MAY 2015

pointoutnews.com VOL-2 ISSUE-04 50 

MAY 2015 

I N S I D E 

fiRSt poiNt oUt 

SUMMit oN GooD 

GoVeRNANce foR 

fUtURe iNDiA. 

LAND ACQUISITION BILL 

OPPOSITION 

UNITES 

1 

RNI NO: DELENG/2014/55786

POINT 

OUT 

2 

maY 2015

RNI NO: DELENG/2014/55786 

VOL-2 ISSUE-04 

POINT 

OUT 

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Volume 02 Issue 04 

For the month – May 2015 

Total No. of pages 64+Covers 

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pointoutnews.com MAY 2015 

50 

LAND ACQUISITION BILL: 

OPPOSITION 

UNITES 

1 

I N S I D E 

FIRST POINT OUT 

SUMMIT ON GOOD 

GOVERNANCE FOR 

FUTURE INDIA. 

COVER STORY 

land acQuisition bill: oPPosition... 

INDO CHINA 

after the ni haos and namastes, 

there’s a lot of WorK to be done 

P 24 

POINT OUT GALLERY 

CINEMA 

2015 P 58 

the Year of 

seQuels in 

bollYWood 

P 34 

P 12 

MUST READ 

Test Drive P 42 

Gadgets P 44 

Forecast P 46 

Book Review P 52 

Spiritual Touch P 66 

REDEFINING 

GOVERNANCE 

The amendment to 

Land Acquisition, 

Rehabilitation 

and Resettlement 

Act, 2013 moved 

by BJP-led NDA 

government has 

led to widespread 

opposition among 

the people and 

political parties. 

The bill has virtually 

united a divided 

opposition... 

nation-Wide direct 

transfer of cash subsidY... 

VILLAGE 

ART & 

ROOTS 

CULTURE 

a toilet as 

street art: an 

Wedding gift 

art form that 

is WidelY ... 

P 48 P 50 

P 65 

anushKa 

attends nh10 

screening in 

beiJing fest 

P 36

POINT 

OUT 

• Narendra Modi 

Prime Minister 

‘Judiciary should 

be both "Sashakt" 

and "Samarth" 

– empowered 

and capable – to play 

its "divine role" of 

ensuring the rule of 

law, and delivering 

justice to the common 

man. While the executive is under constant 

assessment and scrutiny in public life, 

through various institutions, the Judiciary 

normally does not face any such scrutiny. 

The Judiciary has built up an enormous 

faith and reputation among the people of 

India, and should evolve its own in-built 

systems for self-assessment, so that it can 

live up to the high expectations placed 

on it by the people. Good infrastructure 

for the Judiciary was a priority for the 

Government, and an amount of Rs. 

9749 crore had been earmarked for 

strengthening the Judiciary under the 

14th Finance Commission. Under the 

Digital India Programme, technology 

should be deployed to bring about a 

qualititative change in the Judiciary. 

• p. Ashok Gajapathi Raju 

Minister of Civil Aviation 

‘Internal and 

external security 

angles have to 

be addressed to 

achieve a foolproof 

safety for fliers and 

aircrafts. Lauding the 

role of the Bureau 

in strengthening 

the impression that Indian sky is a 

relatively safe space, I really stressed that 

security measures should be meaningful 

without obstructing economic activities 

as growth in civil aviation sector has 

a direct impact on the economic 

growth of the country. The vision of 

security should be based on thinking 

one step ahead of the criminal mind. 

The connectivity among unconnected 

areas of the country as the immediate 

need of the hour. BCAS should focus 

on upgradation of security measures in 

compliance with international standards 

while strengthening preparedness for 

any eventuality at airports. Presence of 

mind and competence to take on- thespot 

decisions should be the essential 

component of any security measures. 

• Arun Jaitley 

Union Minister of Finance 

‘Services are 

more easily 

India’s territory 

and we cannot 

afford to lose our 

advantage in the 

services arena. We 

have the necessary 

prerequisites for 

building our advantage in services - a 

large and growing population, a reservoir 

of rich and varied human resources and 

a population which demands quality 

services. While in other major sectors - 

agriculture, manufacturing and mining 

- there are a number of regulatory and 

other challenges and which come in the 

way of unleashing our latent potential 

which is not the case with services where 

government intervention is minimal. The 

services sector provided the opportunity 

to unleash its own energy and foster 

growth as it is not entirely dependent 

on availability of quality infrastructure 

or natural resources. Moreover, it is an 

area where chartering new territories 

would also depend on the creativity and 

imagination of the human mind. Citing 

examples of the largest retailer, which has 

operations worldwide but does not own a 

YOUR VOICE 

single retail store or the largest taxi service 

which does not own a single vehicle, he 

said that numerous changes have been 

happening in the last few years which 

have made the the brick and mortar 

model less relevant. Similarly, services 

are expanding in new unchartered areas 

and new avenues are being opened up in 

cyberspace eg in education, banking, etc. 

• Vasundhara Raje 

Chief Minister of Rajasthan 

‘Rajasthan and 

tourism were 

synonyms and 

a mart like the 

Great Indian Travel 

Bazaar gives the 

state a platform to 

bring together tour 

operators from around 

the world along with policy makers and 

others stakeholders under one roof and an 

opportunity to promote the city and state’s 

tourists destinations. The discovery of 

old heritage remains while excavation for 

a metro construction site in the old city of 

Jaipur. The discovery of the remains may 

help in increasing the number of tourists 

visiting the city. On promoting tourism in 

Rajasthan, state government was all set to 

review the Tourism Unit Policy and had 

increased the tourism budget exponentially, 

almost 100 per cent with the expectation 

that it will reap benefits in future. As the 

year 2015 was committed to investment, in 

November 2015 Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi will inaugurate the ‘Resurgent 

Rajasthan Partnership Summit’ which will 

be an unprecedented event with strategic 

conferences, panel discussions, roundtable 

deliberations, presentations and oneon-one 

business meetings. It will bring 

together leading investors from all over the 

world, senior State government officials and 

local business community for interactions 

on investment environment and 

opportunities in Rajasthan. The summit 

is bound to promote investments in hotels 

and encourage new and improved theme 

based activities for attracting tourists. 

The dearth of air connectivity within the 

state was also an issue that was being 

looked upon and an internal airline may 

be started o allow tourists to move faster 

within the state. 

4 


POINT OF VIEW 

tough lesson for goVt 

T 

he undue haste shown by Narendra Modi led NDA government 

in bringing amendment to Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and 

Resettlement Act, 2013 has given a shot in the arm for the opposition 

parties in the country. Not only has it allowed the opposition to shun its 

differences and come closer but has also made things difficult for the NDA 

government in terms for passage of crucial legislations in the Rajya Sabha. 

Going by the numbers in the Upper House and the sentiments among 

opposition Congress and other parties, they have tasted blood and will leave 

no stone unturned to embarrass the government by blocking bills in the RS. 

Why did the BJP push the bill is something only Mr Modi or top BJP 

leadership would be able to explain, but it is a fact that the bill in its present 

form has negated the goodwill of the NDA government. Buoyed by its 

majority in the Lok Sabha and undermining the fragmented opposition, 

BJP think tank thought it would be able to get through the bill without 

much difficulty in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. However, the bill 

in its present form is unlikely to pass the Rajya Sabha test. Surprisingly, the 

dead Congress suddenly woke up to the reality and has started maneuvering 

the opposition and leading the charge against the government. Apart from 

political outfits, NGOs and farmers too have ganged up against the Bill and 

are opposing it. 

On its part, the government and the party is itself to be blamed for the 

mess it has landed into as they took things too lightly without seeking a 

consensus or preliminary deliberations across the political spectrum on 

the issue. Moreover, the party and government at large not been able to 

communicate with the masses about amendments which it claims is crucial 

for development. This, coupled with opposition within the NDA and BJP on 

the Land Acquisition Bill ensured that the sentiments of opposition that the 

government was playing into the hands of corporate lobby and was helping 

them usurp their land went down well with the masses. So much so that 

nobody is willing to even consider for once that the bill is good for the 

farmer. 

Considering the opposition, the government referred the bill to a 

parliamentary panel in a face saving exercise. It should also be an eyeopener 

and a lesson for the NDA government that majoritarian views 

and totalitarian attitude does not always yield results. In a parliamentary 

democracy the majority government also has the added responsibility to 

ensure that House functions smoothly and legislations are passed smoothly 

despite difference of opinions. 

Dr. Shiv Kumar Rai 

Editor-in-Chief 

5

POINT 

OUT 

TWITTERATI 

• Narendra Modi @narendramodi 

SAARC Nations can come 

together & hold 

annual exercises 

of rescue teams, 

doctors etc on 

how we can 

minimise damage 

during natural disasters. 

• Anandiben patel @anandibenpatel 

It was a proud 

moment for me to 

witness Woman 

Commanding 

officer giving 

Guard of Honour 

at #GujaratGauravDiwas 

Parade 

• Vasundhara Raje @ 

VasundharaBJP 

Over 2.5 cr LED 

lights would be 

installed across 

Raj, saving about 

734 mil units 

of electricity - 

leading to drop in 

energy demand by 575 MW 

• digvijaya singh @digvijaya_28 

All who believe in Modern 

Secular Socialist 

Ideology 

& oppose 

Right Wing 

Communal 

Ideology rooted 

in 18/19 Century 

must follow RG on 

Twitter 

• Manohar lal Khattar @mlkhattar 

Haryana is the 

1st state in the 

country to 

implement 

Aadhaar-linked 

registration 

of birth & Digital Life 

Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan 

Patra). 

• office of RG @OfficeOfRG 

It took us over 2 

years to bring 

the Land Bill, 

the NDA govt 

in just a few 

days has killed 

that Bill: Rahul Gandhi 

• Subramanian Swamy @Swamy39 

Happy Haryana 

govt is to set 

up today or 

soon a Retd 

Judge Inquiry 

Commission on 

Vadra land deals. When I met 

CM last he said he would do it 

• Ram Madhav @rammadhavbjp 

ET write up on exclusion of 

Aum in Yoga 

CD for 

Intl Yoga 

Day is 

incorrect n 

misleading. 

CD is being 

prepared by our govt n starts 

with Aum 

• anand mahindra @anandmahindra 

Thanks to donors like 

Venkataraman, 

CEO, Jewellery, 

Titan, @ 

NanhiKali 

has empowered 

100000 girls 

through education 

• omar Abdullah @abdullah_omar 

To celebrate the 1st year of 

the "good days" 

government 

please enjoy 

another huge 

fuel price hike. 

You are welcome. 

• farhan Akhtar @FarOutAkhtar 

Gender equality is imminent. 

It's a matter of 

time. Question 

is... are you part 

of this change? 

• Shashi tharoor @ShashiTharoor 

I'd love to see an India where 

anyone with a good idea and 

some startup 

money could 

take a risk, 

open a 

business& 

succeed w'out 

Govt.hassles 

6 


POINT 

OUT 

NATIONAL PANORAMA 

» The Union Minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Sushma Swaraj along with the Minister of State for AYUSH (Independent Charge) 

and Health & Family Welfare, Shripad Yesso Naik launching a logo for the International Day for Yoga, in New Delhi. 

LOGO FOR INTERNAL DAY OF YOGA LAUNCHED 

S 

ushma Swaraj, Union Minister for External Affairs and Shripad Naik, MoS(IC) M/o AYUSH launched the logo for International 

Day of Yoga. The logo was selected by the Committee of Yoga experts constituted by Ministry of AYUSH and has been 

approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Speaking on the occasion, MoS(IC) said that India will celebrate its 1st International Day of Yoga on 21st June, 2015 and various 

activities will be carried out all over the world to mark the occasion. 

International Day of Yoga has got co-sponsorship of 177 countries and will be celebrated in 193 countries all over the world at the 

same point of time announced the Union Minister for External Affairs. Senior offi cials of Ministry of AYUSH and External Affairs were 

also present on the occasion. 

6 MORE SATELLITES ARE PLANNED TO BE 

LAUNCHED DURING 2015-16 

6 

more satellites are planned to be launched during 2015-16. These are 

two Communication satellites GSAT-6 & GSAT-15; three Navigation 

satellites IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F & IRNSS-1G; and one Space science 

satellite ASTROSAT. In addition, it is also planned to launch 13 more satellites 

from four countries using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. 

Antrix Corporation Ltd., the commercial arm of Department of Space is already 

marketing remote sensing data (images) from Indian Remote Sensing satellites 

in the global market through establishment of International Ground Stations 

and reseller network. As on April 2015, Indian Space Research Organisation 

(ISRO) has launched 74 satellites. Out of these, 7 satellites failed to reach the 

orbit due to launch failure and 3 satellites failed in orbit. 

In addition, ISRO has successfully launched 40 foreign satellites from 19 

countries and 4 micro & nano satellites built by students of Indian Universities 

using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). 

This information was given by MoS in the Prime Minister’s Offi ce and Minister 

of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh in 

written reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha. 

8 


SWACHH BHARAT 

ABHIYAAN AT NITI 

AAYOG 

SRI SRI RAVI 

SHANKAR ADDRESSES 

THE EUROPEAN 

PARLIAMENT ON YOGA 

S 

ri Sri Ravi Shankar addressed the 

European Parliament on 'The Yoga 

Way'. Sri Sri who was invited as a key 

note speaker spoke on the relevance of yoga 

besides guiding a meditation and leading 

a question and answer session. ‘The Yoga 

Way’ was officially hosted by the European 

Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with 

India and endorsed by eleven members of 

European Parliament. 

“The Yoga Way” was held in Paul Henri 

Spaak Building of the European Parliament 

in Brussels on 21 April. Addressing the 

eclectic set of members present, Sri Sri 

said, “From GDP, we are moving to Gross 

Domestic Happiness (GDH). Yoga can 

be a useful tool that can aid that. A large 

percentage of our population today is 

suffering from depression. Just popping 

anti-depressants will not help. We need 

something that is as natural as our breath 

that we can use and elevate our spirit 

and feel that much needed happiness.” 

Throwing light on the power of yoga, Sri Sri 

added, “ Prejudice based on religion, race, 

class, gender, education, financial status 

have clogged the mind of men and that's 

how conflicts arise in society. Yoga helps 

us to reach out and resolve this conflict.” It 

was for the first time in the history of the 

European Parliament that any event had 

found resonance amongst members from all 

the seven political groups in the Parliament. 

T 

he first meeting of the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat 

Abhiyaan was held at NITI Aayog, New Delhi. The Sub-Group was 

constituted as per decision taken at the first meeting of the Governing 

Council of the NITI Aayog chaired by the Prime Minister on 8th February, 

2015. The Sub-Group consists of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 

Karnataka, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Sikkim, West 

Bengal, and Uttarakhand as Members. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, 

N. Chandrababu Naidu, as the Convener of the Sub-Group, conducted today’s 

meeting. The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Siddaramaiah and Chief 

Minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar were present. The Sub-Group 

discussed the issue of the best technologies and best practices available in 

the country and abroad for Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan. A Working Group has 

been set up under the CEO, NITI Aayog with one member from each of the 

Sub-Group Member-States. The meeting decided to seek inputs from other 

states which are not the members of the Sub Group regarding best practices 

and technologies followed by them. The members discussed the issues 

of solid and liquid waste management and changing behavioral pattern. It 

was also pointed out that Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan programs should be run 

in campaign mode which must be sustainable. The Convener of the Chief 

Minister’s Sub-Group, N. Chandrababu Naidu, said that the Sub-Group 

will have to work out the financial requirements for the program. The next 

meeting of the Sub-Group of the Chief Ministers will be held around mid-May 

in Chandigarh. Representatives of concerned Central Ministries will also be 

invited. The Sub-Group will submit its report by the end of June, 2015. 

9

POINT 

OUT 

NATIONAL PANORAMA 

» President , Pranab Mukherjee interacting with the accompanying media onboard on his way to Delhi with Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha 

INDIA-RUSSIA RELATIONS HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME 

P 

resident Pranab Mukherjee said his "successful" state visit to Russia has strengthened the ties between India and Russia. 

He stated that the high-level bilateral talks stirred a "forward" movement on defence, nuclear energy and space cooperation. 

Mukherjee, who was accompanied by union minister Manoj Sinha as well as senior offi cials, held bilateral talks with his 

Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on May 9. 

75-member Indian Army contingent from the Grenadiers also take part in the military parade in Moscow. 

Pranab Mukherjee said the role played by Russia in defeating the forces of Nazism and Fascism, in particular the heroic contribution 

of the Russian people, is widely recognized. Though we were yet to win our independence, India played an signifi cant role in World 

War II. Thousands of our countrymen had paid the ultimate sacrifi ce while numerous others were wounded or maimed. For India, 

this was thus an occasion both to commemorate the bravery and indomitable spirit of the Russian people and equally to remember 

the sacrifi ces of Indian soldiers in the most defi ning struggle of the 20th Century. For the fi rst time ever, an Indian Army contingent 

from the Grenadiers took part in the impressive military parade held on the 9th of May in the Red Square in Moscow. 

ASSISTANCE TO EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED PEOPLE 

U 

nder the directions of the Prime Minister, all concerned Ministries of Government of India are contributing in the relief work 

for the earthquake victims of Nepal. Indian Railways too has geared up its machinery to contribute in this effort. The Minister 

of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu instructed railway offi cials to extend all 

necessary help to affected people during this earthquake tragedy and took the initiative 

of seeking suggestions from the public regarding the type of assistance the railways 

could provide. Various suggestions were received on the social media platforms of the 

Railway Ministry. The Railway Minister himself is monitoring the situation closely and 

has directed respective Railway Board members to do the same. 

The Railway Minister directed, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) 

, the Railway PSU to dispatch Rail Neer Bottles through Indian Air Force to Nepal. IRCTC 

has so far supplied 1.86 lakh litre Rail Neer water and is committed to supply more Rail 

Neer bottles as per requirement. Indian Railways also provide Extra Coaches and Special 

Trains to Clear Stranded Passengers from Gorakhpur and Raxaul Stations as well Free 

Railway Ticket to Needy Passengers. 

10 


POINT 

OUT 

COVER STORY 

12 


The amendment to Land Acquisition, 

Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 moved 

by BJP-led NDA government has led to widespread 

opposition among the people and political parties. 

The bill has virtually united a divided opposition 

and gave them a new lease of life. To their comfort 

NGOs and other social organizations and farmers 

too have joined the chorus against the land bill 

forcing the government to have a rethink. The bill 

in its existing form is unlikely to get the Rajya 

Sabha nod. 

LAND ACQUISITION BILL 

OPPOSITION 

UNITES 

13

POINT 

OUT 

COVER STORY 

In a rare display of unity under Congress 

president Sonia Gandhi, opposition parties 

organized a march from Parliament 

to the President's house with some 100 

parliamentarians flanking Sonia in 

registering a strong protest against the 

legislation to make land acquisition easier. 

» poiNt oUt teAM 

T 

he 

amendment to Land 

Acquisition, Rehabilitation 

and Resettlement Act, 2013 

moved by BJP-led NDA 

government has led to widespread 

opposition among the people and 

political parties. The bill has virtually 

united a divided opposition and gave 

them a new lease of life. To their comfort 

NGOs and other social organizations 

and farmers too have joined the 

chorus against the land bill forcing the 

14 


Congress' (TMC) Derek'O Brien 

marched along with CPI (M) MP 

Sitaram Yechury. Mayawati's Bahujan 

Samaj Party (BSP), Jayalalithaa’s 

AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) 

stayed away from the walk. 

After submitting a memorandum to 

President Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia 

said, "We oppose the Narendra Modi 

government on the Land Bill and are 

determined to defeat its designs... We 

request the President to intervene and 

ask the government not to go ahead 

with the Land Bill in the Rajya Sabha." 

As Opposition members-including 

Congress, NCP, SP, JD(U), RJD, TMC 

and Left parties-covered a distance of 

What the 

bill is 

L 

and acquisition, unlike the 

purchase of land, is the forcible 

take-over of privately owned 

land by the government. Land 

is acquired for projects which serve 

a ‘public purpose’. These include 

government projects, public-private 

partnership projects, and private 

projects. Currently, what qualifies as 

‘public purpose’ has been defined to 

government to have a rethink. The bill 

in its existing form is unlikely to get the 

Rajya Sabha nod. 

In a rare display of unity under 

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, 

opposition parties organized a march 

from Parliament to the President's 

house with some 100 parliamentarians 

flanking Sonia in registering a strong 

protest against the legislation to make 

land acquisition easier. 

It was a rare sight, possibly marking 

the beginning of fresh political 

realignments. Arch rivals Trinamool 

15 

a kilometre from the Parliament to the 

Rashtrapati Bhavan, it became clear that 

the government will find it difficult to 

pass the legislation in the Upper House 

before March 20, when the Parliament 

breaks for a month. 

"We will not stop or protest against the 

Bill," Janata Dal(United) chief Sharad 

Yadav said. Yechury, meanwhile, said 

the march was against violation of basic 

rights. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M 

Venkaiah Naidu termed the march 

against development and said, "They 

should not forget that people gave 

majority to this government. If they 

want to join the Congress, it is up to 

them." 

March came a day after Congress 

protested the Bill at Delhi's Jantar 

Mantar and its youth wing fought 

a pitched battle with the police. 

Congress is miffed that land ordinance 

has completely changed the Land 

Acquisition Act passed by them. 

include defence projects, infrastructure 

projects, and projects related to housing 

for the poor, among others. 

Till 2014, the Land Acquisition Act, 

1894 regulated the process of land 

acquisition. While the 1894 Act provided 

compensation to land owners, 

it did not provide for rehabilitation 

and resettlement (R&R) to displaced 

families. These were some of the 

reasons provided by the government 

to justify the need for a new legislation 

to regulate the process of land 

acquisition. Additionally, the Supreme 

Court had also pointed out issues with 

determination of fair compensation, and 

what constitutespublic purpose, etc., in 

the 1894 Act. To this end, the Right to 

Fair Compensation and Transparency 

in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and 

Resettlement Act, 2013 was passed by 

Parliament, in 2013.

POINT 

OUT 

current legislatiVe 

frameWorK for 

land acQuisition 

The 2013 Act brought in several 

changes to the process of land 

acquisition in the country. Firstly, 

it increased the compensation 

provided to land owners, from 1.3 

times the price of land to 2 times 

the price of land in urban areas, 

and 2-4 times the price of land in 

rural areas. 

The 2013 Act brought in several 

changes to the process of land 

acquisition in the country. 

Firstly, it increased the 

compensation provided to land owners, 

from 1.3 times the price of land to 2 

times the price of land in urban areas, 

and 2-4 times the price of land in rural 

areas. Secondly, unlike the earlier Act 

which did not provide rehabilitation 

and resettlement, the 2013 Act provided 

R&R to land owners as well as those 

families which did not own land, but 

were dependent on the land for their 

livelihood. The Act permits states to 

provide higher compensation and R&R. 

Thirdly, unlike the previous Act, 

it mandated that a Social Impact 

Assessment be conducted for all 

projects, except those for which land 

was required urgently. An SIA assesses 

certain aspects of the acquisition such 

as whether the project serves a public 

purpose, whether the minimum area 

that is required is being acquired, and 

the social impact of the acquisition. 

Fourthly, it also mandated that the 

consent of 80% of land owners be 

obtained for private projects, and the 

consent of 70% of land owners be 

obtained for public-private partnership 

projects. However, consent of land 

owners is not required for government 

projects. The 2013 Act also made 

certain other changes to the process of 

land acquisition, including prohibiting 

the acquisition of irrigated multicropped 

land, except in certain cases 

where the limit may be specified by the 

government. 

16 


Promulgation of 

an Ordinance to 

amend the 2013 Act 

In addition to the 2013 Act, there are certain other laws which 

govern land acquisition in particular sectors, such as the National 

Highways Act, 1956 and the Railways Act, 1989. 

I 

n addition to the 2013 Act, there are certain other laws which govern land 

acquisition in particular sectors, such as the National Highways Act, 1956 and 

the Railways Act, 1989. The 2013 Act required that the compensation and R&R 

provisions of 13 such laws be brought in consonance with it, within a year of 

its enactment, (that is, by January 1, 2015) through a notification. Since this was not 

done by the required date, the government issued an Ordinance (as Parliament was 

not in session) to extend the compensation and R&R provisions of the 2013 Act to 

these 13 laws. However, the Ordinance also made other changes to the 2013 Act. 

The Ordinance was promulgated on December 31, 2014 and will lapse on April 5, 

2015 if not passed as a law by Parliament. Thus, the Right to Fair Compensation and 

Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) 

Bill, 2015 has been introduced in Parliament to replace the Ordinance. The Bill has 

been passed by Lok Sabha, with certain changes, and is pending in Rajya Sabha. The 

next section outlines the major changes the Bill (as passed by Lok Sabha) proposes to 

make to 2013 Act. 

17

POINT 

OUT 

OUT 

COVER STORY 

CHANGES 

PROPOSED 

BY THE 2015 BILL TO THE 2013 ACT 

Some of the major changes proposed by the 2015 Bill 

(as passed by Lok Sabha) relate to provisions such as obtaining 

the consent of land owners; conducting an SIA; return of 

unutilised land; inclusion of private entities; and commission of 

offences by the government. 

18 


Some of the major changes 

proposed by the 2015 Bill (as 

passed by Lok Sabha) relate to 

provisions such as obtaining the 

consent of land owners; conducting an 

SIA; return of unutilised land; inclusion 

of private entities; and commission of 

offences by the government. 

Certain exemptions for five categories 

of projects: As mentioned above, the 

2013 Act requires that the consent of 80% of land owners is obtained when land 

is acquired for private projects, and the consent of 70% of land owners is obtained 

when land is acquired for public-private partnership projects. The Bill exempts five 

categories of projects from this provision of the 2013 Act. These five categories are: 

(i) defence, (ii) rural infrastructure, (iii) affordable housing, (iv) industrial corridors 

(set up by the government/government undertakings, up to 1 km on either side of 

the road/railway), and (v) infrastructure projects. 

The Bill also allows the government to exempt these five categories of projects from: 

(i) the requirement of a Social Impact Assessment, and (ii) the limits that apply for 

acquisition of irrigated multi-cropped land, through issuing a notification. Before 

issuing this notification, the government must ensure that the extent of land being 

acquired is in keeping with the minimum land required for such a project. 

The government has stated that these exemptions are being made in order to expedite 

the process of land acquisition in these specific areas. However, the opponents of the 

Bill have pointed out that these five exempted categories could cover a majority of 

projects for which land can be acquired, and consent and SIA will not apply for these 

projects. 

Return of unutilised land: Secondly, the Bill changes the time period after which 

unutilised, acquired land must be returned. The 2013 Act states that if land acquired 

under it remains unutilised for five years, it must be returned to the original owners 

or the land bank. The Bill changes this to state that the period after which unutilised 

19

POINT 

OUT 

COVER STORY 

land will need to be returned will be the 

later of: (i) five years, or (ii) any period 

specified at the time of setting up the 

project. 

Acquisition of land for private entities: 

Under the 2013 Act, as mentioned 

above, land can be acquired for 

the government, a public-private 

partnership, or a private company, if 

the acquisition serves a public purpose. 

The third major change the Bill seeks 

to make is that it changes the term 

‘private company’ to ‘private entity’. This 

implies that land may now be acquired 

for a proprietorship, partnership, 

corporation, non-profit organisation, 

or other entity, in addition to a private 

company, if the project serves a public 

purpose. 

Offences by the government: Fourthly, 

under the 2013 Act, if an offence 

is committed by a government 

department, the head of the department 

will be held guilty unless he can show 

that he had exercised due diligence to 

prevent the commission of the offence. 

The Bill removes this section. It adds a 

provision to state that if an offence is 

acquisition of land for 

private entities: under the 

2013 act, as mentioned 

above, land can be acquired 

for the government, a 

public-private partnership, 

or a private company, if the 

acquisition serves a public 

purpose. 

committed by a government employee, 

he can be prosecuted only with the prior 

sanction of the government. 

Acquisition of land for private hospitals 

and educational institutions: While 

the 2013 Act excluded acquisition of 

land for private hospitals and private 

educational institutions, the Bill sought 

to include these two within its scope. 

However, the Lok Sabha removed this 

provision of the Bill. Thus, in its present 

form, the Bill does not include the 

acquisition of land for private hospitals 

and private educational institutions. 

Other changes proposed in Lok 

Sabha: In addition to removing social 

infrastructure from one of the five 

exempted categories of projects, 

clarifying the definition of industrial 

corridors, and removing the provision 

related to acquisition for private 

hospitals and private educational 

institutions, the Lok Sabha made a 

few other changes to the Bill, prior 

to passing it. These include: (i) 

employment must be provided to ‘one 

member of an affected family of farm 

labour’ as a part of the R&R award, in 

addition to the current provision which 

specifies that one member of an affected 

family must be provided employment 

as a part of R&R; (ii) hearings of the 

Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and 

Resettlement Authority to address 

grievances related to compensation be 

held in the district where land is being 

acquired; and (iii) a survey of wasteland 

must be conducted and records of these 

land must be maintained. 

20 


PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI’S 

MAAN KI BAAT 

There is a misconception that the law related to returning the acquired land in five years has been scrapped. This is not 

true, dear farmer brothers and sisters, what we have said whenever a project is undertake, a timeline has to be specified 

in terms of the number of years in which it will be completed. 

Another misconception being spread is that "consent" is not necessary. I urge you, my brothers and sisters to protect 

yourself from such politically motivated propaganda. The law which was promulgated in 2013 has no provision for consent in 

schemes for which the government is acquiring land. So people are being misled on this consent issue. The issue of consent 

did not exist previously, it does not exist now. 

RAHUL GANDHI 

C 

ongress 

vice-president Rahul Gandhi accused the NDA government of 

"killing" the land Bill passed by the previous UPA government. He said that 

the government has removed the essential clauses on consent and social 

impact in its new Bill. Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the land Bill he took 

repeated digs at the government, terming it suit boot ki sarkar and pro-corporate. 

"We took two years to bring land Bill. NDA government killed it within a few days. 

The government says that if they snatch land, they will do so without asking (the 

farmer)," Gandhi said. 

He said the government has used the axe second time after the "corpse (of Bill)" fell. 

"Whether the project is completed in five years or 50 years, land will not now be 

returned to the farmer," he said. 

"Let me tell you how Modiji won the election. He took loans of thousands of crores 

from big industrialists from which his marketing was done. How will he pay back 

those loans now? He will do it by giving your land to those top industrialists. He 

wants to weaken the farmers, then snatch their land and give it to his industrialist 

friends," he said. 

21

POINT 

OUT 

COVER STORY 

it is land acQuisition for 

deVeloPment 

for an ordinary citizen, the amendment bill would be like a dream come true. We have long been complaining about 

the rigidity and snail’s pace involved in the past government’s bureaucratese. the people’s grievances over decades 

have now been heard and the government is removing itself from places where procedures need not be choked by 

its presence and is retaining its role only in the form of facilitation. 

» MeeNAKSHi leKHi 

W 

hat’s 

in a name? A lot it 

would seem. We have 

been discussing the ‘Land 

Acquisition Act’ widely. 

But there is a lesser known official title 

of the bill which reads as - Right to 

Fair Compensation and Transparency 

in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation 

and Resettlement Bill. The title is 

self-evident in that it points to three 

main tenets of this Act besides land 

acquisition itself – Fair Compensation, 

Rehabilitation and Resettlement. These 

three tenets are of utmost importance 

as they touch the lives of people on the 

ground in all cases of land acquisition. 

What has the present government done 

with these tenets? The government has 

kept all three intact and only enhanced 

them through the amendments. 

For an ordinary citizen, the Amendment 

Bill would be like a dream come true. We 

have long been complaining about the 

rigidity and snail’s pace involved in the 

past government’s bureaucratese. The 

people’s grievances over decades have 

now been heard and the government 

is removing itself from places where 

procedures need not be choked by 

its presence and is retaining its role 

only in the form of facilitation. In the 

case of land acquisition, the choke at 

the Social Impact Assessment level 

is being removed for special projects 

and facilitation in compensation, 

rehabilitation and resettlement of the 

people is being focussed on with greater 

care. 

Another point that detractors fail 

to understand is that when the 

government wants to acquire land 

for affordable housing and industrial 

corridors, the ultimate beneficiaries 

are the inhabitants of that very area 

itself – whether in the form of a house, 

easy transport, better connectivity, 

new economic opportunities, new 

employment or re-developed real estate. 

If the same detractors had listened 

to the people more carefully, they 

would also have heard the demand for 

development infrastructure made on 

the government and woken up to it. We 

seek to fulfil these demands but first we 

have to reduce possible delays that are 

holding up progress. 

Any person who has ever dealt with a 

land issue whether with the government, 

in courts or otherwise knows that 

inordinate delays persist. Where the 

government has promised to build a 

bridge or a school and has acquired land 

for it, there is the obvious expectation 

that the village will have access to such 

a bridge or school at the earliest and 

that is the price that they pay for by 

way of their land. However, because 

of systemic delays, these projects do 

not take off for years, people remain 

unsatisfied and develop a deep distrust 

towards the government. It is this 

trust deficit that prevents people from 

acquiescing readily to land acquisition 

proposals now – a trust deficit due to 

the inefficiency of the government (read 

past government). 

This government is led by an able leader 

and wants to erase this black record 

and deliver services to the people with 

integrity. The people can trust that this 

government is not shackled by scams 

and corruption, and is, therefore, more 

likely to perform. These are not simply 

words - a live example can be seen in 

Gujarat’s model of land acquisition. 

It has been touted as the country’s 

best model by none less than the 

22 


erstwhile Planning Commission and 

the Department of Industrial Policy 

and Promotion (Commerce & Industry 

Ministry) in early May 2014. 

On the question of consent, the 

government already retains the right to 

acquire land if it is deemed necessary. 

This clause has been reasonably extended 

to projects with private involvement as 

a large number of government projects 

are now falling within this ambit. Again, 

this brings us back to avoiding the 

hurdle of inordinate delay in projects, 

whether government or collaborative. 

Having said that, land is acquired with 

commensurate compensation, and 

rehabilitation over and above, unlike 

any private acquisitions. In private 

negotiations for sale of land, if your 

negotiating powers are not strong, in 

all likelihood you will undersell and 

there is no guarantee that you would 

get the best price for the land. However, 

the government guarantees that you 

will get four times the market price in 

rural areas and two times the price in 

urban areas. Can any other entity in the 

market guarantee or give this assurance 

to a landholder, and also promise 

rehabilitation? 

There is also the question of land being 

resold by private parties. While this may 

be the case, the Act puts in a protection 

that if such a resale were to happen, 

40% of the proceeds will go back to 

the original landowners. Not only 

does the landowner get compensation, 

rehabilitation, resettlement, s/he can 

also get additional monetary benefits 

23 

if it so turns out that the land has to 

be resold. This is an assurance that the 

persons affected are being compensated 

every step along the way and which 

has been left untouched in the new 

Amendment Bill. 

Moreover, land is a state subject. If the 

state government of the opposition 

parties could show a better path, 

we probably would not have seen 

Gujarat headlining as a model for land 

acquisition last year – it is a telling sign 

that no such successful model has been 

brandished by these parties so far. Since 

the passing of the Act in 2013, very few 

State governments have actually taken 

the efforts to notify the rules for ground 

implementation. It is a tad hypocritical 

to protest on an Amendment Bill when 

they have been so lackadaisical in 

implementing the Act purported to be 

perfect! 

Recently, it was reported that there is 

a 40% increase in farmer suicides in 

Maharashtra. Drought and unexpected 

heavy rains have ruined farmers and 

pushed them to the brink. The latest 

Agriculture Census of India (2010-11) 

reported that more than 80% of the 

farmers have an average land holding 

size of less than one acre. Combined with 

weather and market risks, a majority 

of these small and marginal farmers 

are left in a perpetual state of distress. 

Government projects that can generate 

employment, provide compensation 

and rehabilitation through employment 

opportunities (the Amendment Bill 

assures one job per family), the situation 

of these small and marginal farmers will 

be ameliorated and we can remove them 

from this dire situation. 

If the opponents of the changes can open 

up their minds a little further, large scale 

irrigation projects, cooperative and 

industrial farming can also be initiated 

through land acquisitions, giving a 

new lease of life to the agricultural 

activities of small and marginal farmers. 

Skill India is another excellent avenue 

for rehabilitation packages envisaged 

under the LARR Act. If we can factor 

in skill development programmes in 

rehabilitation, we will be imparting life 

long skills and not only jobs. This will 

take away the criticism of jobs being of 

temporary nature as well and will fulfill 

the adage of teaching a man to fish for 

a lifetime, rather than simply handing 

him fish for a day. 

We have miles to go before we acquire 

and even more before we instill true 

development and progress. As a growing 

country, we should be focussing on how 

to shorten this road and collectively 

contribute rather than stalling it by 

spreading falsehood and misperception. 

As Swami Vivekananda said, "Make way 

for the life-current of the nation. Take 

away the blocks that bar the way to the 

progress of this mighty river, cleanse its 

path, clear the channel, and out it will 

rush by its own natural impulse, and 

the nation will go on careering and 

progressing." 

Meenakashi Lekhi is an Indian Member 

of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from New 

Delhi constituency.

POINT 

OUT 

INDO CHINA 

after the ni haos and 

namastes, there’s a lot of 

WorK to be done 

24 


“It’s all about creating the space for the relationship to grow and diversify in as 

many areas as possible,” said the senior Indian diplomat who was in Beijing for the 

Modi-Xi Jinping summit. “The difficulties and differences are there and will not go 

away soon, so why not look to build confidence elsewhere.” In fact, the elaborate 

courtesies and ceremonies extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both in Xian 

(President Xi’s home town) and in Beijing, underscored that beyond all the deal making 

and agreements (which may or may not reflect on the ground), this was about both 

countries seeking to know and understand each other better. 

»» 

SURYA GANGADHARAN 

all about creating the space 

for the relationship to grow and 

diversify in as many areas as 

“It’s 

possible,” said the senior Indian 

diplomat who was in Beijing for the Modi- 

Xi Jinping summit. “The difficulties and 

differences are there and will not go away 

soon, so why not look to build confidence 

elsewhere.” 

In fact, the elaborate courtesies and 

ceremonies extended to Prime Minister 

Narendra Modi, both in Xian (President 

Xi’s home town) and in Beijing, 

underscored that beyond all the deal 

making and agreements (which may or 

may not reflect on the ground), this was 

about both countries seeking to know and 

understand each other better. 

“The summit may have disappointed 

25

POINT 

OUT 

INDO CHINA 

“the summit may have disappointed those expecting 

a dramatic breakthrough on the border dispute with 

china,” the senior diplomat said adding that “such 

expectations frankly, are unrealistic. there’s no political 

consensus in india on what a border resolution would 

imply. nor have the chinese shown any inclination they 

want to resolve the dispute.” 

those expecting a dramatic breakthrough 

on the border dispute with China,” the 

senior diplomat said adding that “such 

expectations frankly, are unrealistic. 

There’s no political consensus in India on 

what a border resolution would imply. Nor 

have the Chinese shown any inclination 

they want to resolve the dispute.” 

Even so the prime minister did urge his 

Chinese hosts to address issues that held 

the relationship back: He asked them 

to clarify the Line of Actual Control, 

maintain peace on the border (meaning 

no incursions) and remove irritants like 

stapled visas to Arunachal residents. None 

of these may happen, which is why there 

is a dispute 

Nor was there any response to Modi’s 

request that China be more forthcoming 

about sharing hydrological data year 

round on trans boundary rivers. Evidently, 

the mandarins are not willing to go beyond 

the monsoon level data they presently 

share, nor is there any satisfaction for India 

on Beijing’s plans to dam the Brahmaputra 

in Tibet. 

As part of military to military CBMs, 

military exchanges will be stepped up as 

also joint exercises. But the prime minister 

is also expected to have clearly spelt out 

India’s concerns about China’s plans 

to build a $40 bn corridor to Pakistan 

through POK, India’s strategic backyard. 

The Chinese may have probed his views on 

the ambitious “One Belt One Road” that 

would integrate Eurasia through a grid of 

26 


KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY PM AT 

INDIA-CHINA BUSINESS FORUM 

A 

s you know, China and India are two 

great and old civilisations of the world. 

They have provided many lights of 

knowledge on the entire human society. Today, 

we together, represent more than one third of the 

Global population. 

India and China have a common History of Five 

Thousand Years and a common Boundary of over 

Three Thousand and four hundred kilometers. 

Two thousand years ago, at the invitation of the 

Chinese Emperor Ming, two Indian monks came 

to China. They brought many Sanskrit scriptures 

on two white horses. They translated many 

Buddhist classics and scriptures into Chinese 

language. It is believed that they introduced 

Buddhism in China. The king built a temple in 

honour of this event. The temple is popularly 

known as White Horse Temple. The temple then 

increased in importance as Buddhism grew 

within China, and spread to Korea, Japan and 

Vietnam. 

The serenity of Buddhism in Asian countries is 

the seed of their success. I strongly believe that 

this century belongs to Asia. And Buddhism will 

be a further unifying and catalysing force among 

the Asian countries. 

Your famous scholars like Fa Hien and Hiuen 

Tsang have taught many secrets of Chinese 

wisdom to Indians. In addition, they discovered 

many secrets within India itself. Hiuen Tsang had 

visited my own home town in Gujarat. From his 

works, we know today that there was a Buddhist 

Monastery there. When Hiuen Tsang returned to 

China he brought with him Sanskrit scriptures 

and books of wisdom. The traditional systems of 

medicine of the two countries based on natural 

elements also have a lot in common. 

Friends! India has always been a knowledge 

society. Whereas, you have been an innovating 

society. Ancient China was highly advanced in 

Science and Technology. Like Indians, Chinese 

too sailed to Americas and distant corners of 

the world in their ships. They had the Mariners’ 

Compass and Gun Powder. 

But I must add that during this time, Indian 

astronomy and mathematics were quite popular 

in China. Indian astronomers were appointed on 

the official boards set up to prepare calendars. 

The Indian concept of Zero and that of nine 

planets have been helpful in discoveries in 

China. So, our ideas had a role to play in your 

innovations. 

Thus, we have a lot in common and we can do 

a lot together. As we helped each other growing 

spiritually, we have to help each other growing 

economically. There are instances of such 

economic exchanges in the past. It is believed 

that China gave silk and Paper to India. We 

both have potentials of growth and problems 

of poverty which we can tackle together. I am 

personally committed to take the co-operative 

process forward. 

That is why even as Chief Minister of Gujarat, 

I visited China. As Prime Minister too I am 

convinced and committed for exchange and cooperation 

for socio-economic development of 

the two countries. 

I have lot of hope from the relationship which 

I and President Xi are trying to build. During 

his visit to India in September 2014, Chinese 

investments worth 20 billion US Dollars (Rs. 

12 lakh-crore) were committed. We signed 12 

agreements covering industrial parks, railways, 

credit and leasing, with cumulative amount of 

investments of 13 billion US Dollars. 

We are very keen to develop the sectors where 

China is strong. We need your involvement. The 

scope and potential, the breadth and length of 

infrastructure and related developments is very 

huge in India. Just to give you some examples: 

• We have planned to build 50 million houses by 

2022. In addition, we are going to develop smart 

cities and mega industrial corridors; 

• For this purpose, we have refined our FDI Policy 

in construction. We are also coming up with a 

regulatory framework for this sector; 

• We have targeted 175 Giga Watts of renewable 

energy in next few years. In addition to generation, 

the issues of transmission and distribution of 

electricity are equally important for us; 

• We are modernizing our Railway systems 

including signals, engines and railway stations. 

We are planning metro rail in fifty cities and high 

speed trains in various corridors; 

• Similar is the case with Highways which we 

want to build in faster way; 

• We are putting up new ports and modernizing 

the old ones through an ambitious plan called 

Sagarmala; 

• Similar focus is on upgrading the existing 

Airports and putting up regional airports to 

enhance connectivity to places of economic and 

tourist importance; 

• In financial services too, we are moving towards 

a more inclusive and faster delivery of financial 

products including bank loans and insurance; 

• For this purpose we opened 140 million bank 

accounts; increased FDI in insurance upto 49% 

and have set up MUDRA Bank to fund the microbusinesses; 

• Recently, I have launched innovative schemes 

for insurance and pension to enhance social 

security of our citizens. 

In March this year, I had a discussion with 

Jack Ma of Alibaba in Delhi about possible cooperation 

for strengthening this micro-credit 

sector of India. 

As you have successfully done, we also want to 

promote manufacturing in a big way particularly 

to create jobs for our youth who form 65% of 

our population. 

Hence, we want to Make things in India. For 

this purpose, we have launched a campaign 

called “Make in India”. It is also the effort of 

my Government to encourage innovation, R&D 

and entrepreneurship in the country. In this 

year’s budget, we have set up some innovative 

institutional mechanisms for that purpose. 

I am here to assure you that India’s economic 

environment has changed. Our regulatory regime 

is much more transparent, responsive and stable. 

We are taking a long-term and futuristic view on 

the issues. Lot of efforts have been made and 

are still underway to improve the ‘Ease of Doing 

Business’. We do believe that FDI is important 

and it will not come in the country without a 

globally competitive business environment. 

Therefore, we have rationalized a number of 

issues which were bothering the investors. 

We know that a lot more has to be done. But 

we are committed to take this process forward. 

We are constantly working to improve the 

business environment further. 

27

POINT 

OUT 

INDO CHINA 

highways, pipelines and communication 

nodes. 

The Chinese want India to join in, Modi 

would have back pedalled. 

Climate change has been given another 

shot in the arm, both sides seeking to build 

on past cooperation. In fact, it merited a 

separate document, and came as a bit of 

a surprise given the two sides have taken 

different views on it. 

The new element was the door being 

opened for direct contacts between Indian 

states and Chinese provinces, which is 

clearly driven by the prime minister’s 

conviction that development really lies 

in the states and state governments 

must foster policies and environments 

that result in growth. New consulates in 

Chennai and Chengdu are expected to 

help in this process, as also Modi’s decision 

to overrule security concerns and allow 

e-visas for Chinese tourists. 

There was reference to the “skewed” 

bilateral trade, a euphemism for India’s 

ballooning trade deficit with China 

now hovering close to the $40 bn mark. 

Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic 

studies in Delhi’s Centre for Policy 

the new element was the door being opened for direct contacts 

between indian states and chinese provinces, which is clearly driven 

by the prime minister’s conviction that development really lies in the 

states and state governments must foster policies and environments 

that result in growth. new consulates in chennai and chengdu are 

expected to help in this process, as also modi’s decision to overrule 

security concerns and allow e-visas for chinese tourists. 

Research, warns that the commercial deals 

signed in Shanghai may only worsen the 

deficit “with Chinese state owned banks 

financing Indian firms to buy Chinese 

equipment … while doing little to boost 

China’s little investment in India which 

totals just one per cent of China’s annual 

trade surplus”. 

India is expected to tap China’s expertise 

in running high speed and bullet trains but 

rather than have it built for us, would prefer 

technology and skills be transferred here. 

Whether China is willing remains to be seen. 

Much has been reported in the media 

about China’s poor response to earlier 

commitments of investment. About $20 bn 

was committed when Modi and Xi Jinping 

met last year. This time the figures are even 

lower at $10 bn. This may have something 

to do with India needing to get its own 

act together in terms of infrastructure but 

equally, China needs to step up to the plate 

and deliver. 

Modi and Xi have carved out space at the 

highest level. Now comes the hard part for 

both sides, following up on the agreements 

signed, facilitating policies and cutting 

through red tape, getting things to move 

on the ground. After the Ni Haos and 

Namastes, there’s a lot of work to be done. 

28 


POINT 

OUT 

POINT OUT SUMMIT 

To get a better perspective about what a common man 

feels about good governance and what government and policy 

makers feel and opinion of the industry, we have successfully 

organized FIRST POINT OUT SUMMIT ON GOOD 

GOVERNANCE FOR FUTURE INDIA. 

We are also of the firm belief that as a nation and people of 

India have tremendous talent and strength to be a world leader. 

But to achieve this we need to address some serious issues 

that have been plaguing our system and stunting our growth 

since independence. This cannot be achieved without Good 

Governance as our Honourable Prime Minister has emphasised. 

For us Good Governance means not only the policy makers and 

planners but also the implementers and the beneficiary at the 

end. Without inclusive and active participation of the last man 

in the queue nothing can be achieved. 

30 


MANOJ SINHA 

Minister of State for Railways 

T 

oday everybody in the country and the world over has 

been talking about good governance. The important issue 

during the Lok Sabha election campaign was corruption 

& good governance. The word ‘corruption’ has not even been 

blow since the Modi government came to power. The new 

government has been addressing such issues by new way. The 

railway ministry wants people travel in trains out of willingness 

and not out of compulsion. As of now our priority is to provide 

double link, triple link tracks. We also want to increase the speed 

of trains including passenger and freight trains. Railway services 

will have to be modernised to meet people's expectations and the 

network needs to be expanded. We are trying to do something to 

make railways run better. 

31

POINT 

OUT 

SHIV KHERA 

AUtHoR, eDUcAtoR, MotiVAtioNAl & 

coRpoRAte tRAiNeR 

T 

here is no redressal system, 

how do you talk of Good 

Governance system. Many time 

peoples say there is criminalization of 

politics, you tell me if judiciary had 

done the job right could you have 

even one criminal in parliament. You 

could never ever even one criminal 

in the parliament and that means the 

big questions is How clean is our 

judiciary? Our judges have said many 

times that 20 to 30 percent of our 

judiciary at upper level is corrupt and 

you don’t have to go too far, a survey 

was conducted where 45 percent 

people said judiciary is corrupt and 

additionally don’t have to go too far 

Shanti Bhushan our ex law minister 

has fi led affi davit in the supreme court 

saying 8 out of the 16 chief justices of 

India are corrupt and yes given name in there affi davit. 

How come there is no accountability, what kind of good 

MAITHLI SHARAN GUPTA 

SpeciAl DiRectoR GeNeRAl of police, 

RAilwAYS 

G 

eneral Railway Police (GRP) in 

Madhya Pradesh has come out 

with an application to ensure 

passenger safety and report about 

crime on moving train in an instant. 

The app will be helpful to all passengers 

and they can file a complaint on a real 

time basis and GRP personnel would 

approach them victims at the next 

station. As you understand when 

you are travelling in train majority 

of the time when you come across 

any distressful situation, you don’t 

know what exactly to be done, from 

where to get help? From that helpless 

situation can we do something 

to make you really empowered 

passenger that was basically in the 

drive to make it happen. Rightly said 

that Good Governance and especially to taking help of the 

e-governance could be a great source of empowerment 

governance we are talking about. The big question is 

there is no governance, how do handle this? 

Addressing an issue of poverty, they talking about creating 

IITs & IIMs in all over the India. IITs and IIMs, how do 

you run them? There are 55000 McDonalds all over the 

world. Harvard university has 

not been able to open a second 

Harvard university. You know 

why, they have no faculty. So you 

can open 50 IITs & 50 IIMs, so 

what? Where are the teachers? 

To get rid of poverty, we need 

to establish Vocational schools. 

China has half million vocational 

schools. India has only 50 

thousand vocational schools. 

You can’t even find good drivers, 

plumbers, electrician, you can’t 

find them at all. An establishing 

a vocational school is very easy. 

Establishing one lakh vocational 

school in India, in a matter of 

24 months, is very easy. Easily 

one crore people can go through 

these vocational schools in one 

year. One crore people take care 

of five people earning members. Five crore people will get 

monies, and they get out from the poverty range. 

for the passengers security. This App I will say it’s not an 

App, it’s an empowerment. So basically Good Governance 

by making use of technology and we can really empower 

our citizen. In order to save people from botheration of 

reporting to police, now they may 

send information to us through 

this app. The moment information 

lands at our server system sends 

details to our QIRT team available 

at next GRP Police Station. 

This QIRT team will immediately 

contact the complainant and will 

get further details and will board 

the traian with full preparation 

as per the requirement of the 

situation. It will not only register 

the crime on board (in train) but 

start its investigation thus would 

be in position to collect precious 

evidence and may result in arrest 

of criminal through prompt 

backward integration, are in touch 

with GRP chiefs of neighboring 

states and they are willing to 

partner with us thus passengers 

will get seamless solution across the state through state 

of art system 

32 


Chhavi Rajawat 

Women Sarpanch 

M 

y village had not seen much 

development in the twenty 

years prior to my being elected 

as Sarpanch. During these twenty 

yearsthe condition of the village had 

gone from bad to worse. Prior to that, 

in the late 70s the village roped in my 

grandfatherin a similar manner and 

unanimously appointing him as the 

Sarpanch. Brig. Raghubir Singhji (my 

grandfather) had just retired from the 

army in 1975. He had received the 

gallantry award of Mahaveer Chakra 

during the 1965 Khemkaran sector war 

and was called “Savior of Punjab”. 

My purpose in agreeing to become 

the Sarpanch was to play the role of 

a facilitator – ie.,help bridge the gap 

between the government and the 

village and provide a medium to the 

government to showcase success of 

its schemes. In addition, also bridge the gap between the 

private sector and the village to receive support in areas 

where government is unable to provide a solution. What I 

felt was needed was someone who could understand the 

need of the village, mobilize the people and connect the 

dots. I am a firm believer of a bottom-up approach – it is 

vital to have the village residents be the key stakeholders 

for any initiative to be “sustainably” successful. 

With the initial success of reviving the reservoir and, quality 

of work visible the faith the villagers had in me was further 

strengthened. It helped me mobilize villagers to be more 

participatory and provide support in various other initiatives 

such as removing encroachments on their own accord 

from common passages to construct concrete roads with 

drains. We planted trees and tried to educate the villagers 

to stop cutting trees and work 

towards maintaining an ecological 

balance. Various health camps 

have been organized over the past 

few years wherein many cataract 

surgeries have been carried out. 

We have also organized camps 

with a lady gynecologist visiting 

the village to focus specifically 

on women’s health issues. The 

children and youth of the village 

volunteer in cleanliness drives 

at regular intervals wherein they 

pick the spot of their choice in the 

village. In addition an individual 

from within the village has been 

employed by the Panchayat to 

keep the village streets clean. 

Government plays a very important 

role of course and I wish our 

system were made accountable 

in ensuring efficient disbursement of funds thatrarely 

happens – siphoning off of funds is only phase two of the 

problem which, give the way our Panchayat functions we 

have not experienced. One can be honest and still deliver, 

yes it is not easy but patience and perseverance does bring 

its reward. Information about the various schemes needs 

to be shared with the villagers and Panchayats and team 

work respected and celebrated. With such partnerships 

and support the process of development in the rural sector 

could easily speed up. 

33

POINT 

OUT 

gallerY 

galla 

gallerY 

1 

gallarY 

galle 

FIRST POINT OUT SUMMIT 

ON GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR 

FUTURE INDIA. 

34 


Y 

galla 

gallerY 

2 

gallarY 

gallerY 

galla 

allerY 

3 

4 

5 

35

POINT 

OUT 

REDEFINING GOVERNANCE 

nation-Wide direct transfer of 

cash subsidY on lPg 

» poiNt oUt BUReAU 

A 

fter 

launching the scheme for 

direct transfer of Liquefied 

Petroleum Gas (LPG) subsidy to 

consumers across India named 

PAHAL, Union Government has come 

up with the A 24x7 web based solution 

to provide LPG consumers an integrated 

solution to carry out all services from the 

In line with the Government’s Digital India 

Campaign, the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas 

has unveiled a 24X7 web based application at www. 

mylpg.in to provide LPG consumers, an integrated 

solution for carrying out all services related to supply 

of cooking gas from the comfort of their home. 

36 


comfort of their home. 

In line with the Government’s Digital India 

Campaign, the Ministry of Petroleum 

& Natural Gas has unveiled a 24X7 web 

based application at www.mylpg.in to 

provide LPG consumers, an integrated 

solution for carrying out all services 

related to supply of cooking gas from the 

comfort of their home. This portal offers 

several services to LPG consumers across 

the three Public Sector Oil Marketing 

Companies i.e. Indian Oil Corporation 

Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd 

and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation 

Ltd. and their distributors. These services 

include registration for new connections, 

refill booking, track delivery status, rate 

your distributor, change your distributors, 

surrender your connection and give 

up LPG subsidy. The portal empowers 

consumers by bringing complete 

transparency in LPG related information. 

The site is already a huge success with 44 

million hits from 3.4 million consumers in 

a spam of two months. 

The direct benefit of subsidy will cover 15 

crore LPG consumers and is the largest 

direct cash transfer scheme in the world. 

Under this section, LPG will be sold 

to consumers at the market rate while 

the subsidy will be directly credited to 

their bank accounts as per entitlement. 

Direct transfer of subsidy will reduce the 

37 

Petroleum & Natural Gas 

Minister Dharmendra Pradhan 

has already urged ministers, 

MPs, MLAs, senior government 

officials and executives of 

public sector companies to give 

up their subsidies. 

OPTING OUT 

INDANE 

Total no. of consumers who 

have opted out of subsidy- 

2,55,973 

Annual Savings accrued till now 

Rs 1535838000 

HP GAS 


have opted out of subsidy 

1,22,398 

BHARAT GAS 


have opted out of subsidy 

52,949 

Saving Rs 3,176.94 lakh 

Total Subsidy opted out = 

4,31,320 (Four lakh thirty one 

thousand three hundred twenty) 

diversion of subsidized LPG cylinders to 

the commercial and industrial sectors. The 

scheme is expected to generate significant 

savings and bring down the annual LPG 

subsidy bill. 

In 2015-16 Budget estimates, petroleum 

subsidy has been halved to Rs 30,000 

crore, from estimated Rs 60,270 crore 

in the current fiscal. Of Rs 30,000 crore 

for next fiscal, Rs 22,000 crore has been 

earmarked for LPG subsidy and the rest is 

for kerosene. 

Government expects that about one 

crore well off consumers will surrender 

the subsidy on cooking gas after Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi's appeal to people 

not to take subsidy if they can afford to buy 

LPG at market price. There are about 15.3 

crore LPG consumers in the country. 

Modi in his address to a global energy 

conference recently said that as many as 

2.8 lakh people have surrendered LPG 

subsidy which has led to savings of Rs 100 

crore. 

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has 

already urged ministers, MPs, MLAs, 

senior government officials and executives 

of public sector companies to give up their 

subsidies. 

Public sector oil marketing companies 

(OMCs) have given an option to existing 

LPG consumers to convert their existing 

domestic LPG connection into a nonsubsidised 

domestic connection. This can 

be done by submitting a written request to 

the distributor or electronically via www. 

MyLPG.in. 

Giving up subsidised LPG will help cut the 

government's subsidy bill.

POINT 

OUT 

IN FOCUS PSUs 

economY of our countrY is 

Poised for a taKe off 

» PM Narendra Modi visiting Kalyani the largest Blast Furnace of India at SAIL, ISP. Chairman, SAIL, CS Verma explains various aspects of the new 

plant, its products and application. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation, SAIL’s 

modernised & expanded IISCO Steel Plant (ISP) at Burnpur, West 

Bengal in a glittering function attended by more than one lakh 

enthusiastic citizens of the region. 

In his address, the Prime Minister acknowledged 

the contribution of SAIL in nation building. He 

underlined the importance of the Indian Steel 

Industry and its vital role in country’s industrial 

and economic development and the signifi cance 

of the industry in the ‘Make in India’ campaign. 

He said the economy of our country is poised 

for a take off, and the steel sector should be 

ready to fulfil the nation’s need for steel for rapid 

infrastructure development. The modernised & 

expanded ISP epitomised the spirit of the ‘Make 

in India’ campaign, the PM added. PM also added that the eastern India 

too should develop as fast as western India is developing, and for that 

development of West Bengal is essential. 

The modernisation & expansion programme of ISP, implemented with an 

investment of over Rs 16,000 crore would not only triple ISP’s hot metal 

capacity from 0.85 to 2.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) but would 

also usher in a new era of green and high quality steelmaking. The plant, 

which was one of the pioneers of modern steelmaking in the country, 

Pm dedicates to 

the nation sail’s 

modernised & eXPanded 

iisco steel Plant at 

burnPur 

has now been completely transformed into a state-of-the-art integrated 

steel plant in all facets of steel making, right from raw material handling 

to fi nishing mills. 

Before the function, the PM visited the 4160 cu.m. Blast Furnace 

‘Kalyani’, the largest operating blast furnace in the 

country and showed keen interest in its operations. The 

furnace built with POSCO’s technology, incorporates 

several state-of-the-art features which would contribute 

towards low carbon footprint iron making.Besides the 

new Blast Furnace, the new facilities at ISP include a 7 

m tall Coke Oven Battery with Coke Dry Cooling Plant, 

two 210 sq.m. Sinter Plants, three 150 tonne Basic 

Oxygen Furnace (BOF) vessels, two continuous billet 

casters, a beam blank cum bloom caster, a Wire Rod 

Mill, Bar Mill and a Universal Section Mill. 

Union Minister for Steel & Mines Narendra Singh Tomar restated the 

importance of steel industry in realizing the dream of Make in India and 

the crucial role SAIL will play to reach the goal of creating 300 MTPA 

steelmaking capacity in the country. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee commended the 

contributions of SAIL in providing major boost to the Industrial 

development of the State through the concurrent modernisation of ISP 

Burnpur and Durgapur Steel Plants. 

38 


ONGC: A NEW BEGINNING IN FIELD OF 

EXPLORATION OF ENERGY 

»» 

A V Sathe Basin Manager (MBA), D D Misra, Director HR, Dharmendra Pradhan, MoS (I/C) P&NG, D K Sarraf, CMD and A K Dwivedi, Director 

(Exploration) 

As per preliminary estimates, Odisha has significant hydrocarbon resources, especially gas reserves in the offshore area. ONGC is soon going to do onshore 2D 

seismic survey which will establish the potential of resources in mainland Odisha. With inauguration of ONGC office at Bhubaneswar by the Minister of State 

(Independent Charge), MoP&NG, Dharmendra Pradhan , ONGC is making a new beginning in field of exploration of energy resources in the new frontiers of a 

resurgent State of Odisha. 

ONGC, has been engaged in exploration in Mahanadi offshore area – both shallow and deep water area in the coast of the State of Odisha since the inception of 

NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy) regime in 1999. The office set-up at Bhubaneswar has been established aiming to furher boost the exploratory activities 

in the Mahanadi offshore area. ONGC will be partnering the modern resurgent Odisha. Proud days await to directly and actively partner the people of Odisha in 

efforts to secure National energy needs. 

39 

BHEL ACCELERATES PROJECT EXECUTION MOMEMTUM 

Accelerating its project execution momentum as part of its six point agenda for dynamic growth, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has surpassed 

the capacity addition target, set by the Government for utility projects, by 19 per cent. Significantly, BHEL has commissioned 8,230 MW of utility sets 

against the target of 6,914 MW for 2014-15. BHEL has also made major contributions to another 1,600 MW by commissioning 2 boilers of 800 MW 

each during the year. In addition, sets with a cumulative of 2,000 MW have been synchronised and are ready for capacity addition. In the same period, 

BHEL also commissioned 1,392 MW industrial sets and 319 MW of overseas projects, taking the overall capacity addition/ synchronisation to 11,941 

MW, during the year. With this,BHEL has achieved a major landmark of an installed capacity exceeding 155 GW, including 132 GW of domestic utility 

sets. Notably, with this BHEL has joined the elite club of international manufacturers who have supplied power generating equipment worth more than 

150 GW. Significantly, in the first three years of the XII Plan, BHEL has commissioned a capacity of 26,091 MW, exceeding the cumulative target of 

24,737 MW set by the Government. Notably, with this, the company has surpassed its total commissioning of 25,385 MW in the entire XI Plan. The XII 

Plan has also witnessed various significant achievements by BHEL in the commissioning of new projects, with several new & higher rating sets having 

been commissioned. Till the XI Plan, the highest rating set commissioned by BHEL was of 525 MW rating. In the XII Plan, two supercritical sets of 660 

MW rating have been commissioned for the first time by BHEL. Further, two 800 MW rating supercritical boiler sets supplied by BHEL have also been 

commissioned. BHEL has also commissioned 13 sets of 600 MW and two nos. of its highest rating gas-based sets of 363 MW each at OTPC Tripura 

in North East India during the current plan. Besides, BHEL successfully commissioned in quick succession, three units of 270 MW each within a span 

of just 42 days at Amravati in Maharashtra.

POINT 

OUT 

GOVT WATCH MOVERS & SHAKERS 

• Subir purkayastha 

Subir Purkayastha 

took over as 

Director (Finance) 

of GAIL (India) 

Limited. A Chartered 

Accountant and 

Company Secretary 

by professional 

qualifi cation, Subir 

Purkayastha has a rich experience of 

nearly 30 years in the areas of Corporate 

Finance and Treasury including Forex 

Risk Management, Capital Budgeting, 

Corporate Budgets, Corporate 

Accounts, Finalization of Long Term 

LNG and Gas Agreements, Liquefaction 

and Regasifi cation Terminal Service 

Agreement, Shareholders Agreements 

and Joint Ventures Agreement etc. Prior 

to his appointment as Director (Finance), 

he held the position of Executive Director 

(Finance & Accounts) in GAIL. 

• Biswajit Roy 

Biswajit Roy has 

taken over as 

Director (Human 

Resources & Business 

Development) of Oil 

India Limited (OIL), 

India's second largest 

National Exploration & 

Production Company. 

Roy has over 32 years of rich experience 

in the Oil Industry, spanning across 

a spectrum of diverse functions such 

as Marketing, Operations, Business 

Development, Human Resources, 

besides a stint at the Overseas Office of 

IndianOil at Dubai. 

A graduate in Chemical Engineering from 

University of Roorkee (now, IIT Roorkee), 

he completed National Management 

Programme (NMP) from Management 

Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. 

• Arun Jha 

1981 batch IAS offi cer Arun Jha has 

taken over as Secretary Tribal Affairs in 

the Government of India. 

• Smita purushottam 

Smita Purushottam has been appointed 

as the next Ambassador of India to 

Switzerland. She is a 1980 batch IFS 

officer. 

• Achal Kumar Jyoti 

Achal Kumar Jyoti has taken over the 

charge as Election Commissioner of 

India. Achal is a retired IAS offi cer of 

Gujarat cadre. 

• Binod Kumar Singh 

1994 batch IPS offi cer of Uttar Pradesh 

cadre Binod Kumar Singh has been 

appointed as Offi cer on Special Duty 

(OSD) to Rajnath Singh, Home Minister. 

• Arun Shrivastava 

Arun Shrivastava has taken over as 

Managing Director and Chief Executive 

Offi cer of Syndicate Bank 

40 


POINT 

OUT 

TEST DRIVE 

BeSt of lUxURY cARS to 

tHe iNDiAN cUStoMeR 

tHe All-New AUDi tt coUpÉ DRiVeS iNto iNDiA 

» BUSiNeSS BUReAU 

C 

ontinuing with its quest towards 

bringing the best of luxury cars 

to the Indian customer, Audi, 

launched the all-new Audi TT Coupé. 

• Driver focused, Innovative and 

Progressive – The futuristic 

Audi virtual cockpit sets high 

standards with brilliant graphics, 

3D impression and highly detailed 

effects with MMI® navigation plus. 

• Quattro® permanent all-wheel drive 

system specially confi gured for the 

vehicle’s sporty character. 

• 0-100 km/h in 5.3 seconds with a 

top speed of 250 km/h. 

• 45 TFSI® with an output of 169 kw 

(230 hp), mated to a six-speed S 

tronic® transmission. 

• Prices start at INR 60,34,000/- exshowroom 

Delhi and Mumbai. 

Re-engineered for more power, 

the all-new Audi TT Coupé 

blends dynamic aesthetics with 

innovative technology and inspired 

performance. A design icon, the allnew 

Audi TT Coupé combines classic 

TT DNA with that of the legendary 

Audi Sport models, truly embodying 

‘Vorsprung durch Technik. 

42 


SACHIN MASTERS THE 

ART OF MAKING A BMW 

AT BMW PLANT CHENNAI 

I 

ndian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar sported cricket bat for 24 years wielded 

a spanner tightening the nuts and bolts of a BMW engine at a car plant in 

Chennai. Passionate for BMW, Tendulkar who has been driving the German car 

for years marked the occasion by assembling a BMW 5 series using parts from the 

Indian auto component suppliers. 

Sachin tendulkar 

"As a child I always dreamt of owning and driving a BMW car, I am an avid BMW 

enthusiast and have been driving BMW cars since a very long time. But the 

experience of making a BMW with my own hands was unique 

and unforgettable,” said the legendary cricketer.” 

Celebrating the ‘Make in India’ initiative, BMW has further 

strengthened its commitment to the Indian market by increasing 

the level of localisation at BMW Plant Chennai upto 50 per cent. 

TEST DRIVE 

UPDATES 

MARUTI SUZUKI TO PARTNER WITH 

PUNJAB GOVERNMENT 

In a first partnership of its kind, car 

market leader Maruti Suzuki India 

Limited (MSIL) will team up with 

Government of Punjab to manage and 

run 32 Driving Training Institutes in 

the State. The institutes will offer high 

quality driving training, using driving 

simulators, class room instruction and 

practical training. Once fully operational, 

the Driving Training Institutes will be 

able to train around 10,000 learners 

in first phase including women, youth 

and the underprivileged, annually. This 

driving training initiative would also 

help in enhancing employability of 

youth in Punjab. MSIL will undertake 

management of the Driving Training 

Institutes. 

HYUNDAI ACHIEVES HIGHEST-EVER 

DOMESTIC SALES 

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) 

registered the domestic sales of 39,525 

units and exports of 10,215 units with 

cumulative sales of 49,740 units for 

the month of March 2015. Hyundai 

achieved its highest-ever single month 

sales of 39,525 units with highestever 

financial Year sales of 4,20,668 

units. The market share of 16.3% was 

highest-ever with strong performance 

of successful launch of new models 

like Elite, i20 Active, Xcent & Verna and 

lead by strong marketing initiatives to 

engage rural markets and repeat buyers. 

AUDI INDIA INTRODUCES LIMITED 

EDITION AUDI R8 LMX 

Audi, the German luxury car 

manufacturer launched limited edition 

Audi R8 LMX. The most powerful Audi 

ever, the Audi R8 LMX produces 570 hp 

(419 kW) of power, the compact, seven 

speed S tronic® transfers the power to 

the quattro permanent all wheel drive 

system. The fastest Audi R8 ever, it 

sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.4 

seconds and achieves a top speed of 

320 km/h. The Laser high beam lighting 

increases range and safety, offering 

illumination range upto 500 metres. 

43

POINT 

OUT 

LENOVO 

THE SUPER - SLIM 

POCKET 

GADGETS 

» BUSiNeSS BUReAU 

L 

enovo’s 

Dolby® enhanced, 

pocket-sized TAB 2 A7-30, 

offers the full functionality of 

a phone as it also has SIM 

card support.TAB 2 A7-30's 

innovative, pencil-thin design makes 

it convenient to hold the device in one 

hand additionally comes with builtin 

Lenovo DOit Apps that let you and 

your device do more, including sharing 

data with other Android devices without 

requiring a network, preventing viruses 

and malware, backing up your contacts, 

speeding up the device as well as 

syncing contacts. Exclusively available 

at Reliance Digital and Amazon.in priced 

at INR 11,800 (3G, 16 GB) 

aPPle 

research Kit 

A 

pple 

announced ResearchKit, 

a software framework 

designed for medical and 

health research that helps 

doctors, scientists and other 

researchers gather data more frequently 

and more accurately from participants 

using mobile devices, is now available 

to researchers and developers. The 

fi rst research apps developed using 

ResearchKit study asthma, breast cancer, 

cardiovascular disease, diabetes and 

Parkinson’s disease, and have enrolled 

over 60,000 iPhone users in just the 

fi rst few weeks of being available on the 

App Store. 

44 


AppS 

indian income 

taX - mYitreturn 

MyITreturn mobile app is an easy and quick way to stay updated 

with your Income-tax information. Quickly calculate your 

Income-tax, know the status of your e-fi led Income-tax return, 

see the status of your income tax refund fi nd your Assessing 

Offi cer and receive timely app notifi cations. 

aPP features: 

• Tax Calculator 

• Tax Filing Status 

• Assessing Officer 

• Tax Filing 

• Annual Tax Credit (26AS) (for verified users only) 

Installs: 10,000 - 50,000 Requires 

Android: 2.3 and up 

google 

handWriting 

inPut 

dictionarY all language 

dictionary all language (translator) translate any 

sentence or phrase into any destination language, 

and enjoy a set of useful add-on features such 

as text-to-speech, and integrated social 

media support. features: 

• Text-to-speech functionality 

(to hear a native speaker’s 

pronunciation) . 

• Quickly input whatever 

sentences/phrases/words to 

translate with high accuracy. 

• Share text to social media. 

You can share your translation result into your social media 

like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Hangouts, messaging, 

email, Line, WeChat, Kakao Talk, and other social media 

applications installed on your mobile phone. 

• This application is being able to translate from and to 80 

world languages such as Arabic, English, French, German, 

Greek, Hindi, Spanish, Urdu etc. 

Size: 1.6M Requires 

Android : 2.3 and up 

G 

oogle Handwriting Input allows 

to handwrite text on your phone 

or tablet in 82 languages. It 

supports printed and cursive 

writing, with or without a 

stylus. Google Handwriting Input also 

supports hundreds of emojis. 

aPP features: 

• A useful complement to touchscreen 

typing or voice input 

• A fun way to enter emojis by drawing 

• Useful for languages that can be 

challenging to type on a standard 

keyboard 

• Works across your Android phones and 

tablets running Android 4.0.3 and up 

• If you claim your handwriting is terrible, 

try it out and see if it can convince you 

otherwise 

INSTALLS: 50,000 - 100,000 

45

POINT 

OUT 

TAROT FORECAST 

» NANDitA pANDeY 

ARieS : - (22nd March- 21st April) 

Matters of heart shall be extremely pleasant and romantically inclined the whole 

month through. A man who possesses excellent PR skills helps you in 

your love life. Professionally though this is not the right time to take 

major decisions. You will tend to be overtly emotional and anxious about 

your projects. You need to keep a check on your communication skills as 

further anxiety which might trigger sudden emotional outbursts at times hurting your 

near and dear ones. Financial news might be a bit disappointing. 

lUcKY coloUR : Red. 

tAURUS: (22nd April - 21st May) 

Matters of heart shall be romantically inclined and harmonious. There are subtle 

changes that are taking place in your love life bringing in a lot of peace 

and happiness in life in times to come. Journeys and outings along with 

your loved ones shall be emotionally fulfi lling. Professionally, there are 

few setbacks which might suddenly surface up. This is the month when 

you might have to incur problems related to shifting your base or related to a property 

matter. Finances will grow only if you are fi rm in your decisions and stick on to your 

beliefs. Health indicates sudden positive developments in the latter half period of 

the month. 

lUcKY coloUR: Mauve / white. 

GeMiNi: (22nd May- 21st June) 

Matters of heart shall be extremely pleasant and enjoyable. You would undergo a 

mood swing of indulging into shopping for re doing your house. Times 

are good and growth oriented throughout this phase of life. Professional 

opportunities will open up and you will be appreciated for your wisdom 

and insights at the work front. New business opportunities are knocking 

your doors during this period. Financial obligations will be on the higher side as the 

month progresses. 

lUcKY coloUR: Grey / Black 

cANceR: (22nd June - 21st July) 

Matters of heart shall be extremely pleasant and romantically inclined throughout this 

month. However, confusions persist for some of you as the times lead you 

onto the crossroads in your relationship zone. Chances are strong that you 

might like two people at the same time with same intensity. Listening to 

your gut instincts helps you overcome your anxieties in this phase of life. 

Financial investments are more or less good and results oriented and yet you feel a 

little unhappy with the way certain investments are shaping up. 

lUcKY coloUR: electric Blue 

leo: (22nd July - 21st August) 

New beginnings in your love life shall relieve you from a lot of anxieties that you had 

had in the recent past. Life takes an emotionally fulfi lling trip. Children are 

joys of bundle as they spread all the positive vibrations that you at present 

require in your life. matters of heart shall be peaceful and harmonious. 

Avoid taking any major fi nancial or professional decisions in this month. 

Chances are that they might not turn out as per your expectations and might lead you 

onto further disappointments. 

lUcKY coloUR: Rust/ peach 

ViRGo: (22nd August- 21st September) 

Matters of heart shall be extremely pleasant and enjoyable. Romance breezes back 

into your life like a whiff of fresh air. Love and harmony is all that you seek 

and receive as well. You will become more protective about your love life 

and the wisdom that you carry along with you shall be appreciated by 

your loved one. Financial obligations are on the higher side and can affect 

your monetary savings adversely. Sleep patterns are disturbed due to this and might 

create further stress. 

lUcKY coloUR: Red 

liBRA: (22nd September- 21st october) 

Professionally, there are a lot of success and achievements that comes in your kitty 

as the month progresses. You shall be in absolute control of your projects 

and would know how to deal with difficult situations and how to overcome 

them with ease. A fatherly figure helps you in your financial endeavours in 

this phase of life. Creative pursuits also help in enhancing your finances. 

Matters of heart however, require you to be more realistic in your approach. Promises 

might not be fulfilled and this can create a sense of being let down and ignored by 

your partner. 

lUcKY coloUR: orange and Brown. 

ScoRpio: (22nd october- 21st November) 

New beginnings at the work front will bring in satisfactory results. You shall be 

appreciated for your efforts and wisdom. Legal cases if any turn in your 

favour during this phase of life. Finances too leap northwards as the month 

progresses. Advice of a youngster who believes in taking wise actions 

helps you in enhancing your finances. Blessings and guidance of an 

elderly woman who has a domineering personality helps you in bringing in further 

peace and happiness in your love life. the more firm you are in your decisions related 

to your matters of heart, the better the results are. 

lUcKY coloUR : Grey / Maroon. 

SAGGitARiUS: (22nd November- 21st December) 

Health keeps you in an excellent shape throughout this period. There are possibilities of 

a celebration or a family gathering which elates your mood and rejuvenates 

your mind, body and soul. Matters of heart however, need more breathing 

space and flexibility in communications. Being too possessive about your 

love matters can cause further rift in between the two of you. Expenses are 

on the higher side on a youngster. Things might not go well along with a man who has 

reached a position of strength due to his sheer hard work. 

lUcKY coloUR: orange. 

cApRicoRN: (22nd December- 21st January) 

Matters of heart shall be pleasant and romantically inclined throughout this phase 

of life. A protective streak about your love life surrounds you during this 

period. You are showered with a lot of love and attention by your loved one 

throughout this phase. Wedding bells for some of you is high on the cards. 

A woman guides you well in your health matters. Her timely guidance helps 

in rejuvenating your mind, body and soul. 

lUcKY coloUR: Sea Blue. 

AQUARiUS: (22nd January- 21st february) 

Professionally, there are extremely positive changes that are taking place in your life. 

You shall be happy with the way situations are turning in your life creating 

peace and happiness eventually. Work will be growth oriented and you 

shall be appreciated for your wisdom and efforts. Finances too take an 

upswing and enhance the monetary status during this period. Matters of 

heart however, need more love and nurturing. Avoid unnecessary ego clashes along 

with your loved one during this period. Health indicates average status. 

lUcKY coloUR: Yellow 

piSceS: (22nd february- 21st March) 

Outings and holidays along with your loved one shall enhance the romantic aspect of 

your life further. If you have been single and have wanted to settle in life 

then this is an excellent time to push yourself out in the open and express 

your desires. You might meet up with an interesting person while on a 

journey. This might turn out to be your romantic interest in the near future. 

Professionally, a continuous and focused approach helps you in achieving further 

success in life. Joint investments shall be extremely favourable and prolific. 

lUcKY coloUR: Blue. 

(Nandita Pandey is an internationally renowned and acclaimed Astro Vaastu Tarot Consultant, Spiritual healer and Past Life Regression Therapist based at Delhi. Email soch.333@gmail.com ) 

46 


Take POINT OUT where ever you go... 

www.pointoutnews.com 

SPORTS 

POINT OUT 

NO:1234 /11:12:2014 

BUSINESS 

The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad 

news for fuel consumers who would have to pay 

more for petrol and diesel if the currency's weakness 

persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low to cross the 

64-mark against the dollar on Thursday on sustained 

capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand 

from importers and banks. 

Executives working with state fuel retailers told TOI 

every Re 1 change in the dollar exchange rate 

pushes up pump prices of petrol and diesel by 45-47 

paise a litre.The rupee's fall against the greenback 

spells bad news for fuel consumers who would have 

to pay more for petrol and diesel if the currency's 

weakness persists. 


64-mark against the dollar on Thursday on sustained 

capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand 


The rupee's fall against the greenback 

spells bad news for fuel consumers 

who would have to pay more for petrol 

and diesel if the currency's weakness 

persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low 

to cross the 64-mark against the dollar 

on Thursday on sustained capital 

outflows by foreign funds and dollar 

demand from importers and banks. 

Executives working with state fuel 

retailers told TOI every Re 1 change in 

the dollar exchange rate pushes up 

pump prices of petrol and diesel by 

45-47 paise a litre.The rupee's fall 

against the greenback spells bad news 

for fuel consumers who would have to 

pay more for petrol and diesel if the 

currency's weakness persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low 

to cross the 64-mark against the dollar 

on Thursday on sustained capital 

outflows by foreign funds and dollar 


GADGET & TEST DRIVE, 

CINEMA reviews 

and much more.. 

DAILY NEWS 

The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad 

news for fuel consumers who would have to pay 

more for petrol and diesel if the currency's 

weakness persists. 


64-mark against the dollar on Thursday on 

sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and 

dollar demand from importers and banks. 

Executives working with state fuel retailers told 

TOI every Re 1 change in the dollar exchange 

rate pushes up pump prices of petrol and diesel 

by 45-47 paise a litre.The rupee's fall against the 

greenback spells bad news for fuel consumers 

who would have to pay more for petrol and 

diesel if the currency's weakness persists. 


64-mark against the dollar on Thursday on 

sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and 

dollar demand from importers and banks. 

The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad news for fuel consumers 

who would have to pay more for petrol and diesel if the currency's weakness 

persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low to cross the 64-mark against the dollar 

on Thursday on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar 


Executives working with state fuel retailers told TOI every Re 1 change in the 

dollar exchange rate pushes up pump prices of petrol and diesel by 45-47 

paise a litre.The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad news for fuel 

consumers who would have to pay more for petrol and diesel if the currency's 

The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad news for fuel consumers who 

would have to pay more for petrol and diesel if the currency's weakness persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low to cross the 64-mark against the dollar on 

Thursday on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand 



dollar exchange rate pushes up pump prices of petrol and diesel by 45-47 paise 

a litre.The rupee's fall against the greenback spells bad news for fuel consumers 

who would have to pay more for petrol and diesel if the currency's weakness 

persists. 

The rupee dipped to a 20-month low to cross the 64-mark against the dollar on 

Thursday on sustained capital outflows by foreign funds and dollar demand 



dollar exchange rate pushes up pump prices of petrol and diesel by 45-47 paise 

a litr 

47 

/ POINTOUTNEWS / POINTOUTNEWS / POINTOUTNEWS / POINTOUTNEWS

POINT 

OUT 

VILLAGE ROOTS 

a toilet as Wedding gift 

A young bride from Akola in Maharashtra was in the news for 

making a typical demand from her parents - to gift her a toilet. It so 

happened that marriage of Chaitali D. Galakhe of Akola was fixed with 

Devendra Makhode of Yavatmal. However, she was alarmed to learn 

that her in-laws' home did not have a toilet and like others in the family 

and village she will have to defecate in open. Shocked by learning the fact, 

of Chaitali discussed the matter with her parents and siblings and demanded 

that she be given no wedding gift but a toilet. 

48 


After Priyanka Bharti, a 

tribal woman from Madhya 

Pradesh who left her 

husband’s home three 

days after her marriage 

demanding toilet facility, 

shot into limelight for her 

courage and stand for 

sanitation, several other 

followed. Despite efforts of 

the government still about 

70% of population in rural 

India does not have access 

to toilets. 

»» 

aarti 

A 

fter 

Priyanka Bharti, a tribal 

woman from Madhya Pradesh 

who left her husband’s home 

three days after her marriage 

demanding toilet facility, shot into 

limelight for her courage and stand for 

sanitation, several other followed. Despite 

efforts of the government still about 70% 

of population in rural India does not have 

access to toilets. 

In a recent case, a young bride from 

Akola in Maharashtra was in the news 

for making a typical demand from her 

parents - to gift her a toilet. 

It so happened that marriage of Chaitali D. 

Galakhe of Akola was fixed with Devendra 

Makhode of Yavatmal. However, she was 

alarmed to learn that her in-laws' home 

did not have a toilet and like others in the 

49 

family and village she will have to defecate 

in open. Shocked by learning the fact, of 

Chaitali discussed the matter with her 

parents and siblings and demanded that 

she be given no wedding gift but a toilet. 

Yes, she said no to fridge, washing 

machine, cot and almirah and was rigid on 

her stand. Her parents tried to convince 

her, but later her father understood the 

logic behind her weird demand. He talked 

to people an ordered for a pre-fabricated 

toilet as a wedding gift for his daughter. 

A farmer D Galakhe told mediapersons 

later that initially he was shocked by the 

unusual demand made by her daughter. 

“But I knew her very well and understood 

her and decided to gift her a pre-fabricated 

toilet.” 

“We were very afraid about the 

repercussions and the social taboo we 

would be subjected to when the matter 

would come to everybodies notice in 

our and my daughter’s in-laws village. I 

learnt about a local manufacturer, who 

was making toilets in the village and 

approached him. I was told he charged Rs 

18,000 for a prefabricated toilet. It would 

have cost about the price of a fridge and I 

decided to go ahead with the order. “ 

Luckily, a local volunteer for Prime 

Minister Narendra Modi's Swachha 

Bharat Abhiyaan, decided to chip in -- 

"I have built it and given it to the family 

for only Rs.12,000 -- only recovering the 

actual costs," said the manufacturer. 

The prefabricated toilet with a water 

closet, a wash-basin and mirror standing 

around one foot above the ground turned 

POOR SANITATION 

48% households in India lack toilets. 

More than 78% of rural people in India 

relieve themselves behind bushes, 

in fields or by roadsides. 

India has 17% of the world’s population, 

but accounts for 60% of all people 

in the world without sanitation. 

India with 626 million people who 

practice open defecation, has more 

than twice the number of the next 18 

countries combined 

India accounts for 90% of the 692 

million people in South Asia who 

practice open defecation 

India accounts for 59% of the 1.1 billion 

people in the world who practice 

open defecation. 

Only 3.2% people have toilets. 

In India alone, the diarrhea disease 

kills 1,600 citizens per day. 

(source: WHO/UNICEF joint monitoring 

report 2012) 

Mahatma Gandhi knew what he was 

talking about when he said, “Sanitation 

is more important than independence.” 

And now Prime minister Narendra 

Modi says building toilets is a 

priority over temples. 

GOVERNMENT’S INITIATIVE 

11 crore toilets to be made. 

Rs 18,000 crore budgets passed for 

making toilets. 

Government has built with 7.1 lakh 

toilets in January 2015 under the 

Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. 

out to be the cynosure of all eyes at the 

wedding. At the village every person who 

attended the wedding had a look at it and 

appreciated it. So were the baraatis. 

Local village girls who attended the 

marriage ceremonies from both sides said 

they were "hugely inspired" by Chaitali's 

courage in making the toilet demand.

POINT 

OUT 

ART & CULTURE 

street art: an art form that is 

WidelY getting PoPular in india 

Street Art also known as ‘Graffiti’ or ‘Wall Mural’ is an 

art form not known to many people. A painting or a sketch 

drawn on the walls of a street is known as Street Art. These 

paintings make art accessible to the common man who 

cannot or does not wish to visit exhibitions or galleries. 

50 


»» 

point out bureau 

S 

treet 

Art also known as ‘Graffiti’ 

or ‘Wall Mural’ is an art form 

not known to many people. A 

painting or a sketch drawn on 

the walls of a street is known as Street 

Art. These paintings make art accessible 

to the common man who cannot or does 

not wish to visit exhibitions or galleries. 

Street art attempts to demystify art and 

brings the power of art as a medium of 

creative expression to the streets, free and 

accessible to all. 

Graffiti has been there since the ancient 

times of human civilization in the form 

of stone paintings and wall inscriptions. 

But in the modern world, it has lost its 

charm as not many artists prefer being 

a street artist because of lack of income 

in this profession and other factors. But 

lately, this art form is getting popular in 

the urban cities and fastly catching on in 

other parts of India. Last year the Street 

Art Festival, popularly known as ‘St.Art 

India’, took place in Delhi and Mumbai. It 

was an initiative taken by the ‘St+art India 

Foundation’. The urban festival brought 

together Indian and international street 

artists who decorated the walls of the two 

cities like we had never seen them before. 

The festival promoted street art and graffiti 

51 

in India with collaboration of street artists 

from across the world. India’s tallest wall 

mural (150 ft. high) of Mahatma Gandhi 

on the Delhi Police Headquarters was 

done as a part of this urban exhibition. 

Other well-known wall murals include the 

pictures of Bollywood actors and actresses, 

India’s longest mural on the walls of Tihar 

jail, etc. 

Earlier the city walls were only covered by 

betel stains, trails of urine, and haphazard 

posters. But now, they are adorned with 

exquisite and quirky murals, crotchet 

work, and art installations. Apart from 

making the city look beautiful, street art 

also helps in spreading awareness about 

the prevailing socio-political issues of the 

country such as corruption, rhino killing, 

etc. The themes can vary from political, 

satirical, social and environmental. One 

such example is the LPG rocket cylinder at 

Malviya Nagar, which highlights the issue 

of rising LPG prices. 

Although the festival made street art quite 

popular, still this art form and its artists are 

struggling to find a place for themselves. 

Most of the murals are painted free of cost 

by artists who do not reveal their actual 

names as defacement of public property 

is illegal. It is associated with vandalism 

because it is created in places without the 

consent of the owner, and usually makes 

social commentary on the state of affairs 

of a place. It is the epitome of ‘freedom of 

expression’ and is mostly conducted in wee 

hours. Daku, a prominent street artist says, 

“We choose walls no one particularly cares 

about…. It is a time-consuming process 

to identify 'walls' and then to go there 

at different times (usually in the night) 

to make sure who is around and what is 

a safe time to make a hit.” When asked 

what does he really do it for? He replies, 

“If my artwork can make someone stop 

and think what it is, why it is here then 

my job is done." Like traditional dakus 

or dacoits who rob villages, graffitists ‘rob 

walls’ without permission and eventually 

own them because their art defines these 

walls, making public spaces their own. 

Even his name ‘Daku’ suggests the same 

concept. One of his famous political works 

is in ITO of a blindfolded protester, with 

the painted subtext, ‘Blind Nation,’ which 

is a comment on the protestors who 

joined Anna Hazare’s movement without 

knowing what the Lokpal Bill is about or 

how the system really works. 

Although, the trend of getting graffiti done 

on one’s wall in exchange for payment is 

not common as of now. But it is bound 

to become a usual practice in the future 

when street art would be more widely 

recognized as an art form in India.

POINT 

OUT 

BOOK REVIEW 

half a billion 

rising : the 

emergence of the 

indian Woman 

AUTHOR: ANiRUDHA DUttA 

PUBLISHER: RUpA pUBlicAtioN 

PRICE: RS. 395 

about booK 

Half a Billion Rising travels to different parts of India, and fi nds that a 

tremendous wave is sweeping across the nation—girls and women are 

getting educated, fi nding jobs and emerging as empowered citizens. 

The implications of such breakthrough transformation are phenomenal 

in a nation that is home to 17 per cent of the world's total number of 

women. 

Half a Billion Rising analyzes the change drivers and the repercussions 

of present-day gender revolutions. It does this by collecting the stories 

of young Indian girls across the socioeconomic pyramid, and by 

retelling, in their particular voices, their aspirations, disappointments 

and everyday challenges. We learn of Chandra who, despite being 

undereducated and disempowered, succeeds in securing economic 

independence for her daughter; of Saira, who fi ghts her father, and 

secures admission in a school with her aunt’s tacit support; of Priyanka, 

who funds her own academic pursuits by teaching; and of Manisha, who 

is proud of Allahabad’s new-found freedom, as girls, once compelled 

to wear salwar kameezes with dupattas, now dress in outfi ts of their 

choice. 

Against a backdrop of key statistical data and research fi ndings, Half 

a Billion Rising surveys how society at large and men in particular are 

reacting to the rise of woman power. It asks: Is there support from 

within the family when a woman chooses enfranchisement? How are 

men responding to the changes around them and how do they have to 

transform? Is violence against women on the rise? Moreover, what role 

is the local NGO playing in spurring a change in mindset and how can 

the government help? 

Half a Billion Rising provides no easy answers—for, the case-studies 

are as diverse as the protagonists. What it does achieve is a vivid 

portrait—as compelling, multilayered and paradoxical as India. 

about author: 

Anirudha Dutta has been working in the fi nancial services sector 

for over two decades. He holds a degree in engineering from IIT, 

Kharagpur, and a postgraduate diploma in business management from 

XLRI, Jamshedpur. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, two children and 

their pet dog. 

52 


THE PERFECT 

ONES 

AUTHOR: RUZBEH BHARUCHA 

PUBLISHER: Penguin Publication 

PRICE: Rs. 299 

About Book 

When on a spiritual quest, what if you come to know 

that there are archangels, angels, perfect masters, 

saints, sages, celestial, terrestrial and physical 

beings who guide all seekers on the path? Like a 

parent leading a child. We call these guides the 

oneness family, the Perfect Ones. The Perfect Ones, 

is a collection of biographies written by spiritual 

guru Ruzbeh N. Bharucha about the hierarchical 

planes of the various spiritual guides and how they 

are available to all those who seek. He talks about 

Their lives in the physical bodies; Their teachings 

and Their connect with other masters; Their love, 

presence, protection and oneness that engulfs all. 

Written with love and from personal experiences 

with most of the Perfect Ones, this is a journey you 

do not want to miss out on. 

About Author: 

A devotee of Sai Baba of Shirdi, Ruzbeh N. Bharucha 

is one of the most influential spiritual writers 

of our times. He is the author of eleven books, including 

the bestselling The Fakir trilogy, which has 

been translated into several languages. Formerly a 

journalist he is also a documentary filmmaker. His 

documentary Sehat … Wings of Freedom, on AIDS 

and HIV in Tihar Prison, was selected and screened 

for the XVII International AIDS Conference in 2008. 

His articles have been published in various publications, 

including the Times of India, Free Press, Indian 

Express, Maharashtra Herald, Sunday Observer, 

Jam-e-Jamshed and The Afternoon. His book My 

God Is A Juvenile Delinquent has been included in 

the reading list of all judicial academies. Ruzbeh is 

also the 110th Master for ‘The Speaking Tree’ where 

he writes an immensely popular blog on spirituality. 

He lives in Pune with his family. 

53

POINT 

OUT 

HEALTH 

liVing With diabetes 

indian population is going through a phase of dietary transition; leaving the 

traditional diets, people have now started opting for commercially available packaged 

foods or quick home-made foods. these snacks, often regarded as ‘comfort foods’, 

are quickly prepared or are easily available commercially and include fried foods that 

are high in energy and fats (saturated and trans fats) but low in nutrients. 

» DR. ANoop MiSRA 

I 

ndian 

population is going 

through a phase of dietary 

transition; leaving the 

traditional diets, people have 

now started opting for commercially 

available packaged foods or quick 

home-made foods. These snacks, 

often regarded as ‘comfort foods’, are 

quickly prepared or are easily available 

commercially and include fried 

foods that are high in energy and fats 

(saturated and trans fats) but low in 

nutrients. The increase in the intake of 

energy dense foods together with low 

levels of physical activity are leading 

to increased incidence of obesity and 

other related lifestyle diseases like 

diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular 

disease and the metabolic syndrome. 

Sedentary habits, especially watching 

TV, are associated with significantly 

higher risks for obesity and type 2 

diabetes. Given the current dietary 

patterns of Indians and increasing 

prevalence of lifestyle diseases like 

diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc., 

it is important to generate awareness 

about good nutrition and health for 

the prevention of obesity and diabetes. 

These shall not only promote good 

health, but also help in the prevention 

of non-communicable diseases such 

as diabetes, heart problems and other 

related diseases. In the long run, such 

programmes shall help in reducing the 

burden on the country’s economy. 

54 


SELF MANAGEMENT 

Management of Type 2 Diabetes 

Besides medication and insulin therapy 

where needed, the management of 

diabetes depends on - 

Good control of blood sugar levels. 

Regular glucose monitoring and 

insulin dosage (if on insulin therapy) 

and maintaining a chart of readings. 

Following a healthy diet and regular 

exercise program, especially if the 

patient is overweight. Maintaining a 

consistent and healthy diet combined 

with moderate exercise is the key to a 

healthy life 

FREQUENCY OF CHECK-UPS WITH 

DOCTOR 

A visit to the doctor is desirable every 

3 months. 

Regular blood sugar monitoring. 

HbA1c (glycosylated haemoglobin) 

test must be repeated every 3 

months. A level less than 7% must be 

maintained. 

Lipid profile test, urinary albumin test, 

and eye examination must be carried 

out annually. 

Thorough foot examination along 

with clinical test, test for nerves, blood 

circulation and foot pressure must 

be done at least once a year, as these 

tests can also identify if the patient 

is developing any complications of 

diabetes. 

SELF MONITORING BLOOD 

GLUCOSE (SMBG) 

Blood glucose monitoring system is 

intended to be used for the quantitative 

measurement of glucose (blood sugar). 

The blood sugar levels are monitored 

with help of blood sugar monitoring 

machine also known as “glucometer”. 

HOW TO USE A GLUCOMETER 

To efficiently monitor your blood 

sugar collect all the items required for 

monitoring your blood sugar at one 

place .i.e. 

Glucometer 

Test strips 

Pricking needles/Lancet/Pricking pen 

(loaded with lancet) 

Alcohol swab/ antiseptic solution & 

cotton 

55 

Blood sugar monitoring diary 

HOW TO PROCEED 

Wash your hands thoroughly to 

prevent infection. Wipe them off. 

Decide which finger you are going to 

obtain the blood from. 

Gently rub your hands first to make 

the blood flow easier or you can gently 

massage your finger from which you 

have to obtain blood sample. 

Turn on the glucometer and place a 

test strip in the machine when the 

machine is ready. 

Check the code which appears on 

screen, it should match with the code 

on strip box.(some strips do not have 

any code system) 

Watch the indicator for placing the 

blood to the strip (it usually appears as 

sign of drop on the screen). 

Wipe the finger you have selected with 

an alcohol swab or antiseptic cotton 

swab and wait until it dries. 

Pierce the finger tip to obtain a drop 

of blood. 

Place the drop of blood on the area 

allotted on the strip. 

The glucometer will take a few seconds 

to calculate the blood sugar reading. 

Use alcohol swab or an antiseptic 

cotton swab to blot the site where you 

drew the blood if it is still bleeding. 

THINGS TO REMEMBER 

If after pricking the quantity of blood 

is very less, do not press your finger 

further to draw more blood from 

the same prick, this can give error in 

reading. 

In the Test strip, the area for placing 

blood drop should be adequately filled 

with blood, otherwise the glucometer 

will not give accurate reading. 

Do not prick on wet finger. 

Do not use same lancet for different 

people. 

Keep your glucometer and test strips in 

a clean, dry place. 

Keep a check on the expiry date of your 

strips (do not use expired strips). 

Dispose of your lancets carefully to 

prevent needle-prick accidents. 

If getting very high or low readings get 

a laboratory test done for the same. 

Discuss with your doctor how often 

and at what times of the day you 

should be testing. 

Record your readings in your blood 

sugar monitoring diary regularly. 

• (Dr. Anoop Misra 

is Chairman, Fortis- 

C-DOC Centre of 

Excellence for Diabetes, 

Metabolic Diseases and 

Endocrinology

POINT 

OUT 

POINT 

OUT 

a conscious attempt to not just call attention to the ills 

around us but also to seek solutions from the stakeholders 

& 

salute where the credit is due 

a magaZine that touches eVerY asPect of the nation 

56 


pointoutnews.com SEPTEMBER 2014 VOL-1 ISSUE-8 50 

I N S I D E 

PICTURE ABHI 

BAKI HAI: 

ASHISH CHAUHAN 

1 

MODI 

SETTING THE 

TONE 


57

POINT 

OUT 

2015 

CINEMA 

tHe YeAR of SeQUelS iN 

BollYwooD 

Y 

ear 2015 is sequels year for Bollywood several old 

blockbusters starring big stars are set to get sequels 

this year .Directors are busy spinning off the sequels of 

their hit films and taking the stories forward. So for the fans 

its jackpot because they will get to see their favorite characters 

on screen once again. Here are some of the major Bollywood 

sequels to look forward to in 2015. 

58 


POINT 

OUT 

CINEMA 

A 

kshay Kumar starrer 'Baby', one of the 

blockbusters of 2015, has been shortlisted 

to be included in the Core Collection of 

the Oscar library in USA. The Neeraj Pandey directed 

fi lm has been approached by ‘The Academy of 

Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (the institution 

behind ‘Oscars’) for inclusion of its screenplay in 

the Academy’s library. The Library is considered as a 

reservoir of some of the best work in cinema across 

the world and each year only a chosen few fi lms make 

it to this elite collection. The screenplay of the fi lm will 

act as a reference to aspirant students, fi lm makers, 

writers, actors and others from the fi eld of cinema for 

the purpose of research and development. 

KYA KOOL HAIN HUM 3 

K 

Kool 

Hain Hum 3 is an upcoming 2015 Bollywood adult comedy film. It features Tusshar Kapoor and 

Aftab Shivdasani in lead roles. Aftab Shivdasani will be replacing Ritesh Deshmukh's character. The 

fi lm is a sequel to Kyaa Kool Hai Hum and Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum. And the third installment of 

Kyaa Kool Hain Hum fi lm series. 

Original: Kya Kool Hain Hum (2005), Kya Super Kool Hain Hum (2012) 

Director: Umesh Ghadge 

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasni, Shakti Kapoor 

Status: Shooting has begun, but no release date has been announced 

60 


Welcome 

Back 

W 

elcome Back will 

also be a multistarrer 

with a stellar 

star cast that includes the likes 

of John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, 

Nana Patekar, Dimple Kapadia 

and Shruti Haasan, to name a 

few. Welcome Back is slated for a 

January 23 release. 

Original: Welcome (2007) 

Director: Anees Bazmee 

Cast: John Abraham, Anil 

Kapoor, Nana Patekar, 

Paresh Rawal, Shruti 

Haasan, Naseeruddin 

Shah, and Shiney Ahuja 

Status: Expected to 

release on May 29, 2015 

ABCD 2 

C 

horeographer-turned-director 

Remo D'Souza is making a sequel to his 3D dance film, ABCD: Anybody Can Dance 

The story traces the journey of an Indian dance troupe, a motley assortment of boys and girls who come from the 

backstreets of a Mumbai suburb; their rise to fame, sudden downfall and then their heroic attempt to seek vindication 

by regaining their lost glory and pride. 

Original: ABCD 

(2013) 

Director: Remo 

D'Souza 

Cast: Varun 

Dhawan, Shraddha 

Kapoor, Salman 

Yussuf Khan, 

Lauren Gottlieb, 

Prabu Deva 

Status: Releasing 

on June 19, 2015 

61

POINT 

OUT 

CINEMA 

SARFAROSH 2 

2’ also might be 

a crime thriller movie. 

'Sarfarosh 

This movie is still in the 

development stage. Aamir was 

presented an idea for the sequel by 

the director who made Sarfarosh. His 

iconic role of ACP Ajay Singh Rathod 

might be repeated in this sequel too. 

oRiGiNAl: SARfARoSH (1999) 

DiRectoR: JoHN MAttHew 

MAttHAN 

cASt: AAMiR KHAN 

StAtUS: to Go oN tHe 

flooRS SooN 

HOUSEFULL 3 

H 

ousefull 

3 will feature 

Akshay Kumar, Abhishek 

Bachchan and Riteish 

Deshmukh. However, it will be the 

fi rst time for Abhishek with this team. 

Akshay and Abhishek were last seen 

together in 2002 fi lm Haan Maine Bhi 

Pyaar Kiya Hai with Karisma Kapoor as 

the leading lady. 

oRiGiNAl: HoUSefUll (2010), 

HoUSefUll 2 (2012) 

DiRectoR: SAJiD-fARHAD 

cASt: AKSHAY KUMAR, ABHiSHeK 

BAcHcHAN, RiteiSH DeSHMUKH, 

JAcQUeliNe feRNANDeZ, NARGiS 

fAKHRi, elli AVRAM 

StAtUS: UNDeR pRoDUctioN; liKelY 

to Be ReleASeD oN 3 JUNe, 2016 

62 


POINT 

OUT 

CINEMA 

GHAYAL 

ONCE AGAIN 

G 

hayal 

Once Again is an 

upcoming Indian action drama 

fi lm directed by Rahul Rawail 

and produced by Dharmendra. It is the 

sequel to 1990 super-hit fi lm Ghayal. 

Original: Ghayal (1990) 

Director: Sunny Deol 

Cast: Sunny Deol, Om Puri, Murli 

Sharma, Prachi Desai, Soha Ali Khan 

Status: Liable to release on Nov 13, 2015 

ROCK ON 2 

HERA PHERI 3 

H 

era 

Pheri 3 is an upcoming Indian comedy fi lm 

directed by Neeraj Vora and produced by Feroz 

Nadiadwala. It is sequel to 2006 fi lm Phir Hera 

Pheri and the third installment of Hera Pheri fi lm series. 

Actor Sunil Shetty and Paresh Rawal will reprise their roles 

from previous two fi lms but reportedly Akshay Kumar has 

been replaced by John Abraham. Actor Abhishek Bachchan 

is a new addition in this fi lm with John Abraham.The fi lm is 

scheduled to release on 18 December 2015. 

Original: Hera Pheri (2000), Phir Hera Pheri (2006) 

Director: Neeraj Vohra 

Cast: John Abraham, Abhishek Bachan, Suniel Shetty, 

Paresh Rawal, Nargis fakhri 

Status: Shooting has begun; Scheduled to release on 18 Dec, 2015. 

'R 

ock On 2' will have Akhtar and 

Arjun Rampal reprise their roles 

from the original fi lm, while 'Ek 

Villain' star Shraddha Kapoor is the new 

addition. 'Rock On' will be shot in the hill 

station of Shillong, Meghalaya. 

Original: Rock On (2008) 

Director: Abhishek Kapoor 

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, 

Shraddha Kapoor 

Status: Is likely to go on the fl oor this year 

and will release in 2016 

64 


ANUSHKA ATTENDS NH10 

SCREENING IN BEIJING FEST 

B 

ollywood 

actress Anushka Sharma attended the screening of her movie ‘NH10’ in the 5th Beijing 

International Film Festival that was held from April 17-20. NH10, a 2015 crime thriller, is directed 

by Navdeep Singh and stars Anushka and Neil Bhoopalam in lead roles. M S Prakash Babu's awardwinning 

debut movie ‘Fig Fruit’ and the ‘Wasps’ will also be screened at the festival. The eight-day festival held at 

Yanqi Lake on the outskirts of Beijing saw 930 movies from 90 countries and regions to compete for its Tiantan 

Awards. Austrian-born US actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed the festival. 

65

POINT 

OUT 

SPIRITUAL TOUCH 

mind and meditation 

» SRi SRi RAVi SHANKAR 

H 

ave 

you observed what is happening 

in your mind every moment? It 

vacillates between the past and the 

future. It is either in the past occupied 

with what has happened or in the future thinking 

about what you have to do. 

Knowledge is being aware of this 

phenomenon of the mind -- of what is 

happening right now in your mind as you 

are reading this article. Information can 

be acquired by reading books or browsing 

the Internet. You can open a book on any 

subject such as how to lose weight, how to 

prepare for an interview, success 101 and so 

on. There are innumerable volumes available 

on a countless number of topics, but the 

awareness of your own mind cannot be 

learnt from a book. 

There is another tendency of the mind -- it 

clings onto the negative. If 10 positive events 

are followed by one negative event, the mind 

will cling to the negative. It will simply forget 

the 10 positive events. 

With meditation, however, you can become 

aware of these two tendencies of the mind 

and bring it to the present. Happiness, joy, 

enthusiasm, efficiency and effectiveness are 

all in the present. 

The human mind is very complex. It has its 

delicate and tough aspects. If you have had a 

misunderstanding with a friend or colleague 

at work, you can become stiff inside and 

this can distort your emotions leading to 

negativity -- and you carry this negativity 

wherever you go. 

However, when you culture your mind with 

meditation, its tendency of holding on to 

negative emotions simply disappears. You 

gain the ability to start living in the present 

moment and are able to let go of the past. 

Balancing the States of Mind 

In your day-to-day life, you come across all 

kinds of situations that can be challenging 

and demanding a degree of alertness to be 

able to make good choices. These situations 

give rise to different states of mind and 

neither life nor the states of mind occur with 

our permission. In fact, they often occur in 

direct defiance to our wishes. 

Meditation can bring about a balance 

between the different states of the mind. You 

can learn to switch from the tough aspect to 

the delicate aspect within you. You can stand 

up when needed and let go when needed. 

This ability is present within everyone, and 

meditation enables you to switch between 

these states effortlessly. The whole exercise 

is to develop an ability -- to switch back and 

forth between the tough and delicate aspects 

of the mind. 

One of the biggest deterrents for people not 

being able to meditate is that they don't have 

enough time. Yet when they start to meditate, 

they find they have more time, because they 

are able to focus and get more done. Not only 

that, the regular practice of meditation also 

leads to greater intuitiveness. It sharpens the 

mind through focus and expands it through 

relaxation. 

With the integration of meditation into 

one's daily life, a fifth state of consciousness, 

called cosmic consciousness, dawns. 

Cosmic consciousness means perceiving the 

whole cosmos as part of oneself. When we 

perceive the world as a part of us, love flows 

strongly between the world and us. This love 

empowers us to bear the opposing forces 

and the disturbances in our lives. Anger and 

disappointments become fleeting emotions 

that occur momentarily and then vanish. 

Rest and activity are opposite values, but 

they complement each other. The deeper you 

are able to rest, the more dynamic you will 

be in activity. Planning can hold you back 

from diving deep into yourself. Meditation 

is accepting this moment and living every 

moment totally with depth. 

Restlessness, agitation, desire and ambition 

stir up the mind and keep it engaged 

planning for the future or being regretful 

about the past. Real freedom is freedom 

from the past and future. 

The confluence of knowledge, understanding 

and practice make life complete. When you 

grow into higher states of consciousness, you 

find that you are no longer thrown off balance 

by different situations and disturbances. A 

regular practice can transform the quality 

of your life by culturing the nervous 

system to maintain peace, energy and 

expanded awareness throughout the day. 

You become beautiful yet strong, capable of 

accommodating different challenges in life 

without any conditions. 

www.artofliving.org 

Follow @SriSri on twitter 

66 


POINT 

OUT 

68

MAY 2015

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