New Zealand cricket coach Mike Hesson Wednesday insisted his side is not going to sledge to unsettle Australia in their Pool A World Cup encounter here Saturday.
The high-voltage clash is expected to be full of words and engaging contests. But Hesson said they will be focussing only on their job to win at the Eden Park and not concentrate on hurling verbal abuses at their opponents.
The central government needs to simplify the tax structure in the tea industry as it is burdening the sector, a trade union leader has said.
“The government levies agricultural income tax besides corporate tax which is overlapping. It is an industry which is taxed right from the beginning of soil preparation to cultivation and finally to the end-product. It needs to be reformed,” leader of West Bengal Joint Forum of Trade Unions of Tea Industry Ziaul Alam told IANS here.
Alam said the nature of government taxes is affecting the tea trade and needs a thorough revision.
After being dismissed for a paltry 202 in their first innings, Karnataka hit back strongly with skipper and seamer R. Vinay Kumar taking six wickets to bundle out Mumbai for 44 in just 15.3 overs on the first day of the five-day Ranji Trophy semifinal match here Wednesday.
Targeting a turnover of Rs.100 crore by 2017, Chittoor-based Naturo Food and Fruit Products will be introducing a range of fruit and vegetable-based snacks, a senior official said here Wednesday.
The company is following a strategy of bringing out products largely stocked in jars at retail outlets and sold as commodity to attractively-packaged and branded snacks.
“We are looking at range of fruit and vegetable-based snack products. We will be launching jack fruit chips, fruit peels, juicy fruit chunks and fruit snacks soon,” K. Sivamohan Reddy told reporters.
Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Jayant Malaiya Wednesday presented a Rs.1,31,199 crore budget for 2015-16 which slashes value added tax (VAT) on 40 products and makes farming equipment tax-free.
While VAT has been reduced to five percent from 13 percent on 40 products, it has been doubled on tobacco-free pan masala. Besides, the cost of sand, pebbles and flooring stones has been increased in the budget.
The minister has proposed non-planned expenditure of Rs.70,850 crore and planned expense of Rs.60,049 crore.
–IANS
A 38-year-old man, reportedly facing family problems, killed his three-year-old son and then committed suicide by hanging himself, police said Wednesday.
Devender Singh, a resident of Badshahpur, committed suicide after killing his son Chirag.
Police said Singh left his house with Chirag Feb 14 after a tiff with his wife over some issue.
The family registered a missing report of the father-son duo at Badshahpur police station Feb 15.
Giving a big boost to Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the RBI today said bank overdrafts of up to Rs 5,000 in accounts opened under this financial inclusion mission will be treated as priority sector lending.
“…Overdrafts extended by banks up to Rs 5,000 in PMJDY accounts will be eligible for classification under priority sector advances (‘others’ category) as also weaker sections, provided the borrowers household annual income does not exceed Rs 60,000 for rural areas and Rs 1,20,000 for non-rural areas,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI said in a notification.
With about 20 percent of goods stocked in urban households having become obsolete for the owners, the used goods market has surged to an estimated Rs.56,200 crore, an online e-commerce portal said Wednesday.
“For the first time, (we) put a figure on this market – Rs.56,200 crore in 2015 – just in urban India,” Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO of Olx, said in a statement.
Batra said the valuation will be much higher if semi-urban and rural centres are also taken into consideration.
The country witnessed a decline of 12 per cent in solar power generation at a total 883 MW last year, according to energy consulting firm Mercom Capital Group.
Total solar energy installations in 2013 stood at 1,004 MW, it said.
However, its 2015 forecast remained unchanged at an approximately 1,800 MW with some upside.
It further said that the Indian solar industry remains positive as solar programmes are being announced with increased frequency and the installation goal continues to grow.
The toll in Sunday’s ferry capsize in Bangladesh’s Padma river has risen to 78 with seven more bodies recovered Wednesday, bdnews24.com reported.
The double-decker ferry “ML Mostofa-3”, carrying over 100 people, on its way to Daulatdia village in Bangladesh, sank after being hit by a cargo vessel soon after leaving Paturia dock Sunday noon.
The sunken vessel was pulled out early Monday, more than 16 hours after the disaster.
Authorities called off the rescue operation Monday after the ferry was tugged out and brought to the river bank.
Farmers of the country are hopeful of getting more funds and adequate insurance for their crops in the upcoming Budget to be presented to Parliament.
The farmers in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir said that the successive governments have taken some policy decisions to improve the farm output but the benefits have failed to trickle down at the lower level.
“The Ministry has demanded almost the same amount of subsidy as it was allocated in the current year’s budget,” the source added
Government had allocated a sum of Rs 72,970.30 crore in the Union Budget for 2014-15 towards fertiliser subsidy payments.
To a query, the sources said they were unaware of the quantum of fertiliser subsidy that will be allocated in the upcoming Budget presentation.
The Congress party on Wednesday lashed out at the Shiv Sena for supporting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s unwarranted remarks on Mother Teresa.
Congress leader Sanjay Jha said the Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and RSS are all wedded to the Hindutva agenda.
Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP-led government at the Centre for depriving the farmers of their rights and alleged that the Centre is working under the direction of the corporates.
” BJP promised “acche din”, if the “acche din” were 20 percent for the normal people and 80 percent for the farmers, then I would have believed that “acche din” had started,” Jyotiraditya Scindia said.
“After taking the farmers land, if the government cannot make profit from the land then the government should return it to the farmer,” he added.
In a major step forward in its neighbourhood outreach policy, the Indian government is sending Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on a ‘yatra’ of four SAARC countries, including Pakistan, from March 1.
The visit, begins with key neighbour Bhutan March 1, followed by Bangladesh March 2, Pakistan March 3 and Afghanistan the following day.
The visit to the rest of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) neighbours – Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal – is yet to be announced.
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organizing the International Green Mobility Expo (GMX) 2015, supported by Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV), Department of Heavy Industry, and Automotive Research Association of India from February 26 to 28 at the Pragati Maidan here.
This first and unique initiative will provide a neutral platform to the entire stakeholders of this sector to come together and initiate dialogues to create a Green Mobility Solution for India.
In a gripping encounter between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the former registered a last minute two-wicket win against the latter at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on Wednesday, thanks to a brisk half-ton from all-rounder Kevin O’Brien and wicketkeeper batsman Gary Wilson’s 80-run knock.
Put in to bat first, the UAE posted a respectable 279 for Ireland to win in their allotted 50 overs, thanks to Shaiman Anwar’s 106 off 83 deliveries including ten fours and one six.
An Iranian journalist who started an online hijab campaign, encouraging women to come out in the open without their headscarves, has been awarded a human rights award in Geneva.
According to the Guardian, Masih Alinejad, 38, launched Stealthy Freedoms of Iranian Women last year, attracting more than half a million likes on Facebook in a matter of weeks. Thousands of women took off their veils in public and sent in their photos to be published.
The government Wednesday defended its land acquisition ordinance calling it “farmer friendly” and added that it is “open minded” about suggestions.
Addressing a press conference in parliament house here, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said the ordinance had to be brought before Dec 31.
The minister added that the land that would be acquired will be used for rural infrastructure projects like irrigation and roads which will help the rural population.
He also said the central government did not intend to acquire any land for the private sector or corporates.
Army Chief General Dalbir Singh on behalf of President Pranab Mukherjee, presented the President’s ‘Standards’ to 44 Armoured Regiment at the Suratgarh Military Station today.
Lieutenant General Arun Kumar Sahni, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Sapta Shakti Command, Lieutenant General PM Hariz, General Officer Commanding, Chetak Corps and a number of senior officers and civil dignitaries were present.
South Africa’s opening batsman Hashim Amla Wednesday urged his teammates to “brush off” and not be “dramatic” about their dismal loss against India Sunday and to look forward to their upcoming games in the World Cup.
“We didn’t manage to string enough big partnerships closely together and we lost wickets at key times. Things like that happen. We just want to brush it off, take the knock on our chin, and get our heads up for the next game,” Amla was quoted as saying by espncricinfo.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Wednesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s views on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments on Mother Teresa.
Addressing reporters here, the new state secretary of the CPI-M Kodiyeri Balakrishnan lashed out at Bhagwat for his statement on Mother Teresa – known for her passion to serve humanity.
“Bhagwat is taking forward the agenda of the RSS. Mother Teresa, over the years, has become a role model, especially in her charity work. We all wish to know what Modi has to say on this issue,” said Balakrishnan.
CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday said that with Gujarat-based industrialist Gautam Adani’s assets rising by Rs.25,000 crore within a year ‘Achhe din’ (good days) have come in the country under the BJP regime.
Addressing a large party gathering here, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) chief said “Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani’s properties have increased by Rs.25,000 crore in the past one year” and that establishes how “Achhe din” (good days) have come in India.
In order to bring development in the standards of technical education in the state, the government is considering the idea of creating a Data Analytics Park in Hyderabad to bring about the employment opportunities and to impart requisite skills among students.
Government has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) in the presences of Telangana IT and Panchayat Raj Minister K T Rama Rao, to train 15,000 engineering students with industry-oriented skills every year.
As the opposition to the land acquisition law including from its allies grew, Government today said it is open to accepting “good” suggestions and insisted that the new measure was pro-farmer and pro-poor.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is government’s key negotiator, accused opposition parties of double-standards and said almost every state government run by them, including Congress, had written to the Centre against the previous land law brought in by the UPA.