SRINAGAR:
A fresh Western Disturbance (WD) is likely to hit the region which could result in light rain on April 7 afternoon in the State, where world famous ski resort of Gulmarg at minus 2 degree Celsius was colder than Leh and Kargil which witnessed improvement in the weather.
Bright sunshine greeted people in the valley, where barring Gulmarg, the minimum temperature was above normal. A Met department spokesperson said light rain or thundershowers could occur at few places in the State during the next 24 hours. He said world famous ski resort of Gulmarg was coldest in the region.
The minimum temperature at the ski resort, major tourist attraction now-a-days because of snow covered slopes, was minus 2 degree, a notch below normal. However, elsewhere in the valley, the night temperature remained above normal. At famed health resort of Pahalgam, the minimum temperature was 4 degree, three notches above normal after 6.2 mm rainfall during the night. (AGENCIES)

LEH/NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese troops recently had two face-offs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, in the same area where People’s Liberation Army had pitched camps in April 2013 leading to a three-week long stalemate.
According to officials in the know of developments, the Chinese troops came to Burtse and Depsang areas in North of Ladakh, first on March 20 and then on March 28, apparently as part of attempts to reach Old Patrol Point, the last established base of Indian security forces.
The PLA troops made attempts to push the Indian troops back but these were thwarted, they said.
Vigilant Indian troops displayed the banners in Chinese asking the PLA to return to their side, the officials said.
Ever since this incident, the Indian troops have been carrying out regular patrols to higher points along the LAC to keep check on movement of the PLA.
India and China share over 4,000 km of LAC. China claims approximately 90,000 sq km of territory in Arunachal Pradesh besides 38,000 sq km in Jammu and Kashmir sector.
The area where the Chinese troops came had seen 21 days standoff between PLA and Indian Army in April 2013 which took place ahead of the then Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to India. It was sorted out after hectic round of negotiations following which the Chinese troops withdrew.
China has been in denial mode over repeated incursions by the PLA. During the 2013 incident, then then spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence Colonel Geng Yansheng had said that such issues happen because the boundary line has not been demarcated and both sides have different interpretation on the Line of Actual Control.
China has been eyeing this area as it gives advantage to India to overlook the Karakoram highway linking territory illegally occupied by China with Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.
Besides, India has an Advanced Ground Landing (AGL) facility in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) which was activated in August 2013 and Indian Air Force had managed to land a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft at the air strip located at 16614 feet above sea level. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  Chief Justice of India H L Dattu today emphasised the need for continuous “institutional dialogue” and “coordinated effort” among legislature, executive and judiciary to resolve issues related to delivery of justice including the pendency of cases in courts.
Addressing a joint conference of Chief Justices of High Courts and Chief Ministers, Dattu also pitched for “financial autonomy” to judiciary in spending allocated funds and better pay packages for judicial officers to attract the best minds.
“Judiciary and Parliament are siblings. Both are children of democracy,” he said and underscored that legislature, executive and judiciary have to work as “equal partners” in administration of justice and they should hold hands and correct each other.
“…The difficulty in finding agreement does not mean we would not discuss…. It is important that we are open to suggestions, open to think out of box,” Dattu said noting that the continuance of the “institutional dialogue” among the three pillars of the democracy is important.
“Issues concerning administration of justice are so complex. They cannot be addressed by judiciary alone…. The executive also has a stake. Only a well-coordinated effort between the legislative, executive and the judiciary will achieve it.”
Noting that the issue of pendency of cases in courts, cannot be solved by the judiciary alone, the CJI said,”It requires efforts on multiple fronts and multiple agencies” including drastic change in administration of police and the work by the prosecution agencies apart from judicial reforms.
Maintaining that the Supreme Court has taken a number of wide ranging measures to arrest pendency of cases, he said it has yielded results.
“In an effective democracy, the solution does not mean only the removal of problem…. We must be able to feel the pulse of the people,” he said.
Batting for “financial autonomy” for judiciary in spending allocated funds, Dattu said while it is Government’s prerogative to decide the allocation, the judiciary should be given the financial autonomy regarding the sue.
“Within the allocated budget, the judiciary must have sufficient autonomy,” he said.
He flagged the issue of low pay packages of judicial officers in India in comparison to the pay and perks of personnel in some other countries or those working in law firms, saying this has to be addressed to attract the top brains to the bench.
Noting that it is a “great hindrance” in attracting youths towards judiciary where the judges to people ratio stands at one judge per 1,865 citizens, Dattu said that the most urgent need is to “ensure that the best minds adorn the bench”.
He said that they will not join the judiciary if they do not see it as a viable option.
Dattu said the “stark reality” of the difference in remuneration would be evident if it is compared with what the judicial officers are getting in some other countries or what somebody is paid in a legal firm.
In his speech, Dattu also talked about the role of technology in quicker dispensation of justice. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Aviation regulator DGCA has initiated comprehensive discussions with Directorate of Medical Services for formulating new norms for assessing the mental health of pilots which may include regular checkups.
The move is triggered by the recent Germanwings airline plane crash in the Alps, in which allegedly a mentally disturbed co-pilot crashed the plane killing all 150 people onboard.
“We have flagged the issue (psychometric tests for pilots). We are already having detailed discussions with the authorities concerned in this regard,” a source in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
The regulator is in consultations with the Directorate of Medical Services for Civil Aviation on framing new norms which may include regular assessment of a pilot’s mental health, the source said. The DGCA was now waiting for the DMS to revert on the issue, the source added.
“An official announcement in this regard could come as early as next week,” the source said.
As of now, nine domestic carriers airlines, which employs over 3,000 pilots, carry out such tests on their pilots at the point of induction but there are no subsequent appraisals of their mental state. They, however, undergo physical fitness tests every six months.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma had last week told PTI that repeated psychometric tests were a must and his ministry would take up the issue with the DGCA.
“It’s an important issue. I think this is a must. We should carry out such tests (psychometric) from time to time. We are going to discuss the issue soon,” Sharma had said.
India, however, already has a regulation in place since 2010, which does not allow the cockpit to be handled by one person, in case one of the two pilots leaves the cabin for washroom.
A DGCA air safety circular makes it mandatory for all Indian airlines to have a cabin crew member in the cockpit, when either of the two pilots leave it.
“In case one of the crew members has to leave the cockpit during the non-critical phases of flight, the cabin crew is required to be inside the cockpit and occupy the observer seat. (But) In no case the cabin crew will occupy the seats meant for Cockpit crew,” according to the DGCA Air Safety circular 3/2010.
The formulation exercise assumes significance given that the 27-year old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz of Germanwings was battling against severe mental health issues and even had treatment for suicidal tendencies before obtaining his pilot’s licence. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money is expected to file a fresh status report in the Supreme Court with regard to the action taken by various investigative agencies in cases related to illegal funds stashed abroad by Indians and tax evasion.
Sources said the high-powered panel had sometime back begun the exercise of compiling facts and figures for the report and the final data is expected to include the action taken by the Income Tax department in connection with the 628 HSBC bank cases which got time-barred on March 31.
“The SIT may file a fresh status report within the first fortnight of this month in the Supreme Court. Subsequently, the report will also be given to the government,” the sources privy to the development said.
Data related to revenue collated by various agencies in the 2014-15 fiscal will also be a part of the report, they said.
The sources said the panel, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) M B Shah, has held at least two full-fledged meetings in the recent past with all the agencies under the SIT so that a comprehensive volume covering all aspects of the black money-related investigations could be covered in the next report.
The panel had earlier submitted two full reports to the government and amongst it many recommendations, declaring tax evasion a crime in India and encouraging the use of plastic money and making Permanent Account Number (PAN) card mandatory for high-value transactions were the prominent ones.
The next status report is also expected to chronicle the new announcements made in the latest Budget speech by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The SIT was created by the Supreme Court and notified by the government last year to curb black money instances and heads of senior representatives of 11 premier central probe and enforcement agencies are on its board. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : After over six-month delay, two new advanced military choppers have landed in India to be inducted into the elite air wing of the Border Security Force, which is tasked to carry air support missions for troops along the borders and in the hinterland for anti-Naxal operations.
The Russian-made Mi-17 V5 choppers will boost the flying capability of central paramilitary forces that are deployed for a variety of internal security tasks in some of the most arduous and inhospitable conditions at numerous locations.
“Two new Mi-17 V5’s are in India now. The choppers are flying for trials in various parts of the country and will be soon inducted in the BSF air wing,” a senior official said.
The official said the choppers have been initially based at the BSF hangar at Safdarjung airport here and are expected to be formally inducted into the fleet by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on April 9.
The new pair, sources said, are expected to be tasked for anti-Naxal operations and with their new bases in Chhattisgarh (Jagdalpur) and Odisha (Koraput).
What makes the induction of these new choppers important, the sources said, is that these flying machines are armed with the latest avionics and night flying capabilities which has been a long-time requirement for security forces undertaking operations in Naxal violence affected zones.
“The existing IAF and Dhruv fleet of BSF were not very much equipped to undertake casualty evacuation or troop insertion exercises during evening hours. These new choppers can now undertake night landings at designated bases,” they said, adding they will be used to transport men and logistics.
These improved versions of the Mi-17 helicopters were initially supposed to be handed over to BSF by Russians in September last year but due to some glitches the delivery could not take place.
A team from Russia had come to meet senior Home Ministry officials in November last and after this, the delivery time was fixed in March 2015, they said.
The BSF, which operates the air wing for the Union Home
Ministry and all forces under its command like CRPF, ITBP, SSB and NSG has made elaborate plans to base these helicopters in anti-Naxal operations grid and some helipads have been constructed especially for them.
‘V5’ is an advanced version of the existing Mi-17s and equipped with sophisticated avionics and on-board navigation systems, making it more suitable for both day and night operations which is a regular requirement in Left-wing extremism hit states.
These helicopters have an on-board weather radar along with state-of-the-art autopilot functions and latest night vision devices, which are not available in the Mi-17s. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  Betting big on India’s rural market, country’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki is targeting to increase its penetration in rural areas by over 20 per cent to have presence in 1.5 lakh villages.
The company’s rural sales had increased by 23 per cent to 4,15,380 units in last fiscal, when it posted its highest ever total sales in a financial year. It had posted total sales of 12,92,415 units in 2014-15 beating previous best in 2010-11.
“In FY14-15 we established presence in 1.25 lakh villages. Target going forward will be to enhance presence in 1.5 lakh villages,” Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Executive Director, Marketing & Sales, RS Kalsi told.
In 2013-14, the company had established its presence in 93,400 villages across the country.
“In FY14-15 our penetration in rural areas stood at 34.5 per cent (of total sales) as compared to 32 per cent in FY 13-14,” Kalsi said.
The company’s rural sales had stood at 3,36,463 units in 2013-14 financial year, he added.
“At the start of the year (FY14-15), we targeted to sell at least one vehicle in 1.25 lakh villages. We have been able to reach even the smallest of villages- today more than 7 per cent of MSI’s sales are coming from villages with less than 200 households,” Kalsi said.
He added that sales in rural areas have been impacted due to delayed monsoon and recent unseasonal rains but evinced hope that things would improve in the coming days.
“Barring the current situation, the long term growth story of rural India looks good and promising..As infrastructural jobs reach rural India, the dependency on agriculture may come down,” Kalsi said.
With prosperity and growth in income levels in rural areas, the car sales will grow and match urban peers, he added.
“Again, companies that have invested in the right enablers are likely to benefit most from this growth,” he said. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI :  The Department of Posts is incurring a loss of over Rs 7 per postcard and about Rs 5 per inland letter as the revenue earned is far lower than the actual cost.
As per the 2013-14 figures of the Department of Posts (DoP), the average cost of a postcard is 753.37 paise while the revenue is 50 paise, whereas for inland letter the cost is 748.39 paise and the revenue earned is 250 paise.
Most of the services of the postal department are incurring losses barring competition postcard, letter and book post of periodicals.
The average revenue earned for services such as parcel, registration, speed post, insurance, money order, Indian postal order and registered newspaper is also lower than the average cost.
“During the financial year 2013-14, the deficit of the department was Rs 5,473.10 crore as against the previous year’s deficit of Rs 5,425.89 crore, which is an increase of 0.87 per cent,” DoP said in its annual report.
The department said that total revenue earned including remuneration for savings bank and savings certificates work during the year 2013-14 was Rs 10,730.42 crore while the gross working expenditure was Rs 16,796.71 crore.
The DoP though recovered Rs 593.19 crore from other ministries and departments, so the deficit turned out to be Rs 5,473.10 crore for the reported period. (AGENCIES)