Ben Kingsley is one of the most versatile actors in World Cinema and he just proved it again with his depiction of an Indian Sikh in his latest movie, ‘Learning To Drive’. The theme of the movie revolves around a Manhattan writer, who starts taking driving lessons as her marriage dissolves. This movie reminds us as to how trivial things can turn out to be the most amazing experiences of our life if we pay enough attention to them.

With an amazing star cast and a beautiful story, this is surely one of the films to watch out for.

NEW DELHI: In a big boost to domestic oil and gas exploration, the government has decided to exempt state-owned ONGC and Oil India from paying for LPG subsidies in current fiscal, Oil Secretary Saurabh Chandra said today.

“Government will fully meet subsidy burden of LPG in 2015-16,” he said at FICCI roundtable on Hydrocarbons here.

The government regulates price of cooking fuels LPG and kerosene to shield the poor. The difference between the cost and the retail selling price, called under-recoveries, is borne by the government by way of cash subsidy and upstream producers like ONGC.

Upstream oil and gas producers ONGC, OIL and GAIL had to borne a portion of subsidy on cooking fuels LPG and kerosene and diesel till October 2014. After diesel price was deregulated in October 2014, the subsidy sharing was limited to LPG and kerosene.

“Since upstream national oil companies contribution to under-recoveries is reduced, to that extent their resources are freed to invest in exploration and production,” he said.

Chandra said the government has exempted Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and OIL from payment of fuel subsidy in the fourth quarter after the Finance Ministry agreed to meet the revenue loss on fuel sales.

The Finance Ministry will pay Rs 5,324 crore in fuel subsidy for the January-March quarter, effectively meeting all revenue retailers losses on selling domestic LPG and kerosene at government-controlled rates.

Under-recoveries, or revenue retailers’ loss on selling fuel below cost, of Rs 67,091 crore in first nine months of the fiscal were fully accounted for by the subsidy support and dole out from upstream firms like ONGC.

The under-recoveries of Rs 5,324 crore for the March quarter are being entirely borne by the government.

The Oil Secretary said since the government is paying LPG subsidy directly to consumers in their bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, it has been decided that this will be entirely met from the Budget.

ONGC and OIL will have to bear subsidy on only kerosene in 2015-16, he said.

Based on average crude oil price of $60/barrel, LPG subsidy for 2015-16 may be about Rs 18,000 crore and assuming crude at USD 70/barrel, it could be in the vicinity of Rs 25,000 crore. For Kerosene, it will be Rs 13,000 crore at USD 60/barrel and Rs 16,500 crore at USD 70 per barrel oil price.

In the first nine months of 2014-15, the government gave cash subsidy of Rs 22,085 crore to meet less than a third of the under-recoveri

AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd has pleaded guilty to charges of threatening to kill and possession of drugs.

Rudd, 60, was due to stand trial on Tuesday at the Tauranga district court in New Zealand but he changed his plea to guilty before the trial began.

Rudd was arrested in November and charged over an incident on 26 September in which, according to a police summary of facts, Rudd rang a man he knew and threatened to kill both him and his daughter.

He was also charged with possession of methamphetamine and cannabis.

The drugs charges were laid after police executed a search warrant at Rudd’s home on 6 November

Police say Rudd had 0.71g of methamphetamine and 130g of cannabis in his possession.

He was also charged with attempting to procure a murder when he appeared in court in November, but the charge was dropped the following day.

AC/DC in February announced it had replaced Rudd with former drummer Chris Slade ahead of its Rock or Bust world tour.

Rudd played on recording sessions for the album by the same name, but was unable to promote the album late last year while dealing with the charges.

Rudd was remanded on bail for sentencing on 26 June. His lawyer said he would be applying for a discharge without conviction.

Judge Robert Woolff did not enter a conviction after Rudd’s guilty pleas.

The United Nations has confirmed that the death toll from the weekend’s Mediterranean boat disaster is at least 800 – with the victims being of multiple nationalities.

Following interviews with some of the 27 survivors from the tragedy who arrived at the Italian port of Catania, officials for both the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that some of the dead were children between the ages of 10 and 12.

Police at the port also confirmed a Tunisian and a Syrian man who were among the survivors had been taken into custody over suspicions they were members of a smuggling gang thought to have organised the fatal voyage.

“We can say that 800 are dead,” said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UNHCR.

“There were a little over 800 people on board, including children aged between 10 and 12. There were Syrians, about 150 Eritreans, Somalians … They had left Tripoli at about 8am on Saturday.”

Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Italy spokesperson, added: “All the 28 survivors/witnesses have now talked to Italian officials. We believe these are likely to be [pretty] definite figures of what is the deadliest disaster in the Mediterranean to date.”

The confirmation of the death toll came as salvage crews scoured the waters off Libya for bodies and reports came in of many more desperate migrants heading for Europe in unseaworthy craft, oblivious to the overwhelming odds against them.

It was a sight that broke the hearts of even men of the sea like us

Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, said rescues were under way to help save migrants trapped on two vessels carrying about 450 people off the Libyan coast. Earlier, the IOM said “at least” 20 fatalities had been reported from one of the vessels, carrying about 300 people, although that could not be immediately confirmed.

Meanwhile, a fragile wooden boat with more than 80 people aboard ran aground off the Aegean island of Rhodes. The Greek authorities reported at least three people had been killed, including a child.

As the Italian rescue crews returned to base after fruitless searches for more survivors from the weekend shipwreck, the scale and horror came into ever sharper focus of what is likely to be the worst maritime disaster of its kind.

Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi addresses a conference on Monday. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media/imago/Italy Photo Press

Vincenzo Bonomo, one of the Italian rescuers, told La Repubblica: “It was a sight that broke the hearts of even men of the sea like us.

“I saw children’s shoes, clothing, backpacks floating in the water. Every time we saw a shoe or a bag, any sign of life, we thought we might have found a survivor. But every time we were disappointed. It was heart-breaking,” Bonomo said.

“We didn’t find a single survivor – not one. We didn’t leave the area until the last shred of hope had gone. We wanted to at least find more bodies so that they could be given a dignified burial.”

“They told us that there were between 700 and 900 people on board, mostly in the hold where they were trapped after the boat capsized,” said Gianluigi Bove, the rescue boat captain. “There was no trace of the boat, just debris and traces of petrol.”

An Italian prosecutor, Giovanni Salvi, says the smugglers’ boat that sank near Libya this weekend had three levels and the doomed migrants were locked in the hull and middle deck.

One survivor, identified as a 32-year-old Bangladeshi, has put the number of people on board the smugglers’ boat at as many as 950, though Salvi said that number should be treated with caution. He added that the Italian coast guard had estimated 700 people had been on board, based on observations at the scene of the sinking.
Police at Catania await the arrival of 27 migrants who survived the shipwreck.

Police at Catania await the arrival of 27 migrants who survived the shipwreck. Photograph: Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

Anger spread across Italy at what is increasingly perceived as a humanitarian tragedy to which the rest of Europe is turning its back. Renzi compared the situation to the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims supposedly under international protection in Srebrenica 20 years ago.

“Twenty years ago, we and Europe closed our eyes to Srebrenica. Today it’s not possible to close our eyes again and only commemorate these events later,” an agitated Renzi said in a press conference.

Australia’s prime minister urged European leaders to adopt tougher border control measures. Tony Abbott, whose government implemented a strict policy of turning back asylum seekers’ boats in a bid to discourage them from trying to reach Australia, called the latest Mediterranean crisis a “terrible, terrible tragedy” and suggested Europe follow Australia’s lead to ensure it was not repeated.

“The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the people smuggling trade. The only way you can stop the deaths is, in fact, to stop the boats,” Abbott told reporters in the nation’s capital, Canberra. “That’s why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people smuggling trade across the Mediterranean.”

Before Sunday’s disaster, aid agencies estimated that 20,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year and 900 had died.

The Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoracci docked in Malta at about 8am and dropped off two dozen bodies recovered from this weekend’s wreck, including children, according to the aid agency Save the Children. They will be buried on Malta.

Maltese citizens were urged to send bouquets of flowers for the victims to the mortuary of Mater Dei hospital by the hospital’s chief executive, Ivan Falzon.

Most probably their family, relatives, friends, don’t even know that they’ve ceased to exist

“I’m asking you to go ahead and order a bouquet, a little thought for these people. They don’t have anyone to do it for them in little Malta,” he said, according to a report in the Times of Malta. “Most probably their family, relatives, friends, don’t even know that they’ve ceased to exist.”

Fourteen bouquets have already arrived.

While search-and-rescue operations continued near the site of the shipwreck, the captain of the Italian vessel Gianluigi Bove told reporters in Malta that it was unlikely any more survivors would be found.
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“We did what was possible. At the time of the alert, we were 80 miles off the incident site,” he said. “It took us six hours to reach the area.”

While aid agencies have not yet had access to the survivors of the wreck, one survivor airlifted to Sicily for medical treatment said the fishing boat had been carrying about 950 people, including many women and children.

When a commercial vessel passed by, the passengers surged to one side to call for help and the ship capsized. It was the second time in recent weeks that such an accident was reported.

On Monday night, as the ship carrying the 27 survivors arrived in Catania UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said that the migrants appeared fragile, exhausted and astonished to see so many people waiting for them. They are now thought to have disembarked, with at least one removed from the vessel in a wheelchair. Sami said all the survivors are likely to need psychological support after their ordeal. The migrants are thought to be young, with some in the group under the age of 18.

At the port Italian officials arrested two men from the ship. Prosecutor Giovanni Salvi said that following the testimony of survivors, the Tunisian captain of the sunken boat, and a Syrian man had been arrested. He went on to say that the remaining 25 migrants will be indentified following treatment, and some are expected to request asylum.

They are expected to be moved to a reception centre run by the Italian government. Aid agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration and Save the Children have officials in these welcome centres that can help evaluate the victims’ needs, particularly those of children who have been traumatised by the treacherous voyage and might be travelling without a parent.
The rescue operation on Rhodes after a vessel carrying migrants ran aground on Monday.

The rescue operation on Rhodes after a vessel carrying migrants ran aground on Monday. Photograph: Xinhua/Corbis

Such reception areas are nearing full capacity and Italian officials on Monday warned that asylum policies in Europe needed to be amended to spread migrants more equally throughout the EU.

When pressed for answers on how to stem the crisis, Renzi suggested that a Europe-wide focus on rooting out and arresting human traffickers – whom he repeatedly compared to slave traders – was a first step.

“We are in the presence of a criminal organisation that is making a lot of money but mostly is ruining many human lives. Our country cannot allow this kind of trade in human lives,” he said.

However, Renzi ruled out a naval blockade in international waters, which has been touted as a possible solution. The prime minister said that would be a gift to smugglers because it would essentially allow them to send migrants off by the thousands to be picked up by the European vessels.

Police in Palermo announced on Monday that they had arrested two men suspected of being important human traffickers who operate on the Italy-Libya route, Ermias Ghermay and Medhane Yehdego Redae.

Ghermay is an Ethiopian who is believed by authorities to be responsible for the 2013 shipwreck that killed 366 people off the coast of Lampedusa.

Also on Monday, at least three people died when a boat ran aground off of Rhodes. Video footage showed a large, wooden, double-masted vessel packed with people just metres from the land. It rocked wildly in the waves and passengers were seen jumping into the sea and swimming towards the shore.

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest number of acid attack cases with 186 such incidents reported in the state out of the 310 cases registered across the country in 2014.

Minister of State for Home Haribhai Chaudhary also told Lok Sabha that 27 acid attack cases were registered in Delhi, the highest among all union territories.

Chaudhary said among other states, 53 cases of acid attacks were registered in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Gujarat, seven in Haryana, six in Maharashtra, four each in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh and three each in Bihar and Odisha last year.

A total of 208 people were arrested across the India for their alleged involvement in acid attack cases in 2014.

Of these, 119 people were arrested in Uttar Pradesh, 46 in Madhya Pradesh and 10 in Gujarat, Chaudhary said during the Question Hour.

The Minister said following a directive of the Supreme Court, the Home Ministry has sent a number of advisories to the states and union territories asking them to take necessary action for treatment and giving compensation to acid attack victims.

The states have been conveyed that no acid attack victim will be denied treatment by any hospital, public or private under any pretext and any erring hospital/clinic violating the legislative provisions should be dealt with sternly.

Administrative machinery of the states/UTs will also ensure treatment of acid attack victims.

First aid and treatment to the acid attack victims should be provided free of cost and minimum compensation of Rs three lakh must be provided to acid attack victims, the minister said, adding, there are plans to give an additional Rs five lakh as compensation.

PTI

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Agartala/Aizawl: India would strengthen vigil along its border with Myanmar to check drugs and arms smuggling besides movement of inimical elements, including militants, officials said on Thursday.

“We would further strengthen the security along the India’s border with Myanmar to check smuggling of drugs, arms and other contraband items,” a senior Assam Rifles official told IANS, wishing anonymity.

“The vigil would also be reinforced to stop trans-border movement of extremists and other inimical elements,” the official said.

He said: “It is a tough task to guard the unfenced mountainous borders with a full-proof security. Additional Assam Rifles troopers would also be deployed along the Myanmar borders.”

Four northeastern states – Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Manipur (398 km), Nagaland (215 km) and Mizoram (510 km) – share 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar.

Smuggling of drugs, arms, animal pieces, various contraband goods is rampant across the India-Myanmar border, specially along Mizoram’s border with that country.

According to Mizoram Police, seven AK-47 assault rifles, two AK-56 rifles, six US-made M-16 rifles, four MA-3 Mk-II rifles, two hand grenades, three kg of RDX, around 8,000 rounds of ammunition of different guns and 312 boxes of special and ordinary detonators have been seized by the security forces in Mizoram last year.

“Bulk of the seized arms and ammunition were suspected to have been meant for Chakma militant outfit operating in neighbouring Bangladesh and these were mainly smuggled from Myanmar,” a Mizoram police official said.

Mizoram also shares an unfenced 318 km international border with Bangladesh.

According to intelligence officials, Bangladeshi rebels belonging to the Chakma tribal community – Parbartya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samati (PCJSS) – are involved in the arms smuggling.

PCJSS’s armed wing Shanti Bahini has been demanding sovereign status for tribals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of southeast Bangladesh and had waged guerrilla warfare against Bangladesh for two decades until 1997.

Though the Shanti Bahini had signed an agreement with the Bangladesh government in 1997, a splinter group is still active in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

IANS

Agartala: The Left-ruled Tripura maintained its top position for the sixth consecutive year by providing 88 person-days’ rural jobs per household under the job guarantee scheme during the 2014-15 fiscal, a Cabinet minister said here on Friday.

“Tripura has been providing the highest average employment for the past six years under the MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme),” Tripura Rural Development Minister Naresh Jamatia told reporters here.

He said: “Tripura provided 88 days of work per household in the just concluded financial year (2014-15) against the national average of 40 person-days.”

“Tripura has maintained the top position in providing rural jobs since 2009-10,” the minister said, citing from the status report of the union rural development ministry.

According to the report, Maharashtra came second with 53 person-days per household, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 47 person-days, Rajasthan with 45.71 and Meghalaya with 46.42 person-days.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) mandates 100 days of employment in a financial year to at least one member of each rural household in the state.

According to the central government performance report on the MGNREGS, of the total of 249,542 panchayats across the country, 33,670 panchayats did not provide any job to any worker.

These 33,670 panchayats are mostly in Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

The minister said the central government at a very short notice from April 1 introduced the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) to make the monetary system — from fund allocation by the union and state governments to payment to labourers revoking the previous e-FMS (Electronic Fund Management System).

“Though both the systems are transparent, hassle and error-free and paperless besides eliminating administrative delays and we support the new system too, the PFMS was introduced in less than a week’s notice, creating problems in some blocks to disburse the wage payments to the workers,” Jamatia added.

Tripura is providing wages to the MGNREGS workers at their doorstep through business correspondents engaged by various nationalised and regional rural banks, he said.

Besides providing rural jobs, the MGNREGS has created rural assets that include household latrines, drinking water sources, rural road connectivity, livestock promotion, pisciculture, watershed management and afforestation, securing livelihood activities.
IANS

Mumbai: In an attempt to curb child labour, the Maharashtra government, along with a non-governmental organisation, helped reunite 65 rescued children with their families.

The children were rescued from various establishments last month and sent to shelter homes in a joint operation of the NGO and the state government.

“I came here to work… I came here on my own… (was working) in Dharavi… from 10 am to 10 pm,” said a rescued child, Satish Kumar, adding, “I am feeling happy to go back home.”

Of the 65, parents of 10 rescued children, picked up their wards from the shelter homes, while the rest were sent to their homes on a special coach of Rajendra Nagar Superfast Express.

“Initially we used to rescue around 500 children yearly but now it has come down because these children are sent back to parents who now know that child labour is a crime,” said state Minister For Women and Child Development, Vidya Thakur.
ANI