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Archives for November 2022

Maharashtra: Voting begins for Andheri East Assembly byelection

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MUMBAI: Polling started for byelection to the Andheri East Assembly constituency here at 7 am on Thursday.

This is the first Assembly election in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government collapsed in June following a revolt by Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.

Shinde subsequently became chief minister in alliance with the BJP.

Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, is expected to win comfortably in the byelection after the BJP withdrew its nominee.

The election was necessitated due to the death of sitting Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, Rutuja Latke’s husband, in May this year.

There are 2,71,502 registered voters in the constituency and 256 polling booths.

Polling is being held from 7am to 6pm.

There are a total of seven candidates in the fray.

Barring Latke, all are independents.

Counting of votes will be held on November 6.

New Omicron variants not causing significant rise in hospitalisations: Experts

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MUMBAI: The new variants of Omicron, XXB and BQ.1, have not led to any significant rise in coronavirus infections and hospitalisations in Maharashtra, experts have said.

The symptoms caused by these strains of the virus are mild, they noted. Dr Anita Mathew, Infectious Disease Specialist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, said many of the new patients are asymptomatic.

“Many people have incidental covid-19. In other words, they are visiting the hospital for other health conditions and test positive for the coronavirus infection.

Symptoms such as the loss of smell and taste, observed prominently in earlier infections, have not been noticed in many patients.

Many of them report cold and cough, which is why there isn’t a lot of testing or self-isolation, Dr Mathew added.

She, however, stressed that vaccination against coronavirus was still important. “One should be careful so that the risk of infecting others decreases,” she said.

As per the state health department, 17 per cent more covid-19 cases were recorded during October 10 to 16 against the preceding week (October 3-9).

The rise was noticed mainly in Thane, Raigad and Mumbai, all densely-populated districts.

The department had also cautioned that coronavirus cases could rise during winter and the festive season, citing new variants which have greater immune evasive ability.

Dr Vasanthapuram Ravi, Virologist, Head, R&D, TATA Medical and Diagnostics (and Chairman of Karnataka Genomic Surveillance Committee) said the new strain of virus and the disease genotype were no different from Omicron in terms of severity and asymptomatic status.

“It is a hybrid of two Omicron variants, 3.75 and BJ1, due to which it has a novel mutation in the spike proteins which makes it escape the antibodies generated by vaccines.This is why it is causing infections even in vaccinated people,” he said.

But there is not much to worry due to its lessened severity though testing is still important, he added.

If a patient tests positive for Omicron, he or she can get treatment for Omicron infection, Dr Ravi said.

But if the test is negative for Omicron (despite symptoms) then one needs to immediately consult a physician in case there is a presence of a new variant or another virus like flu virus or RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), he added.

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), in a statement, said it was keeping a close watch on the emergence and evolution of XBB and XBB.1 and any new sub-lineages.

But Indian patients infected with Omicron sub-lineage XBB of covid-19 have mild disease, it went on to add.

Dr Laxman Jessani, Consultant, Infectious Diseases at Apollo hospitals in Navi Mumbai, said the chances of hospitalisation and ICU admissions are low as the infections are mostly mild.

He too said that there was no significant rise in cases in the last few weeks.

“High-risk groups and elderly people should avoid going out to prevent getting infected, especially in crowded places,” he said, adding that wearing a mask is a must.

Assembly bypolls: Voting begins in seven constituencies in six states

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NEW DELHI: Voting began on Thursday in the by-election to seven assembly constituencies in six states – a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the BJP and regional parties.ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

The polling is being held in Mokama and Gopalganj assembly constituencies of Bihar, Andheri (East) of Maharashtra, Adampur of Haryana, Munugode of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh, and Dhamnagar of Odisha.

Authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the voting.

Among the seven seats where bypolls are being held, the BJP held three seats, the Congress two while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.

While a victory in the bypolls will be inconsequential to their position in the assemblies, the parties have not taken the contest lightly and carried out a high-pitched campaign.

The counting of votes will take place on November 6.

The BJP is seeking to retain Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar in the BJD-ruled Odisha, banking on sympathy votes as it has fielded the sons of sitting MLAs whose death necessitated the bypolls.

The BJP and the ruling TRS had been campaigning aggressively in Munugode in Telangana, where the Congress MLA had resigned and is fighting on the saffron party’s ticket.

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for polling, including the deployment of 3,366 state police and 15 companies of central security personnel in Munugode.

Webcasting would be done from all the polling stations, officials said.

In Adampur, Haryana, the by-election was necessitated after former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi resigned as MLA from the seat and switched from the Congress to the BJP in August.

Bishnoi’s son Bhavya is now contesting as the BJP candidate.

The Adampur seat has been held by the Bhajan Lal family since 1968, with the late ex-chief minister representing it on nine occasions, his wife Jasma Devi once, and Kuldeep on four occasions.

The Congress, Indian National Lok Dal, and Aam Aadmi Party are among the key parties contesting the bypolls.

The Congress has fielded former Union minister Jai Prakash, a three-time MP from Hisar and two-time MLA, as well.

The INLD picked Congress rebel Kurda Ram Nambardar as its candidate. The AAP has fielded Satender Singh, who switched over from the BJP.

Bihar will see the first electoral test for the Nitish Kumar-led ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, formed less than three months ago after the JD(U) parted ways with the BJP.

Bypolls are being held in Mokama and Gopalganj seats in Bihar, earlier held by the RJD and the BJP respectively.

The BJP is contesting from the Mokama constituency for the first time as the saffron party had, on previous occasions, left the seat to its allies.

Both the BJP and the RJD have fielded the wives of local musclemen in the bypolls.

BJP nominee Sonam Devi is up against RJD’s Neelam Devi, whose husband Anant Singh’s disqualification has necessitated the by-election.

Mokama is the stronghold of Anant Singh since 2005. He won the seat twice on JD(U) tickets and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to voters to support him.

Sonam Devi, the wife of local muscleman Lalan Singh who has been opposed to Anant Singh, is a greenhorn.

Lalan is known to be a confidant of Suraj Bhan Singh, a dreaded gangster-turned-politician, who in the 2000 assembly election defeated Anant Singh’s elder brother Dilip Singh who was a minister in the Rabri Devi government.

In Gopalganj, BJP has fielded Kusum Devi, the wife of deceased party MLA Subhash Singh.

The RJD has fielded Mohan Gupta, while Indira Yadav, wife of Lalu Yadav’s brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav, is contesting as Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate.

Shiv Sena’s Rutuja Latke is expected to comfortably win Andheri East Assembly constituency in Mumbai after the BJP withdrew from the contest which is the first after the recent split in the Shiv Sena following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde, who replaced Thackeray as the Maharashtra chief minister.

The NCP and Congress have supported her candidature.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of Rutuja Latke’s husband and Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May this year.

The Gola Gorakhnath seat in Uttar Pradesh fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Arvind Giri on September 6.

With the BSP and the Congress keeping away from the bypolls, there seems to be a direct fight between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party The BJP has fielded Aman Giri, son of Arvind Giri, while the SP candidate is former Gola MLA Vinay Tiwari.

The BJD has fielded Abanti Das, the lone woman among the total five candidates in Dhamnagar.

BJP MLA Bishnu Charan Sethi’s death necessitated the bypoll. The saffron party, banking on sympathy votes, has fielded Sethi’s son Suryabanshi Suraj.

The BJD’s official candidate is facing a rebel as its former MLA Rajendra Das is in the fray as an Independent.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is bringing about silent revolution, will change political landscape: Kharge

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Ahead of the start of Wednesday’s Yatra, Kharge interacted with the Bharat Yatris, who are walking the entire distance from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, at Bowenpally, in Hyderabad.

“Interacted with the Bharat Yatris at Bowenpally, in Hyderabad.

They too are walking 3500 kms with Rahul Gandhi Ji and are a source of great inspiration to our party cadres,” he tweeted.

“Bharat Jodo Yatra is bringing about a silent revolution that will change the political landscape,” he said.h

Later, the Yatra resumed from MGB Bajaj showroom, Balanagar Main Road, Hyderabad City, with Rahul Gandhi along with other Bharat Yatris continuing their walk on the 56th day of the Yatra.

The morning break of the Yatra would be at Hotel Kinara Grand, Hafeezpet, while the padayatra will resume from BHEL bus stand.

The evening break would be near Hari Dosha, Muthangi and the night halt near Koulampet, opposite Ganesh Mandir Rudraram.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra commenced on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi has completed the marathon walk in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, before beginning the Telangana leg of the yatra last week.

The Telangana state Congress has formed 10 special committees to coordinate the yatra.

Actor Rambha and her kids injured in car crash in Canada, daughter Sasha hospitalised

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Indian actress Rambha who recently met with a car accident in Canada. (Photo | Rambha Indrakumar Instagram)

She also added all of them including the nanny are safe. 

However, they have sustained minor injuries.

Her daughter, Sasha is admitted to the hospital.

Noting that these are bad times and bad days, the actor requested her fans and well-wishers to pray for them

The actor has predominantly worked in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi, in addition to a few Bengali, Bhojpuri and English films. 

In a career spanning almost two decades, the actor has done more than 100 films. Some of her popular Tamil films include Ullathai Allitha, Arunachalam, Ninaithen Vandhai, Kaathala Kaathala, Three roses and more. 

In 2010, she married Indrakumar Pathmanathan and moved to Toronto, Canada. The couple has two daughters and one son.

Bharat Jodo Yatra: Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt walks with Rahul Gandhi

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Bollywood actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, and others during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. (Photo | PTI)

Bhatt, the first noted Bollywood celebrity to have joined the Yatra, was seen walking with Gandhi while having a discussion with him.

People cheered as she walked for some distance at a brisk pace with Gandhi. The actor-director-producer has been vocal about various issues on social media.

She made her debut as an actor with the 1989 film “Daddy”.

Daughter of veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, the actor delivered critically-acclaimed performances in movies such as “Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin”, “Sadak”, “Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee”, “Sir” and “Zakhm”, before venturing into production and direction with “Tammana”, “Sur”, “Paap” and “Holiday”.

The Yatra resumed from MGB Bajaj showroom, Balanagar Main Road, Hyderabad City, with Rahul Gandhi along with other Bharat Yatris continuing their walk on the 56th day of the Yatra.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra commenced on September 7 from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi has completed the marathon walk in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, before beginning the Telangana leg of the yatra last week.

The Telangana state Congress has formed 10 special committees to coordinate the yatra.

In battle for Shimla, BJP hits rebels’ roadblock in Kangra

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DHARAMSALA: Kangra is the largest district in Himachal Pradesh with 15 seats in the 68-member Assembly. As discontent brews within the ruling BJP, it won’t be easy for it to win in these seats. The feeling in the saffron camp is that nominations have been given to ‘outsiders’ in at least five of the 15 seats. Those who did not get the ticket are contesting as Independents.

Kangra is the nerve centre of state politics, so the route to forming the government here passes through the district. The district gave Himachal its first non-Congress CM in 1977 when BJP formed the government under Shanta Kumar. It has since remained a BJP fortress, with Kumar becoming the CM twice. Kangra has 30% OBC population that can alter the outcome in eight seats. The BJP’s problems in the district started after Kumar decided to retire from electoral politics as the party did not groom a second line of leadership.

The party is facing rebellion in Dharamsala, Kangra, Dehra, Indora and Fatehpur seats. The BJP has allotted the ticket to AAP turncoat Rakesh Chaudhary from Dharamsala and denied re-nomination to sitting MLA Vishal Nehria. The result is that the party’s block unit rebelled in Dharamsala, with BJP block president Anil Chaudhary and the party’s district ST Morcha chief Vipin Nehria filing their nomination as Independents. While Chaudhary withdrew his papers on Saturday after party placated him, Nehria remains in the fray.

Pawan Kajal was the acting state president of Congress. After he switched sides, BJP has given him the ticket from Kangra as he wields influence among the OBC community. Thus the Zila Parishad member and BJP leader Kulbhash Chaudhary is fighting as an Independent. But the saffron party is banking on the personal vote bank of Kajal who fought the 2012 elections as an Independent and won. He then joined the Congress and contested the 2017 polls and again won. Many local BJP leaders, including former MLA Sanjay Chaudhary, have opposed Kajal. Former MLA Surinder Kaku is the Congress candidate and is banking on the support of government employees.

The BJP has also tried to strengthen itself by inducting Independent Hoshiar Singh from Dehra Assembly segment but was forced to shift Jawalamukhi MLA Ramesh Dhwala to Dehra as it faced rebellion. Now Singh again quit BJP and filed papers as an Independent. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Ravinder Ravi has been given ticket from Jawalamukhi seat.

BJP candidate from Dharmashala, Rakesh Chaudhary, says the party will win at least 12 seats from Kangra. “There is no rebellion. Everyone, except Vipin Nehria, has been placated. The rebels are not grassroots leaders, so they will have hardly any impact,” he adds. 

Gone are days of raja-rani: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched an attack on the “ma-beta” Congress party, questioning how individuals facing charges can give a good government in the hill state. His words appeared to be a dig at Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, as well as Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramaditya Singh in Himachal. Addressing a public rally in support of Bhattiyat MLA and BJP candidate in the Assembly polls, he urged people to re-elect the saffron party to power, breaking the state’s tradition of not repeating a government. “There is democracy in the country and gone are the days of raja-rani. It is the time of common people. We have to elect a government that works for the development of the state,” he said.      

Elon Musk announces USD 8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts

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SAN FRANCISCO: New Twitter head Elon Musk said Tuesday the site will charge USD 8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company.

The announcement comes only days after the world’s wealthiest man took sole control of the social media giant in a contentious USD 44 billion deal.

“Power to the people! Blue for USD 8/month,” Musk, who has styled himself as a free-speech champion, tweeted, in reference to the platform’s paid subscription service, Twitter Blue.

Under the new plan, paid subscribers would receive Twitter’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified, authentic account.

That feature is currently offered only to public figures, an approach Musk described as a “lords & peasants system.”

He said Twitter Blue subscribers would also receive “priority” placement in “replies, mentions & search,” which he called “essential to defeat spam/scam.”

There would also be expanded video abilities, fewer ads, and the possibility for users to get a “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us,” he said.

Twitter Blue currently allows users to access certain news sites for free and without ads, such as the Los Angeles Times.

“This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators,” Musk tweeted.

Addressing the worries of some Twitter users that their blue check mark would lose its notoriety, he also announced “a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

The Twitter Blue service currently offers various other premium features, such as allowing subscribers to edit their tweets.

The new plan’s pricing, up from the current USD 5 per month, would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” Musk added in a reply to his original tweet.

Musk re-tweeted and replied to users praising the paid-verification idea, saying the move “will destroy the bots.”

“If a paid Blue account engages in spam/scam, that account will be suspended,” Musk wrote.

‘Need to pay the bills’

For users that currently have blue check marks, Musk is considering removing them if they do not pay for the new service, tech news outlet The Verge reported.

Some users warned that they would simply leave the site if they were made to pay.

The SpaceX and Tesla chief floated the $8 subscription fee idea earlier Tuesday in a tweet reply to author Stephen King, who was complaining about media reports that the verification service could cost USD 20 per month.

“We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk responded.

“Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about USD 8?”

The proposal is only one part of a series of sweeping changes the 51-year-old entrepreneur has implemented at Twitter, with the entire board, including  CEO Parag Agrawal, let go last week.

The Washington Post has reported that Musk, whose account bio currently reads “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator,” plans to fire some 75 per cent of his company’s 7,500 employees.

Musk financed the massive deal through a mixture of his own wealth, money from other investment groups and loans from banks which will have to be reimbursed.

His previous comments condemning Twitter’s content moderation policies as heavy-handed — as well as his frequent posts of boundary-testing memes — has given pause to some advertisers, currently the company’s main source of revenue.

Some users have expressed fear Twitter could turn into a global stage for hate speech and disinformation.

He tried to calm the nerves by reassuring over the weekend that the site would not become a “free-for-all hellscape,” and announced the formation of a content moderation council.

However on Sunday, Musk himself tweeted an anti-LGBT conspiracy theory about what happened the night US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked, then hours later deleted the post.

No CAA rollout, yet MHA moves to grant citizenship

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Ministry of Home Affairs (Photo | PTI)

It should be noted that the order which was issued on Monday to grant citizenship was done under the citizenship act 1955 as the new CAA rules are not being framed. In a similar manner, the government has issued a notification to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from the three countries in several districts of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana in 2016, 2018 and 2021 too.

Though in January 2020, the MHA notified that the Citizenship Act would be operational from January 10, 2020, it later sought an extension from the parliamentary committees on grounds of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the ministry has been granted seven extensions so far.  In the recent extension, permission has been granted from the Rajya Sabha till December 31, 2022, and the Lok Sabha has granted the time till January 9, 2023.

The controversial law, which was passed in December 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim ‘persecuted minorities’ from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians — who came to India till December 31, 2014.

Appu conferred Karnataka Ratna award at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru

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Karnataka Ratna award

The award instituted in 1992 to reward a person for his/her extraordinary contribution in any field, was conferred on Rashtrakavi Kuvempu and Dr Rajkumar.

After 30 years, the film industry and especially one among Dr Rajkumar’s family has received the honour again. Many members of Dr Rajkumar’s family, including Puneeth’s brothers superstar Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar attended the ceremony to witness the award conferred on Puneeth, who passed away on October 29 last year due to cardiac arrest, aged 46.  

Puneeth’s wife Ashwini Revanath said, “Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is dear to our family. He and his government have done a lot for Puneeth. So I thank everyone on behalf of our family,” Ashwini said.

Rajini, Jr NTR recollect times with Appu

Superstar Rajinikanth, Tollywood actor Junior NTR and Infosys Foundation founder Sudha Murthy were among the guests who attended the event. Rajinikanth, who shares a long association with the Rajkumar family, said he first saw Puneeth in 1979 when he was just four years old and accompanied his father Dr Rajkumar to Sabarimala.

“Dr Rajkumar would carry Puneeth on his shoulders and walk for 48 kilometres. Again when his (Puneeth’s) debut film as lead actor was released, I was asked to review it and after I predicted that this would run for 100 days, Rajkumar told me that I should take part in a function and present a shield to Puneeth. That day was his day.

Today also is his day, though he is not among us. When the incident happened, I was in hospital and was informed three days later. I could not believe the news as Puneeth was so young and fit,” said Rajinikanth. The superstar said that the massive crowd which gathered to witness Tuesday’s event was a proof of Puneeth’s affable personality and his humane and humble nature.

Jr NTR, who shared a personal bond with the late actor, said Puneeth is a superstar, a great star, a father, a friend, a wonderful husband, and a person with a rich heart. “I have come here as a proud friend,” he said.The Telugu star spoke in Kannada and extended his greetings to Kannadigas in the state and the world over on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava Day.

The fans went crazy when singer Vijay Prakash sang songs from Appu’s (as Puneeth is fondly called) films. Deafening roars from the crowds echoed across the Vidhana Soudha premises (the location where the event was held)) as thousands of fans who had gathered cheered to ‘Nene Rajakumara’, ‘Ninnindale Ninnindale’ and other famous Kannada songs from Puneeth’s films. As some fans climbed the fence to enter the venue, the police had to rush in to cane a few.

GLOBAL INVESTORS MEET BEGINS TODAY
The Global Investors Meet (GIM) 2022 will kick off on Wednesday, with the state expecting a bounty in investment opportunities during the three-day mega event. Meanwhile, the government is also focusing on filling up vacancies. There are plans to fill 2.5 lakh vacancies in the government sector in the next two years, of which one lakh posts will be filled this year itself. These jobs will be provided to Kannadigas.

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