Committed to provide stability: New Arunachal CM

Itanagar, Feb 20:  "We are committed to providing stability," said new Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul after a combined Congress-BJP government was sworn in late on Friday following 24 days of president's rule. The step comes after the Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the decks for the revocation of president's rule in the state as it vacated its order of maintaining status quo passed on Wednesday.

The central government had on Wednesday recommended that president's rule be lifted from the state. The decision was, however, held back in the wake of the apex court's status quo order. "We are committed to providing stability and working for the overall development of Arunachal Pradesh with utmost sincerity," Pul told IANS after being sworn in as the ninth chief minister. Governor J.P. Rajkhowa administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 47-year-old Pul at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan, marking the historic coalition government involving the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP, which has 11 members in the 60-member House Arunachal assembly, is extending outside support to Pul. Two Independent legislators are also supporting the 19 rebel Congress legislators. But sources close to the rebel Congress camp claimed that nine Tuki's loyalists are also set to shift their allegiance to Pul. While former chief minister Mukut Mithi, also a Rajya Sabha member from Arunachal, was present in the ceremony, Nabam Tuki and his loyalists skipped the event. However, Congress general secretary in-charge V. Narayanasamy described the formation of the new government as "highly illegal" and "unconstitutional" since Pul had not been elected as leader of the Congress Legislature Party. "This political development in Arunachal Pradesh has proven that the BJP government was involved in destabilising the Congress government which has the mandate of the people," the veteran Congress leader told IANS. "The Congress cannot take the support of the BJP in forming a government. We don't subscribe to the BJP's ideology and therefore, the new government cannot be a Congress government," he said. However, Pasang Dorjee Sona, one of the 19 rebel Congress legislators, held Narayanasamy responsible for the political mess in the state. "It was Congress leader Narayanasamy, in-charge of party affairs in the state, who is responsible for the political mess in the state. He never allowed us to meet and share our grievances with Congress president and vice-president," Pasang told IANS. "We have to work with the BJP in the interest of the people of the state and governance has nothing to do with political ideology. Good governance and the development of the state come first," Pasang said. Arunachal Pradesh BJP President Tai Tagak told IANS: "We have been playing a constructive role in the opposition and our duty is to protect the interest of the people and development of the state. "We are extending outside support to the rebel Congress since we wanted a popular government to be in place and to serve our people and to ensure development." The BJP leader also blamed the Congress leaders in New Delhi for the political mess that forced the central government to enforced the president's rule in the state. "It is their own legislators who have revolted against Tuki for his FINANCIALmismanagement and corruption. They (congress leaders) should have resolved their internal problem but when the situation goes out of their hand how can they blamed the BJP for it," Tagak said

IANS

Source: India One

Multiple videos of Kanhaiya Kumar raising incendiary slogans unspool a mystery

As it emerged that a video showing Jawaharlal Nehru University Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar raising incendiary slogans was allegedly a doctored one, larger questions are being asked of television channels and their decision to broadcast it without verifying the content.

At last count, four videos are in circulation. The News Broadcasting Authority of India, headed by retired judge K.T. Raveendran, says its members would look into the matter and if necessary, take action.

An FIR registered by the Delhi Police on February 11 says the Zee News channel broadcast a video on February 10 showing some JNU students raising anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. However, the FIR nowhere mentions Kanhaiya’s involvement. Later, the Delhi Police, in a status report to the Home Ministry, accused the activists of the Democratic Students’ Front, the All India Students’ Federation, of which Kanhaiya is a member, the Students’ Federation of India and the All India Students Union of being part of the gathering where seditious slogans were raised.

A week later, on February 17, in another channel, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra showed a video playing on his iPad, as proof of anti-India slogans raised on the JNU campus.

Three more channels aired the video.

Times Now clarified that it had aired the video and Mr. Patra’s claim and had added caveats about the need for verifying the contents of the video. “Arnab Goswami [anchor] is heard telling Sambit that the video needs to be verified,” channel sources said.

The emergence of a new video clip on Thursday morning on some news channels challenged the authenticity of one aired on February 10.

Keywords: JNU, Kanhaiya Kumar

Source: The hindu 

Supreme Court vacates status quo in Arunachal

The Supreme Court on Thursday vacated its order to maintain status quo in crisis-ridden Arunachal Pradesh, which may pave the way for government formation by rebel Congress MLAs with the support of BJP lawmakers.

Referring to the Gauhati High Court order staying the disqualification of 14 rebel MLAs, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice J.S. Khehar said, “It does not call for any interference.”

The Bench, which also perused the records summoned from Gauhati High Court pertaining to disqualification of the rebel legislators, said it was “prima facie” satisfied with the High Court order and not inclined to interfere with it.

“Prima facie we are not inclined to interfere with the High Court order, we are satisfied with it. Having seen the original records which are put before us by the Registrar-General of the Gauhati High Court, the order of January 7 calls for no interference at this stage.”

“Accordingly, the ad-interim order passed is vacated,” the Bench also comprising Justices Dipak Misra, M.B. Lokur, P.C. Ghose and N.V. Ramana said.

Senior Advocate Fali S Nariman opposed the order and said until the Gauhati High Court decided the matter, some conditions might be imposed.

Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi opposed the contention of Mr. Nariman and said the matter was settled and no conditions should be imposed.

Mr. Nariman opposed his presence in the matter and asked “what is Union government doing in this case.”

To this, Mr. Rohatgi said “I will explain everything. I am here because the injunction had come in between the revocation of President’s rule in the State.”

The Bench then said the injunction of status quo was consciously passed by it to prevent the situation from going out of hand till it was satisfied by the facts of the case.

The Bench also transferred the case regarding disqualification of the 14 rebel MLAs from the single judge to the Division Bench of the High Court and asked it to expeditiously decide the matter within two weeks. — PTI

Source:- The Hindu, 19-Feb-2016

Hidden Secrets About The Taj Mahal

BBC says about Taj Mahal---Hidden Truth - Never say it is a Tomb – The Old Hindu Temple

Taj Mahal is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is famous for its beauty and aesthetic. Taj Mahal is a symbol of love, as it is said to be built by the king Shah Jahan for his beloved wife Mumtaz . Taj Mahal is supposedly a tomb built for Mumtaz after her death. There are many stories of Taj Mahal, which portray the hard work and dedication of a lot of people who were involved in building it.
But, there are many speculation theories regarding Taj Mahal. A few historians and researchers do not accept the romantic love story of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal. In this article we shall discuss a few hidden secrets of Taj Mahal which will shock you. These secrets do question the historical description of Taj Mahal.



1.Not built by Shah Jahan – The most horrifying secret of Taj Mahal is that it was built much before Shah Jahan reigned Agra. According to the book The true story of Taj Mahal, the fort was originally a temple of Lord Shiva built by the early Rajputs of Agra. The temple was then conquered by Shah Jahan when he won a battle against the Rajputs. This is a very challenging secret of Taj Mahal which is not yet given any authenticity by any government bodies. 2.The Secret Rooms – Taj Mahal, like any historic fort, has many secret passages and rooms. There are many rooms in the fort or tomb, these are supposedly kept closed since the time of Shah Jahan. According to researchers, these rooms contain proof that the tomb was a temple of Lord Shiva. Some also say that one of the rooms contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva. Whatever the truth is, but this is a very mystery filled secret of Taj Mahal. 3.Government of India know? – It is said that the government of India put a ban on the further research of the existence of Taj Mahal. The government has also put a ban on the book The Truth of Taj Mahal. The Government has not let anybody open the sealed rooms fearing communal problems. 4.The Water Outlet – There is a small stream of water in the Taj Mahal which flows out of nowhere. The source of the stream is not visible. According to researchers, the stream is from the very same source which poured water on the Shivlinga when the Muslim tomb was actually a Hindu temple. This is one of the most thrilling hidden secrets of Taj Mahal. There are many such secrets which raise a question on the identity of the tomb.


Source : Multiple of sites

Website issues plague Ringing Bells' Rs 251 Freedom 251 smartphone launch

New Delhi: On Wednesday, Indian Telecom company Ringing Bells launched its new smartphone - Freedom 251 - which is touted as the world's cheapest phone with a price of just Rs 251.

Other than its iPhone-like similarities nothing seems to be well with the ridiculously inexpensive smartphone.

Although the company says that the phone's delivery will be completed four months later - by June 30, 2016 - the pre-booking, in this case, is still inaccessible to users.

The phone can be booked online through a dedicated website freedom251.com by Ringing Bells between 6 am and 8 pm from February 18 to February 21. Upon clicking the 'Buy Now' option on the homepage, the site asks users to fill in the quantity and give out the shipping address and other related details. The company is charging Rs 40 per unit for shipping the device taking the total cost to Rs 291.

However, once the user fills in the details and hits 'Pay Now', the site redirects the user to the same buy now page with blank columns for shipping address or a completely blank page.

Although the company says that the phone's delivery will be completed four months later - by June 30, 2016 - the pre-booking, in this case, is still inaccessible to users.

Prior to the launch of the Rs 251 smartphone, the mobile industry body ICA expressed serious concerns over the launch of the smartphone and have written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to get into depth of the issue, saying the rate could not be below Rs 3,500 even after a subsidised sale.

The phone comes with a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) IPS display, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front camera, 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB of internal storage with SD card support, 1450 mAh battery, and Android 5.1 Lollipop OS.

To book your phone : http://freedom251.com

Sedition charge against Kanhaiya Kumar may be dropped

Police do not have evidence to back their claim that the JNU student leader was shouting anti-national slogans, says a senior official.

A lawyer, who supported the JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, is being attacked by other lawyers outside a Delhi court on Wednesday.

A senior Home Ministry official indicated on Wednesday that the Delhi Police may have to drop the sedition charges against Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar because they did not have evidence to back their claim that he was shouting anti-national slogans.

Though Delhi Police Commissioner B.S Bassi claimed they did have enough evidence, the Home Ministry official said the Delhi Police had once again written to television channels seeking raw footage of the event on February 9.

“There is some video footage available with the police, but the audio component is missing. It is not clear whether Kanhaiya actually shouted anti-national slogans. If there is no evidence, then the Delhi Police will have to drop the sedition charge when the charge sheet is filed,” the official said.

According to officials, the video footage of the event was made available to news channels by certain students.

Only a couple of TV channels were present at the event.

The FIR filed by the Delhi Police says a police team was present when two groups of students were leading a march at the JNU. According to the standard operating procedure, it is mandatory for the police to record any protest or gathering where they perceive trouble.

The official said the metropolitan magistrate did not have the power to grant bail in cases of sedition. If Kanhaiya wants to apply for bail, his lawyer would have to approach the sessions court.

Jadavpur varsity incident

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said on Wednesday that a report had been sought from the West Bengal government after a similar incident was reported at Jadavpur University in Kolkata.

On Wednesday’s violence at the Patiala House Courts, Mr. Mehrishi said action would be taken against anyone violating the law.

“I have spoken to the Delhi Police Commissioner and asked him to send a detailed report today itself,” he said.

As for the attack on media persons on Monday, Mr. Mehrishi said an investigation was on and two FIRs had been registered.

Source: The Hindu

Keywords: JNU, Sedition, Kanhaiya Kumar

Swift’s 1989 reigns at 2016 Grammys

The 58th annual Grammy Awards on Monday celebrated a young generation of chart-dominating pop stars, with Taylor Swift winning album of the year for “1989” and Kendrick Lamar sweeping the rap categories, even as the show devoted much of its airtime to lionizing musical heroes of decades past.

Although Swift had been nominated for all of the most prestigious categories, the top awards were split fairly evenly among a crop of young stars. Mark Ronson won record of the year for “Uptown Funk,” the upbeat, retro dance song featuring Bruno Mars that dominated radio last year and that they played at the Super Bowl. Ed Sheeran, the cherubic British singer-songwriter, won song of the year for his soul-inflected ballad “Thinking Out Loud,” sharing the prize with his co-writer, Amy Wadge.

And Kendrick Lamar, the rapper whose complex songs about black identity and racial strife have dazzled critics and become touchstones of the Black Lives Matter movement, took a total of five prizes and delivered a confrontational medley of his songs “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright.”

Accepting her trophy for album of the year, Swift said she was the first woman to win the prize twice and made a statement that was a firm affirmation of her own celebrity, as well as what many viewers interpreted as a response to Kanye West, who recently released lyrics referencing their on-and-off feud.

“All the young women out there,” she said, “there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.” “If you just focus on the work,” Swift continued, “and don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday you will get where you are going. You’ll look around, and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world.”

Source:- The Hindu, 17-Feb-2016

8.8% interest proposed on EPF

Even as the Finance Ministry decided to pare interest rates on several small savings schemes to foster a lower interest rate regime, the board of trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday recommended an 8.80 per cent rate of return on Rs.10 lakh crore of retirement savings under its watch for 2015-16.

Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya who announced the decision on Tuesday after a meeting of the EPFO board in Chennai, however, said this rate was meant as “interim relief” for workers and the board would meet again later to discuss the possibility of a further interest rate hike.

Trade unions not happy

Although the rate for this year is a notch higher than the 8.75 per cent paid out in 2014-15, trade unions were disappointed as the Finance and Investment panel of the EPFO board had earlier recommended a higher interest of 8.95 per cent on EPF savings.

The EPFO had earlier proposed 8.90 per cent as rate of interest to the Labour Ministry and suggested taking an in-principle approval from the Finance Ministry.

However, the Finance Ministry that has decided to moderate the returns on small savings instruments from April 1, 2016, wanted the EPF rate to fall in tandem. The EPFO Board’s proposal would be vetted and ratified by the Finance Ministry, so it could still overrule the 8.80 per cent rate recommendation.

“We had last time given 8.75 per cent and this time, seeing the situation, we are declaring 8.8 per cent for the workers,” he told reporters after the meeting. There are as many as 8.5 crore EPF accounts.

“We have strongly protested the move to declare the rate of interest at 8.80 per cent in the board meeting today. The Board’s Financial and Investment panel had recommended 8.95 per cent interest that would have left a surplus of Rs. 91 crore,” said Prabhakar Banasure, a member of the Financial, Investment and Audit Committee (FIAC) of the EPFO who was present in the board meeting.

“This is unacceptable. In the past, the Board always adopted the recommendations of the FIAC. We asked the Minister to wait for the audit of the 2015-16 balance sheet before declaring the interest rates. However, he didn’t agree,” he added.

Data that may be helpful:

Important Points:

•  The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (abbreviated to EPFO), is a statutory body of the Government of India under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It administers a compulsory contributory Provident Fund Scheme, Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme

Source:- The Hindu, 17-Feb-2016

SC asks RBI to give list of defaulters of over Rs. 500 cr.

The Supreme Court today directed the RBI to provide a list of companies, which had defaulted bank loans of over Rs. 500 crore while expressing serious concern over the rise in bad loans.

A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur asked for the list of loan defaulters to be placed before it in a sealed cover within six weeks.

The bench, also comprising Justices U.U. Lalit and R. Banumathi, wanted to know how the state-owned banks and financial institutions were advancing large-scale loans without proper guidelines and whether there was adequate mechanism to recover them.

The court made RBI party to a PIL filed in 2005 by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, in which it has raised the issue of loans advanced to some companies by state-owned HUDCO.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, submitted that about Rs. 40,000 crore of corporate debt was written off in 2015.

His submission evoked response from the bench which said that bad debts were plaguing the public sector banks. — PTI

Source:- the Hindu, 17-Feb-2016

Siachen braveheart laid to rest in Satara

Satara district in western Maharashtra on Tuesday bid adieu to its braveheart, Sepoy nursing assistant, Sunil Suryawanshi of the 19 Madras Regiment, who was among the 10 soldiers killed in an avalanche on the Siachen glacier. The last rites were performed with full military honours.

Thousands of mourners congregated to pay their last respects at the tiny village of Mhaskarwadi, where Suryawanshi was born.

Two months ago, the district witnessed the funeral of Col. Santosh Mahadik, commanding officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, who died fighting militants in Kashmir.

Suryawanshi (25) is survived by his parents, his wife Rekha and his one-year-old daughter Tanuja.

“He considered his posting at Siachen a dream one, as he loved the rugged outdoors and the mountains,” recalled his mother Sangita. Son of poor farmers, Suryawanshi was recruited as a Sepoy in 2012 while he was only in his second year of graduation.

“It would have been our third marriage anniversary last Sunday. And our daughter is having her birthday on February 19. We were looking forward to these,” said Ms. Rekha.

Source:- The Hindu, 17-Feb-2016

Captive flight trials of anti-radiation missile soon

Captive flight trials of an advanced, state-of-the-art Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) are planned for April-May this year, and the maiden flight test by year-end by the missile technologists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The air-to-surface tactical missile being developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) will target the enemy’s air defence capabilities by attacking radars and communication facilities.

The range of the missile is 100 to 125 km and it will be mounted on combat aircraft Sukhoi (Su-30) and Tejas-Light Combat Aircraft.

The missile picks up the radiation or signals of radars and communication facilities and homes on to the targets to destroy them.

According to DRDO sources, scientists will evaluate the performance of the seeker, navigation and control system, structural capability and aerodynamic vibrations during the captive flight trials. These will be followed by ground testing and the missile will be fired from Su-30 during the actual flight trial by year-end. Instead of thrust propulsion, the missile uses dual pulse propulsion system as in the case of LR-SAM. The dual pulse propulsion will widen the envelope as well as the engagement capability of the missile. After coasting the missile for the required duration by firing the first pulse, the second pulse will be initiated just before interception of the target or during the terminal phase, the sources added.

The entire missile is being developed indigenously, including the seeker. The missile will be inducted in about two years after conducting a number of developmental trials.

Only a few countries, including the U.S. and Germany, have ARMs at present, the sources added.

The dual pulse propulsion system could be configured with other air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the induction of LR-SAM (Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile), jointly developed by India and Israel, will begin September-October this year. It was successfully test-fired from INS Kolkata to intercept an aerial target last year and the missile is slated to be launched from warships, INS Kochi and INS Chennai, for similar trials later this year.

Data that may be helpful:

Important Points:

• An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be targeted in this manner.
• The Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat supermaneuverable fighter aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction mission.
•  The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multi-role light fighter developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. It is a tailless, compound delta wing design powered by a single engine. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. Later, the LCA was officially named "Tejas", meaning "Radiant" by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
• LRSAM :- Long-range surface-to-air missile
• indigenously:- native 

Did Shakespeare have a secret son?

William Shakespeare may have had an illegitimate son for whom the legendary bard penned(write or compose) a sonnet(a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line), a new book has claimed.

Sonnet 126, addressed to “my lovely boy”, was written for the infant William Davenant, who grew up to be Poet Laureate.

A comparison of both men’s portraits shows they suffered from the same facial deformity around the eye.

The case is made in Shakespeare’s Bastard , a rare biography of Davenant, a theatrical impresario and Royalist general in the Civil War, that will be published to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death, The Times reported.

The author, Simon Andrew Stirling, says contemporary rumours that Shakespeare was Davenant’s father were suppressed by academics who wanted to portray the playwright as a paragon of virtue. Shakespeare was the child’s godfather.

Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son with his wife Anne Hathaway, had died some years earlier when only 11. The couple had two daughters who lived to marry.

The mother of his illegitimate boy was Jane Davenant, a tavern mistress whose husband John, a “grave melancholy man”, worked in the wine trade.

Records suggest that the Davenants’ first seven children died young in London. The couple then moved to Tattleton’s House, near Lincoln College, Oxford, where they raised another seven children, all reaching adulthood. The husband became mayor of the city.

Sonnet 126 has often been suggested to be a homoerotic love poem.

It begins, “O Thou my lovely Boy who in thy power, Doest hold times fickle glasse, his sickle, hour: Who hast by wayning grown.”

The mistaken gay theme may be explained because the poem comes at the end of a sequence known as the ‘Fair Youth’ sonnets which are understood by scholars to refer to a homosexual passion between Shakespeare and the Earl of Southampton.

Mr. Stirling notes that the pair appeared to have gone their separate ways in 1594. Three of the sonnets are known to have been written in 1603 and 1604, by which time Southampton was heading into his thirties.

“Coming so soon after two sonnets composed in 1604,” Mr. Stirling writes, “it would be rash to presume that the ‘lovely Boy’ of Sonnet 126 was the mature Earl of Southampton.

The poem appears to have been written to a very young child whose birth caused his mother’s full-moon belly to wane.” William Davenant was born in 1606.

Two carvings and an engraving of the Bard and two pictures of Davenant indicate they shared the same inherited deformity of a droopy left eyebrow, according to Mr. Stirling.

Data that may be helpful:

Meanings

• penned:- write or compose
• sonnets:- poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line 

Source:- The Hindu, 17-Feb-2016 

Aamir to promote flagship water scheme

Faced with an increased risk of seasonal drought and subsequent suicide by thousands of farmers every year, the Maharashtra government has roped in actor Aamir Khan to promote its flagship(the best or most important thing owned or produced by a particular organization) schemes in the sector of water and scarcity.

The actor is likely to be associated with the government’s ‘Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan’, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ flagship scheme, to make Maharashtra a drought-free State by 2019. The programme aims to make 5,000 villages free of water scarcity every year. Mr. Fadnavis is likely to make an announcement in the regard along with the actor on Wednesday.

Mr. Khan, who has been at the centre of a controversy over his comments on intolerance, is lately seen working closely with the Bharatiya Janta Party leadership in Maharashtra.

Last Saturday, he attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the Make in India Week at the National Sports Club of India, while on Sunday he was getting ready to recite a Marathi poem composed by the 13th century saint Dnyaneshwar at the Maharashtra Night event at Girgaum Chowpatty before fire engulfed the stage, and the programme had to be halted. Refusing to divulge(make known) details on the latest initiative, the actor told The Hindu : “It is something I have been working on for a year now.” Mr. Fadnavis told The Hindu the actor’s role will be specifically restricted to the Jal Yukt Shivar for the time being. “As of now he would not be promoting other sectors, only the Jalyukt Shivar scheme,” the Chief Minister said. Senior officials said the actor would be asked to promote use of micro-irrigation system for efficient use of water, thereby increasing the irrigated area in the drought-prone regions. The government has allocated Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme. The aim, officials said, is to arrest the alarming number of farmer suicides in the drought-prone regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada. In the January-October 2015 period, 2,590 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra, the highest since 2001.

According to an estimate, both regions have suffered drought with a water deficit ranging from 20-40 percent in 2014 and 2015. “The ground water level, too, has fallen drastically in these regions. Having somebody socially-oriented like Amir Khan to promote these causes, would not only give it wider reach but also take the message across to a broader audience both in rural and urban Maharashtra,” said a senior State government official.

Data that may be helpful:

Meanings:

• flagship:- the best or most important thing owned or produced by a particular organization
• divulge:- make known

 Important Points: 

• Maharashtra government has launched the project "Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyaan" in a bid to make Maharashtra a drought-free state by 2019. The project involves deepening and widening of streams, construction of cement and earthen stop dams, work on nullahs and digging of farm ponds.  

Source:- The Hindu,  17-Feb-2016