New Delhi: In a welcome move, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday decided to phase out weekly limit on cash withdrawal from savings accounts in two stages, starting from February 20.

First, the weekly withdrawal limit for savings accounts will be raised to Rs 50,000 from February 20.

From March 13, there will be no limit on cash withdrawal from savings accounts, the RBI said.
At present, the weekly withdrawal limit is Rs 24,000 for savings accounts.

The RBI had put limit on withdrawal from bank accounts in the wake of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8.

(Agencies)

Chennai: Soon after being removed from the post of AIADMK treasurer by party General Secretary VK Sasikala, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said none had the right to do so and rubbished her claims that DMK was behind his moves.

He said his next course of action would “reflect” the “aspirations” of AIADMK cadres and people of Tamil Nadu.

“No one has the right to remove me from the post of treasurer which was given to me by Amma 10 years ago,” he told reporters.

Panneerselvam said he had discharged his duties as party treasurer to the satisfaction of Jayalalithaa. “I have the fulfilment that I have done my job as treasurer fully to the satisfaction of Amma.”

Panneerselvam dismissed AIADMK General Secretary Sasikala’s charge that DMK was behind his revolt against the party leadership and said she has no powers to sack him as Treasurer.

“She should be asked to explain the basis of her charge. I was never cordial with DMK. A look back into the history will make it clear,” he told Tamil TV channels after his last night’s sudden revolt.

As the political drama unfolded, security at the Greenways Road residence of Panneerselvam was stepped up even as scores of supporters started thronging the area.

AIADMK MLAs, meanwhile, are meeting at the party headquarters to discuss the situation arising out of Panneerselvam’s outburst.

“There is no relationship at all between me and the DMK. Its only the human approach to reciprocate when someone smiles at you. That is the difference between animals and humans,” Panneerselvam said.

He was apparently referring to Sasikala last night pointing to the exchange of pleasantries between him and DMK Working President M K Stalin, the Leader of the opposition in the Assembly, during the recent session.

He also stuck to his charge that he was forced to resign from the post of Chief Minister, but declined to answer a question whether he would stake claim with the Governor to continue, saying “Just wait and watch.”

“I don’t want to go into it. I had already explained in detail at Amma’s (Jayalalithaa) memorial the circumstances under which I was forced to resign,” he said.

Elaborating on his contention that Sasikala had no powers to sack him from the party post, Panneerselvam said already there were legal problems facing the party.

He said General Secretary was elected on a temporary basis in view of the extraordinary situation faced by the party (after Jayalalithaa’s demise).

“This is the party’s norm. As per the party’s constitution framed by founder M G Ramachandran at the time floating the AIADMK, legal sanction for the post will come only when all primary members elect the General Secretary. Such a General Secretary alone has the powers to appoint or remove party functionaries,” he said.

On strong attack against him by AIADMK leaders, including his cabinet colleagues, Panneerselvam said it was a ‘compulsion of time.’

“They can only speak like that when they are there (with Sasikala). They are in a state of mind of retaining their office for the next four years. They should act keeping in mind that they have to go back to the people,” he said.

On the charge that he had betrayed the party high command, the senior leader said he resigned when he was forced only because he did not want the charge to fall on him.

Asked about allegations levelled against him by some of his opponents that BJP was behind him, Pannerselvam said, “They (his opponent) don’t have any strong ground against me. They can’t level any allegation against me.”

Asked if he would launch a new party and if he would call on Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, he said “please wait and see.”

(PTI)

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday hinted that Patidar quota stir leader Hardik Patel would be the party’s face in Gujarat, ANI reported. The leaders were addressing a joint press conference in Mumbai. The meeting follows the conclusion of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiva Sena’s alliance in Mumbai.

Thackeray said, “Why can’t he [Patel] be Shiv Sena’s face for the polls? But nothing has been decided or discussed yet. This was just our first meeting and everything cannot be discussed in one meeting”.

Patel said he was a “big fan” of the party’s founder, Bal Thackeray, and praised the Shiva Sena. He has been a harsh critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP-led government.

Patel, who has led agitations across the state demanding reservations for the community since 2015, was arrested for sedition and spent nine months in jail. The 23-year-old Patidar leader was granted bail in a sedition case in July 2016, but the Gujarat High Court had stipulated that he stay outside the state for six months, starting July 17. He stayed in Udaipur till January 17.

The Shiv Sena’s publication Saamna had published editorials praising Patel as a leader of “supplanting Modi as a crowd-puller”. The state is scheduled to conduct elections in 182 constituencies later this year.

(Agencies)

Lucknow: Nominations for the sixth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh started this morning with the issuance of notification for 49 seats spread across seven districts of the eastern part of the state bordering Nepal and Bihar.

“The notification for the sixth phase has been issued and nominations have started at 11 am,” the office of the UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said.

The districts going to polls in the sixth phase are Maharajganj, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh, Mau and Ballia.

The polling in this phase will be held on Mar 4 while February 14 will be the last date for filing of nominations.

While scrutiny of papers would be done on February 16, candidates can withdraw their candidature till February 18.

The number of eligible voters for the sixth phase of elections is around 1.72 crore, including 94.60 lakh male and 77.84 lakh female voters, who will exercise their franchise in 17,926 polling booths.

In the 2012 Assembly polls, of the 49 seats, 27 were won by the SP, 9 by BSP, 7 by BJP, 4 by Congress and 2 by others.

The notification for the seventh and final phase for elections to 40 seats will be issued on February 9.

(Agencies)

New Delhi: A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.8 on Richter Scale  hit Uttarakhand, tremors of which were felt in Delhi and other parts of northern India.

The epicentre of the quake was Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand, said J L Gautam, Operations head at the National Seismological Bureau, a unit of Ministry of Earth Sciences.

“The depth of the quake was 33 km and it occurred at 10.33 PM,” he said. Uttarakhand, which falls in the Himalayan belt, is known for high seismic activities. Tremors were felt across Punjab, Haryana and their common capital Chandigarh also after which many people rushed out of their homes.

There were no immediate reports of any loss of life or damage to property.

According to reports, tremors were felt across Haryana and the National Capital Region.

People, especially those living in high-rise apartments and buildings, rushed to the ground floor.

Tremors were felt at various places in Haryana including Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Ambala, Panchkula, Sonepat, Panipat and Karnal.

In Punjab, tremors were felt at many places including Mohali, Patiala, Ropar, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

Meanwhile, people felt the tremors also in neighbouring Noida of Uttar Pradesh.

“Bed started shaking and the ceiling fan was swinging a little,” Sohil Sharma, a resident of sector 20 in Noida, said.

“I was lying on bed suddenly it started shaking,” said Savita Gupta, resident of sector 21.

Meanwhile, in Uttarakhand, people rushed out of their homes in panic when the earthquake struck tonight.

The quake was felt nearly everywhere at 10.33 pm especially the hill districts of Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh.

Panicked residents ran out of their houses. In many colonies of Dehradun, men, women and children were seen hanging outside their homes in anticipation of aftershocks.

However, there is no report so far of damage to life and property.

Meanwhile, Uttarkahand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that he spoke to district magistrates and sought a report.

“I have spoken to District Magistrate and getting information from various sources through out the state. There is no loss of life but there may be some cracks developed in the houses in far-flung areas. We are still in the process of collecting the information,” he said.

Disaster Management authorities are well prepared and there is nothing to worry, he said, adding our emergency control room is also collecting information.

(Agencies)

Bengaluru: Karnataka continues to lead the country in the Information Technology and Bio Technology sectors, and over 4000 start-ups have received investments of INR 67.32 billion over the past two years, Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala said on Monday.

In his customary address to the joint sitting of the state legislature reflecting government’s policies and priorities, he said public transport and scientific traffic management are essential to address the traffic problems faced by this IT city.

“Karnataka continues to lead the country in the Information Technology and Bio Technology sectors, which are growing at a rate of 10 per cent to 12 per cent a year and creating new avenues for employment,” Vala said.

He said “With the launching of a new start-up policy the state has retained its lead as one of the start-up capitals of the world. Over 4000 start-ups have received investments of over INR 67.32 billion over the past 2 years.”

The Governor in his speech also sought to address Bengaluru’s traffic issues by listing out the steps taken by the state government to mitigate it.

Pointing out that the World Economic Forum recently rated Bengaluru as the world’s most dynamic city, he said “public transport and scientific traffic management are essential to address (its) traffic problem.

“The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation is poised to complete 42.38 km of phase 1 of Bengaluru Metro by April 2017, he said adding that the work under phase 2 was being executed at a fast pace, he added.

Vala also said that his government is pro-active to introduce suburban rail for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Area in collaboration with the Ministry of Railways for which a MoU has been signed.

Noting that during the current and the next year, various roads and other infrastructure works worth Rs 7300 crores will be taken up in Bengaluru, he said the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board will provide Cauvery water to 110 villages newly added to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (the city civic body).

(Agencies)

New Delhi: Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s house in southeast Delhi was burgled and his Nobel citation allegedly stolen, police said Tuesday.

Police said they received a call about the alleged theft of the citation and teams are at the spot to get details of the items stolen.

Satyarthi is currently abroad, they said.

The child rights activist won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. He shared the prize with Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai.

(PTI)

New Delhi: The proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned for nearly 50 minutes today after an uproar by Congress and Left members over the handling of the death of IUML leader and MP E Ahamed.

Amid noisy scenes, an apparently upset Speaker Sumitra Mahajan adjourned the House till noon.

As soon as the House took up the Question Hour, Congress and Left members, mainly from Kerala raked up the issue of Ahamed’s death at RML hospital here following a cardiac arrest.

The Opposition members have been demanding a probe into the manner in which the death of Ahamed was “handled” by the government, alleging that he had died soon after being rushed to the hospital but it was announced much later.

When the Speaker disallowed the issue from being raised during Question Hour, the protestors said it was against democratic norms.

The members then rushed to the Well holding placards which read ‘Parliamentarians for dignified life and death’ and ‘We are Ahamed Sahib’.

As the slogan shouting continued for a while, an upset Mahajan rose to say that such talk should not take place. She then adjourned the proceedings till noon.

Treasury and Opposition benches were largely empty today with most members apparently concentrating on electioneering in Uttar Pradesh.

Trinamool Congress members were present in the House, but unlike on Friday, did not protest the arrest of their MPs in a chit fund scam by the CBI.

The members of the AIADMK, which is witnessing transition of absolute power to V K Sasikala, were also conspicuous by their absence.

Earlier as soon as the House met, Mahajan made obituary references on the killing of 8 Odisha Armed Police personnel in a landmine blast allegedly by Left-wing extremists and the death of 17 miners in a cave-in at a Jharkhand open cast mine.

(PTI)