For child's passport, unwed mother needs to declare if she was raped: Centre to HC

MUMBAI: While applying for a passport for her child, an unwed mother will have to declare how she conceived, the Union government told Bombay high court on Thursday.

The reply was to a query by a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai, which heard a petition by a woman challenging the passport authority's refusal to include her step-father's name in her passport. When the HC was parting with the matter, Justice Kanade asked, "We were wondering what happens in case of unwed mothers?"

Advocate Purnima Bhatia, appearing for the foreign ministry, said an unwed mother must file an affidavit stating "how she has conceived" and "if she was raped" and why she does not want the father's name included. She added the details are in the passport manual, a classified document.

The judges exchanged surprised glances and murmured. Sania Akram (21, name changed) move d court challenging the refusal of the regional passport officer to issue passport in the name of her step-father as recorded in her school/college certificates, saying she must obtain a court order appointing him as her guardian. The officer also refused to alternately include the name of her mother, who has permanent custody of Sania.

READ ALSO: ​Passport applicants to be updated via SMS

Want passport quickly? Tatkal is the only way

Sania's petition said her biological father had abandoned her after birth and she considers her biological father's name a "stigma".

The passport manual was produced in court, but Bhatia said it cannot be given to the petitioner as it is a classified document.

Sania's advocate, Altaf Khan, said the passport authority was relying on standing instructions based on the passport manual. These instructions state that only the biological father's name must be mentioned on the passport. "The Passport Act is silent (on the matter). It relates to minors. I am a major now. My fundamental right to travel to seek education is at stake," said Khan, quoting Sania. The judges remarked that the passport manual cannot be a classified document and is in the nature of internal instructions. "These are just guidelines and do not have the force of law," said Justice Kanade. The judges will decide Sania's plea on November 12, along with a similar case.

Times View:

It is shocking that the government should ask an unwed mother how she had a child before giving a passport. The circumstances in which she had the child are no business of the state, it is entirely a private matter. If the laws, or the rules framed under them, currently make it mandatory for such information to be provided, it is time the law was changed. All that is germane as far as the government is concerned is whether the child is indeed hers. As long as that is established, nothing else should be asked for.

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It may all be over between Shiv Sena & BJP; Uddhav Thackeray, team to skip CM's oath ceremony

MUMBAI: Chances of the Shiv Sena joining the new BJP government in the state are extremely bleak, it is reliably learnt. Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will keep away from CM-designate Devendra Fadnavis's swearing-in ceremony at Wankhede stadium on Friday. None of the Sena's MLAs or leaders will attend, party leader Anil Desai confirmed.

The move to boycott the function shows that the two allies are set to part ways with bitterness and rancour, political analysts said.

Should Matoshree formalize its decision to not be the BJP's post-poll ally, the Fadnavis government will face formidable opposition from the 63-strong Sena legislature party in the assembly for the next five years. This will mark the beginning of a new era in state politics, said analysts.

However, a section in the Sena expressed cautious optimism late Thursday evening that a last-minute reconciliation formula could be hammered out by Friday.

Sources said a decision on whether to continue talks with the BJP or not will be made by Uddhav by Saturday. The Sena will announce its final decision in the first week of November.

The Sena's decision to stay out of the government came after BJP firmly turned down Matoshree's demand for 14 ministerial berths, including seven of cabinet rank.

The Sena also wanted two of its senior functionaries to be sworn in on Friday, along with Fadnavis and his cabinet team.

READ ALSO: TOI manifesto for new Maharashtra govt

Shiv Sena 'forgets' to greet CM-designate Fadnavis

But BJP leader and the party's Maharashtra observer Rajiv Pratap Rudy posted a tweet on Thursday rejecting the Sena's demand. Striking a politically correct note, Rudy added that talks with the Sena would be continued to find a way out of the stalemate.

"The BJP turning down our demand to induct two ministers has come as the last straw," said a senior Sena functionary. "We have not been treated with respect which a party with a strength of 63 legislators deserves," the Sena functionary added.

However, the BJP state leadership too was furious on Thursday, it is learnt, because of a message containing derogatory language purportedly circulated by the Aditya Thackeray-led Yuva Sena on a social networking site.

The message made fun of the BJP's demand that the Sena should offer apologies for describing PM Narendra Modi and the entire BJP campaign team led by Amit Shah as Afzal Khan's army and for a recent editorial in Hindi Saamna pouring ridicule on the PM. "Such messages will do no good to Sena-BJP ties," said a key party functionary.

(Boats decorated with the BJP symbol will float in the sea off Marine Drive during Friday's ceremony.)

Sources said the Sena took too long to decide on whether to be part of the government and kept harping on its 'honour' theme, which didn't cut much ice with BJP especially in the wake of the Sena's continuing attacks on the BJP leadership.

"We can't attend the swearing-in function if the Sena's prestige is not honoured," Sena MP Vinayak Raut told mediapersons.

BJP observer Om Prakash Mathur said his party had done nothing to impinge on the Sena's honour.

A man of few words, Mathur said it was not necessary to offer comments on whatever the Sena said. The erstwhile Sangh pracharak's body language reflected the BJP's tough stance vis-a-vis the Sena.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray addressing the newly elected party MLAs at a meeting at Sena Bhavan in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

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Sonipat heist plotter found dead as cops crack case

SONIPAT: Three days after thieves were found to have cleaned out 78 lockers from a bank in Sonipat, cops on Thursday claimed to have cracked the multi-crore heist case even as the alleged mastermind was mysteriously found dead in his car.

READ ALSO: Thieves dig 100-foot tunnel to steal crores from Haryana bank's strongroom

Police said Mahipal — the alleged brain behind the heist who owned the abandoned house from where the thieves dug an 84-foot-long tunnel to the Punjab National Bank's locker room — had committed suicide. His body was found on Panipat road around 3pm. It had no visible injuries and police said the autopsy report is awaited.

Haryana police have arrested three of the four other suspects. All of them are from the neighbouring Kathwal village and, strangely, none has a major criminal record. Police said they have recovered 39kg of gold and silver ornaments and some cash.

Among those arrested is Satish, a property dealer, Surender, a lab technician and Balraj, an 'agriculturist'. Search is on to nab the fourth suspect, Rajesh.

"Mahipal was the main conspirator. He involved the four others to execute the job. We suspect Mahipal committed suicide because he feared being caught," Arun Singh, Sonipat superintendent of police, told TOI.

The bank branch where the heist took place is on Gohana road. TOI visited the spot and found a 10-12 feet wide street separated it from Mahipal's house, where the tunnel began. The strong room, where the lockers were present, is at the extreme end of the building that housed the bank.

Police claim the four thieves would visit the house at night and work on the tunnel till dawn. Cops said they used heavy iron rods, spades and trowels (khurpa) to dig the tunnel and they broke open the locker using a jack, said officials.

The digging was done with such finesse that telephone cables and water pipelines in the tunnel remained completely untouched. The tunnel was about three feet high and two to three feet wide.

Haryana police have arrested three of the four other suspects. (PTI photo)

"The bank has 350 lockers. The thieves managed to decamp with valuables kept in 78 of them. They broke open a total 86 lockers," said a source.

Cops were taken aback by the profile of the suspects. "It is surprising that these novices managed to make such an elaborate plan and execute it with precision. Also, the mysterious death of Mahipal raises more questions than answers about this bank heist. The real story, I feel, is yet to come out," said an investigating official. He did not rule out the possibility of some bank employee or customer being involved. But the police, on record, denied any such theory.

The involvement of PMO, which sent a senior official to look into this case a day after it was reported, has also led to speculation here.

Officials said they got a crucial lead during routine questioning. "We were informed about the heist on Monday when one of the customers went to operate his locker. He raised an alarm and called in senior bank officials. We rounded up every resident, shop owner and even the vendors near the bank. One of our informers told us about Surender who frequented the abandoned building. We nabbed him from the Kathwal village and he confessed to his involvement in the crime. He also told us about his accomplices." said the police.

Meanwhile, the customers who had their lockers with the Punjab National Bank continued to protest outside the bank to demand immediate recovery of their valuables. They claimed that the bank did not use safety measures as per the guidelines of the RBI for the strong room.

"The base of the building was weak. That's why the thieves could easily drill into it. Also, there were no CCTV cameras or alarms," said Saroj Ravi, one of the customers.

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Delhi's Jama Masjid Shahi Imam invites Pak PM Sharif, not PM Modi for son's anointment

NEW DELHI: The Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari Friday said he has not invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his son's anointment as the next chief cleric.

Bukhari, however, said he has invited Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and also four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including two ministers.

"We have invited the prime minister of Pakistan as we have had relations with him since my father's time, unlike with Modi, whom we have not invited," Bukhari said.

The anointment of Bukhari's son, 19-year-old Shaban, will take place on Nov 22. The guests have been invited for a special dinner on Nov 29.

"Modi has not done anything for Indian Muslims even after coming to power. Indian Muslims have not forgiven him for the 2002 Gujarat riots," Bukhari said, referring to the 2002 communal clashes in Gujarat in which around 1,000 Muslims were killed.

"Modi has not even apologised (for the riots) and reached out to the Muslims," he added.

"We have also invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi along with Vice President Hamid Ansari," Bukhari added.

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Actress receives rape threats after recording 10 hours of street harassment in New York

The actress who appeared in a video highlighting street harassment in New York City has received rape threats online, according to Hollaback, the organization which commissioned the short film.

The video, '10 hours of walking in NYC as a woman', was uploaded on Tuesday and has been viewed over a million times.

Shoshana B Roberts volunteered to be filmed secretly by a camera hidden in a backpack in front of her. The man carrying the backpack, Rob Bliss, came up with the idea after noticing the street harassment his girlfriend regularly faced.

Walking through the streets of the Big Apple in jeans and a crew-neck shirt, Roberts receives over 100 cat calls from various strangers she passes. Roberts does not respond to any of the men who shout at her. Many of them call "Nice", "Damn" or "Sweetie", while others hound Roberts to respond to them.

One guy keeps asking Roberts, "You don't wanna talk? We can't be friends, nothing? If I give you my number, would you talk to me?"

Another says, "Hey, what's up girl? How you doing? Somebody's acknowledging you for being beautiful. You should say thank you more!"

One man just walks alongside Roberts, occasionally staring at her and never saying a word for five minutes.

Watch the full video:

While the video was produced by Bliss and Roberts, it was commissioned by Hollaback, an organization dedicated to ending street harassment across the world that mainly works with local activists.

Just a few hours after the video was published, Hollaback tweeted that Roberts had received rape threats on the comment board of the video's YouTube page.

Hollaback told Newsday that their community was now reporting the threats to YouTube and that they were being deleted.

Hollaback's director, Emily May, told Newsday: "The rape threats indicate that we are hitting a nerve. We want to do more than just hit a nerve though, we want New Yorkers to realize -- once and for all -- that street harassment isn't OK, and that as a city we refuse to tolerate it."

Hollaback state that street harassment disproportionately impacts women, people of color, LGBT individuals and young people.

Shoshana said on Hollaback's website, "I'm harassed when I smile and I'm harassed when I don't. I'm harassed by white men, black men, latino men. Not a day goes by when I don't experience this."

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Black money: HSBC Bank list contains no big names, no big money

NEW DELHI: The list of 627 names provided by HSBC Bank, which also operates in India, does not have any big names connected to political parties or industrialists, government sources said on Wednesday.

The sources were also sceptical about recovery of huge amounts from the 350-odd Indians, who could face prosecution for allegedly stashing black money in foreign banks, as their account entries were too old and reflected relatively small deposits. The rest of the names in the list of 627 are non-resident Indians (NRIs) who cannot be proceeded against under Indian tax laws, they said.

The sources told TOI that most of the bank account entries were much before 2006 and generally were recorded from 1999 to 2004-05. One of the account entries dated to 1973 and is barred under law from being assessed for tax evasion, they said.

READ ALSO: Ramdev urges government to expedite process of bringing back black money

I-T authorities to begin probe against 90 names from Mumbai

"The entries reflect small amounts, ranging between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore. Even if the government is able to take drastic measures and freeze the accounts taking the money to be illegal, there would be hardly anything left in the accounts given the lapse of time and the warning signals that had gone to them since 2011 when the apex court had rendered the judgment constituting the special investigation team headed by former SC judges," they said.

The sources said the account entries being old, and if the account holders have emptied their accounts, the government would be able to recover very little even after freezing them in cooperation with Swiss authorities, which too was a remote possibility.

Whatever little the government would be able to recover from these 350-odd account holders was because of the amendment to the assessment rules extending the assessment time limit from 6 years to 16 years, they said.

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Govt submits 627 names of foreign account holders to Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday submitted a list comprising names of 627 Indians with foreign bank accounts in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court in an attempt to recover black money stashed abroad.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi handed over three sets of documents to the Supreme Court.

The Centre said roughly half of them were resident Indians who could be prosecuted. The rest were NRIs who could not be prosecuted against under Indian tax laws, the attorney general, appearing on behalf of the Centre, said.

READ ALSO: Did SC encroach into government's sovereign treaty making power?

The court did not open the sealed envelope and sent it to its special investigation team tasked to bring back black money.

The move comes a day after the Supreme Court reprimanded the Modi-led government for "providing a protective umbrella to foreign bank account holders?"

The AG also brought up the double taxation avoidance agreement-related confidentiality clause which impeded Centre's desire to make all names public. He said the Centre did not want to have any say in what the apex court intended to do with these 627 names, but said the Union government's bilateral and international treaty obligations had to be addressed.

In response, the Supreme Court permitted the Centre to place its difficulties emanating from treaty obligations before the SIT. SC will hear the case again on December 3.

READ ALSO: SC order may impact other tax treaties

The Supreme Court on Tuesday had ordered the Centre to furnish in sealed cover names of all Indians holding accounts abroad by Wednesday hinting that it suspected the Narendra Modi government's intent to get into the bottom of black money stashed abroad and taking steps to bring it back.

"Whatever information you have received from foreign countries, pass it on to us. We will ask the CBI or some other agency to investigate and give us a report. Don't ask us to modify the earlier order (to reveal all the names). We will not change a word of it (the order). We take the responsibility of investigating the entire issue. We will ensure confidentiality of investigation," a bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justices Ranjana P Desai and Madan B Lokur had said.

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Sec 377 slapped on Infosys techie after wife catches his gay acts on spycam

Lip gloss, foundation, innerwear in 'girlie' patterns and colours, and a passion for all things pink, these are just some of the traits that set off alarm bells in a dentist's head, almost a year after marriage, that her husband could be gay.

Recently, the 32-year-old test engineer employed with the financial services department of Infosys was arrested by the city police after his wife caught his alleged homosexual encounters on hidden cameras installed in their Malleswaram home. He has been charged under section 377 of the IPC. Police said John F (name changed to protect identity) was a native of Thiruvananthapuram, who was born and raised in Abu Dhabi.

John's marriage was arranged to Lisa (name changed) in November 2013, but the couple lived and worked apart for the first six months. While the techie was posted in the Mysore branch of Infosys, his 31-year-old wife was practicing at a clinic in Bangalore. It was only in May 2014 that John sought a transfer to Bangalore and the couple rented a house together in Malleswaram.

Though they had been married for a good six months, John allegedly refused to touch Lisa and did not initiate any physical contact with her. The two even slept in separate rooms, according to the dentist.

"It was the pink lip gloss that first roused my suspicions. He used it every day without fail, and if it smudged even a little, he would touch it up immediately. His mannerisms and interests were also feminine, and whenever I questioned him, he always gave dodgy responses," said Lisa, speaking to Bangalore Mirror.

The techie would leave home at 8 am, only to return around 10.30-11 pm every day. Whenever Lisa was working late, however, John would always come home early. It was only after casually questioning her neighbours that she learnt John was constantly bringing male friends home.

When she tried to ask him about these 'friends', the techie would reportedly digress from the subject using random excuses. Soon, Lisa found out that her husband was bringing home strangers whenever she was out of the house.

Each time she tried probing, John would silence her by saying the men were interested in discussing 'business'. Numerous suggestions by Lisa that they should visit a marriage counsellor or a psychiatrist went in vain.

"I first spoke to John and advised him to get a medical test done, thinking he did not want to get intimate with me because he was impotent. However, he flatly refused; so I had no option but to approach his parents. Imagine my utter shock when they blamed me for their son not being attracted to me, saying he was 'perfect' and that I was flawed in some way. They also harshly told me to divorce my husband if I couldn't handle him," Lisa recalled.

And so John continued bringing men to their house in his wife's absence, and the couple continued to bicker over his strange habits. Finally, the dentist decided to take matters into her own hands. Turning detective, she installed hidden cameras inside their hall, bedrooms, and kitchen; with the devices capable of storing recorded footage over a span of 10 days.

Subsequently, Lisa left for her hometown in Golur, Tumkur on October 1 for a week-long visit to her parents' house. When she came back and reviewed the video footage, she was aghast to find recordings of her husband's homosexual encounters with another man. Immediately, she burned the recording onto a CD, and armed with the evidence, walked into the nearest police station to file a complaint.

"I have also accused my in-laws of cheating me since I believe they knew their son was gay, but intentionally led me to believe he wasn't. They have cheated me and ruined my life by getting me married to him," the dentist rued.

Confirming the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central), Sandeep Patil, said, "We arrested the techie soon after his wife tendered a complaint, with proof. The techie's parents have been booked for cheating the victim, but these allegations have to be fully proved before we can arrest them."

WHAT IS SEC 377?

Under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, gay sex is an offence punishable with life imprisonment.

The section was declared unconstitutional by the Delhi high court in July 2009.

However, on December 12, 2013, that judgment was overturned by the Supreme Court, with the apex court holding that amending or repealing Section 377 should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

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Fadnavis’s banker wife to seek transfer from Nagpur

NAGPUR : It could be a first of sorts. Maharashtra's chief minister will have a working wife. Amruta Fadnavis is an associate vice-president with Axis Bank and heads its business branch in Nagpur.

"I will relocate to Mumbai when I get a transfer," Amruta told TOI after her husband was formally named chief minister-designate on Tuesday. "Nothing is certain as yet. We will take these decisions later. As of now, my daughter is studying here and I have a job."

She and her 5-year-old daughter Divija left for Mumbai on an evening flight soon after they got news of Devendra Fadnavis's elevation. The family watched the announcement on television. The greetings started on the plane. "A number of people came up to wish me," said Amruta after landing in Mumbai.

Divija is currently in senior KG at a top Nagpur school. On schooling in Mumbai, Amruta said, "We are yet to take a decision."

Fadnavis's mother, Sarita, too plans to shift to Mumbai once her son settles into Varsha—the official residence of the CM. Showing remarkable composure in handling the media, Saritatai, as she is lovingly called, said she is worried about her granddaughter. "It is for her sake that I want to shift to Mumbai.

Devendra Fadnavis's with wife Amruta Fadnavis and five-year-old daughter Divija. (TOI Photo)

She said Divija is used to a house full of people. "Varsha is a huge place and there would be very few people there. I wonder if she will be able to cope. (But) she is very observant and a quick learner. Mumbai can make a person mature very fast. I don't want Divija to lose her innocence early living there."

The grandmother is not averse to Divija picking up lessons in politics early in life. "I don't mind if she takes up a political career. Her father learnt well from his father (Gangadharrao Fadnavis, a BJP member of the state legislative council) and Divija will be able to learn from Devendra," she said.

The 5-year-old is fond of her granny. "When we are out, Divija keeps looking back to see if I am walking along and comfortable," said Sarita Fadnavis, who will leave for Mumbai on Wednesday for Friday's swearing-in of her son at Wankhede Stadium.

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Thieves dig 100-foot tunnel to steal crores from Haryana bank's strongroom

CHANDIGARH: In a Bollywood-style heist, thieves dug a 100-foot tunnel to Punjab National Bank in Sonepat district and broke into several lockers decamping with cash, jewellery and other valuables.

The bank is located in a residential-cum-commercial area, near Old Bus Stand in Gohana city.

The daring robbery came to light on Monday morning when bank manager Devender Malik opened the strongroom at 10am. He found the almirahs in the strongroom broken open and Rs 40 lakh cash missing. Apart from this, 88 out of 360 lockers had been prised open and their contents like jewellery and cash missing.

Sources say the loss could run into crores of rupees.

The house from where the robbers started digging the tunnel is unoccupied as it is a disputed property. The robbers seem to have been digging for some days as the tunnel was 2.5 feet in circumference. Tools and earth dumped in the vacant house indicate that the burglars knew the exact location of the strongroom and lockers in the bank.

Preliminary investigations also suggest that the culprits chose Sunday to strike since the area would be deserted.

Unlike other places where strongrooms and locker rooms have at least one feet of concrete covered with a thick iron sheet, this one had an ordinary floor which was easily punctured by the burglars. "We have constituted teams to crack the case at the earliest,'' said Sonepat SP Arun Nehra.

Bank officials have asked the clients whose lockers were broken open to provide details of their contents.

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Deepshikha: Puneet Issar is actually a very dirty man

Deepshikha came to Lucknow to unwind during the Diwali weekend. Here's what the actress has to say about the reality show and her unexpected ouster from it

Lucknow calling ​
Little did Deepshikha know that her stay in the Bigg Boss house would be so short-lived. "My Bigg Boss stint was too short and I am still in a state of shock," says the actress, who was in Lucknow to celebrate Diwali with her Rakhi brother. Her husband Kaishav Arora also accompanied her. She adds, "To overcome this shock, I came to Lucknow to relax at my brother's house. My eviction was too sudden. Even Salman Khan was shocked ki Deepshikha bahar kaise aa gayi! I was crying and howling like anything when I came out of the house."

ALSO READ: ​Everyone hates Puneet Issar's chaddis: Deepshikha Nagpal

Vote's the matter
Voicing her doubt over the voting pattern followed on the show, Deepshikha says, "Voting ki transparency nahi hai Bigg Boss mein. I even asked for the audit report of voting, but the production house didn't give it to me. I was very angry and upset and wanted to see the audit report, and I'm waiting for it even now. It might be the the production house's strategy to evict me midway, to garner TRPs, but bali ka bakra toh main bann gayi na. I even asked them ki mujhe liya kyun agar itni jaldi nikalna tha."

Deepshikha was approached for the show several times in the past. "In fact, every year I used to get calls for Bigg Boss, but then, in the end materialize nahi hota tha. This time when they called me it all worked out. My kids and my husband, all are very fond of Bigg Boss. My kids were so excited that they couldn't wait to tell their friends about it. Ghar ki taraf se I was very relaxed," she says.

Fight it out
Telling us about the umpteen fights inside the house, Deepshikha says that there are lighter moments too between the contestants. "Jo Bigg Boss TV pe dikhate hain, reality mein waisa hota nahi hai. Nobody fights all the time. Our task is ki bhai Bigg Boss mein aaye hain, toh content toh dena hai for that one hour. We used to play antakshari and dumb charades. In fact, I used to do a lot of gymming as my aim was to lose a certain amount of weight. It was only during the tasks that we used to fight, not otherwise," she says.

Bad man
Deepshikha, who was friends with actor Puneet Issar inside the house, has changed her opinion about him soon after coming out. "Puneet Issar is not only a very bad man, he is actually a very dirty man! He is not at all a father figure. I didn't know much about him till I came out. He has started playing dirty. Puneet thought that I am a very strong contender, manipulated people against me and got me nominated," she rues.

WATCH: Deepshikha Nagpal eliminated from Bigg Boss 8

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Black money: Supreme Court orders Centre to reveal all names by tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to reveal the names of all the Indians who hold foreign bank accounts by Wednesday.

Rapping the government for seeking modification of its order on black money on disclosing the names of Indians who hold accounts in foreign banks, the apex court refused to change its earlier order to exempt the government from not disclosing the names where criminality is not found.

"Why are you trying to protect people having bank accounts in foreign countries. Why are you providing a protective umbrella for all these people. The order was passed in open court in the presence of solicitor general and the new regime can't ask modification of order. We cannot touch our order and we won't change even a word of it," a visibly annoyed Chief Justice HL Dattu, who was heading the bench, said.

Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi's fervent plea that it can disclose names only after conducting probes on illegality of bank accounts was outright rejected by the bench which asked the government not to do anything but provide all information to it and the court would direct investigation to be done by SIT or any other agencies including CBI.

At the end of a 30-minute hearing, attorney general said the government has received 500 names of account holders from different countries like Germany.

The CJI asked the Centre not to indulge in any kind of probe by itself and said that investigation would never complete in his lifetime if it is done by the government.

"You do not do anything. Just pass information of account holders to us and we will pass order for further probe," the bench, also comprising justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and Madan B Lokur, said.

"We can't leave the issue of bringing back black money to government. It will never happen during our time," it said adding, "Why are you providing protective umbrella to foreign bank account holders?"

The bench brushed aside the contentions of AG that disclosing account holders' names would violate their right to privacy of those who have legitimate accounts and the names can be revealed only after a prima facie case of tax evasion is made out.

"You do not have to take interest in people (having foreign bank accounts). SIT will take care of it," the bench said setting a deadline for tomorrow to place all those names.

The court directed the Centre not to give "one, two, or three names of account holders but the entire list supplied to it by the foreign countries"

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Dabur's Pradip Burman among 3 named for holding black money accounts abroad

NEW DELHI: The Union government has named three persons who are black money account holders in an affidavit to the Supreme Court.

The three persons named are Pradip Burman, director of the Burman group and one of promoters of Dabur group, Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya, a Rajkot-based bullion trader and Radha S Timblo, a Goa-based miner and owner of Timblo Pvt Ltd.

READ ALSO: Centre likely to give fresh affidavit on black money in Supreme Court today

The Centre told the court that it had no intention to withhold names of persons who have stashed black money abroad and stated that information received from foreign countries will be disclosed in all cases where tax evasion is established.

Every foreign account held by an Indian may not be illegal, the Centre said, adding that names cannot be disclosed unless there is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing.

It also told the court that Switzerland has indicated willingness to provide information on black money in cases where probe has been done by IT department.

Television reports also indicated that four members of the Congress party, including a former minister of the previous UPA regime, are under investigation, and added that their names may be revealed after the probe is completed. Among the four Congress party members are two belonging to powerful political families in the state of Maharashtra, the television reports further stated.

Radha S Timblo, a Goa-based miner and owner of Timblo Pvt Ltd

READ ALSO: Won't withhold black money names — Arun Jaitley

Congress will be embarrassed by black money names, Arun Jaitley says

Last week, it was revealed that the Centre was likely to tell the apex court the names of the people against whom strong evidence exists of stashing away black money in Swiss banks in a major step in its crackdown on India's parallel economy.

On Monday, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi is reported to have submitted a supplementary affidavit in the apex court detailing plans to submit the list of names in a sealed envelope.

The court is due to continue hearings on a petition on black money the following day.

Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya, a Rajkot-based bullion trader.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is moving fast to repatriate hundreds of billions of dollars in slush funds or black money stashed abroad, as part of a wider clampdown on corruption that he promised during his election campaign.

The government is building pressure particularly on Switzerland, seeking details of Indians who have parked unaccounted for money in Switzerland's highly secretive banks. It has quickly implemented a Supreme Court directive to set up a high-powered special investigation team, headed by retired judge M B Shah, to look into the issue.

While there are no official estimates, Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based think-tank, has estimated that Indians had parked USD 462 billion in overseas tax havens between 1948 and 2008.

Black money arises mainly from incomes not disclosed to the government usually to avoid taxation, and, sometimes, because of its criminal links. About a third of India's black money transactions are believed to be in real estate, followed by manufacturing and shopping for gold and consumer goods.

READ ALSO: First Cabinet move — SIT on black money

Black money: Over Rs 1 lakh crore illegal income detected

Earlier, the BJP government had told the apex court that it could not disclose the names of those who have deposited money in banks abroad as it this would jeopardize tax agreements with nations providing those names to India.

There were murmurs of protest within the ruling BJP that not disclosing names would hurt the party's image after it had made bringing back black money, a key issue in a general election that it won by a landslide. The Centre's stand also drew a strong response from the Congress, which accused it of hypocrisy.

Turning the tables on the Congress, finance minister Arun Jaitley had recently said the disclosing of names of people holding black money accounts will embarrass the opposition party.

The Congress had hit back, daring the government to come out with complete information without indulging in "selective leaks" and pointing out that "the Congress is not going to be blackmailed under any such threat".

(With inputs from TV reports)

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Bilawal Bhutto booed at rally on Kashmir in London

LONDON: A protest march by a UK-based pro-Pakistan group on the Kashmir issue in the heart of London fizzled out as barely a few hundred protesters gathered to wave placards and flags.

READ ALSO: Goa leader sends barking dog to Bilawal over Kashmir rant

The so-called 'Million March' from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street descended into chaos as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stepped on to the makeshift stage to speak.

The crowd began booing and throwing empty plastic bottles and refused to let Bilawal Bhutto speak. He was later led away under protection. The police stepped in and ended the rally.

"This march was to be about Kashmir and for the welfare of Kashmiris. Bilawal has no business being here," said a group of angry protesters who had travelled from Derby in the East Midlands region of England.

The march was led by Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, referred to as a former prime minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and was supported by Mirpuri-origin British parliamentarian Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham.

While the group had claimed overwhelming support from various communities for the march, others had dismissed it as against the "national interest of the people of J&K".

READ ALSO: Bilawal Bhutto accuses India of adopting 'Israel model'

A counter-protest held by a rival group yesterday ended with memorandums submitted for the prime ministers of India and Pakistan at their high commissions here.

The memorandums urged both India and Pakistan to "respect the fundamental human rights of all citizens of J&K".

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‘I have a hot body and don’t mind showing it’

Priyanka Chopra's first cousin, Barbie Handa, has now been been rechristened Manaara to make her name more 'marketable'. It was the producer of her debut Hindi film, Zid, Anubhav Sinha, who insisted on a new name beginning with the letter M as he is a huge Madhuri Dixit fan. "Barbie was too childish a name for a grown-up girl, actually it was her nickname," says Sinha.

Manaara admits she'd been planning the change for a while now, urged on by her family. "I liked Manaara, a Greek word meaning 'something that shines', and everyone approved," she beams.

READ: Barbie Handa to make her Tamil debut

She has done a course in fashion designing and has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration before relocating to Mumbai. She admits being Priyanka Chopra cousin helps in Bollywood. "You get invited to industry events and meet the right people," she points out, quickly adding that she had to go through five rounds of auditions before she was selected for Zid. Manaara features completely nude in the movie's poster and is blase about it. "We are in 2014 and I can't be in a ghoonghat. If I wanted to be all covered, I'd do a saas-bahu serial. I have a hot body and I don't mind showing it," she says proudly.

And what was Priyanka's reaction? "Before the poster was shot, I called up Priyanka who was in Barcelona for a film. She told me to go for it, but ensure that it's done aesthetically and didn't look sleazy. I took her advice and am getting lots of compliments," she smiles.

WATCH: 'I have a hot body and don't mind showing it' - TOI

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Esha Gupta: I have met Hrithik only twice in my life

It was recently reported how the beautiful Esha Gupta was getting close to the most good-looking star of Bollywood, HrithikRoshan, post them having attended a public function together in Dubai.

READ:

When Hrithik Roshan bumped into Esha Gupta

Talking to us about the veracity of this rumour, Esha said, "I have met Hrithik only twice in my life till now. The first time was in Dubai for a club opening and the second time was at a Diwali party hosted by our agency, which is common to both, Hrithik and me. And while I too, like all others, am a big HrithikRoshan fan and would like to work with him in the future, this rumour is completely untrue."

WATCH: Hrithik Roshan to star in Step Up 6? - TOI

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Airbus may partner Tatas for manufacturing defence transport aircraft

NEW DELHI: French aircraft giant Airbus is likely to tie up with the Tatas to manufacture transport planes for the defence sector, sources familiar with the development told TOI.

READ ALSO: Govt steps up reforms, raises FDI limit in defence, opens up railways

The planned partnership is likely to mark the first big-ticket entry after the Narendra Modi government raised the FDI limit in defence production to 49% from 26% to boost domestic manufacturing and reduce outgo of foreign exchange.

The proposed entry of Airbus in partnership with the Tatas puts at rest doubts that were expressed when the sector was opened up. The government had faced criticism for not allowing majority control for foreign partners and there was an apprehension that global majors might stay away.

India Air Force has plans to replace its Avros aircraft, and the Airbus-Tata combine is one among several groups that are expected to bid for the contract. An email sent to a Tata Sons spokesperson did not elicit any response.

Several Indian companies ranging from Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries to the Mahindras and Bharat Forge have entered the defence industry but the Tata Group seems to have taken an early lead in a segment hitherto dominated by imports.

The government has embarked on a "Make in India" campaign to ensure that the country emerges as a global hub for low-cost quality manufacturing; the defence sector is a key element in this strategy.

In August the Union cabinet approved raising the FDI in the sensitive defence sector and opened up railway infrastructure to foreign firms. The cabinet had also decided that FDI beyond 49% would be allowed in state-of-the art defence equipment manufacturing, with technology transfer under Indian control and management.

Technically, this means 100% FDI is allowed, but sources said this has been the position since 2002. As a safeguard, the Cabinet Committee on Security will approve such proposals. Sources also said that FDI up to 24% would be allowed via the automatic route.

Headquartered in Toulouse, Airbus has had close links with India, a key market for planes, for a while now. In 1988, Airbus struck a deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Indian PSU to manufacture passenger doors for the A320 aircraft. In addition, Airbus India Engineering in Bangalore employs 350 local engineers working in engineering design and innovation activities; the number working directly or indirectly on Airbus programmes has reached some 5,000 Indian jobs, according to the company's website.

Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, is the strategic aerospace and defence arm of the Tata group. It has a tie-up with US helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky.

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Kaun banega Maharashtra CM? BJP leaders defy Amit Shah's gag order

The confusion over who will be Maharashtra's next chief minister deepened on Saturday with two senior leaders defying Delhi's order to not air their views on the matter.

While Sudhir Mungantiwar, who had started the debate last week by bringing up his mentor and Union minister Nitin Gadkari's name, on Saturday once again called Gadkari the unanimous choice of the state unit, in Jalgaon Eknath Khadse's supporters took out a morcha demanding his elevation to the top post.

READ ALSO: Brows raised after Uddhav Thackeray keeps away from Modi event

Mungantiwar, who was upbraided on the last occasion for breaking party discipline, this time over added an element of guerrilla warfare by claiming that Devendra Fadnavis, himself a contender, also supports Gadkari's candidature.

Both Gadkari and Khadse, who were asked by BJP chief Amit Shah to lie low and let the party decide the CM, on Saturday made no effort to clear the air. Gadkari, in fact, spoke to the press after meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Nagpur, but chose not to react to Mungantiwar's statement, describing his meeting with Sangh head, for which he had arrived riding a scooter, a courtesy call.

READ ALSO: Tussle over CM post may hit BJP's image, fears RSS

Khadse, who met some members of the morcha at his residence, refused to speak to the press. His supporters believe that since Maharashtra has never had a chief minister from Khandesh - comprising Jalgaon, Nandurbar, and Dhule districts - Khadse should be given a chance to lead the new government this time.

Union minister for transport and shipping Nitin Gadkari interacts with Maharashtra BJP president Devendra Fadnavis on the occasion of Diwali at the party office in Nagpur. (TOI file photo)

Shah's warnings ignored

It's clear that the Gadkari group, and now Khadse's supporters too, have decided to ignore Shah's warnings. BJP sources said that this kind of powerplay and lobbying is unprecedented in the BJP and goes against the party's culture. "Right since the day the results were announced, there has been a sense of confusion and unrest in the state BJP. This is not the BJP's style of functioning. It has brought to fore the deep infighting within the party. Also, it looks like the state leaders are not keen to go along with the leadership's CM choice," said a senior BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified.

READ ALSO: Modi to attend Maharashtra BJP govt swearing-in ceremony

BJP sources also indicated that while Fadnavis remained the frontrunner, the party has not yet taken a formal decision. "This kind of lobbying and power play shows that the party leadership has not taken a call. Had they actually decided on Fadnavis, they wouldn't have tolerated all this. State leaders like Mungantiwar would have been asked to shut up. However, that hasn't happened. The race is still on and everyone seems to be in the reckoning," a BJP source said.

A section of BJP leaders said that the muscle-flexing by Gadkari loyalists came in spite of clear indications of the party leadership preferring Fadnavis for the top job was interpreted as an act of insubordination and has not gone down well with the leadership.

While Fadnavis also met Bhagwat on Friday, he refused to speak to the press.

READ ALSO: First Devendra Fadnavis and then Nitin Gadkari meet RSS chief

The BJP on Saturday appointed Kolhapur MLC Chandrakant Patil to mediate with Shiv Sena. While no formal appointment has been made, party sources said that Patil will talk to Sena's Anil Desai and Subhash Desai try to persuade them to join the government.

According to BJP sources, when Desai went to Delhi to meet senor BJP leaders last week, he met Patil. Patil is a low profile leader and is known to be close to the party's central leadership.

Meanwhile, Sena MPs have decided to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Diwali dinner for NDA constituents. However, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will not attend the dinner.

BJP sources also said the first BJP CM of the state will head a lean team of ministers. In keeping with Modi's concept of 'minimum government, maximum governance', the ministry may comprise 25 to 30 members.

READ ALSO: Nitin Gadkari's 'power point' irks BJP 'high command'

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8 Celebrity Plastic Surgery Gone Bad! Really Bad!

It's been news for some days now that Rene Zellweger recently appeared at an awards show looking unlike her old self, with some murmurs implying a 'plastic surgery job'. But the 45-year-old Bridget Jones actress has cleared the air insisting the changes in her appearance is no way a surgical result. She told People magazine, "Perhaps I look different, who doesn't as they get older?! Ha. But I am different. I'm happy."

In a tryst to look forever young and attractive, many celebrities have chosen to spent their fair share of time in a plastic surgeon's office. A little needle here and there shouldn't be much a problem unless they come out of the office with a face full of mistakes.

From Hollywood's Pamela Anderson to Bollywood's Anushka Sharma, their insecurities has helped secure them a place in our list of worst plastic surgery results of all time.

1) Pamela Anderson

She was a pretty, young girl who suddenly felt the need for a bigger breasts. And another one. Then she becomes a little unhappy and goes for another bigger implant. Gets rid of them and gets something smaller and then goes bigger again. Pam, make up your mind!

Source: Pinterest

2) Donatella Versace

She's the one responsible for women looking fab in gorgeous clothes. So naturally one look at her (swollen lips) and you'll wonder how can she have such a bad judge of appearance. Apparently, she's been going under the knife since the 90's!

Source: womansday.com

3) Amanda Lepore

Model and transsexual icon, she first got her surgery at the age of 15 and since then hasn't looked back. The only adjective we can think of looking at Lepoe is CREEPY!

Source: allwomenstalk.com

4) Dolly Parton

Dolly is a country music legend, known for hits like "I Will Always Love You,"and " 9 to 5" but she is equally well-known for her plastic assets as well.

Source: Pinterest

5) Jocelyn Wildenstein

This New York socialite went under the knife in a quest to win back her estranged husband and instead ended up looking like a feline that people nicknamed her "Catwoman". Till date she's spent 4 million dollars in multiple plastic surgeries.

Source: oddee.com

6) Koena Mitra
She may not be the first Bollywood damsel to go plastic but she's definitely one of the worst victim of it. Her botched-up nose job, which is no secret, has almost ruined her life and career.

Source: fashionlady.in

7) Anushka Sharma
Anushka was the latest Bollywood victim to man-made alterations. She made headlines for her 'puffy upper lip' after appearing on Karan Johar's chat show. However in an official statement she denied any lip job.

Source: Pinterest

8) Michael Jackson

Need not say anything! The singer suffered from a skin depigmentation condition called vitiligo, which was presumed to be caused by excessive skin bleaching. Apart from that MJ had undergone a dozen of other surgeries which ultimately changed his normal appearance to something completely different!

Source: Pinterest

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Box-office: Happy New Year earns Rs. 45 crore on opening day, breaks all records

The Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Happy New Year' has opened to a phenomenal response at the box-office. Directed by Farah Khan, the movie has managed to break all earlier records on the opening day itself. A Koimoi.com report says that the film has done a whopping business of over 44.97 crores on Friday itself.

ALSO READ: Could SRK's 'Happy New Year' be a bigger hit than Salman's 'Kick'?

The report adds that HNY has collected Rs 42.62 cr in Hindi, 1.43 crore in its Telugu version and 0.92 crore in its Tamil version.

Though the critics have rated the film as average, Shah Rukh's charisma, Deepika-SRK's chemistry, the peppy music, a dynamic cast and excellent marketing strategies have ensured that the movie gets an excellent opening at the box-office.

ALSO READ: Movie Review of Happy New Year

The report in Koimoi.com further states that earlier, Aamir Khan's Dhoom 3 earned the highest opening day collections at the box-office, followed by SRK's Chennai Express. But seems like Happy New Year has created a new record. For more updates on the movie's BO collections, keep reading this space for more.

WATCH: Happy New Year: Things to look forward to in the film - TOI

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WATCH: Aamir Khan's 'PK' teaser

Aamir Khan unveiled the teaser of his forthcoming film "PK" on Diwali Thursday and the superstar hopes the movie tastes success.

"Coincidently my films have been releasing during Christmas and each year, I have been showing the trailer during Diwali. So, we decided to do the same this Diwali as well. I hope the film works for us," Aamir told reporters here during the teaser launch of "PK".

He previously tasted box office successes with "Taare Zameen Par", "Ghajini" and "3 Idiots", which all came out during Christmas.

And it seems like the new Rajkumar Hirani directorial will join the list of his successful movies as Aamir, often referred to as "Mr. Perfectionist", has again put in his best to make his character look convincing.

"I am not used to eating paan, but for this film I have eaten as many as 50 to 60 paans in a day because of my character. We used to have a paanwala on the sets," he said.

READ: Aamir Khan's PK poster copy of Quim Barreiros' album poster?

The film also stars Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput.

Talking about the film, Aamir said: "Like Raj Kumar's other films even this film will have a strong message. This is the toughest role of my career. I have hardly blinked in this film because of my character".

"I can't reveal much as the crux of the story will get revealed. There are lot of rumours. People feel that I am playing a double role, some feel I am playing an alien but wait till the film releases," he added.

WATCH: PK Official Teaser

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Suicide bombers may board 2 AI flights; Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kochi airports on high alert

AHMEDABAD: If you are boarding a flight from the city airport on Friday or Saturday be prepared for increased security checks. Ahmedabad and Mumbai airports have been put on a high alert following an intelligence input which states that suicide bombers will try to board two Air India flights in the wee hours on Saturday. As per the letter from Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) headquarters in New Delhi, a copy of which Ahmedabad Mirror has access to, suicide bombers could board Air India's Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kochi flights scheduled for early morning departure on Saturday.

"An input received says: Air India flight on the midnight of October 24 (early morning of October 25) from Ahmedabad to Mumbai and early morning flight from Mumbai to Kochi on 25th morning at 0500 hrs. Suicide bomber in each flight separately. Please check thoroughly," reads the letter. "Secondary security checks may be carried out at Ahmedabad and Mumbai airports for all flights around the concerned dates," adds the letter forwarded to concerned officials on October 22 by regional deputy commissioner of security (Civil Aviation), Ahmedabad.

According to highly placed sources, security measures have already been beefed up, these include increased checks on passengers, tightening of access control and putting anti-hijacking units on alert.

A source said, "October 24th is (Gujarati) New Year and October 25th is Bhai Beej. Usually everyone is in festive mood and busy with the celebrations. So nobody anticipates a terror strike. But the letter has shocked everyone. Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Kochi airports have been put on heightened alert and passengers will be subjected to stringent security checks."

Confirming the same, airport director R K Singh said, "Yes, we have received the input about the possibility of suicide bombers boarding Air India's Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Mumbai-Kochi flights in the wee hours on Saturday. Security has been upped throughout the airport." According to sources, ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and al Qaeda have joined hands and are planning major terror strikes across India. Last month, al-Qaida announced the formation of its India wing in a video posted by the militant wing's chief Ayman al Zawahri.
His announcement made two references to Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Zawahri described the formation of al Qaida in the Indian subcontinent as glad tidings for Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir". Last month, a senior police official was quoted by media agencies as saying, "Gujarat has been on top on the list of militant organisations, including al Qaeda, since the 2002 riots. It will be more so now because Modi is the PrimeMinister."

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Haryana paanwala gets Rs 132 crore power bill

CHANDIGARH: A paan or betel-leaf seller in Haryana has got a shocker of an electricity bill this Diwali. His bill is a whopping over Rs 132 crore.

Rajesh, who runs a shop in Gohana town in Sonipat district, has got the electricity bill of Rs 132.29 crore for the month of October.

"I was shocked to read the amount. It is not that the amount was printed wrongly only in numerals. The full amount was written in words too," Rajesh said.

"I am a simple man with a small shop on rent. I use only a light bulb and a fan. My electricity bill is generally less than Rs 1,000. This bill is an absolute shocker," he said.

He said he will be visiting the electricity department office on Friday to get the bill rectified.

The bill was issued by the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN).

In the past also, the power department in Haryana has done such goofs.
A consumer in Haryana's Narnaul town got another shocker of an electricity bill in April 2007. Murari Lal was slapped with a bill of Rs 234 crore for the electricity used in his two-bedroom house.

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Akshay Kumar’s son Aarav heart broken due to the death of their older dog Okie

On Sunday, Akshay Kumar lost his dog Okie to old age. We learnt that he and his family were terribly upset with the loss, specially his son Aarav, who was most attached to him. A few months back, Akshay in an interview to the Bombay Times had said, "We have two German Shepherds at home. The older one is Okie and the other, Cleo. I got Okie the same time when Aarav was born.

ALSO READ: The 'Midnight film' secret between Akshay Kumar and his son Aarav

I wanted them to both grow up together. Aarav named him Okie just like that. I remember the day we brought Aarav home, Okie came and started sniffing and somehow, even though I had got Okie, he got the message that Aarav was his master and he had to look after him. He would follow Aarav wherever he went and would sit besides him. Aarav and he have grown up together. Okie has become really old now and is 14. Aarav is 12. If we lose him, obviously it will affect Aarav as he is most attached to him.

ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar's top 10 unforgettable dialogues

We actually had another adopted dog after Okie, but he was not well and even though we tried our level best to save him, he died. Aarav had got attached to him also and started crying after he died, which is when we brought Cleo." While Akshay has currently taken his family for a holiday to Singapore, we are sure Aarav will remember Okie forever.

WATCH: Akshay Kumar's son Aarav heart broken due to the death of their dog Okie - BT

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Black money: NDA moves to make names public, top politicians said to be on list

NEW DELHI: The NDA government has started filing charges against individuals having illicit accounts in overseas banks, clearing the way for disclosure of names of those who have stashed black money abroad, and triggering speculation that some prominent politicians may figure on the much-awaited list.

Sources said that prosecution has been initiated against one foreign account holder, and will soon be extended to another 15-20 who are on the 'HSBC Geneva list'. Swiss authorities have confirmed the identities of the persons on the list. Launch of prosecution in these cases will meet the condition laid down by Swiss authorities that names of account holders can only be shared with courts after charges are framed.

READ ALSO: Won't withhold black money names: Arun Jaitley

Prosecution proceedings by the income tax department triggered speculation about the identity of the foreign account holders, with political circles discussing names of a former Union minister and the son of another, a former MP with family links to a leading business house, and the scion of a political dynasty which is currently passing through a lean patch.

Significantly, finance minister Arun Jaitley did not deny the possibility of a former UPA minister being on the list. "I am neither confirming, nor denying. I am only smiling," he told Times Now, attracting a hostile response from Congress. When pressed, Jaitley said, "If my opponent's name is there, I will be very enthusiastic in declaring it."

Sources also said a fresh list of 19 persons having illegal accounts with Liechtenstein Bank will be shared with Supreme Court after Diwali. This will be followed by another 20-odd names from the HSBC list.

READ ALSO: Congress will be embarrassed by black money names, Arun Jaitley says

Launch of prosecution come amid resumed fight between BJP and Congress over black money. Congress latched on to the government's stand in SC last week that it could not disclose the names of foreign account holders against whom charges were not framed to say that the Modi government had done a U-turn on the issue. BJP hit back, with Jaitley saying they were hamstrung by treaties signed by the UPA which forbade the government from disclosing names of those not facing charges.

On Tuesday, Jaitley scaled up the retaliatory strike by saying that Congress would be embarrassed when the names came out. The two sides traded fire again on Wednesday, with Jaitley saying, "In case charges are proved against some politician and he or she happens to be a member of a political party, the names will be made public."

TOI spoke independently to investigators and learnt that the list shared by France of Indians having accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva featured a few Congressmen and their scions with huge deposits at the time the list was leaked.

Interestingly, a former UPA-2 minister, who was sent a notice to appear for questioning to explain his deposits, is believed to also have bank accounts in the UAE and later claimed that he had closed his Swiss accounts long ago.

The government has so far recovered Rs 200 crore by way of tax and penalty from the names shared by Germany and France that included account holders in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein and HSBC Bank, Geneva. The total assessed income in the two cases has gone over Rs 600 crore so far. While prosecution is being launched against many account holders in the HSBC case, the income tax department had filed cases against 18 persons in the LGT Bank case.

After the French government shared the HSBC Bank list having names of 700 Indians in 2011, the finance ministry had asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to probe the case. DCI had questioned some top industrialists over deposits estimated to be upwards of Rs 800 crore. A few leading politicians, including the son of a former minister in UPA-2 and the son of an influential Maharashtra minister who faced a humiliating defeat in the recently-concluded assembly polls, were put on notice after their names figured on the list.

The total tax and penalty in the LGT Bank case was estimated to go up to Rs 40-45 crore, almost equivalent to the amount that had been spirited away by 19 Indians whose income has now been reassessed to Rs 40 crore, sources said.

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Black money issue: Wary Swiss banks advise some Indians to cash out

MUMBAI: Leading Swiss banks are trying to distance themselves from some of the dodgy Indian clients who have twisted rules and could be a cause of embarrassment in future.

At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts, have been advised by their respective banks to pull out their money by December 31.

In the past few weeks, they have received calls from bank relationship managers asking them to close the numbered accounts, known for their secrecy and convenience. One of them has been told to close the account by as early as October 30 while another has been asked to prove that tax has been paid on funds lying with the bank, a person aware of the telephonic conversations told ET. "They have been having these accounts for more than a decade," said the person.

Responding to ET's email query, a Bank Julius Baer & Co spokesman said the bank would not want to comment while an external spokesperson for Credit Suisse said, "As a matter of policy Credit Suisse does not comment on alleged client relationships. Credit Suisse is highly committed to the India market and to Indian clients, and we continue to see the country as a key growth market for the bank." Emails sent to UBS through the bank's website media contact form on Friday and Tuesday Tuesday remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

India and Switzerland plan to put in place an automatic information sharing arrangement that will require Swiss banks to report names of resident Indians opening accounts. The persons who were approached by the Swiss banks are under the impression that the pact between the two countries is forcing banks to end relationships with some of the account holders.

Unlike resident Indians who are beneficiaries of trusts that have accounts with Swiss banks, holders of numbered accounts are on a more shaky ground.

At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts, have been advised by their respective banks to pull out their money by December 31

While trust beneficiaries are likely to argue before the tax department and court of law that their names were included without their knowledge and that they received no funds from the trust, numbered account holders are in a more vulnerable situation because such accounts are not opened under the Reserve Bank of India's liberalized remittance scheme — the only official channel that allows individual resident Indians to operate offshore bank accounts and purchase stocks and properties abroad.

In the absence of any specific direction from the Swiss government following a criminal probe or a large-scale investigation, Swiss banks can hold back details such as name, address and passport number of a customer who is no longer an account holder.

"The challenge for these customers is to move the money to some other destination without leaving a trail. Often, the preferred location in such cases is Dubai where the money is parked in the account of a new company incorporated in one of the free trade zones...there is some comfort for the bank as well as a client once an account is closed," said a senior professional specializing in offshore trusts and investments. "We are noticing a sense of discomfort among some of the banks when it comes to Indian names in numbered accounts. Even if they are NRIs, banks are not sure whether these individuals have paid tax in the foreign country where they have been residing," he said.

Even a dormant account with zero balance can prove troublesome as one of the persons who figures in the list of Indians having accounts with HSBC Geneva has realized. The tax office has raised a claim on him on the basis of the minimum balance required for a private bank account together with the interest calculated since the day the account was opened. n a few cases the department has made high-pitched claims, where the income of an offshore trust was clubbed with the income of all the beneficiaries (who are resident Indians) in arriving at the tax demand. The HSBC Geneva list which came to light five years ago, along with subsequent information on Indians linked to firms and bank accounts in British Virgin Islands, boiled over into a political issue with the BJP manifesto promising to bring back undisclosed funds of Indians from Swiss banks. The HSBC list triggered raids and tax demands, often driving the income-tax department to try out ways to persuade the alleged account holders into confession. However, most individuals in the list have so far refused to admit that they have Swiss bank accounts.

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DPS RK Puram principal's daughter found hanging inside school premises

NEW DELHI: The daughter of the principal of Delhi Public School, RK Puram allegedly committed suicide early Wednesday inside the premises of the south Delhi school.

The deceased, identified by the police as 29-year-old Anjana Saini, reportedly hung herself from the ceiling fan, police said.

Saini was unmarried and working in a private firm in the city. The reason of the suicide is yet to be ascertained.

The incident came to fore on Wednesday morning. Saini was taken to Fortis Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The body has been sent for postmortem to ascertain the exact cause of death.

Police have found a suicide note from her room. Saini, in her suicide note, has said that she is committing suicide on her own will and no one should be held responsible for it. Police have not revealed further content of the note and are analyzing it.

Anjana Saini was found hanging in her house inside the school premises early Wednesday.

The note will be sent to verify the handwriting.

The police have initiated inquest proceedings under 174 CrPC into the case and are waiting for the autopsy report. Prima facie ruled out any foulplay.

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Maharashtra govt formation: Uddhav Thackeray blinks, to visit Delhi for talks with BJP top brass

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena seems to have blinked first in the current impasse with BJP over government formation in Maharashtra. While it despatched two senior functionaries, Subhash Desai and Anil Desai, to New Delhi on Tuesday to hold talks with Union home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP leader J P Nadda on the issue of support to a BJP-led government, Sena president Uddhav Thackeray himself is likely to go to the national capital on Wednesday or Thursday. BJP sources confirmed that Uddhav has been trying to get through to PM Narendra Modi.

NCP's unconditional support to BJP has compelled Sena to give up its strident note, said Sena watchers.

However, it was not clear if Sena leaders will submit a formal proposal from Thackeray to Singh and Nadda, outlining the party's demand in return for support.

BJP leader OP Mathur on Tuesday said his party and its allies, who have 123 seats, had garnered 15 seats more. "We now have 137, even 138 seats," he told mediapersons.

BJP wants Shiv Sena to support the government from inside without any conditionalities.

Sena turned restive as it became clear that Singh and Nadda had put off their Mumbai visit again on Tuesday.

That Sena has gone on the backfoot is an indication that BJP played its cards well after the poll results were out on Sunday, political analysts said. "We had decided that under no circumstances will we go to Sena on bended knees to seek support. We want Sena to be with us in the new regime. However, Matoshree should stop acting pricey and adapt itself to the changing political climate in the state," said a key state BJP leader.

Meanwhile, nearly 35 of the 44 BJP MLAs from Vidarbha on Tuesday came out openly with their demand that Union minister Nitin Gadkari should be anointed as the state's chief minister.

The MLAs gathered at Gadkari's Nagpur residence in a veritable show of strength. Earlier, Gadkari was given a rousing reception by his supporters at the Nagpur airport. The Union minister arrived from New Delhi by a morning flight.

READ ALSO

NCP offers unexpected 'outside support' to BJP

NCP split with Congress in order to back BJP, Prithviraj Chavan says

Talking to mediapersons, Gadkari reiterated that he didn't see himself in the race for the top post. "I have stated several times that I am not keen on coming to Maharashtra as CM", he said.

Some in the state BJP think that Gadkari, with his blunt, no-nonsense style, would be a better choice as CM than the soft-spoken Devendra Fadnavis if the Sena is set to join the government. Gadkari has in the past given several rebuffs to Matoshree, and vice versa. However, the central BJP leadership is all set to anoint Fadnavis on Monday.

BJP leader from Vidarbha Sudhir Mungantiwar has made it clear that he favours Gadkari as CM. "The final decision will, of course, be taken by the party's parliamentary board. However, Gadkari's decision to stay put in New Delhi is improper. He should come to Maharashtra as chief minister," said Mungantiwar, a Gadkari loyalist.

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Devendra Fadnavis to be CM next week; no deputy CM or big berths for Sena

NEW DELHI: BJP's Devendra Fadnavis is likely to take over as chief minister of Maharashtra on Monday, that is, immediately after Diwali, irrespective of whether Shiv Sena comes on board.

Sources said the central BJP leadership has decided to go ahead with government formation in the state without waiting for Sena to offer support because of the yawning gap between their estimate of the conditions on which Uddhav Thackeray may agree to support a BJP-led government, and what they could offer.

BJP feels that although it is short of the majority mark of 145 (with allies, it has 123 now), the deficit cannot be an impediment because the 41-member-strong NCP, after having extended unconditional support, is unlikely to oppose the trust vote. BJP has also reached out to Independents and smaller parties and reckons that 15 MLAs might agree to support a BJP government.

READ ALSO: Maharashtra govt formation: Uddhav blinks, to visit Delhi for talks with BJP top brass

As per Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha, which applies also to states, a government which clears the numbers test can be made to take another one only after a gap of six months.

BJP strategists feel this window will be big enough for it to find the missing numbers.

The presence of NDA appointee C Vidyasagar Rao in Raj Bhavan can only be a help, feel BJP tacticians.

(BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis with supporters after party's victory in the Maharashtra Assembly election in Mumbai.)

Sources said BJP, at least at this point in time, is in no mood to offer Sena the deputy chief ministership, the post of Speaker or any of the eight "heavyweight" portfolios and recognizes that its offer might fall way short of expectations.

BJP sources said the party would like to keep eight portfolios — home, finance, revenue, urban development, agriculture, irrigation, public health and public works — which will be crucial for its ambition to provide "good governance" but which have for decades been seen as "money-spinners".

Although there have been no formal power-sharing negotiations between the two sides, sources in BJP spoke of a stalemate in terms of attitude. They said Sena, which relished playing 'Big Brother' for 25 years, has not yet reconciled to the new reality where it cannot hope to have the upper hand any more.

BJP itself, which smarted under the humiliation of having been reduced to an adjunct to Matoshree, is now unsentimental about leveraging its superior numbers and just-acquired status as the dominant political formation in Maharashtra.

READ ALSO: Gadkari in race for Maharashtra CM's crown

BJP sources asserted that a rapprochement with Sena can only be on BJP's terms and ruled out the possibility of the party giving in to Sena's "gunboat politics."

Sources said BJP is giving the impression that it is engaged with Sena as it doesn't want to come across as being unreasonable. It also doesn't want to take the blame for failure of the political detente effort because it feels there is a constituency, a Hindutva-minded section, to be tapped even among Sena supporters.

The realization about the deadlock appears to have led BJP to plan for Fadnavis to be sworn in as CM by October 27. BJP's decision to act only after Diwali is also clear from the postponement of the Mumbai visit of Union home minister Rajnath Singh and BJP general secretary J P Nadda, who have been appointed observers for the meeting of the party's legislature group where Fadnavis is likely to be "unanimously" elected the leader. Singh and Nadda were set to leave for Mumbai on Tuesday.

Another indicator of BJP's decision to sit tight until Diwali came when the party leadership sanctioned "leave" to Om Prakash Mathur and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, the party observers who were stationed in Mumbai all through the poll campaign.

Meanwhile, agencies quoted Om Mathur as saying on Tuesday that BJP was the new "big brother" in the state and others should not think themselves bigger when "the people's verdict is otherwise".

Union minister and senior party leader Arun Jaitley told a TV channel on Tuesday, "We have two proposals at hand. Sena has been a natural ally, NCP has announced unconditional support... For BJP and Sena to become allies in the Maharashtra government could be a matter of course but if there is some difficulty that arises, you also have the unconditional offer as far as NCP is concerned."

He said there has been "not much" talk with Sena but said the parties are still together at the central level as well as in the Mumbai civic body. "Surely, in two out of the three tiers of government, we are allies... the fact that we are congratulating each other itself is a signal," he said.

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Smriti Irani sends 12,000 saris to Amethi as Diwali gift

LUCKNOW: Call it a Diwali gift or a thanksgiving gesture with one eye on future polls, Union HRD minister Smriti Irani has got about 15,000 saris, sourced from Surat, distributed to women in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency. Around 2,500 saris, still in stock with Irani's representatives, will be distributed to women in far-flung areas.

"We originally planned to distribute around 12,000 saris," Vijay Gupta, Irani's aide, told TOI over the phone. "However, we then decided to distribute 15,000 saris. We've 2,500 more saris left to give away."

Gupta said the beneficiaries were picked from villages that had polled the highest number of votes for the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections. Saris were distributed at one village each in the assembly constituencies of Gauriganj, Tiloi, Jagdishpur, Amethi and Salon.

Gupta said the saris were selected by Irani herself and the entire lot was transported from textile mills to the constituency. He refused to give details of the mills from where the saris had been sourced, but BJP functionaries said the garments were purchased from Surat in Gujarat. Sources said the saris were originally meant for distribution during Dussehra, but Irani later chose to have them distributed around Diwali.

Union HRD minister Smriti Irani

The Diwali gift is believed to be Irani's way of winning over a constituency she is grooming ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Earlier this year, she had lost the LS polls from the Amethi seat to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by 1.07 lakh votes. She had, however, dented Rahul's victory margin considerably, bringing it down to a third of the 2009 figure.

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BSP set to lose status as national party

The author has posted comments on this articlePankaj Shah, TNN | Oct 20, 2014, 12.43AM IST

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, is all set to lose its status as a national party after it failed to win the two seats the party needed to hold on to this status. 

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LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, is all set to lose its status as a national party after it failed to win the two seats the party needed to hold on to this status. BSP ended up winning one seat in Haryana and none in Maharashtra.

The election commission will now take a formal decision on this. The party had contested on all 90 seats of Harayana and 260 seats in Maharashra. BSP candidate Tek Chand Sharma won from Prithla in Harayna, defeating Nainpal Rawat of BJP by a margin of 1,179 votes.

Winning at least two seats was crucial for BSP to save its national status, months after it got decimated in the Lok Sabha elections where it failed to win any seat.

Soon after the Lok Sabha polls, the EC had sought an explanation from BSP chief Mayawati as to why her party's national status should not be cancelled. But the party had managed to buy some time citing Haryana and Maharashtra assembly elections.

Losing the national status would deprive BSP of some benefits given by the EC like contesting elections on a common symbol, using All India Radio and Doordarshan for election campaign broadcast and free copies of electoral rolls.

Even BSP's lone sitting MLA from Jagadhari, Akram Khan, who was also the deputy speaker in Haryana assembly, lost. The BSP managed to bag barely 4.4 per cent vote share in Haryana, suggesting that Mayawati's core vote base, dalits, once again parted ways with her.

BSP's biggest bet, Arvind Sharma, who was also projected as a CM candidate, lost from Julana and Yamunanagar.

Mayawati had played the Brahmin card in Haryana by projecting Arvind Sharma. She not only campaigned herself but also pumped in a battery of her Brahmin leaders, including her close aide and Rajya Sabha MPs Satish Chandra Mishra and Brajesh Pathak to prepare ground for the BSP. Mayawati had raised the pitch for non-Jat voters saying that Haryana politics were completely dominated by Jats.

BSP's did badly in Maharashtra where Mayawati had addressed more than half a dozen rallies. The party failed to open its account and could barely garner 2.2% votes. Mayawati was initially approached by NCP's Sharad Pawar for an alliance. But she shrugged it off and chose to contest the Maharashtra polls alone.

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Q&A: Amit Shah says couldn't have hurt BJP interests just to keep alliance with Sena intact

Amit Shah is seen as the architect of BJP's unprecedented success in Maharashtra and Haryana. In his first interview after the state poll results, Shah talks to TOI on a range of issues and says he wasn't surprised by the outcome because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and policies. Excerpts:

Your decision to go it alone was a huge risk, given that BJP had never contested all the seats on its own strength. What made you feel confident that you would pull it off?

It was not so much about taking a risk. We went the farthest we could have without hurting our self-respect. Our suggestion that Shiv Sena and BJP should contest 147 and 127 seats while leaving 14 to our allies which were crucial to our success in the Lok Sabha elections was a fair suggestion. But that failed to resolve matters, so I was left with no option but to go it alone. As for my confidence, I was aware, even before the Lok Sabha elections, that BJP possessed far more strength in Maharashtra than was being acknowledged.

READ ALSO: Era of coalitions may be coming to an end: Amit Shah

Whatever may have been the driver, it was a risky call, considering that all pre-poll surveys indicated BJP and Shiv Sena could have got 200+ seats if they stayed together. There could have been consequences for PM Modi and your authority in BJP.

BJP and Sena could have scored a comfortable victory by keeping their alliance intact. But, as I said, I could not have hurt the interests of my party merely for the sake of saving the alliance. For an alliance to succeed and endure, its partners must protect each other's interests.

But were you not deterred by the risk, that a setback would have had costs for your Prime Minister and your leadership?

Politics is not a laboratory experiment where you can control everything. You have to take calls even when you feel that matters may spin out of your hand.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP president Amit Shah. (PTI Photo)

What were the factors that contributed to the party's achievements in Maharashtra and Haryana?

First of all, it was the Prime Minister's unprecedented popularity. He may even figure on the top of the list of most popular leaders post-Independence. Second, the performance of the Modi government and its policies over the past four months enhanced people's trust in the leader and his government as well as the party. Third, misgovernance and rampant corruption during 15 years of Congress-NCP rule was a big issue in the polls and it naturally worked to BJP's big advantage. The fourth contributory factor was the commitment of BJP's workers and our organizational strength. It was a combination of four factors that helped the party achieve a big success in the polls.

READ ALSO: Modi wave has now turned into a tsunami: Amit Shah

Many people have attributed the twin successes to your brand of aggressive politics.

I did mention the role of organization and workers. I am part of the organization.

One of your senior colleagues has been quoted saying you made a huge difference because you have fire in your belly and you took the fight to the terrain of party rivals.

That is not very important. I have always fought elections like this. It is a mere coincidence that now I happen to be the president of the party and have been tasked with a responsibility that I try to discharge to the best of my ability. Sometimes you get more credit than you deserve.

You are being called the most powerful person in the country after Modi. Your comments.

These rankings are done by media without any basis. I don't attach much significance to this.

Was there any point during the election campaign when you felt that the decision to go it alone might boomerang?

No, I was very confident about the support for BJP. Before the elections were announced, I visited four important centres in both Maharashtra and Haryana. The response and feedback I got convinced me that BJP was going to do very well.

READ ALSO: Nitish, Mamata on target as Amit Shah moves on to Bihar, Bengal

You scored an outright win in Haryana and registered unprecedented success in Maharashtra. But you failed to secure a majority in Maharashtra. What were the reasons for this? Are you disappointed?

In all, there were 170 seats in Maharashtra which we had never contested. To raise an organization within 15 days was not possible. Despite this, our performance has been very good. It was a four-cornered contest. In fact, many seats witnessed five-cornered, even six-cornered contests because of powerful Independents and good local candidates. That we finished just about 20 seats short of the majority mark,is in my estimate, a considerable achievement.

Shiv Sena, both during and after the poll campaign, launched a vicious attack on BJP and its senior members. Do you think it will be possible for the two parties to do business again?

I will not like to comment on what Shiv Sena said during the campaign. But so far as BJP is concerned, we did not ask their representative Anant Geete to leave the Modi government even after we decided to go our separate ways in Maharashtra. It is because of our support that a Sena representative is mayor of Mumbai, and we continue to support them in BMC. So, as far as the BJP is concerned we did not break the alliance. But we could not have compromised our interests. The results have vindicated our position.

READ ALSO: Amit Shah now second most influential politician in country

How do you react to NCP's offer of unconditional support, considering that BJP attacked them during the campaign?

I have gone through NCP's statement carefully. They have merely said that BJP, which has emerged as the single largest party, has got the mandate. And that they will support a BJP government because doing so will be good for the development of the state since the party is in power at the Centre.

But the outgoing Maharashtra CM, Prithviraj Chavan, has cited NCP's support to say that you and Sharad Pawar co-ordinated moves to quit your respective alliances?

This is strange. NCP was their partner for 15 years. Why should Chavan blame me for his failure to handle his coalition partner? Does he expect me to work as his coalition manager?

People say you benefited in Maharashtra because Congress did not put its heart into the campaign?

This is not correct. Both in Maharashtra and Haryana, Congress ran the most lavish campaign. For each hoarding and banner put up by us in these two states, there were several of Congress. They did their best. In politics even the best effort may not be adequate.

You spoke about the policies of Narendra Modi's government being a factor?

Oh yes. They were a huge factor. Government's policies - Jan Dhan Yojana, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Shramey Jayate, Swachh Bharat, Adarsh Gram - are meant to address basic needs of people. Our leader has designed them to ensure popular participation in their implementation. This is very different from the approach followed so far where schemes were imposed from the top while denying any say to people. The schemes have the %potential of turning into popular movements which can change the country.

What are your next priorities?

As I said in my speech after taking over as the party chief, my objective is to strength the organization in all the states and reach its message to each person in the country. My first job is to install BJP governments in states which go to polls, like Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and Bengal. My second priority is to focus on states where support for BJP is not matched by booth-level strength. I have identified eight states which belong to this category.

But winning states like Bihar could be tough because of caste equations and the coming together of your rivals Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad?

Each state has its political dynamics and poses its own challenge. But that should not deter us.

After your success in Haryana and Maharashtra, BJP is in control of states which account for 37% of the GDP. Do you think it is a happy augury for reforms?

All the states where we are in power have witnessed higher growth. That is because of our policies. And our success in more states and the fact that we are in power at the Centre can only accelerate the growth process.

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