Controversy rages afterJet suspends President...
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NAVSARI, Feb 5: 37 people were killed and 24 injured, four of them seriously, when a State transport bus in which they were travelling plunged from a bridge into Purna river in Navsari district of South Gujarat today, police said. “Thirty seven people have died in the incident, while 24 oth- ers are injured when a bus fell from a 20 feet high bridge on Purna river,” Navsari Superin- tendent of Police M S Bharada said. Though police are investigat- ing the cause of the mishap, some survivors and eye-witnesses said the bus driver lost control of the vehicle when it was passing the bridge and it hurtled down into the river after breaking iron rail- ings. The SP said the condition of four out of the 24 injured passen- gers was serious. “The injured have been shift- ed to four hospitals in Navsari. We are also checking the possibil- ity of shifting those who are seri- ously injured to hospitals in Surat if needed,” the officer said. The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus was headed towards Ukai when the accident took place near the village, situated around 12 kms away from the district head- quarters. “We do not know the exact number of people travelling in the bus, but it is said that it was full (to capacity),” Bharada said. He said the agencies like police, fire brigade, 108 ambu- lance services were engaged in rescue operation at the spot. Expressing grief over the inci- dent, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel twitted, “Deeply pained to learn about the unfortunate bus accident on Purna River Bridge in Navsari. My prayers are with vic- tims & families”. “I have directed Navsari col- lector & concerned officials to expedite rescue & relief ops and provide required help to victims & their kin,” she twitted. (PTI) DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2016 (PAGE 11) Controversy rages after Jet suspends 5 cabin crew over Nigam ‘concert’ NEW DELHI, Feb 5: A controversy raged today over Jet Airways suspending five cabin crew members after singer Sonu Nigam was allowed to belt out Bollywood numbers using the in-flight public address system on a chartered flight with the action being slammed by him as “Real Intolerance”. The Bollywood fraternity and social media reacted with out- rage to the punishment handed out by the private airline after avi- ation regulator DGCA took serious note of the episode but the Civil Aviation Ministry justified the action. The incident occurred on a chartered flight from Jodhpur to Mumbai on January 4, when the “errant” crew members allowed Nigam, 42, to hold a sort of musical concert on board following a request from fellow passengers, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) sources said. The matter came to DGCA’s notice after a video of Nigam singing on board the flight went viral on social media. Action has been initiated against the crew members since allowing a passenger to use the public address system on board a flight amounts to violation of safety norms, the sources said. “All cabin crew on the flight have been taken off flight duty for inquiry and corrective training to reinforce strict adherence to operating procedures,” Jet Airways said in a statement. As per a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on training and licensing of cabin crew, issued by DGCA in 2010, “the PA (public address) system and interphone system are tools for relaying safe- ty information”. But Nigam in a sharp retort said that when he sang there were no announcements that needed to be made and the action against the cabin crew was “utter nonsense”. “To suspend crew members for asking me to sing on the address system, when the seat belt signs were off, and no announcements were to be made, is nothing less than punishing someone for spreading happiness. “Pity there’s no one to question such harshness except the Media perhaps. Indians, need to loosen up. This act of lack of Common Sense, according to me, is Real Intolerance,” Nigam said in a statement. “I have witnessed an elaborate fashion show in an aircraft. I have heard of small concerts happening in an aircraft. I have seen Pilots and Crew Members cracking humorous jokes to loosen up passengers in other countries, which is so cool.” Civil Aviation Minister Mahesh Sharma defended the action by the airline, saying safety protocols have to be followed. (PTI) NEW DELHI, Feb 5: Ruing that despite advance- ments Indian agriculture is yet to be completely out of the “clutch- es of weather”, President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed “grave concern” over likely decline in farm output for the second-straight year due to defi- cient rains. With majority of the cultivat- able area under severe climatic conditions like drought, floods and cyclones, he called for seri- ous efforts to overcome the chal- lenge and make Indian agricul- ture sector resilient to weather fluctuations. President asked the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) to develop climate resilient technological solutions by leveraging opportunities from frontier science like biotechnolo- gy and nano-technology. Mukherjee also spoke about import dependence on pulses and edible oils. Addressing the 54th convo- cation of IARI, he said: “Despite the advancements made, Indian agriculture is yet to be complete- ly get out of the clutches of weather.” President also pointed out that the country’s foodgrain pro- duction fell to 253 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year (July-June) from a record 265 million tonnes in 2013-14 on account of 12 per cent deficit in rainfall. “Nature has not been kind to us this year as well. A deficient monsoon followed by a further dry spell is likely to affect agri- cultural production for the sec- ond year in a row. This is an area of grave concern. “The time is ripe for some serious efforts as 80 per cent of the area under cultivation in India is in the grip of severe cli- matic conditions like drought, floods and cyclones,” he said. Stating that global climate change could aggravate these problems, Mukherjee said the IARI must leverage opportuni- ties from frontier sciences such as biotechnology, synthetic biol- ogy, nano-technology, computa- tional biology, sensor technology and geo-spatial technology to develop climate- resilient tech- nological solutions. “Innovation in agricultural techniques and practices must be supported through infusion of funds, mentoring of ideas, and technical assistance. The risk- taking ability of farmers must be boosted. The newly-launched crop insurance scheme will leverage technology to provide risk cover to the farmers,” he said. (PTI) President expresses concern over likely fall in farm output MORAN (Assam), Feb 5: Singling out the Sonia Gandhi family, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused the Congress President and her son Rahul Gandhi of disrupting Parliament to avenge defeat in 2014 Lok Sabha polls and hence blocking the passage of bills aimed at ben- efitting the poor. Addressing tea garden work- ers in this poll-bound state of Assam, Modi alleged that “one family” was indulging in “nega- tive politics” as he claimed that there are leaders in opposition parties other than Congress who want Parliament to function even though they oppose him. “Those who have lost the election (in 2014) and have come down from 400 to 40 have decid- ed not to allow Modi to work. They have decided to create obstacles and difficulties. The conspiracy for the same is going on,” he said, referring clearly to Congress. “They have now decided to take revenge from people, from the poor workers” for voting the Congress out of power, Modi said at the public meeting that was virtually an election rally. His remarks came against the backdrop of washout of the last two sessions of Parliament because of which key economic reform measures, including GST, have been pending and are expected to be pushed by the government during the upcoming Budget session starting on February 23. “There are many leaders and parties even in the Opposition who oppose Modi, the BJP and the government but they want Parliament to run and carry out is business. But one family is so rigid that they do not allow the Rajya Sabha to function and let the nation’s agenda of develop- ment to be taken forward because people of the country have defeated them,” Modi said. Though the Prime Minister did not name the “family”, the reference was obviously to the Sonia Gandhi family. He listed a number of pend- ing bills, including one for increasing the income ceiling for bonus to workers and the other related to river transport on Brahmaputra, and put the blame for their pendency squarely on Congress and particularly the Gandhi family. “The country is not going to benefit from this politics of nega- tivism and obstructionism. There is only one family with such a thinking, which has brought this kind of destruction. Leaders in the other Opposition parties are not like this,” the Prime Minister said. (PTI) Modi says Gandhi family disrupting Parliament to avenge poll defeat President Pranab Mukherjee addressing the 54th Convocation of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) at Dr. BP Pal Auditorium, IARI, Pusa in New Delhi on Friday. (UNI ) IT Dept cautions taxpayers against sharing PINs, passwords NEW DELHI, Feb 5: Income Tax Department today cautioned taxpayers not to share their PIN or password of mails saying it never ask for such details. In a statement, the department said it is to ensure that taxpay- ers are aware the department does not seek confidential or finan- cial information of the taxpayer over email. “The Income Tax Department never asks for your PIN num- bers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts through e-mail,” it said. “The Income Tax Department appeals to taxpayers not to respond to such emails and NOT to share information relating to their credit card, bank and other financial accounts,” it added. The Income Tax Department has been at the forefront of using technology in implementing its e-governance initiatives, it said, adding, most of its routine communication to taxpayers is through email and SMS. “Therefore, the department is very sensitive and alert to attempts made by fraudsters to spoof the Department’s identity to send phishing emails,” it said. The statement further said all taxpayer reports of phishing emails are forwarded to [email protected] which is a govern- ment of India agency mandated to fight against such threats. (PTI) Govt looking to address challenges plaguing infra sector:Sinha NEW DELHI, Feb 5: Seeking more private investment in ongoing infrastructure projects worth USD 100-150 billion, the government today said project structure and regulations are being reviewed to offer investors attractive returns. On the second-day of an investment summit with sovereign wealth funds, private equity and pension funds, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha showcased brownfield as well as green- field projects in sectors including highways, railways and energy. “We are working very hard to understand what the issues, chal- lenges are. What further we need to do as far as the law, regulation and project structuring is concerned, so that we can be able to pres- ent you attractive returns and where risks are much lower,” he said. Addressing investors at the India Investment Summit here, Sinha said projects worth about USD 100-150 billion are in vari- ous stages of completion. “We are going through a process where these projects are being reassessed, new financing coming in... So I think for these projects there will be very attractive investment opportunities as the capital structure is reset,” he added. He asked investors to consider brownfield projects, along with greenfield, as NIIF would also fund stressed assets. Speaking at the summit, RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said, “We are open for regulatory changes as situation demand nothing is cast in stone. We are sensitive to (your) demand.” Sinha also said the government is trying to rethink the whole manner of refinancing greenfield projects and trying to ensure that these projects get to cash flow as early as possible. A number of funds like Apollo, Blackstone, Edelweiss are looking at these brownfield stalled projects, he said. Outlining the variety of proj- ects that are on offer for investors, he said there are a set of stalled projects, there are greenfield projects, as also portfolios of cash generating developed projects that you can package together into relatively solid attractive yield generating portfolios. (PTI) 37 killed as bus plunges into river Note:- The tender documents can be seen and downloaded from website www.jktenders.gov.in DIP/J-9101 Sd/- Dt. 5-2-16 Executive Engineer PWD (R&B) Division Basholi Sd/- DIP/J-9125 Chief Accounts Officer Dt: 5-2-16 5388 DIP/J-9114 Sd/- Dt. 5-2-2016 Executive Engineer PWD (R&B) Const. Div. No. III Jammu
Transcript of Controversy rages afterJet suspends President...
NAVSARI, Feb 5:
37 people were killed and 24injured, four of them seriously,when a State transport bus inwhich they were travellingplunged from a bridge into Purnariver in Navsari district of SouthGujarat today, police said.
“Thirty seven people havedied in the incident, while 24 oth-ers are injured when a bus fellfrom a 20 feet high bridge onPurna river,” Navsari Superin-tendent of Police M S Bharadasaid.
Though police are investigat-ing the cause of the mishap, somesurvivors and eye-witnesses saidthe bus driver lost control of thevehicle when it was passing thebridge and it hurtled down intothe river after breaking iron rail-ings.
The SP said the condition offour out of the 24 injured passen-gers was serious.
“The injured have been shift-ed to four hospitals in Navsari.We are also checking the possibil-
ity of shifting those who are seri-ously injured to hospitals in Suratif needed,” the officer said.
The Gujarat State RoadTransport Corporation (GSRTC)bus was headed towards Ukaiwhen the accident took place nearthe village, situated around 12kms away from the district head-quarters.
“We do not know the exactnumber of people travelling in thebus, but it is said that it was full(to capacity),” Bharada said.
He said the agencies likepolice, fire brigade, 108 ambu-lance services were engaged inrescue operation at the spot.
Expressing grief over the inci-dent, Chief Minister AnandibenPatel twitted, “Deeply pained tolearn about the unfortunate busaccident on Purna River Bridge inNavsari. My prayers are with vic-tims & families”.
“I have directed Navsari col-lector & concerned officials toexpedite rescue & relief ops andprovide required help to victims& their kin,” she twitted. (PTI)
DAILY EXCELSIOR, JAMMU SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2016 (PAGE 11)
Controversy rages after Jet suspends5 cabin crew over Nigam ‘concert’
NEW DELHI, Feb 5:
A controversy raged today over Jet Airways suspending fivecabin crew members after singer Sonu Nigam was allowed to beltout Bollywood numbers using the in-flight public address systemon a chartered flight with the action being slammed by him as“Real Intolerance”.
The Bollywood fraternity and social media reacted with out-rage to the punishment handed out by the private airline after avi-ation regulator DGCA took serious note of the episode but theCivil Aviation Ministry justified the action.
The incident occurred on a chartered flight from Jodhpur toMumbai on January 4, when the “errant” crew members allowedNigam, 42, to hold a sort of musical concert on board following arequest from fellow passengers, Directorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) sources said.
The matter came to DGCA’s notice after a video of Nigamsinging on board the flight went viral on social media.
Action has been initiated against the crew members sinceallowing a passenger to use the public address system on board aflight amounts to violation of safety norms, the sources said.
“All cabin crew on the flight have been taken off flight duty forinquiry and corrective training to reinforce strict adherence tooperating procedures,” Jet Airways said in a statement.
As per a Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on training andlicensing of cabin crew, issued by DGCA in 2010, “the PA (publicaddress) system and interphone system are tools for relaying safe-ty information”.
But Nigam in a sharp retort said that when he sang there wereno announcements that needed to be made and the action againstthe cabin crew was “utter nonsense”.
“To suspend crew members for asking me to sing on theaddress system, when the seat belt signs were off, and noannouncements were to be made, is nothing less than punishingsomeone for spreading happiness.
“Pity there’s no one to question such harshness except theMedia perhaps. Indians, need to loosen up. This act of lack ofCommon Sense, according to me, is Real Intolerance,” Nigam saidin a statement.
“I have witnessed an elaborate fashion show in an aircraft. Ihave heard of small concerts happening in an aircraft. I have seenPilots and Crew Members cracking humorous jokes to loosen uppassengers in other countries, which is so cool.”
Civil Aviation Minister Mahesh Sharma defended the action bythe airline, saying safety protocols have to be followed. (PTI)
NEW DELHI, Feb 5:
Ruing that despite advance-ments Indian agriculture is yet tobe completely out of the “clutch-es of weather”, President PranabMukherjee today expressed“grave concern” over likelydecline in farm output for thesecond-straight year due to defi-cient rains.
With majority of the cultivat-able area under severe climaticconditions like drought, floodsand cyclones, he called for seri-ous efforts to overcome the chal-lenge and make Indian agricul-ture sector resilient to weatherfluctuations.
President asked the IndianAgriculture Research Institute(IARI) to develop climateresilient technological solutionsby leveraging opportunities fromfrontier science like biotechnolo-gy and nano-technology.Mukherjee also spoke aboutimport dependence on pulses andedible oils.
Addressing the 54th convo-cation of IARI, he said: “Despitethe advancements made, Indianagriculture is yet to be complete-ly get out of the clutches ofweather.”
President also pointed outthat the country’s foodgrain pro-duction fell to 253 million tonnesin 2014-15 crop year (July-June)
from a record 265 million tonnesin 2013-14 on account of 12 percent deficit in rainfall.
“Nature has not been kind tous this year as well. A deficientmonsoon followed by a furtherdry spell is likely to affect agri-cultural production for the sec-ond year in a row. This is an areaof grave concern.
“The time is ripe for someserious efforts as 80 per cent ofthe area under cultivation inIndia is in the grip of severe cli-matic conditions like drought,floods and cyclones,” he said.
Stating that global climatechange could aggravate theseproblems, Mukherjee said the
IARI must leverage opportuni-ties from frontier sciences suchas biotechnology, synthetic biol-ogy, nano-technology, computa-tional biology, sensor technologyand geo-spatial technology todevelop climate- resilient tech-nological solutions.
“Innovation in agriculturaltechniques and practices must besupported through infusion offunds, mentoring of ideas, andtechnical assistance. The risk-taking ability of farmers must beboosted. The newly-launchedcrop insurance scheme willleverage technology to providerisk cover to the farmers,” hesaid. (PTI)
President expresses concern over likely fall in farm output
MORAN (Assam), Feb 5:Singling out the Sonia Gandhi
family, Prime Minister NarendraModi today accused the CongressPresident and her son RahulGandhi of disrupting Parliamentto avenge defeat in 2014 LokSabha polls and hence blockingthe passage of bills aimed at ben-efitting the poor.
Addressing tea garden work-ers in this poll-bound state ofAssam, Modi alleged that “onefamily” was indulging in “nega-tive politics” as he claimed thatthere are leaders in oppositionparties other than Congress whowant Parliament to function eventhough they oppose him.
“Those who have lost theelection (in 2014) and have comedown from 400 to 40 have decid-ed not to allow Modi to work.They have decided to createobstacles and difficulties. Theconspiracy for the same is going
on,” he said, referring clearly toCongress.
“They have now decided totake revenge from people, fromthe poor workers” for voting theCongress out of power, Modisaid at the public meeting thatwas virtually an election rally.
His remarks came against thebackdrop of washout of the lasttwo sessions of Parliamentbecause of which key economicreform measures, including GST,have been pending and areexpected to be pushed by thegovernment during the upcomingBudget session starting onFebruary 23.
“There are many leaders andparties even in the Oppositionwho oppose Modi, the BJP andthe government but they wantParliament to run and carry out isbusiness. But one family is sorigid that they do not allow theRajya Sabha to function and let
the nation’s agenda of develop-ment to be taken forward becausepeople of the country havedefeated them,” Modi said.
Though the Prime Ministerdid not name the “family”, thereference was obviously to theSonia Gandhi family.
He listed a number of pend-ing bills, including one forincreasing the income ceiling forbonus to workers and the otherrelated to river transport onBrahmaputra, and put the blamefor their pendency squarely onCongress and particularly theGandhi family.
“The country is not going tobenefit from this politics of nega-tivism and obstructionism. Thereis only one family with such athinking, which has brought thiskind of destruction. Leaders inthe other Opposition parties arenot like this,” the Prime Ministersaid. (PTI)
Modi says Gandhi family disrupting Parliament to avenge poll defeat
President Pranab Mukherjee addressing the 54th Convocationof Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) at Dr. BP PalAuditorium, IARI, Pusa in New Delhi on Friday. (UNI )
IT Dept cautions taxpayers against sharing PINs, passwords
NEW DELHI, Feb 5:
Income Tax Department today cautioned taxpayers not to sharetheir PIN or password of mails saying it never ask for such details.
In a statement, the department said it is to ensure that taxpay-ers are aware the department does not seek confidential or finan-cial information of the taxpayer over email.
“The Income Tax Department never asks for your PIN num-bers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards,banks or other financial accounts through e-mail,” it said.
“The Income Tax Department appeals to taxpayers not torespond to such emails and NOT to share information relating totheir credit card, bank and other financial accounts,” it added.
The Income Tax Department has been at the forefront of usingtechnology in implementing its e-governance initiatives, it said,adding, most of its routine communication to taxpayers is throughemail and SMS.
“Therefore, the department is very sensitive and alert toattempts made by fraudsters to spoof the Department’s identity tosend phishing emails,” it said.
The statement further said all taxpayer reports of phishingemails are forwarded to [email protected] which is a govern-ment of India agency mandated to fight against such threats. (PTI)
Govt looking to address challengesplaguing infra sector:Sinha
NEW DELHI, Feb 5:
Seeking more private investment in ongoing infrastructureprojects worth USD 100-150 billion, the government today saidproject structure and regulations are being reviewed to offerinvestors attractive returns.
On the second-day of an investment summit with sovereignwealth funds, private equity and pension funds, Minister of Statefor Finance Jayant Sinha showcased brownfield as well as green-field projects in sectors including highways, railways and energy.
“We are working very hard to understand what the issues, chal-lenges are. What further we need to do as far as the law, regulationand project structuring is concerned, so that we can be able to pres-ent you attractive returns and where risks are much lower,” he said.
Addressing investors at the India Investment Summit here,Sinha said projects worth about USD 100-150 billion are in vari-ous stages of completion.
“We are going through a process where these projects are beingreassessed, new financing coming in... So I think for these projectsthere will be very attractive investment opportunities as the capitalstructure is reset,” he added.
He asked investors to consider brownfield projects, along withgreenfield, as NIIF would also fund stressed assets.
Speaking at the summit, RBI Deputy Governor H R Khan said,“We are open for regulatory changes as situation demand nothingis cast in stone. We are sensitive to (your) demand.”
Sinha also said the government is trying to rethink the wholemanner of refinancing greenfield projects and trying to ensure thatthese projects get to cash flow as early as possible. A number offunds like Apollo, Blackstone, Edelweiss are looking at thesebrownfield stalled projects, he said. Outlining the variety of proj-ects that are on offer for investors, he said there are a set of stalledprojects, there are greenfield projects, as also portfolios of cashgenerating developed projects that you can package together intorelatively solid attractive yield generating portfolios. (PTI)
37 killed as bus plunges into river
Note:- The tender documents can be seen and downloaded from website www.jktenders.gov.inDIP/J-9101 Sd/-Dt. 5-2-16 Executive Engineer
PWD (R&B) Division Basholi
Sd/-DIP/J-9125 Chief Accounts OfficerDt: 5-2-16
5388
DIP/J-9114 Sd/-Dt. 5-2-2016 Executive Engineer
PWD (R&B) Const. Div. No. III Jammu
