Mumbai: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said India has accepted diversity and all Indians, when they go abroad, are known as Hindus. “We are all Hindus. There is diversity in the country, but when we go out of India, people (there) call us Hindus,” he said.

“There is no country in the world today whose basic thinking is that all people are their own. India is the only country which thinks so,” Bhagwat said, addressing a public meeting in the tribal Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra. He said India can teach the world how to solve global problems.

“Everything is in our hands,” Bhagwat said, speaking at the Satpura Hindu Convention organised by RSS. “The root of our culture lies in valleys, forests and agriculture. Till the time Lord Ram was in the palace at Ayodhya, he did not have the powers to kill Ravana. Ravana was killed with the powers Ram got by wandering around in forests and valleys,” Bhagwat said.

Speaking about India’s religious diversity, Bhagwat said all religions were accepted here. “To be together, it is not necessary to be alike,” the RSS chief said. “We are people of a country where we worship God in different forms. A Hindu is one who recognises that God. We have been respecting each other’s differences,” Bhagwat said.

Exuding optimism over the prospects of the TRS in the upcoming GHMC elections, TRS MP Kavitha said that Seemandhra people will vote for the TRS party as several of them have benefited from the TRS party’s welfare and development works in the state.

This is really a laughable statement! Exactly what are those welfare and developmental works taken up which have benefited the Seemandhras in Hyderabad? The only people who have benefited since the TRS has come to power are the members of the Kalavakuntla family.

There is absolutely no doubt that all this new found love for the Seemandhras is only with an eye on the GHMC elections. The TRS has already tried to delete the names of many Seemandhras from the electoral rolls apart from reserving wards along casteist lines. Now they are trying to woo them through their false show of friendship.

Perth: Having got himself into the groove with a half-century in a warm-up match, Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan asserted that the visitors are all geared up to give the Australians a tough fight during the upcoming limited-overs series. Dhawan, who was in woeful form during the home series against South Africa late last year, smashed 74 off 44 balls as the tourists defeated Western Australia XI by 74 runs here.

“It was a good time to get into the groove with another batsman and good to get a 100-run partnership before the main matches starts. Whatever we needed out of this practice game, we got it, so we are happy about that,” Dhawan was quoted as saying by the Australia media on Saturday. “Of course we are quite pumped up and we are preparing well. We are just going to keep working hard and keep ourselves calm and focused for the matches to come. Even if they were there still we would have still done what we have to do. We just focus on what we have to do and whatever we are going to face over the coming matches from their side, we are going to take it as it comes,” he added.

The Indian bowlers also did well with left-arm spinners Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja the pick of the lot, notching up identical figures of 2/13 from three overs. More importantly, uncapped fast bowler Barinder Singh Sran showed promise, recovering from a nervous start to pick up two top order wickets in his first match on Australian soil. Dhawan was impressed with Sran’s performance and felt that the 23-year-old from Punjab has brightened his chances of making his international debut during the tour.

“I feel it was a great boost for him, getting wickets at his first practice game. He’s going to get (more) mature and he’s going to get experience. He looks very fit and strong and a very good prospect for the Indian team,” Dhawan said. The Indians are due to play five One Day Internationals and three Twenty20s during their Australia tour.

New Delhi: The central government on Thursday approved assistance of Rs.791 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund in drought relief to Telangana.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level committee meeting here in which suggestions given by a central team that visited Telangana were discussed, an official release said.

“The committee examined the proposal based on the team’s report. The meeting approved the assistance from the fund to the tune of Rs.791 crore to Telangana,” it said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officials attended the meeting.

Hyderabad: The government while dealing with Pakistan should not forget that the neighbouring country has been a “rogue and a repeated offender” in its engagement with India, Congress MP and former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhary said here today. “It’s not a matter of us (Congress) taking a stand at this point when talks are already happening. Let it not ever be said that we have opposed this. If there is a positive result for this that comes out of these outcomes, so be it.

“But, I think somewhere the government has to take cognisance of the fact that Pakistan has always been a rogue and a repeat offender,” she told reporters. Noting that a lot of patience is required in waiting to see results from Pakistan in taking concrete steps towards improving relations with India, she said the government should remember that Pakistan says something and does something else. “It takes a lot of patience for us to wait for some results that come. The government has to have better understanding of how Pakistan says something and does something else,” she said.

Choudhary said Pakistan cannot be appreciated at this juncture as it is not clear whether JeM chief and dreaded terrorist Masood Azhar has been arrested or not. “Like I said, Pakistan says something and does something else, we don’t have enough evidence to say that he (Azhar) has been detained. Let’s see what comes out of all this now. But it is premature for us to sit back and say that they are doing some great things,” she said. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy said the Army calls the shots in Pakistan as democracy is not strong in that country.

“This is a process that is going on. I do not want to comment on that. What I understand about Pakistan, there is lot of pressure from America. After some pressure, something should happen. But it is wrong to have any expectation from Pakistan. “Nawaz Sharif does not have much importance there. Army’s writ runs there. American pressure is there on the Army, as per international channels,” Reddy said. It is better for India to engage with Pakistan as the latter does have a nuclear bomb, he said. “There is no government in Pakistan. Army is the government. We do not know whose word we can trust there. We should have friendship with Pakistan. We cannot fight a war. We have to talk. But, democracy in Pakistan is not as strong as it is in our country,” Reddy said.

Meanwhile, Choudhary expressed anguish over the reported rape and subsequent suicide of a woman in UP after the incident was circulated on a social media platform. The young Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh (Akhilesh Yadav) should take action against the perpetrators of the incident and those who circulated it on social media, she said.

Steaming up the airfare wars, India’s biggest carrier, IndiGo has announced special fares as low as Rs. 806 (all-inclusive) on domestic flights.

As per the offer, the bookings will remain open from January 13 to January 15, 2016 and the travel must be commenced and completed between February 3, 2016 and April 12, 2016. Sources say, the sharp fall in aviation fuel might be the reason for a drop in airfares.

Earlier, many domestic air carriers have come up with several discount offers to lure in their customers. The budget carrier GoAir offered fares as low as Rs. 601 as part of a promotional offer. SpiceJet put on sale many seats with fares starting as low as Rs. 716 (excluding taxes) as part of its ‘New Year Sale’.

Budget air-taxi AirAsia India also offered tickets as low as Rs. 899 (all inclusive) as part of its New Year promotional scheme.Last year domestic flights carried at least 610 passengers to and fro, marking a 20 percent jump compared to the previous years.

In a bid to prevent harm to animals and the environment, The Telangana government on Wednesday issued a complete ban on the procurement, sale and use of the nylon threads, also known as ‘Chinese manja’, during the Makar Sankranthi festival. Along with this the usage of non-biodegradable or the synthetic threads coated with glass is also banned, as it can cause injuries.

The decision of banning came into effect only after many efforts were undertaken by the animal rights activists, the Forest Department officials and Telangana State Biodiversity Board (TSBDB).

The government has even informed all the states about the possible threat to birds due to the manja and has requested them to take an appropriate action. The government further noted that materials used in making manja can be harmful to the waters and soil because it is non-recyclable.

“The ban is definitely going to make a positive difference in protecting birds. Made up of nylon and coated with glass, Chinese manja is extremely durable, sharp and easily cuts through the wings of birds, leaving most injured birds to suffer and die,” said campaign manager, Humane Society International, C. Samyukta.