President Pranab Mukherjee Asks For “Thorough Revision” Of IPC

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said that the Indian Penal Code (IPC) requires a thorough revision so that it can meet the needs of the 21st century.

At an event which was taking place on the occasion of the year-long celebrations of the 155th anniversary of IPC in Kochi, Mukherjee, the 13^th and current president of said: "The IPC has undergone very few changes in the last 155 years. Very few crimes have been added to the initial list of crimes and declared punishable.” "Even now, there are offences in the code which were enacted by the British to meet their colonial needs. Yet, there are many new offences which have to be properly defined and incorporated in the code,” he further added.

There have been strong calls for bringing either deletion or drastic changes in Section 124 A of IPC, which deals with sedition. These calls are coming in more vigorously after the sedition law was charged on JNU students for allegedly raising anti-national slogans.

The 80-year-old former senior leader of Indian National Congress (INC) concluded that the premier code for criminal law was a model piece of legislation but it requires a "thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the 21st century”

The IPC is the main criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted in 1860 on the recommendation of the first law commission of India established in 1834. The code has been amended several times and is now supplemented by other criminal provisions.

Syria Conflict : Peace Truce Comes Into Effect

In what is being hailed as the first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war, the Russian military has stopped air-strikes in certain parts of Syria as part of a cessation of hostilities agreement.

The "cessation of hostilities" began at midnight on Friday. A special taskforce chaired by the United States and Russia will later meet in Geneva to monitor violations of the agreement. The truce involves government and rebel forces, but not the Jihadist militant group of ISIS or the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said: "Let's pray that this works because frankly this is the best opportunity we can imagine the Syrian people has had for the last five years in order to see something better and hopefully something related to peace.” Under the U.S.-Russian accord accepted by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, fighting should be ceased so that aid can reach civilians and talks can open to end a war that has killed more than 250,000 people and made 11 million homeless.

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution earlier on Friday, backing the halt in fighting and asking for all parties to abide by the terms of the cessation.

In spite of Russia's pledge, reports of scattered violence between militants and some rebel groups emerged. Clashes between regime forces and rebels in Latakia, and other incidents of violence between government forces and ISIS fighters in Aleppo have been reported. At Latakia, 12 rebel fighters were killed in clashes with government forces.

However, the intensity of the violence has greatly reduced, which is a relief to Syrians living in the rubble of bombed-out cities.

Violence Breaks Out In Burdwan University

Violence erupted in Burdwan University on Friday, after students  protesting under the banner of Student’s Federation of India (SFI), were allegedly attacked by the non-teaching staff of the university.

Local ruling party leader Sitaram Mukherjee is suspected to have led on the attackers, some of whom were members of Trinamool Congress Chatra Parishad. Two SFI activists were hospitalized following the scuffle. An attending doctor of Burdwan Medical College and Hospital said their condition was stable. The SFI claimed that at least 15 members were injured in the unprovoked assault by the members of Siksha Bandhu Samity and “some outsiders”, as the students were on a fast before the administrative building in the campus. When students tried to resist the attackers, more members were brought in and threatened them with dire consequences. But, some students managed to catch hold of the attackers, however, they fled later.

A SFI spokesperson said: “The attack was orchestrated by the local Trinamool student leadership, backed by the ruling party. It was an attack on students… It was done with the knowledge of the administration and even girls were not spared. The local TMC leader has been caught on camera.”

A couple of TMCP and SFI activists had organized movement against the errors in the second year result and for the postpone of the third year exam.  Two Left members, Sheikh Naseem Ahmed and Sheikh Feroz were arrested on Thursday for allegedly damaging university property. After the protest of TMCP and the SFI, now the general students are protesting under the name of 'Hok Kolorab'.

Smritikumar Sarkar serves as the vice-chancellor of the 56-year-old university.

2013 TET Plea Rejected By Court

The 2013 exams for primary Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) were held valid by the Calcutta High Court on Friday, rejecting a petition which was seeking the cancellation of the exam.

The exam led to 18,000 people getting jobs in primary schools. Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya had moved the petition on behalf of a couple of people who had not succeeded in the 2013 TET. Bhattacharyya had claimed that the primary education department had held the TET unjust as it violated National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) norms. "The NCTE had drawn up a syllabus to select primary schoolteachers. But most questions were not from the syllabus," he had said. In 2012, the state primary education department had issued a notification inviting applications for primary schoolteachers.

A few of the candidates who failed the exam had filed an appeal before the court alleging the test conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission should be treated as invalid because it did not comply with the guidelines laid down by NCTE..

Additional government pleader L.K. Gupta had claimed the examination was "just and proper". "The future of the 18,000 teachers will be uncertain if the court allows the petition and cancels the exam," he further added. Justice Debangshu Basak said in his verdict: "Since the petitioners failed to succeed in the examination, they have no locus standi to move any case in this regard."

Locus standi is a Latin phrase meaning “place to stand”. It refers to whether or not someone has the right to be heard in court.

Weight Watchers Makes Oprah Winfrey Lose $24 Million In A Day

American media proprietor and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey lost a whopping amount of $24 million in one day because of American weight lose assisting company Weight Watchers.

Last year, Oprah bought a ten percent stake in the weight loss company for $43.2 million and joined the company's board of directors and became a spokes-model for the brand. She also started to plan its diet chart. Weight Watchers International had hoped Winfrey's collaboration could help boost subscription numbers and sales. But on Thursday, the company reported a 21 percent drop in fourth-quarter net revenue, which sent its shares down more than 27 percent in extended trading. As a result, the paper value of Winfrey's stake plunged by about $24 million. However, she has still gained almost $75 million since she made her investment.

On the day Winfrey first invested in Weight Watchers, its shares doubled in value, while she made $70 million in just a day and also single-handedly generated $700 million in stock market value in two days.

The 62-year-old actress and philanthropist has a net worth $3 billion currently, which means she has lost less than one per cent of her net worth.

Winfrey often promotes Weight Watchers on social media. In January, after she tweeted a video saying she lost 26 pounds on the diet program while still eating bread every day, company stocks rallied more than 16 percent and she made $12 million.

 

Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she has been ranked as the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and is now North America's first and only multi-billionaire Black. Several assessments regard her as the most influential woman in the world.

The Biggest Oscar Snubs Of All Time

The most prestigious awards in the field of cinema, the Academy Awards, known as the Oscars is also the oldest entertainment awards in the world. But, as most critics would claim, even the Oscars did not get it right all the time. As the ceremony enters its 88^th year this weekend, let us take a look at some of the biggest blunders that the awards performed by not giving the ‘Best Picture’ award to the most deserving person.

The 1941 film Citizen Kane, which is considered as the greatest film of all time, wasn’t awarded the Oscar and the ‘Best Picture’, for some greater logic better known to the Academy. The Oscar went to How Green Was My Valley, a film about which hardly anyone talks about.

The year when man set foot on the moon for the first time, 1969, saw the Academy not acknowledging the bold and visionary film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film wasn’t even nominated. Instead, the Academy gave the award to Oliver, a movie which would have seemed dated had it been released in the 1940s.

The 1996 ‘Best Picture’ winner The English Patient was a perfectly fine movie, with two charismatic leads who had good chemistry, but it just wasn’t that interesting, and it certainly was not the best movie of the year. Fargo, the movie that it bet was almost every critic’s favorite, and not too forget, it was a fan-favorite too.

Fans were outraged when the 2008 film The Dark Knight wasn’t even nominated. Probably this served as one of the biggest reasons for the academy to increase the number of nominations in the ‘Best Picture’ category from the 2009 Oscars.

Supporters of the film 2005 film Brokeback Mountain engendered considerable discussion after Crash won the award for ‘Best Picture’. Some critics accused the Academy of homophobia for failing to award the award to the film. Prior to Brokeback Mountain, no film that had won the Writer's Guild, Director's Guild, and Producer's Guild awards failed to win the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’. No film generated more outrage after failing to win the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’ among the fans in recent history than Brokeback Mountain, and for all the right reasons.

Cameroon:850 Villagers Freed As 92 Boko Haram Fighters Are Killed

In a joint military operation with Nigeria’s own army, the Cameroon military launched a cross-border raid against the Nigerian village of Kumshe, where they engaged in mass fight with the Boko Haram forces. The raid freed 850 villages from Boko Haram shackles, and in the process 92 Boko Haram fighters were killed.

Cameroon’s communications minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary said: “Two Cameroonian soldiers were killed (during the operation) by an accidental mine explosion, five other soldiers were wounded.” Nigeria has not given any official report on the incident.

Boko Haram seeks to implement Islamic law in northeastern Nigeria and has staged a campaign of suicide and other attacks in Cameroon, Chad and Niger over the past year, including killing as many as 1,000 in Cameroon alone. In January, at least 86 people were killed in a series of attacks on a village in northeastern Nigeria by suspected Boko Haram fighters. According to witnesses, the armed fighters firebombed huts and opened fire on civilians in the village of Dalori. Earlier this month, two suicide bombers killed at least 12 and wounded 50 others in a suspected Boko Haram market attack in northern Cameroon. 

Some 20,000 people have been killed and about 2.3 million displaced since the Islamic extremist group of Boko Haram started its violent campaign in 2009. Children have been particularly targeted by Boko Haram and have often been the victims of sexual abuse, forced marriage, abductions, and brutal killings. 

FIFA Presidential Election: Gianni Infantino Comes Out On Top

Swiss football administrator Gianni Infantino became the new FIFA president after winning the election on the second ballot, gaining 115 votes and beating Sheikh Salman al-Khalifa who got 88. Infantino looked visibly stunned after being announced as the winner. Prince Ali bin al-Hussein (four votes) and Jerome Champagne (zero votes) were third and fourth respectively.

The 45-year-old former general secretary of UEFA also holds citizenship of Italy and Greece. He succeeded Sepp Blatter to become the ninth president of FIFA. Blatter, who had led FIFA since 1998, stood down last year and was later suspended for six years for breaching ethics guidelines.

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family, was considered the favorite to become the next FIFA president in Friday’s election but faced questions about possible connections to the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in his country.

Many of the game’s top officials have been charged with crimes, including corruption, bribery and money laundering. Against that backdrop, FIFA’s members accepted a significant shift on Friday, ratifying an extensive package of governance reforms, including measures that diminish the president’s power, before electing Infantino to implement the changes, which he endorsed during his campaign.

The FIFA Council consists of 36 members, out of which six spots are kept exclusively for women.

Post his win, Infantino said: “A new era has been started as we speak.” “You will be proud of FIFA. You will be proud of what FIFA will do for football,” he added.

Global Economy Is “Highly Vulnerable”: IMF

In what is being seen as an alarming message for the global economy, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the global economy is "highly vulnerable" and urged the United States and other large nations to prepare contingency plans that could be rolled out quickly.

In a report by IMF, the organization said the weakening had come "amid increasing financial turbulence and falling asset prices". The report has been prepared for senior officials of the G20, the world's 20 largest economies.

"The G20 must plan now for coordinated demand support using available fiscal space to boost public investment," IMF staff said in the report. The report has also revealed that a fragile global recovery has weakened further in the face of falling oil prices and diminished growth prospects in China and other emerging market countries. Apart from these issues, geopolitical issues like the Syrian refugee crisis and the rising infections in Latin America from the Zika virus also pose economic threats.

The organization stressed on the need to avoid over-reliant monetary policy and the need to support near-term fiscal policy. The IMF last month trimmed its economic forecast for global growth by 0.2 percentage points for both 2016 and 2017, reducing its projection to 3.4 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year

On Tuesday, IMF chief Christine Lagarde renewed her call for greater taxation and fiscal reforms as a pathway to political stability in her second speech this week in the Middle East.

The IMF also noted any future prospects for global growth "could be derailed by market turbulence, the oil price crash and geopolitical conflicts".

Transgender Rights:Lok Sabha Takes Up Bill To End Discrimination

In a welcome change for the transgender citizens of India, the Lok Sabha took up for consideration a private member Bill to end discrimination against transgenders on Friday.

Rajya Sabha created history last April when the Bill was passed by it as it became the first private member legislation in 36 years to be cleared by any House of Parliament. If passed by the Lok Sabha it will become law. Moving the 'Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014' for consideration and passing, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) member Baijayant Panda said: "We need to be compassionate towards transgenders and end all kinds of discrimination."

The concerned Bill provides for the formulation of a comprehensive national policy for ensuring overall development of the transgender persons and for their welfare. According to some estimates, there are about 25 lakh transgenders in the country, though the actual number is expected to be much higher because of varied reasons like discounting the transgenders living in remote parts of the country or those who do not declare their status because of social stigma.

The bill would help in extending constitutional rights relating to equality, right to life of dignity and freedom of speech to transgenders who are discriminated in all spheres of life. Lok Sabha had earlier rejected Shashi Tharoor's (Congress) private member Bill on decriminalizing homosexuality at the introduction stage. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Jagdambika Pal said there was no fault of transgenders and they should not be ostracized by the society.

Union Budget : Jaitley Likely To Raise Income Tax Slabs

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to provide some relief to the middle-class citizens by raising Income Tax slabs at this year’s Union Budget which will be announced in the Parliament next Monday, February 29.

The current lowest income-tax slab stands at Rs. 2.5 lakhs. It is likely to get increased to Rs. 3 lakh which means income up to Rs 3 lakh is likely to be exempt from Income Tax. There are also indications that even the higher IT slabs may be re-organized.

The government is also likely to enhance bank recapitalization from Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore. This comes in the background of news that 29 state-owned banks have written off a total of Rs 1.14 lakh crore of bad debts between financial years 2013 and 2015. Surprisingly, despite the big salary bill caused by the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations, the centre is optimistic of a fiscal deficit target of 3.5per cent.

RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Finance Minister P Chidambaram are strongly in favor of sticking to fiscal deficit targets.

The government expects that spectrum auctions in the next financial year will provide the necessary leg-room for such a step. The outgo from the Pay Commission recommendations is also likely to get cut-down by Rs 15-25 thousand crore from the present 74,000 crore.

A prominent member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 63-year-old Arun Jaitley is the current Minister of Finance, Minister of Corporate affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Bombay HC Grants Interim Against Sooraj Pancholi In Jiah Khan Case

The Bombay High Court, on Thursday, granted an interim stay on trial against actor Sooraj Pancholi in the Jiah Khan case, following a petition by Rabia Khan, mother of Jiah Khan, against Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) report categorizing Jiah’s death on June 3, 2013 as suicidal and not homicidal.

The CBI was directed by the division bench of Justices R V More and V L Achiliya to file an affidavit in reply to the petition in two weeks. The petition seeks formation of a Special Investigating Team (SIT) and monitoring of the investigation by HC. It pointed out various anomalies in the charge sheet filed by the CBI in December last year.

Dinesh Tiwari, the special public prosecutor said: “The High Court may hear the case tentatively after two weeks.”

Citing Jiah’s US citizenship, Rabia has requested the court to allow Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assist SIT in the investigations. In her petition, she has alleged that the CBI has been misleading the US Consulate and her about the investigation’s direction.

Jiah was 25-years-old at the time of her death in 2013 when she was found dead in her flat in the Sagar Sangeet building in Juhu, Mumbai, after apparently hanging herself. However, later her mother said that she was murdered by her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi. She starred in three big Bollywood films in her lifetime – Nishabd (2007), Ghajini (2008) and Housefull (2010), the latter of which became the fifth-highest grossing film for 2010. Days before her death, she signed three South-Indian films and a Bollywood film Aap Ka Saaya opposite Ranbir Kapoor.

West Bengal Polls: Bangladesh Land Swap Citizens Granted Voting Rights

In a remarkable decision made on Thursday, the Lok Sabha passed a Bill to grant voting rights to people who became Indians following the exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh.

Although the Opposition questioned the delay on part of the government in bringing the measure, the decision is being applauded by the Bangladesh land swap citizens.  A majority of these enclaves are in West Bengal and with the passage of the Bill, there is going to be an upward revision in the electoral rolls of the poll-bound state. Moving the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2016, for consideration and passage, Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda urged the members to pass the Bill without delay. The Bill was later passed unanimously by a voice vote. Mr Gowda urged the House to pass the Bill in the current session to enable the grant of voting rights to the people in these enclaves.

Various political parties expressed their support to the decision by the Parliament. Congress member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was imperative on the part of the government to ensure voting rights to the people, especially when the time was too short due to the impending elections. TMC member Kalyan Banerjee and Shiv Sena’s Anandrao Adsul too favored passing the legislation at the earliest

.

The term of the current 294-member West Bengal Assembly will come to an end on May 29. The upcoming elections acted as a catalyst as there was a sense of urgency for early passage of the Bill.

Woman Dies After Wall Collapses On Her

The wall of an illegally constructed floor of a building fell down on a neighboring small tin house on Thursday in Howrah, killing a homemaker, and injuring her husband and daughter.

Kanika Paul, 37, husband Sankar, 43, and their son and two daughters were sleeping when chunks of concrete came crashing down on their single-storeyed house at Netaji Subhas Road house at around 2am. The couple and one of their daughters, Pradipta, 13, were taken to Howrah District Hospital, where Kanika was declared dead on arrival. “I, my wife and our son and two daughters were sleeping in one room and my elder brother in another. I woke up hearing a crash and saw my wife was buried under a huge concrete chunk. I tried to rescue her but failed," said Sankar. Tapas Sarkar, a neighbor, said he and a few other residents of the area removed the concrete and took Kanika to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the owner of the illegally built house which collapsed, Basudeb Laha, has been arrested. He has been booked under IPC Sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 427 (causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), as well as Section 177A (illegal construction) of the Howrah Municipal Corporation Act.

Nilanjan Chattopadhyay, the municipal commissioner of Howrah, said:  "We will demolish the illegal parts tomorrow. The house originally had permission for G+3 construction. But the owner has illegally added a floor and started building another." 

The untimely death of a person owing to the negligence of another has enraged the local people.

Sonika Vaid Becomes One Of Top 10 Finalists In American Idol

Indian-American contestant Sonika Vaid was voted as one of the top ten finalists for the 15^th season of American Idol on Thursday.

Last week Sonika was chosen by the judges as one of the top 14 semi-finalists for the show. Among them, the judges selected four contestants to go to top ten. Unfortunately, Sonika was not one of the four. She and the rest of the semi-finalists had to vie for public vote to get one of the remaining six spots in top ten, she performed Celine Dion’s I Surrender. On her performance, judge Jennifer Lopez commented: “The way your voice sits in the music is so out of this world.” Fellow judge Harry Connick, Jr. noted that her talent is different than anyone else in the competition. The judges have continuously claimed that she has one of the best vocals of this season. Her performance was even appreciated by people on social media and on Thursday, she was voted in as one of the top ten finalists. However, her bland presence on stage has been noted as something which could lead to her downfall.

Immediately after the announcement of the result on Thursday, the top ten finalists performed. Sonika took on Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life. In a stark change to her earlier performances, Sonika came out in a whole new avatar, engaging with the audiences more than ever. She stomped through the stage and was physically immersed in her rendition of the Evanescence’s operatic rock jam.

Sonika’s parents immigrated to USA when she was a child, and she started singing at the age of three. She is the first female contestant of Indian origin, and the third overall to be on the show. Previous contestants of Indian origin are Sanjaya Malakar from Season six, who finished in seventh place and Anoop Desai from Season eight, who was eliminated in a double elimination vote from top seven.

Too Much Exercise Can Lead To Heart Ailment

A recent study by Australian researchers has revealed that vigorous exercises can put a person’s heart at risk.

Andre La Gerche from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, who is one of the authors of the study, said: “This paper discusses the often questionable, incomplete and controversial science behind the emerging concern that high levels of intense exercise may be associated with some adverse health effects.”

“Given that this is a concern that affects such a large proportion of society, it is something that deserves investment. The lack of large prospective studies of persons engaged in high-volume and high-intensity exercise represents the biggest deficiency in the literature to date, and, although such work presents a logistical and financial challenge, many questions will remain controversies until such data emerge,” he added.

He said that all therapies, pharmacological or otherwise (such as exercise), have a dose-response relationship whereby benefits diminish at high doses and the risk of adverse events increase. 

Excessive high intensity cardio can develop enlargement of the heart that leads to something called diastolic dysfunction which can lead to heart failure. Intense endurance exercise may be 'cardio-toxic' and cause permanent structural changes in the heart. This, in turn, can leave some people more at risk of heart rhythm problems, medically known as arrhythmias. It is a medical condition in which the heartbeat of a person is irregular, too fast (above 100 beats per minute in adults), known as tachycardia, or too slow (below 60 beats per minute), known as bradycardia.

The study revealed that just like overdose of medicine can cause damage to the health, an overdose of exercise can also do the same.

Kansas Shooting: Four Dead Including Gunman

A gunman killed three and injured 14 more on Thursday, before being shot dead by the Kansas police.

Cops remained in a standoff with the gunman's roommate on Thursday night, several hours after the gunman was killed. They are not suspecting a terrorist motive behind the attack. He was an employee at a factory.

Sheriff T. Walton said the incident started around 5 p.m. at Newton. Two vehicles were shot at and one driver was hit. The injured was taken to the hospital for treatment. The second driver was not shot. The gunman was shooting from inside a separate vehicle. Walton said the shooter used a long gun, something like an assault rifle but he also had a pistol on him. He further added that the gunman was "actively shooting at any target that came into his sight". He concluded by saying that the shooter exchanged gunfire with law enforcement but was shot and killed by the first officer on the scene. Speaking about the brave police officer, Walton said: "Even though he took fire, he went inside that place and saved multiple, multiple lives. A hero as far as I'm concerned.” The FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were present at the scene.

Thursday’s attack comes less than a week after a man was charged with killing six people and wounding two others during a shooting rampage in Michigan. A number of mass shootings in the United States in recent times have elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the presidential election of 2016.

The Great Khali Severely Injured In Pro Wrestling Match

Former WWE wrestler The Great Khali suffered critical head injuries during a fight at a promotional event in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India on Wednesday.

The ace wrestler was hit by two foreign ones, Mike Knox and Brody Steel during the fight which resulted in him bleeding severely, after which he was rushed to the hospital. The doctors suspected that along with head injuries, the former World Heavyweight Champion has also suffered chest injuries. With the hospital incapable of providing adequate care, he was airlifted to Max Hospital in Dehradun. There he underwent CT Scans and received treatment for chest injuries.

A source close to the event said: “He was injured after being hit by Mike Knox and Brody Steel in the head and chest. The medical care in Haldwani wasn’t adequate so he was airlifted to Dehradun where he underwent further tests.”

Khali was in India to take part in an event to promote his wrestling competition Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE). The match took place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

Surender Rana, the younger brother of Khali, said: “He is fine now. Yes, he was hit in the head and chest during the event in Haldwani but luckily the situation is not bad. My brother is with him at the time and I am heading to Dehradun as well.”

The 7’1” wrestler is scheduled to be in the ring again on February 28 in Dehradun but that may change depending on his recovery.

Railway Budget 2016 – No Traction For Railway Sector Stocks

The stocks of a number of rail-related companies fell on Thursday after the Rail Budget 2016 failed to impress the investors on the revenue generation front and higher operating ratio.

The budget also resulted in the indices of broader market movement go down to 0.5-0.6 per cent. The stock prices of companies like Titagarh Wagons, Timken India, Texmaco Rail and Engineering, BEML, Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers), Hind Rectifiers, Stone India and Kernex Microsystems declined in the range of 2.2-11 per cent. Pankaj Sharma, who serves as the head of research at Equirus Securities said: “I am not excited about the Budget as no fresh idea or innovation was announced. Also, I feel the operating ratio for the next fiscal is definitely not achievable and it will cross 92 per cent.”

Market participants are viewing the Rail Budget as dull with no positive or immediate takeaways for the companies catering to the railways. However, the Budget did not bring bad news for every sector. Companies involved in electronic security products such as MIC Electronics and Zicom Electronic Security Systems, bucked the trend with the stocks ending with gains of 2.4-4.5 per cent. Bartronics is another stock which benefitted due to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s plan to use bar coded tickets on pilot basis at some stations. Their stocks closed at two per cent. Due to the fares not getting hiked, logistics companies Gateway Distiparks and Container Corporation of India also ended up in the range of 3-4 per cent. Thursday’s Rail Budget was the second one presented by Prabhu.

56 Indians In Forbes ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ List

On Thursday, Forbes revealed its inaugural list of ‘30 Under 30 Asia’, featuring 30 ‘promising young leaders and game changers’ in ten categories. A record number of 56 Indians were included among the 300 people in the categories of  ‘Arts’ (Art and Style, Food and Drink), ‘Manufacturing & Energy’, ‘Entertainment & Sports’, ‘Consumer Technology’, ‘Finance & Venture Capital’, ‘Enterprise Technology’, ‘Media & Marketing’; ‘Health Care & Science’, ‘Social Entrepreneurs’ and ‘Retail & Ecommerce’.

The list included people from India, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Pakistan, Vietnam and Australia. Tennis player Sania Mirza, badminton player Saina Nehwal, cricketer Virat Kohli, actor Shraddha Kapoor led the pack in the ‘Entertainment & Sports’ category . It also featured Arunima Sinha, the first female and first Indian amputee to climb Mt Everest; Chaitanya Tamhane, writer and film director and comedian Aditi Mittal.

The ‘Enterprise Technology’ category features Paras Chopra, founder and CEO of software company 'Wingify' and Dinesh Goel, founder and CEO of 'AasaanJobs', a jobs portal that specializes in entry-level work.

The ‘Retail & E-Commerce’ category features Raghav Verma, co-founder Indian tea chain ‘Chaayos’ with IIT-Mumbai alumnus Nitin Saluja; Mehul Agrawal, co-founder of automotive e-commerce site ‘Cars24’ and online furniture store ‘FabFurnish’; Kanika Tekriwal, co-founder and heads ‘JetSetGo’, an India-based private jet concierge service that links passengers to planes through an online marketplace and Ritesh Agarwal, founder and CEO of “disruptive hospitality business and app” ‘OYO Rooms’.

The ‘Arts’ category includes photographer Vicky Roy and Pooja Dhingra, owner and executive chef of 'Le15 Patisserie'.

The ‘Media & Marketing’ category includes Advait Gupt and Akshat Gupt, co-founders of 'Supari Studios', which produces content on the internet through live action and animated films and Sattvik Mishra, CEO of 'ScoopWhoop Media', an online news service for India.

The ‘Social Entrepreneurs’ category featured Faith Gonsalves, founder of  'Integrated Development Education Association'; Smriti Nagpal, founder and CEO of 'Atulyakala', an organization that commercializes products made by deaf designers such as bags, mugs and journals.

The ‘Finance & Venture Capital’ category includes Manju Bhatia, joint Managing Director of 'Vasuli Recovery', a loan recovery company that employs only female agents and Anshulika Dubey, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of 'Wishberry.in', India’s first crowd-funding platform for creative projects.

The ‘Healthcare & Science’ category features Arun Chandru, co-founder and managing director of 'Pandorum Technologies' that designs and makes human tissues for use in testing drugs and vaccines with limited animal trials and Neha Sinha, co-founder and CEO of 'Epoch Elder Care', which manages a chain of assisted living facilities for dementia care in India.

Chinmay Malaviya, co-founder and vice-president of 'Foodpanda', features in the Manufacturing & Energy category.

Service Charge On Card Payments Cleared

In a ground-breaking announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday approved withdrawal of surcharge, service charge and convenience fee on card and digital payments made online or otherwise for public services.

In what is seen as a step towards becoming a cashless economy, the Modi-led government also approved mandating payments beyond a prescribed threshold only through a card or digital mode. This move is believed by analysts as a process of curbing black money too. "The move aims at reducing cash transactions," the government said in a press release. The measures, which are speculated to get implemented within a year, will discourage cash payments beyond a threshold and promote digital payments by making such methods the most convenient and secure. "Several short term (to be implemented within one year) and medium term measures (to be implemented within two years) have been approved for implementation by the government ministries/departments/organizations," the government said.

India had over 21.4 million credit cards and more than 570 million debit cards in May 2015, compared to close to 20 million credit cards and 441 million debit cards in October 2014.

Although the payment system initiatives taken in the form of Electronic Clearing Service Scheme, National Electronic Funds Transfer, Real Time Gross Settlement Scheme have been impressive, the benefits of modern card and digital payment systems are yet to reach all sections of the society and be accepted across the country.

To facilitate all this, the government will introduce appropriate digital payment options across the organization.