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Asom Gana Parishad, BJP's  Assam Assembly elections 2016 , today announced the first list of its 25 candidates for the hustings including the names of former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, former ministers and its president Atul Bora. The regional party will also be announcing shortly the names of other candidates in those constituencies where it will have friendly contests with the BJP, AGP president Atul Bora told reporters here. Read more from our special coverage on " ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS " Polling in five states in April-May; Bengal will vote on seven days Letters:  Alliance pros and cons Among the 25 contestants are former two-time chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta (Barhampur), ex-ministers Brindaban Goswami (Tezpur), Renupama Rajkhowa (Teok), Pradeep Hazarika (Amguri), Pabindra Deka (Patacharkuchi), Dr Kamala Kanta Kalita (Chaygaon), Ramendra Narayan Kalita (Guwahati West), Bora said. The others in the list include sitting MLAs Binod Gowala

Like his father before him, Dattatatraya Kshirsagar, 80, has been looking forward for years to the day when a $65 million dam will be completed in his village, an hour-and-a-half drive southeast of Mumbai. The dam would supply enough water to irrigate 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of parched land around it, including Kshirsagar's 2.5-hectare family farm in Kondhane village. A steady water supply, instead of reliance on seasonal monsoon rains, would allow him to switch to cash crops and reap three harvests a year, instead of one now, Kshirsagar said. Read our full coverage on Union   Budget   2016 Read more from our special coverage on "NARENDRA MODI" Prime Minister to inaugurate agri fair Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar bonhomie is reflection of Team India: BJP Narendra Modi  slams Congress in Bihar, lauds Nitish Kumar Using technology will improve court judgements: Modi Narendra Modi pitches for further quota reforms at IMF Kshirsagar's family ha

Assam Assembly Elections   : Different permutation When chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was asked ahead of the 2011 Assembly Elections whether the Congress was considering an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), he famously answered: "Ajmal who?" So far, there seems little chance of a Congress-AIUDF alliance. If they had tied up, the Congress might have lost some ground but it would have been a formidable force. Instead, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is going on an alliance spree - it has tied up with the Asom Gana Parishad, the Bodoland People's Front (BPF) and some other independents. As alliances go, the BJP's is a strong one. In the previous Assembly's tenure, the BPF had supported the Gogoi government till 2014. After the riots in Kokrajhar, an area controlled by BPF, the party began to get uneasy. It lost Kokrajhar in the Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and since then, a section of the Bodo leadershi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Reserve Bank of India have launched a probe into the transfer of Rs 4,000 crore from United Spirits Ltd (USL) to the British Virgin Islands in early 2007 by the company before it was taken over by Diageo in 2012. A probe into the transfer was first ordered by a division Bench of the Karnataka High Court on December 20, 2013, Show full article

Should Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, known for his unconventional views and infallible belief in saving the environment have been on the same stage as Sri Sri Ravishankar whose  Art of Living   function got him a fine from the National Green Tribunal (NGT)? Kejriwal’s presence and his warmth towards “pujya guruji” has disappointed many followers. Others just shrug. After all, Kejriwal and Sri Sri have a history that cannot be forgotten. Show full article

HDFC Bank “has got no love and respect for India” as it put the country's reputation at stake by not activating a debit card of a couple “trapped in a foreign country”, the apex consumer court has said. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) made the observations while asking the bank to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the Indian couple, who were stuck in Thailand and Singapore as the bank did not activate their debit card for 10 days in 2008. Show full article Read more from our special coverage on "HDFC BANK" ICICI Bank serves notice on HDFC Banks HR head

Bankers cannot escape blame for the bad-loan mess at Kingfisher Airlines. Why did they fund Vijay Mallya’s never financially solvent airline? Kingfisher’s gross block (investment in fixed assets) was always a fraction of its total debt and the gap widened with each passing year (see chart). Thus, the banks never had the option to sell its assets and recover their dues in a default. Compare it to the amount of documentation and collateral that banks ask from individual borrowers. Show full article

Amid a raging row at JNU, it has now emerged that its students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who is facing sedition charge, was fined by the varsity administration last year for allegedly "misbehaving" with a girl student and "threatening" her. The incident had occurred on June 10, 2015, when the girl student asked Kanhaiya, who at the time was not the students' union president, to not urinate in the open inside the campus. Show full article Read more from our special coverage on " JNU  ROW" Case against  Kanhaiya Kumar  for objectionable statement against army personnel Arun Jaitley responds to Rahul attack, says time to shed disruptive politics Ive been getting threat calls because of my reportage on JNU row: Barkha Dutt Did you check facts before making the speech, JNU prof asks Kanhaiya JNU row: Kanhaiya to lead the azadi movement for Umar, Anirban

If sources are to be believed, then the first official teaser of S. S. Rajamouli's magnum opus 'Baahubali 2' may be released this Dussera. Nothing has been confirmed in this regard. The makers have yet to comment on the news. However, it is needless to say that if this happens, it will be a great gift, not only for the movie buffs, but also for all those who are eagerly awaiting its release. Show full article

Industrialist Vijay Mallya today came out in defence of his decision to go abroad, stating that he had not fled from India.  Rubbishing claims that he had absconded from India, Mallya said that as an international businessman, he travels a lot to and fro from India. ALSO READ:  Mallya showed zero debt in Rajya Sabha affidavit   Show full Article  Tweets by Vijay Mallya

Serving and retired army personnel and other concerned citizens have protested at the use of army engineers and combat equipment in building two pontoon bridges over the  Yamuna  river for a three-day World Culture Festival (WCF) being organised from March 11-13 on the river’s floodplain in Delhi. Separately, the  National  Green Tribunal (NGT) has expressed concern over the impact of hundreds of thousands of visitors and large structures on the fragile Yamuna bed and the flora and fauna that inhabit it. The NGT is expected to rule on this on Wednesday. coverage on "SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR" Environment ministry fails to file affidavit at NGT in the Art of Living case Appeal to all parties to not politicize event: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar NGT to resume hearing today on Sri Sris mega event Permissions given to Sri Sri Ravi Shankars Art of Living mega event were vague Sri Sri defends mega event, says eco stability preserved during preparations

InMobi, a fledgling mobile ad network back in 2011, was out in the market to raise $25 million when Japanese investor  Softbank  decided to sink $200 million for a 35 per cent stake in the company. The firm jumped at the opportunity, took the money, and expanded rapidly. Three years later, in 2014, Softbank wrote down a majority of its investment. BACK TO BASICS 92%  VCs believe valuations for series B, C and D rounds will drop 62%  investors believe exit valuations will come down this year 92%  believe more strategic investors will do deals this year 46%  VCs believe that there will be increased focus on profitability this year 70%  VCs believe the seed stage will see the most activity in the current year Source: VCCircle PE-VC Outlook Survey 2016 Show full article

Five serving and former executives of the IDBI Bank, mentioned in a probe report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over a Rs 950-crore loan sanctioned to Kingfisher Airlines in 2009. Yogesh Agarwal, the then chairman and managing director of IDBI Bank, and four other executives who were members of the credit committee, B K Batra, O V Bundellu, R Bansal and S K V Srinivasan, have been named by the CBI. Show full article

The  Supreme Court  on Wednesday issued notice to  Vijay Mallya   on  petition  of consortium of banks seeking disclosure of his  assets  and seizure of passport. This followed a statement by the government's top lawyer,  Attorney General  Mukul Rohatgi   who informed the court that Mallya left the country on March 2.  The apex court has given Mallya two weeks to respond to the notice. The next hearing has been scheduled for March 30. Show full article

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday announced he was withdrawing a controversial Budget proposal to tax 60% of EPF balances at the time of withdrawal. He also withdrew another proposal to tax  contribution made by an employer beyond Rs 1.5 lakh a year.  However, the proposal to not tax 40 per cent of money withdrawn from national pension system stays.  Earlier, he had said only 40% of the total accumulated EPF balance would be tax-free.  Read our full coverage on Union Budget 2016 Show full article Read more from our special coverage on "EPF" Congress protests for withdrawal of EPF tax proposal PM Modi asks Jaitley to reconsider taxing part of EPF withdrawals, say sources EPF row: Nitish slams Centre, says financial future of youth in jeopardy FM to clarify position on EPF withdrawals in Parliament soon Rahul demands rollback of proposed EPF withdrawal tax