PM launches 2 customer centric initiatives of RBI

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PM launches 2 customer centric initiatives of RBI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched two innovative customer centric initiatives of the RBI — Retail Direct Scheme and the Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.

Addressing the event via video conference, the Prime Minister said that these schemes, will expand the scope of investment in the country along with making capital markets easily accessible and more secure for investors.

The Retail Direct Scheme has given small investors in the country a simple and safe medium of investment in government securities, he said.

Similarly, he cited the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme as giving a shape to the ‘One Nation, One Ombudsman System’ in the banking sector.

Besides, the Prime Minister emphasised the citizen centric nature of these schemes.

He said that one of the biggest touchstones of any democracy is the strength of its grievance redressal system.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Retail Direct Scheme will bring in the middle class, employees, small businessmen and senior citizens with their small savings directly and securely in government securities.

As government securities have the provision of guaranteed settlement, this gives assurance of safety to the small investor, he said.

On the banking sector, the Prime Minister said that in the last seven years, NPAs have been identified with the focus on resolution and recovery.

He said that Public Sector Banks have been recapitalised, one after the other reforms have been carried out in the financial system and public sector banks.

Additionally, Modi said to further strengthen the banking sector, cooperative banks have been brought under the purview of the RBI.

Due to this, the governance of these banks is also improving and the trust in this system is getting stronger among the depositors, he added.

In addition, the Prime Minister said that ‘UPI’ has made India the world’s leading country in terms of digital transactions in a very short span of time.

In just seven years, India has jumped 19 times in terms of digital transactions.

Amit Shah to visit UP on Nov 12 to fine tune poll strategies

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Amit Shah to visit UP on Nov 12 to fine tune poll strategies

Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls, Union Home Minister and former BJP National President Amit Shah, with his ear to the ground, is preparing a victory guide to replicate 2017’s landslide win in the state.

Shah who will visit Uttar Pradesh on Friday, is scheduled to meet around 700 party leaders in Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and brainstorm election strategies with them. He will also hold a rally in Azamgarh, the parliamentary constituency of opposition Samajwadi Party’s (SP) supremo, Akhilesh Yadav.

In November, Amit Shah is scheduled to make two important visits to Uttar Pradesh, one of which is going to start on November 12 and continue for two days.

In this meeting, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, election co- incharge, state in-charge, state president, state organization general secretary, regional presidents, district presidents and in-charges of all 403 assembly seats, will be involved. The BJP’s election preparations, including the membership campaign, as well as its future strategies will also be decided.

On the second and last day of the tour, Amit Shah will visit other districts and address various election rallies. On November 13, he will inaugurate the All India Official Language Conference in Varanasi and then leave for Azamgarh. Shah will also address a rally after laying the foundation stone of the state university in Akhilesh’s bastion.

He is also expected to inaugurate Khel Mahakumbh in Basti district organised by MP Harish Dwivedi and then address a rally there.

After holding several brainstorming sessions and rallies, the Home Minister will return to Delhi from Gorakhpur airport on Monday .

Amit Shah is considered to be the key election strategist of Uttar Pradesh, as during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the BJP along with Apna Dal won 73 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, Amit Shah was the National General Secretary.

Also, during the Legislative Assembly polls in 2017 and Lok Sabha elections 2019, Amit Shah had proved his mettle as the national president.

PM Modi asked me not to bother about Bitcoin scandal: Bommai

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PM Modi asked me not to bother about Bitcoin scandal: Bommai

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked him not to bother about the Bitcoin scandal in the state.

After meeting Modi at the Prime Minister’s Office, he said that discussion on the Bitcoin scandal did not come up in the meeting. “When I started telling him about the scandal, he cut me short asking me not to bother about all this,” he claimed.

Modi asked him to continue serving the people with more dedication and courage, Bommai said.

“The meeting with the Prime Minister went off very well. We discussed a lot of issues. He was especially keen on administration and our decisions during the last 100 days. How things could be made better was also deliberated upon,” he said.

Bommai said that he had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to attend four programmes in December. “The Prime Minister happily agreed for a Karnataka visit. He asked me to split the programmes and assured he would visit the state twice,” he added.

The Prime Minister has agreed to lay the foundation stone for the Railway Suburban Project, and inaugurate the Ambedkar School of Economics and other projects in Bengaluru.

He said Modi appreciated the scholarship scheme aimed at the farmers’ children. He said this project should succeed as Karnataka is the only state which has farmers’ data in digital format. He expressed his desire to emulate the scheme in the entire country, he underlined.

The Transparency Act brought by the state government was liked by the Prime Minister who called it a “revolutionary” step. There was also a long discussion on implementation of National Education Policy (NEP), Bommai said.

“On losing Hangal bypoll, the Prime Minister advised to take winning and losing in the same way and asked me to set a target for 2023 general elections and win people’s hearts,” Bommai said.

Bommai also said he met BJP President J.P. Nadda and discussed upcoming elections in the state. “I also met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday. It was a brief meeting,” he said.

Asked if they discussed the Bitcoin scandal, Bommai said that being the Home Minister, Amit Shah would have more information on the issue than him.

PM to launch 2 innovative customer centric initiatives of RBI on Friday

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PM to launch 2 innovative customer centric initiatives of RBI on Friday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch two innovative customer centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India on Friday via video conferencing. These initiatives include the RBI Retail Direct Scheme and the Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.

The RBI Retail Direct Scheme is aimed at enhancing access to the government securities market for retail investors. It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the Government of India and the State Governments. Investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities account online with the RBI, free of cost.

The Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme aims to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by RBI. The central theme of the scheme is based on ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ with one portal, one email and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints.

There will be a single point of reference for customers to file their complaints, submit the documents, track status and provide feedback. A multi-lingual toll-free number will provide all relevant information on grievance redress and assistance for filing complaints.

The Union Finance Minister and RBI Governor will also attend the event.

Kerala Oppn MLAs ride bicycles to Assembly in protest

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Kerala Oppn MLAs ride bicycles to Assembly in protest

The legislators belonging to the opposition Congress-led UDF on Thursday reached the Assembly on bicycles to register their protest against the Pinarayi Vijayan government for not reducing taxes on petroleum products.

Following the reduction done by the Centre, petrol price per litre came down by Rs 12.27 while diesel price fell by Rs 6.30 and the average price of one litre petrol in the state was Rs 103.80 and diesel stood at Rs 91.59, while in neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, their respective governments decided to reduce the state’s portion in the tax component.

The Center’s ‘Diwali gift’ came on November 4, but Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal ruled out further reduction in the taxes. He said that it was the Centre which had raised the taxes, while the state government never increased them, and hence Kerala was not duty bound to reduce tax.

On Thursday morning more than a dozen legislators from the Congress party and its allies cycled through the roads followed by a battery of press photographers.

“Both the Centre and the state have been taking on the people on account of the fuel prices. We have been for long demanding the State government to come to the rescue of the people. Other prices are spiralling on account of the rising fuel rates and the state government is a silent spectator. We will continue our protest against the state government for their callous attitude,” said Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, who led the cyclists.

On the floor of the House also the Opposition took up this issue.

PM Modi meets visiting 7 NSAs, discusses Afghan situation

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PM Modi meets visiting 7 NSAs, discusses Afghan situation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met National Security Advisors of the seven countries who participated in the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, hosted by India earlier in the day.

Soon after the completion of the Dialogue, the security representatives of five Central Asian countries – Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, along with Russia and Iran, called on the PM.

During the meet, Modi emphasised four aspects that countries in the region would need to focus on, in the context of Afghanistan – the need for an inclusive government, a zero-tolerance stance about Afghan soil being used by terrorist groups, a strategy to counter trafficking of drugs and arms from Afghanistan, and the need to address the increasingly critical humanitarian crisis in war-torn country.

The Prime Minister also expressed the hope that the Regional Security Dialogue would work to revive Central Asia’s traditions of moderation and progressive culture, and counter extremist tendencies.

The security representatives of these seven nations appreciated India’s initiative in organising the Dialogue and of the quality of the exchanges. They also conveyed the perspectives of their respective countries on the Afghan situation.

Modi also appreciated the participation of the senior dignitaries in the Delhi Security Dialogue despite the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.

Afghanistan’s territory must not be used for any terror activities, the eight nations participating in the Delhi’s Regional Security Dialogue asserted on Wednesday in a joint declaration.

Cabinet approves restoration of MP development funds

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Cabinet approves restoration of MP development funds

 The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the restoration of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) which was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

Addressing media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that the scheme has been restored for remaining part of Financial Year 2021-22 and up to Financial Year 2025-26.

He also said that funds will be released at the rate of Rs 2 crore per MP for remaining period of FY 2021-22 in one installment and at the rate of Rs 5 crore per annum per MP during the financial year 2022-23 to FY 2025-26 in two installments of Rs 2.5 crore each.

The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per Member of Parliament is Rs 5 crore, released in two instalments of Rs.2.5 crore each, subject to the fulfillment of conditions as per the MPLADS guidelines.

The release of fund was suspended in April 2020 and diverted to the Finance Ministry to meet out the expenses to fight out the pandemic in the country.

“For managing the health and adverse impacts of Covid-19 in the society, the Cabinet, in its meeting held on 6th April 2020, had decided not to operate MPLADS during the FY 2020-21 and 2021-22 and place the fund at the disposal of Ministry of Finance for managing the impacts of Covid 19 pandemic,” the Minister said.

The total financial implication for restoration and continuation of the MPLADS for the remaining part of the Financial Year 2021-22 and up to 2025-26 will be Rs 17,417 crore, the government said in a statement.

Since the inception of this scheme, a total of 19,86,206 works/projects have been completed with the financial implication of Rs 54,171.09 crore.

Priyanka attacks Yogi govt over ‘pathetic’ condition of cow shelters

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Priyanka attacks Yogi govt over ‘pathetic’ condition of cow shelters

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday targeted the Uttar Pradesh government, saying that the condition of cow shelters in the state was “pathetic”.

She alleged that the state government is not doing enough for improving the condition of cow shelters.

Priyanka Gandhi posted on Twitter, “The Chief Minister is going to Braj which is an inspiration for cow service, and hope he will do something to improve the condition of cow shelters. Since five years, the condition is pathetic and the government is not doing enough.”

She also tagged newspaper reports on the condition of cow shelters.

In July, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to conduct a thorough pre-monsoon inspection of all cow shelters in the state.

He had asked the officials to ensure adequate arrangements for green fodder and straw, among other things, for the cattle.

Strict action would be taken against the officer or employee concerned in the shelter, where the death of a cow is reported due to mismanagement, he had said.

On June 9, 2020, the Uttar Pradesh Cabinet had approved the Prevention of Cow Slaughter (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

According to the ordinance, for the first offence, a person can be jailed for one to seven years with penalties ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, while for the second offence, the person can be imprisoned for 10 years with a fine up to Rs 5 lakh.

Yogi to flag off trial run of Kanpur metro today

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Yogi to flag off trial run of Kanpur metro today

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will start the trial run of ‘Kanpur Metro’ on Wednesday in Kanpur.

The trial run of Kanpur Metro was scheduled later in November but has been preponed.

The chief minister will press the button for the trials of the Metro train which will not only help in establishing seamless connectivity and will ease vehicular congestion across the city but will also give a major boost to the development of the region.

During the event of the trial run, the chief minister will also inspect the facilities available in the metro coaches as well as the arrangements for the platforms.

The construction work of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project was initiated by the Yogi Adityanath government on November 15, 2019.

The Kanpur Metro Rail Project has been completed in less than a span of two years, despite the pandemic break.

According to the government spokesman, in the first phase, Metro will run on the nine-kilometre priority corridor.

Nine Metro stations have been constructed so far. The second phase of Metro work would be carried out between Moti Jheel and Transport Nagar for which underground stations will be constructed.

The trials would be carried out under the strict supervision of the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO).

As per plans, on becoming fully operational, six Metro trains will run on the priority corridor between IIT and Moti Jheel and two trains will remain parked in the depot as reserve. Six more trains will arrive in the city by the time the commercial operations are launched.

The Kanpur Metro will be equipped with regenerative braking technology. Through this, energy will be saved up to 35 per cent. That is, if 1000 units of electricity is spent in train operation, through regenerative braking, the trains will generate about 350 units again. This will be put to use again.

The elevators installed in the stations and depots will also be able to save energy by regenerative braking technology. These will have an energy efficiency of up to 37 per cent. For conservation of energy and electricity, the metro premises have also been equipped with LED lights.

Besides, a plan has been formulated to install solar panels at metro depots and stations.

For the first time in India, Kanpur Metro will come with a Third Rail DC Traction System. Special inverter, which will enable the energy generated by the brakes in the train to be used back in the system. As of now, no such arrangement has been implemented in any metro rail project in the country. The train is also special in terms of protecting the environment and for safety management.

Jan Dhan accounts are also helping to curb crime : Report

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Jan Dhan accounts are also helping to curb crime : Report

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has not only helped to broaden the scope of financial inclusion providing banking services to the remotest corner of the country, but it has also enabled an environment that has reduced the incidence of crime.

According to an SBI Ecowrap report, states with higher PMJDY accounts balances have seen a perceptible decline in crime.

“We also observed that there is both statistically significant and economically meaningful drop in consumption of intoxicants such as alcohol and tobacco products in states where more PMJDY accounts are opened,” the report said.

In India, over the years crimes have been increasing. In 2020, a total of 66 lakh cognizable crimes comprising 42.5 lakh IPC crimes and 23.4 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered, with an increase of 30 per cent in registration of cases over 2018.

Crime rate registered per lakh population has increased marginally from 383.5 in 2018 (385.5 in 2019) to 487.8 in 2020. Crimes against women and children have increased by 7.3 per cent in 2018 and 4.5 per cent in 2019, however, there is a decline of 8.3 per cent in 2020.

To see the impact of Jan Dhan accounts on crimes, SBI Ecowrap report looked at the state wise data accounts level data of PMJDY both aNo of accounts’ and ‘Balance’ and mapped with the state a number of total crimes’ from 2016 to 2020. As crime data is available till 2020, it took into account 37 states and UTs and 5- years data (2016-2020) to build a panel data model. The estimated results indicate that with the rise in the number of PMJDY accounts and balance in these accounts leads to a significant fall in crime.

“This could be because of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) Trinity which has helped in better channelising the government subsidies and helped in curbing the unproductive expenditure such as alcohol and tobacco expenses in rural areas,” the report said.

It also said that India has stolen a march in financial inclusion with the initiation of PMJDY accounts since 2014, enabled by a robust digital infrastructure and also careful recalibration of bank branches and thereby using the BC (banking correspondent) model judiciously for furthering financial inclusion.

Such financial inclusion has also been enabled by use of digital payments as between 2015 and 2020, mobile and Internet banking transactions per 1,000 adults have increased to 13,615 in 2019 from 183 in 2015. The number of bank branches per 1,00,000 adults rose to 14.7 in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015, which is higher than Germany, China and South Africa, SBI Ecowrap said.

Telangana CM attacks Centre on farm laws, fuel price

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Telangana CM attacks Centre on farm laws, fuel price

In a sign of the shape of political developments likely to unfold in the state, Telangana Chief Minister and TRS party supremo K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday blasted the controversial farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government and demanded the Centre to repeal the three farm laws.

He also accused the Central government of misleading the country over international oil prices.

The Chief Minister’s tirade came in the wake of BJP’s victory over the ruling TRS in the recent high-stakes Huzurabad Assembly bypoll. It was a viciously fought battle which former TRS leader and dismissed state minister Eatela Rajender won as a BJP candidate.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, KCR, as the Telangana Chief Minister is popularly known, fired several salvos against the Modi-led Central government.

Placing the onus of ensuring food security for the people squarely on the Centre, KCR accused it of adopting a shifting stance on paddy procurement. He said that issues like procurement, storage and export of food grains rest with the Central government.

Warning BJP’s Telangana unit chief Bandi Sanjay not to provoke farmers to cultivate paddy as a summer crop, KCR said that the farmers are free to cultivate paddy if the Central government is ready to purchase it.

KCR also accused the Centre of misleading the country over fuel prices in the international markets ever since the BJP came to power.

“The Centre has been speaking untruths on fuel prices for seven years. In 2014, crude oil prices were $105 per barrel. Even when crude prices touched a low of $30, they never reduced fuel prices in the country. The BJP is saying continuously that international oil prices have been increasing constantly,” the Chief Minister said.

KCR said that despite the Central government increasing fuel prices, the state government has not raised VAT on petrol or diesel.

The Chief Minister’s comments came at a time when the state’s road transport corporation is mulling to hike bus fares to the tune of 25-30 paise per km, citing rising diesel price.

The Telangana Chief Minister has maintained a cordial relationship with the Central government till now. However, with the BJP getting aggressive in the state, the two parties are expected to harden their positions in the days ahead.

Amit Shah holds review meeting in his Gandhinagar constituency

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Amit Shah holds review meeting in his Gandhinagar constituency

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who represents the Ganhinagar constituency in the Lok Sabha, on Saturday held a review meeting at the residence of a local BJP MLA and offered his advice to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral rolls.

The meeting was held at the residence of Arvind G. Patel (Dalal) in Ahmedabad, whose Assembly constituency falls within the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat. The voter list correction programme will kick off from November 11 in the State.

According to Patel, Shah offered guidance to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the voters’ list.

“Shah was also here to directly interact with the party workers from his constituency. He carries out such review meetings once every three months in the presence of the MLAs from his constituency and other officials of Municipal Commissioner and District Collector levels,” Patel told the media.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, whose Ghatlodia Assembly seat is part of the Gandhinagar constituency.

Patel said that his area was earlier congested with lots of railway lines and it was due to Shah’s efforts that all the underbridges and overbridges proposed to ease the traffic got approved.

Shah is in Ahmedabad to celebrate Divali with his family members. On Friday, he held a public programme at his bungalow in Thaltej to exchange greetings on the occasion of Gujarati New Year.

Karnataka’s BJP govt rattled as Bitcoin allegations reach PMO

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Karnataka’s BJP govt rattled as Bitcoin allegations reach PMO

Karnataka’s ruling BJP seems to be rattled as the allegations against top state party leaders in the Bitcoin scandal have reached the Prime Minister’s Office.

Sources say that the allegations are being taken seriously and the PMO has recommended further investigation in the matter. This has created furore among a section of the leadership, especially the top-rung leaders, and party insiders say that the development could lead to major changes in the ruling establishment.

The opposition Congress has stated that it will file an application under RTI on the Bitcoin scandal, according to its state chief D.K. Shivakumar.

Sources claim that an anonymous letter contains the explosive details of the state’s top BJP leaders allegedly joining hands with main accused in the Bitcoin scandal Srikrishna Ramesh aka Sriki to make money.

Considering the seriousness of the issue, the PMO has suggested high level investigation as the scandal involving hacking of international banks has seriously damaged the image of the country.

The sources also alleged that the accused had hacked into ‘Jan Dhan project’ which has 80 lakh accounts and minted money in hundreds of crores.

It is also alleged that the main accused Sriki was hacking into various state government e-tender portals, including of the Irrigation Department and Upper Krishna Project, and big contractors had taken his help to bag lucrative contracts, the sources said.

Sources also say that the recent IT raids across the state in which hundreds of crores of disproportionate assets were found in the preliminary investigation, is also linked to Bitcoin scandal. However, the investigation agencies have yet to confirm this.

Sources also allege that an influential politician’s son in state has taken the help of Sriki to transfer huge amounts of money to Mauritius.

There is speculation that the party’s Central leadership is thinking on major changes in the state unit following this development, and it is said that the complaint and all details are provided by the BJP insiders in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar has again urged Chief Minster Basavaraj Bommai to make public the document referring the Bitcoin scandal to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). “The Chief Minister himself has stated that he had referred the scandal to the ED. I want him to release documents,” he demanded.

Sources in Congress say that Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah is gathering documents on the scandal and will hold a press conference on Monday to make explosive charges against ruling BJP leaders in the state.

TDP seeks protection for its candidates in local body polls

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TDP seeks protection for its candidates in local body polls

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the State Election Commissioner (SEC) to provide security to its candidates filing nominations for local body polls after a TDP candidate was attacked in Kuppam.

The former chief minister alleged that TDP candidate V. Venkatesh was attacked when he was filing nomination for polls to Kuppam municipality.

In a letter to SEC Neelam Sawhney, Naidu said it came to his notice that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) goons attacked V. Venkatesh, who is the TDP candidate for the 14th ward in Kuppam municipality.

Kuppam in Chittoor district is the Assembly constituency represented by Chandrababu Naidu.

The TDP chief said YSRCP leader Muniswamy and his henchmen attacked Venkatesh to prevent him from filing nomination.

Naidu told the SEC that over 25 to 30 goondas waylaid and assulted Venkatesh when he approached the nomination centre set up at MFC Junior College in Kuppam. The goons rained blows on Venkatesh and snatched away his nomination papers, tore them and then destroyed them. They also took away his cell phone.

Naidu said the attack was serious and an injured Venkatesh was thrown on the roadside, outside the nomination centre. When some of the followers of Dr Venkatesh tried to intervene, the miscreants tried to attack them. Finally, the attackers fled the scene leaving him in an unconscious state.

The TDP chief attached two photographs of Venkatesh with bleeding injury on his elbow.

Naidu demanded the SEC to provide security to candidates aspiring to contest in the present elections as directed recently by the Election Commission. He urged the poll panel to take immediate action against the culprits and also provide immediate protection to all the candidates intending to file nominations.

He also sought deployment of additional police force to ensure smooth, free and fair conduct of elections.

The SEC on Monday announced elections to local bodies, where polls were not conducted earlier for various reasons, including the death of contesting candidates.

The elections will be conducted for panchayats on November 14, municipalities on November 15 and ZPTC and MPTCs on November 16.

The elections are being held for 69 sarpanches and 533 ward members in 498 Gram Panchayats, 12 municipalities and the Nellore Municipal Corporation.

The municipalities that are going to polls include Akiveedu, Jaggayyapet, Kondapalli, Dachepalli, Gurazala, Darsi, Buchireddypalem, Kuppam, Bethamcherla, Kamalapuram, Rajampet and Penukonda.

KTR assures all help to family of six-year-old rape victim

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KTR assures all help to family of six-year-old rape victim

Telangana’s Industry and Information Technology Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday assured all support to the family of a six-year-old tribal girl who was sexually assaulted allegedly by the husband of a sarpanch belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rama Rao, who is also the Working President of TRS, visited government-run Niloufer Children’s Hospital where the victim is undergoing treatment and called on her parents.

He termed the incident which occurred in Rajanna Sircilla as shocking and promised to stand by the family in getting justice.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, said that such an incident in a civilised society is shameful and the guilty, no matter who he is, should get the harshest punishment.

He directed the doctors to provide best treatment to the victim.

The minister’s visit came a day after reports that the victim was brought to the hospital after she complained of severe stomach pain and was made to wait for six hours. She was admitted after the Telangana Girijana Sangham staged a protest at the hospital, demanding immediate medical attention and justice to the victim.

BJP state President Bandi Sanjay had also visited the hospital on Tuesday. He had slammed KTR for his silence over the incident despite the fact that he represents Sircilla constituency.

Bahujan Samaj Party leader R.S. Praveen Kumar had also consoled the girl’s family at the hospital. He had demanded the government to constitute a fast-track court to deliver speedy justice to the victim and take care of her future by providing all help to the family.

The incident had occurred at a village in Yellareddypet mandal of Rajanna Sircilla district on October 27. However, it came to light two days later when the girl developed fever and she told her parents about the sexual assault.

Police arrested the 46-year-old accused on October 29. Shankar has been booked under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and also under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

According to police, the accused resorted to the sexual assault when he was alone at home and the girl had gone there to watch television. He had threatened the victim not to reveal the incident to anyone.

However, the next day she developed fever and she told the parents about the incident. They subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

The tribal family was living on rent in the house of the sarpanch.

President appoints two judges to HC of J&K and Ladakh

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President appoints two judges to HC of J&K and Ladakh

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday appointed two judicial officers as judges of the common High Court of J&K and Ladakh Union Territories.

An order of appointment issued by the President said Mohan Lal and Mohammad Akram Chowdhary have been appointed as judges of the common high court of J&K and Ladakh.

With these appointments, the total strength of judges in the common High Court has gone up to 13.

The order further says the appointment shall come into effect from the day they assume office.

Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh resigns from Congress

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Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh resigns from Congress

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress and sent a seven-page letter to party President Sonia Gandhi. He named his party the Punjab Lok Congress.

“I have today sent my resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi ji, listing my reasons for the resignation. ‘Punjab Lok Congress’ is the name of the new party. The registration is pending approval with the Election Commission of India. The party symbol will be approved later,” Amarinder Singh informed in a tweet.

Singh had quit as the chief minister in September after a power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu.

BJP further consolidates lead in Huzurabad

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BJP further consolidates lead in Huzurabad

The BJP was racing ahead in by-elections to the Huzurabad Assembly seat as its candidate and former minister Eatala Rajender increased his lead to over 11,000 votes.

At the end of 15th round, he was leading by 11,583 votes of his nearest rival G. Srinivas Yadav of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rajender, whose resignation caused the bypoll, secured a total of 68,486 votes after completion of 15 rounds while Yadav had polled 57,0003 votes. Venkat Balmoor of the Congress party was a distant third with 2,131 votes.

The former minister, who was leading from the first round, increased his lead with every round. Barring eighth and 11th round when TRS nominee took the lead, it was Rajender who had an upper hand in the remaining 13 rounds.

Seven more rounds of counting were remaining but going by the outcome so far, Rajender is likely to emerge a winner.

Out of 2,36,837 voters, 2,05,053 had cast their votes in the by-election held on Saturday.

A total of 30 candidates were in fray in the by-election, caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from State Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandraekhar Rao following allegations of land grabbing.

Rajender, a four-time MLA from Huzurabad, also quit TRS to join BJP.

Meanwhile, celebrations were held in the BJP camp as Rajender took a clear lead. Party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets at the party office in Hyderabad.

The Election Commission has prohibited any victory procession in Huzurabad after the counting. According to the orders issued by the Chief Electoral Officer, no more than two persons will be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his representative while receiving the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.

Former UP CMs too did not contest Assembly polls: SP

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Former UP CMs too did not contest Assembly polls: SP

Defending their party president Akhilesh Yadav’s decision of not contesting the Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party leaders on Tuesday claimed that in the past also several leaders, including incumbent Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, did not contest the polls.

The Chief Ministers from 2007 till now have been the members of the upper house in the state, they said.

Soon after Yadav’s announcement on Monday, the Opposition tore into the SP saying that the decision was taken as the party had lost all hopes of winning.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajiv Rai said that the party, not the parliamentary board, will decide who will contest elections. As far as the BJP is concerned, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and both the Deputy Chief Ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Lal Maurya are members of the Legislative Council.

During his last term as the Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav was a Legislative Council member. He had not contested the 2012 elections.

Similarly, BSP supremo Mayawati who has been Chief Minister four times was a MLC but not a MLA.

Yogi Adityanath is also a MLC. He did not contest the elections in 2017 when the BJP stormed into power but he was the MP from Gorakhpur and was later elected leader of the Legislative party.

Keshav Lal Maurya and Dinesh Sharma are both MLCs elected after being appointed as ministers.

For the Assembly polls, Akhilesh, the MP from Azamgarh, will be the face of his party’s campaign, Rai said.

In 2000, Rajnath Singh was elected as a MLA from Haidergarh and was the Chief Minister, while another Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was the last elected MLA as Chief Minister. He was elected from Gunnaur.

Counting on for 2 Assembly seats in Rajasthan

TB Team
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Counting on for 2 Assembly seats in Rajasthan

Counting is on for the votes cast in the October 30 bypolls to the two Assembly constituencies of Vallabhnagar and Dhariyawad in Rajasthan.

The elections were necessitated after after the demise of Congress MLA Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Vallabhnagar and the BJP’s Gautamlal Meena from Dhariyawad.

Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that the counting began at 8 a.m. at the Mohanlal Sukhadia University Campus of Udaipur district headquarters for Vallabhnagar and Government Senior Secondary School, Neemuch Naka, Pratapgarh district headquarters for Dhariawad.

Counting of votes of the Vallabhnagar seat will be completed in 23 rounds and Dhariyawad in 24 rounds, he said.

In Vallabhnagar, a total of 1,186 postal ballots were issued in the categories of absentee voters above 80 years, absentee disabled voters, service voters and polling staff, out of which 1,049 postal ballots were received.

For Dhariyawad, 300 postal ballot papers were issued in the above four categories, out of which a total of 285 postal ballots have been received. Counting of postal ballots will be done in the Returning Officer’s chamber.

Gupta said that after the declaration of election results, no procession, rally and function will be allowed by the winning candidate. He said that only two persons would be allowed along with the winning candidate to obtain the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.

A total of 16 candidates were in the fray– nine from Vallabhnagar and seven from Dhariyavad.

Around 71.72 per cent polling was recorded in Vallabhnagar and about 69.10 per cent in Dhariyavad.

The polling percentage in both the assembly constituencies was around 70.40.

Gupta has directed the District Election Officer and District Superintendent of Police to visit the counting centres on time and ensure adequate security arrangements. CAPF, SAPF and local police have been deployed in a three-tier security circle.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that all necessary arrangements like sanitisation of the counting place a day before the counting place, arrangement of helpdesk, thermal scanner at the counting place, face shield, hand gloves, soap and sanitizer, separate toilets for women counting workers has been provided.

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