor and Muzzafanagar or in so called modern sub-cities like Noida and Sahibabad. Significantly, division on communal lines is more where BJP nominees are pitted against Muslim candidates from either SP or BSP, or both, compared to assembly segments where there is the contest between all Hindu candidates from the three major parties.”

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Demonstrating its commitment to Make-in-India, BAE Systems will debut the Advanced Hawk, the latest development of the world’s most successful jet trainer, in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), at the 11th Aero India to be held from February 14-18 in Bengaluru. This fulfils the commitment made jointly by BAE Systems and HAL at the 2015 Aero India through signature of a Memorandum of Understand to explore future possibilities for the Hawk aircraft for India and export markets.

Clad in Indo-UK colours, the Advanced Hawk will be on display at HAL’s stand, together with a simulator showcasing the aircraft’s new capabilities. BAE Systems will also exhibit at the show with a number of displays spanning the breadth of its capabilities, technologies and platforms, according to a BAE statement in New Delhi. 

Building on the success of the Hawk Mk132, which recently completed 100,000 flying hours with the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, the new features of the Advanced Hawk enable training activities currently performed on frontline fighter aircraft to be undertaken on the updated air platform.  

The Advanced Hawk will reduce training demands on more expensive frontline aircraft, creating additional capacity for operational tasks, whilst delivering fast jet training in a more cost-effective, structured and safer environment. High commonality with the existing Hawk production and support infrastructure in India enables the Advanced Hawk to be manufactured and supported with maximum reuse of facilities, equipment and skills.

Leading the Company’s participation at South Asia’s premier air show will be Alan Garwood, Group Business Development Director and Stephen Timms, ‎Managing Director, Defence Information, Training & Services.  BAE Systems India will be represented by Alistair Castle, Country Director and Nik Khanna, who has recently been named Managing Director.   

Stephen Timms, ‎ Managing Director – Defence Information, Training & Services said “The Advanced Hawk is a testimonial of our commitment to sharing technology, capability and knowledge to build advanced systems in India, for India, and from India. Together with HAL, we are looking forward to show this industry-funded demonstrator to the Indian and other Air Forces and seeking their feedback on the combination of features that will better prepare student combat pilots for the demands of frontline aircraft. ”

Alistair Castle, Country Director – India, BAE Systems said “Make in India is the cornerstone of our strategy and Aero India is an excellent platform for us to engage all our customers and wider industry to explore new ideas for partnerships, whilst strengthening existing ones, such as our association with HAL and Mahindra.”

Amongst BAE Systems’ displays is the Eurofighter Typhoon, the world’s most advanced new generation multi-role/swing-role combat aircraft available on the market, as well as the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS™). The full-colour Striker® II helmet-mounted display (HMD) and the BR90 Modular Bridging System are making their debut appearances at the Show along with a broad range of munitions. Striker II is a platform-agnostic, completely digital and now full-colour HMD that provides today’s combat pilots with remarkable situational awareness, night vision, target tracking and advanced audio technology – all in one visor-projected system.

BAE Systems recently received a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to provide 145 M777 ultra-lightweight howitzers to the Indian Army through a Foreign Military Sale between the U.S. and Indian governments.”

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The ‘Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan’ (PMGDISHA), is expected to be one of the largest digital literacy programmes in the world under which 6 crore rural households will be made digitally literate. The outlay for this project is Rs.2,351.38 crore to usher in digital literacy in rural India by March 2019. This is in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2016-17. Under the scheme, 25 lakh candidates will be trained in 2016-17; 275 lakh in 2017-18; and 300 lakh in 2018-19.

To ensure equitable geographical reach, each of the 250,000 Gram Panchayats would be expected to register an average of 200-300 candidates. Digitally literate persons would be able to operate computers/digital access devices (such as tablets, and smart phones), send and receive emails, browse internet, access Government Services, search for information, undertaking cashless transactions, etc. and hence use IT to actively participate in the process of nation building.

The implementation of the Scheme would be carried out under the overall supervision of Ministry of Electronics and IT in active collaboration with States/UTs through their designated State Implementing Agencies, and District e-Governance Society (DeGS). As per the 71st NSSO Survey on Education 2014, only 6% of rural households have a computer. This highlights that more than 15 crore rural households (@ 94% of 16.85 crore households) do not have computers and a significant number of these households are likely to be digitally illiterate.

The PMGDISHA being initiated under Digital India Programme would cover 6 crore households in rural areas to make them digitally literate. This would empower the citizens by providing them access to information, knowledge and skills for operating computers / digital access devices. As the thrust of the Government is on cashless transactions through mobile phones, the course content would also have emphasis on Digital Wallets, Mobile Banking, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS).”

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By his rebellion after hearing the inner voice of Jayalalithaa meditating at her last resting place on the Marina beach late at night last Tuesday, Tamil Nadu chief minister O Paneerselvam has queered the pitch for V K Sasikala occupying the seat of power at Fort St George in Chennai. 

He told mediapersons he had submitted his resignation to Governor Vidyasagar Rao under duress adding a new dimension to the murky goings on unleashed by the late Jayalalithaa’s confidant Sasikala, her husband Natarajan, brother and some other members of her family. 

The most intriguiging aspect was the sudden disappearing act from the Raj Bhawan in Chennai to the national capital New Delhi and then to Mumbai being the Governor of Maharashtra. He has since returned to Chennai on Thursday as he is holding additional charge as Governor of the southern state. 

Eyebrows have been raised about the Governor being absent in Chennai when a constitutional crisis had arisen about the leadership crisis in the AIADMK. It was for the Constitutional head of the state to resolve the power tussle that had arisen with Sasikala laying claim to the office of chief minister and Paneerselvam questioning it. 

After consulting the central leadership about the imbroglio in the ruling AIADMK the Governor appears to be biding for time till the Supreme Court gives its verdict in the DA case on Tuesday, the fourteeth of February even though Sasikala has been given a clean chit by the trial court. The “”Mannargudi mafia”” comprising the relatives of Sasikala are working overtime in evolving strategies aimed at keeping “”chinnamma”” (Sasikala) ahead of the other chief ministerial contender — OPS as Panerselvam is known. 

Be that as it may, the Centre appears to be in some discomfiture if the scheming Sasikala with no political and administrative experience being enconsed as chief minister. She is claiming the backing of no less than 129 legislators out of the 134 in the 234-member state assembly. This assumes significance as the AIADMK has a solid block of 50 votes in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The importance of this has not been lost by the Lotus party in the wake of the upcoming Presidential election later this year in July when Pranab Mukherjee completes his term in Rashtrapati Bhawan. 

In a flurry of interviews ‘OPS’ as Paneerselvam is known has promised a judicial inquiry into the late Amma’s medical treatment while the Sasikala camp claimed that most of the MLAs are with them. These legislators have been lodged in a resort outside Chennai so that they do not break free and join the OPS camp or get involved in horse trading. 

That is natural in the prevailing circumstances as none of the legislators want a snap poll with nearly four-and-a-half years remaining as Jayalalithaa had won a second successive term in office in May last year. She broke the cycle of the two Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu coming to power alternately over the last three decades. 

There is no doubt that the people voted Amma and Amma alone for her welfare schemes like the reasonably priced Amma canteens and Amma pharmacy where medicines are sold at half the price which have became very popular. It is widely believed that making Sasikala the chief minister would be a big mistake at this juncture in the event of her conviction by the Supreme Court next week. On the other hand Sasikala in a game of political oneupmanship is desperately trying to get installed as chief minister at the earliest before the Apex court gives its verdict. 

Simultaneously constitutional experts argued that the Governor will have to go by the sense of the legislators and if a majority of them favour Sasikala then she will have to be installed as chief minister. She will, however, have to prove her majority in a specified time frame on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha. 

The revolt by OPS is slowly but surely beginning to create ripples. He might be handicapped on account of having already submitted his resignation as chief minister to the Governor. OPS has talked aloud if the people of Tamil Nadu desire he is willing to withdraw his resignation. 

The expectation is that the handful of MLAs supporting OPS at this juncture is bound to increase. It is believed this can have long term implications for Sasikala. Her proximity to Jayalalithaa is the only thing that has weighed in her favour and managed to give her the advantage over Deepa Rajkumar, the neice of Jayalalithaa, who is making a bid to inherit the political legacy without ever having been associated with politics. 

The social media has been stoutly opposed to Sasikala becoming the chief minister rather than OPS who has held fort three times as chief minister and at least twice when Amma had to step down. Besides, he has come up the ranks in the AIADMK and made its treasurer. 

The intrigues and rivalry between Sasikala and OPS are only increasing with the latter biding his time as MLAs are calling him on the telephone and extending their support. 

OPS appeared pleased after his meeting with the Governor when he apprised Vidyasagar Rao about the political crisis in Tamil Nadu. He kept things short observing to the media and his supporters that “”truth will prevail”” indicative of his faction enjoying an upper hand. While the Raj Bhawan has got into the act of trying to resolve the leadership tangle by listening to both the factions in the AIADMK, patience is the need of the hour. It is now for Vidyasagar Rao to ensure that a stable and viable government assumes office at Fort St George in Chennai.”

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It takes an average of 261 days for a parliamentary law to come into force, according to a report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a think-tank. The report analysed 44 laws enacted by Parliament between 2006 and 2015 and calculated the average number of days between a law receiving presidential assent and coming into force. More than half of the laws analysed entered into force within six months.

After receiving presidential assent, implementation of the law requires two more steps. First, the government must bring it into force through notification in the Official Gazette. The second step — which is not essential but integral to the practical working of the law — is the framing of rules. Most laws require rules in accordance with the law — for its implementation — approved by the legislature, before they are presented to each house of parliament.

The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015 took 311 days (more than 10 months) to get implemented. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 11th May, 2015 and the Rajya Sabha on 13th May, 2015. As many as 644 declarations of undisclosed foreign income and assets were received under this act, and Rs 2,428 crore was collected in taxes. Ninety per cent of the collection came from five per cent of declarations, according to reports.

Another important bill, the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, was passed in the budget session of the Parliament (in March 2016) but the notification of its provisions began only in September after the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) received statutory backing and the regulations under the Act were notified. The UIDAI was constituted in 2009 but that was through an executive notification issued by the erstwhile Planning Commission. It received statutory backing after the Aadhaar Act, 2016, was enacted. The bill was introduced as a money bill by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which generated outrage among the opposition parties.

A money bill can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha, or the lower house. The Rajya Sabha, or the upper house, can recommend changes to a money bill. However, these aren’t binding and, if the lower house rejects the suggestion, the bill is automatically passed. Of the five laws that took the longest time to be implemented, 1,249 days elapsed between the Carriage By Road Act 2007 receiving presidential assent and the first set of rules being framed. It was introduced in the Parliament in December 2005 but got approval from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in September and August 2007, respectively, according to PRS Legislative, a think-tank.

The Manual of Parliamentary Procedure in India has recommended a time limit of 15 days for framing rules, after publication of approval in the official gazette. Such rules are called subordinate legislation and may be referred to as rules, regulations, bye-laws, orders, and notification. However, only 34 per cent (15 of 44 laws analysed) adhered to the time limit, while 49 per cent of laws took 15-60 days in the Lok Sabha and 56 per cent in the Rajya Sabha. The time taken to present the rules before each house was calculated from the date they were published in the official gazette (if the house was in session) or from the date the next session began (when the house was not in session).

Two rules (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules, 2006 before the Lok Sabha and Science and Engineering Research Board Rules, 2010 before the Rajya Sabha) faced delays of 174 and 166 days, respectively.”

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51L61TbbFHL._SX322_BO1204203200_”” alt=””51L61TbbFHL. SX322 BO1204203200 “” />Terrorism is a political phenomenon aimed at controlling oil rich areas or pushing an agenda of sectarian nationalism. Religion is being used as a cover or mask for political goals which incites hysterical reactions against one or the other religious community. The book “”Deconstructing Terrorist Violence”” authored by Ram Puniyani attempts to uncover the layers of religion to unravel the underlying politics. It goes on to show that a particular religion which is being implicated has nothing whatsoever to do with these acts of terror. 

The phenomenon of terrorism shows that faith is used to cover it. In India terrorism has its roots in the fallout of India-Pakistan relations coupled with Hindutva politics. Associating a political-economic phenomenon with religion has caused great damage to the religious community so targetted. The groups acting in the name of Islam in this country have been made accountable for most acts of terror. 

The groups emerging from the Hindutva ideology have been very active indulging in various acts of terror and labelled as Hindu terrorists. The identity of religion is abused for  goals. Currently the Chairman of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai, Puniyani says the impact of terrorism has been felt all over the world affecting social life to a great extent. 

Muslims have borne the brunt of searches in the wake of blasts be it in the national capital, Mumbai, Hyderabad or elsewhere. Just being a Muslim is enough cause for someone to be thoroughly probed. The grounds of arrest invariably cited are that they must be harbouring terrorists. The orthodoxy and right wing religio-political streams are coming to the fore in a very aggressvie and assertive manner. 

Messages filtering down the social conduits reveal Muslims and Islam propagating that they are the fountainhead. Along with this the sense of insecurity among average people is rising and certain elements are playing on this to increase their political clout. The atmosphere is gripped with suspicion. 

Given the growing complexity of the situation, defining terrorism is anything but simple as various interpretations and definitions have been thrown up. States have focussed on talking about terrorist acts and violence resulting in innocents being killed. There is a section of global and local media seeking to widen the divide between different religious communities. 

Then there are sectarian groups in different garbs having a field day in reaping the harvest of hate. Terrorists as such have come from many religions. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Ltte), a militant outfit in Sri Lanka which was decimated by the Sri Lankan army in 2009, the majority of its members were Hindus. A female member of this group Dhanu was the suicide bomber who killed Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur near Chennai on the night of May 21, 1991. Similarly, the Khalistan movement was the major force resorting to terror in Punjab some years back. 

Khalistanis derived their identity from Sikkhism. During the last decade and a half Islam has been propagated to be a violent religion. Terrorism has a Palestininian identity as it began from there. The Islamic identity came particularly with Al Qaeda which was set up by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan to fight against the armies from the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Afghanistan. 

The US propaganda machinery keeps dishing out different slogans to serve its foreign policy objectives. In the Cold War era it was the “”defence of freedom””; now it is “”war on terror””. The International Tribunal on War Crimes against Afghanistan and Iraq held the United States and its then President George W Bush responsible for the crimes which took place in the region. 

The Jury of Conscience in its report released in Istanbul in June 2005 opined that the war on Iran was one of the most unjust in history. The Bush and Tony Blair administrations ignored the massive opposition to the war expressed by millions of people around the world. They embarked on one of the most unjust, immoral and cowardly wars in history. The Anglo-American occupation of Iraq spread over 27 months led to the destruction and devastation of the Iraqi state and society. Law and Order had broken down completely lacking in human security, the physical infrastructure being in a shambles coupled with the desecration of the archeological and cultural heritage of the Iraqi people. 

Islam and Muslims as the culprit was part of the Hindutva ideology at the time of the freedom struggle. This movement drew from the values of Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and B R Ambedkar and based on liberty, equality, fraternity and justice. Most Indians supported this movement. Inevitably, the ruling British colonialists partitioned India by creating Pakistan which further got vivisected into Bangladesh. 

While a large part of the world is suffering from poverty, hunger, disease, and misery the major problem being projected is that of terrorism — Muslims and Islam. Terrorism being witnessed today has a lot to do with the policies of colonial powers of the past and the imperialist powers of today. 

The seeds of the present complex scenario and the rise of terrorism lie in the post WW II era. While pursuing its political agenda, the Hindutva movement is being spearheaded by a plethora of organisations, the patriarch of which is the RSS, the real controller of the Sangh Parivar. 

The acts of terror by organisations of the Sangh Parivar focussed on revenge on the one hand and march towards Hindu Rashtra on the other. Violence is projected as a clash between people of two religions and that people belonging to a particular religion are violent due to their faith. In India one has seen the intensification of violence in the name of religion, more so over the past two decades. Anti Christian violence has been evidenced recently. 

Vested interests have launched efforts to suppress the weaker sections of society and smaller nations for their material gains. Those associated with the RSS and politics in the name of Hindutva have been spreading hatred among different communities. The current scenario is pushing back the aspirations of the poor people. It has become necessary to overcome the situation for a better world, peace and amity. Undeterred by the political forces bent upon creating mayhem, people with genuine faith in human values need to step forward to ensure that this dark phase of human history is overcome in the spirit of dialogue. 

The need for inter-community relations and dialogue was never more direly required than in present times. In fact civilisations have an alliance for a better tomorrow. Puniyani who taught Biomedical Engineering at IIT Mumbai, took voluntary retirement in 2004 and is involved in promoting communal harmony.

TR

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)
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The first phase of polling in assembly elections in western belt of Uttar Pradesh witnessed 64.22 per cent voter turnout on Saturday. The  polling was held in 73 constituencies of the State. Briefing media persons in New Delhi, Deputy Election Commissioner, Vijay Dev said, the polling passed off peacefully.He appreciated the exemplary participation of voters in the polling process. He said, 42 EVMs had to be replaced due to malfunctioning.Mr Dev said, the final figure of poll percentage is likely to be higher as there were several voters in queue at the time of scheduled closing of the poll. He said, 13 cases of paid news were reported out of which 10 were confirmed and action is being taken.He said that a case of poll boycott was also reported from a polling station in Mathura. He said preventive actions were taken against nearly 3 lakh trouble makers. He said, 19.56 crore cash and liquor worth 14 crore rupees have been seized.Chief Electoral Officer UP, T Venkatesh released the data on Saturday evening saying that Shamli polled highest with 67.12 percent. While in Agra, the voters turn out was 63.88 percent, in Aligarh 64.66 percent, Muzaffarnagar 65.50 percent, Hapur 65.67 percent, Firozabad 63.59 percent, Mathura 65. 39 percent, Noida 59.17 percent, Ghaziabad 58.10 percent, Bulandshahr 64.65 percent, Etah 64.73 percent, Kasganj 64.83 percent, Meerut 66 percent, Hatharas 64.10 percent, Baghpat polled 64.99 percent of votes.”

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Even as the Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray is confident of victory in the civic polls in Mumbai, he wants to unite all the regional parties in forming a Third Front specifically against the BJP. Several attempts to form such a Front against the Congress and the Lotus party in the past has come a cropper. 

Thackeray underlined the need for deciding on a Common Minimum Programme in “”countering the arrogance of the present rulers.”” Clearly the Shiv Sena is keen to make a big bang debut in the national arena.

Significantly, the Shiv Sena supremo has only singled out the BJP for special treatment but kept the doors ajar in case the Congress is willing to join such a grouping. 

Does it mean the Shiv Sena is seeking to bring about a subtle change in its policy which was akin to that the Lotus party. This assumes significance as it is the first time that the Old Lady of Bori Bunder has entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi party in UP, reminiscent of the 2015 a la ‘Mahagatbandhan’ in Bihar resulting in the BJP losing this battleground state in the Cow belt. 

While being proud of denying the Saffron brigade a majority on its own in the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2014, Thackeray has made no bones of his growing angst against the Lotus party. He has not shied away from launching a frontal attack against the BJP leaders both at the Centre as well in Maharashtra. In a far reaching move he has threatened to snap electoral ties with the BJP which can hurt the latter in the crucial state of Maharashtra. 

Thackeray was unsparing in his attack against Mahrashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who has sought to underplay the serious differences affirming that his coalition government was not in any danger. He has not forgotten the Shiv Sena’s betrayal by the BJP’s sudden decision of going it alone in the state assembly elections 2014. 

He has expressed his pain at missing the thought and vision of leaders like former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, sidelined party stalwart and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani as well as the late Pramod Mahajan. The importance of ruling Maharashtra cannot be undermined which is a highly industrialised state and most importantly Mumbai being the financial capital of the country. 

Fresh from his stunning victory in the April-May general elections in 2014 when Narendra Modi managed a majority for the BJP on its own bagging 282 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Along with its allies the NDA crossed the rubicon of 300 finishing with a tally of 340 seats. 

Boosted by Modi’s charisma the saffron brigade moved past the three figure mark in the Mahrashtra assembly for the first time three years back. There is no doubt the Shiv Sena is turning the heat on the BJP with Mumbai Civic elections barely a fortnight away. There is intense speculation that the Fadnavis government might be rocked by mass resignations of the Shiv Sena ministers. These ministers met the chief minister earlier this week and submitted a memorandum demanding a loan waiver for the state’s farmers. 

After meeting Fadnavis, the Shiv Sena ministers spoke to the media saying they were carrying their resignation letters in their pockets. Sources suggest that the resignations might be submitted close to he civic polls thereby creating a stir and a sympathy wave for the Shiv Sena. A similar stunt had been evidenced in 2015 before the elections to the Municipal Corporation of Kalyan- Dombivli, Mumbai’s satellite city. 

It may be recalled that Eknath Shinde resigned publicly at a rally on the last day of campaigning where the Shiv Sena and BJP contested separately. Shinde’s resignation grabbed attention and facilitated in building pressure on the government after which Thackeray rejected his resignation. It is, therefore, not surprising that the BJP is highly circumspect about the Shiv Sena resorting to pressure tactics against the Fadnavis government yet again.”

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The 11th edition of Aero India will be held at Air Force Station, Yelahanka,  Bengaluru from February 14 to 18, providing a significant platform in bolstering business opportunities in International aviation sector. It has favourably poised an exponential growth over previous edition. A rapidly growing economy, defence preparedness challenges and opening up of defence production to private sector, have given a major fillip to the defence industry in India. It has also become a hub centre for defence business in the Asia.

Among international participants, the U.S. will be a leading contributor to Aero India 2017, stressing the strength of the United States and India’s strategic partnership.  The high-level U.S. delegation, impressive array of American military platforms and personnel, and significant representation from U.S. industry are a concrete example of our enduring ties. 

U.S. assets this year include F-16C Fighting Falcons, a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and a C-130J Super Hercules transport. A Pacific Air Forces F-16 demonstration team will showcase the capability of one of the U.S. Air Force’s leading fighters and a combined India-U.S. parachute demonstration is also planned.

Over 20 U.S. companies are participating in Aero India, 17 with exhibits in the U.S. Partnership Pavilion with three companies recently entering the Indian market and five new to the show. U.S. participation in Aero India provides industry and the military services opportunities to strengthen military-to-military relations and invigorate defense cooperation as we work together to safeguard against global instability, protects freedom of navigation in the air and sea, and combat terrorism and violent extremism.  This robust public and private participation from the United States in Aero India demonstrates the importance we place on advancing our Major Defense Partnership with India.

From Indian public sector undertakings, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will reveal the mock-up of India’s first indigenous multi-role helicopter. The medium-category helicopter is sought after by the services, and such helicopters have so far been imported. Ã¢Â€ÂœThe main attraction of HAL’s indoor pavilion on 1,282 sqm is a mock-up of the Indian Multi-Role Helicopter,” HAL said in a statement. HAL is expected to put up the initial design before the services for their response, and the “design and development will commence based on a firm demand from the Army and the Air Force.” 

It is planned as a twin-engine helicopter in the 10-tonne category, capable of flying at a height of 15,000 feet, and with a range of 500 km. It can perform several tasks, including counter-insurgency operations, casualty evacuation and combat search and rescue. In all nearly 750 Indian and global companies will be participating in this year’s Aero India show and delegations of senior officials from 109 countries will be visiting the show which will attract about 30,000 visitors and 15,000 business visitors.”

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With buyers entitled to seek relief under the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act,2016 with effect from the first of May this year, the central government has cautioned the States of a serious situation of vacuum arising if necessary institutional mechanisms, as required under the Act were not put in place before that.

So far only four States and six Union Territories have notified the final Real Estate Rules. Union Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu last week urged the Chief Ministers to take personal interest in ensuring implementation of the Act in letter and spirit.

In a letter dated February 9, 2017, to all the Chief Ministers of States, he stressed that “Real Estate Act is one of the most important reforms for the sector, which would bring benefits to all stakeholders. It is therefore, my sincere request to please bestow your personal attention to this matter so that the Act is implemented in time and in the spirit with which it was passed by the Parliament”.

Mr Naidu also cautioned the Chief Ministers stating “Appropriate Governments are required to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authorities and the Appellate Tribunals, maximum by 30th April, 2017. The timelines are important as the Act would commence its full operation from 1st May, 2017and in the absence of Rules and Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal, the implementation of the Act would be affected in your State, leading to a vacuum in the sector”.

The Minister in his two page letter to the Chief Ministers said that the Real Estate Act, 2016 was one of the most consumer friendly laws passed by the Parliament and its timely implementation is the responsibility of both the Central and State Governments and this would not only provide the much needed consumer protection, but would also give a fillip to the sector, benefitting all the stakeholders.

Ministry of HUPA had organized a consultative workshop with all the States/UTs on the 17th of last month to review the progress made by them and apprise them of their responsibilities under the Act and the timelines to be met to enable the consumers take benefits of the Act from the first of May this year and the need to ensure that the Rules were not in variance with the spirit of the Act.

Over 60 Sections of the Act were notified by the Ministry of HUPA on May 1st last year, including Section 84 under which States were required to notify Real Estate Rules by October 31st last year thereby setting the ground for implementation of the Act.

The Ministry mandated with the responsibility of making Rules for UTs without legislatures has done so for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep while the Ministry of Urban Development has done so for Delhi. A few other States have been reported to have notified only Draft Rules seeking views and suggestions from stakeholders.

States that have notified final Rules are: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh. The Ministry has received some complaints of violations of some of the provisions of the Act by some of these States resulting in dilution of the spirit of the Act. The Ministry has referred the complaints to the Committee on Subordinate Legislation of Rajya Sabha. In this back drop, Shri Venkaiah Naidu urged the Chief Ministers to ensure compliance with the Act, as passed by the Parliament.

From May 1st this year, under the provisions of the Act, both buyers and developers of real estate property can approach Real Estate Regulatory Authorities seeking relief against the other for violation of the contractual obligations and other provisions of the Act. For this to happen, Real Estate Rules including the General Rules and the Agreement for Sale Rules, Real Estate Authorities and Appellate Tribunals were required to be in place and in a position to start functioning.”