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Cabinet likely to approve agri-package for farmers on Monday

cropfailure maize photo

The cabinet on Monday is likely to approve a package for farmers to boost their income and address distress in the farm sector, sources said, adding that the move will come ahead of the general elections.

“The cabinet meeting is scheduled tomorrow (Monday) and the agriculture ministry’s proposal on addressing income deficit syndrome of small and marginal farmers is on the agenda,” a highly placed source said.

The agriculture ministry has recommended several options to provide both short and long term solutions to address agrarian distress. However, a final call will be taken in the cabinet meeting as a huge cost is involved, the sources said.

One of the options proposed is waiving interest on crop loans for farmers who pay on time, costing an additional Rs 15,000 crore to the exchequer, the sources stated.

There is also a proposal to completely waive premium for taking insurance policy for food crops. The centre is also evaluating the scheme followed by the Telangana and Odisha governments wherein a fixed amount is transferred directly into the bank account of farmers, the sources added.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh had recently indicated that the government would announce an agriculture package before the 2019-20 Budget, to be presented on February 1.

Experts said the government has less time to implement any new scheme. The measure has to be such that it can be implemented faster to reap the political gains during the election.

It may be noted that the central government has taken farmers’ issues seriously after the ruling BJP was defeated in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the recent state polls, where rural distress was a key factor.

Farmers are in distress owing to fall in prices of most crops in view of bumper crop.

‘Train 18’ named Vande Bharat Express: Piyush Goyal

train 18

Highlighting the success of Make in India and contribution of Indian workers, Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal, on Sunday, renamed India’s first indigenous semi-high speed train ‘Train 18’ as ‘Vande Bharat Express’.

Addressing media, Piyush Goyal said: “People suggested various names but we named it ‘Vande Bharat Express’. We have conceptualised ‘Train 18’ as a train which will be designed in India, all the parts will be built in India which will become India’s pride. It will be exported to different countries.”

“Till when we will run trains designed in foreign countries and till when India will depend on foreign technologies? It was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s wish that we make a train under Make in India,” the Railway Minister said.

The Railway Minister said that the train is completely ready said his ministry will send a letter to the Prime Minister on Monday seeking his availability for the launch of the train.

Vande Bharat Express will run from Delhi to Varanasi taking stops at Kanpur and Prayagraj. It has 16 coaches (2 executive chair car and 14 chair car) and will take only eight hours to complete the journey.

Elaborating the specialities of the Vande Bharat Express, Goyal said: “It has a centrally controlled system, automatic plugged doors, and means of entertainment”.

According to Goyal, “This train should have a unique identity. It is a world record that all the design, development and prototype has been completed within 18 months. This is a prime example that Make in India can develop trains.”

The train has two coaches that have toilets for specially-abled. The fully air-conditioned train will move with all gates closed.

Amarinder wants open jails for women inmates

amarinder gill

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has favoured the setting up of open jails for the female prisoners in the state to ease their rehabilitation after release, an official said on Sunday.

The first-of-its-kind prison will allow the female inmates to work outside the inner prison premises, the official said, adding that Singh has sought a proposal from the Department of Prisons.

The Chief Minister had on Saturday inaugurated the newly constructed waiting hall for the families of the inmates during his visit to the Patiala Central Jail.

He was informed by the Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Rohit Chaudhary that an open jail for male inmates already existed in Nabha and there was a proposal to set up more such jails in Bathinda, SBS Nagar and Kapurthala.

According to the official, the waiting hall would be beneficial for the families of inmates coming from distant places, who earlier had to wait in the open or makeshift sheds.

“These waiting halls are well equipped with facilities like washrooms, water coolers, television etc. Utility stores have also been set up in these waiting halls from where the families can buy items of daily need and give them to their inmate relatives,” an official release said.

The halls are constructed in Central Jail Patiala, Ludhiana and Kapurthala, and work is in progress in Central Jail Ferozpur, Hoshiarpur, New Jail Nabha and Distrcit Jail Sangrur, it added.

Chaudhary also told the chief minister that the government had already approved a fund of Rs 60 crores to purchase security equipment, weapons, building infrastructure and modernisation of prisons, and also for purchase of vehicles for the Prison Department to further strengthen the existing infrastructure in the state jails.

Further, all the prisons were declared polythene free and the carry bags used in canteens will be made from waste newspapers, he added.

On the occasion, Singh also launched ‘e-purse system’ to facilitate prisoners to buy items of daily needs inside the jail.

The system has also been introduced in 15 prisons across the state, where all the financial transactions would be conducted through computer software with the help of smart cards.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated a solar power plant installed in the local Central Jail, in order to make the jail eco-friendly.

Chaudhary also informed Singh that such solar plants were also being set up in 19 prisons across the state.

Later, Singh also visited the high-security zone of Central Jail Patiala, where hardcore criminals were lodged, and reviewed the security.

Rihanna is ‘super close’ to completing her album

rihanna

Record producer-rapper The-Dream has revealed that pop star Rihanna is “super close” to finishing her new album.

The 30-year-old singer released her last album “Anti” in 2016, reported Contactmusic.

”She’s cooking, she’s about done. She’s about done. Super close,” the rapper said.

He also shared that pop diva Beyonce is working on something new.

“She’s doing something. I actually haven’t talked to her about it – I’ve talked to the team about it because it’s kind of just being coordinated. But she’s doing something,” he said.

Rihanna recently teased her fans by joking that her “Internet connection was poor” when asked about the whereabouts of her new music.

 

PM swears to fight corruption

PM Narendra Modi IANS 60

Asserting his government’s resolve against corruption and nepotism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday during his party’s rally said that the ‘justice’ against the country’s economic offenders and his ‘stir’ against graft has prompted a grand alliance of opposition parties. Any person who has cheated or looted the country shall be brought to justice. This is regardless of whether he is in India or abroad.

The Prime Minister was apparently referring to economic offenders Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who are wanted in connection with defaulting on huge bank loans. All of them are now abroad. However, the union government was taking effective steps to rid the country of corruption and nepotism; he told the well-attended gathering that the union government’s effort against corruption has created a ‘stir’ from Chennai to Delhi. All those who were used to making ‘different bills’ in government contracts and welfare schemes are now facing the music.

Attacking the proposed ‘Mahagatbandhan’ of opposition parties that has vowed to dislodge him in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Modi said that, this is why they are all coming together. They say that keeping aside all other considerations they must unite to remove this watchman. However big a group they form, out of fear and negativity, Narendra Modi will stand firmly with the poor. He further urged the people of Madurai and the youth of Tamil Nadu to reject these forces of negativity.

Incidentally, MK Stalin-led DMK in Tamil Nadu has been playing an active role in the opposition grouping trying to take shape against the BJP-led NDA at the Centre. Stalin had last month at a public rally here proposed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi as the Opposition’s Prime Ministerial candidate, though it found a lukewarm response from parties, including Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Earlier this month, he had also attended a mega rally in Kolkata helmed by West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, which saw the participation of various opposition parties, but refrained from referring to Gandhi.

 

No one understands bisexuality: Bella Throne

bellaActor Bella Thorne believes people do not understand bisexuality.

The 21-year-old actor, who came out as bisexual in August 2016, said people still have a narrow-minded attitude towards sexuality, reported Contactmusic.

”It seems like no one understands bisexuality at all. In this world it’s like you’re either gay or you’re straight; there’s no in between. If you f****d a guy once, you must be gay. Like, what? No. That’s just been fluid,” she told Gay Times.

The “Famous in Love” star said she finds it easier to date men than women.

“It’s so hard. I can’t tell if a girl is trying to be best friends with me or if she wants to get with me or if she just wants social media followers. I’m just so confused when a girl talks to me. Girls can be very flirtatious, so I don’t want to make a move, and then you be like, ‘Whoa, girl. Not what I was thinking, I don’t roll that way.

”Then it’s so awkward. So I end up usually dating more guys, because with guys, I know if a guy’s hitting me up. They’re not just texting me to be my bestie. I know they want something, of some sort,” she said.

Big films have responsibility of making more money: Alexander Dinelaris Jr

birdman oscar winner alexander dinelaris will direct the 132840 1

Alexander Dinelaris, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Birdman”, believes indie films and the big budget tentpoles are two pillars of Hollywood, but he says the onus lies on the “big ones” to sustain the industry.

The 50-year-old scribe, who came into limelight after co-penning the screenplay of Alejandro G. Inarritu’s 2014 black comedy, is here for the launch of actor Boman Irani’s production banner Irani MovieTone.

Citing the examples of “Roma”, director Alfonso Cuaron’s Spanish-language feature, and Warner Bros’ superhero film “Aquaman, which recently crossed the USD 1 billion mark at the global box office Dinelaris said in America there is a dedicated audience for both the kind of films and no one is less worth.

“It is about their taste, money and time. For the makers, if you are making independent film, it is a different paradigm. We have to spend two to five million dollars and if we make 20-30 million dollar that is a success and you can afford to make another one. However, the big ones have responsibility of making much more money,” Dinelaris told agencies.

“There are two Hollywoods. One with artwork, who does something visionary, small and interesting and they normally get lot of awards. And then there is commercial that keep theatres open and generate money that keep the industry open. Both are fine, he added.

He believes Hollywood is witnessing a Mexican cinema renaissance with the trinity of filmmakers — Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu — making and winning awards for their compelling heart-warming stories.

He believes Indian mythological and folklore stories have great potential of working on the big screen.

“The wealth of mythology that exists in India seems to be the natural fit to what people are doing in the West with superhero films. I am looking forward to it. I do see the potential and I am waiting to learn something new,” he says in response to query about his plans for making Indian films.

With the advent of Netflix and streaming services, Dinelaris asserts that there may have been an overhaul in writing but writers are still not given their due in the industry.

“The demand is so high and that if you are good at your craft, you are going to work. You have to make sure your guild is covering you (in terms of remuneration). But writers are not respected as much as I think they should be as compared to director and producer.”

Dinelaris and Boman Irani are currently working on a script. The duo met in New York five-six years ago, when Boman approached him with a script, which he had penned.

He said he is not familiar with Indian cinema but has watched Irani’s “3 Idiots”. He believes his character in the Rajkumar Hirani’s directorial was “too glamorous”.

After the launch of Irani’s production house on Thursday, Dinelaris also conducted a day-long screenwriting workshop for budding writers, directors and students of cinema.

Kate Beckinsale hospitalised

kate 1Actor Kate Beckinsale has been hospitalised with a ruptured ovarian cyst.

The 45-year-old actor shared a picture of herself from hospital on Instagram, with a breathing tube in her nose and pained expression on her face.

“Turns out a ruptured ovarian cyst really hurts and morphine makes me cry. So thankful to everyone who looked after me,” Beckinsale wrote.

The actor did not share any more information about her health.

FPI outflows at nearly Rs 6,000 crore in January

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Foreign investors have pulled out close to Rs 6,000 crore so far from the Indian stock markets in January and experts believe this trend will continue in the coming months as well.

This comes following a collective net inflow of Rs 8,584 crore in the equity markets by Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) during November and December 2017. Prior to that, they had pulled out a massive Rs 28,900 crore in October.

According to data available with the depositories, FPIs withdrew a net amount of Rs 5,880 crore during January 1-25.

However, they invested a net Rs 163 crore in the country’s debt markets during the period under review.

Anti-dumping duty imposed on Chinese chemical import

Chinese dumping

The government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on a chemical from China, used in photography and manufacturing of dyes, for five years to protect domestic producers of the chemical intermediate from cheap shipments.

The anti-dumping duty on Meta Phenylenediamine (MPDA) imported from China will be in the range $573.92-$1,015.44 a tonne, according to a notification of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

It is for the second time in a row that anti-dumping duty has been imposed on the import of the chemical from China. The duty was to expire in March 2019.

The levy has been imposed after the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, made a recommendation for the same. DGTR was earlier known as the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD).

Countries carry out the anti-dumping probe to determine whether the domestic industries have been hurt because of a surge in cheap imports.

As a counter measure, they impose duties under the multilateral regime of the World Trade Organization.

The duty is aimed at ensuring fair trading practices and creating a level-playing field for domestic producers with regard to foreign producers and exporters.