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Govt raises minimum wages by 42%

  In a attempt to preempt the trade unions, including five lakh bank employees which had called for a nation-wide one-day strike on September 2. The government has accepted advisory board recommendations and raised the minimum wage at Rs 350/day for non-agricultural workers against the present rate of Rs 246, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday. BJP-led NDA government has raised the minimum wage by 42%, a significant revision since 2008 besides deciding to release bonus for central government employees for two years, based on the revised norms.   Apart from this, central government employees will get revised two years' bonuswhich was pending, Jaitley said at the press conference. Some 33 lakh employees of the central government have reasons to cheer now with the announcement of their bonus that has been pending for two years. "The bonus entitlement for 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be released on the revised norms for central government employees. This was pending for two years. After this, the bonus will be covered under the 7th Pay Commission," Jaitley told reporters. While accepting the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the Centre doubled the minimum wage to Rs 18,000. The trade unions have been demanding much higher than the figure proposed by the government. The Centre has also decided to write to all the states regarding the compliance of Contract Workers Law. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency meeting, in which the Union Labour Minister Bandaru Datareya was also present, to decide on the Centre’s plan of action to preempt the trade strike called by agitating union workers.

2 yrs bonus for central government staff: Jaitley

  There is some good news to look forward to for the central government employees. The government has announced that they  will get revised two years' bonus which was pending. The Central Government has accepted most of the demands made by the central trade unions and bank employee unions, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley briefed the media about the development. The Centre has decided to write to all states regarding compliance of contract workers law, Jaitley said. He said that the central government has accepted most of the demands made, and the government will be released for 2014-15. The government will release a revised bonus for two years for the government employees. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is chairman of the inter-ministerial committee on labour set up last year, announced the pro-worker decisions of the government based on the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee. Other members of the committee include labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya, power minister Piyush Goyal and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan.   While accepting the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, the Centre doubled the minimum wage to Rs 18,000. The trade unions have been demanding much higher than the figure proposed by the government. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an emergency meeting, in which the Union Labour Minister Bandaru Datareya was also present, to decide on the Centre’s plan of action to preempt the trade strike called by agitating union workers.

66.5m Indians watched Sindhu's Rio Olympics match

  India had sent the largest-ever squad to an Olympics with 117 participants. PV Sindhu and Sakshi Mallik were the only two sportspersons who returned with medals as against six during the London Olympics in 2012. PV Sindhu's singles final against Carolina Marin attracted nearly 66.5 million people, who watched the game to support her. This is the highest viewership in the country for a single match this Olympics, outdoing the viewership of even popular weekend shows on TV. According to the firm, Sindhu’s final match saw a whoppingrise in viewership — from 16.4 million to 38 million viewers, who watched the live telecast. The 21-year-old badminton player commanded a highly loyal audience from her win at the semi-finals: 57.4 per cent of people who watched her in the semis came back to watch her at the finals.  Apart from these loyal viewers, double the number of viewers tuned in to watch the final showdown.   Sindhu also received strong support from her home city – Hyderabad, which witnessed the second highest viewership among metropolitan cities in India, after Mumbai. Meanwhile as per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) rating, the Rio Olympics had nearly 228 million impressions on nine TV channels during the two weeks of the games. Recently, the 2016 ICC World T20 created record viewership across India after the tournament was calculated to have been watched by 730 million people. On the other hand, a very encouraging sign from India was that the women's T20 final, which took place simultaneously in 2016 and which was also won by the West Indies women's team, set records for its reach and viewership across the globe with nearly 24.5 million people watched the women's tournament in India.

Sushma assures help to 80yr old veteran dancer

  A former Delhi University teacher,Tara Balagopal, who had once been guardian angel to the famous, is in desperate poverty even though the university owes her about Rs.2 crore. But it won't pay because it has lost the file on her service record. "After I retired over 15 years ago, I did not get any pension and my remaining salary was not given to me. When I asked the university authorities, they said that my files were missing," said Tara who tried to put up a brave face in the midst of the adversity she is facing right now.   Once a recipient of a postal stamp, Ms. Balgopal's name was reduced to a "Madrasi" woman who passed her days on charity in Delhi's Rajouri Garden. 80-year-old Tara Balgopal was one of the most well-known dancers of Kathak, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam our country has ever seen. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday called and offered help to the veteran danseuse who is living in a state of penury in the national capital. "I have spoken to Ms Tara Balgopal. I have understood the problem. We will help her," Sushma tweeted. She also tweeted saying, "Shri Subhash Arya BJP leader and ex Mayor of South Delhi will call on her today." Swaraj's initiative comes in the backdrop of the danseuse's situation going viral on social media.

'Modiji hell bent on destroying Delhi', says Kejriwal

  In some fresh attacks on the Prime Minister, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted this morning saying, "Modiji is hell bent on destroying Delhi thro LG". This comes on the heels of the recent transfer of officers by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, who represents the centre in Delhi. “Today, several officers transferred by LG directly. Files not even shown to CM or any minister. Is this Modi model of democracy?” asked Kejriwal in a tweet posted early Tuesday morning. The chief minister said the L-G transferred the officers despite deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s repeated requests not to do the same till March 31. Last week, Kejriwal had claimed the Lt. Governor and the Centre wanted to 'reverse' numerous decisions of public importance, including the decision to increase minimum wages and holding discoms accountable for unscheduled outages, among other measures.   The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also alleged that the Lieutenant Governor is behaving like a 'king' and is interested in spreading dictatorship in the national capital. Jung has replaced Health secretary Tarun Seem with IAS officer Chandrakar Bharti while Ashwani Kumar has been appointed as new PWD Secretary in place of non-IAS cadre office Sarvagya Srivastava. In the wake of the HC order that stamped the primacy of the LG in the city administration, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had requested Jung not to transfer Seem and Srivastava as they were handling flagship projects, setting up of mohalla clinics and construction of new school buildings, of the Kejriwal government.

Dutt's London Olympics bronze medal upgraded to silver

  In a great news for the Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, his 2012 London Olympics Bronze medal has been upgraded to silver after Russia’s Besik Kudukhov failed the dope test. He tweeted confirming the news, "This morning I got to know that my Olympic medal has been upgraded to Silver. I dedicate this medal to my countrymen". Now, Dutt is the second wrestler from India to win a silver medal at the London Games as he joins countryman Sushil Kumar, who finished second in the 66kg freestyle wrestling category in 2012. Four-time world champion and two-time Olympic medallist Kudukhov, who died in a car crash in 2013 in southern Russia, was tested positive on the dope test conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency. As a result, Dutt, who had bagged a bronze medal in the men's 60kg freestyle category in the London Games, has moved up to silver. Kudukhov, who finished second in the 60 kg freestyle event, died in a car accident in Russia in 2013 when he was just 27 years old.   The World Anti-Doping Agency re-tested the Russian champion's sample and found that it tested positive for banned substances. The samples have now been stored for up to 10 years so that they can be used for advanced testing methods to catch dope-tainted athletes. "The samples of five wrestlers, including Russia's Besik Kudukhov (60 kg) and Uzbekistan's Artur Taymazov's (120 kg), have tested positive for banned substances. Kudukhov failed a dope test in re-tests of samples collected during the London Games. In Taymazov's case, the re-tests date back to samples collected from the Beijing Games (2008). Kudukhov is a silver medallist and Taymazon a gold-medal winner. They will lose their medals. With Kudukhov testing positive, Yogeshwar Dutt of India will get the silver," the sources in United World Wrestling (UWW) were quoted as saying.

Not beef but Cow milk makes Champions: Baba Ramdev

  Baba Ramdev is not new to making sensational statements in the media. Countering Bharatiya Janata Party MP Udit Raj's remark that beef helped Usain Bolt to win nine gold medals in Olympics, yoga teacher Ramdev on Monday said that ghee (clarified butter) makes champion and not cow meat. "It should be clear to everyone that power to be a real champion comes from having cow's ghee not by having beef," Ramdev said. Asserting that the power to be a real champion comes from having cow's ghee not by eating beef. Udit Raj on Monday triggered a row after he tweeted that champion Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt went on to win nine Olympics gold despite being born in poverty after his trainer advised him to eat beef twice a day.   "Usain Bolt of Jamaica was poor and trainer advised him to eat beef both the times and he scored 9 gold medals in Olympics," the Lok Sabha member from North West Delhi tweeted. Baba Ramdev was in news recently when he said he plans to start a world-class university in India in the next five years to educate around one lakh students in different streams, mentioning that a 1,500-acre land has already been acquired for it. The standard of education would be at par with ivy leagues, Baba Ramdev said during his address on ‘Yoga and Inner Peace’ at a sold out event in Houston on August 23. He said that he has planned to build a world-class university near New Delhi akin to the University of Houston. The cost of the project would be around Rs. 25,000 crore, he added.

IIT rejects 'Unschooled' girl; but she makes it to MIT

  Malvika, a Mumbai girl, has done something extremely special. She was home schooled after the VIIth standard, that is to say that she did not really go to a school to study like regular kids. Nor did she take any exams. That includes the 10th and 12th standard board exams too. With all this she managed to get an admission into the prestigious institute - MIT (Massachusetts Institute Of Technology), Boston. She was in class VII at Dadar Parsee Youth Assembly School in Mumbai and doing exceedingly well in academics when her mother decided to pull her out of school. "We are a middle class family. Malvika was doing well in school but somehow I felt that my children (she has younger daughter Radha) need to be happy. Happiness is more important than conventional knowledge," Supriya said. "I was working with an NGO that takes care of cancer patients. I would see students who are in 8th or 9th standard being affected by cancer.   It affected me deeply and I decided that my daughters need to be happy." The decision no way was an easy one. "In India, people are still not very aware about the term "home schooled" or "unschooled" as it is commonly referred. It also took sometime to convince Malvika's father Raj, an engineer who runs his own business. "My husband Raj wasn't convinced initially as it was a risky proposition. The kids won't have a 10th or 12th standard certificate and there was bound to be fear. I quit my NGO job and designed an academic curriculum for Malvika. I created a simulation (classroom like situation) at home. The confidence I had as a mother was that I am capable of imparting knowledge in my daughter's." recalls the happy mother.  

Apple sued over iPhone "touch disease"

  Referred to as “Touch Disease,” a hardware problem causes iPhone displays to become unresponsive and feature a thin gray flickering line along the top. This is the new concern for the iPhone manufacturer Apple. The design flaw, which causes the screen on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to flicker and become unresponsive, came to light last week after repair specialists said "a ton" of iPhone 6 Plus handsets have experienced the problem. The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California alleges that Apple concealed the defect and has refused to fix it for customers.  "Apple has long been aware of the defective iPhones," the complaint says. "Yet, notwithstanding its longstanding knowledge of this design defect, Apple routinely has refused to repair the iPhones without charge when the defect manifests.   " The fault is apparently related to the touchscreen chip's connection to the iPhone's logic board, which can be compromised if the phone is bent - as some have experienced with the iPhone 6. Many customers who have brought the problem to Apple have been told the phones can't be fixed because the iPhone's one-year warranty has expired. “This action arises from Apple's concealment of a material design defect that causes the touchscreens on the iPhones to become unresponsive and fail for their essential purpose as smartphones,” the civil complaint contended. The lawsuit accused Apple of refusing to repair iPhones free of charge despite knowing that a design flaw was a fault.

China's strong message to India on Balochistan

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech is the "latest concern" for China and among its scholars, Hu Shisheng, the director of the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said in an interview. "The latest concern for China is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech from the Red Fort in which he referred to the issues like Kashmir (occupied by Pakistan) and Balochistan," Hu said. "It could be regarded as a watershed moment in India's policy towards Pakistan. Why Chinese scholars are concerned is because this is for the first time India has mentioned it," he added.   The thinktank is among China's most powerful, and is affiliated with the country's ministry of state security The researcher also said India's growing military ties with the US and its changed attitude on the disputed South China Sea are ringing alarm bells for China. China's concerns primarily revolve around its $46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan that runs from its western Xinjiang region to the Gwadar Arabian Sea port in Balochistan. Hu said China feared India may "use anti-government elements" in Balochistan, where Beijing is building CPEC -a key to the success of its ambitious `One Road, One Belt' project. "If this kind of plot causes damage to CPEC, China will have to get involved," he said, referring to the alleged invol vement of India in backing separatists in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. He also said China is unlikely to change its policy in South Asia.

Aarushi murder case: Victim's mother gets bail

  The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted parole to Nupur Talwar, who is serving a life term for the murder of her 13-year-old daughter Aarushi Talwar, for three weeks to visit her mother in Noida. She has to keep the police informed about her movements regularly. Nupur and her husband Rajesh Talwar were convicted for the killings of their daughter Aarushi and their domestic help, Hemraj, by the CBI court in 2013. Both of themwere sentenced to life imprisonment by the court. Aarushi was discovered with her throat slit in her bed at the Talwars' Noida apartment just days before her 14th birthday. The main suspect was the family's missing domestic help Hemraj until his corpse was found on their terrace. Investigators say nobody broke into the Talwars' home and it was an insider job.   But they also said that they did not have evidence to prove who did it or what was the motive. The case was first being investigated by the Noida police but it was transferred to the CBI following pressure. And after five years of investigation, the couple were found guilty of the murder and were sentenced to life imprisonment. They have been in jail since 2013. They have appealed against their conviction. What became India's most compelling whodunnit has inspired a book and a Bollywood film, "Talvar", released last year. The book has excerpts from Rajesh Talwar's diary in jail, in which he writes about the night of the murder: "If only I would have gotten up...I could not even save my dear Aaru."

TN to get Amma gyms and Amma park

After launching and running amma canteens and various other services under the name of 'Amma'. The state of Tamil Nadu will soon be able to get the benefit of Amma gym and Amma parks close to their houses.  In a statement under Rule 110, she said 500 Amma Parks will be set up this year with entertainment, play and exercise equipment for children, women and senior citizens; pathways; cement benches; lawns; gardens and toilets at a cost of Rs 100 crore. She said at a cost of Rs 10 lakh each, 500Amma Gyms will be set up in rural areas to strengthen the physical and mental well-being of village youngsters. The chief minister said self-help groups (SHGs) would be able to get loans from banks to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore. "In the last five years, banks have lent Rs 26,460 crore as loans to SHGs and this year it would be Rs 6,000 crore," she said.  Amma parks would be established in village panchayats at a cost of Rs 100 crore in this financial year. The parks would have good drinking water facility, toilets, play equipment, cement benches. Children, women and senior citizens can spend time in these parks which will also contain green grass," Jayalalithaa said in the assembly.

Airtel slashes 4G prices by 80%

Looks like with all the clamour from public for the newly launched Reliance Jio, its just turned out to be the golden period for mobile internet users. With Reliance Jio disrupting the mobile data market with its insanely popular Jio Preview Offer, rival telecom operators are under immense pressure to retain their existing subscriber base. In a move to counter Reliance Jio, telecom major Bharti Airtel has slashed 4G and 3G mobile internet charges by up to 80 per cent to as low as Rs 51 per gigabyte (GB) under a special scheme. The Mega Saver Packs come in two denominations  Rs 1,498 and Rs 748. The Rs 1,498 Mega Saver Pack offers 4G/3G data upfront with a validity of 28 days. After exhaustion of the data limit, users get 1GB 4G/3G recharges for just Rs 51 over a period of 12 months. Airtel says there’s no cap on the number of recharges during the period. Also, users can top up by Rs 99 for 2GB and for Rs 259 for 5GB of data. “These prepaid packs are live in Delhi and will get launched across circles by August 31, 2016,” the statement said. Airtel in July started offering up to 67% more data in existing 4G and 3G schemes, which was replicated by Idea Cellular and Vodafone. In August, Airtel made voice calling free even in roaming under a new plan for Rs 1,199, which also included 1GB of 3G or 4G data depending on availability of network.

Haryana Minister donates Rs 50 lakhs to Dera Chief

  Haryana Health and Sports Minister Anil Vij is familiar with being in the headlines for the wrong reasons these days. The minister faced criticism for declaring that he was in the Rio Olympics to focus on the Haryana players. To add to the list of his mis-steps, the minister stirred up a storm after he donated Rs 50 lakh of taxpayers' money to Dera Sacha Sauda, an organisation run by controversial Sikh leader and bling enthusiast Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh who is best known for the Messenger of God: MSG series outside Punjab. Ram Rahim, 49, says the money given to him will be used to train "players in all Olympic sports" and not just for a unique blend of kabaddi, kho kho and wrestling that he has created.   Vij announced the donation at Dera Sacha Sauda in the Tiranga Rumal Chhu program at Sirsa district on Saturday after he witnessed a sporting event, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh was also present at the event. "It is a very good thing. Along with religion, education and games are there, that means they are trying to prepare a complete human being," Vij said about the activities at the Dera Sacha Sauda Stadium. "He is encouraging the games. Since the schools are also encouraging games here, I would like to donate Rs 50 Lakh from my discretionary fund," he added. The leader defended his actions by asserting that he is the maalik or the owner of the fund and that the work being done in the stadium is a step in the right direction to promote sports.

Tourism Minister advises tourists not to wear skirts

  Union tourism and culture minister Mahesh Sharma raked up a controversy when he advised tourists not to wear skirts while in the country. He also said that there would be an advisory to this effect, adding that foreign tourists visiting Mathura and Vrindavan should also have Indian sensitivities in mind. He did not spell out what those Indian sensitivities were. Responding to questions from the media about the safety of tourists in Agra during a press conference, Sharma said, “We give welcome kits to tourists when they land at the airport.   The kit includes a card with do’s and don’ts such as, do not venture out alone at night in small towns, do not wear skirts; take a picture of the registration number of the vehicle you use and send it to a friend…”. He also asked visitors to take a photograph of every vehicle's number plate as a precautionary measure while travelling. Sharma has now clarified that he "did not comment on what women should wear or not," and "was just speaking in context of religious places." Sharma, who visited Vatsalyagram in Vrindavan, also said the Samajwadi Party would eventually split into two groups, one led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the other by his uncle Shivpal Yadav. “Such a split between the ‘chacha-bhateeja’ would be good for the BJP,” he said, adding that Akhilesh was only “tolerating” Shivpal because of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

'West Bengal' will now be called 'Bengal'

  The West Bengal assembly today passed a resolution to change the name of the state from  West Bengal to  ’Bangla’ in Bengali, Bengal in English and ‘Bangal’ in Hindi. Now, the new names would require a Constitutional amendment to effect the change. This is being viewed as an attempt to raise stature in the alphabetical sequence of state names. This after recently, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had to speak at the very end of an event on centre-state relationship held in Delhi as the turn came in alphabetical order of the name of the state and West Bengal inevitably appears at the bottom of the list.   This has been a constant complaint of West Bengal bureaucrats and ministers. The previous Left government led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had proposed to rename the state to  ”Paschimbanga”, however the government had failed to pass a referendum on the issue. The name West Bengal came about when Bengal got divided into East and West Bengal . East Bengal then became a part of Pakistan and has now turned out to become Bangladesh. There are some who welcomed this change saying the name West Bengal has lost its relevance since East Bengal, which corresponded to the geographical territory of Bangladesh, no longer exists in India. Others, however, aren’t happy since they feel that the name West Bengal is symbolic of the history of this part of the country, especially its partition.

BJP MP: Bolt won 9 Golds as he ate beef

  A tweet which read, "Usain bolt of Jamaica was poor and trainer advised him to eat beef both the times and he scored 9 gold medals in Olympic" is all it took for a BJP MP to rake up the beef controversy again. BJP MP and Dalit leader Udit Raj raised a few eyebrows today with a tweet which suggested that Jamaican athlete and Olympics Triple Gold winner Usain Bolt went on to win nine Olympic gold medals despite being born in poverty after his trainer advised him to eat beef twice a day. Raj, took to Twitter on Sunday, to make this rather strange statement, considering his party and the current 'cow controversy' around the country. The 29-year-old Bolt retired after winning three medals at his pet events 100m race, 200m race and 100*4 relay at the recently concluded Rio Olympics, bagging nine medals altogether over three Games.   The Delhi leader’s reference to Bolt came at a time there is intense scrutiny of India’s performance in Rio, where the country’s 118 athletes managed to secure just two medals one silver and the other bronze. “All I wanted to say that giving excuses that we don’t have infrastructure or there is corruption should be done away with and lesson, dedication should be learnt from Usain Bolt… What I wanted to say is our players should find ways and means as he found ways and means [sic],” he later said, adding there is no lack of facilities for sports persons in the country. Government spends a huge amount of money on them compared to nations like Jamaica or Kenya, he said.

After 11years; Dhoni out & Kohli in for Pepsi

  Global brand PepsiCo ended its 11-year endorsement contract with India's One-day and Twenty20 Cricket Captain MS Dhoni. The news comes only a couple of days after Dhoni failed to get India over the line in the 1st T20I against theWest Indies, and might indicate that Dhoni’s long reign as one of the most wanted faces for advertisers might be coming to an end. He will be replaced by Virat Kohli as the icon for the company. PepsiCo currently has stars like Indian cricket star, Virat Kohli, Ranbir Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra as brand ambassadors. Confirming about the company’s move, Vipul Prakash, VP, PepsiCo Beverages India said that at PepsiCo, company’s focus in advertising and marketing is to make its products the hero and celebrate the hero. The idea will always play the most important role.   If there's a role for the celebrity that helps take forward the idea of celebrating our product, company is more than happy to taking it further. The company has a history roping in popular Bollywood celebrities and sports personalities for the endorsement of its various products. Signed up in 2005, Dhoni was a part of several popular campaigns run by Pepsico, for its popular brands like Pepsi and Lay's chips. Dhoni retired as the captain of the Test at the end of 2014. At the stage, he represented 18 brands. Now, the list is said to be less than 10 and is certainly a less distinguished one.

Olympic champs conferred with Khel Ratna

After a brilliant show at Rio Olympics 2016, President Pranab Mukherjee conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award today to P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik,Dipa Karmakar along with ace shooter Jitu Rai. The President also conferred Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Purushkar (Identification and nurturing of young talent) to Hockey Citizen Group, Dadar Parsee Zorostrian cricket club, Usha School of Athletics, STAIRS. The day is celebrated to respect and honour hockey legend Major Dhyanchand Singh who was born on this day (August 29). It is officially declared as National Sports Day. Arjuna Award was also given to 15 sportspersons which included the likes of Olympian runner Lalita Babar, cricketer Ajinkya Rahane, boxer Shiva Thapa and wrestler Vinesh Phogat. The Dronacharya Award – given to coaches of high achieving sportspersons and for their contribution to nurturing talent – was given to Nagapuri Ramesh for Athletics, Sagar Mal Dhayal for Boxing and Raj Kumar Sharma for Cricket.   Karmakar’s coach Bishweshwar Nandi also received the award. While the Dhyanchand Award was given to Athlete Satti Geetha, hockey player Sylvanus Dung Dung and Rower Rajendra Pralhad Shelke. For the first time in the history of National Sports Awards, four athletes were chosen for the Khel Ratna honour, owing to the three girls’ superlative show at the Rio Olympics. In 2009, three athletes boxers Vijender Singh and M C Mary Kom and wrestler Sushil Kumar had been given this award together.