Maoist&Sterilization_Deaths

Dear all,

Welcome & pl. read on app. mssgs.

The outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) has owned up responsibility for killing 14 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh on December 1 and has said that the attack was “people’s reply” to the “expansionist policies” of the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre and Raman Singh Government in the State.

In a press statement issued by Gudsa Usendi, the spokesperson of Danda Karanya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) of the CPI (Maoist), the banned outfit has “congratulated” the South Regional Command (SRC) of the DKSZC for leading the attack on security forces near Kasalpara village of Sukma.

“Thousands of police, CRPF and STF( Special Task Force) personnel were carrying out attacks on many villages in south Danda Karanya ( Sukma district) since November. The forces were indulging in fake encounters of Tribals of Bastar, illegal arrests and detentions, forced surrenders of Tribal youths by threatening to slap false cases on them and atrocities on Tribal women,” claimed Gudsa Usendi.

“To stop these attacks on the people of Danda Karanya, revolutionary public in association with the PLGA (People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army) fighters mounted a daring attack on the CRPF, killing 14 jawans and injuring 15 others,” he said and claimed that a large number of sophisticated weapons were snatched from the security personnel during the attack.

The Maoist spokesperson alleged that the Narenrdra Modi Government has sent 10 more battalions of paramilitary forces to Chhattisgarh and fast-tracked the Operation Green Hunt “in order to clear major projects of big corporate houses” after assuming office.

“The December 1 attack in Kasalpara was people’s reply to the government’s expansionist policies to sell natural resources to big corporate houses and the resultant displacement of Tribals. It was an answer to the Operation Green Hunt. The people’s war against anti-people polices of the government will continue,” Gudsa Usendi warned.

The Maoist spokesperson also claimed that the " brave and a big attack " on security forces in Kasalpara had “energized” the revolutionary masses, intellectuals and Maoist cadres.
 

Press Release on Chhattisgarh Sterilization Deaths

NOV 2014

Health Activists and women’s rights activists held a Press Conference on 19^th November to draw attention to the range of issues raised by the recent tragic and completely avoidable deaths of more than a dozen women and the critical condition of many more following their laparoscopic steriliz​ation in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.The manner in which the surgeries were performed, in complete violation of all standard operating procedures,and subsequent events amount to grave violation of some very basic health rights of the affected women. In addition, they point to the callous and biased attitudes towards poor women that persist among health functionaries and policy makers, and the tenacious hold of the “targets” approach in the family planning programme despite statements to the contrary.

The said sterilizations were performed at acamp held on 8 November 2014 in Takhatpur Block of Bilaspur District. The camp had been organized by the State Department of Health under the National Family Planning Programme to perform laparoscopic tubectomies, and was conducted in the premises of a non-functioning and abandoned private hospital. Surgery should not be performed in a hospital that is abandoned and that does not have basic facilities. These operations are not urgent and are elective. There is no need to perform them in unsafe areas, abandoned hospitals or in make shift hospitals as is happening through the camps.

83 women -predominantly Dalit, tribal, and OBCs- were subject to sterilization within a short span of 5 hours. It needs to be pointed out that the sterilization procedures flouted two sets of Supreme Court Orders (Ramakant Rai Vs Govt. of India, 2005 and Devika Biswas Vs Govt. of India, 2012). These orders instruct that a maximum of 30 operations only can be conducted in a day,and only in government facilities with 2 separate laparoscopes; one doctor cannot perform more than 10 sterilizations in a day. Notwithstanding such orders, we see that in Bilaspur a single surgeon performed about three times the permissible number of surgeries (83) in less than 5 hours in a private hospital which has reportedly remained closed for 15 years. In

The state government has announced several measures – monetary compensation and support to the affected families for care of the children of the dead women; suspension of several officials, and appointment of an enquiry commission. The High Court has also taken suo moto cognizance of the tragedy. There are also statements that the doctor is not to be blamed and that the problem lay with contaminated medicines that were given to the women. As health activists who have been repeatedly calling attention to the deep-rooted problems afflicting the health system in the country and advocating several remedial steps, we believe that these measures are not adequate and do not touch the systemic and policy factors that lead to such incidents. We feel that these are attempts to obfuscate the actual causes of death and the reasons leading to the incident. A series of issues need to be addressed in the immediate to medium to long term.

In the short term, a thorough, impartial and unimpeded investigation and medical audit must be done immediately, by a competent team of medical and public health professionals, into the causes of the deaths and the illness of the women who underwent the sterilization. Accountability and culpability need to be clearly fixed for the deaths of otherwise healthy women following a medical procedure. That would be one of the first steps towards ensuring that mistakes and lapses are not repeated and such tragedies do not recur.Even 10 days later, such an investigation has not been announced by the state.

It is pertinent to remember that the failures in implementing guidelines and standards, and other kinds of violations in the sterilization component of the family planning programme have been repeatedly raised by civil society groups over the last decade or so, and are the subject matter of several petitions in the Supreme Court, such as the two referred to above. Given that a lot of documentation already exists from several parts of the country, it is the need of the hour to compile all these evidences to learn the lessons and also ascertain why its implementation is so shoddy and poor.

In the medium to long term, severalpolicy matters and systemic issues need to be addressed.Among these are: (i) to do away with the continued emphasis of the Family Welfare Programmes on female sterilization in the name of reproductive rights and reproductive health. It is seen that despite all the talk and concerns expressed by the state and international agencies for women’s health and maternal health,at the ground level the action is centred on such sterilizations and institutional deliveries only for reducing maternal mortality. The state still focuses on such permanent methods of contraception rather than provide safe temporary methods for spacing and increasing access to safe contraceptives. In addition to this,​the two-child norm significantly contributes to the pressures for sterilisation. Such ‘Camps’(euphemistically called ‘fixed day static’ camps) are routinely organised in many States in the country in an irresponsible manner. Health providers in many parts of India confess that they are under pressure to fulfil unwritten targets coming from the top.

(ii) to improve the dismal condition of the government health institutions, make them functional by improving availability of doctors and other health personnel and medicines. Why is it that despite years of planning and allocating money for health system improvements, under reproductive and child health, under the NRHM, and despite years of so-called technical assistance for improving health system management, there are no improvements at the ground level? There is no substitute for increasing material, human and financial resources to strengthen the primary health institutions across the country.

This terrible incident should be taken as a wake-up call.This incident must be declared an emergency, and we demand that:

< !--[if !supportLists]-->1. An independent and comprehensive epidemiologically-sound investigation into this incident should be carried out. On the basis of the findings, responsibility must be fixed in terms of criminal negligence not only on the medical team which performed the operations, but also in identifying other officials who sanctioned and were involved in managing this particular camp.

< !--[if !supportLists]-->2. Negligence and contributory negligence may be fixed on all parties involved, including those providing contaminated surgical equipment, medicines, etc. State is vicariously liable and ought to pay higher compensations for the lives lost and also to those who are sick.

< !--[if !supportLists]-->3. Further deaths and damage arising of poor quality of health care system, lack of compliance with SOPs, inefficient oversight system for quality control of healthcare delivery at the grassroots, and medical negligence should be entirely eliminated.The govt should must be held Sterilization operations only in well fully equipped government hospitals and sterilized places, not abandoned hospitals that are shut, or in makeshift places, wheresanitation and cleanliness is compromised and there is a high likelihood of women undergoing a procedure in acquiring infections.

The‘camp method’ with incentives and targets of sterilization should be stopped with immediate effect. Instead, sterilization should be offered as one of the options among other safe, non hazardous, non invasive, long acting methods of contraception. It should be provided as one of the services through an improved basic primary health care system.

< !--[if !supportLists]-->5. The family planning programme needs a thorough re-analysis and overhauling, that centre-stages the reproductive and health rights of women. Emphasis should be placed on male responsibility for family planning, and use of condoms and vasectomy without coercion which involves far lesser health risks.

With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya

Libya,Govt.Bungalows,rulings&AAP

Dear all,
Welcome.

Libya:Army led by Gen.Khalifa Haftar had fought with terrorists thereby killing 36 people. Libya Crescent society voluteers had got five bodies besides 21 in conflict areas. At 100 kms away, 15 troops bodies were brought to a hospital. The conflict started since mid October had caused death of 254 people. The Special force and thunderbolt battalion had staed that Army had moved towards South East region. During July, international airport was taken control by Islamic fundamentalists. A special troops had reached there at Camp.

 

Govt. bungalows: Govt. had stated before Supreme Court that RJD chief's bungalow allotment was cancelled since Nov.1 but was allowed to retain with Special license fee for one year. It had also expired on Oct.31.
Buta Singh was alloted Teen murti road flat which was to be evacuated on June 24. Besides, Sangma had asked for allotmen of his flat to his father who is Lok Sabha member. It is under consideration.
Bansal, Maran, SM Krishna, Vasnik & Joshi had vacated the bungalows.Ex-PM, Rao's son had to vacate bungalow on January 3. The govt. had stated that bungalows are allocated as per directions and along with Cabinet committee approval. Since April 2012 rules, type 7/8 bungalow had been allocated depending upon sensitivity, requirement etc. There are 61,466 govt. houses out of which type 7/8 are 126/185 respectively.

 

Court rulings:
Delhi High Court had ruled that Police should take action as per its order dated Nov.12.
Kouton's co. MD could be presented before CJM, who is accused of taking Bank loans after showin fake documents. Delhi High court had declared them as absconders and put a price on them worth 10,000 INR. Indian Overseas Bank had got balance of 3,000 crore INR on the said co. After the property shown against Bank loan was auctioned, it was found that it is of nominal market rate. Bank had registered a case against Chairman & MD. Police had asked for confiscation of property.

 

Sahara group: ED had recently registered a case of Hawala against Sahara group following which Income Tax dept. had sent few teams. They had found around 125 crore INR incash at Delhi located Offices.

Insurance bill: The Standing Committee on Insurance is vacant for which govt. would be presenting proposal in Rajya Sabha. The FDI limit is to be increased from existing 26% to 49% for which various meetings had been held by the Committee. During past session, bill was sent back to Standing Committee following opposition. As per parliamentary affairs minister, it is in final stage.
With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1) AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party is trying to recover its lost base, particularly among the urban electorate, through Delhi Dialogue. For a change, the party appears more sober, humble and mature in its approach. Conspicuously missing are the holier-than-thou attitude, the ‘my way or the high way’ approach and the street-fighting ways and there’s a constructive agenda visible. This may not be enough to undo the damage the party has inflicted upon itself in the last one year, but it’s a good sign nevertheless.

The AAP should come to power in Delhi again. It not for the reason that the BJP or the Congress ought to be taught a lesson for their hubris, but for the simple reason that it is a fresh experiment that needs some space to play out. The verdict on the 49-day rule of the party is mixed. However, it’s too small a period to judge anything. The party deserves a second chance to prove itself.

If this piece already sounds like part of a ‘Vote for AAP’ campaign, hold on. It actually comes from the middle class dilemma over the party. What appealed most about AAP in the initial days was its middle class-ness. Its leaders could be related with, their anger against the politicians made sense and their rant against the system appeared justified. They promised change but were wholly impractical about it. They hated politicians but wanted to be in politics. They wanted to do too many things with no clue how to go about it. They looked foolish but it didn’t matter.

Everyone loved them. Weren’t they, after all, one of us. We, the middle class, crib too much about the world around us, we hate people above us in the economic ladder, we hate politicians, we blame everyone else but ourselves for the state we are in and we believe changes – quick and drastic – are possible. The AAP, through the personality of its leaders and the ideals it laid out, represented all that. Twenty-eight assembly seats on debut is no joke. The middle class made it possible. It wanted to be up there and throw a challenge to the entrenched interests.

The experiment did not go far. The AAP won power but it got distracted by other developments and lost focus in Delhi. Some of the AAP legislators were a big let down in their public conduct and the leaders found no conflict in being in power and continuing with their agitationist ways. Soon, they were antagonizing all. The media, carrier of middle class sensibilities, found them a nuisance. The upper middle class found solace in Narendra Modi. The punishment came in the parliamentary elections. The party, flying high only a few months earlier, failed to win a single seat.

The party believes now that it has been punished enough and people cannot hold their missteps, including quitting power in 49 days, against it for long. It can make a fresh beginning and retrieve the lost ground. The change in approach to issues and attitude reflects some introspection. Delhi Dialogue is aimed at the electorate in 25 urban middle class constituencies of Delhi. The population here comprises among others salaried employees and students. The party has been active in jhuggi-jhopdis too where the voters remain equally confused about the party.

The BJP has captured the space ceded by the AAP. Will the latter be able to wrest it back? Right now there are no clear answers. Not many gave the party more than 10 seats before the assembly elections last year. It surprised all by capturing 28. It might shrink from 28 to 10 too. But one hopes it makes a comeback.

The experiment of the middle class with power is only half-done. It needs one more chance.

M.K.Pachraiya

Sterilization_deaths&Media

Dear all,

Welcome.

The recent sterilization tragedy in Chhattisgarh that left scores of women dead has brought Indian drug industry under Western media's scanner again. Leading publications such as Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times have weighed in on the lack of proper norms to curb India's drugmakers, many of whom have established a global presence for manufacturing cheaper generic drugs.

Quoting Indian drug industry executives, a Financial Times report on Wednesday said that the deaths highlights the urgent need for tougher regulation of India’s domestic pharmaceutical industry.

"In particular, they say, India urgently needs to crack down on thousands of small, fly-by-night drugmakers that typically supply government hospitals, and overhaul its official procurement process to ensure distribution of high-calibre medicine to the poor," FT said.

“India has a generic drug industry that makes the best quality medicine and exports it to the rest of the world, but then those medicines are not reaching Indian patients,” it quoted an official with an international health organisation as saying.

At one small operation in northern India, industry executives had watched as seven employees, sitting on the floor, filled gelatin capsules with a powder with their bare hands, the report said.

"On paper, India has an elaborate regulatory system. As well as a national drug regulator there are state-level regulators that are supposed to license and monitor drugmakers in their states. But in reality the national regulator is severely understaffed and lacking in modern equipment and resources," the strongly-worded article said.

Criticizing state level drug regulators, the report said that they lack not just the expertise, but are also susceptible to accepting hush money to avoid reporting infractions.

India is the largest supplier of generic drugs -- which are copycat versions of patented ones, typically with only minor differences in process -- to the the US in terms of volume. it also has the largest number of drug manufacturing plants approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outside that country. However, Indian companies have been under the scanner of the FDA in last couple of years due to violations of manufacturing norms, the most famous of which has been Ranbaxy Labs. Import alerts (which bans import of drugs into the US) issued against Indian plants in 2013 accounted for 49%, or almost half of the total of 43 such alerts issued by US FDA worldwide.

A WSJ article, headlined "Deaths Put Spotlight on India’s Sterilization ‘Camps’", slammed the Indian government’s family-planning program through surgical sterilization of women.

The article, published last Thursday, says that the medicines in such procedures used are Indian-made brands of ciprofloxacin, a commonly used antibiotic (also known as ciproxin and ciprocin), and ibuprofen, a painkiller, as well as the anesthetic lignocaine.

While the cause of the deaths has not been conclusively determined, a preliminary investigation found traces of rat poison in the antibiotic supplied by Mahawar Pharmaceuticals, a local drugmaker that has earlier faced a ban for making sub-standard medicines. The company has termed the latest allegations ‘baseless’ even as its promoters have been taken into custody.

India’s government, seeking to curb population growth in the country of 1.2 billion, offers cash incentives to women, physicians and health workers participating in such surgeries. Around 4.5 million women were sterilised in the year ended March 31, 2013, the Journal says.

"A visit Thursday to the site of Saturday’s surgeries discovered a hospital with windows missing glass and floors covered with animal feces," it said.

A report by Arab News this Tuesday also criticised the programme, saying Indian officials need to revisit their population control policies and methods.

"The policy of offering incentives to health workers for promoting sterilization needs to be reviewed, as apparently it has changed the overall nature of this program,” it said. “The authorities must ensure that incentives should not make health workers insensitive to the plight of the poor and uneducated masses in the rural areas.”

A blog in the Washington Post on Friday recalled Sanjay Gandhi’s infamous sterilisation programme for men in the Seventies. "A policy that targeted men with coercion and sometimes force during Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s "emergency rule" from 1975 to 1977 caused a lasting backlash. However, policies that targeted women have endured," the Post noted.

According to recent United Nations data, more than 35% of Indian women who were married or in a relationship have undergone sterilisation. Only Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador ranked higher than India.

With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya

Elections,Porn_websites,Court_rulings&Sterilization deaths

Dear all,

Welcome.

Elections: The union home ministry has asked the Jharkhand government to maintain high level of alertness till end of December as both Indian Mujahideen (IM) and the CPI (Maoist) could carry out attacks and blasts during five phase assembly polls beginning November 25.
Inputs from intelligence agencies indicate that remnant modules of IM could target politicians and public places to avenge successful operations by the security agencies that has caught several of its key men at the top and make their presence felt. The CPI (Maoist) could also target politicians and security forces to show that they are not down and out in the area that is known as their stronghold.
"The Maoists have taken severe beating by the security forces in last one year and their movement has also suffered a blow due to rampant surrenders of their cadre, including from the middle level leadership. They are hard pressed to show their presence to keep maintaining their domination among tribal that is threatening to erode now. This calls for high level of alertness and preparedness on our part which we are maintaining," said a senior officer of the central reserve police force (CRPF).
To keep the Maoist threat at bay during elections, four Israeli Herons (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) are being pressed into operations in Jharkhand.
Sources said these Herons would especially keep an eye on movement of Maoists guerrillas on interstate borders with Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Bihar as Maoists are known to apply hit and run tactics during elections.Besides, the CRPF will also make extensive use of Netra, smaller size UAVs, to keep check on Maoist movement in dense jungles where Herons are incapable of penetrating. To aid existing 40,000 central armed police forces, Centre has rushed 14,000 additional CAPF jawans to Jharkhand.

 

Porn websites: Porn websites are stated to have many users on the internet. Indian govt. is stated to be in favour of full closure of such sites. As per English daily, the list is being prepared which have such contents like porn video or porn picture.
The Internet Service Providers are also showcasing child porn websites, which are needed to be closed. The internet speed is not reduced if such sites are being blocked

 

Court rulings:
1. Vodafone: The signing of unified license for telecom. co., Vodafone, had made it petition before Delhi High Court in regard to pressurizing for license agreement. It is stated to be unconditional acceptance of terms for vodafone to sign.
The company had stated in petition that UAL copy was shown only on Nov.3 and it had opposed it by writing a letter, which prohibits it from Inter circle roaming. The telecom. dept. had sent it at last moment to sign unconditional terms.
2. SAT: The hearing against prevention of DLF and other six officials in trading in capital market had been scheduled for Dec.10. SEBI had during 2007 put stay thereby preventing them for three years trading in capital market. SAT had attached other petitions of DLF promoter & four others on Oct.22 along with main petition.  SEBI's order dated Oct.10 was challenged. The petitioners had to reply by Dec.6 whereas SEBI had to file reply too. It is to note that SAT had permitted DLF to withdraw 1806 crore INR for investment in Mutual funds.

With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya

Original_app_mssg(1) Sterilization deaths

(Reuters) - Ten women died and 14 were in a serious condition after botched operations at a government mass sterilization "camp" in Chhattisgarh, officials said on Tuesday.

The women fell ill on Monday, two days after surgery at a so-called family planning camp at a village. Such camps are held regularly in Chhattisgarh and other states as part of a long-running effort to control India's booming population.

"It was a serious matter of negligence. It was unfortunate," the chief minister of the state, Raman Singh, told reporters. Four officials have been suspended and an investigation will be held, he said.

The cause of the deaths was not yet clear, but officials said they were looking into several possibilities, including whether the surgical equipment was infected.

Some 83 women had laparoscopic tubectomy surgery at the camp, receiving incentive payments of 1,400 rupees ($23), said R.K. Bhange, Bilaspur's chief medical officer. Health workers got 200 rupees ($3.25) for each woman they brought to the camp.

The incident will be an embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has vowed to reform India's health system. Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party rules in Chhattisgarh, expressed concern over the tragedy on Tuesday.

Workers of the Congress party, the main opposition party in the state, demanded resignation of the state's health minister and chief minister.

Deaths due to sterilization are not a new problem in India, where more than four million sterilizations were performed in 2013-14, according to the government.

Between 2009 and 2012, the government paid compensation for 568 deaths resulting from sterilization, the health ministry said in an answer to a question in parliament two years ago.

Health advocates worry that paying women to undergo sterilization is dangerous on a number of levels.

"The payment is a form of coercion, especially when you are dealing with marginalized communities," said Kerry McBroom, director of the Reproductive Rights Initiative at the Human Rights Law Network in New Delhi.

She said care at the family planning camps was often inadequate, with surgery rushed through in unhygienic conditions.

Pratap Singh, commissioner of Chhattisgarh's Department of Health and Family Welfare, told Reuters that the state's sterilization program was entirely voluntary.

The United Nations expressed concern.

"If the facts are confirmed, then a grave human tragedy has occurred," said Kate Gilmore, deputy executive director of the U.N. Population Fund. "Where there is deviation from clinical standards, there must be consequences."

 

M.K.Pachraiya

OECD

Dear all,
Welcome & pl. read on app. mssg.
With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1)

In yet another endorsement of the new government's policies aimed at reviving the economy, the OECD has bumped up India's growth forecast for next year citing a pickup in investment because of the improved political situation that stems from the Narendra Modi-led BJP having come to power with a substantial majority that will enable it to undertake reforms.

The country could be within striking distance of China by 2016 in terms of the pace of growth, with that country forecast to slow in the years ahead, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). But that doesn't mean the central bank can relent in the fight against inflation, it said. This runs counter to the demand for interest rate cuts from companies and some government quarters. OECD expects the Indian economy to expand 6.4% next year compared with 5.9% estimated less than two months back in its September '14 interim outlook.

 OECD outlook projects inflation to head lower

 "GDP will slow in China, but pick up in India and remain sluggish in Brazil and Russia," the Paris-based grouping said in the OECD Economic Outlook released on Thursday that lowered growth targets for the global economy.

 Since taking charge, the Modi government has unveiled several policy changes such as deregulating diesel prices, linking gas prices to global benchmarks, amendments to labour policies, steps to end the 'inspector raj' and cutting red tape for businesses. It's expected to unveil further reform measures in the months ahead. Stock markets have boomed, with the key indices rising to records on Wednesday. Thursday was a market holiday.

 "Improved business sentiment resulting from reduced political uncertainty, deregulation, and the government commitment to cut red tape should boost growth," OECD said, releasing the forecast ahead of the November15-16 G-20 summit in Brisbane that PM Modi will attend. A detailed forecast will be released on November 25.

 "Investment will be the main growth engine, after several quarters of subdued growth," it said, adding that the pace of reforms has picked up in India. Growth is projected to rise to 6.6% in 2016 while China will slow to 6.9% by that year. However, for the current year, India's growth forecast has been cut to 5.4% from 5.7% estimated initially. These numbers are not strictly comparable with India's national headline statistics that are compiled on basis of factor cost and follow a April-March fiscal.

 "In India, pickup in growth after the sharp slowdown in 2012-13 will continue despite the tight monetary and fiscal stance," the OECD statement said. The outlook also projects inflation to head lower, but it hasn't backed India Inc's demand for lower interest rates. "The output gap is projected to remain negative, and inflation is expected to continue to drift down as inflations expectations anchor lower," OECD said. "In India, still-high inflation expectations call for a continuation of tight monetary policy stance," it said separately in its policy prescription.

OECD also called for subsidy reforms. "India needs to continue fiscal consolidation, but should also improve its quality, rebalancing expenditures away from subsidies and toward public investment," it said. The organisation projects the global economy will expand 3.3% in 2014 and recover gradually to 3.7% in 2015 and 3.9% in 2016. "We have yet to achieve a broad-based, sustained global expansion, as investment, credit and international trade remain hesitant," OECD secretarygeneral Angel Gurria said.

UNHRC,Modi,Cleaning_system,Coal_blocks,MH370&Maoist

Dear all,
Welcome.
UNHRC: India is re-elected for UNHRC membership for the upcoming period i.e. 2015-17. In polling conducted yesterday, India got support in Asia-Pacific category from most of the countries. Upon election, Indian envoy had stated that stress on making human rights procedures effective would be made. They would be sorted out through creativity. Besides India, Bangladesh, Qatar, Indonesia etc. had also been selected.

Modi: A Human rights organisation had filed a case against PM for his alleged involvement during 2002 Godhra riots. A proposal was made before US federal Court of South district Newyork by "American Justice Centre". Besides him, a case against Sonia Gandhi was also put up for safeguarding 1984 rioters.

Cleaning system: Parliamentary speaker had been engaged in cleaning of house with two hours of intensive round. The paper work had been told to be controlled so as to avoid wastage.
The room no. 187 had filed spread and 86 in damp condition along with 133 also roof leaking from inside. Paperless office would be made as regards Parliament Secretariat.

Coal block allocation: After Modi govt. getting majority in recent elections, it had started taking decisions. The Coal block allocation would be made through e-auction on internet.
During first phase, Central and State govt. would be allocated such coal blocks. The rejected allocation would be grouped into Steel, Cement, Electricity and would be auctioned. Such auction would be commercial in nature. The first phase would have 74 such blocks allocation auctioned within a period of three to four months. The revenue shall be shared along with States.
An Ordinance in this regard has been recommended before President. It is to note that Supreme Court had cancelled 214 out of 218 coal blocks allocated. With it, Coal nationalisation policy is not changed. CIL would be protected too. It has 200 such Coal blocks for extraction.
With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1) MH370
Seven and a half months after the Boeing 777 went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board there are new clues about the whereabouts of its wreckage, as cited by Independent UK.

In the past few months there has been speculation from the Australian public regarding debris washed up on the coasts of Australia, which some have assumed  could be the remains of MH 370. Although each of those reports is “reviewed carefully”, as stated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) it is likely that any wreckage would have drifted the other way. Australia has asked Indonesian officials to make public the possibility of evidence from the MH370 disaster appearing on its shoreline.

As cited in the report which was released yesterday by ATSB, “It is possible that some materials may have drifted to the coastline of Indonesia, and an alert has been issued in that country, requesting that the authorities be alerted to any possible debris from the aircraft.”

Meanwhile, officials announced that a second ship, The Discovery, provided by Dutch contractor Fugro, arrived in the remote area of the Southern Indian ocean yesterday, and is preparing to join the operation in the search zone identified using satellite data about 1,100 miles west of Australia, as cited by the Independent UK.

Independent UK further added that Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has expressed positivity regarding the missing airplane stating, “We must continue to hope because sometimes hope is all we have. We will find MH370.”

According to Associated Press, “despite a massive air and sea search, not a single piece of debris from the plane has been found.”

In an interview with German magazine Spiegel, the chief executive of Emirates Sir Tim Clark said: 'MH370 remains one of the great aviation mysteries. Personally, I have the concern that we will treat it as such and move on. At the most, it might then make an appearance on National Geographic as one of aviation's great mysteries. We mustn't allow this to happen. We must know what caused that airplane to disappear,' as cited by Associated Press.

He added: “MH370 was, in my opinion, under control, probably until the very end.”

Original_app_mssg(2) Maoist
Maoists have a presence in as many as 15 states across India, including a new "southern theatre" in the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, while their front organisations exist in 21 states, according to the Centre's assessment under the policy unveiled last week to tackle Left-wing extremism.

The new tri-junction, particularly the Sathyamangalam forests where sandalwood smuggler Veerappan once held sway, is government priority as it feels the Maoist situation in Kerala has the potential of turning more serious if immediate preventive steps are not taken, a senior official said. The government is also concerned about the spread of Maoist front organisations, which it believes should be viewed as "part and parcel" of the strategic infrastructure of the CPI (Maoist) to enlarge its mass base.

However, the BJP-led NDA government, which took over in May, is clear that Maoists will not succeed in their aim of overthrowing a democratically elected government, given the sheer national power of the Indian state and its democratic ethos, and because the CPI (Maoist)'s worldview is in sharp contrast to the reconciliatory nature of the Indian society and the aspirational matrix of Indian youth.

An official said the proposition of a Red Corridor from Pashupati (in Nepal) to Tirupati (in Andhra Pradesh) was a "distant mirage". The new policy proposes some innovative ideas to tackle Maoists, including asking for services of former senior officials of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) who have worked on construction of roads in terror-ravaged Afghanistan to build roads in the worst-affected Maoist areas.

Asking for control of the Integrated Action Plan (IAP), the new policy says the scheme should be implemented in the worst-affected blocks and not districts as earlier and 10 per cent of IAP funds should be permitted to be utilised for hiring professionals such as teachers, doctors and engineers. It has also proposed inclusion of the local Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) commandant in the existing committee of district magistrate, superintendent of police and district forest officer for deciding development projects under IAP. The new policy also proposes a relook at findings of a 2008 expert group constituted by the Planning Commission under D Bandopadhyaya which had studied co-relation between indicators of backwardness and the spread of Left-wing extremism.

The assessment under the new policy says that in spite of a decline in Maoist violence since 2011 and contraction in the areas under Maoist domination, the core military strength of Maoists remains intact in 23 worst-affected districts in six states. It claims that infrastructure development and the implementation of development schemes in affected areas was not satisfactory under the previous government.

"In light of these facts and circumstances, there is a need to re-examine and fine-tune various policy measures to combat Maoists," the new policy document has proposed, an official said.

{International_day_for_elimination_of _nuclear_weapons}

Dear all,
Welcome. Today is first International day for elimination of  nuclear weapons. Pl. read on app.mssg.
With regards,

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1)
Two odd facts. First, the United Nations General Assembly has declared today, September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

You might yawn. Why bother? That’s never going to happen, you say. It’s too hard.

The Americans/Chinese/Russians/ … won’t let it happen. Oh, and we might need nuclear weapons one day. Anyway, hasn’t that been done before?

Well, no, today is a first. Never before in more than almost seven decades of nuclear threat has the UN led the world in observing a day dedicated to this goal.

Secondly, in March last year, the Norwegian government hosted the first ever International conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. The first ever. Surely that must be wrong, you might say. Surely everyone knows about the appalling human consequences of nuclear weapons.

But it turns out that’s not the case. While 127 governments sent delegations, the governments of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – all of which happen to have nuclear weapons –declined to attend.

Nuclear club makes mockery of disarmament

This is all very well, these nuclear-armed governments said (and Australia echoed), nuclear war would be a terrible thing. But, they said, focusing on the harm to humans and the impossibility of any
serious medical response will only distract attention from the important work on disarmament, which is going so well.

Yet implementation of the legally binding commitment to disarm that the nuclear-armed nations made 44 years ago is nowhere in sight. All of them are still investing massively in retaining indefinitely and modernising their nuclear arsenals. The UN Conference on Disarmament has produced nothing and not even been able to agree on an agenda - for 18 years.

All under control? With 4765 nuclear weapons in the US arsenal? And slightly more in total on the Russian side? And between them 1800 ready to be launched at any moment? Plus Britain, France and China with 200-300 each; and India, Pakistan and Israel with 80-120 each?

With numbers like these we need a lot more action. In fact, we need to dismantle this unstable monster of mass extermination. Now.

A war too terrible to contemplate

The Norwegian conference was the first attempt in the 68 years since the first nuclear war to get governments to talk about the obvious:
that nuclear war will be catastrophic. Full stop. Not just for the hundreds of thousands or many, many more immediate and lingering victims of blast, fire and radiation. But now proven catastrophic beyond doubt for the planet as a whole.

Smoke from burning cities lofted into the upper atmosphere would encircle the globe; cool, darken and dry the earth for decades; and devastate agriculture. Worldwide famine would result on a scale never witnessed before – affecting billions of people. The grim reality is that nuclear weapons pose the greatest danger that we face of abrupt, catastrophic climate disruption.

The Norwegian government – which some irritated Australian diplomats have been known to refer to as “an NGO with money” – are pretty up-front about what they want. The Oslo conference, a second, larger conference in Mexico earlier this year and a third in Vienna this December share two aims.

The first is to get governments talking about the effects of nuclear weapons on their citizens beyond the abstract theory and jargon of “deterrence”. This is a mantra held over from the Cold War that daily risks annihilation and consigns hope for change to the political freezer.

Look at the evidence of the humanitarian consequences, the Norwegians say. Look at the impossibility of any effective medical response, say the Red Cross. Think about basing policy on the most acute threat we face on evidence rather than wishful thinking and myth, say the Mexicans. Get your public health, emergency service, agriculture and science people thinking about it, not just the military people, say the Austrians.

Non-nuclear majority must make a stand

The second aim is to stop the farce of endless pointless stalled disarmament discussions controlled by the nuclear-armed, with no intention of changing behaviour that suits a toxic constellation of vested interests quite well. The real goal needs to be to use the burgeoning global discussion about the catastrophic consequences of next use of nuclear weapons to kick-start a move for a total ban on
nuclear weapons.

Like the bans on landmines and cluster munitions, this will need to be led by those not wedded to the weapons. Indeed, it will have to be kicked off against the nuclear-armed shouting no, never, over our dead bodies. The treaty banning nuclear weapons would be signed first by the great majority of the world’s governments that do not possess and do not want nuclear weapons.

While that cannot immediately bind the nuclear-armed, it would constitute a powerful global statement of what is expected, an unequivocal norm of responsible behaviour against which the nuclear powers will have to explain and justify their non-compliance. Like the treaties banning biological and chemical weapons, landmines and cluster munitions, it will change their behaviour, even for those not signed up. It’s the best next step that can be taken now by those who actually want to get rid of nuclear weapons.

MH370&Inmarsat_data

Dear all,

Welcome & pl. read on app. mssg. on MH370.

With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya

Original_app_mssg(1) Inmarsat data

CANBERRA, Australia — Two hours after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, the Boeing 777 experienced a total loss of power, according to a recently released report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The significance of this is not explained in the report because it is part of the Malaysian investigation, and Malaysian officials have declined to comment on it. But it is another strange detail from the data collected by Inmarsat, the London-based satellite technology company.

In the absence of hard evidence, the satellite data have provided most of the clues so far for investigators trying to pin down the plane’s likely whereabouts, somewhere in the south Indian Ocean.

The control room at Inmarsat’s headquarters in London. The loss of Air France Flight 447 prompted Inmarsat to embed more time information in its satellite communications, which allowed it to calculate the route of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.Credit Christine Negroni
“So far,” Mr. Ferrante said, the Malaysia Airlines disappearance “is a crash with no airplane, no bodies, no crash site, no physical evidence. It is a virtual crash until a piece of wreckage is found.”

The hunt for Flight 370 has shifted focus several times — a frustrating but unavoidable process, said Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian safety bureau, who said the searchers had had to investigate signals mistakenly thought to be coming from the plane’s “black box” locator beacon.

The most recent area of focus, announced June 26, has been derived from complex computer modeling and probability studies within the framework of the Inmarsat data.

The satellite information has been used almost from the start of the search, when it showed that the plane had not gone down in the South China Sea, a surprise even to the engineers at Inmarsat. “I saw the first analysis and I said, ‘Are you sure?”’ recalled Ruy Pinto, the company’s chief operating officer, in an interview.

Since then it has become clear that the data could be exploited in increasingly sophisticated ways, leading to a progressive redefinition and refinement of the search areas. “If there was an ah-ha moment,” Mr. Pinto said, it was when the engineers realized that timing information contained in electronic “handshake” exchanges between the plane and a satellite over the Equator “could be used in a simple way to define possible flight paths.”

After the Air France accident it took six days to find the first floating debris and two years to locate the airplane’s flight data and cockpit voice recorders. The search was assisted by information transmitted from the plane via Inmarsat satellites. But the delay in finding the wreckage prompted Inmarsat to modify its satellite network to include information about the time taken for a message to circulate from the ground to the satellite to the airplane and back again.

When the Malaysian jetliner went missing, this embedded time information and changes in the wavelength of the electronic signals, or pings, it emitted allowed the company to calculate the plane’s route south after crossing the Malay peninsula.

“The timing told you it was getting further away from the satellite — and the frequency changes told you a little bit more about where it was in relation to the north-south position of the satellite,” said Chris McLaughlin, a senior vice president at the company.

Still, as the plane’s disappearance shows, data that are now routinely and automatically transmitted by airliners are not sufficiently comprehensive to identify their precise location when they are out of radar and radio range.

On any given day, that includes planes transiting “the North Atlantic, the Pacific and over the remote areas in Africa and Russia,” said Kevin Hiatt, safety director at the International Air Transport Association, the airline trade group.

The industry is looking at piggybacking on satellite-based location reporting that already is used by some airlines for on-route weather forecasting and air traffic control. Proposals include increasing how often that location information is sent and assigning certain parameters to an airplane’s communication system so that unusual events would prompt automatic transmissions of location and other information.

Using satellites is expensive, however, and airlines restrict the amount of satellite time they buy, to control their costs.

“A one-size solution will not fit all,” Mr. Hiatt said. “Not all flights operate in a radar environment while others are operating every day in radar. Not all are equipped the same.” He added that I.A.T.A. was working with a United Nations agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, on aircraft tracking and would present options to airlines to “fill the gap” in global coverage by the end of the year.

The I.C.A.O., with a broader agenda, is also reviewing ways that airliners could send flight data to the ground, an approach that could someday replace their onboard black box recorders.

Even at the time of the Air France accident, sending flight data based on some triggering event was possible, said Viraf Kapadia, chief executive of Star Navigation, a flight monitoring service based in Toronto, who said he had suggested it to the crash investigators.

“Everyone talked about it,” he said, but then “suddenly everyone went to sleep, I.A.T.A. and I.C.A.O.” He added, “People were worried about cost.”

Officials at both aviation organizations say that it takes time to make broad changes in a complex industry. But they concede that cost concerns have been a consideration.

“Much of the technology already exists” to enable global tracking of airplanes in flight, the I.A.T.A. director general, Tony Tyler, said in June. “One issue is, of course, the cost of doing this. It would be wrong to think this is not an important consideration.”

In the absence of physical evidence, electronic data has proven its value in Malaysia, Mr. Kapadia said. “There’s an absolute revolution going on,” he said, calling the Malaysia flight “a pivotal turning point.” Yet, for all the high-tech guidance, investigators still have not found the plane, a reminder of the limits of current applications of the technology.

“It is important to have a scientific approach and tools and to have a clear strategy based on data,” Mr. Ferrante said. But ultimately, he acknowledged, pinpointing a plane’s location is still often “a matter of luck.”

Good_governance, BRICS, TRAI,Court_rulings,AAP,Israel, MoM&AAP

Dear all,
Welcome.
Good governance: Modi had asked MPs to follow Parliamentary rules religiously. Central Home minister had stated that democracy could be made better. Addressing nw MPs, PM had stated that all MPs should be in contact with each other. They should be aware of their thought, action & character. They should refrain from making any public statement. He is also new and has to learn from seniors.
He had advised them to resolve people's problems, speak on national issues carefully, not address media, & take local administration's help. It had been stated while addressing new MPs to maintain decorum of Parliament.

BRICS: PM would be attending BRICS conference on July 14 & 15 wherein a development bank's establishment, UN & other trade organisations expansion and reforms would be finalized. BRICS conference is stated to be held at Brazil. The member countries are Brazil, Russia, India , China & S.Africa.
Earlier schedule had his meeting along with German Chancellor but due to FIFA World cup, she would not be present. After his being coming into power, he would be meeting Chinese Premiere, Russian PM, & other leaders. It is more likely that India would stress upon reforms and expansion of UN Security Council.

TRAI: The govt. had put more than two lakh unauthorised telemarketers in blacklist. After it, they would not be eligible for new telecom. connection for a period of two years. By July 3, 2014, 224341 unauthorised telemarketers had been put in the list.
A total of 403 registered telemarketers had been issued notices for unwanted calls. TRAI had deducted the amount of 1.73 crore INR from the security deposit towards violation of the same. The fine ranges from 25,000 upto 2.5 lakh INR.

Court rulings:
1. China: It is stated to be establishing of spying centre in NCR region at Gurgaon. A tibetan citizen had purchased sizable amount of land. It is as per intelligence report after which his passport is
cancelled. A petition is put up before High Court against the same.
The report states that he was found to be engaged in spying activities. They are twin brothers who had purchased few land in the name of tibetan refugees. The Delhi's address mentioned is false. As
per Central govt., he has relations with a person who is engaged in spying activities and is blacklisted. The accused had obtained Darjeeling Corporation's issued birth certificate & made the Passport. But his parents had migrated from Tibet.
Ministry had directed Kolkata RPO to lodge FIR against him. But accused had objected to IB's report stating that he is Indian citizen and he doesnot have any twin. He is also not related to any land purchase other than the specified.
2. Pushkar: A petition had been filed seeking CBI enquiry of Pushkar's death wherein her postmortem & autopsy report had been made as its basis. Dr. Gupta had been referred to as "Whistle Blower". Based upon media news, it is stated that impartial investigation must be done by NIA. Her death is being linked to IPL and even ISI agent, Mehr tarar, could be included in it.
Besides, Ex-minister, Azad & Tharoor's role should also be checked. The petitioner had sent online complaint to President but it is not replied. Citing security & protection to Whistle blower, the petition is stated to be filed upon Court's earlier order.

AAP: Home ministry had rejected proposal of allocating govt. accomodation to Council representatives. NDMC's proposal was proposed during Council's meeting on June 20 wherein it could have provided accomodation to AAP's National coordinator. But it had been rejected under NDMC Act, 2011. Only nominated members are presently allocated the accomodation. The Council had wrote to Home ministry to stop the said proposal. It is to note that Kejriwal had to vacate his govt. accomodation.

Israel: In an Israeli air attack day before yesterday, around 60 Palestinians are likely to have been killed. The air attacks had targeted more than 780 Hamas bases. During past three days, 82 people
had died along with 500 wounded. It is the biggest death toll since Nov.2012.
Gaza with Hamas populace is stated to have got 60 Palestinians killed including women and childrens. Israeli Defence forces (IDF) had stated that it's Army would continue to bomb Hamas terrorists.
With regards,

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1) Mars orbiter
MoM had traversed 52.5 crore kms & it takes around 15 minutes to send & receive a radio signal to it. ISRO had stated that it would be inducted in Martian orbit after exact 75 days through TCM. It's second TCM was done during June 11. The next TCM would take place during August.
It is to note that it was launched via PSLV during past Nov.5 from Sriharikota. It is targeted to reach Mars by Sept.24. It's mission is to showcase India's capability to manufacture and exhibit performance.
It uses many local make(indigenous) components with project costing 450 crores INR.

Original_app_mssg(2) AAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today termed the Union budget as a "dud", saying it has nothing to offer to any section of the society and has missed out on important issues like corruption, inflation and looming drought.

"People had high expectations from the budget, but it turned out to be dud. The budget was a last ray of hope. There are no steps to deal with corruption, inflation and no initiatives have been taken to tackle with the situation when there is a threat of drought looming over because of bad monsoon," party's National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here.

The AAP leader said that the budget neither favours the poor and middle class nor does it favour the corporate sector and there was no difference between the NDA and the UPA.

"If you closed your eyes and heard (Arun) Jaitley properly, you would have thought it was Chidambaram speaking," Kejriwal said.   He said that no steps have been announced to curb down corruption, which is a main reason behind inflation and many sectors like health and education have been neglected in the budget.

"There is nothing in the budget for sectors like health and education. The government has not spoken on how to improve the employment opportunities," the former Delhi Chief Minister said.

Kejriwal also slammed the BJP for allowing FDI in the insurance sector. "For all these days and even before the election, the BJP had said that it would not allow FDI in insurance sector. Rajnath Singh
had said that it will not allow privatisation in railways. But the BJP has been doing U-turn after coming to power," he said.

In the budget Rs 200 crore have been earmarked for power reforms and Rs 500 crore for water reforms in the national capital. In addition, to solve the long term water supply issues to the capital region, construction of long pending Renuka Dam would be taken up on priority for which Rs 50 crore have been allocated.

To this Kejriwal said, "What kind of reforms will the government bring in Rs 200 crore. Instead it should give people subsidy on electricity and make water free the way we had done when AAP was in power."

He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the railway budget. "Instead of increasing seats, punctuality, Modi has given priority to high speed train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The whole focus was on this Rs 60,000 crore project," Kejriwal said.

PPP,Gangrape,Court_ruling,Fraud,NSA_Spying,AAP,RJD&Budget

Dear all,
Welcome.
PPP: Public private partnership means any project involving govt. & private sector's long term agreement. Under the agreement, services are rendered by taking taxes. It involves Special purpose vehicle which implements the project. The agreement is known as model concession agreement. In the matter related to railways, agreement is done by High Speed Rail Corp, Rail development corporation, Railtel, Dedicated frieght Corp, Ircon & RITES etc.
Under it, Cabinet approval is required following which tender is floated. After opening of tenders, the consortium or company obtaining tender does concession agreement. A Joint Venture agreement is made for implementation of the project. Under PPP model, JV is held by company for a fixed tenure after which it is returned back to company.
 
Gangrape: President's son had once again supported TMC member, Tapas Pal, who had given rubbish statement on rape. It is to note that he had earlier commented on dented & painted ladies, who decorate themselves during day but go for candle march during night time. Also, Bengal CM had supported him & denied taking any action against him. It is stated that words had slipped from mouth and it should be pardoned.
It had put Congress State leadership in dismal position. They are demanding answer in this regard. When his comment is being condemned as a whole, why Congress member is supporting him?
Court ruling:
Juvenile: In the matter related to Delhi High Court blast, a juvenile had been sent to juvenile home with sentence of three years. NIA had caught him while he was minor. It is to note that Delhi High Court Gate no. 5 suffered blast earlier resulting in 17 deaths. The other accused are not granted any bail. 
Fraud: President of Golden Tobacco co. (GTC) was arrested from Kolkata airport, who was trying to leave the country. As per Mumbai Dy. Commissioner, immigration officials had stopped him. He was wanted in 540 crore worth fraud case by EOW, Mumbai. A Look out notice was also issued.
He was presented before the Court on Tuesday at Mumbai. Later, he was sent on judicial custody. Mumbai's Economic offence wing(EoW) had registered a case against  him and others for fraud of 540 crores. Supreme Court had rejected his advance bail petition during March. He was told to surrender on April 11.

NSA Spying: Snowden has leaked certain information claiming that during 2010, NSA had don spying of six political parties including BJP. As per Washington Post, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had approved it. Under it, NSA had to take permission every year from Court under FISA amendment act 702.
Excepting four countries, no foreign govt. is beyond the scope of NSA. These countries are Britain, Canada, Australia & Newzealand. The certification includes agencies officials from World Bank, IMF, IAEA etc. NSA does not target any particular country but is only authorised.
Besides BJP, Egypt's Brotherhood Party, Egyptian National Solvation front, Lebnon's Amal party, Bolivians continental coordinator of Venezuela, & PPP, Pakistan are included. NSA is having right of spying 193 foreign countries.

AAP: Home ministry had rejected proposal of allocating govt. accomodation to Council representatives. NDMC's proposal was proposed during Council's meeting on June 20 wherein it could have provided accomodation to AAP's National coordinator. But it had been rejected under NDMC Act, 2011. Only nominated members are presently allocated the accomodation. The Council had wrote to Home ministry to stop the said proposal. It is to note that Kejriwal had to vacate his govt. accomodation.

RJD: Central govt. had permitted fodder scam accused, Lalu Yadav, to remain in his govt. residence at Tuglaq road uptil October whereas earlier Governor, Buta Singh s to vacate his bungalow at Three murti lane. Also, Ola's relatives could remain in their bungalow uptil Feb.2015, who had been a minister during UPA govt. tenure. It is to note that Lalu had written earlier to Rural development minister for residence citing his wife's treatment.
With regards,

 

M.K.Pachraiya
Original_app_mssg(1) Budget
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government on Thursday unveiled a first budget of structural reforms aimed at reviving growth, winning praise from investors despite a lack of clarity over how he would cap the big fiscal deficit.

Expectations had been high that the government would utilise India's strongest election mandate in 30 years to take radical steps comparable to the 1991 market reforms that unleashed an era of high economic growth.

But in a bid to halt a two-year spell of weak growth, the government instead announced incremental steps to boost capital spending in Asia's third largest economy and reassure foreign investors that they would get fair treatment.

"We shall leave no stone unturned in creating a vibrant and strong India," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told parliament, vowing to raise the pace of economic growth to 7-8 percent in three to four years from less than 5 percent now. Jaitley, 61, told lawmakers he would uphold the fiscal deficit target for this year inherited from the last government - 4.1 percent of gross domestic product - despite expectations he would be forced to raise it due to weak revenue and high subsidy costs.

Ratings agency Moody's said a lack of detail on how India would cut the fiscal gap made it "challenging to assess the credit impact" of Jaitley's budget, but still said it would keep its investment grade rating for India.

Jaitley announced an 8 percent rise in spending, roughly unchanged after taking inflation into account. The government will also seek to raise a record $13 billion from selling state assets - nearly four times what the previous government raised in the fiscal year ended in March 2014.

India's budget, an act of theatre concentrating decisions that in other countries are spread over months, was delayed by a general election in May that handed Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a landslide victory.

Delivering the second half of his two-and-a-quarter hour address seated, Jaitley raised the minimum income level at which people start paying tax and hiked levies on cigarettes and soft drinks.

INVESTOR FRIENDLY?

Jaitley announced he would raise ceilings on foreign investment in the defence and insurance sectors, but still bar non-residents from taking majority control in projects to supply the world's largest arms buyer.

Limits on foreign investment in defence and insurance ventures will go up to 49 percent from 26 percent - still less than sought by foreign contractors to justify sharing technology when they locate operations in India.

In another signature initiative, the government will launch a tax reform this year to unify the 29 states into a common market, a measure that would boost revenue while making it easier to do business.

Investors have piled into Indian stocks on hopes that Modi's leadership and mandate would break a logjam thwarting a host of reforms during the 10-year tenure of his predecessor Manmohan Singh, whose coalition government became increasingly divided.

While the concrete measures announced by Jaitley fell short of the most bullish expectations, Indian stocks and bonds finished a volatile day stronger, thanks to his commitment to fiscal probity.

"These measures are very progressive and good for the bond and equity markets," said Murthy Nagarajan, head of fixed income at Quantum AMC in Mumbai. "It would lead to a reduction of inflation in the coming years due to a lower fiscal deficit."

'BITTER MEDICINE'

Modi, 63, won election with a pledge to create jobs for the 1 million people who enter India's workforce every month. Since taking office, he has warned that Indians should expect "bitter medicine".

Reflecting that change in tone, Jaitley vowed to adhere to this year's "daunting" 4.1 percent budget deficit set by the previous government.

"I have decided to accept this challenge - one fails when one stops trying," Jaitley told the lower house of parliament. He said the budget deficit would be reduced to 3.6 percent in the following two fiscal years.

With the deficit already approaching half of the annual target just three months into the fiscal year, many economists had expected Jaitley to raise the borrowing target to 4.4 percent.

Jaitley managed to find room in the budget to fund projects to upgrade India's food distribution infrastructure. He raised subsidies on fertilisers and, against expectations of a reduction, extended diesel subsidies - key measures to aid farmers who face poor monsoon rains this year.

INVESTOR PROTECTION

The minister said he would set up a high-level committee to review retrospective tax claims blamed for choking off foreign investment after companies such as Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L) were hit with massive demands.

Vodafone and India have been locked in a $2.2 billion tax standoff since the British company acquired Hutchison Whampoa's (0013.HK) Indian mobile assets in 2007.     

Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile operator, thought it had finally secured victory in the case in 2012, when India's Supreme Court dismissed the tax demand. But the government responded by announcing retrospective legislation that would change the rules.

Jaitley sought to reassure investors by promising a stable tax regime and saying the government would not "ordinarily" create new liabilities retrospectively, but stopped short of moving to scrap the law. Several cases in the court will be concluded through the legal process, he said.

($1 = 59.7600 rupees)