Archives for January 2020

The 17-year-old duo studies in New Sainikpuri Public School and aims to pursue engineering at Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay or Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Delhi boy Nishant Agarwal who scored a perfect 100 in Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains shared his success with his twin brother Pranav who bagged a score of 99.93 in the examination.

The 17-year-old duo studies in New Sainikpuri Public School and aims to pursue engineering at Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay or Delhi.

“It’s great to get the perfect score, it’s even more great when you can share the same happiness and goals,” Nishant said.

His twin brother Pranav said, “Wish to get the same in the advanced exam and the board exams. Yesterday night, we just congratulated each other and got back to studying.”ADVERTISING

The results for the examination were announced by the Human Resource Development Ministry’s National Testing Agency on Friday night.

Nine candidates from across the country bagged the perfect score.

Other toppers for the engineering entrance exam include Nisarg Chadha from Gujarat, Haryana’s Divyanshu Agarwal, Landa Jitendra and Thadavarthi Vishnu Sri Sai Sankar from Andhra Pradesh, Akhil Jain and Parth Dwivedi from Rajasthan, Rongala Arun Siddardha and Chagari Koushal Kumar Reddy from Telangana.

A total of 8.69 lakh students, including 6.04 lakh males and 2.64 lakh females, and three transgenders had appeared for the exam conducted in six shifts from January 7-9, a senior official said.

While JEE Mains is conducted for admission to engineering colleges across the country, JEE-Advanced is for those seeking admission to IITs.

It is mandatory to clear JEE Mains to be eligible for JEE-Advanced.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has convened a meeting over the issue at the state secretariat in Mumbai on Monday.

SHIRDI: Shops, eateries, various other commercial establishments and local transport remained shut in the Shirdi temple town of Maharashtra on Sunday in response to the bandh called over a controversy on the birthplace of 19th-century saint Saibaba.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has convened a meeting over the issue at the state secretariat in Mumbai on Monday.

The bandh began here at midnight, but the Saibaba temple remained open with devotees being allowed to offer prayers, officials of the temple trust and Ahmednagar district administration said.

The ‘prasadalaya’ and the temple kitchen were also open to ensure devotees were not inconvenienced, they said.

Long queues of devotees were seen in front of the ‘prasadalaya’, breakfast centre and ‘laddoo’ sale centres of the temple, according to sources.

Terming the bandh as “successful”, local BJP functionary Sachin Tambe Patil, who is former trustee of the Saibaba temple, said, “Commercial establishments, shops, restaurants and local transport (autorickshaws and other private vehicles) are closed and a complete shutdown is being observed in the town as well as in 25 villages around Shirdi.”

“However, the temple is open and devotees are coming to offer prayers,” he said, adding that a rally has been organised here on Sunday.

Devotees who made pre-bookings at hotels were allowed to stay and taxi services from the airport to the temple were also unaffected, the district administration official said.

The state transport buses from other locations were being allowed to come to the town, he added.

Former Maharashtra minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, who is the local BJP MLA, on Saturday said he supported the bandh call.

The controversy began after Chief Minister Thackeray announced a grant of Rs 100 crore for development of facilities at “Sai janmasthan” (birthplace) at Pathri in Parbhani district.

Local residents and leaders in Shirdi took exception to the chief minister’s announcement, saying the birthplace of the famed saint was not known, and Pathri cannot make a claim to being his birthplace.

They are demanding that Thackeray withdraw his official statement where he described Pathri as Saibaba’s birthplace.

It was at Shirdi in Ahmednagar district where Saibaba, whose devotees cut across religious lines, spent much of his life.

Driver Kamlesh Kamath, who sustained minor injuries in the incident, was apparently trying to overtake another vehicle when Azmi’s Tata Safari car rammed into a truck.

MUMBAI: An FIR has been registered against the driver of veteran actor Shabana Azmi for rash and negligent driving, after her car met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra, police said on Sunday.

Azmi (69), who was injured in the accident which took place on Saturday, is undergoing treatment at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in suburban Andheri and is “stable”, the hospital’s Executive Director and CEO Dr Santosh Shetty said.

Driver Kamlesh Kamath (38), who sustained minor injuries in the incident, was apparently trying to overtake another vehicle when Azmi’s Tata Safari car rammed into a truck near Khalapur, about 60 km from here in neighbouring Raigad district, a local police official earlier said.

Azmi’s husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar, was travelling in another car, Raigad Superintendent of Police Paraskar said on Sunday.

“We have booked driver Kamlesh Kamat under Indian Penal Code Sections 279 and 337 for rash and negligent driving and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. He is not yet arrested,” Paraskar said.

The car will be sent for an inspection to RTO (regional transport office) to ascertain if there was any fault in the vehicle or if the mishap took place after the driver lost control, he said.

After the incident, Azmi was first rushed to MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai and later shifted to the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital here.

“We will collect Azmi’s medical report from the MGM Hospital where she was initially taken. The driver’s medical examination was also conducted and he was not found under the influence of alcohol,” Paraskar said.

Meanwhile, Dr Shetty at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital said the actor’s health condition is “stable”.

“Azmi is recuperating. She is stable and under observation. No surgery, operation was performed during the night…she is undergoing medical treatment,” he said.

Azmi is known for her path-breaking roles in films like “Arth”, “Ankur”, “Paar”, “Masoom” and “Godmother”.

Addressing the rally, retired IAS officer Arvind Bhatikar, who has been spearheading anti-CAA protests in Goa, claimed the new citizenship law will ‘destroy India’.

PANAJI: Hundreds of people protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Goa, even as the ruling BJP dubbed the agitation as “desperation of the Congress” and like-minded people.

Citizens under the banner of ‘Goa Unity Forum’ gathered in Ponda town of South Goa district on Saturday and held a protest rally.

Addressing the rally, retired IAS officer Arvind Bhatikar, who has been spearheading anti-CAA protests in Goa, claimed the new citizenship law will “destroy India”.

“There is need that we must uphold the Constitution of India. The Citizenship Amendment Act is discriminatory and against the Constitution,” he alleged.

On the occasion, Sahitya Akademi Award winner Konkani writer N Shivdas said the Constitution is like a “holy book” that unites people of all religions.

“We all must uphold and protect this holy book,” he added.

Congress MLA Ravi Naik alleged that CAA was “not only against the Muslim community but also against Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes”.

However, Goa BJP leaders took to social media to condemn the protest.

“Why Azadi slogans at Ponda rally? #CAA is a law. Not a word about it. Only emotive, misguiding speeches. Palpable desperation of Congress and like-minded!” BJP’s Goa general secretary and former MP Narendra Sawaikar tweeted.

In another tweet, he uploaded a picture of a protester holding a placard with the message: “We Stand with JNU”.

“Authorities need to find the source of such posters at Ponda rally,” Sawaikar said in his twitter post.

BJP’s South Goa district general secretary Navin Pai Raikar also hit out at the protesters.

“These are migrants who live in #Goa on govt doles. Let’s give them Azadi by sending them where they belong!”

Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal has said that every state Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution and seek CAA’s withdrawal.

MUMBAI: After Kerala and Punjab, the Maha Vikas Agadi (MVA) government is also mulling over a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Maharashtra Assembly. Congress spokesperson Raju Waghmare said: “Our senior party leader Balasaheb Thorat has also shared his stand on the CAA. Even Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that we are against the CAA. As far as the resolution against CAA is concerned, our senior leaders of MVA will sit together and decide.”

If this happens, then Maharashtra will be the third state to pass a resolution against CAA, which grants citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Emphasising that CAA is ‘unconstitutional,’ senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal has said that every state Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution and seek CAA’s withdrawal.

He added that it would be problematic to oppose the CAA if the law is declared to be ‘constitutional’ by the Supreme Court.

“I believe the CAA is unconstitutional. Every State Assembly has the constitutional right to pass a resolution and seek its withdrawal. When and if the law is declared to be constitutional by the Supreme Court then it will be problematic to oppose it/The fight must go on!” Sibal tweeted.

Earlier speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival on Saturday, the Congress leader had said that constitutionally no state can say that it will not implement the amended Citizenship Act, as doing so will be “unconstitutional”.

Kerala government has also approached the Supreme Court against the CAA following the passage of a resolution against it in the state Assembly.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has also announced that the Congress state government is going to join Kerala in the Supreme Court in the case.

Currently, GST on the print media stands at 5 per cent whereas news broadcasters are charged 18 per cent GST.

NEW DELHI: Executive body members of the News Broadcasters Federation have met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and requested that TV news channels be treated at par with the print media industry under GST regulations.

Currently, GST on the print media stands at 5 per cent whereas news broadcasters are charged 18 per cent GST.

In the meeting on Friday, NBF President Arnab Goswami highlighted the need for parity given the similarity in the business model and the importance of TV news broadcasting in the country, a release said.

The Finance Minister accepted a copy of the recommendation of NBF and assured the members that she would look into the matter.

The NBF was represented in the meeting by its President Goswami, Vice Presidents Jagi M Panda and Sanjive Narain, and Secretary-General R Jai Krishna.