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Archives for August 2018

Incessant rains cause landslides in Karnataka

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Torrential rains up to 30 cm lashed Karnataka’s coastal and south interior districts, causing landslides and disrupting normal life, officials said on Tuesday.

“Very heavy rainfall was received in the coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada, along with heavy downpours in Malnad (south interior) districts of Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Shivamogga,” an official from the Bengaluru division of India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS.

Parts of Udupi received rainfall measuring as high as 30.1 cm, Dakshina Kannada 16.1 cm, Uttara Kannada 18.5 cm, Shivamogga 16 cm, Kodagu 19.4 cm and Chikkamagaluru 13.2 cm.

Few regions of Hassan district in the south interior region of the state received rainfall up to 24.5cm, according to the IMD.

Due to the unabated rains, landslides were reported across several parts, obstructing vehicular traffic.

A landslide at Sakleshpur sub-district in the Western Ghats mountains has obstructed the vehicular movement on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route.

The traffic along the highway between Madikeri in the Western Ghats range in Kodagu district to Mangaluru was also blocked, officials said.

Several schools and colleges in low-lying areas remained shut on Tuesday.

The rain water from the reservoirs in the Cauvery basin, which have been filled to their maximum capacity, is being released to avoid collapsing of the dams.

“Over 60,000 cusecs of rain water is being released from Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir across Cauvery river in Mandya district, and 40,000 cusecs from Kabini reservoir across Kabini in Mysuru district,” Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS.

The released reservoir water, along with incessant rains, have been flooding farmlands in low-lying towns and villages in the Cauvery basin.

Last week, another 80,000 cusecs of water was released from Kabini reservoir and 59,000 cusecs from KRS reservoir, forcing the district administration to shift people living in low-lying areas to safety.

With the Arabian Sea being rough with winds along the coast, the IMD has asked the fishermen not to venture into the sea.

“Due to strong winds along the Karnataka coast, sea condition is likely to be rough in the southwest and central Arabian sea. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the waters,” an advisory from the IMD said.

Heavy rains are likely to continue for the next three days, Reddy added.

Madras HC orders CBI probe into Tuticorin police firing

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The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the police firing in Tuticorin in which 13 people were killed on May 22. The victims were taking part in a protest against the Sterlite copper smelter plant.

The court also quashed the charges slapped against six protesters under the National Security Act for their role in the violence.

The copper smelter plant owned by Vedanta Ltd is located in Tuticorin around 650 km from here.

About 60 persons were injured in the police firing.

Earlier Chief Minister K. Palaniswami told the media that people in Tuticorin had been protesting peacefully for long against the company, alleging that it was causing health hazards and depleting the water table, but this time, the opposition and “anti-social elements” had turned the movement violent.

“It is because of this instigation that so many people have died. And we are really saddened by the deaths,” he said.

According to an FIR lodged by Tuticorin police, a Deputy Tehsildar has claimed that he had ordered police firing on May 22 against the anti-Sterlite Copper protesters.

The FIR filed by the police on May 22 says that Sekar, Deputy Tehsildar in Tuticorin, admitted that it was he who had ordered the police firing at the protesters after all the other steps to restore law and order failed.

As per the FIR, Sekar said he had at first warned the protesters that force would be used and when this did not work, he ordered a baton charge. When this proved inadequate and the crowd kept surging forward menacingly and attacked the police personnel, he had ordered the firing of tear gas shells after due warning.

The official said when tear gas shells failed to disperse the violent mob, which was destroying public property and attacking the police personnel near the Collectorate, he ordered firing as the last resort. Twelve persons were killed in police firing on May 22 and later one more person died in a fresh firing.

Government officer shot dead in Patna

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Unidentified assailants on Tuesday forced their way into a senior government officer’s residence here and shot him dead, police said.

Rajiv Kumar, Under Secretary in the Planning Department, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital, the police said.

The officer’s wife told the police that a group of five armed youths forcibly entered their official house in the high security zone in the state capital. Kumar was shot when he resisted them, she said.

Alagiri targets Stalin – after Karunanidhi’s death

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Six days after the death of M. Karunanidhi, his elder son and former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri on Monday asserted that “true loyalists” of his late father were with him and that his brother M.K. Stalin was a poor leader.

Paying homage to Karunanidhi at his memorial at the Marina Beach here, Alagiri, who was expelled from the DMK in 2014 for criticizing party leaders, told reporters that he had poured his anguish about the party to his father.

He said his anguish was about the party and not about the family and the public would come to know the whole story at the appropriate time.

Alagiri declined to comment about the DMK’s Executive Committee meeting to be held here on Tuesday, stating that he was no more in the party.

Alagiri aspired to succeed to the DMK’s top post but Karunanidhi, the DMK President until his death, picked his other son Stalin to lead the party and designated him the Working President.

Once considered a strongman from Madurai, Alagiri told CNN News18 that he was the right person to head the DMK and alleged that Stalin was the “Working President” of the party but was not working.

Alagiri added that he was not happy with the way the party was being run. On being asked if there would be a split in the DMK, Alagiri replied how could he split the party when he was not in it in the first place.

Asked if he would do better than Stalin if given an opportunity, Alagiri told CNN: “Definitely, that is what the cadres also want.”

JNU scholar Umar Khalid targeted, escapes

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An unidentified man opened fire at controversial Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar Umar Khalid outside the Constitution Club here on Monday but he escaped unhurt, police said.

The attack took place around 2.30 p.m. when Khalid was at a tea stall with friends.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma quoted Khalid as saying that he was attacked and that somebody pounced on him and pushed him.

“Thereafter he tried to fire at Khalid. But the person couldn’t fire immediately,” Verma said. “People started chasing him. Thereafter, according to Khalid, the attacker fired in the air.”

Another police officer said a pistol was recovered from the spot.

Khalid went to the Constitution Club to attend a “United Against Hate” programme. Police said CCTV cameras were being scrutinised to identify the attackers.

Khalid was rusticated and fined by JNU last month after he along with two other students — Kanhaiya Kumar and Anirban Bhattacharya — were found guilty of raising anti-national slogans during a poetry-reading gathering inside the campus on February 9, 2016.

Jodhpur, Marwar cleanest stations: Railway Minister

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Jodhpur and Marwar railway stations in Rajasthan were declared the cleanest in the third cleanliness survey, released on Monday.

Releasing the cleanliness survey report, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said: “Jodhpur has emerged as the cleanest station in A1 station category. Last year, Vishakaptnam was at the first spot,” he said.

He said Rajasthan capital Jaipur is at number two and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh was placed at number three.

The Minister also said that in A category stations, Marwar in Rajasthan topped the list, followed by Phulera in Rajasthan at number two, and Warangal in Telangana at number three.

Goyal also said that the North Western Railway (NWR) topped the list as the cleanest zone.

“NWR was at the eighth spot last year. This year it topped the list, that shows how the team has worked tremendously in last one year,” Goyal said.

The South Central Railway (SCR) was declared the second cleanest zone. The SCR was at the fourth spot last year.

The East Coast Railway (ECR) was placed at the third spot in the cleanest zones.

Chargsheet filed against Kejriwal, Sisodia in CS ‘assault’ case

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Delhi Police on Monday filed a charge sheet against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for allegedly assaulting Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in February.

The charge sheet, filed in the Patiala House Court on the basis of investigation done on the complaint of Prakash, also names Amanatullah Khan, Prakash Jarwal, Nitin Tyagi, Rituraj Govind, Sanjeev Jha, Ajay Dutt, Rajesh Rishi, Rajesh Gupta, Madan Lal, Parveen Kumar and Dinesh Mohania.

“On February 20, a case was registered on the complaint of Prakash. After completion of the investigation and upon collection of evidence on record, a charge sheet has been filed in the court,” a Delhi Police official said.

The Chief Secretary had alleged that he was beaten up by AAP MLAs in the presence of Kejriwal at the Chief Minister’s residence here on the night of February 19, where he had been called for a late-night meeting.

Pollution check: SC okays colour-coded stickers for vehicles

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The Supreme Court on Monday accepted Centre’s proposal to have hologram-based colour-coded stickers on vehicles that would help in identifying automobiles running on various kinds of fuels.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to implement by September 30 the scheme of colour-codes stickers on vehicles plying in National Capital Region (NCR).

The Centre told the bench that the diesel vehicles will have orange stickers pasted on their windshield while petrol and CNG vehicles will have blue stickers.

The bench also suggested the Centre to to consider having green number plates for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A.N.S. Nadkarni told the court that the ministry would look into it and decide soon.

The issue of colour-coded stickers was raised when the court was hearing a petition on air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

Advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the case, had told the court that there should be coloured stickers for petrol and diesel vehicles according to the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) suggestions.

The amicus curiae said the colour-coded stickers would help to identify the kind of fuel being used in vehicles.

The Centre also told the apex court that there was no objection to putting stickers on vehicles.

Somnath Chatterjee: A die-hard Marxist forsaken by his party

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For long the voice of Opposition, Somnath Chatterjee was the first Communist Speaker of the Lok Sabha and one who defied his party and refused to quit the post over the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008, leading to his expulsion from the CPI-M.

From championing the cause of the downtrodden as one of India’s finest parliamentarians and barristers and settling effortlessly into the role of wooing investors to industry-dry West Bengal, Chatterjee donned many a hat with ease and aplomb during a four-decade public career.

The tall, heavily built man with a majestic personality evoked awe at first sight. But beneath that stern exterior lay a tender heart that cared for the poor.

His aggressiveness, baritone, legal acumen and sharp debating skills were big assets not only for the CPI-M but for the opposition benches as a whole in pinning down the government during his three decades in the Lok Sabha. But beyond that Chatterjee always came out as an affable person, gentle in his manners and rising above petty politics.

Perhaps it was this quality that stood Chatterjee in good stead in stewarding the Lok Sabha as Speaker from 2004 to 2009. Excepting Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, who once hurled papers and her shawl towards the Speaker’s podium, no other MP ever accused Chatterjee of being partisan in conducting the House proceedings.

The rivalry between the two went a long way back. It was by upsetting the CPI-M stalwart in the 1984 general elections from Jadavpur that Banerjee – then a youth Congress leader virtually unknown in state politics – cut her teeth in politics. That was Chatterjee’s only electoral defeat and the beginning of Banerjee’s ascendancy.

However, Banerjee too mellowed and in 2012, a year after taking over as West Bengal Chief Minister, she had proposed his name along with those of Manmohan Singh and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as her choice for President.

Chatterjee was perhaps the right disciple of his mentor and the late Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu, who shared a similar high-society upbringing and educational qualifications.

Through his political life and even after he was expelled from the CPI-M in 2008, Chatterjee remained close to Basu who had a great liking for Chatterjee. So much so, that as West Bengal Chief Minister, he coaxed and cajoled Chatterjee to take over as chairman of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC) to woo investors.

Chatterjee put his heart and soul into the job, met industrialists and toured various countries, inking MoUs worth thousands of crores of rupees, though it was another thing that very few of the pacts matured into industrial projects on the ground. The opposition in Bengal lost no opportunity to make fun of Chatterjee, jokingly calling him “MoU da”.

Another interesting contradiction lay in Chatterjee’s family ties. Though he remained a Marxist all his life, his father Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee was a Hindu revivalist and one of the founders and one-time president of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha.

Parliamentarians from the BJP had at times made mocking reference to the “Marxist Chatterjee” by highlighting this aspect.

Born on July 25, 1929 in Tezpur in Assam, Chatterjee studied at the Mitra Institution School, Presidency College and the University of Calcutta.

He then proceeded to England to earn B.A and M.A degrees in Law from the Jesus College, Cambridge. He was called to the Bar from London’s Middle Temple and started legal practice as an advocate at the Calcutta High Court.

Chatterjee joined the CPI-M in 1968. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1971 from Burdwan in a by-election as an independent candidate backed by the CPI-M. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of his father Nirmal Chatterjee.

He made it to the Lok Sabha on CPI-M ticket from Jadavpur in 1977 and 1980 and from Bolpur in 1985, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. From 1989 till 2004, he served as the Leader of the CPI-M in the Lok Sabha.

Chattterjee rose to become a central committee member of the party but was expelled on July 23, 2008 “for seriously compromising the position of the party”.

Chatterjee had then contended that the office of the Speaker was above party affiliations and he ceased to be a CPI-M member once he took over the job.

In an interview to IANS, Chatterjee had called his expulsion the “saddest day of my life,… I was sad then, I am sad now also. It is not like weather that it will change”.

West Bengal CPI-M leaders, however, constantly kept in touch with him, and even sent feelers that if he applied again admitting his mistake, he would be readmitted. But the principled man, steadfastly refused, while making it clear, that he would be game if the party on its own took him back.

But that was not to be. And to the last day, Chatterjee remained party less, while nursing a void deep in his heart.

Rain claims 5 lives in Himachal; hundreds stranded as highways shut

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Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh claimed five lives and hundreds remained stranded across the state after incessant rainfall triggered landslides and snapped road links, an official said on Monday.

Three persons were killed in Mandi district in landslide incidents, while a boy was washed away in the swollen Kaushalya river near Parwanoo in Solan district.

Reports said five persons were buried under a landslide near Chakla village in Kandaghat in Solan district. One of them reportedly died. Rescue work is still on.

After heavy overnight rains, most of the roads in the interiors of the state remained closed to traffic on Monday, stranding hundreds of travellers and commuters.

The Chandigarh-Manali National Highway-21 has been closed for vehicles near Mandi town, an official said. Likewise, traffic on the Chandigarh-Shimla National Highway-5 was hampered near Chakki Ka Mor in Solan district.

The Mandi-Pathankot, the Chamba-Pathankot and the Shimla-Nahan national highways were blocked by landslides.

Vehicular movement in Kinnaur district remained suspended since a large stretch of the Hindustan-Tibet Road has been under landslides at several points.

An official said the road network in the higher reaches of Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba, Mandi, Kullu and Sirmaur districts was the worst affected and efforts were being made to reopen it.

As a precautionary measure, all schools and educational institutes in Shimla, Solan, Kullu, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur and Mandi districts were closed for the day.

According to the Met office here, moderate to heavy showers have occurred in most parts of the state since Sunday.

Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district recorded the highest rainfall in the state at 239 mm, while it was 238 mm in Sujanpur Tira town in Hamirpur district.

Nehri town in Mandi district recorded 235 mm in the past 24 hours, while Palampur town recorded 212 mm.

It was 172 mm in the state capital, 142 in Dharamsala town, 98 mm in Kasauli, 94 mm in Solan town and 57 mm in Dalhousie.

The weather office has forecast heavy rains across the state till Tuesday.

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